3 ms·

This is why you either buy an iPhone, Pixel/Nexus, or learn how to port the patches from Pixel/Nexus to your own device. You could also trust someone on XDA, b

This is why you either buy an iPhone, Pixel/Nexus, or learn how to port the patches from Pixel/Nexus to your own device. You could also trust someone on XDA, but that involves trusting a random person. Android security is abysmal.

StavrosK 10y ago
> Android security is abysmal. Android security isn't abysmal. Third-party (non-Google) Android phones' security might be abysmal, but we should compare it to third party iPhones' security.
- deckiedan 10y ago
  No! It's not about "compared to the alternatives", it should be, "compared to what it could be, without hideous restrictions to the end user". And in this regard, I think it probably does count as abysmal.
  - StavrosK 10y ago
    How so? If you buy a device from a manufacturer that doesn't care about security, why is the OS to blame?
    - deckiedan 10y ago
      If I remember correctly, android inc / google set out (with Android) explicitly to create a rebrandable reasonably customisable OS base that all the phone manufacturers could use, modify, set up for their phones, etc. It was intended, and certainly branded to device manufacturers as an OS they can use and 'get all the apps'. The hard/firmware side is part of the OS. By allowing Android to be run on any device w/o decent security, the OS inherits that. A better solution (to my mind) would have been to restrict manufacturers from using the Android brand unless they guarenteed a certain level of support and security updates, etc. Also, having a central (google level) set of base packages which get constant updates and are pulled into all phones, regardless of brand. But it's too late now.
bostand 10y ago
Please, software is not perfect, you find bugs you fix them. And for the record, macbooks had a very similar issue with intel wifi drivers not that many years ago.
- dep_b 10y ago
  The big difference is that all affected MacBooks will get a patch if something like this happens.
  - bostand 10y ago
    IIRC Apple tried to discredit Maynor instead of fixing the problem. Also, remember that this new vulnerability was found by Google not Apple...
    - zwily 10y ago
      So? Most iPhones are patched already, or soon will be.

StavrosK 10y ago

> Android security is abysmal. Android security isn't abysmal. Third-party (non-Google) Android phones' security might be abysmal, but we should compare it to third party iPhones' security.

deckiedan 10y ago
No! It's not about "compared to the alternatives", it should be, "compared to what it could be, without hideous restrictions to the end user". And in this regard, I think it probably does count as abysmal.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  How so? If you buy a device from a manufacturer that doesn't care about security, why is the OS to blame?
  - deckiedan 10y ago
    If I remember correctly, android inc / google set out (with Android) explicitly to create a rebrandable reasonably customisable OS base that all the phone manufacturers could use, modify, set up for their phones, etc. It was intended, and certainly branded to device manufacturers as an OS they can use and 'get all the apps'. The hard/firmware side is part of the OS. By allowing Android to be run on any device w/o decent security, the OS inherits that. A better solution (to my mind) would have been to restrict manufacturers from using the Android brand unless they guarenteed a certain level of support and security updates, etc. Also, having a central (google level) set of base packages which get constant updates and are pulled into all phones, regardless of brand. But it's too late now.

bostand 10y ago

Please, software is not perfect, you find bugs you fix them. And for the record, macbooks had a very similar issue with intel wifi drivers not that many years ago.

dep_b 10y ago
The big difference is that all affected MacBooks will get a patch if something like this happens.
- bostand 10y ago
  IIRC Apple tried to discredit Maynor instead of fixing the problem. Also, remember that this new vulnerability was found by Google not Apple...
  - zwily 10y ago
    So? Most iPhones are patched already, or soon will be.