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can , in Google Messages wants to make sure you don't see texts from blocked contacts anywhere

However, blocked contacts will still be able to see your messages in a group chat, which is sort of strange, but that’s how it works for now.

Is that strange? Couldn’t there be a benefit of not letting them know you blocked them?

GreenEngineering3475 OP ,

On the flip side, they can read your group chat messages. Many(me included) will prefer that it isn’t a possibility.

Grunt4019 ,

Why would you block someone and then stay in a group chat with them?

Drusas , in Google Messages wants to make sure you don't see texts from blocked contacts anywhere

I have a friend who is too beautiful (and unfortunately meek) for her own good, attracting stalker types with horrifying regularity. This is a great change.

Kolanaki , in Google Messages' text editing feature is live for beta users, and it could come to you soon
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

This should make gaslighting my siblings easier.

“Dude I told you last week.”

“No you fucking didn’t!”

Quickly edit an old message

“Yes I did, check your messages from Tuesday.”

GreenEngineering3475 OP ,

Had the same idea, but it won’t work:

  1. There’s a 15 min edit window from the time message was sent.
  2. Edited message tag is visible
wellheh , in Google Messages' text editing feature is live for beta users, and it could come to you soon

Now if Google could finally open RCS so other android apps have access, that would be great. People have only asked for 10+ years.

solrize , in Google Pay alternative?
RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Oh cool, didn’t realize USD has NFC support!

solrize ,

Enough USD can support anything. And for privacy all that phone app stuff doesn’t come close. Why degoogle just to throw yourself into yet another spyware app? Anyway the obvious competitor is Apple. Or you could use an ordinary credit card instead of a phone.

Cheradenine ,

It seems like the question is ’ can I use NFC without being tied to a major network?'.

Why bash that? Seems like a legitimate question to me.

I think the answer is you can’t, with caveats, some prepaid cards might allow it, but you may not be able to do it on your phone.

I haven’t had a bank account or credit card in a decade, so I’m with you on paying in cash. I also realize that doesn’t work for most people.

themeatbridge ,

Most modern credit cards have NFC chips for tap to pay.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve got two cards so equipped… common knowledge at this point. Who was your response aimed at?

themeatbridge ,

You seem to be confused about what NFC is and does. You don’t need an app to use NFC. You can just use regular money via a bank card.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

I wanted NFC for payments if that were possible. I also need NFC for things like gym access, where it appears they’re using the NFC system to grant access. Adoption of that process unfortunately uses Google pay.

Want, vs need in a single question.

solrize ,

Apps in general can use the phone’s NFC hardware if that’s what you’re asking. But they can’t authenticate to the payment networks unless they have special credentials like Google pay. And they will generally detect whether your phone has been rooted, which gets in the way of degoogling. If you really want to degoogle, you have to root your phone.

I just don’t understand why NFC is better than a credit card. Cards support contactless payment these days, so you just tap against the card terminal. My phone has NFC and I have some ideas for it, but am fine using a credit card for card payments.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t need it instead of my credit card, but I don’t ride the train often enough to bring the NFC card along. Ideally it’d live on my phone for when I do need it.

The real issue is how tightly integrated with Google pay everything is. I’m simply looking for at least some of the features gpay has without using gpay.

If I could at least use my phone to NFC my gym as well as my train rides, I’d be very happy. Credit card payments, I don’t care as much.

solrize , (edited )

Maybe I’m just an old fart but this is baffling to me. Don’t you have a wallet? Put your credit card in it.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

I… Do? What about the other stuff that uses gPay?

solrize , (edited )

Idk, maybe I’m missing out on a whole unseen world of exciting money sucking subscriptions and other services but I’ve never felt any use at all for NFC phone payments. My sister uses Apple Pay and it looks to me just like using a credit card. I generally am seeking to buy less stuff rather than more so whatever gpay does sounds counterproductive.

“Tightly integrated with everything” sounds Gigeresque, like 100 corporations with their hands in my pants. I don’t see the point of degoogling once the infection encompasses that much of your life. Might as well let Google join the party too.

Btw I’d be interested to know if any of those NFC payment apps (not just Google) will run on rooted phones.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

I guess you elected not to read the original question. I’m looking for something to support using my phone to access things like the gym and the subway, in a privacy respecting manner. If that’s not possible, I can continue with my regular methods.

Pantherina ,

Just smell on it and the cocaine goes into your blood

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Is it good shit or what

Pantherina ,

Its better than crypto or corpo-crypto (“wireless transfer”)

vk6flab , in Google Pay alternative?
@vk6flab@lemmy.radio avatar

Why?

It’s a serious question. What features are you missing, what do you dislike, etc.

Otherwise the answer might easily be: search for “NFC payment” in Google Play and that’s not helpful.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Some number of apps are using pay for more than NFC payment, for ex some ticketing applications from concert organizers don’t seem to offer an alternative to use of pay. I was also hoping for support of NFC payment somehow, but had low hopes because I expect there’s PCI compliance or whatever.

Because I don’t know the backend of the compliance process etc, not an I particularly interested in researching that, figured I’d ask in this community and find at least a couple of knowledgeable answers.

Beaver ,
@Beaver@lemmy.ca avatar

People would like alternative to google snooping in on all their data.

vk6flab ,
@vk6flab@lemmy.radio avatar

That’s understandable, perhaps even desirable, but OP didn’t include that in their requirements.

ptz , (edited ) in Google Pay alternative?
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

I’m not aware of any, but I hope to be proven wrong (edit: maybe PayPal - see below).

AFAIK, NFC payment apps have to be linked to your bank and have some kind of relationship with them. The app doesn’t just “spoof” your card over NFC (which would make card cloning terrifyingly easy).

So, any other Google/Apple Pay app would have to be setup similarly and have relationships with banks and card providers/payment processors. I don’t know of any third party services that have done that since there’s likely a lot of financial regulations around it (just guessing on that part).

Just realized PayPal might be able to fill the same role? www.paypal.com/us/money-hub/article/tap-to-pay

I haven’t tried that since there’s always a line of people, and I’m too embarrassed to cycle through several apps to test if they work at any particular retailer. lol

You may also check to see if your bank’s mobile app allows you to setup contactless payments.

But if you’re looking for a FOSS solution, I doubt there is one for the reasons mentioned above.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

PayPal might be able to fill the same role?

Tap to pay can be set up either through a digital wallet app or through the phone’s settings, depending on the device. On Android, for example, a user would open the Google Wallet app

ptz ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Ah, so it depends on Google Pay/Wallet for that. Didn’t read that far lol.

So I guess that’s a “no” then.

Rentlar , in Google Pay alternative?

The open-source solution is affixing your credit card (or an “additional cardholder” card) to the back of your phone.

Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay are the ones I know of. My bank’s app used to be able to do mobile payments but they stopped unfortunately. Banks bristle at the fact there could be open source solutions to anything in the financial sector, it could take away from their upcharging and parasitism.

evo ,

Security-wise that is significantly worse. Google Pay generates a random card number per transaction and isn’t active when the phone is locked.

I keep my credit cards in an NFC blocking sleeves because the passive NFC can’t be turned off. Someone could literally bump into you and cause a transaction.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Correct, but unfortunately I’ve found myself less likely to lose my phone than my separate wallet 🤦

evo ,

Bummer. Maybe there will be more options when Android 15 launches, it is adding the option to choose the default wallet app.

Tippon , in Google Pay alternative?

There are card providers like Curve who let you add multiple bank, credit, and store cards to one card, and select which one you want to use through an app. I don’t know whether you can use them through your phone separately though, as I only ever tried it through the Google Pay system.

Curve changed their terms a few years ago so that you can only have one payment card without paying a monthly fee though, so I haven’t used them for a while. On top of that, changing the selected card through the app was too slow for when I was in a queue and wanted to use a store card and then a payment card.

RubberElectrons OP ,
@RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

Ok, thanks very much for this, I’ll look into this app.

I’ll go on the record acknowledging that inevitably someone is selling my records and habits, but key is knowing the data is siloed across a few different brokers. If someone wants my info, I have to hope adding a bit of a paywall across it will help a bit.

unwaveringegg , in Google Messages' text editing feature is live for beta users, and it could come to you soon

These features that have been rolling out to Beta users since November must be those with Pixel devices. Everyone else is not getting them.

unmagical , in On Google pixel, is there a way to search ONLY locally when searching apps?

You can do that with an alternative launcher. They didn’t require root and there are some that are made to be very similar to the pixel launcher just with more settings.

I use lawn chair and have the search bar hidden normally, but it appears for local app only search when I swipe up.

calamitycastle ,

I’m using action launcher and I really like the search. It searches apps but then has quick links too, so you can send the search query to a search engine, Google play or others

Nomad , in On Google pixel, is there a way to search ONLY locally when searching apps?

Graphene OS is a de-googled veraion of android you can install via a simple website. It has the exact feature you are looking for.

calamitycastle ,

Quite a big change for a small feature

Nomad ,

Its usually a small thing that is the last drop to make a change.

Jimmycrackcrack OP ,

Planning to switch to Graphene OS for several reasons, but I have a reason why it will be better for me not to do that until a bit later so until then I’m just trying to be comfortable with stock.

cloudless , in Rant: vanilla local app search is ridiculously bad

The search is not designed to help you. It is designed to show sponsored apps and other results, so there is a better chance for Google’s profit.

AnAnonymous ,

This!!

IsThisAnAI ,

Was wrong.

Lojcs ,

When have you seen ads in the launcher?

IsThisAnAI ,

Not on any pixel or Samsung phones.

limerod ,

In colorOS smartphones. The default launcher shows ads when you use their search function. Fortunately, this special search can be disabled.

IsThisAnAI ,

Wrong search 🤦‍♂️

ianovic69 , (edited ) in On Google pixel, is there a way to search ONLY locally when searching apps?
@ianovic69@feddit.uk avatar

Best way is to use a different launcher. You can install a few and switch between them. Setting up a new one can be a bit time consuming but you get a feel for them doing so. Keep notes.

I used Nova for years but unfortunately it’s now owned by a data collection company. I found it difficult to find another but since being on Lemmy and reading posts like these, I’ve finally moved to Niagara.

It’s very different but I suggest it for you because of your need tothe search for installed apps. That’s what it’s based around, there’s no separate app drawer. It’s very clever and easy to use once set up, and well worth the effort.

The win is that it’s FOSS.

It’s not FOSS but the privacy policies are decent. You can read a summary here.

Most features are free but the paid version has a seven day trial. It’s a very reasonable cost which you pay annually and I think it’s worth it if you’re going to use the app. It’s very mature and the dev deserves to get paid for it, especially at the low cost he’s asking. Check his website.

As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan.

EDIT - as pointed out, it’s not FOSS. My apologies and I’ve edited accordingly.

uzay ,

Niagara Launcher is not FOSS, it’s closed-source. If you want an open-source search-based launcher, there are Kvaesitso and KISS Launcher for example

ianovic69 ,
@ianovic69@feddit.uk avatar

You are correct. I apologise and I’ll edit my comments. I don’t know why I thought it was foss but looking at the policies it seems reasonably decent.

I’ll check those suggestions as well. Thanks for setting me straight!

limerod ,

Niagara launcher, kiss or kvaesto are the way to go. If you want a decent app search. I would also recommend Smart Launcher 6; the search bar is pretty good. Not to mention the automatic app categories you get for all your apps.

the_crotch ,

It’s a very reasonable cost

Ok, cool.

which you pay annually

Pffffft. Nah.

ianovic69 ,
@ianovic69@feddit.uk avatar

Really? $9.50

Less than 80 cents equivalent per month.

Really?

the_crotch ,

Yeah. I’m really not going to rent an app launcher.

ianovic69 ,
@ianovic69@feddit.uk avatar

I understand the reason but it’s the only one I’ve found that’s actually different and good. Getting away from Nova wasn’t easy, a very small fee is trivial to me for that.

Besides, do you also not donate to anything else you use regularly or other worthy causes?

the_crotch ,

Paying a subscription for a product isn’t a donation. It’s a subscription fee.

ianovic69 ,
@ianovic69@feddit.uk avatar

Technically yes. But you don’t have to pay and the free version is perfectly usable.

And it’s such a small amount, per year, that you don’t have to pay, in practice it’s more like a donation.

I agree that you are technically correct, I just don’t think it matters. You are welcome to use it or not, and pay, or not.

otter , in Rant: vanilla local app search is ridiculously bad

I’d love to have tags on apps. So many apps have a simple minimalistic name on the app, which is impossible to remember. I make do by renaming the app with terms I might search by.

ex. “Authenticator Microsoft”, or “Vancollect City Garbage Trash Recycling

angrynomad ,

I’d just go with 2fa, but I guess if you wanna type out city garbage trash recycling for Microsoft auth go ahead

fogstormberry ,

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