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Find My Device on Android

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Re: Find My Device on Android

#251

Post by kergonath »

foooorsyth wrote: post #161
joe5150 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do hidden trackers "prevent" theft? If a thief steals your bike and is notified that it's being tracked, they're probably much more likely to abandon it somewhere, at which point you can recover it. This seems like a safer bet than trying to hunt them down yourself. (It should go without saying the police are not going to go get your bicycle back for you even if you do hand them the GPS coordinates.)

It’s a massive deterrence. LoJack has been in business since 1986 for a reason. Also, the attitude of “don’t go and get your stuff back yourself, it’s not safe” is just castrated cowardice and only emboldens thieves. Thieves should be afraid of both law enforcement and vigilante response. Better society when both are on the table.

> castrated cowardice

You lose credibility right there. No need for such bullshit it you actually have a point. Performative machismo is completely useless.

> Thieves should be afraid of both law enforcement and vigilante response. Better society when both are on the table.

lol no. Actually, what the hell are you thinking? Mob justice is not justice at all. What happens when someone decides you are a thief (or rapist, or murderer) just because they don’t like the look of you or would like to have your car very much?

This does not frighten thieves; this frightens people other people don’t like. I mean, we’ve had plenty of examples in recent history. I would take the risk of losing my bike every now and then instead of the risk of being lynched any day.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#252

Post by Dylan16807 »

sleepybrett wrote: post #107
saurik wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool! I am looking at this and seeing another issue with AirTag: I actively use the feature on Tile where I can use the Tile on my keychain to find my phone by pushing the button, and I guess AirTags is entirely missing that feature.

something i initially missed as well but like .. if you pushed the button on your airtag it would probably start all your apple devices to beeping. The tag is associated with your account, not your phone like with tile.

Different behavior would be very easy to program.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#253

Post by rickdeckard »

This is a prime example of the "big-corp issue" of today's tech.

In the landscape of 20 years ago this "Find-My" use-case would have already been made an industry-standard, with an Alliance or SIG of the industry controlling a global spec and roadmap.

Tech-companies would have proposed a spec, lobbied competitors and other players to join and contribute to an industry standard to make this happen, because no single company was large enough to launch such a multi-disciplinary product all by itself.

You would get a wide range of companies joining, reviewing and vetting the specification to create a strong ecosystem for service providers, component makers, device-manufacturers, etc.

Now, a few established big corporations happily use those legacy industry standards (WiFi, BT,...), and instead of contributing back to it to make it stronger, they create proprietary products/services on top, ensuring that everyone else is just a petitioner/supplicant.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#254

Post by [deleted] »

ryukoposting wrote: post #209
el_duderino wrote: post #2

Google posted another blog on how they built the new Find My Device network: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/04/find-my-device-netwo...

As a chronic loser of keys and wallets, I recognize the user need here. However, this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Google and their customers don't have much to gain through a proprietary implementation. If anything, open-sourcing Find My Device Network would allow third party devices to join the network, enhancing its value to Goog…

[deleted]

Re: Find My Device on Android

#255

Post by [deleted] »

rickdeckard wrote: post #253

This is a prime example of the "big-corp issue" of today's tech. In the landscape of 20 years ago this "Find-My" use-case would have already been made an industry-standard, with an Alliance or SIG of the industry controlling a global spec and roadmap. Tech-companies would have proposed a spec, lobbied competitors and other players to join and contribute to an industry standard to make this happen, because no single c…

[deleted]

Re: Find My Device on Android

#256

Post by sambazi »

worthless-trash wrote: post #242
kiwijamo wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirDrop has its issues too. Used to work in educaiton at a school with 100+ iPads within reception range. Quite common to have A-to-B drops work but not the reverse direction i.e. B-to-A. Solution was often to ask another student C and use their iPad as a proxy i.e. B-to-C-to-A to get something from B to A. Quite fustrating given it would be an issue one day and not the next and what device it appeared on was totally…

Apples Bluetooth stack Has had problems for quite a while.

maybe that's why the volume controls on my 1st-gen se no longer apply when using a bt-speaker. granted it's dated hardware on both ends but it used to work fine for 5y+

Re: Find My Device on Android

#257

Post by cbeach »

bevekspldnw wrote: post #215
fy20 wrote: post #211

Is there a technical reason why this can't work with Apple's Find My network, or is it just that they don't want to work together? Using the "Unknown Trackers" feature my Samsung phone can scan for nearby AirTags and tell them to play sounds.

Typical Apple hiding behind the walled garden to avoid actual competition via users not having any path to switching platforms. The Apple value prop used to be “it all works together”, now it’s “half the shit you spent thousands on won’t work if you leave the island”. The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders, but he’s one of the prime enshittifiers in Silicon Valley.

If we were to force all new technologies to be interoperable with all technologies from all possible competitors we’d create a Kafkaesque nightmare for innovators and particularly early stage startups.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#258

Post by rickdeckard »

ryukoposting wrote: post #209
el_duderino wrote: post #2

Google posted another blog on how they built the new Find My Device network: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/04/find-my-device-netwo...

As a chronic loser of keys and wallets, I recognize the user need here. However, this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Google and their customers don't have much to gain through a proprietary implementation. If anything, open-sourcing Find My Device Network would allow third party devices to join the network, enhancing its value to Goog…

Beside of open-source, this whole use-case should be built as an industry standard, not as a ammunition for an adjacent platform war.

With these few huge tech-companies, the industry has lost its natural "feature" that required competing players to work together and form an Alliance/SIG to make really big things happen.

Instead, the really big companies are happy to take the fruits from that time (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC,...) and build something proprietary on top instead of contributing back to it...

Re: Find My Device on Android

#259

Post by newaccount74 »

rickdeckard wrote: post #253

This is a prime example of the "big-corp issue" of today's tech. In the landscape of 20 years ago this "Find-My" use-case would have already been made an industry-standard, with an Alliance or SIG of the industry controlling a global spec and roadmap. Tech-companies would have proposed a spec, lobbied competitors and other players to join and contribute to an industry standard to make this happen, because no single c…

What makes me sad about this is how it effectively stops innovation.

The barrier to entry is so high, that only a handful companies can launch an item tracker service. And everyone who wants to offer a product in that space needs to play by their rules, they prohibit a lot of use cases.

I use a few Chipolo trackers with my iPhone, and I find it infuriating how limited they are. There doesn't seem to be a way to query the data, so I can't eg. make a dashboard that shows location of my items, or make my own app that makes it easier to find my stuff. Every time I look for my keys, it takes me 30 seconds to navigate through Apple's stupid interface, wait for it to update, scroll to the right button, and press the "make sound" button.

Without competition we're forever stuck with mediocre software and a fraction of what would be technically possible.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#260

Post by GaryNumanVevo »

bevekspldnw wrote: post #221
HumblyTossed wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I hate defending them, Apple does license out "Find My" tech, so is this really their fault?

Yes, but the entire MFi program is just a consumer tax paid to Apple. It’s an extortion racket.

Is it a "walled garden" or is it an "extortion racket" then?
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