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WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

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Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#561
post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do one cope on a day to day basis with this level of blatant bullshittery, apart from justifying it with a golden salary? Is this person aware that her role is to enact a farce, or even engineer such farce?

[flagged]

> We've been told the world will be generally a better place if we only manage to get more women into management positions.

Which is probably true. Not magically because they’re women, but because they’re different from the status quo. Having people of different genders, races, backgrounds, life experiences in positions of power increases the pool of knowledge and understanding of the world and allows solutions to problems which the other groups are blind to. Diversity is the goal, not just specifically women.

> They are supposedly the better humans, and would never engage in manipulative tactics...

That is an argument no one is making. You’re attacking a straw man. Of course women can be bad leaders too. Anyone can.

> So whatever she is doing, it must be good and in good faith.

As opposed to your argument, I’d say. Using one single specific example from one single specific person on one single specific case to “counter” a general thought that doesn’t even correspond to what you claimed is disingenuous.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#563
post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but they did it because Australia forced them to.

Got a source for that?

They got sued (and lost) back in 2014 in Australia for not having a refund policy: https://www.techradar.com/news/heres-valves-official-stateme...

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#564

Does anyone know what's the state of the art way for cutting crap out of android apps? In the same way adblock cuts crap out of web pages? I assume one would need a Java disassembler at least. On desktop, something like recaf works and allows changing things in classes without the full recompilation. Is there something like this for android?

DNS blocking with tools like DNSNet get you halfway there without tampering with the apps. It installs itself like a VPN and filters dns requests to ad domains using lists from the same sources as the adblockers. I say halfway because some apps have a fallback, built-in, ad when it can't reach the server, other serve the ads from their own servers so no way to block them. Most only leave a blank space.

On Android there's also "Private DNS" where you can set a different server to resolve domain names. This way, you won't need to install and run additional apps and can still use VPN for ... well VPN.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thanks to Australian customer protection laws, Steam has some of the most lenient refund policies among digital software stores. You can usually get a full refund if your play time is less than a few hours. I think it’s actually worldwide?

Sony does not follow this, how are they getting away with it?

My point is, this is just something Steam does, not something they are required to do (at least not everywhere).

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Signal is free. And ad-free

Sure, it's a rare case of a project which is sponsored and paid for by a billionaire. I wish there were more such projects, but you can't base an economy on charity from billionaires.

True enough. But I think in this case it's worth just enjoying how great Signal is. Maybe one day it will bend to enshittification, but for now, it's the better app.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#567
post #412

I would say xmpp apps are just fine at this point of time and will be able to help out

Indeed. I've been running an xmpp server for a small group of non technical friends, it's been fine for years.

well. Great there are a lot of public servers that are there. Atleast better than whataspp using your data. OMEO encryption makes sure not even the server maintainer sees your data.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#568

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it unsustainable? As far as I know they were simply competent. They charged $1/year, so had ~half a billion in revenue, right? They probably could've bumped that to $2-$5/year with similar uptake. And they ran it with ~500 servers and 50 employees 12 years ago, so could probably do the same with ~50 or fewer servers today.

They never charged everyone. I was on Android back then and never paid a dime. Neither did anyone I know who was using Whatsapp on Android

It was free on Android but paid on IOS.

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#569
post #369

Does anyone know what's the state of the art way for cutting crap out of android apps? In the same way adblock cuts crap out of web pages? I assume one would need a Java disassembler at least. On desktop, something like recaf works and allows changing things in classes without the full recompilation. Is there something like this for android?

https://revanced.app/ for applying premade patches to APKs

Had no idea this existed even though I'm running a rooted phone for over 10 years now... Thanks so much!

Re: WhatsApp introduces ads in its app

#570
post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd literally PAY for a mod taking away the "updates" tab. I don't care about stories nor I want channels shoved in my face. I just need to message someone, from time to time.

I found the solution by convincing all my friends and family, one by one, to move to Signal. I still use Whatsapp for people who did not migrate, but it's surprisingly possible (if not easy) to convince people to use another app

I moved my family over to Signal years ago.

Anyone new who wants to message me, I simply say "I'm on Signal" and if it's important enough, they go and install it; it's been fairly frictionless, after all how hard is it to download an app and go through the fairly minimal registration process; and for someone already using WhatsApp, "one more account" probably isn't a major concern.

I tried various steps in the past to retain access to WhatsApp for a couple of people who didn't move, by having a work account on my phone, with a second SIM, but a one-click mistake one time gave WhatsApp my entire contact list from the "Personal" sandbox account, and I've decided not to even bother again.

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