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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”

#81

Post by rsynnott »

marssaxman wrote: post #43
rsynnott wrote: post #21

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

They have big offices in San Francisco, and also in New York, Dublin, Zurich, London, and various other cities where this stuff matters, though, these days (their Dublin office is right beside the train station that it insists I shouldn't go to, because walking!). You'd think it would've gotten fixed at some point.

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

#82

Post by rsynnott »

scarby2 wrote: post #40
rsynnott wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in Ireland. I’ve also noticed it doing very silly things in Germany and the UK. It’s fine for pure walking directions, but it gets unhappy about the idea of someone using public transport walking.

there really needs to be a configurable rules/decisions engine. I.e. i would prefer to walk everywhere, i will take public transit if it saves me more than 15 minutes total or 5 minutes per leg, evaluate this at every interchange node. There are some routings in london for example where the best course of action is actually to take a train, get off walk 5 minutes then take a different train, google will always tell y…

I'd also be able to tell it "never suggest that I get bus routes A, B or C; they do not in practice turn up on time".

> There are some routings in london for example where the best course of action is actually to take a train, get off walk 5 minutes then take a different train, google will always tell you to stay on the train to a point where you can change trains in the same station.

Had a good one in Amsterdam recently; rather than walk 9 minutes to the nearby central station and get a train there, it wanted me to walk 6 minutes to the central station's metro station entrance (which was a bit closer), get a metro, then join the train at another station entirely. Would have taken about twice as long.

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

#83

Post by rsynnott »

WheatMillington wrote: post #55
juujian wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember Google maps working well for walking around in Europe. Ever since I've moved to America, not so much. Go figure...

Google isn't making arbitrary decisions here - it's reflecting social norms. Americans aren't big on walking. I've seen pictures of beautiful leafy suburbs that don't even have sidewalks.

Google has giant offices in NYC. Like, you'd think this would have come up.

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

#84

Post by rsynnott »

rsynnott wrote: post #21

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…

While I am on the subject, Google Maps seems to be somewhat aware of big awkward train stations which take ages to navigate, and applies a time penalty. That's good (though also a bit inconsistent). However, it seems to assume that metro stations are of zero size; you go in the door, and immediately get on any line. This is very not true in some places.

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

#85

Post by rsynnott »

mattlondon wrote: post #51
Waterluvian wrote: post #2

Is "snatching a phone and running off" a common enough problem in some regions that this is worth having? Or is this a feature chasing after fears of the bogeyman, leading to concrete inconveniences like this?

Massive in London.

Eh, it certainly gets a lot of _attention_, and London is very, very big, so the absolute numbers are impressive-looking. The chances of it actually happening to any given person are extremely low, though.

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

#86

Post by bombcar »

gleenn wrote: post #17
bombcar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever since phones became pretty immune to reselling-theft (steal phone, reset it, sell it) people have been snatching phones and trying to empty crypto, banks, etc before it locks. Some apps don't reauthenticate.

Bonus security on iPhone - if you long-press on any app, you can click "Require Face ID" and it will make thieves need your face again to open bank or sensitive apps. I did this for all my financial apps amd also email so they can't reset passwords. It isna minor inconvenience but would hopefully prevent an unlocked phone from being stolen and having bank accounts emptied.

The email is what most people miss. Unlocked phone = SMS and email for most people.

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

#87

Post by bombcar »

Waterluvian wrote: post #14
bombcar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever since phones became pretty immune to reselling-theft (steal phone, reset it, sell it) people have been snatching phones and trying to empty crypto, banks, etc before it locks. Some apps don't reauthenticate.

Interesting point. The article linked in a sibling comment (about 2025 thefts) suggests that they are being resold. Which makes sense if it's a $2000 product that's so stealable. But I do recall there being a lot of difficulty resetting a phone that isn't yours. Do you feel the is article wrong? Are there ways around it? Is "pretty immune to reselling-theft" a newer feature than 2025?

If I have your unlocked iPhone, I could probably reset your Apple ID because I have access to your email and your texts so I can reset your Apple ID password unlock your phone unlock. Remove it from Find My and reset it.

It makes me wonder if there’s some way to put a third lock on there that’s not normally unlocked.

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

#89

Post by [deleted] »

juujian wrote: post #24
rsynnott wrote: post #21

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…

I remember Google maps working well for walking around in Europe. Ever since I've moved to America, not so much. Go figure...

[deleted]

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

#90

Post by arjvik »

scoofy wrote: post #66
rsynnott wrote: post #21

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…

I think this likely has more to do with the NP Hard problem of generating directions more than it has to do with bad design.

Shortest-Path (Djikstra's) is in P :)
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