all it does is prevent sideloaded apps from having access to sensitive permissions by default, which is a good thing.
this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2024
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True, but if it's good for users, it should be the rule for ALL apps
Well, all apps on your phone are sideloaded, right? You're not using Google play, are you?
Now I'm actually glad I'm stuck on Android 13.
Sideloading is the only reason i use android over ios...
Same
Ironically sideloading is pretty easy on iOS nowadays
But if you need notifications Gl and gl with apple removing the app
Anything short of "it's your device, it obeys you" is theft.
This is why I decided to not use Google services this Graphene install. I have zero doubt Google is going to try and lock down the ability to use anything outside of the PlayStore in an IOS type move. Just hope a better Linux based phone gets done quickly because I'm not sure how many iterations of alternate Android OS generations will be able to exist as they lock things down.
I'm holding on to mine until a Linux phone comes Along. If not, you know what? Fuck it. I'm not replacing my phone with some spyware OS Android. Fuck that shit.
Personally, I like the first one and wouldn't use an option to automatically give those permissions to all apps.
Being a power user doesn't make anyone immune from malware, it just needs to pass some sniff tests. It was by luck that that backdoor in the Linux kernel was found and it's naive to believe every single malware app is going to be obvious with unrealistic promises and/or bad grammar and spelling. Permissions requests are a clue that an app is doing something it shouldn't be. And Facebook is considered trusted by many despite an insider even confirming the "talk about something near your phone and fb will advertise it to you" being real.
When you download an app, unless you either wrote it yourself (including all libraries) or have checked the source for open source apps (again including libraries), you can only guess at what it is really doing. And just because an app does what it claims to do doesn't mean it isn't doing anything else, so the "well, it does work" test isn't a great security test.
For the app developers being able to block side loading, it says it uses meta data to enforce that. Couldn't modders just modify that meta data so that it doesn't realize X' app is actually a modified X app? It would need to do something more complex than a checksum or hash to detect it's the same app.
I mean, I love "fuck Google" bandwagons, but either I'm missing something or this one doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
despite an insider even confirming the "talk about something near your phone and fb will advertise it to you" being real
When was thisβ½
Sometime in the last couple of years iirc, though I'm having trouble finding it, what with all of the articles about "it might look like this is happening but Facebook insists it's not".
Let me know if you do find anything as I'm very keen to hear the inside scoop. It always seemed like nonsense to me as it would be so easy to prove (unexpected mic access, large amounts of data or CPU usage, actual recreation in test conditions) but all the claims (that I've seen) are very anecdotal.
Though I understand the reason, I find this ironic given how invasive play store apps can be. My cars official app requires full location access all the time, otherwise it pops up asking for it every time you open it. Meanwhile some FOSS app that can be code reviewed and sideloaded is more difficult to give needed acess.
Not to defend the shitty app, but it's probably Google's fault. Location access is needed to just query WiFi or do a hotspot. Probably features the app needs. They should've make that more granular.
They need it for 2 things I believe.
- They show a map where vehivle last parked compared to you.
- They could use it for their proprietary phone as key feature that doesn't work and is unreliable compared to using UWB.
- Gonna add this one since its totally the reason, sell your data. They store the car data, why not get the phones location data so you can get them all the time!
Sure they sell the data...my point was just that they would probably need the permission even if they didn't want your actual location.
I haven't deved android since before all of the permission overhauls but I believe aprpximate would suffice for those cases, and I don't think they are actually needed. Luckily with a little bit of work and someones open source project I was able to get a home assistant integration to use their API and give them 0 of those permission requests.
I'm no android pro Dev, so no absolute confidence in my point. You're probably right. And good you managed to bring it into HA without the permissions.
and FOSS apps that can be fully code reviewed and confirmed safe, unlike anything proprietary, will still cause banking apps to refuse to run on your unrooted device. I had to go back to carrying a physical key around with me. (the foss apps were there first)
Wait, am I to understand they're intending on making it that you cannot just install any apk you choose because it's your phone and your business? Is that going to be no longer possible?
If you were to read the article you'd find that sideloaded apps will have restricted permissions that the user will have to un-restrict one by one.
Ewww. Such fucking useless imposition of restrictions that should be the user's decision. Like almost everything else in technology nowadays where control is being taken away from the user.
I'm only ever going to use devices that I can put whatever custom ROM I want on or that natively supports the options I want.
As long as the general public just bends over and accepts this shit, they'll keep doing stuff like this.
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