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Your phone is about to stop being yours

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Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#641

Post by aucisson_masque »

poolnoodle wrote: post #606
aucisson_masque wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but where you were losing a lot, you're now losing only a little bit. And on the other side, the benefits of using iOS over Android spyware outweighs the cons now.

You really think Apple doesn't gather data on what you do on your devices? This notion that Android == spyware is so old and boring but HN just loves Apple.

I'm sure they do collect data but not to the point that they hamper functionality. They still focus first and foremost on usability, functionality whereas Google focus on collecting data, serving ads and then on functionality.

But yeah, there is no doubt in my mind that they both collect as much as they can.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#643

Post by mvdwoord »

pngwen wrote: post #68

This change has served me well! I have been a Mac OS X users for years who used an android phone. As soon as google announced their impending walled garden status, I went out and bought into the ios eco system. I have really been enjoying my iphone, ipad, and apple watch. You see, the only value that Android really offered me was the ability to run my own code on my own device. Since they are taking that away that ju…

I have recently made the same move... mostly because it allowed me to stop using my google and microsoft accounts. Moved all personal (and family domain) and business from google workspace / O365 all into fastmail. Bought an iPhone (already worked with macs and an iPad for more than a decade. Not about particular preferences but this setup allows me to only be dependent on one bigcorp. Android still requires a google account, the rest was not necessary but I have above all else made a mental switch to simplify.

I do not feel iOS is particularly better... some things are, some things are not. Yes android was more customizable, and yes the universal back and home buttons are still better than the multi tap and hidden gestures on iOS. But overall some pleasantries such as shared clipboard, seamless headphone switch over, and overall simplification so far, is working very well for me.

I simply need a phone on a major platform, as my job (and life) requires to have certain apps which only run on (non-rooted) Android or iOS phones. And I am tired of fighting and adapting.. so I now just use most of the default apps everywhere, and whatever does or does not work, I take it mostly as-is. For now it seems to allow me to just worry less about it and focus on the things I actually want or need to do .. send email, read message, visit a website, listen to a podcast and not fret about the tiniest of UX details.

I would love to live in a world where I could run around with a customized linux laptop and some sort of privacy respecting phone (e.g. Graphene) but the hurdles are not really worth it to me anymore. Sad in a way, as without counter pressure.. things will not necessarily get better, I know. The 22C3 talk by Rop and Frank I think was depressing, and true.

We lost the war.

https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/fahrplan/events/920.en.h...

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#644

Post by coldtea »

globular-toast wrote: post #602
ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #583

Someone here on HN used the term "cloud terminal" for modern electronic devices, and I think that is a very fitting name for phones and tablets. They are definitely not computers because they do not actually give the user access to general purpose computing in the sense that the users can control exactly what computations the device is going to execute. They are just terminals whose production costs we cover but whic…

Well, they can do computing, but it's awkward and most people don't use them for that, it's true. The question of ownership is interesting. If I buy a chair, it doesn't make a very good table, does that mean I don't own it? Most people don't know what general purpose computing is. To them a cloud terminal is a computer. So, to them, they do own their devices because that's all they are. I feel like some of us think w…

>The question of ownership is interesting. If I buy a chair, it doesn't make a very good table, does that mean I don't own it?

A better comparison is buying a chair where the seller gets to aprove who sits and when.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#645

Post by clutter55561 »

I think of my iPhone as a phone plus a mobile browser plus a biometric device. It has a lot of memory and a lot of compute power but that is just because all the crap sites and apps out there, unnecessary animations, etc. One could also claim that a phone is a mobile gaming device, although that is not my thing.

Biometrics is the feature that confers all the power to Apple and Google. All sorts of shady things can be done in the name of security and privacy.

The internet would be a much better place if browsing and biometrics were done in different devices.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#647

Post by seba_dos1 »

kzhe wrote: post #520
a_victorp wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a Wine-like compatibility layer for android alternatives

doesn't waydroid already do this? is that how sailfish does it?

Yes, I have been able to run Android applications within Waydroid on my phone for years now (as long as they don't require attestation). But that's not how Sailfish does it, they have their own proprietary implementation.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#648

Post by yason »

kube-system wrote: post #263
supern0va wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Unfortunately that is the same vector that scammers use to drain people's bank accounts Is the solution really that no one can use a computer without special permission and inspection of government issued identification? If we wouldn't tolerate this with our desktop/laptop OS, why is it suddenly okay for our mobile computing platforms? If Microsoft required this to run software in Windows, there would be riots.

> Is the solution really that no one can use a computer without special permission and inspection of government issued identification? No, that is neither the only solution nor is it the one proposed here by Google.

Only physical practicalities will prevent this thinking be applied throughoutly: we can't have guardians preventing people from being scammed face to face. But having to identify yourself on a desktop computer and only be allowed to install software vetted by Microsoft and bunch of governments is readily on the books for the kind of thinking that makes these suggestions.

That's where it inevitably leads to. If people can't be allowed to be responsible for X, next they can't be allowed to be responsible for Y, then Z -- all for their own sake. Google taking some mythical "responsibility" on behalf of their users means the users are left powerless and that is that something Google wants more than just being a "good guy" who protects people from conmen.

It's not like people simply couldn't just limit themselves to installing apps from Google Play already, without these "guardrails". Android currently does make it clear that installing unknown apks from an external source is risky and shouldn't be done unless you really, really know what you're doing. No further technical solutions are required for the problem. You can't fix stupidity with technical means.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#650

Post by YcYc10 »

imoverclocked wrote: post #128

"Tap the build number 7 times" ... "wait 24 hours" Throw a pinch of salt over your left (wait, no ... right) shoulder. Spin around clockwise 3 times. Read the Rosary twice. AHA! So, they are allowing users to keep doing what they want.

This flow will be managed by google play services, not locally.
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