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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

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.
    - e_proxus 10y ago
      You misunderstand. The list is for the user to choose, not the app developers. As it is now, Apple allows app developers to disable the middle choice for users, instead of forcing them to support it if the user so chooses.
      - masklinn 10y ago
        > As it is now, Apple allows app developers to disable the middle choice for users, instead of forcing them to support it if the user so chooses. TBF they also allow disabling the final choice, most of my applications (including many built-in applications like Calendar or Maps) only have "never" and "while using the app".
      - zimpenfish 10y ago
        Ah, you mean apps should always have to support the options of "Never", "While using", and "Always" rather than the app specifying which it supports? Sure, makes sense, and I would be on-board with that.
zimpenfish 10y ago
Allowing "While using the app" to cover ~10 minutes of background work after you switch away from the app would fix the Uber issue - at the expense of creating a whole world of confusion about what "using the app" actually covers. An alternative would be a temporary grant for an hour / until the end of the day like you have with "Find Friends". But working out the UX and UI logistics of that are beyond my skills.
te_chris 10y ago
The Uber thing pisses me off, but I've found an easy way around it: Call your cars from city mapper. All the coords get passed along and you're depriving uber of the data they want. Win-win really.

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.
  - e_proxus 10y ago
    You misunderstand. The list is for the user to choose, not the app developers. As it is now, Apple allows app developers to disable the middle choice for users, instead of forcing them to support it if the user so chooses.
    - masklinn 10y ago
      > As it is now, Apple allows app developers to disable the middle choice for users, instead of forcing them to support it if the user so chooses. TBF they also allow disabling the final choice, most of my applications (including many built-in applications like Calendar or Maps) only have "never" and "while using the app".
    - zimpenfish 10y ago
      Ah, you mean apps should always have to support the options of "Never", "While using", and "Always" rather than the app specifying which it supports? Sure, makes sense, and I would be on-board with that.

zimpenfish 10y ago

Allowing "While using the app" to cover ~10 minutes of background work after you switch away from the app would fix the Uber issue - at the expense of creating a whole world of confusion about what "using the app" actually covers. An alternative would be a temporary grant for an hour / until the end of the day like you have with "Find Friends". But working out the UX and UI logistics of that are beyond my skills.

te_chris 10y ago

The Uber thing pisses me off, but I've found an easy way around it: Call your cars from city mapper. All the coords get passed along and you're depriving uber of the data they want. Win-win really.