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Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

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Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#151

Post by kjellsbells »

uhtred wrote: post #81
barbazoo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work here? Say I have that toothbrush, the app, and say I had to sign up to use it. What they know is how long the toothbrush is on. How are they going to monetize that data?

What permissions does the app ask for? Most likely location for some bullshit Bluetooth feature, and no doubt they request other permissions like contacts and media so you can share with friends that you clean your teeth. Hey, now oral b know where you are all the time, who you know etc

Looking at my android...notifications and nearby BT devices. Thats it.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#152

Post by beryilma »

Next we will get subscription toothbrush features. Personally, I want my ultrasonic toothbrush to hum to the tune of Taylor Swift songs.

More seriously, at this point, any idiot who downloads such invasive apps deserves its consequences.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#153

Post by FredPret »

layer8 wrote: post #62
FredPret wrote: post #58

I bought an electric toothbrush from Walmart for $6.99 probably 5 years ago. It takes Oral-B brush heads and AA batteries. It's not capable of using an app. Who know being a tech guy would make me love as-simple-as-possible "retro" devices.

That’s every other tech guy. It’s a common effect.

I think this happened when tech went mainstream. I used to love cutting-edge gadgets.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#154

Post by jon889 »

eloisant wrote: post #107
pif wrote: post #11

My question is: why do an Oral-B app and a Colgate app even exist?

The app can tell you which teeth are correctly cleaned (i.e. you spend enough time on it) and which teeth you forgot or went too fast. Personally I just used it once and ended up removing it, but I can see some people using it to ensure their brushing is efficient. Anyway, it's completely optional, you can just use the brush ignoring the existence of the app.

I recently bought an oral-b toothbrush with the AI app thing, and it’s worked really well. Something about making the little dots disappear mean I’m now cleaning my teeth properly for 2m30s. Wish I’d had it a lot earlier and maybe I wouldn’t have so many fillings. (I swear this isn’t an ad, I bought it on prime day thinking I’d probably return it).

Also I doubt it’s AI, just doing something fairly basic with the accelerometer data

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#155

Post by ElFitz »

The Colgate one is probably still based on Kolibree[0]. I remember the KL prefix.

I don’t know about the Oral-B app, but the Colgate / Kolibree at least had some mostly accurate mapping of brushed areas (when using one of their "smart" toothbrushes).

[0]: https://www.kolibree.com/en

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#156

Post by api »

kelnos wrote: post #138
barbazoo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work here? Say I have that toothbrush, the app, and say I had to sign up to use it. What they know is how long the toothbrush is on. How are they going to monetize that data?

I can think of a few things at least: * Collect data on brushing frequency and thoroughness, and sell that data to dental insurance companies. Perhaps not even anonymized, so they can raise your premiums if you don't brush as often or as well as they'd like. * Nag you to buy brush replacements after a certain amount of time or certain number of uses. * Use dark patterns to trick you into giving access to other, unrel…

That's why most apps exist, which is why I try to install as few apps as possible.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#157

Post by stavros »

cal85 wrote: post #139
eloisant wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app can tell you which teeth are correctly cleaned (i.e. you spend enough time on it) and which teeth you forgot or went too fast. Personally I just used it once and ended up removing it, but I can see some people using it to ensure their brushing is efficient. Anyway, it's completely optional, you can just use the brush ignoring the existence of the app.

How does it know which tooth you’re cleaning?

Probably an accelerometer.
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