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I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here. I also don't mind the downvote, but

I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here. I also don't mind the downvote, but if you would please tell me how you are able to guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, please tell me instead of hiding behind a downvote. Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device. wow, downvotes on all three comments! thanks, stranger.

vasco 1y ago
I didn't downvote you, and it's against the rules to focus on the voting anyway.
- jackstraw42 1y ago
  Ok, thanks for saying that I guess. FYI I wasn't talking directly to you on the second line.
user_7832 1y ago
> I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here. Can you do it on an iPhone? (You can't.) Between android and ios, which platform is considered more secure or safer? It's not easy to find out directly, but bug bounty programs can be used as a heuristic. Guess which one it is, after both being the same for a long time? (It's android). You can check out https://www.wired.com/story/android-zero-day-more-than-ios-zerodium/ https://www.wired.com/story/android-zero-day-more-than-ios-z... and https://cyberscoop.com/ios-zero-day-zerodium-high-supply/ https://cyberscoop.com/ios-zero-day-zerodium-high-supply/ > I also don't mind the downvote, but if you would please tell me how you are able to guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, please tell me instead of hiding behind a downvote. Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device. The same way you guarantee it on any other OS, be it windows or macos or linux. You do your best, don't download sketchy apps, and don't be a political figure. Of course that doesn't guarantee it, just makes it 99% likely. > Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device. Do you think you can guarantee this on an iPhone? May I ask you how you are able to guarantee this on iOS? (I haven't downvoted you)
- jackstraw42 1y ago
  I haven't said anything about Apple guaranteeing this, I just am saying that Apple seems more trustworthy to me. And unless you can prove Android is actually better, then I still believe that. I feel like people are misunderstanding my original post. You would probably not be surprised that I would still trust a heavily regulated government that's occasionally broken rather than one that's run in a totally free market by all varieties of selfish interests.
  - AnthonyMouse 1y ago
    It seems like you're missing the most important part. If you had to rank app stores by probability of malware, the lowest probability would be F-Droid. After that it might reasonably be Apple followed by Google Play. But F-Droid isn't available on iOS, so if you want to use the app store with the lowest probability of malware, it's only available on Android. And more to the point, the safest app store is available on Android only because Android has third party app stores. To have a single store to the exclusion of all others, that store has to be a big tent, and big tents get full of clowns.
    - jackstraw42 1y ago
      No, I feel like rather you are misunderstanding my main point. I do understand that I am stuck with the Apple equivalent of the Google Play Store. Android is more like a completely open ecosystem, Apple's is much more closed filled with walled gardens. Still, walls provide protection if the ones building them know what they're doing. So, I feel like Apple has the edge with what we have, over Google's stance of "do nothing" rather than trying to give users a good sense of privacy. If Apple were fully open and allowed such a thing as F-Droid to exist on their OS, you would have a point. edit: and both OSes are not perfect. That was also part of my main point, not that Apple's is clearly far superior. All I said was I'm glad I trusted my instincts and explained why. last edit: I've read back the comments to try and see where the misunderstandings are coming from and hopefully have addressed them. While the most secure App Store does exist on Android, it's taken us a while to get there (I know F-Droid has been around a while as well). I am talking about the time period since very early Android and iOS up until now. If I had been using Android, no doubt I would have tried to do it the proper way, but knowing what I like to do freely on my mobile device instead of feeling like I need to worry about privacy with every. single. app. I pick iOS for my mobile OS from 2008-2025 again and I am glad that I did. None of the exploits, vulnerabilities, etc have affected me and I have to give Apple the credit for at least giving me my money's worth on that.
singpolyma3 1y ago
I guarantee no malware by using fdroid
- ImJamal 1y ago
  Fdroid just checks there is no proprietary code and compiles. They don't do any review. You are completely reliant on the app not being malicious.
  - singpolyma3 1y ago
    Not true :) they review for antifeatures etc
rpdillon 1y ago
You're getting down-voted because you're structuring the argument in an unwinnable way, and I think you know that. None of us can prove that any phone doesn't have malware. Seems like you're arguing in bad faith.
- jackstraw42 1y ago
  the thing is, I didn't mean to argue. I'm merely responding to people's comments, who started an argument? I am very, very concerned about our ability to communicate with each other as human beings these days. Maybe this thread was meant to be an example of that, I don't know. I didn't realize everyone was trying to prove me wrong with this. sheesh. further, I am seeing why some folks decided to close themselves off completely to stuff like this. I enjoy intellectual curiosity and try to find others who do, but I realize many people don't enjoy it and many even hate it. it's not because it's a lack of intelligence. It's that everyone seems uninterested in the thoughts that made me type that initial comment, they're more concerned with proving me wrong. Am I accurate in this assessment, or can I trust you to not treat this question as an argument, if that is a better way to put it?

vasco 1y ago

I didn't downvote you, and it's against the rules to focus on the voting anyway.

jackstraw42 1y ago
Ok, thanks for saying that I guess. FYI I wasn't talking directly to you on the second line.

user_7832 1y ago

> I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here. Can you do it on an iPhone? (You can't.) Between android and ios, which platform is considered more secure or safer? It's not easy to find out directly, but bug bounty programs can be used as a heuristic. Guess which one it is, after both being the same for a long time? (It's android). You can check out https://www.wired.com/story/android-zero-day-more-than-ios-zerodium/ https://www.wired.com/story/android-zero-day-more-than-ios-z... and https://cyberscoop.com/ios-zero-day-zerodium-high-supply/ https://cyberscoop.com/ios-zero-day-zerodium-high-supply/ > I also don't mind the downvote, but if you would please tell me how you are able to guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, please tell me instead of hiding behind a downvote. Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device. The same way you guarantee it on any other OS, be it windows or macos or linux. You do your best, don't download sketchy apps, and don't be a political figure. Of course that doesn't guarantee it, just makes it 99% likely. > Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device. Do you think you can guarantee this on an iPhone? May I ask you how you are able to guarantee this on iOS? (I haven't downvoted you)

jackstraw42 1y ago
I haven't said anything about Apple guaranteeing this, I just am saying that Apple seems more trustworthy to me. And unless you can prove Android is actually better, then I still believe that. I feel like people are misunderstanding my original post. You would probably not be surprised that I would still trust a heavily regulated government that's occasionally broken rather than one that's run in a totally free market by all varieties of selfish interests.
- AnthonyMouse 1y ago
  It seems like you're missing the most important part. If you had to rank app stores by probability of malware, the lowest probability would be F-Droid. After that it might reasonably be Apple followed by Google Play. But F-Droid isn't available on iOS, so if you want to use the app store with the lowest probability of malware, it's only available on Android. And more to the point, the safest app store is available on Android only because Android has third party app stores. To have a single store to the exclusion of all others, that store has to be a big tent, and big tents get full of clowns.
  - jackstraw42 1y ago
    No, I feel like rather you are misunderstanding my main point. I do understand that I am stuck with the Apple equivalent of the Google Play Store. Android is more like a completely open ecosystem, Apple's is much more closed filled with walled gardens. Still, walls provide protection if the ones building them know what they're doing. So, I feel like Apple has the edge with what we have, over Google's stance of "do nothing" rather than trying to give users a good sense of privacy. If Apple were fully open and allowed such a thing as F-Droid to exist on their OS, you would have a point. edit: and both OSes are not perfect. That was also part of my main point, not that Apple's is clearly far superior. All I said was I'm glad I trusted my instincts and explained why. last edit: I've read back the comments to try and see where the misunderstandings are coming from and hopefully have addressed them. While the most secure App Store does exist on Android, it's taken us a while to get there (I know F-Droid has been around a while as well). I am talking about the time period since very early Android and iOS up until now. If I had been using Android, no doubt I would have tried to do it the proper way, but knowing what I like to do freely on my mobile device instead of feeling like I need to worry about privacy with every. single. app. I pick iOS for my mobile OS from 2008-2025 again and I am glad that I did. None of the exploits, vulnerabilities, etc have affected me and I have to give Apple the credit for at least giving me my money's worth on that.

singpolyma3 1y ago

I guarantee no malware by using fdroid

ImJamal 1y ago
Fdroid just checks there is no proprietary code and compiles. They don't do any review. You are completely reliant on the app not being malicious.
- singpolyma3 1y ago
  Not true :) they review for antifeatures etc

rpdillon 1y ago

You're getting down-voted because you're structuring the argument in an unwinnable way, and I think you know that. None of us can prove that any phone doesn't have malware. Seems like you're arguing in bad faith.

jackstraw42 1y ago
the thing is, I didn't mean to argue. I'm merely responding to people's comments, who started an argument? I am very, very concerned about our ability to communicate with each other as human beings these days. Maybe this thread was meant to be an example of that, I don't know. I didn't realize everyone was trying to prove me wrong with this. sheesh. further, I am seeing why some folks decided to close themselves off completely to stuff like this. I enjoy intellectual curiosity and try to find others who do, but I realize many people don't enjoy it and many even hate it. it's not because it's a lack of intelligence. It's that everyone seems uninterested in the thoughts that made me type that initial comment, they're more concerned with proving me wrong. Am I accurate in this assessment, or can I trust you to not treat this question as an argument, if that is a better way to put it?