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> Y'all do know that modern Android and iOS have permission prompts to prevent this kind of thing, right? You know these apps completely disable themselves if

> Y'all do know that modern Android and iOS have permission prompts to prevent this kind of thing, right? You know these apps completely disable themselves if you don't grant them the permissions because the OS tells them when you do that, right?

crop_rotation 3y ago
That doesn't happen on iOS. Apps completely disabling themselves if not granted permissions is explicitly against Apple's terms IIRC. This is how I was able to install Truecaller (yes that invasive app) without giving it my contacts permission and then disable my number from it (which seems to be the only way). You can not do this on android as truecaller would refuse to move forward without permissions.
- LoganDark 3y ago
  > You can not do this on android as truecaller would refuse to move forward without permissions. Then it's only iOS that allows that. My point still stands though because the commenter said that "android and iOS" allow you to do this but they don't. Back when Android allowed you to root the phone, XPrivacyLua let you spoof granted permissions so that apps thought they were tracking data that was actually fake. But now you can't do this. Some distributions like GrapheneOS and maybe LineageOS also let you do this nowadays, but it's still not enough.
- callalex 3y ago
  I encounter this all the time with App Store apps. Citizen will disable itself if you don’t grant live, high precision location data even though it would work fine with “when open” and an approximate location. The app for sketchy WiFi cameras I bought requires location to register the cameras, and will refuse to activate them without the permission.
yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
(Taking the claim at face value) Okay, then nothing is safe regardless of platform; apps on every platform can just demand permissions and be given them, and PureOS is no better because "we demand that you disable technical measures that would protect you" is effective on all OSs. This still leaves the Librem 5 no better than anything else.
- fsflover 3y ago
  > This still leaves the Librem 5 no better than anything else. It doesn't. The security model of GNU/Linux is that you run trusted FLOSS apps from a signed repository. Try to find malware in there.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
    Okay, then the security model of Android can be that you run trusted apps from a signed repository (say, f-droid). If you don't install apps that aren't from a publisher you trust, both OSs should be fine. If you do, then the only advantage of PureOS is that it's less likely to be targeted, not that it actually has better security. Edit: As a worked example, let's say the app for some social network does something nasty. If they released their app for PureOS, it would still do something nasty. If they don't release such an app, then you can't use it, but you could also just not use it on Android and enjoy the same security.
    - fsflover 3y ago
      Yes, sandboxing should be improved on GNU/Linux. Still, you can use the smart card on Librem 5 and kill switches if you need to be 100% sure malware has no access to some things.

crop_rotation 3y ago

That doesn't happen on iOS. Apps completely disabling themselves if not granted permissions is explicitly against Apple's terms IIRC. This is how I was able to install Truecaller (yes that invasive app) without giving it my contacts permission and then disable my number from it (which seems to be the only way). You can not do this on android as truecaller would refuse to move forward without permissions.

LoganDark 3y ago
> You can not do this on android as truecaller would refuse to move forward without permissions. Then it's only iOS that allows that. My point still stands though because the commenter said that "android and iOS" allow you to do this but they don't. Back when Android allowed you to root the phone, XPrivacyLua let you spoof granted permissions so that apps thought they were tracking data that was actually fake. But now you can't do this. Some distributions like GrapheneOS and maybe LineageOS also let you do this nowadays, but it's still not enough.
callalex 3y ago
I encounter this all the time with App Store apps. Citizen will disable itself if you don’t grant live, high precision location data even though it would work fine with “when open” and an approximate location. The app for sketchy WiFi cameras I bought requires location to register the cameras, and will refuse to activate them without the permission.

yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago

(Taking the claim at face value) Okay, then nothing is safe regardless of platform; apps on every platform can just demand permissions and be given them, and PureOS is no better because "we demand that you disable technical measures that would protect you" is effective on all OSs. This still leaves the Librem 5 no better than anything else.

fsflover 3y ago
> This still leaves the Librem 5 no better than anything else. It doesn't. The security model of GNU/Linux is that you run trusted FLOSS apps from a signed repository. Try to find malware in there.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  Okay, then the security model of Android can be that you run trusted apps from a signed repository (say, f-droid). If you don't install apps that aren't from a publisher you trust, both OSs should be fine. If you do, then the only advantage of PureOS is that it's less likely to be targeted, not that it actually has better security. Edit: As a worked example, let's say the app for some social network does something nasty. If they released their app for PureOS, it would still do something nasty. If they don't release such an app, then you can't use it, but you could also just not use it on Android and enjoy the same security.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    Yes, sandboxing should be improved on GNU/Linux. Still, you can use the smart card on Librem 5 and kill switches if you need to be 100% sure malware has no access to some things.