vissha Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Delete Google Maps? Go Ahead, Says Google, We'll Still Track You Google Play services need constant location info Google, it seems, is very, very interested in knowing where you are at all times. Users have reported battery life issues with the latest Android build, with many pointing the finger at Google Play – Google's app store – and its persistent, almost obsessive need to check where you are. Amid complaints that Google Play is always switching on GPS, it appears Google has made it impossible to prevent the app store from tracking your whereabouts unless you completely kill off location tracking for all applications. You can try to deny Google Play access to your handheld's location by opening the Settings app and digging through Apps -> Google Play Store -> Permissions, and flipping the switch for "location." But you'll be told you can't just shut out Google Play services: you have to switch off location services for all apps if you want to block the store from knowing your whereabouts. It's all or nothing, which isn't particularly nice. This is because Google Play services pass on your location to installed apps via an API. The store also sends your whereabouts to Google to process. Google doesn't want you to turn this off. It also encourages applications to become dependent on Google's closed-source Play services, rather than use the interfaces in the open-source Android, thus ensuring that people continue to run Google Play on their devices. It's a similar story over at Google Maps. Although it makes far more sense for Maps to have access to your location, the latest build doesn't give you a decent option of turning it off. If you do cut off Maps' access to your location, "basic features of your device may no longer function as intended," the operating system warns. Needless to say, this is not making some users very happy. Security researcher Mustafa Al-Bassam reported on Twitter that he "almost had a heart attack" when he walked into a McDonald's and was prompted on his phone to download the fast food restaurant's app. Al-Bassam dug into his phone's apps to figure out how that had happened, and was amazed to find that his suspected culprit – Google Maps – was not responsible. It was Google Play that had monitored his location thousands of times. So, the options are not great: you can either delete both Google Maps and Google Play, or you have to repeatedly turn your phone's location services on and off as required throughout the day, which is extremely irritating. "Kind of defeats the purpose of fine-grained privacy controls," Al-Bassam noted, adding: "Google is encouraging developers to use the Play location API instead of the native Android API, making an open OS dependent on proprietary software." Google was not available for comment. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballistic Gelatin Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 7 hours ago, vissha said: Google was not available for comment. Well, I have a comment: F**k Google! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted September 13, 2016 Administrator Share Posted September 13, 2016 Am I the only one who prefers location not to be enabled atall. I know there are a lot of things I'm missing, but I would personally only like Google to know what I want them to know. In addition to that, the apps using / wasting battery when one enables it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnakeMasteR Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Well, I have a comment: F**k Google! O'rly? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stricken Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 8 hours ago, DKT27 said: Am I the only one who prefers location not to be enabled atall. I know there are a lot of things I'm missing, but I would personally only like Google to know what I want them to know. In addition to that, the apps using / wasting battery when one enables it. I fully agree; If you're on 4.4 KitKat xPrivacy is a great app. If only I did not invest into Google's Play store by buying apps. A similar thought occurred to me a few months ago regarding F.lux- an application that adjusts colour temperature according to sunlight. Particularly its EULA. The conclusion was I should hop to Linux and use RedShift because... 1. Open Source. 2. No need to worry about location tracking and privacy concerns in F.lux EULA 3. More configurable than F.lux in certain areas. That's all for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted September 14, 2016 Administrator Share Posted September 14, 2016 15 hours ago, Stricken said: I fully agree; If you're on 4.4 KitKat xPrivacy is a great app. If only I did not invest into Google's Play store by buying apps. A similar thought occurred to me a few months ago regarding F.lux- an application that adjusts colour temperature according to sunlight. Particularly its EULA. The conclusion was I should hop to Linux and use RedShift because... 1. Open Source. 2. No need to worry about location tracking and privacy concerns in F.lux EULA 3. More configurable than F.lux in certain areas. That's all for now I heard the latest version of Android has this screen color build-in where, when enabled, it adjusts the screen color depending on the time of the day. But, my phone is not getting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stricken Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Yep, It comes pre-baked in most AOKP / Cyanogenmod builds. It's called LiveDisplay. As for it being good or not, I believe C.F Lumen is better as it allows K.cal rendering using the GPU of Snapdragon devices. It seems PCC RGB leads to slightly worse color tweaking than K.cal or maybe I'm imagining things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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