14 ms·
this is why I don't use an android device as my primary phone, even though my perception is that you get rather more bang for your buck, hardware wise, on andro
by lsc 11y ago
this is why I don't use an android device as my primary phone, even though my perception is that you get rather more bang for your buck, hardware wise, on android phones, and even though the samsung gear VR looks like someone implemented one of my less-realistic fantasies.
On IOS, yes, uber asks for access to my contacts list, I click 'no' and uber works just fine (modulo the 'spam my friends' feature, which I didn't want anyhow.)
On an android, my understanding is that I've gotta chose between giving uber permission to spam my contacts list and simply not using uber, which is sad, because uber is way more convenient than a yellow cab.
This contributes to the perception that because IOS is paid for up-front, apple is willing to do things that might make apps less profitable, if it makes those apps better for the users, but that Android, because it is paid for by advertising, is less willing to side with the user against the app providers/advertisers.
- 5ersi 11y agoThis is how it works in Android 6 - permissions are requested as needed and user can deny them individually. Unfortunately apps have to be build against the new API, so it does not happen automatically for old apps.
- izacus 11y agoYou can deny permissions individually for older apps as well.
- anowlcalledjosh 11y agoThey aren't capable of handling the case where they aren't given access to a permission though, so that makes them potentially more prone to crashing.
- unlinker 11y agoMy idea is that if they try to access your contacts, instead of receiving a potentially unhandled "access denied" exception, they should just receive an empty contact list. Et cetera.
- lsc 11y agoInteresting! I hadn't heard anything about it past the 4.4.2 kerfluffle[1] I thought I looked, but maybe I haven't looked hard enough? - I've had family complain to me that they can't use uber because of the 'uber wants access to my contacts' issue. hm. Perhaps I ought to research this; the gear VR does seem really great, especially if you can somehow wire a text editor into it. (I already have a bluetooth mechanical keyboard) [1]https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/google-removes-vital-privacy-features-android-shortly-after-adding-them https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/google-removes-vital-p...