Apple should add a status bar icon that appears whenever your camera is on and in use. Or even color the status bar similarly to how they do for GPS, tethering and calls being active.
Isn’t that the idea with the hardware “camera is on” light on laptops? That it shouldn’t be possible to override with software? Maybe phones should have something similar.
This does happen when the microphone is being used while you’re on AirPlay. My wife was scrolling Instagram as I drove, and we noticed it was using the mic.
Whaat ? Is this for real ? How do we combat this ? Do i need to go snowden on my phone, open it up, disconnect everything and use a jack based mic ? I really dont care about the frontal camera, idt i’ve ever used it tbh.
I removed Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from my phone completely. On the rare a occasion I need Facebook I just login with Safari. Not sure how Instagram is on Safari because I don’t get caught up in it.
At my newish job I don’t communicate with anyone overseas but I can see why people would need to use WhatsApp.
Next up, Google Maps and Gmail. I plan to use Fastmail but I need a domain without my name in it for non-professional use.
I do the same. No Facebook on phone except logging in with iOS safari in private mode very rarely.
However, WhatsApp is the killer app that I’m being peer pressured into keeping on the phone because of social effect. There is just no alternative to it in sight :-( I wish.
Gmail -> FastMail. I’d heartily recommend as a very happy customer.
Google maps is still another cancer I don’t know how to get rid of.
Yes, I have been concerned with the stupid law in Australia. To be honest, email is not encrypted, and I use it with its limitations in mind. What worries me the most is not a government reading into my emails.. it is advertisement companies and a mighty powerful Google that constantly profiles me with whatever data it can get on me.
If FastMail could keep my data away from Google and other advertisement companies, I’m all good. Although I wish Australia doesn’t do something as stupid as this law.
Not a fastmail customer, but someone who is looking for other paid email providers, the whole privacy thing is concerning, but more concerning to me is getting Google banned and losing access to much of my online life.
Telegram is great for group chats and I actually see it being a potential replacement for twitter in some specialized domains thanks to the Channels feature.
Signal is great for when you want to talk about things that governments have decided shouldn't be talked about.
I think Signal is better for group chats and is a potential replacement.
Briar is better suited, in my opinion, for talking about things that governments have decided shouldn't be talked about.
It's nearly impossible to us Instagram now without the app. You can't watch videos, and you can probably view one image before getting goaded into getting the app IME.
I don't use it, but I think the appeal is scrolling through images to satisfy our lizard brain's thirst for novel stimulation. If they made it possible to _browse_ without an account, I might spend time on it. But Facebook is allergic to anything remotely anonymous.
I'm quite fine with only malicious apps spying on me to begin with. I'm pretty sure Facebook or other large players wouldn't use that kind of trick.
Obviously that might not be enough for everyone, but it's by far the best solution that works with existing hardware. Tomorrows phones might have indicator LEDs or hardware switches, but my current one doesn't.
It’d be interesting to see if Apple added system UI on top of apps that tried to access the camera, displayed by SpringBoard so apps couldn’t draw over it.
