this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Google’s Gemini team is apparently sending out emails about an upcoming change to how Gemini interacts with apps on Android devices. The email informs users that, come July 7, 2025, Gemini will be able to “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Naturally, this has raised some privacy concerns among those who’ve received the email and those using the AI assistant on their Android devices.

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

My wife has been trying to get me to switch to Apple since Ive had a Droid X years ago. I've been on android since. It is time to switch. Probably a lateral move, but Google has gone to absolute shit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

Try lineage or graphene before jumping into the money pit maybe?

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Saying "You're not alone" is supposed to be a wholesome thing to show someone that you care. Instead, it's AI companies squeezing as much data out of customers and injecting as much AI into everything they can.

Society really took a wrong turn didn't it?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, Google is using their influence and our reliance to steer society. Please don't forget how passive language enables the worst abusers.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You're right, I'm an abuse enabler because I made an observation about companies being shitty. Very well said.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 days ago (7 children)

In the absence of being able to switch to Graphene (Don't own a pixel), I've done everything I can to replace Google Apps with FOSS alternatives, and disabled Google Assistant on my device entirely.

I know none of that will stop a determined Google eventually fucking with me, but at least I'm trying.

I'm so damned tired of the modern corporate world.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I know that they might not be as secure as GrapheneOS, but you should totally give LineageOS or /e/OS a try, as they're both not limited to Pixels. I haven't tested them myself however, since I am a Graphene user. The most I ever tried with one of them was testing ROMs by installing LineageOS on my old Moto G7 play.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

I usually move to Lineage once my two year warranty is up, just in case.

I know that by law hardware manufacturers can't deny hardware warranty based on your software (at least where I'm from...I worked in for one of the big three telco's up here in Canada)

But I'd rather not have that argument with the manufacturer, so I wait for it to run out. If my phone has a rom available I run that until the hardware dies and then I upgrade.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Yet we keep empowering them with every purchase we make and half of the consumer base will never see an issue doing so. Some purchases we have no choice but to make, and that's where they really have control of our lives. They seized the means of production, distribution and access of things necessary for life and leverage access to those necessities for access to more parts of our private lives. The majority appear to be naive morons who will happily sell all of us down the river for more camera filters and some pretty shoes. Basically, toys. We are losing our rights, our privacy, and control of our lives in exchange for toys...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Consumer activism, by itself, has rarely, if ever, accomplished anything.

The best recent examble was Tesla, but that wasn't a mere non-buying action. Tesla action involved vandalism and a massive word of mouth campaign.

Basically if we want to fight for a future we believe in, we must stop playing patty cakes and fight like it's a life and death struggle.

Symbolic resistance is not enough.

Don't get me wrong, I still avoid buying Nestle products, and have for years, but I know this is not the way to real change.

I want us to stop suggesting consumer activism as a valid pathway to change.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Apple has been seriously underperforming on their AI strategy.

Really makes it easy to keep using their devices.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

It's conforting that I wasn't the only one who found this concerning. But anyways I don't have Google (the app; I do have some other Google services installed) or Gemini installed.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Too bad we can't get a Linux OS.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

so this has got me looking at alternative OSs, but it's all a bit confusing. which one is most mature and would still let me run android apps (I want my bank apps and stuff like that) but is also somewhat de-googled? I appreciate any advice

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You would have to test how strict your bank app is.

GrapheneOS, /e/ os, and LineageOS

Would be the first ones I'd reach for.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Gemini depends on the Google app, disable it, and it dies.

Have you noticed how the Google app, the one that supposedly just does search and list news articles, has like 400 MB? Over time it accumulated 2GB cache... how?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I recently tried using the Google Translate image translator. Totally locked up now, requiring Play Store and Google App. Still didn't work, but is was seriously just "if you don't give us everything now, we won't do basic shit for you."

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

This headline format makes me irrationally annoyed.

They shouldn't be making assumptions about what the reader thinks. It almost feels like they're planting a bias first and then presenting the facts - instead of just laying things out and letting people make up their own minds.

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