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If Nordic is being honest that the issue is safety- preventing users from diddling with their software and accidentally making it unsafe, then they can simply i
by dhimes 5y ago
If Nordic is being honest that the issue is safety- preventing users from diddling with their software and accidentally making it unsafe, then they can simply install a browser so the users can view what they wish online.
- JasonFruit 5y agoThey can still make updates for safety obtain consent from the device owner before being installed. I should be able to opt out of measures for my own safety.
- _fat_santa 5y agoFrom Nordic's POV, this is a safety issue, it affects the safety of their bottom line. Adding a browser would also compromise safety, again not the safety of the user but the safety of their bottom line.
- axiosgunnar 5y agoHilarious take
- abeppu 5y agoBut the first person interviewed was already a subscriber. They bought the hardware. They were paying for the content. He was making a pretty healthy contribution to their bottom line. Now that customer is alienated to the point of being interviewed for an article. I'm guessing they wouldn't recommend it to a friend or family. Taking away stuff from paying customers seems like a path towards not having recurring customers. If it was just about the money, they should have e.g. have pop-up ads cover the screen only for non-subscribers, such that people aren't inclined to buy the device, not subscribe to the ifit content, and watch youtube instructors or whatever.
- heavyset_go 5y agoI wish more people were open to this notion of safety than the one that companies try to fool their customers into believing is for their own good.
- judge2020 5y agoI imagine the same issues would be presented if they embedded chrome or webkit with how often both of those have RCEs.
- treesknees 5y agoThe iFit app is actually an embed a web browser. If you open the iFit Admin app, it reports a chromium version. I haven't dug into it too much, but definitely an embedded browser.
- johncessna 5y agoNo they aren't being honest. Almost anything can be used in an unsafe manner if the desire to do so is there. Fundamentally you have a belt whipping around on two rollers at speeds upwards of 10 mph. It's an unsafe, if used improperly, machine to begin with. The safety argument isn't so much an argument as it is a trigger word to elicit a response in people.
- Jtsummers 5y agoFrustratingly, the safety argument may win out. But it also reflects a poor design. What the people in the article seem to want is to be able to use an Android tablet as an Android tablet, they aren't dicking around with the safety-related parts. So the sensible (but often not done) thing to do would be to offer three modes. A "gym mode" suitable for most public equipment (just get into iFit or whatever it is), a "home mode" which permits installation and use of other apps (like Netflix), and an actual privileged mode that can get into the safety-related settings. 99.9% of people at home will be content with just that home mode level, and never care about anything beyond it.
- userbinator 5y agoUnfortunately for them, the response it elicits from me (and likely an increasing number of others) is the classic Franklin quote. The more companies try to squeeze their users, the more the users are likely to wake up to their BS.
- treesknees 5y agoIt's entirely possible. The iFit app which runs on my treadmill is an embedded web browser. From "God Mode" there is an iFit Admin app which reports information such as the embedded chromium version being used for iFit. I actually walked down to the basement to test this - even when closing the iFit app while in God Mode, the physical controls on the treadmill including speed, incline, the stop button and the magnetic safety key, continue to work as designed. If you close the app then you can't see your current speed, but you can still stop the machine. That being said, I haven't dug into how the iFit app sends commands or retrieve data from the treadmill's controller. It seems possible that a "rogue" app could somehow interfere with this communication or send its own set of commands to throw you off the machine, but feels very unlikely. Plus, the tablet on my treadmill is running Android 7. I'd be much more afraid of remote exploits on the embedded browser on this ancient OS than someone with physical access loading a malicious app.
- LeSaucy 5y agoC1750 treadmill, was able to drop into android launcher, install f store, dropbear. After being able to ssh into the treadmill I found the mediatek soc they use has an exploit app to get a root shell. Further decompiling of the ifit app apk shows it’s written in c#/mono, sending bytes to a usb device for treadmill control. I ran out of patience trying to intercept writes with strace and just went back to running.