• muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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    8 hours ago

    Google has decided you cannot turn off Gemini in their newer versions of Android. You cannot install other roms that do either, Google is killing those too. But yea, Apple is the bad guy. Ignore the Google rug pull.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      3 hours ago

      I mean it’s not just that. Probably not even mostly that. Security is really not great on Android far beyond the AI. I’ve been running Android for years and probably won’t change until Linux with LUKS is a reasonable alternative, But from a hardware level on through to the software, there are so many holes in the OS and ways to access privileged information. Even the top end of the Samsung line is largely rootable at this point, not without concessions, mind you, but as far as an enemy getting a phone and gaining access, or the company itself getting your data even without AI, I’d probably be concerned enough for ANY military org not to allow them to be used.

      Apple has a hell of a lot of issues, might even be overly friendly with Israel, but from a security standpoint, it’s probably safer for secrets than android at the moment.

      I really just want an encrypted portable linux device with a cellular modem. I don’t even care if it can SMS or VOLTE, I just need it to run a secure chat client, support Bluetooth headphones and last all day on a charge.

      • skaffi@infosec.pub
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        1 hour ago

        I really just want an encrypted portable linux device with a cellular modem. I don’t even care if it can SMS or VOLTE, I just need it to run a secure chat client, support Bluetooth headphones and last all day on a charge.

        Then you’re in luck, because that’s something you can already have by now! Just get yourself one of the more recent-ish phones that are well supported by PostmarketOS. The things Linux phones struggle the most with these days, are the more traditional phone-things, such as text messages or calling, which may not be ready for production, as they say (although, both texts and calls have actually worked well for me as of late). But if all you want is a pocket Linux computer/PDA, and intend to carry another phone for calls and texting, that’s something you can have, for the grand price of an old, second-hand phone. I’ve been loving my (LUKS-encrypted) OnePlus 6T, and I do actually use it for calls and texts as well!

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          1 hour ago

          If all I needed was five hours worth of battery would be a great fit.

          Both post-market and nix are great options if you want to run a really old phone, but neither one can last even half a day.

    • Tja@programming.dev
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      6 hours ago

      Apple never even tried to allow it, so yeah, Apple IS the bad guy. Google is becomeing it, Apple is the mayor of bad guy town.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      5 hours ago

      Funnily enough, my new ulefone allowed me to at least completely disable that crap. First one where that is possible. Even the shitty swipe right and you get Google’s forced news app, which you could “disable” so that it would show a shitty screen with “please enable Google News!”, can be completely disabled. First time in like 10 years on a non custom ROM that I could do this.

      • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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        4 hours ago

        Wha Google is enforcing for a lot of these things, including Gemini, is that you are only allowed to disable direct interaction from the user with the service. So in the case of Gemini, it’s still running in the background and sending out your data to Google and its advertising partners. You just turned off your ability to interact with it yourself.

    • Khrux@ttrpg.network
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      8 hours ago

      As much as I don’t disagree, I think the “Apple is closest to Nazism” comment touches on something different. Other massive American companies have awful practices but they don’t care particularly how their way of making money looks. Apple wields a specific aesthetic power that generally dictates a hegemonic uniformity, that strays the line of being to their detriment at times. I don’t think any other big tech company would care in the same way if not for their desire to copy Apple.

    • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      Bullshit. I have it turned off on my pixel 9pro and Samsung s24 plus

      • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works
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        4 hours ago

        You actually turned off geminis ability to serve YOU. You never turned off Gemini itself. Google won’t allow that. It’s still running in the background send your data to Google and its advertising partners. Google has publicly stated this is the intended design and they will not allow turning that off.

      • bss03@infosec.pub
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        6 hours ago

        I’ve lost features that used to work without Gemini, but I believe it is disabled on both my Pixel 7 Pro and the Pixel 8 I have access to.