8 ms·

This feature is nowadays called Privacy Guard and it works so well that I have it on by default for all apps. With the exception of apps that actually need to r

by Maakuth 13y ago

This feature is nowadays called Privacy Guard and it works so well that I have it on by default for all apps. With the exception of apps that actually need to read my contacts (say WhatsApp), I have not had to disable it for any applications and haven't seen any complications. For example Facebook and Twitter apps, which require a whole rainbow of permissions, function just the way they used to. I've never made a lot of use of their location dependent features though and would expect those to suffer from being deprived of GPS data.

hornetblack 13y ago
I haven't got round to rooting my droid yet, but my plan is to always tell facebook/twitter/google+ that my current position is directly under the moon/iss/some other satilite. Or maybe I'll trace out "Hello FB" on the Atlantic ocean.
- dredmorbius 13y ago
  That so needs to be a thing. Though I don't think I'd be tracing out "Hello". Unless you speak Bronx.
annnnd 13y ago
This sounds excellent, I can't believe I never tried it yet! Of course, this should be part of core Android, but I guess there is no hope for that (given that Google makes its dough on advertising).
- blueskin_ 13y ago
  It used to be, called App Ops. It was in for (one?) point release before google promptly withdrew it again after realising that giving people tools to protect their privacy goes against their mission.
  - Maakuth 13y ago
    According to Google [1], it was never meant to ship at that point as it was not ready for general public. There was some compatibility problems with many applications, so that is somewhat believable. [1] http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Control+Feature+from+Android+442/article33936.htm http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Cont...
    - blueskin_ 13y ago
      Of course, they have to spin it some way, because they're years past the point they could be honest and believed. I think it's more likely one google engineer wanted to resist the constant invasion of privacy and likely ended up paying with his job.
      - skj 13y ago
        "more likely one google engineer wanted to resist the constant invasion of privacy" One engineer can't launch a product alone. Just isn't possible unless its under a personal name. "and likely ended up paying with his job." 0% chance.
      - king_jester 13y ago
        App Ops throws SecurityExceptions when you try to access a permission, it doesn't return empty data. You can imagine that most apps didn't build exception handling into the feature access that is required in the manifest at install time. That is the primary reason why it is not a fully public feature for users.
  - StavrosK 13y ago
    They didn't really withdraw it, they just hid it better. I downloaded App Ops X and it still works fine on 4.4.whatever.
    - computerbob 13y ago
      Do you have a link to the google play store? I tried to find it and couldn't. I would love to download it.
      - edraferi 13y ago
        I think this is it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger.appopsinstaller https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger...
        StavrosK 13y ago
        Yep, that's the one!
        computerbob 13y ago
        Thanks!
    - eigenvector 13y ago
      App Ops X can only work with root on 4.4.x. In 4.3 it could expose the hidden options to the user without additional permissions.
      - StavrosK 13y ago
        Ah, I didn't know it needed root, I guess I root everything so I never noticed. Too bad.
      - JangoSteve 13y ago
        To clarify, it doesn't need root on 4.4, it needs root on 4.4.2.
  - wavesounds 13y ago
    If that we're true why don't they remove the AdBlock extension from he Chrome store? What good are targeted Ads if those Ads are blocked anyway?
    - alanh 13y ago
      This one is pretty simple, actually. They do obscure AdBlock from the store — if listed in order of popularity instead of being somewhat curated, it’d be at the top of the page. But to your point, imagine they did remove AdBlock from the store. Nerds would stop using Chrome. (Assuming it was not fairly straightforward to install from another source, as is increasingly true.) And we nerds tell our friends and family what browser they should be using. It’d hurt the overall popularity of the browser. Also, it’s better for Chrome’s security reputation to allow AdBlock from within their store than to allow it from a third-party site. You don’t want to train users that it’s OK to install extensions with broad permissions from anywhere but the Chrome store! It may become the case in the future that they re-evaluate these priorities, of course.

by Maakuth 13y ago

hornetblack 13y ago

I haven't got round to rooting my droid yet, but my plan is to always tell facebook/twitter/google+ that my current position is directly under the moon/iss/some other satilite. Or maybe I'll trace out "Hello FB" on the Atlantic ocean.

dredmorbius 13y ago
That so needs to be a thing. Though I don't think I'd be tracing out "Hello". Unless you speak Bronx.

annnnd 13y ago

This sounds excellent, I can't believe I never tried it yet! Of course, this should be part of core Android, but I guess there is no hope for that (given that Google makes its dough on advertising).

blueskin_ 13y ago
It used to be, called App Ops. It was in for (one?) point release before google promptly withdrew it again after realising that giving people tools to protect their privacy goes against their mission.
- Maakuth 13y ago
  According to Google [1], it was never meant to ship at that point as it was not ready for general public. There was some compatibility problems with many applications, so that is somewhat believable. [1] http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Control+Feature+from+Android+442/article33936.htm http://www.dailytech.com/Google+Removes+App+Ops+Privacy+Cont...
  - blueskin_ 13y ago
    Of course, they have to spin it some way, because they're years past the point they could be honest and believed. I think it's more likely one google engineer wanted to resist the constant invasion of privacy and likely ended up paying with his job.
    - skj 13y ago
      "more likely one google engineer wanted to resist the constant invasion of privacy" One engineer can't launch a product alone. Just isn't possible unless its under a personal name. "and likely ended up paying with his job." 0% chance.
    - king_jester 13y ago
      App Ops throws SecurityExceptions when you try to access a permission, it doesn't return empty data. You can imagine that most apps didn't build exception handling into the feature access that is required in the manifest at install time. That is the primary reason why it is not a fully public feature for users.
- StavrosK 13y ago
  They didn't really withdraw it, they just hid it better. I downloaded App Ops X and it still works fine on 4.4.whatever.
  - computerbob 13y ago
    Do you have a link to the google play store? I tried to find it and couldn't. I would love to download it.
    - edraferi 13y ago
      I think this is it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger.appopsinstaller https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger...
      - StavrosK 13y ago
        Yep, that's the one!
      - computerbob 13y ago
        Thanks!
  - eigenvector 13y ago
    App Ops X can only work with root on 4.4.x. In 4.3 it could expose the hidden options to the user without additional permissions.
    - StavrosK 13y ago
      Ah, I didn't know it needed root, I guess I root everything so I never noticed. Too bad.
    - JangoSteve 13y ago
      To clarify, it doesn't need root on 4.4, it needs root on 4.4.2.
- wavesounds 13y ago
  If that we're true why don't they remove the AdBlock extension from he Chrome store? What good are targeted Ads if those Ads are blocked anyway?
  - alanh 13y ago
    This one is pretty simple, actually. They do obscure AdBlock from the store — if listed in order of popularity instead of being somewhat curated, it’d be at the top of the page. But to your point, imagine they did remove AdBlock from the store. Nerds would stop using Chrome. (Assuming it was not fairly straightforward to install from another source, as is increasingly true.) And we nerds tell our friends and family what browser they should be using. It’d hurt the overall popularity of the browser. Also, it’s better for Chrome’s security reputation to allow AdBlock from within their store than to allow it from a third-party site. You don’t want to train users that it’s OK to install extensions with broad permissions from anywhere but the Chrome store! It may become the case in the future that they re-evaluate these priorities, of course.