4 ms·

Xiaomi MIUI 13 allegedly blocks installation of “unlawful” apps

26 points by nomay 5y ago

2Gkashmiri 5y ago
xiaomi is fucking bad. an employee bought xiaomi mi 10s last week https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_10s-10780.php https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_10s-10780.php it is atrocious to use. there is "glace wallpaper" which cannot be disabled. yellow pages for sharing contacts to third parties ala truecaller, no way to disable stock apps or xiaomi apps. ads and "recomendations" in each and every system application, why the fuck should default file manager share data or have recomendations or share data. same for gallery that has xiaomi cloud. do people really need "cloud" ? what is wrong with vcf file when switching phones? i use a small "backup all" app on android to export and import contacts, messages and call details in text files. why do you need to be plugged into a "cloud" all the times? the level of dark patterns in the system ui is just disappointing
- xony 5y ago
- riedel 5y ago
  They have really good hardware and there is hoards of Indian and Pakistani Devs that within a few days port all possible aftermarket ROMs to the hardware (also Xiaomi does publish kernel sources without any delay). The only huge annoyance is that they check that you do not live in China by monitoring your movement for 3 weeks before they allow unlocking the bootloader. If they would allow relocking the bootloader with a custom signature (like pixels allow) it would be the perfect phone if you like it cheap and do not care about the ethical implications of the supply chain ( then again you could by them used: my redmi note 7 still runs really smoothly on lineage 18.1 with the latest security patches).
  - 2Gkashmiri 5y ago
    agreed but why do they have to make the stock ui so difficult? why is there no middle ground between the default and a custom rom setup? i bought a motorola g30 and was pleasantly surprised with the stock feel. i could uninstall any app and i did. i am not forced to any dark patterns or forced to see ads or recommendations or asked to give consent to data sharing. not signed in to any google or any system account. the software "hides" between me and the work be it calls or apps or browsing. i want that, not being reminded to be stuck with a beacon. i understand the whole hacker culture arond xiaomi and devs. i had an xiaomi mi pad 1. someone here on HN told me about a custom rom and in less than 3 hours i managed to brick the device. now i am unable to use it. please help me understand one thing, what is with android custom os companies and locking down bootloader and making the process so finicky ? why isn't the system designed to be as easy as installing windows or linux or even how raspberry pi installs the os? why is android so fucked up bad in this regard?
    - powerapple 5y ago
      Xiaomi's business model is to sell good hardware with very little margin, and hopefully make a lot money on services (i.e. cloud, ad).
  - tata71 5y ago
    How the custom ROM scene hasn't demanded devices and software that enable verified boot is beyond me.
  - huxflux 5y ago
    You can unlock it even if you live in China. Just queue up like the rest of the world. No worries.
    - riedel 5y ago
      Really??? I was was just assuming this was the point of this all. So what is the point of this monitoring then (I think you have to lock in and share your location)? Is it only that certain individuals are denied unlocking? Do they just want to present mass unlocking like in a click farm? Other (non-chinese) vendors just offer immediate unlocking.
      - dirtyid 5y ago
        I think it was to increase friction of resellers installing shady 3rd party ROMs right away. If I remember right, waiting period was implemented after drama with resellers loading ROMs with spyware a few years ago. Maybe thinking is big sellers won't hoard stock for multiple weeks. My understanding is vendors that offer unlock actually opens the phone and starts the unlock countdown first and repackages after. I don't think there's any official endorsement/support for it.
xg15 5y ago
Can't read the threads, so my questions: Is that only for mainland China or for any.user anywhere? Also, what definition of "unlawful" are they using? If they are blocking installation of apps which are against the laws of the country it's being used in, I don't see the issue. On the other hand, using this as an avenue to extend reach outside the jurisdiction would be bad.
- Stevvo 5y ago
  Only for mainland China.
  - xg15 5y ago
    Then where is the issue?
    - Stevvo 5y ago
      I'm with you on this one; there isn't really any issue here, other than the pre-existing censorship issues in China.
- josephcsible 5y ago
  Should your car disable the accelerator once you get to the speed limit?
  - xg15 5y ago
    That could certainly avoid a few accidents. But if there's a law that says cars have to do this, yes, of course. Or rather, we can get angry at the law or the legislator or the system or whatever, but it seems silly to get angry at the carmaker because they didn't arbitrarily break some laws that you personally don't agree with. Which is also why I don't really understand the scare quotes around "unlawful" in the title. If the carmaker built such a feature on their own without any obligation, or if the feature went beyond what the law mandates, that would be something else.

26 points by nomay 5y ago

xiaomi is fucking bad. an employee bought xiaomi mi 10s last week https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_10s-10780.php https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_10s-10780.php it is atrocious to use. there is "glace wallpaper" which cannot be disabled. yellow pages for sharing contacts to third parties ala truecaller, no way to disable stock apps or xiaomi apps. ads and "recomendations" in each and every system application, why the fuck should default file manager share data or have recomendations or share data. same for gallery that has xiaomi cloud. do people really need "cloud" ? what is wrong with vcf file when switching phones? i use a small "backup all" app on android to export and import contacts, messages and call details in text files. why do you need to be plugged into a "cloud" all the times? the level of dark patterns in the system ui is just disappointing

xony 5y ago
riedel 5y ago
They have really good hardware and there is hoards of Indian and Pakistani Devs that within a few days port all possible aftermarket ROMs to the hardware (also Xiaomi does publish kernel sources without any delay). The only huge annoyance is that they check that you do not live in China by monitoring your movement for 3 weeks before they allow unlocking the bootloader. If they would allow relocking the bootloader with a custom signature (like pixels allow) it would be the perfect phone if you like it cheap and do not care about the ethical implications of the supply chain ( then again you could by them used: my redmi note 7 still runs really smoothly on lineage 18.1 with the latest security patches).
- 2Gkashmiri 5y ago
  agreed but why do they have to make the stock ui so difficult? why is there no middle ground between the default and a custom rom setup? i bought a motorola g30 and was pleasantly surprised with the stock feel. i could uninstall any app and i did. i am not forced to any dark patterns or forced to see ads or recommendations or asked to give consent to data sharing. not signed in to any google or any system account. the software "hides" between me and the work be it calls or apps or browsing. i want that, not being reminded to be stuck with a beacon. i understand the whole hacker culture arond xiaomi and devs. i had an xiaomi mi pad 1. someone here on HN told me about a custom rom and in less than 3 hours i managed to brick the device. now i am unable to use it. please help me understand one thing, what is with android custom os companies and locking down bootloader and making the process so finicky ? why isn't the system designed to be as easy as installing windows or linux or even how raspberry pi installs the os? why is android so fucked up bad in this regard?
  - powerapple 5y ago
    Xiaomi's business model is to sell good hardware with very little margin, and hopefully make a lot money on services (i.e. cloud, ad).
- tata71 5y ago
  How the custom ROM scene hasn't demanded devices and software that enable verified boot is beyond me.
- huxflux 5y ago
  You can unlock it even if you live in China. Just queue up like the rest of the world. No worries.
  - riedel 5y ago
    Really??? I was was just assuming this was the point of this all. So what is the point of this monitoring then (I think you have to lock in and share your location)? Is it only that certain individuals are denied unlocking? Do they just want to present mass unlocking like in a click farm? Other (non-chinese) vendors just offer immediate unlocking.
    - dirtyid 5y ago
      I think it was to increase friction of resellers installing shady 3rd party ROMs right away. If I remember right, waiting period was implemented after drama with resellers loading ROMs with spyware a few years ago. Maybe thinking is big sellers won't hoard stock for multiple weeks. My understanding is vendors that offer unlock actually opens the phone and starts the unlock countdown first and repackages after. I don't think there's any official endorsement/support for it.

xg15 5y ago

Can't read the threads, so my questions: Is that only for mainland China or for any.user anywhere? Also, what definition of "unlawful" are they using? If they are blocking installation of apps which are against the laws of the country it's being used in, I don't see the issue. On the other hand, using this as an avenue to extend reach outside the jurisdiction would be bad.

Stevvo 5y ago
Only for mainland China.
- xg15 5y ago
  Then where is the issue?
  - Stevvo 5y ago
    I'm with you on this one; there isn't really any issue here, other than the pre-existing censorship issues in China.
josephcsible 5y ago
Should your car disable the accelerator once you get to the speed limit?
- xg15 5y ago
  That could certainly avoid a few accidents. But if there's a law that says cars have to do this, yes, of course. Or rather, we can get angry at the law or the legislator or the system or whatever, but it seems silly to get angry at the carmaker because they didn't arbitrarily break some laws that you personally don't agree with. Which is also why I don't really understand the scare quotes around "unlawful" in the title. If the carmaker built such a feature on their own without any obligation, or if the feature went beyond what the law mandates, that would be something else.