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Unpopular opinion: Android is more privacy focussed than iOS. Especially because during first setup, it clearly asks you to opt-out of services you do not wish

Unpopular opinion: Android is more privacy focussed than iOS. Especially because during first setup, it clearly asks you to opt-out of services you do not wish to participate in. Also much more transperent.

kaba0 5y ago
Stock Android? Perhaps. The shit OEM’s produce? No way, unfortunately. And afaik only Pixel’s come with vanilla android.
- vinay427 5y ago
  Pixel devices do not come with stock Android, and they certainly don't come with a build that allows for opting out of cloud services. They include a wide variety of Google "bloatware" that cannot be removed, much of which is also included on many other OEMs but some of which is unique to stock Pixel builds of Android (i.e. not public or open-source). Most all of the newer Pixel-only features fall into this latter category and usually involve some type of telemetry, in my experience.
- sofixa 5y ago
  And Android One devices.
- randomperson_24 5y ago
  Micromax devices and even Motorola devices come with Stock android. Nokia too (but they are pretty bad)
hungryforcodes 5y ago
I feel the same-- that's one reason I switched. You can also just run what you want like f-droid etc. Want to run a Linux subsystem? Just download Termux...
- randomperson_24 5y ago
  I persoanlly just run a private DNS server and block requests to services I don't want tracking me / showing me ads.
  - hungryforcodes 5y ago
    Yeah if you can find the IPs that's pretty good. But how to know them all really...
    - sofixa 5y ago
      There are publicly available lists ( like the ones used by PiHole and AdGuard). IIRC Blokada is an app that emulated a VPN to push a specific DNS server which contains those blocklists.
      - hungryforcodes 5y ago
        Thanks for the tip -- I'll look into it.
gremIin 5y ago
Apple is certainly better at marketing and branding themselves as privacy-focused.
- randomperson_24 5y ago
  true
concinds 5y ago
From anecdotal evidence, it seems that Android users use the cloud a lot less than Apple users. By default, Apple users will have every piece of data on Apple's servers unencrypted (with unencrypted iCloud backups, and all files from Desktop/Documents uploaded to Drive). Apple puts it all on a nice, single screen that makes anyone with OCD want to turn every button "On" and send all their data over; and they're all turned on by default anyway. I don't have hard evidence for this, but I believe most Android people just don't end up turning that stuff on; many don't have backups, don't have all documents and Chrome downloads stored in the cloud by default, so they likely experience a lot more privacy by default. Again, all anecdote, but I think you'll find the same is true for your friends circles.
- temp234 5y ago
  Interestingly, if we are talking about actual, diagnosed, non-colloquial, real-bad-if-it-goes-untreated OCD... Jon Herschfield is a good writer about OCD who has it himself and this article series he wrote mentions some OCD manifestations that involve a deep fear of something happening on the internet https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/moral-scrupulosity-ocd-part-two/ https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/moral-scrupul... Here's more info on how people with obsessive compulsive disorder might experience obsessions and compulsions related to matching, symmetry, correctness. https://peaceofmind.com/education/types-of-ocd/perfectionismsymmetry/ https://peaceofmind.com/education/types-of-ocd/perfectionism...
  - concinds 5y ago
    Indeed! I don't know how to refer to this in a colloquial way because while having every single switch on a single screen isn't exactly a dark pattern, it does incite many people to just turn everything on because they "paid for it" and want "the best and greatest".
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - temp234 5y ago
donohoe 5y ago
Opinion aside, the article disputes that pretty early on. See also: https://www.techradar.com/news/google-is-taking-far-more-data-from-your-android-devices-than-you-may-think https://www.techradar.com/news/google-is-taking-far-more-dat...

kaba0 5y ago

Stock Android? Perhaps. The shit OEM’s produce? No way, unfortunately. And afaik only Pixel’s come with vanilla android.

vinay427 5y ago
Pixel devices do not come with stock Android, and they certainly don't come with a build that allows for opting out of cloud services. They include a wide variety of Google "bloatware" that cannot be removed, much of which is also included on many other OEMs but some of which is unique to stock Pixel builds of Android (i.e. not public or open-source). Most all of the newer Pixel-only features fall into this latter category and usually involve some type of telemetry, in my experience.
sofixa 5y ago
And Android One devices.
randomperson_24 5y ago
Micromax devices and even Motorola devices come with Stock android. Nokia too (but they are pretty bad)

hungryforcodes 5y ago

I feel the same-- that's one reason I switched. You can also just run what you want like f-droid etc. Want to run a Linux subsystem? Just download Termux...

randomperson_24 5y ago
I persoanlly just run a private DNS server and block requests to services I don't want tracking me / showing me ads.
- hungryforcodes 5y ago
  Yeah if you can find the IPs that's pretty good. But how to know them all really...
  - sofixa 5y ago
    There are publicly available lists ( like the ones used by PiHole and AdGuard). IIRC Blokada is an app that emulated a VPN to push a specific DNS server which contains those blocklists.
    - hungryforcodes 5y ago
      Thanks for the tip -- I'll look into it.

gremIin 5y ago

Apple is certainly better at marketing and branding themselves as privacy-focused.

randomperson_24 5y ago
true

concinds 5y ago

From anecdotal evidence, it seems that Android users use the cloud a lot less than Apple users. By default, Apple users will have every piece of data on Apple's servers unencrypted (with unencrypted iCloud backups, and all files from Desktop/Documents uploaded to Drive). Apple puts it all on a nice, single screen that makes anyone with OCD want to turn every button "On" and send all their data over; and they're all turned on by default anyway. I don't have hard evidence for this, but I believe most Android people just don't end up turning that stuff on; many don't have backups, don't have all documents and Chrome downloads stored in the cloud by default, so they likely experience a lot more privacy by default. Again, all anecdote, but I think you'll find the same is true for your friends circles.

temp234 5y ago
Interestingly, if we are talking about actual, diagnosed, non-colloquial, real-bad-if-it-goes-untreated OCD... Jon Herschfield is a good writer about OCD who has it himself and this article series he wrote mentions some OCD manifestations that involve a deep fear of something happening on the internet https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/moral-scrupulosity-ocd-part-two/ https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/moral-scrupul... Here's more info on how people with obsessive compulsive disorder might experience obsessions and compulsions related to matching, symmetry, correctness. https://peaceofmind.com/education/types-of-ocd/perfectionismsymmetry/ https://peaceofmind.com/education/types-of-ocd/perfectionism...
- concinds 5y ago
  Indeed! I don't know how to refer to this in a colloquial way because while having every single switch on a single screen isn't exactly a dark pattern, it does incite many people to just turn everything on because they "paid for it" and want "the best and greatest".
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - temp234 5y ago

donohoe 5y ago

Opinion aside, the article disputes that pretty early on. See also: https://www.techradar.com/news/google-is-taking-far-more-data-from-your-android-devices-than-you-may-think https://www.techradar.com/news/google-is-taking-far-more-dat...