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> Google allowing apps to read > phone IMEI in Android An unpopular sentiment, but this is why I love iOS. I genuinely don't think any of my apps can meani

> Google allowing apps to read > phone IMEI in Android An unpopular sentiment, but this is why I love iOS. I genuinely don't think any of my apps can meaningfully spy on me without my having told them they may. I even get reminders if I've let an app read my location in the background, to check that's what I want to do.

twsted 10y ago
Not so unpopular...
- peteretep 10y ago
  Historically unpopular :-)
imcrs 10y ago
This was the primary reason I chose iOS over android.
bad_user 10y ago
Even though I like Android more, I have to agree that iOS has had a better privacy story. But even iOS has problems. For example I cannot force apps like Waze or Uber to only use my location while using them, you have to either disable location for them completely, or to allow them to take your location while running in the background. It's an either/or proposition and the result is that Waze and Uber users do have their location tracked, because the apps are not usable with the location completely disabled and enabling location on demand is too painful. While in traffic, imagine sitting at a red light, wanting to turn on GPS navigation to take you home or something and having to enable location in iOS's settings. And you may have given them permission, you may know about it, but are you going to stop using Waze and Uber if you don't agree? I think I know the answer for most people. And also, even with your permission, as a matter of fact it's still irresponsible to let them track your location in the background, even if you currently trust those companies.
- et-al 10y ago
  > For example I cannot force apps like Waze or Uber to only use my location while using them, you have to either disable location for them completely, or to allow them to take your location while running in the background. What if one quits the app? Then it's no longer in the background and can't track your location, right?
- peteretep 10y ago
  Yeah, those are valid concerns. The other thing I'd like is incompatibility with password managers being an automatic approval fail for the app store, in particular fields that disable paste for passwords.
- iaskwhy 10y ago
  Isn't that good though? It allows competitors to appear with that advantage of having better privacy. I mean, the problem is not the way iOS handles it, it's the way app developers abuse their permissions.
- robinson-wall 10y ago
  I don't think iOS is to blame for the binary choice that you get with Uber / Waze. I have some apps which have three choices in the location services settings (Always, While using the app, Never) so it seems like a choice by the developer.
  - masklinn 10y ago
    Well Apple could have made the list unmodifiable so that application can't "opt out" of the "while using the app" setting.
    - zimpenfish 10y ago
      But then every app would just go for "Always" in case they ever wanted to change it in the future and we'd all lose.
      - 10y ago
metafunctor 10y ago
This is exactly why I use iOS over Android on my main phone. With iOS, I only need to trust Apple (approximately). They have a pretty good track record of respecting their users' privacy, and enforcing app vendors to do the same. With Android, I need to trust a lot more parties, like Google, the hardware vendor, and every app I use to not do something crazy or shady without asking or notifying me first.
- frik 10y ago
  Well, I thought the same about Microsoft. Back in the days, Microsoft had a good track record. And you bought the product, they were the biggest software company, etc. But late Steve Palmer and especially Nadella changed Microsoft completely. Nowadays, the user is the product, Windows 10 spies on you and send keystrokes, audio, install apps and what not to various IP adresses, you cannot deactivate it, ads in startmenu, pre-installed adware apps, etc. And Snowden revaled that Microsoft was the first company to hand over data (Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com). So the trust in Microsoft is gone. I hope Apple keeps it good track record.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

twsted 10y ago

Not so unpopular...

peteretep 10y ago
Historically unpopular :-)

imcrs 10y ago

This was the primary reason I chose iOS over android.

bad_user 10y ago

Even though I like Android more, I have to agree that iOS has had a better privacy story. But even iOS has problems. For example I cannot force apps like Waze or Uber to only use my location while using them, you have to either disable location for them completely, or to allow them to take your location while running in the background. It's an either/or proposition and the result is that Waze and Uber users do have their location tracked, because the apps are not usable with the location completely disabled and enabling location on demand is too painful. While in traffic, imagine sitting at a red light, wanting to turn on GPS navigation to take you home or something and having to enable location in iOS's settings. And you may have given them permission, you may know about it, but are you going to stop using Waze and Uber if you don't agree? I think I know the answer for most people. And also, even with your permission, as a matter of fact it's still irresponsible to let them track your location in the background, even if you currently trust those companies.

et-al 10y ago
> For example I cannot force apps like Waze or Uber to only use my location while using them, you have to either disable location for them completely, or to allow them to take your location while running in the background. What if one quits the app? Then it's no longer in the background and can't track your location, right?
peteretep 10y ago
Yeah, those are valid concerns. The other thing I'd like is incompatibility with password managers being an automatic approval fail for the app store, in particular fields that disable paste for passwords.
iaskwhy 10y ago
Isn't that good though? It allows competitors to appear with that advantage of having better privacy. I mean, the problem is not the way iOS handles it, it's the way app developers abuse their permissions.
robinson-wall 10y ago
I don't think iOS is to blame for the binary choice that you get with Uber / Waze. I have some apps which have three choices in the location services settings (Always, While using the app, Never) so it seems like a choice by the developer.
- masklinn 10y ago
  Well Apple could have made the list unmodifiable so that application can't "opt out" of the "while using the app" setting.
  - zimpenfish 10y ago
    But then every app would just go for "Always" in case they ever wanted to change it in the future and we'd all lose.
    - 10y ago

metafunctor 10y ago

This is exactly why I use iOS over Android on my main phone. With iOS, I only need to trust Apple (approximately). They have a pretty good track record of respecting their users' privacy, and enforcing app vendors to do the same. With Android, I need to trust a lot more parties, like Google, the hardware vendor, and every app I use to not do something crazy or shady without asking or notifying me first.

frik 10y ago
Well, I thought the same about Microsoft. Back in the days, Microsoft had a good track record. And you bought the product, they were the biggest software company, etc. But late Steve Palmer and especially Nadella changed Microsoft completely. Nowadays, the user is the product, Windows 10 spies on you and send keystrokes, audio, install apps and what not to various IP adresses, you cannot deactivate it, ads in startmenu, pre-installed adware apps, etc. And Snowden revaled that Microsoft was the first company to hand over data (Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com). So the trust in Microsoft is gone. I hope Apple keeps it good track record.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]