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And arguably far more necessary. We have our phones turned on and with us almost 100% of the time we are alive. They can track our locations and hear everything

And arguably far more necessary. We have our phones turned on and with us almost 100% of the time we are alive. They can track our locations and hear everything we say. It's more important to control what apps can have access to with smartphones than it was on any prior platform.

fiddlerwoaroof 8y ago
Yeah, a difference between my phone and my laptop is that my phone needs to basically be an appliance: it needs to work consistently in all sorts of situations so I don’t get stranded somewhere in an emergency. For this purpose, having a really strict gatekeeper that limits what apps can do is a feature, not a bug.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
leppr 8y ago
And yet open source solutions seem way less popular on mobile than their desktop equivalents. Seems more like a justification for passive acceptance to me.
r_c_a_d 8y ago
My phone is on and with me for less than 50% of the time. Just saying; phones are not as important to everyone as you think. (yes, I am over 40)
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  Good for you. Unfortunately, your personal habits aren't really relevant to the global impact of these policies.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I'm sure you probably "haven't owned a TV in 10 years" and wonder "do people still watch TV". Yes that was a popular post on Slashdot years ago.
  - r_c_a_d 8y ago
    Why would you be sure of that? As it happens, I have a TV and watch it every day. In fact, research (in the UK) suggests that people who use phones less are more likely to watch TV than people who use them a lot. It wasn't my intention to "boast" that I don't use a phone much. The post I responded to was making a point based on the assumption that "we" have our phones on 100% of the time. I was just trying to point out that there are people in that "we" for which that is not true.
masonic 8y ago
control what apps can have access to with smartphones But the Play store doesn't do that. It just documents what permissions are sought by the app, not whether this privileges are appropriate... hence flashlight apps seeking Contacts and Location.
- close04 8y ago
  Play Store is at the other end of the spectrum where you can literally upload massive amounts of malware and no one bats an eye.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    The issue is not that a manual review process should catch bugs. The issue is that Android’s permission system allows it.
    - pas 8y ago
      It's great that it allows it. The problem is that a lot of users don't want to admit that they are not competent to decide whether the app truly needs those permissions or not. If there would be a power user subscription for Android, it'd be great. It'd pay for itself, etc. (Of course purists still could just root the device and so on.)
    - close04 8y ago
      Who said anything about bugs? The point is to do something proactive to stop apps that don't conform to your policies (whichever they may be - maybe you don't allow collection of data, or using a specific interface, definitely not malware, etc.) instead of just reacting, and even that too late. Apple is at one extreme blocking even legitimate things for obscure and esoteric reasons. Google is at the other, letting all kinds of crap in the store only to review it later, maybe. [1] I'm sure my remark ruffled feathers on some Android fans but it doesn't make it less true. [1] https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/30/google-play-removed-700000-bad-apps-in-2017-70-more-than-in-2016/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/30/google-play-removed-70000...
sametmax 8y ago
Since PRISM, we know the players you really don't want to be able to track your location have a backdoor in those systems anyway, and the manufacturers are forbidden by law to talk about it. It's annoying that candy crush get a piece of your private life. But it's nowhere close to the problem of big entities that already have a huge control on your life to be able to know everything about you while you can't know anything about them. The app store is just a symptom of it though, and a small one.

fiddlerwoaroof 8y ago

Yeah, a difference between my phone and my laptop is that my phone needs to basically be an appliance: it needs to work consistently in all sorts of situations so I don’t get stranded somewhere in an emergency. For this purpose, having a really strict gatekeeper that limits what apps can do is a feature, not a bug.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

leppr 8y ago

And yet open source solutions seem way less popular on mobile than their desktop equivalents. Seems more like a justification for passive acceptance to me.

r_c_a_d 8y ago

My phone is on and with me for less than 50% of the time. Just saying; phones are not as important to everyone as you think. (yes, I am over 40)

PhasmaFelis 8y ago
Good for you. Unfortunately, your personal habits aren't really relevant to the global impact of these policies.
scarface74 8y ago
I'm sure you probably "haven't owned a TV in 10 years" and wonder "do people still watch TV". Yes that was a popular post on Slashdot years ago.
- r_c_a_d 8y ago
  Why would you be sure of that? As it happens, I have a TV and watch it every day. In fact, research (in the UK) suggests that people who use phones less are more likely to watch TV than people who use them a lot. It wasn't my intention to "boast" that I don't use a phone much. The post I responded to was making a point based on the assumption that "we" have our phones on 100% of the time. I was just trying to point out that there are people in that "we" for which that is not true.

masonic 8y ago

control what apps can have access to with smartphones But the Play store doesn't do that. It just documents what permissions are sought by the app, not whether this privileges are appropriate... hence flashlight apps seeking Contacts and Location.

close04 8y ago
Play Store is at the other end of the spectrum where you can literally upload massive amounts of malware and no one bats an eye.
- scarface74 8y ago
  The issue is not that a manual review process should catch bugs. The issue is that Android’s permission system allows it.
  - pas 8y ago
    It's great that it allows it. The problem is that a lot of users don't want to admit that they are not competent to decide whether the app truly needs those permissions or not. If there would be a power user subscription for Android, it'd be great. It'd pay for itself, etc. (Of course purists still could just root the device and so on.)
  - close04 8y ago
    Who said anything about bugs? The point is to do something proactive to stop apps that don't conform to your policies (whichever they may be - maybe you don't allow collection of data, or using a specific interface, definitely not malware, etc.) instead of just reacting, and even that too late. Apple is at one extreme blocking even legitimate things for obscure and esoteric reasons. Google is at the other, letting all kinds of crap in the store only to review it later, maybe. [1] I'm sure my remark ruffled feathers on some Android fans but it doesn't make it less true. [1] https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/30/google-play-removed-700000-bad-apps-in-2017-70-more-than-in-2016/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/30/google-play-removed-70000...

sametmax 8y ago

Since PRISM, we know the players you really don't want to be able to track your location have a backdoor in those systems anyway, and the manufacturers are forbidden by law to talk about it. It's annoying that candy crush get a piece of your private life. But it's nowhere close to the problem of big entities that already have a huge control on your life to be able to know everything about you while you can't know anything about them. The app store is just a symptom of it though, and a small one.