5 ms·

Quick, list every app that's on your phone, the reason why it's installed, and the reason why you trust it!

anchpop 7y ago
Well, I trust most apps because my understanding is they can't be running indefinitely in the background without a notification (which I would notice) and can't read arbitrary files on my phone's filesystem without permission
pmiller2 7y ago
You're moving the goalposts. Here's a list of every app on my phone that's making it slow and unusable: []
duxup 7y ago
There aren't any that I'm not using and killing my phone if that is what you mean.
nathanlied 7y ago
You're not being very reasonable; a more accurate way to put it would be to ask you if you have <App> installed on your phone, what good is it for you, and when (if) you've ever used it. And then getting defensive about removing it if you're told by an expert you've contacting yourself that <App> is (part of) the cause of your woes. Not exactly the same scenario as you posited.
- VectorLock 7y ago
  I think the premise is if you can't name it explicitly, there is a good chance you don't actually need it.
  - duxup 7y ago
    Well in that context I'm pretty good at that. I clean out apps regularly, although it doesn't result in much as ... I don't really have "many" installed that I don't use / don't use that may.
  - im3w1l 7y ago
    If people insist it's important but can't say why I'd assume it's something they feel ashamed talking about. It didn't show porn did it?
    - VectorLock 7y ago
      Or its something they might not remember...
freehunter 7y ago
I trust it because it came from an app store that has humans reviewing submissions, was programmed against an API that requires it explicitly ask for every permission it's given, with an OS that allows me to revoke that permission whenever I want to, with an assurance that it cannot break out of that permissions structure, and a knowledge that it cannot run arbitrary code in the background without me knowing it. Windows (and Linux and macOS and other desktop OSes) offer none of these security features without third party software.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  New versions of macOS put up permission dialogs when apps try to access hardware or sensitive data.
- oarsinsync 7y ago
  Unfortunately, that still doesn't prevent a large number of them tracking you using permissions you've granted, or permissions it doesn't need to explicitly ask for. There have been a number of articles recently about iPhone apps phoning home regularly without user knowledge. iOS is arguably significantly better than the alternatives, but lets not kid ourselves as to how far that trust should go. Services like Guardian Firewall for iOS[0] wouldn't be in continued active development if the OS or review process was sufficient. Of course, there'll be plenty of snakeoil as time goes on, but at this stage, there's a lot of credibility behind the need for these services. [0] https://guardianapp.com/ https://guardianapp.com/
MiddleEndian 7y ago
Honestly half the apps on my phone are junk that Android and/or HTC ordain that I'm not allowed to uninstall.
fouc 7y ago
Are you referring to android? As far as I know, iOS has proper sandboxing of apps so having a bunch of random apps shouldn't affect overall speed because they're typically not running all the time.

Well, I trust most apps because my understanding is they can't be running indefinitely in the background without a notification (which I would notice) and can't read arbitrary files on my phone's filesystem without permission

pmiller2 7y ago

You're moving the goalposts. Here's a list of every app on my phone that's making it slow and unusable: []

duxup 7y ago

There aren't any that I'm not using and killing my phone if that is what you mean.

nathanlied 7y ago

You're not being very reasonable; a more accurate way to put it would be to ask you if you have <App> installed on your phone, what good is it for you, and when (if) you've ever used it. And then getting defensive about removing it if you're told by an expert you've contacting yourself that <App> is (part of) the cause of your woes. Not exactly the same scenario as you posited.

VectorLock 7y ago
I think the premise is if you can't name it explicitly, there is a good chance you don't actually need it.
- duxup 7y ago
  Well in that context I'm pretty good at that. I clean out apps regularly, although it doesn't result in much as ... I don't really have "many" installed that I don't use / don't use that may.
- im3w1l 7y ago
  If people insist it's important but can't say why I'd assume it's something they feel ashamed talking about. It didn't show porn did it?
  - VectorLock 7y ago
    Or its something they might not remember...

freehunter 7y ago

I trust it because it came from an app store that has humans reviewing submissions, was programmed against an API that requires it explicitly ask for every permission it's given, with an OS that allows me to revoke that permission whenever I want to, with an assurance that it cannot break out of that permissions structure, and a knowledge that it cannot run arbitrary code in the background without me knowing it. Windows (and Linux and macOS and other desktop OSes) offer none of these security features without third party software.

saagarjha 7y ago
New versions of macOS put up permission dialogs when apps try to access hardware or sensitive data.
oarsinsync 7y ago
Unfortunately, that still doesn't prevent a large number of them tracking you using permissions you've granted, or permissions it doesn't need to explicitly ask for. There have been a number of articles recently about iPhone apps phoning home regularly without user knowledge. iOS is arguably significantly better than the alternatives, but lets not kid ourselves as to how far that trust should go. Services like Guardian Firewall for iOS[0] wouldn't be in continued active development if the OS or review process was sufficient. Of course, there'll be plenty of snakeoil as time goes on, but at this stage, there's a lot of credibility behind the need for these services. [0] https://guardianapp.com/ https://guardianapp.com/

MiddleEndian 7y ago

Honestly half the apps on my phone are junk that Android and/or HTC ordain that I'm not allowed to uninstall.

fouc 7y ago

Are you referring to android? As far as I know, iOS has proper sandboxing of apps so having a bunch of random apps shouldn't affect overall speed because they're typically not running all the time.