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Bah, for more crying about web-tracking the browser is still a sandboxed environment, in the other hand what the article is talking here is an app with permanen

Bah, for more crying about web-tracking the browser is still a sandboxed environment, in the other hand what the article is talking here is an app with permanent GPS access, notifications, etc etc.

Yizahi 8y ago
Just different levels of "bad". For example Google is by default having all the same data about users (on Android) and more, of course it engages in the same activities as FB. Same as all other fat clients for social networks. It is almost impossible to escape spying by bigcorps. E.g. I tried deleting Chrome from my mobile and I can't, I could only disable it. So crapware too? I'd say yes. PS: read about "notifications" and remembered a funny story about Chrome. I was once given a Samsung phone to fix some AD notifications coming up regularly. And it was not obvious for some reason who was sending them. Apparently some apps can hijack default browser setting and force open their links in Chrome (which, again, isn't possible to remove), and Chrome by default allowed notifications from sites. After guessing this and opening Chrome I found out that there were several dozen open tabs, and some them were sending "useful" notifications. Default browser on that phone since buying the device was "Internet" app by Samsung. Same stuff, only without notifications, also happened on my own phone where Firefox is default. Until I force disabled Chrome some apps continued to hijack defaults and opened links in Chrome.
- mattigames 8y ago
  Pretty sure you can use android without signing into your google account, but most people avoid doing so because its extremely convenient to sync your other devices with your phone. At the end of the day people voted with their wallets, and the wallets said convenience triumphs all, the only slight chance of spying protection is government regulation.
  - justtopost 8y ago
    As someone attempting to use a stock samsung rom without google, its possible, but super annoying and buggy. I would not expect any reasonable person with an alternative to go through this, thechie or not. Google has tied into every part of the OS, seemingly for this reason. I am about to throw in the towel and try to sell this for a different used phone with better lineage (or other rom) support. Even lineage does not cut out google integration completely. Your identifiable device details are still sent to google to 'check for internet' constantly.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
    > Pretty sure you can use android without signing into your google account, but most people avoid doing so because its extremely convenient to sync your other devices with your phone. They avoid it because you can't install any apps (and F-Droid isn't a solution for most people). And without apps you might as well buy a legacy phone.
porpoisely 8y ago
In other words, techcrunch is jealous of facebook. At the end of the day, it's one terrible ad-selling crapware crying about a "better" ad-selling crapware. And it's not just facebook, it's an industry wide ( or even an economy wide problem ). It's everybody - google, microsoft and yes, even apple ( despite what their fans think ). And of course techcrunch and the rest of the media. I guess I was wrong about the end of the anti-facebook clickbait media stories this year.

Bah, for more crying about web-tracking the browser is still a sandboxed environment, in the other hand what the article is talking here is an app with permanent GPS access, notifications, etc etc.

Yizahi 8y ago

Just different levels of "bad". For example Google is by default having all the same data about users (on Android) and more, of course it engages in the same activities as FB. Same as all other fat clients for social networks. It is almost impossible to escape spying by bigcorps. E.g. I tried deleting Chrome from my mobile and I can't, I could only disable it. So crapware too? I'd say yes. PS: read about "notifications" and remembered a funny story about Chrome. I was once given a Samsung phone to fix some AD notifications coming up regularly. And it was not obvious for some reason who was sending them. Apparently some apps can hijack default browser setting and force open their links in Chrome (which, again, isn't possible to remove), and Chrome by default allowed notifications from sites. After guessing this and opening Chrome I found out that there were several dozen open tabs, and some them were sending "useful" notifications. Default browser on that phone since buying the device was "Internet" app by Samsung. Same stuff, only without notifications, also happened on my own phone where Firefox is default. Until I force disabled Chrome some apps continued to hijack defaults and opened links in Chrome.

mattigames 8y ago
Pretty sure you can use android without signing into your google account, but most people avoid doing so because its extremely convenient to sync your other devices with your phone. At the end of the day people voted with their wallets, and the wallets said convenience triumphs all, the only slight chance of spying protection is government regulation.
- justtopost 8y ago
  As someone attempting to use a stock samsung rom without google, its possible, but super annoying and buggy. I would not expect any reasonable person with an alternative to go through this, thechie or not. Google has tied into every part of the OS, seemingly for this reason. I am about to throw in the towel and try to sell this for a different used phone with better lineage (or other rom) support. Even lineage does not cut out google integration completely. Your identifiable device details are still sent to google to 'check for internet' constantly.
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
  > Pretty sure you can use android without signing into your google account, but most people avoid doing so because its extremely convenient to sync your other devices with your phone. They avoid it because you can't install any apps (and F-Droid isn't a solution for most people). And without apps you might as well buy a legacy phone.

porpoisely 8y ago

In other words, techcrunch is jealous of facebook. At the end of the day, it's one terrible ad-selling crapware crying about a "better" ad-selling crapware. And it's not just facebook, it's an industry wide ( or even an economy wide problem ). It's everybody - google, microsoft and yes, even apple ( despite what their fans think ). And of course techcrunch and the rest of the media. I guess I was wrong about the end of the anti-facebook clickbait media stories this year.