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2020, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37113807 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37113807 > If Bluetooth is ON on your Apple device everyone nearby can

2020, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37113807 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37113807 > If Bluetooth is ON on your Apple device everyone nearby can understand current status of your device, get info about battery, device name, Wi-Fi status, buffer availability, OS version and even get your mobile phone number. 2019, https://www.idownloadblog.com/2019/11/12/airplay-tvs-tutorial/ https://www.idownloadblog.com/2019/11/12/airplay-tvs-tutoria... & https://old.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/nlsf0z/how_to_prevent_airplay_from_automatically/ https://old.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/nlsf0z/how_to_prevent_... > AirPlay can automatically play video on nearby TVs, but that’s not always the behavior you might want. Learn how to stop your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from automatically playing video on any frequently used AirPlay TVs in your household.

zik 3y ago
That's the really disturbing part of all this. As a user you can take reasonable steps to ensure that you're not vulnerable - switch your bluetooth off but your device straight up lies to you saying it's off while it's leaking data and making you vulnerable.
- fbdab103 3y ago
  Apple also makes it deliberately annoying to pseudo-disable Bluetooth.
- gumby 3y ago
  The problem with the bluetooth switch (or "bluetooth headphone switch" in most peoples' mind) is that if it switched off BT completely people would be surprised when their watch stopped talking to their phone, or they couldn't airdrop to their neighbor etc. Perhaps I should have written "problem" with quotes. The control center does what most people think they want. It used to be that when you enabled airplane mode on your watch it set it for your phone too, but you had to get out out of airplane mode on each device. Makes sense to me, but apparently not to everyone, so I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. At least it highlights the absurdity of airplane mode. Apart from my own belief that "no means no" when it refers to radios in my devices, I'm also disappointed in the other data that are shared. The phone number, for example, AFAICT is used for joining secured wifi: if you join a network, everybody around you who's connected to that network is asked if they would like to share the password with you (you don't even see it). A handy feature, but not one implemented in a privacy-protecting way (shame on you, Apple!)
  - extraduder_ire 3y ago
    > It used to be that when you enabled airplane mode on your watch it set it for your phone too, but you had to get out out of airplane mode on each device. Makes sense to me, but apparently not to everyone, so I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. This might be surprising, but it makes sense to me. If your device is in "airplane mode" it should not transmit, but can still receive. So, a BLE message from your watch telling your phone to exit airplane mode can be received and acted on. Same with disabling enabling it on your watch until it knows it has set it for your phone/other devices. I would expect disabling bluetooth (ignoring cc toggle lies) to work the way you describe though.
  - transpute 3y ago
    > I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. Until the EU mandates a "Radio Kill Snitch" in computing devices, the faraday bag industry rejoices. UK: https://faradaybag.com https://faradaybag.com US: https://refugeprivacy.com https://refugeprivacy.com
  - dwaite 3y ago
    > I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. At least it highlights the absurdity of airplane mode. Yeah, Apple perhaps more than anyone else will look at "Airplane mode" not as "turn off all radios" but rather "put device into a state compliant with various aviation regulations".
YeBanKo 3y ago
It’s been around for years and it’s a lot of data to leak. Also UI interface of these features is super confusing. The worst is when I try to share something over AirPlay and there is a bunch devices named like iPhone (3) and iPad (2) and as I figure out which one I want to share with it discovers another device and as I click the icons shift and I no longer know whom I shared a file with.
deleted 3y ago
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zik 3y ago

That's the really disturbing part of all this. As a user you can take reasonable steps to ensure that you're not vulnerable - switch your bluetooth off but your device straight up lies to you saying it's off while it's leaking data and making you vulnerable.

fbdab103 3y ago
Apple also makes it deliberately annoying to pseudo-disable Bluetooth.
gumby 3y ago
The problem with the bluetooth switch (or "bluetooth headphone switch" in most peoples' mind) is that if it switched off BT completely people would be surprised when their watch stopped talking to their phone, or they couldn't airdrop to their neighbor etc. Perhaps I should have written "problem" with quotes. The control center does what most people think they want. It used to be that when you enabled airplane mode on your watch it set it for your phone too, but you had to get out out of airplane mode on each device. Makes sense to me, but apparently not to everyone, so I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. At least it highlights the absurdity of airplane mode. Apart from my own belief that "no means no" when it refers to radios in my devices, I'm also disappointed in the other data that are shared. The phone number, for example, AFAICT is used for joining secured wifi: if you join a network, everybody around you who's connected to that network is asked if they would like to share the password with you (you don't even see it). A handy feature, but not one implemented in a privacy-protecting way (shame on you, Apple!)
- extraduder_ire 3y ago
  > It used to be that when you enabled airplane mode on your watch it set it for your phone too, but you had to get out out of airplane mode on each device. Makes sense to me, but apparently not to everyone, so I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. This might be surprising, but it makes sense to me. If your device is in "airplane mode" it should not transmit, but can still receive. So, a BLE message from your watch telling your phone to exit airplane mode can be received and acted on. Same with disabling enabling it on your watch until it knows it has set it for your phone/other devices. I would expect disabling bluetooth (ignoring cc toggle lies) to work the way you describe though.
- transpute 3y ago
  > I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. Until the EU mandates a "Radio Kill Snitch" in computing devices, the faraday bag industry rejoices. UK: https://faradaybag.com https://faradaybag.com US: https://refugeprivacy.com https://refugeprivacy.com
- dwaite 3y ago
  > I was amazed when disabling airplane mode on your watch did the same on the phone. At least it highlights the absurdity of airplane mode. Yeah, Apple perhaps more than anyone else will look at "Airplane mode" not as "turn off all radios" but rather "put device into a state compliant with various aviation regulations".

YeBanKo 3y ago

It’s been around for years and it’s a lot of data to leak. Also UI interface of these features is super confusing. The worst is when I try to share something over AirPlay and there is a bunch devices named like iPhone (3) and iPad (2) and as I figure out which one I want to share with it discovers another device and as I click the icons shift and I no longer know whom I shared a file with.

deleted 3y ago

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