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My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

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Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#41
Coming soon near you:

- Warming up for a run: Possible agitated tweaker, possible crisis

- Going for a run after midnight: Evasive solitary movement after dark

- Sprinting the last block home: Flight behavior consistent with shoplifting offense

- Running with a hood up in the rain: Deliberate biometric obfuscation - Two runners meeting at a corner and leaving in opposite directions: Brief contact event, possible hand-to-hand

Score increase the darker you get.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#42

Coming soon near you: - Warming up for a run: Possible agitated tweaker, possible crisis - Going for a run after midnight: Evasive solitary movement after dark - Sprinting the last block home: Flight behavior consistent with shoplifting offense - Running with a hood up in the rain: Deliberate biometric obfuscation - Two runners meeting at a corner and leaving in opposite directions: Brief contact event, possible hand…

The solution is clear - an "I am a tweaker" toggle.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#43

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

That completely tracks coming from people who work in a place laid out like this:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/JHQPdvSStnr6jfm77

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#44

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

Speaking of trains, that's another thing they don't do. The auto-snapping of current location consistently snaps to whatever road or goat track it can find nearby, while equally consistently refusing to snap to the railroad they have mapped.

Sure, there's not much need for navigation in that situation, but if you're trying to be smart regarding where I am, maybe take into account if I'm travelling at 200 kph before plonking me on a twisty gravel road.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#45
post #38

I refuse to go running with a phone - too heavy, and too distracting, running outside is one of the few places I _escape_ the phone for a bit. So I made sure to get a fitness tracker with onboard GPS. It syncs to the phone later, when I return, which then uploads workout data to the vendor's cloud. I look at the results on my PC with a web browser, phone is a passive middleman and is never touched directly for fitnes…

You may have tried this, but I run with my phone in an elasticated belt that's just tight enough to keep the phone stable without being uncomfortable. I really don't want to fork out for another device just for running. (I also find a watch on my wrist annoying when I don't wear one normally).

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#46

Coming soon near you: - Warming up for a run: Possible agitated tweaker, possible crisis - Going for a run after midnight: Evasive solitary movement after dark - Sprinting the last block home: Flight behavior consistent with shoplifting offense - Running with a hood up in the rain: Deliberate biometric obfuscation - Two runners meeting at a corner and leaving in opposite directions: Brief contact event, possible hand…

2036 crime prevention, detecting this behaviour and automatically forwarding it to the police to be referenced later for probable cause.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#47
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a big enough problem in Brazil that the government has an official app to report incidents of phone theft: https://www.gov.br/pt-br/apps/celular-seguro-br https://www.gov.br/pt-br/servicos/comunicar-roubo-furto-de-a...

>an official app to report incidents of phone theft I can't be the only person to see the irony here. Do they also have a drive-thru to report car theft?

After you install it you cana "safe contact" or do the reporting on a website which will blocklist the phone's IMEI on all phone companies, block any banking app sessions and remotely wipe the phone.

It also functions as a public searchable database of stolen phones, allowing a prospective buyer of a second hand device to check it.

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#48
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is "snatching a phone and running off" a common enough problem in some regions that this is worth having? Yes absolutely https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/phone-london-snatch-9.7204104

Thanks! Given this was CBC, my jaw hit the floor when I saw London. I live 20 mins from London, Ontario and 70k thefts in a year would be _insane_. Then I realized it was about London, U.K. and my jaw only hit the table. 70k is still insane, though.

The number is too high, but dropping: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx4762znr6o

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#49

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"

It's not exactly what you asked for, but the public transit and multimodal focused apps are generally much better at this stuff. I like CityMapper and Transit.

Neither is good for turn-by-turn directions, but both are good for "what are all the different ways to get there"

Re: My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

#50

Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…

My Apple Watch asks me if I am doing an outdoor walk everytime I am at Disney World. It sometimes takes 15 minutes to notice. Imho if its going to ask me this it should know every time I get to Disney that I am going to walk all day long and account for it.
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