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Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now'". Android users are screwed - Louis Rossmann

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  • I don't know about America or to be honest at all what ICE tracker does, but if I was to assume that it somehow tracks government agents where they go, there might be laws against that.

    I don't want to drag this conversation into American politics, but I will say ICE has been doing things against USA law. Things are not great here. Even noncitizens have rights that need to be respected, and ICE is failing to do that. They have also arrested lawful residents, citizens too, in their sweeps.

    The ICE tracker app is a protest app/ direct action sort of thing, not a tool for criminality. Surely you can see the value of being able to use technology to resist a tyrannical government?

    By the way, do you want the USA government to potentially control which software can be installed on your phone? Google is an American company. USA courts could decide (international company) is violating (American IP law or something else) and instruct Google to disallow their app from being installed entirely.

    They can pull apps off the app store now, and they do that, but currently you can still side load stuff.

  • Go put batteries in your walkman, grandpa.

    Replaceable batteries are superior, cope

  • Replaceable batteries are superior, cope

    Yes, they are. Glad you're finally on board the "batteries beat wires" train. Choo choo.

  • Yes, they are. Glad you're finally on board the "batteries beat wires" train. Choo choo.

    replaceable batteries, dumbass

  • The cheap phones are cheap because they lack other features, not because a headphone jack makes them cheaper.

    I can't even follow your arguments anymore.

    As a user, I want as many options as possible, but if I can get a phone that's $100 cheaper because it doesn't have a headphone port, I'll definitely choose that option.

    You're the one that implied headphone jacks add cost to phones. I'm saying that they don't, and whatever cost they do add is minuscule. The implication that any cost savings is being passed to you is laughable.

    Look, they killed the jack because they could save a couple bucks of design time and get a few cubic millimeters of space, but most importantly they could softly force their users to buy wireless headphones (maybe even the ones they sell and bundle?!). The former outcomes being happy accidents in order push the latter. It's win win for them, and lose for the customer.

    They know that their price concious customers are still using wired headphone and unlikely to take them up on their bundle, so they keep including it there. The affluent ones are the ones with cash to burn and little care for this issue. I get you like BT headphones, so do I, but there's simply no good defense for the 3.5mm removal other than shilling.

  • I don't want to drag this conversation into American politics, but I will say ICE has been doing things against USA law. Things are not great here. Even noncitizens have rights that need to be respected, and ICE is failing to do that. They have also arrested lawful residents, citizens too, in their sweeps.

    The ICE tracker app is a protest app/ direct action sort of thing, not a tool for criminality. Surely you can see the value of being able to use technology to resist a tyrannical government?

    By the way, do you want the USA government to potentially control which software can be installed on your phone? Google is an American company. USA courts could decide (international company) is violating (American IP law or something else) and instruct Google to disallow their app from being installed entirely.

    They can pull apps off the app store now, and they do that, but currently you can still side load stuff.

    If the ICE app is breaking the law, and ICE itself is breaking the law, two wrongs don't make 1 right. There are legal ways to protest.

    Like I said, earlier if you aren't breaking the law then if someone asks you to ID yourself
    , what's your fear? Loss of privacy?

    You can't use privacy to hide the act of breaking a law.

    Unless you're a developer it doesn't affect you anyway, you can still sideload apps. You just can't use a public highway like the internet to break the law and expect nothing to happen. I know it's not what any of you want to hear.

  • probably doesn't have the necessary antennae

    Attach some dangling USB modem with a data SIM, or just keep a mobile router with a data SIM in your backpack, for 3G/4G/5G data connectivity over WiFi. Then, use some VoIP provider if you actually need a phone number as well.

  • I grew up in Czechoslovakia and Australia, more Australia really. There might be a genuine reason why google is doing it or not. Most things require an identity these days. You cant drive without an identity , you can't purchase alcohol without an one, of open a bank account. Where does your privacy feeling stand there I suppose you don't have any of that? I'm actually amazed with so much fraud on the internet governments don't require an ID to open a browser on your PC. Isn't internet like a network of highways really ?

    You need an ID for those activities because it is required by law. Apples and oranges. Your argument is a logical fallacy of false equivalency.

    A government dictating what you can and cannot do by law is a completely different thing than some random company telling you what you can and can't do with a device you own.

    And again, if you're uncomfortable with that - then you still have the option of only downloading apps via the play store where identities are already verified.

    So again, it's the gay marriage argument - do you support the freedom of others to do something you may not want to do? Or would you rather restrict others freedom when it doesn't effect you? If it's the latter, then I think you're an objectively bad person.

  • You need an ID for those activities because it is required by law. Apples and oranges. Your argument is a logical fallacy of false equivalency.

    A government dictating what you can and cannot do by law is a completely different thing than some random company telling you what you can and can't do with a device you own.

    And again, if you're uncomfortable with that - then you still have the option of only downloading apps via the play store where identities are already verified.

    So again, it's the gay marriage argument - do you support the freedom of others to do something you may not want to do? Or would you rather restrict others freedom when it doesn't effect you? If it's the latter, then I think you're an objectively bad person.

    Owning device is not the same as owning the right to the software that runs on it. Google is well within their rights to say if you want to code on android, show us your ID, it's not your ethical right to do as you wish with someone else's software. There may or may not be a valid reason (ie. Too many suspicious apps that have no ownership). You need a license to drive on a public road owned by government , you need a license to code on Google's Android . I can open up a restaurant that serves no alcohol and request people for ID when they walk in because it's my right. No law that says you show me your ID but there's also no law that says I have to let you in.

  • Run the cable through your shirt. Problem solved.

    New problem created. Now when you want to take your phone out of your pocket to take a picture of something or scan it for an NFT sale you can't do that easily because you have this wire running through your shirt connecting your phone to your headphones. Also, if it's winter, now your phone has to go in an inner pocket not an outer one so you can't easily access it anymore.

    Or you can, I don't know, unplug the headphones for 2 seconds.

    And start blasting whatever you're listening to to the whole world? Well, you could pause what you're listening to first. Don't you see how this is much less convenient than wireless headphones where you don't have to make all these compromises?

    Redundant. Also, put your phone in your pocket and stop whinin'.

    Ah, accept a less convenient alternative because of the limitations of the wires. Sure, sounds great.

    My man, are you allergic to speakers? You're cooking in a kitchen.

    You're cooking in a kitchen. There are loud fans, loud kettles. Why would you use a speaker that you have to turn way up to blast over all that noise? What's wrong with you. Use headphones, you're in a kitchen!

    Skill issue. Run your wire underneath your jacket and you won't have this """problem""".

    Now you have the other problems with your phone being inside an inner pocket and not easily accessible for doing things like taking pictures or doing NFT transactions. You really haven't thought this through, have you?

    Now when you want to take your phone out of your pocket to take a picture of something or scan it for an NFT sale you can't do that easily

    Sure you can. Just unplug the headphones.

    And start blasting whatever you're listening to to the whole world?

    You're either trolling or you've never used wired headphones. Playback stops automatically when you unplug a wired headphone. It's the same thing when you disconnect a bluetooth headphone.

    You're cooking in a kitchen. There are loud fans, loud kettles. Why would you use a speaker that you have to turn way up to blast over all that noise?

    Wtf? Lol. If you're kitchen is that loud, something's wrong with it.

    or doing NFT transactions. You really haven't thought this through, have you?

    Yeah, you're either trolling or a very special kind of person.

  • If the ICE app is breaking the law, and ICE itself is breaking the law, two wrongs don't make 1 right. There are legal ways to protest.

    Like I said, earlier if you aren't breaking the law then if someone asks you to ID yourself
    , what's your fear? Loss of privacy?

    You can't use privacy to hide the act of breaking a law.

    Unless you're a developer it doesn't affect you anyway, you can still sideload apps. You just can't use a public highway like the internet to break the law and expect nothing to happen. I know it's not what any of you want to hear.

    Tbh I'm not even sure the app is breaking any laws at all. Reporting on the presence of law enforcement is (not always but sometimes) protected speech here. I don't use the app, and I haven't heard that they are trying to arrest anyone in regards to it.

    Honestly though... Have you thought through everything you're saying? Sheltering Jewish people during the holocaust was illegal in Germany.

    Anyway, have a nice day, those are my thoughts.

  • Tbh I'm not even sure the app is breaking any laws at all. Reporting on the presence of law enforcement is (not always but sometimes) protected speech here. I don't use the app, and I haven't heard that they are trying to arrest anyone in regards to it.

    Honestly though... Have you thought through everything you're saying? Sheltering Jewish people during the holocaust was illegal in Germany.

    Anyway, have a nice day, those are my thoughts.

    I'm not a lawyer , but common sense dictates if you are going to make an app that's possibly illegal, you won't do it unless you are satisfied that it is legal. As far as comparing the sheltering of Jews illegally who were facing extermination and people who entered a country illegally is like saying I broke all the speed limit rules to attend an exam because I saw a person doing the same for a valid emergency. I'm not saying what Trump is doing is right at all, it's reprehensible, but don't try to equate it with the attempt to delete Jews from existence. It's absolutely fucking ridiculous .

  • Owning device is not the same as owning the right to the software that runs on it. Google is well within their rights to say if you want to code on android, show us your ID, it's not your ethical right to do as you wish with someone else's software. There may or may not be a valid reason (ie. Too many suspicious apps that have no ownership). You need a license to drive on a public road owned by government , you need a license to code on Google's Android . I can open up a restaurant that serves no alcohol and request people for ID when they walk in because it's my right. No law that says you show me your ID but there's also no law that says I have to let you in.

    We're just not gonna see eye to eye on this.

    I want privacy and freedom. You want Google to dictate what apps you can use even though it doesn't effect you.

    You don't give a shit about people who rely on apps that aren't from the play store. You cant seem to understand why it's bad because it won't effect you. It's selfish

  • replaceable batteries, dumbass

    Yes, replaceable batteries!

  • I can't even follow your arguments anymore.

    As a user, I want as many options as possible, but if I can get a phone that's $100 cheaper because it doesn't have a headphone port, I'll definitely choose that option.

    You're the one that implied headphone jacks add cost to phones. I'm saying that they don't, and whatever cost they do add is minuscule. The implication that any cost savings is being passed to you is laughable.

    Look, they killed the jack because they could save a couple bucks of design time and get a few cubic millimeters of space, but most importantly they could softly force their users to buy wireless headphones (maybe even the ones they sell and bundle?!). The former outcomes being happy accidents in order push the latter. It's win win for them, and lose for the customer.

    They know that their price concious customers are still using wired headphone and unlikely to take them up on their bundle, so they keep including it there. The affluent ones are the ones with cash to burn and little care for this issue. I get you like BT headphones, so do I, but there's simply no good defense for the 3.5mm removal other than shilling.

    You're the one that implied headphone jacks add cost to phones.

    They do.

    I'm saying that they don't, and whatever cost they do add is minuscule.

    Ok.

    The implication that any cost savings is being passed to you is laughable.

    It is, but it isn't a major savings. But, it's hard to know because the pricing of phones isn't very transparent.

    Look, they killed the jack because they could save a couple bucks of design time and get a few cubic millimeters of space

    Yes....

    most importantly they could softly force their users to buy wireless headphones

    Why would they care?

  • Now when you want to take your phone out of your pocket to take a picture of something or scan it for an NFT sale you can't do that easily

    Sure you can. Just unplug the headphones.

    And start blasting whatever you're listening to to the whole world?

    You're either trolling or you've never used wired headphones. Playback stops automatically when you unplug a wired headphone. It's the same thing when you disconnect a bluetooth headphone.

    You're cooking in a kitchen. There are loud fans, loud kettles. Why would you use a speaker that you have to turn way up to blast over all that noise?

    Wtf? Lol. If you're kitchen is that loud, something's wrong with it.

    or doing NFT transactions. You really haven't thought this through, have you?

    Yeah, you're either trolling or a very special kind of person.

    Sure you can. Just unplug the headphones.

    First you have to stop whatever you're listening to or you start playing it on a speaker for everyone. Doing that is an annoyance that you don't need to put up with if you just use wireless headphones.

    Playback stops automatically when you unplug a wired headphone

    Maybe it does today, I don't know, I haven't used wired headphones in many years. Back in the day it didn't.

    Wtf? Lol. If you're kitchen is that loud, something's wrong with it.

    If you are kitchen is quiet, you really should be using the fan to get the smoke and food smells out of the kitchen. Maybe if you're just making pop-tarts then it isn't a big deal, but if you actually ever do any serious cooking you'll discover that it gets loud.

    Yeah, you're either trolling or a very special kind of person.

    Why are you so scared of the modern world? Is it that you're too confused by it all? Can't handle touchscreens? Scared by https? It's ok man, just take a course. You'll learn to live in the present, not the past.

  • Apple now allows sideloading of apps and Google is trying to get rid of sideloading.

    What... the Fuck?

    To be fair, they are now both on the same level. Both now allow sideloading from "trusted" sources, aka developers verified by Apple/Google.

  • > be me
    > buy new phone, chose android cause I can install anything on it
    > get free iphone from work
    > sell iphone on ebay cause I can install anything I want on my android
    > google doesnt want me to install anything I want

    Fuck me. I kept the wrong phone.

    They are both now on the same level. Both iPhone and Android now allow sideloading of apps of "trusted" developers, so developers verified by Google/Apple.

  • We're just not gonna see eye to eye on this.

    I want privacy and freedom. You want Google to dictate what apps you can use even though it doesn't effect you.

    You don't give a shit about people who rely on apps that aren't from the play store. You cant seem to understand why it's bad because it won't effect you. It's selfish

    You've put a whole lot of words in my mouth I didn't say. I just don't see it "necessary" as a bad thing, you can still install apps via side loading, but now you can feel comfortable that if you install an app that steals all your passwords you can actually point a finger at who did it and hold them to account. Not that I wish that on anyone.

  • Yes, replaceable batteries!

    Replaceable batteries in my phone, to power my wired headphones lol

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    and hopefully also elsewhere. as Drew said in the first part, tech workers will be affected by billionaire's decisions even outside of work, on multiple fronts. we must eat the rich, or they will eat us all alive.
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    Only way I'll want a different phone brand is if it comes with ZERO bloatware and has an excellent internal memory/storage cleanse that has nothing to do with Google's Files or a random app I'm not sure I can trust without paying or rooting. So far my A series phones do what I need mostly and in my opinion is superior to the Motorola's my fiancé prefers minus the phone-phone charge ability his has, everything else I'm just glad I have enough control to tweak things to my liking, however these days Samsungs seem to be infested with Google bloatware and apps that insist on opening themselves back up regardless of the widespread battery restrictions I've assigned (even was sent a "Stop Closing my Apps" notif that sent me to an article ) short of Disabling many unnecessary apps bc fully rooting my devices is something I rarely do anymore. I have a random Chinese brand tablet where I actually have more control over the apps than either of my A series phones whee Force Stopping STAYS that way when I tell them to! I hate being listened to for ads and the unwanted draining my battery life and data (I live off-grid and pay data rates because "Unlimited" is some throttled BS) so my ability to control what's going on in the background matters a lot to me, enough that I'm anti Meta-apps and avoid all non-essential Google apps. I can't afford topline phones and the largest data plan, so I work with what I can afford and I'm sad refurbished A lines seem to be getting more expensive while giving away my control to companies. Last A line I bought that was supposed to be my first 5G phone was network locked, so I got ripped off, but it still serves me well in off-grid life. Only app that actually regularly malfunctions when I Force Stop it's background presence is Roku, which I find to have very an almost insidious presence in our lives. Google Play, Chrome, and Spotify never acts incompetent in any way no matter how I have to open the setting every single time I turn Airplane Mode off. Don't need Gmail with Chrome and DuckDuckGo has been awesome at intercepting self-loading ads. I hope one day DDG gets better bc Google seems to be terrible lately and I even caught their AI contradicting itself when asking about if Homo Florensis is considered Human (yes) and then asked the oldest age of human remains, and was fed the outdated narrative of 300,000 years versus 700,000+ years bipedal pre-humans have been carbon dated outside of the Cradle of Humanity in South Africa. SO sorry to go off-topic, but I've got a big gripe with Samsung's partnership with Google, especially considering the launch of Quantum Computed AI that is still being fine-tuned with company-approved censorships.