this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2021
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Privacy
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This is not true and also defeatist. Apple is a terrible company when it comes to privacy in general. They are just slightly less terrible when it comes to sharing private data with advertisers then some other vendors. Furthermore their products are significantly less secure to exploits, due to the software monoculture and slow response to vulnerabilities found.
There are certainly options to buy more privacy respecting phones even for non-tech savvy people. Take for example the Fairphone. It's Android is pretty much stripped of the worst stuff and overall (while not perfect) probably better than an Apple phone. They also supply updates for their old phones for many years and even encourage easy repairs. It is cheaper than an iPhone too and any non-tech savvy person can order it from their website.
But as long as we compare Apple to terrible companies like Samsung that pre-load their phones with spyware then we are not really giving the market any incentives to actually provide more privacy preserving options and Apple's marketing BS goes more or less unchallenged :(
That is not really correct because it comes with all the normal spyware included. Fairphone is about being green not privacy conscious. You could flash some custom ROM on it but then we are again in the tech savy area. But it is true that you can buy Fairphone (among other phones) from /e/ foundation.
Well, yes. But it is still better than an iPhone (which was the point I was trying to make) and comes with quick security updates for several years.
how is it any better than iPhone if it comes with all Google spyware? Spying in Android is done with proprietary Google services apps which Fairphone has installed. IIRC Google forces manufacturers to offer either Google-laden devices or use something else. They have contractual obligation to not offer both options like Google stuff vs. LineageOS w/o Google stuff. That contract was also part of antimonopoly case against Google in EU but I'm nut sure how it turned out in the end
It is better than Apple, because Google's system integration is less invasive and users actually have a chance to disable and remove some of the privacy invasive software. The alternative ROM and Ubuntu Touch support for the Fairphone line is also quite good.
The original comment this was a response to has been deleted, but it was basically saying that Apple is the only viable option for better privacy, which is simply not true and while Google's ecosystem is certainly problematic as well, it is still better then the complete surveillance you get with Apple devices.