Android isn’t cool with teenagers, and that’s a big problem::Nearly 9 in 10 US teenagers use an iPhone, spelling disaster for Google’s mobile future

  • mindlessLump@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1023·
    1 year ago

    I see it as a good thing. Apple is not without faults, but anything that keeps Google from harvesting more data is a win for humanity. The Safari browser is the only thing stopping Google’s browser monopoly. Unfortunately it is forced, and 99% of Apple users probably have no clue they are holding up the last line of defense.

    • pastabatman@lemmy.worldEnglish
      191·
      1 year ago

      I know Lemmy has a hate boner for Google, but come on. What about Firefox, brave, opera, edge? It’s trivially easy to get a browser without Google telemetry on every single platform, and because they are all standards compliant (unlike the Internet explorer days) websites will work just fine on all of them. Chrome isn’t even preinstalled in windows, mac, iOS, or most (any?) Linux distros. People aren’t being forced to use it, they are downloading it. I promise you this is not humanity’s biggest problem right now.

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        1 year ago

        Just so you know, of that list, only Firefox isn’t chromium. And they’re only 3% market share

        Nobody’s saying it’s humanity’s biggest issue. But it is an issue, and it’s a larger issue than people realise.

      • mindlessLump@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        1 year ago

        Definitely not humanity’s biggest problem. Chromium becoming the de facto browser creates a situation where one entity controls standards and influences how the web operates, impacting user choice and freedom, and reduces incentives for privacy and security updates.

        This already happened once with IE.

        I only use Firefox on desktop, but I doubt it will be a relevant choice much longer.

        Edit: wrt telemetry, I was referring to the Android operating system. They collect anything and everything on users and all nearby devices.

        • Richard@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Android does not collect any telemetry, GApps does. Pure Android as developed by the AOSP is fully free and open-source software and does not communicate with any vendor’s services, which is why there are completely private Android distributions like LineageOS or e/OS. Android is NOT Google, it is developed and maintained by the Open Handset Alliance. That most people happen to run modified versions of it like Samsung’s Android flavour or that they happen to have GApps like Google Play Services installed is the actual problem.

      • rob299@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        1 year ago

        Chrome wasn’t the problem, more or so Google being the defualt search engine everywhere you go except windows, and the degraded search experience on Google. Google chrome itself is actually a good fast speedy browser. whether it’s the speediest is debatable. but it is a good one.

        also Google Chrome is pre installed on Chromebooks and Android phones. while Chromebooks aren’t as… popular, android phones particularly dominate sales charts.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      I can stop nearly all data collection on Android. I can’t even change the browser on iOS. (All browsers on iOS use web kit, so not actually a different browser).