Moving to GOS with all IOS devices at home worth it?

DeletedUser26

DeletedUser87 I delete passwords all the time when I delete accounts. It’s never been an issue. I imagine it’s something to do with turning off the syncing. You’re definitely not the only one that’s had this issue I saw a blog post about it before, they were also trying to turn off the syncing and updated and then it synced their old passwords. Seems like some kind of weird iCloud bug.

Guillaume

DeletedUser26 Telemetry data is to have beautiful applications and less beug.

Guillaume

DeletedUser87 iCloud is very fluid and is end-to-end encrypted, you won't have better whether it's with Apple or Android

Guillaume

N1b I trust them precisely because privacy is their marketing and I pay dearly for it. Source code closed or open is just a licensing story, and it is not proven that one or the other is more secure or respectful of privacy. As Apple security researchers say, Google or Microsoft have world-class security teams and you won't find anything better for your security, except of course grapheneos whose security no longer needs to be proven

N1b

Guillaume of course you can do this and Apple surely is the first of the big tech companies I'd trust my data with if I'd really had to, based on their track record alone. Fortunately I don't have to and find myself comfortable in a position where having all my sensitive data offline or on GOS is possible and convenient for me.

I also agree that open source doesn't mean more secure. It only allows for better control and prevents shady stuff such as backdoors to be implemented. For that to happen, you need many professional eyes on the code though, so I'd only trust popular open source code vetted by experts.

Now with the marketing: Why would that be a reason to trust Apple specifically? Any successful company does ads based on what they expect to sell best, not on what is actually true or useful. A high price is also no good indicator for more privacy as it's both arbitrary and profit-driven. A simple look at GOS vs iOS proves that.

Apple hires marketing experts and psychologists to make you feel safe and private with using their devices and services at a premium. Giving you true privacy will cause them lots of opportunity costs by not collecting and selling your data. Do you believe any investor driven company would make that decision?

Here are just a few examples of how Apple proves to me that they are just a tiny bit better at privacy and a lot better at selling their market consolidation as privacy feature to you. I recommend to always judge companies by their actions rather than their statements statements.

You don't get real control over your data. Apple is currently facing a lawsuit because they keep collecting the data via their own apps that you specifically chose to not send via iOS privacy settings.
Apple takes about 18 billion $ from Google per year by participating in the privacy invasion that is Google ad revenue.
Apple doesn't allow you to install apps outside of the appstore which they control and collect your data with.
Apple forces you to create an Apple ID to use your iPhone in any meaningful way.
iCloud is collecting a lot of data and metadata by default, not all of which is manually removable.
Apple couldn't fix a security bug in their WebKit browser engine for months, exposing all iPhone users to exploits since all web browsers have to use it on iOS and are basically Safari with a different skin.
They have a pretty privacy website explaining how they protect or don't collect your data, while in their hidden ToU (which are the actual, legally binding privacy terms) they make contradicting statements. This is shady and misleading behaviour I can't trust.

I could go on, but instead I'll give you this video which made me lose all hope in Apple being actually private.

Again, I'm not hating Apple or saying it's not a valid choice for the right threat model. They sure are the least evil of the big ones when it comes to privacy and there are very good reasons to use them based on security, convenience, design, interoperability etc.

But saying Apple truly cares about your privacy because they charge more money and run better ads... That's not a good argument in my opinion when looking at their actions.

Guillaume

DeletedUser87 The only two Apple applications that I replaced are email and password, I bought proton pass a few days ago for black friday, I think it's the best purchase I've made in my life, just to hide my mail it's worth it.

DeletedUser87

Guillaume replacing one server with another server is something I would never do honestly. The cloud is just someone else's computer. Regarding best computer technicians in the world: if you look at their Logic Board designs, surely not in the hardware department.

Guillaume

N1b Apple has the best computer technicians in the world, security flaws are everywhere and today you have similar security between an iPhone and a Google pixel with GrapheneOS, if you have a doubt about security or privacy just look at how many presidents use an iPhone or how many big business leaders use it.

N1b

Guillaume I think you are confusion security (protection against unauthorized access) and privacy (control over what data you share and with whom). I agree Apple (and Google too btw.) are about as secure as a big tech company can get. They deserve all the praise they get!

Regarding privacy, Apple just keeps failing in my opinion while performing great privacy theater that in the end is not effective (when it comes to privacy towards Apple). I'd go as far as to say you don't even own your iPhone as Apple has more privileged access to it and your data on it than you.

I feel like I'm derailing this thread now. It shouldn't be about whether Apple is private or not, but about OP's question whether he can gain privacy towards Apple by only moving away from the iPhone but not the other Apple equipment.

csb146 So am I gaining anything from a privacy stand point ditching my iphone if I'm still tethered to the IOS ecosystem at home?

I believe any step in the direction is a good step and you'll definitely gain privacy towards Apple by just replacing the iPhone. It is the most sophisticated data collection device of the bunch with all the sensors, apps and use cases. Also you'll have it on you at all times while most of your other devices are stationary at home.

That being said, this step will also be the hardest as Apple has put a lot of effort into making the use of their devices as seamless and comfortable with the iPhone but unnecessarily convoluted with other devices. A Pixel with GOS will not work as well with your Macbook, HomePod, AirPods, AirTags etc. but you can make it work somehow.

If you decide to go down that path, I suggest you keep your iPhone around for a while to have an easy fallback solution if a task is too annoying at first. And you'll have an easy exit in case you end up seeing not enough value in using GOS for all the inconvenience you are having in the Apple ecosystem.

The good news are: It's likely you start to enjoy all the privacy features you never had access to on your iPhone. You might get annoyed by Apple for restricting you this much and slowly replace your accessories piece by piece and end up with the privacy that is fitting your threat model. Take it slowly and don't burn bridges just yet. Privacy is best achieved when you take your time and make educated and informed decisions along the way.

PL76368

N1b That being said, this step will also be the hardest as Apple has put a lot of effort into making the use of their devices as seamless and comfortable with the iPhone but unnecessarily convoluted with other devices. A Pixel with GOS will not work as well with your Macbook, HomePod, AirPods, AirTags etc. but you can make it work somehow.

I've had good luck so far with using my AirPods with GOS phone. That was a major plus to me as they just fit better in my ears than most buds.

If anyone has a way to do Air Tags on GOS I'd love to hear it.

Guillaume

DeletedUser87 It's end-to-end encrypted

N1b

I'd trust Proton more than iCloud for 3 reasons:

Better track record
Privacy laws in Switzerland
Compartmentalization (if I had an Apple ID already with different data about me)

But you're also right @DeletedUser87, saving sensitive data in the cloud is always at risk of getting leaked in the future, no matter how trustworthy a vendor is today. If you have a reliable and redundant offline backup strategy, it will be more private.

Guillaume

Very interesting debate in any case. Everyone must calculate their threat model and act accordingly, it is certain that GrapheneOS will be better for security and privacy than anyone else. But I wouldn't say there's a gap with iOS

Guillaume

PL76368 and they are dolby atmos compatible !

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