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I legitimately don't understand how this has been spun into some sort of pro-censorship move. Leaving your phone open to getting AirDrop-ed by anyone in the vic

I legitimately don't understand how this has been spun into some sort of pro-censorship move. Leaving your phone open to getting AirDrop-ed by anyone in the vicinity just seems like a terrible idea in general, but especially in China. Apple is helping the authoritarian dictatorship by checks notes not having your phone advertise to everyone nearby that it can receive files from anyone? The ability for dissidents to airdrop messages to passers-by seems silly as well. All of a sudden spamming people is good due to the content of the message? Never mind that there's nothing stopping the other side from doing the same thing. It ultimately feels to me like the country that's always in the news for hackers and ubiquitous surveillance should be the last place in the world you want to have AirDrop on, period. Even the contacts-only mode has leaked personal information in the past.

expensive_news 4y ago
I agree with all of your points. To me this seems like correcting an oversight in Apple’s original implementation vs Apple taking away a ‘feature’. I’ve gotten AirDrop spam here in America and welcome this change.
- cmeacham98 4y ago
  You've always been able to change AirDrop to contacts only. This "feature" just makes it harder to send AirDrops to people who want to receive them.
  - wonnage 4y ago
    Assuming that anyone with airdrop set to everyone wants to receive your files is just wrong
    - cmeacham98 4y ago
      What else would be the interpretation of the "Everything" setting, especially at a large gathering like a protest? Also, it's not like they just receive the file without consent, last I used an iPhone there was a popup allowing the other user to accept/decline the file. So it's less like "anyone with airdop set to everyone wants to receive your file" and more like "anyone with airdop set to everyone wants to be asked if they want to receive your file".
      - wonnage 4y ago
        The usage in HK that everyone keeps citing was as a way to spam incoming Mainland tourists' phones with protest flyers. Like okay, you might agree with the content in this case, but it can (and has) easily be dick pics instead. By your logic Apple's default setting of "contacts only" AirDrop visibility is also a nefarious way to prevent protest literature from being distributed
        cmeacham98 4y ago
        > The usage in HK that everyone keeps citing was as a way to spam incoming Mainland tourists' phones with protest flyers. Like okay, you might agree with the content in this case, but it can (and has) easily be dick pics instead. It's entirely possible it's misleading, but the tweet in this post pretty heavily implies it was from protester to protester, you're the one who brought up the "spamming tourists" thing. Also, I'm not even sure I agree with the "a tool can be used for evil so therefore taking features away is good". Anyone can email you a dick pick, does that mean email provides should stop accepting images in emails that aren't from contacts (with no option to disable this filtering, except in 10 minute increments)? > By your logic Apple's default setting of "contacts only" AirDrop visibility is also a nefarious way to prevent protest literature from being distributed Context matters. If the default used to be everyone, and Apple pushed out a new default to users in China immediately around when protests, then yes I would say it was nefarious.
        wonnage 4y ago
        https://qz.com/1660460/hong-kong-protesters-use-airdrop-to-breach-chinas-firewall/ https://qz.com/1660460/hong-kong-protesters-use-airdrop-to-b...
        cmeacham98 4y ago
        "Thing A is happening" isn't proof for "Thing B isn't happening". Also, you missed the rest of my comment.
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  What's really the problem here is that they take it away without choice. There's nothing you can do to keep it working as it did, due to iOS being so incredibly locked down. Because this has been used as a free-speech feature whether you like it or not, this makes it a very questionable thing to do whether it was done for good causes or bad. All they would have needed to do was to introduce a new 10 minute option along with the other existing options, and leave the forever option available for those who wanted to keep it and didn't care about spam.
- mcculley 4y ago
  I have always had mine set to “Everyone”. I have been amused by some of the files (photos, mostly) I have received. I hope I continue to have the option to leave it open.
- mensetmanusman 4y ago
  Removing ‘always everyone’ as an option only in China means you are probably wrong. They can easily add a ‘temporary everyone’ button for people that want to use that.
eozoon 4y ago
Because people sending dick pics and spam had been a known issue for ages, yet this change came soon after China complaining about people sending protest flyers, rolled out in China first, and with no option to leave your phone open. One can argue whether it's Apple's job to fight censorship (and I might agree that it's not), but you have to willfully blind say this is not pro-censorship.

expensive_news 4y ago

I agree with all of your points. To me this seems like correcting an oversight in Apple’s original implementation vs Apple taking away a ‘feature’. I’ve gotten AirDrop spam here in America and welcome this change.

cmeacham98 4y ago
You've always been able to change AirDrop to contacts only. This "feature" just makes it harder to send AirDrops to people who want to receive them.
- wonnage 4y ago
  Assuming that anyone with airdrop set to everyone wants to receive your files is just wrong
  - cmeacham98 4y ago
    What else would be the interpretation of the "Everything" setting, especially at a large gathering like a protest? Also, it's not like they just receive the file without consent, last I used an iPhone there was a popup allowing the other user to accept/decline the file. So it's less like "anyone with airdop set to everyone wants to receive your file" and more like "anyone with airdop set to everyone wants to be asked if they want to receive your file".
    - wonnage 4y ago
      The usage in HK that everyone keeps citing was as a way to spam incoming Mainland tourists' phones with protest flyers. Like okay, you might agree with the content in this case, but it can (and has) easily be dick pics instead. By your logic Apple's default setting of "contacts only" AirDrop visibility is also a nefarious way to prevent protest literature from being distributed
      - cmeacham98 4y ago
        > The usage in HK that everyone keeps citing was as a way to spam incoming Mainland tourists' phones with protest flyers. Like okay, you might agree with the content in this case, but it can (and has) easily be dick pics instead. It's entirely possible it's misleading, but the tweet in this post pretty heavily implies it was from protester to protester, you're the one who brought up the "spamming tourists" thing. Also, I'm not even sure I agree with the "a tool can be used for evil so therefore taking features away is good". Anyone can email you a dick pick, does that mean email provides should stop accepting images in emails that aren't from contacts (with no option to disable this filtering, except in 10 minute increments)? > By your logic Apple's default setting of "contacts only" AirDrop visibility is also a nefarious way to prevent protest literature from being distributed Context matters. If the default used to be everyone, and Apple pushed out a new default to users in China immediately around when protests, then yes I would say it was nefarious.
        wonnage 4y ago
        https://qz.com/1660460/hong-kong-protesters-use-airdrop-to-breach-chinas-firewall/ https://qz.com/1660460/hong-kong-protesters-use-airdrop-to-b...
        cmeacham98 4y ago
        "Thing A is happening" isn't proof for "Thing B isn't happening". Also, you missed the rest of my comment.
GekkePrutser 4y ago
What's really the problem here is that they take it away without choice. There's nothing you can do to keep it working as it did, due to iOS being so incredibly locked down. Because this has been used as a free-speech feature whether you like it or not, this makes it a very questionable thing to do whether it was done for good causes or bad. All they would have needed to do was to introduce a new 10 minute option along with the other existing options, and leave the forever option available for those who wanted to keep it and didn't care about spam.
mcculley 4y ago
I have always had mine set to “Everyone”. I have been amused by some of the files (photos, mostly) I have received. I hope I continue to have the option to leave it open.
mensetmanusman 4y ago
Removing ‘always everyone’ as an option only in China means you are probably wrong. They can easily add a ‘temporary everyone’ button for people that want to use that.

eozoon 4y ago

Because people sending dick pics and spam had been a known issue for ages, yet this change came soon after China complaining about people sending protest flyers, rolled out in China first, and with no option to leave your phone open. One can argue whether it's Apple's job to fight censorship (and I might agree that it's not), but you have to willfully blind say this is not pro-censorship.