I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report • Hacker News Board

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#471

Post by skygazer » Wed, May 02, 2018, 9:14 PM UTC

Fej wrote: post #452

uhhhhhhh wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got to say I have the exact opposite experience. It got to the point I now don't do apple/iphone support for family. The number of itunes issues, osx keystore issues, technical issues with phones was taking a lot of time, and user issues with the iphone never ended. My parents, sisters, and any aunts/uncles nearby that I support are all on windows 10 with android phones. My results. 1. Time spend supporting fami…

Moral of the story: anecdotes are not evidence.

This, in it self, seems like a generalization of an anecdote.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#472

Post by philliphaydon » Thu, May 03, 2018, 1:51 AM UTC

codetrotter wrote: post #199

philliphaydon wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand your reply: he dismisses it because the issue doesn’t exist on iPhone so he doesn’t have to worry... that’s not dangerous.

I think he’s saying that it’s dangerous to think that your messages are safe from being uploaded to other companies because even if your device protects you, the people that you message might be using devices that do not. Ideally then you’d limit the amount of SMS messages you send at all, and use a secure messenger like Riot.im. There is no such thing as 100% security and privacy but we should strive to achieve the…

Ah that's a really good point!

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#473

Post by thomastjeffery » Thu, May 03, 2018, 7:08 AM UTC

s73v3r_ wrote: post #424

thomastjeffery wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that it isn't preinstalled, while iMessage and Facetime are. Apple tries very hard to convince its users that its practices are not the problem, but those who choose not to use Apple products. Anything that doesn't come preinstalled is seen as an unnecessary inconvenience by most iPhone users.

Given that the app is free, and that people are willing to install apps their friends recommend, I don't think this is much of a barrier. WhatsApp doesn't seem to have this issue, for instance.

> I don't think this is much of a barrier.

Unfortunately, many iOS users do, and Apple cultivates that attitude as its culture.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#474

Post by s73v3r_ » Thu, May 03, 2018, 4:20 PM UTC

thomastjeffery wrote: post #473

s73v3r_ wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that the app is free, and that people are willing to install apps their friends recommend, I don't think this is much of a barrier. WhatsApp doesn't seem to have this issue, for instance.

> I don't think this is much of a barrier. Unfortunately, many iOS users do, and Apple cultivates that attitude as its culture.

No, they just prefer what iOS provides, or they don't know many people who use WhatsApp. For all it's popularity elsewhere, here in the States, WhatsApp is not used very much.

I've never downloaded WhatsApp, mainly because I don't know anyone who's on it. That's a bigger barrier than anything being preinstalled.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#475

Post by syshum » Thu, May 03, 2018, 11:43 PM UTC

saagarjha wrote: post #447

syshum wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes an a responsible person that downloaded a photo app that requested access to "your contacts, location history, notification center, and firstborn child" would choose not to install it. If you continue to install those apps you only have yourself to blame IMO

But on Android pretty much any app does this. Just look at what Google Photos needs: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...

Using a Core Android App developed by Google, that used to be a part of ASOP, and it required to be installed on all Play Store Eligible Android Devices is not a good example of "Pretty much any app does this"

I have all kinds of apps that do not do this, only asking for permissions they need

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#476

Post by nvarsj » Fri, May 04, 2018, 7:13 PM UTC

dalore wrote: post #404

nvarsj wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://thehackernews.com/2018/03/android-botnet-malware.htm... This malware was installed on vanilla phones including those from Samsung, out of the factory. Regarding LastPass, it used the accessibility option, which as far as I know basically let's it watch your screen - aka it's a full on screen logger. On top of this most Android devices are way out of date (Samsung in particular is terrible about updating their…

Yes you described LastPass exactly as I said. You need to go and turn it on as accessibility services. You get told anything turned on can see you screen/keys etc. And with that you have control and visibility as you can see what apps you have given permissions vs ones you don't. You make the conscious decision to grant that sort of permission and for that you get a better user experience. Apple is more like the outd…

I regret the flame bait in my previous post. I think both platforms have their drawbacks. But I still disagree that Android can be considered more secure. Apple is good at rolling out security updates to all devices as soon as a security vulnerability happens - that doesn't, and can't happen on Android due to fragmentation and reliance on OEMs. Hence my Win95 comment, which had a similar problem.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#477

Post by oillio » Fri, May 04, 2018, 10:23 PM UTC

sorenjan wrote: post #385

mathgeek wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a subset of the family that uses facetime, they don't talk to the rest of us as often anymore. To me, this is one of the greatest shortcomings of video chat. We went from a universal phone system to a mostly universal SMS system (most private networks still supported SMS) to a segregated video chat system, and it hurts relationships if you're not careful.

We had video chat before the iPhone. It's part of the UMTS standard and was one of the major selling points when the carriers rolled it out in the early 2000's. I don't know much about its technical merits, it would surprise me if it was any good using today's standards, but it was cross platform and could have been built upon if the two new mobile OS makers had been interested. But since the iPhone didn't even have…

I am sure the cell carriers would have been excited to charge a very hefty premium for that service, if anyone bothered to use it.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#478

Post by efdee » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:31 AM UTC

hellofunk wrote: post #223

efdee wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using Android since 2.x and I sell to remember it has always been like this. The recent change iirc is being able to decline a certain privilege and still use the app.

No, only Android 6 and later has provided proper user permissions [0] : > You declare that your app needs a permission by listing the permission in the app manifest and then requesting that the user approve each permission at runtime (on Android 6.0 and higher). > Beginning with Android 6.0 (API level 23), users can revoke permissions from any app at any time [0] https://developer.android.com/training/permissions/req…

It got better in Android 6.0 but it was as described long before that.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#479

Post by efdee » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:32 AM UTC

saagarjha wrote: post #111

efdee wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using Android since 2.x and I sell to remember it has always been like this. The recent change iirc is being able to decline a certain privilege and still use the app.

Yeah, they'd show you a list of a dozen things that the app was going to use and you basically just tapped the "accept" button because you wanted the app to have access to your photos except now it has access to your contacts, location history, notification center, and firstborn child. Android Marshmallow brought improvements in this area, though.

Which is exactly what the comment was talking about.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#480

Post by ppeetteerr » Mon, May 07, 2018, 1:08 PM UTC

thomastjeffery wrote: post #470

ppeetteerr wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is not abusing anyone (maybe their assembly workers, but even that is a stretch). They are providing a service and no one is forced to use it. At the office, we use Slack and Webex for communication. With some friends, we use Skype and Messenger for video calls, with others it's FaceTime. No one is ostracized for having an Android. Not at work and certainly not in private. How do you feel like you're being impo…

From Wikipedia: > Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of an entity, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. I would say that their actions clearly fit that description. They are abusing their customers by preventing them from using software outside their controlled ecosystem, and they are purposefully creating incompatible communication protocols in order to make everything around them effectively worse.

You could prevent others from using alternative systems by simply not collaborating with other players (for any one of a million reasons) and not building compatible software. It's not abuse, it's the belief that they don't need other parties to build great product.