5 ms·

One thing you have to consider when debating i0S versus Android in the context of privacy is: you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and

One thing you have to consider when debating i0S versus Android in the context of privacy is: you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and an i0S device (if you can afford that, and I'm aware many citizens in third world countries don't have the luxury of owning two phones). It's like the old Chrome versus Firefox debates that happen every other month now on Hackernews & Reddit. I own a Chromebook where I leverage the Google ecosystem and do Googley stuff all day, then a Thinkpad with Qubes+Whonix when I want privacy & security & sometimes anonymity. You don't have to be faithful to a single company/OS/provider/whatever. You can leverage all the things and compartmentalize.

mcguire 5y ago
How would that not give you the worst of both worlds? You would be tracked by the weakest aspect of both devices.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  It's actually more in-line with how real world threat models work. You always operate under the assumption that all of your hardware is compromised, then build layers of trust around that to determine which device should be used when. Not super practical for an end-user, but it's definitely better than having a single device that you always second-guess.
- jjj123 5y ago
  I don’t do this and it seems like a hassle but it is an interesting question: would this be more or less private than a single device? One thing I can think of is most tracking algorithms probably assume each user has a single cell phone (either explicitly or the ML data is biased in that direction). So splitting your time across two devices probably messes with whatever user-behavior buckets they place you in. They might think you’re two people in the same household, for example.
- alecco 5y ago
  Maybe with different VPN endpoints on each device it could work. But it would require a strict discipline. Google is very good at finding the same person in 2 very different devices.
fsflover 5y ago
> you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and an i0S device If you truly need privacy and control then the right approach is to have neither of them and consider a GNU/Linux phone (Librem 5 or Pinephone).
- kaba0 5y ago
  That is if you not care about usability and security.
  - fsflover 5y ago
    Security is in principle the same as in desktop Linux, which is not bad at all. See also: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions#43-how-secure-is-the-librem-5-compared-to-an-android-phone https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque... Usability suffers indeed, but the software updates will never end and it is improving rapidly.
    - kaba0 5y ago
      Security of desktop Linux is unfortunately in the laughable category for the most part, with very few distro enforcing even the basics of SELinux/AppArmor. Even then, every program runs under your user account with no more fine-grained permissions, meaning any program has the ability to send your browser cache/ssh files/photos whatever to wherever it wants, or just simply encrypt them.
      - fsflover 5y ago
        You are not wrong, but the security of Linux relies on FLOSS and community verification, which generally work better than the security of app stores, which are full of malware.
        kaba0 5y ago
        And that is indeed effective in that malicious programs are almost nonexistent, but I think it oftentimes does give a false sense of security, as attacks not only happen through a malicious program, but through a buggy ones that has to handle some potentially malicious data. Eg. a PDF reader, browser, etc while being written completely in good faith can easily compromise a system through a memory leak, that a clever hacker exploits. And with the over abundance of C programs in userspace for no sane reason in Linux land, it is not a far fetched idea how someone could hijack a process with a simple bug.
wtallis 5y ago
> i0S Slightly OT, but: is there a reason why you're spelling that with a numeral zero?
- amelius 5y ago
  By the way, what does "i" in "iOS" stand for? EDIT: I looked it up, it stands for "internet". From now on we should be referring to it as "internet OS" where space is not an issue.
  - nemothekid 5y ago
    iOS, is short form for iPhone OS. i in iPhone, doesn't really stand for something (it's derived from iPod, which was derived from iMac). Accoding to wikipedia, Jobs said the "i" stood for "internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire". Given that the abbreviation isn't literal, "internet OS" is not colloquial and you will confuse others.
    - mattl 5y ago
      We also had an iCEO and that meant interim.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  O & 0 are adjacent on US keyboards because they're interchangeable.
  - jondwillis 5y ago
    that logic holds the same with p and o, right?
    - drcongo 5y ago
      I6's 6he reason I 6end 6o use 6he numeral six ins6ead of "t" 6oo.
zsmi 5y ago
"First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?" - S.R. Hadden, Contact https://www.quotes.net/mquote/20237 https://www.quotes.net/mquote/20237
Crash0v3rid3 5y ago
> you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and an i0S device This is something I’ve been wanting to do! I’d love to own an iPhone and Android so I can get the best of both worlds. Does anyone have any suggestions going this route? Ideally I’d like to keep a single number that can be used on both devices and I can just decide myself what device I want to drive for the day.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  I found an iPhone and a cheaper Android tablet is a cost effective way of experiencing both. I don't get the benefits of the tablet being connected to my phone number, but it lets me play with both OSes at a nominal upcharge to just an iPhone (You can get a good android tablet for <$100)
- meierjo 5y ago
  I recently got a pixel 3a for $83 on Amazon and loaded up CalyxOS. I swap sims back and forth and (re)register Signal on the device I’m using at the time. I also use MySudo on each for my burner numbers. Works well and I get to try out Android. I’ve had an iPhone since the 3g one I think, and was an active iOS developer since iOS 4. I can really say I like both systems.
mattl 5y ago
iOS not i0S

mcguire 5y ago

How would that not give you the worst of both worlds? You would be tracked by the weakest aspect of both devices.

smoldesu 5y ago
It's actually more in-line with how real world threat models work. You always operate under the assumption that all of your hardware is compromised, then build layers of trust around that to determine which device should be used when. Not super practical for an end-user, but it's definitely better than having a single device that you always second-guess.
jjj123 5y ago
I don’t do this and it seems like a hassle but it is an interesting question: would this be more or less private than a single device? One thing I can think of is most tracking algorithms probably assume each user has a single cell phone (either explicitly or the ML data is biased in that direction). So splitting your time across two devices probably messes with whatever user-behavior buckets they place you in. They might think you’re two people in the same household, for example.
alecco 5y ago
Maybe with different VPN endpoints on each device it could work. But it would require a strict discipline. Google is very good at finding the same person in 2 very different devices.

fsflover 5y ago

> you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and an i0S device If you truly need privacy and control then the right approach is to have neither of them and consider a GNU/Linux phone (Librem 5 or Pinephone).

kaba0 5y ago
That is if you not care about usability and security.
- fsflover 5y ago
  Security is in principle the same as in desktop Linux, which is not bad at all. See also: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions#43-how-secure-is-the-librem-5-compared-to-an-android-phone https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque... Usability suffers indeed, but the software updates will never end and it is improving rapidly.
  - kaba0 5y ago
    Security of desktop Linux is unfortunately in the laughable category for the most part, with very few distro enforcing even the basics of SELinux/AppArmor. Even then, every program runs under your user account with no more fine-grained permissions, meaning any program has the ability to send your browser cache/ssh files/photos whatever to wherever it wants, or just simply encrypt them.
    - fsflover 5y ago
      You are not wrong, but the security of Linux relies on FLOSS and community verification, which generally work better than the security of app stores, which are full of malware.
      - kaba0 5y ago
        And that is indeed effective in that malicious programs are almost nonexistent, but I think it oftentimes does give a false sense of security, as attacks not only happen through a malicious program, but through a buggy ones that has to handle some potentially malicious data. Eg. a PDF reader, browser, etc while being written completely in good faith can easily compromise a system through a memory leak, that a clever hacker exploits. And with the over abundance of C programs in userspace for no sane reason in Linux land, it is not a far fetched idea how someone could hijack a process with a simple bug.

wtallis 5y ago

> i0S Slightly OT, but: is there a reason why you're spelling that with a numeral zero?

amelius 5y ago
By the way, what does "i" in "iOS" stand for? EDIT: I looked it up, it stands for "internet". From now on we should be referring to it as "internet OS" where space is not an issue.
- nemothekid 5y ago
  iOS, is short form for iPhone OS. i in iPhone, doesn't really stand for something (it's derived from iPod, which was derived from iMac). Accoding to wikipedia, Jobs said the "i" stood for "internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire". Given that the abbreviation isn't literal, "internet OS" is not colloquial and you will confuse others.
  - mattl 5y ago
    We also had an iCEO and that meant interim.
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
O & 0 are adjacent on US keyboards because they're interchangeable.
- jondwillis 5y ago
  that logic holds the same with p and o, right?
  - drcongo 5y ago
    I6's 6he reason I 6end 6o use 6he numeral six ins6ead of "t" 6oo.

zsmi 5y ago

"First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?" - S.R. Hadden, Contact https://www.quotes.net/mquote/20237 https://www.quotes.net/mquote/20237

Crash0v3rid3 5y ago

> you can have the best of both worlds and own an Android phone and an i0S device This is something I’ve been wanting to do! I’d love to own an iPhone and Android so I can get the best of both worlds. Does anyone have any suggestions going this route? Ideally I’d like to keep a single number that can be used on both devices and I can just decide myself what device I want to drive for the day.

HWR_14 5y ago
I found an iPhone and a cheaper Android tablet is a cost effective way of experiencing both. I don't get the benefits of the tablet being connected to my phone number, but it lets me play with both OSes at a nominal upcharge to just an iPhone (You can get a good android tablet for <$100)
meierjo 5y ago
I recently got a pixel 3a for $83 on Amazon and loaded up CalyxOS. I swap sims back and forth and (re)register Signal on the device I’m using at the time. I also use MySudo on each for my burner numbers. Works well and I get to try out Android. I’ve had an iPhone since the 3g one I think, and was an active iOS developer since iOS 4. I can really say I like both systems.

mattl 5y ago

iOS not i0S