top 97 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 86 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

My experience with Gemini:

Hey Google, set a timer for 5 minutes.

Gemini: I'm sorry, I don't understand.

WTF is the point of it then?

Imagine taking away the only useful feature of a voice assistant 💀

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 40 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    My recent experience with my phone is I tell it to set a 5 minute timer and it sets one in the fucking Google search browser, and if I page away I lose the timer.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    When I first got into Android (I miss my Nexus 6 T.T ), it felt like I could do so much more with my phone than I can now. I had so much cool automation shit that leveraged stuff like Google assistant voice commands, but now it's shit on so many levels. It goes beyond the user facing side of things; I used to use the app Tasker for a lot of the automation stuff, and over the years, it seems like the dev has been climbing an uphill battle against Google gating off functionality, and generally making things opaque and difficult for developers.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Your chats are saved in your account for up to 72 hours, whether Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.

    https://myactivity.google.com/product/gemini

    I wonder how long before AI services are added to ad blockers and VPN privacy controls.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 63 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Narrator: And users did not in fact, take action.

    It'll just be one more thing for them to complain and do nothing about. That is all.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [+] 39 points 1 year ago (14 children)
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    FairPhone can run Postmarket OS, eOS, iodeos, calyxos and lineageos.

    Some have longer support than others. Also you can buy separate parts for their phones and they are modular.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Yes but do they support the digital national ID and SSO apps that are (only) avaliable for android and apple? Until they do, a lot of users are going to be locked into those two big OS vendors. 😞

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] -2 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    I don't get it.

    you're in a thread discussing the finer points of privacy concerns about a corporation snooping on your apps and your only example of a barrier to not use a privacy focused product is...your requirement for government backdoors and spyware?

    also SSO works just fine on eOS. unless you're talking about googles MFA. at that point why are you even concerned about privacy?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    eOS is forked AOSP and has all Google "contributions" removed.

    so yes. it's Android.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    and so, OP's SSO problems are null since eOS has no issue running it due to it just being android under the hood.

    that apk doesn't install on arm Linux. Comparing eOS to Postmarket is apples to oranges. eOS is still chained by the buttcheeks to AOSP and Android.

    AOSP may not contain google services, but you're still at their mercy. No Google = No AOSP, or whenever they feel like it. Tomorrow, maybe.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    The digital national ID is not corporate or government snooping. If you believe it is, I don't think this conversation can continue. What it is, is what's needed to log into your doctors system to schedule an appointment, or the schools system to read updates about your kids, or to log into your online banking. All of that, and more, in my country, is using the same ID system, which won't work on a rooted android phone (at least, I haven't been able to make it work for the past 3-4 major versions).

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    you must have a lot of trust in your government.

    giving examples of what it's used for doesn't make it any better that you're forced to install software on your personal device by your government for simply existing and is an invasion of privacy.

    in my country my government wanted to use facial recognition for online transactions that were previously accessible via government IDs. it was found that the facial recognition software was provided by a corporate identity provider that was then selling that same data to local police that then tracked people through local government surveillance.

    when it comes to technology, I have zero faith in every government in the world to have my best interests in mind. they are all guilty of either being complicit in eroding civil rights or negligent in upholding the protections built for civil liberties.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yes, but i have a Nothing Phone (1). I should check the other alternatives, but afaik lineageos does not support my phone.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [+] 107 points 1 year ago (47 children)
  • [–] 40 points 1 year ago (33 children)

    Not a day goes by that I don't regret installing that on my phone.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 33 child comments
  • [–] 45 points 1 year ago (17 children)

    This... Except for contactless payment.
    I used graphene for a month. It was lovely. Even things like banking apps worked.
    I don't care about absolute privacy, but I do care about controlling my privacy. Grapheme gave me that.

    I had only 1 issue.
    Contactless payment.
    It's extremely convenient to me, from public transport to groceries. I just bop my phone.

    The fact that Google has that locked down surely violates some EU laws. But I'm sure they wave away the laws because of "financial security" or some other bullshit.
    As if bank card NFC/contactless doesn't suffer exactly the same issues.
    I looked into some "graphene contactless payment" type systems or workarounds, and I couldn't find anything that would fill the gap.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 17 child comments
  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Try Curve Pay. Just learned about it yesterday. I added my credit card and it just works. Couldn't be happier.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Unfortunately the reviews on Trustpilot and posts on Reddit make it painfully obvious that their customer service is basically nonexistent. Combined with the typical random account-closing most fintechs are known for, this is not a reliable option.

    Looking at this comparison, iCard might be an option if you desperately need a way to use NFC payments on your phone. Reviews are good, but it appears to be a prepaid system. Lots of fees to get lost in, too.

    But old school might be just fine, too. I just realized my card does fit into my phone case!

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I hear so many people praise paying with their phones, and there I am, so happy that I can leave my phone at home when shopping. Each to their own I guess.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Everyone has different preferences.

    My separate debit card and transport card won't discharge or just stop working as likely as a phone. It also won't be suddenly affected by bugs, nor will it get slower. Nor do I get Google also tracking every single payment as well.

    The only disadvantage is compatibility. So many things, and now even some shops use contactless-only terminals, while I got contactless or magnetic payments blocked. Only chip + PIN.
    But anyway, the shop that had to downgrade to contactless only due to increased fees on regular old terminal also started asking people to pay in cash instead, again, due to the fees.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    "The fact that Google has that locked down surely violates some EU laws. But I'm sure they wave away the laws because of "financial security" or some other bullshit. "

    I don't know as much as I'd like to about the regulatory side of this, but I know that Google and other big tech have done a masterful job of proactively building themselves into systems such that taking action against them is difficult.

    I think that's part of why the US antitrust case against Microsoft a few decades ago fizzled out into nothing — even though Microsoft was deemed to have been a monopolist, the big question was how do we remedy that in a way that isn't going to be harmful? The consensus on this amongst people who I respect is that the results of the Microsoft case was woefully insufficient and something that helped to lay the foundations of the big tech dominance that we see today.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    This may seem like a silly solution but maybe pop your debit card inside your phone case. It should bop through it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yup, true.

    But contactless via a phone can have no limit.
    Adding a debit card to phone case means the upper limit is £100. Which is actually fine, and is the limit I have normally set for phone contactless. But I can instantly remove that limit via my banking app.

    And the phone needs to be unlocked to make a payment.
    Do if I lose my phone anyone can charge £100 to the debit card.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It's not necessarily a solution, but my Garmin watch can still hold some of my cards, so I don't need the NFC payment on my phone to duplicate that functionality. Do you wear or carry any other devices that can stand-in?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    So you regret it every day? GOS is amazing in my opinion. What's your gripe with it?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 32 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Double negatives are hard. I love Graphene.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    What I'm curious is what kind of ball are you shaped like?

    A golf ball? With divots all over your skin? A basketball? Just round? A baseball? With stitches all over your skin like later years Chucky? A football? Are you Stewie Griffen? Testicles? Wait, are you saying your whole body is one big testicle? Oh my god, the Iron Shiek wasn't speaking broken english! He was just talking about you!!! "I hit him right in the ball this big!"

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    I installed GrapheneOS for the security and lack of Google. I didn't know it was a very nice stock Android without any crap. I love it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (6 children)

    Main things holding me back are the apps I already paid for on Google Play, and tap to pay.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Tap to pay is not there. But you can install the Play Store and install all your paid applications, that's what I did.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    You can sandbox play store apps right?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I believe /e/OS supports a broader range of devices, and it's also pretty great in my experience. The focus is on getting rid of google (replacing all services with MicroG and nextcloud integration) and blocking trackers while providing a smooth user experience, so it's security features are not as over the top as Graphene. It's still a huge freaking improvement over stock Android though, and I find it to be a joy to use.

    On devices supported by the online installer it can be up an running in like 30 minutes, no technical skills required. :)

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Does this work with multiple device accounts? Work requires my phone to have a personal/work account to be able to access applications like teams, and it's the only thing keeping me from swapping

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    In the sense of multiple users in Android settings? That works, it can be enabled in settings -> system -> multiple users. I haven't tested it though, as I don't have any need for that.

    I use Microsoft Authenticator and Microsoft Outlook for work, and both work flawlessly with /e/OS. Thankfully I have not had any reason to test Teams, but I'm pretty sure that would work as well.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Is it just me or does it seem slightly sus that GrapheneOS is only available for Google hardware...

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [+] 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    Sounds like they're intentionally setting the barriers to entry too high for anyone other than Google...

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [+] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Mainly just that one mean it will never be available on any other hardware...

    All the others seem like nice to haves rather than requirements to me(the first one is half required , half nice to have "...including full hardware security functionality"), but I guess I might change my mind when I get around to building a Linux phone when I have time to do that when I'm dead... 😅

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • [–] 27 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Anyone know if this is happening outside the US and if it is whether it's happening inside the EU?

  • source
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    I live in Finland using Android on a Nokia and I can switch Gemini off completely and choose to use the old Google Assistant instead. It did initially appear out of nowhere when they patched it in, but I could immediately turn it off with the same prompt that the other guy also got.

    If it's unavoidable it seems to be an US only thing atm.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    I'm in the UK and today I got asked whether I wanted to leave this on or not - it just notified me and asked me to confirm my consent.

    So I think this article's headline is slightly misleading - Google is actively informing users and asking them to confirm their consent.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago

    I switched Gemini language to an unsupported language.

  • source
  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I just removed gemini from my phone.

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    me too and then it somehow popped up in messages which I had to "turn off" separately. removing AI from an Android phone is an illusion.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    https://grapheneos.org/

    Make your next phone a Pixel and load GrapheneOS onto it. Problem solved.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 32 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Doesnt Apple also do this with Siri and basically every app unless the user untoggles it?

  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 24 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Yes, for the amount of hate Google gets... Which I think it is fair to be critical of any product that compromises privacy... I recently tried helping my mom clean up her iPhone, and seriously like 100x worse. Almost everything you do on Apple demands you have another Apple device. One of the worst experiences I've ever dealt with.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Isn't there some form of sampling bias here though? The kind of people who generally would care about these things likely also care about interoperability and would be on Android. I wouldn't be surprised if iPhone users simply don't care if Apple demands them to do anything.

  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Kinda sounds like you just don’t know how to use an iPhone.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago

    Is there a petition for antitrust charges against Google somewhere? I'm over the duopoly. Both options suck.

  • source
  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I'm not signed into a Google account on my phone, am I safe?

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [+] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
  • load more comments (-1 replies)
    load more comments
    view more: next ›
    11 comments in c/android@lemmy.world view that post
    2 comments in c/technology@lemmy.zip view that post
    1 comment in c/arstechnica_index@rss.ponder.cat view that post