Why are people still on there? Twitter has been sold; the old management is never coming back. X is, almost explicitly at this point, a platform meant for crypto scammers and white supremacists, and that is not going to change. If you aren’t part of or adjacent to those groups, fucking leave it.
There are a lot of informative artists and educators that are otherwise scattered to the four winds (or worse, only on Facebook/TikTok/Instagram). I’ve learned a lot from people posting about field work they’re actively doing, people certified to do all kinds of jobs I’d never otherwise get to hear from, etc. There’s not as many as there used to be, but there’s enough that I’d rather see what they have to say while I’m waiting for my Bluesky invite.
Niche communities that took years to built up and that I can’t find anywhere else. For example Esperanto speakers are quite active on Twitter. They also have their own Mastodon instance, but it is not the same. (I use both now)
Saying privacy is better on Android is literally insane, I can’t think of a less private OS (talking about the version installed by manufacturers). Even Windows has some catching up to do to be as invasive.
For wifi, I was pleasantly surprised that I could set a custom DNS on iOS while still using DHCP for other settings. Can only set DNS on Android if I use manual IP (or just use Wireguard).
Edit: not true, Android can have custom DNS with DHCP, see below.
OK, but in terms of privacy, I can degoogle my phone by installing one app which is even in Google’s play store (Netguard).
Edit: Maybe refute instead of downvote? Netguard lets you block all apps from sending data, including all system apps and Google Play Services.
I suspect the issue people have is that it is not possible for the average user to confirm that a block like that is working 100%. Seen as google control the OS they can just route their traffic around a block like that if they wish. Sending the data over 4g would mean you don’t even see it on your network traffic logs. There are a number of reviews suggesting it intermittently lets aupposedly blocked traffic through too, but the biggest issue maybe the way it works. As far as I can see, it acts as a VPN, but that means it won’t work well with other VPNs, which is another way the traffic can leak. Basically, installing an app like that doesn’t degoogle your phone at all, it just makes you feel like you’ve stopped your data leaking.
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to link to a filtered set of reviews on the play store, but If you go to the store, find the app, go to the reviews and filter by 1 star you’ll see them. Some of them just don’t understand how the app works, as you say, but there are a number that are harder to ignore. The thing ism if it is acting as a pseudo VPN, it could easily leak when the OS suspends it (for power saving, switching network modes or the like). Honestly, I haven’t tested it, it doesn’t do what I need (I’m on another VPN a lot of the time), and I wouldn’t trust it very far myself, but if it does what you need, that’s what matters.
Thanks for the reply. I’ve now read through all 1 star reviews on the play store and am pretty confident that all of them have no idea what they’re talking about. Various popup messages during installation and use of the app explain in simple terms how to avoid all the issues these users were facing.
I personally observe with my own eyes many many times where Android turns off Adguard’s VPN for a split second when doing various Google things like receiving messages in Google Messages.
I haven’t been able to pinpoint it but my observation is that the disconnect/reconnect happens when a connection is trying to be made (ex. RCS message incoming), and I suspect Android is dropping the VPN to make its own connection. Sounds paranoid, but I’ve been carefully watching it happen for a long while.
I’m not sure if you’re dense or just pretending. You talk about a piece of software and I refer to their faq. I’m sure you have researched your claims and read up on this software….
OK I’m now assuming you talk about Netguard’s FAQ, not some others from Google, Android or Apple (all of which would have been equally likely in the context of this thread). Yes, I’ve read them. I’ve also read all the 1 star reviews of the app. I know about the apps limitations and am still confident it blocks Google from spying on me. Now what?
It should have a spin-off where they visit the much larger Barbie world that Margot Robbie’s Barbie was sheltered from. The one where Barbies are scissoring and running around headless.
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