4 ms·

Uninstalling the horeshit is easy, trusting the replacement app is the next problem. Anyway, there is an easy fix. Both Android and IOS allows you to disable G

by Too 9y ago

Uninstalling the horeshit is easy, trusting the replacement app is the next problem. Anyway, there is an easy fix. Both Android and IOS allows you to disable GPS permissions for specific apps. Just disable it and add your home town as favorite. 1. Weather reports aren't that local. 2. You rarely travel frequent enough that this becomes an inconvenience, and if you are traveling that frequent, you are more likely interested in the weather at your next destination rather than current location.

tinus_hn 9y ago
Except this app notes the wifi hotspots you connect to so they can still track you if you turn off location permissions. I don't know why Apple haven't removed them from the App Store yet.
on_and_off 9y ago
Some apps check their permission at each start. I recently started dating a chinese gal and she insists we communicate through wechat. At this point, I must have at least 10 chat services on my phone, what's one more ? Unfortunately, it asks for many permissions at the first startup and checks them everytime. Also, it displays an annoying popup over the mic icon in order to make me give it that permission too .. I have just stopped using that app. Unfortunately this kind of issue never gets a lot of attention and I feel like I sound like a tinfoil conspirationist when I explain that I don't want to give my location and contact list to random companies.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  iOS or Android? On Android, if I tell an app "no" enough times (2?), the system UI offers me a checkbox: "never ask about this again". Although I suppose the app itself can show "please enable" messages outside of the system UI...
  - on_and_off 9y ago
    I have not checked on iOS but I guess the app has the same behavior there since the 2 platforms privacy models are now pretty similar : At each startup (and also maybe at each screen display, I have not checked that far) the app checks its permissions. It first displays a full screen splash (already a big nono for a messaging app, these must load quickly) during that time. If it misses either contacts or localization it will ask for these. Since it checks each time, even if you accept at first and revoke afterward, it will still ask again the next time you use the app (and revoking permissions understandably restarts the app). Of course you can refuse them permanently but then the app will be stuck on that screen with a popup asking you to activate these permissions. So far, it is the only messaging app I have seen with such an aggressive approach to critical permissions. It can also be argued that the app does not need any of these to offer its core feature.
hashmal 9y ago
The scandal comes from the fact that the location info is transmitted when GPS permissions are already disabled, and at a level much more precise than the weather location you chose.

by Too 9y ago

tinus_hn 9y ago

Except this app notes the wifi hotspots you connect to so they can still track you if you turn off location permissions. I don't know why Apple haven't removed them from the App Store yet.

on_and_off 9y ago

Some apps check their permission at each start. I recently started dating a chinese gal and she insists we communicate through wechat. At this point, I must have at least 10 chat services on my phone, what's one more ? Unfortunately, it asks for many permissions at the first startup and checks them everytime. Also, it displays an annoying popup over the mic icon in order to make me give it that permission too .. I have just stopped using that app. Unfortunately this kind of issue never gets a lot of attention and I feel like I sound like a tinfoil conspirationist when I explain that I don't want to give my location and contact list to random companies.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
iOS or Android? On Android, if I tell an app "no" enough times (2?), the system UI offers me a checkbox: "never ask about this again". Although I suppose the app itself can show "please enable" messages outside of the system UI...
- on_and_off 9y ago
  I have not checked on iOS but I guess the app has the same behavior there since the 2 platforms privacy models are now pretty similar : At each startup (and also maybe at each screen display, I have not checked that far) the app checks its permissions. It first displays a full screen splash (already a big nono for a messaging app, these must load quickly) during that time. If it misses either contacts or localization it will ask for these. Since it checks each time, even if you accept at first and revoke afterward, it will still ask again the next time you use the app (and revoking permissions understandably restarts the app). Of course you can refuse them permanently but then the app will be stuck on that screen with a popup asking you to activate these permissions. So far, it is the only messaging app I have seen with such an aggressive approach to critical permissions. It can also be argued that the app does not need any of these to offer its core feature.

hashmal 9y ago

The scandal comes from the fact that the location info is transmitted when GPS permissions are already disabled, and at a level much more precise than the weather location you chose.