Pardon my unawareness, but why would Swype get my location again?
It's explained in the post. To figure out the regional dialect.
So if I'm on vacation in France, suddenly I get the French keyboard?
Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
111–120 of 168 posts
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#112Actually, to me it sounds like a bug with Swype when location access is blocked. The users in the thread with the large amount of requests all have the location permission blocked. Other users with Privacy Guard installed as well (so they can see the amount of location requests) who have not blocked location access report that it only made the request once. So it just sounds like if it fails the initial request it co…
possibly. but its every 20 seconds, not every few minutes… 4000 / 24 * 60 = 4000 / 1440 = 2.777 => 60 / 2.7 = 21 seconds
If Swype tried to get your location every 20 seconds on purpose, it would drain you battery within a few hours.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Random dummy data would be even better - if you return blank, you give the app a way to know that it's being blocked. Apps are guests in the user's back yard, not the other way around.
How do you provide random dummy data for a Contact List permission without a) running the risk of crashing the app, or b) making it obvious to the app that it's receiving dummy data? Is android supposed to return a well structured list of fake names and emails? Would instagram show me a list of made up names and user id's if I faked my contacts?
If Android has a way of faking location data, I don't see why a contact list would be any different:
https://developer.android.com/training/location/location-tes...
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
no need to change APIs, just let AppOps insert shim between apps and API calls and return empty datasets instead of null/failing whole calls. Let that app ask for my location, but let me define location it returns when I refuse real location. Same for contacts/messages.
...let me define location it returns when I refuse real location. This would destroy some apps, e.g. Ingress.
In a sense it already does: there were instances of Ingress players "moving" from place to place at 200km/h or so during rush hour in London.
IMHO it's better if developers know about fake data so they can factor them in, using plausibility checks. As is, they seem to assume that the data source is real.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#115Does this mean we can't even trust the input options on a phone now? After blocking this, does it also mean I'm now going to have to change every password I've ever typed on my device? FFS.
Why did you start using Swype if you didn't trust them in the first place? Of course your keyboard can log everything you type.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#116Actually, to me it sounds like a bug with Swype when location access is blocked. The users in the thread with the large amount of requests all have the location permission blocked. Other users with Privacy Guard installed as well (so they can see the amount of location requests) who have not blocked location access report that it only made the request once. So it just sounds like if it fails the initial request it co…
possibly. but its every 20 seconds, not every few minutes… 4000 / 24 * 60 = 4000 / 1440 = 2.777 => 60 / 2.7 = 21 seconds
Someone didn't use exponential backoff perhaps?
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#117Maybe this is caused by using Google Play Services to get the location. The location tracking of Google Play Services is basically a black box, that tracks the users movement very accurately. It could be that we don't see the count of location requests Swype made, but instead the count of location requests Google Play Services makes.
Its also incredibly buggy. I've had it drain my battery randomly. On top of that, I noticed my maps application on my new N5 wasn't working correctly. It seemed to update once and then never again. I went into the location services and there was a EULA waiting for me to say yes to. Once I said yes, it worked, but wow, that's not how to do business. I should get that prompt in the maps app or when the phone boots up t…
The update dialog should also be displayed upon opening the Play Store app, but yes I agree.
The user should be given the option to upgrade the moment an app requests a feature not provided by the current Google Play Services version.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why wouldn't Google want users to have such powerful control over their devices? It's always explained like this: Because it's "simpler." Because "things will break if the user does something wrong." Because "the average user won't need it." Those same poor excuses have been responsible for so much loss of privacy and freedom elsewhere, not just by Google. To me, they're deliberately preventing users from having too…
Or, rather, it could be because the feature was unfinished and tended to crash applications when they don't get the stuff that's called for (and the user authorized) on the permission manifest. http://pocketnow.com/2013/12/17/app-ops Something something malice stupidity. But no, let's bring out the torches and pitchforks...
What happens today if an app requires address book access but the user has an empty address book?
What happens today if an app requires calendar access but the user has never added anything to the calendar?
What happens today if an app requires location but the user is out of both GPS coverage and wi-fi range?
App Ops should simply be passing apps the results of the above cases when denying them to a an app built for the current Android permissions system.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
On iOS you can disable any permission at any time for any application and it's plainly explicit in the API. I've never seen any application do what you describe. The typical example people make is Facebook, which they assume would block you if denied your location but instead works just fine when you remove access to location, camera, photos, and contacts. I don't see why they would behave differently on Android.
For the straightforward example I gave there would be a backlash, especially for the bigger names. But that doesn't mean it's a stable situation, or that other examples wouldn't escape outrage in a different context - "This video can only be played if you enable Location Permission so that we can verify you are in the correct region." The goal when designing an interface should be to get it right , not to make someth…
As I said, your conjecture is proved wrong by reality.
Re: Swype makes almost 4000 location requests every day
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Proprietary applications spy on their users constantly. It's no surprise that Swype is making these location requests. Rooting your phone isn't an answer in itself. Rooting allows you to install a more free Android distro like Replicant or CyanogenMod. However, if you're still using proprietary applications then you haven't accomplished too much. iOS users have no chance at all. There is no freedom in the iThings. Ap…
"However, if you're still using proprietary applications then you haven't accomplished too much." Wrong. You can revoke the permission to request the location with apps like App Ops X (needs root).
theoretically, you don't need root (at least with Android 4.3) http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/25/app-ops-android-4-3s...