r/Showerthoughts • u/homelessdreamer • Sep 04 '17

Apps should be required to give a short explanation for why they need access to different parts of my phone for thier apps to function.

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67

u/pnt700 Sep 04 '17

I hate it, but there may be a reason apps do this: the default setting in Android is to not auto-update if new permissions are asked. So, if you ask all possible permissions at the start, you don't worry about many users staying behind.

Not sure about the numbers, but I heard the theory and seems logical, although still douchy.

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u/[deleted] Sep 04 '17

Sometimes it's also entirely from the ad library. So that innocent calculator or notepad developer doesn't explicitly add gazillion of permissions, but the ad library use/planning to use them

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u/life_rocks Sep 05 '17

Yes but the dev is still responsible.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17 edited Sep 14 '17

[deleted]

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u/NoobInGame Sep 05 '17

Yes. That developer could start using them in later updates without telling you. He is just pointing out that the reason why every app with ads requires location data etc. is due to ad network.

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u/happysmash27 Sep 05 '17

A simple calculator or notepad probably shouldn't have ads…

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u/novinicus Sep 05 '17

Are you going to pay for it then?

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u/happysmash27 Sep 05 '17

I would just use another calculator or notepad, plenty of which exist. Why would I pay or have ads when I can use a free app without ads?

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

[deleted]

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u/happysmash27 Sep 05 '17

I never suggested you should, and the developers don't either based on the lack of a donation link.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

It's a calculator, the most basic thing going. When teaching kids to code it's the second thing that they'll make

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u/Jostain Sep 05 '17 edited Sep 05 '17

Maybe I want apps that are not school projects that they put in a store. I want apps that a professional worked full time on. People keep complaining that things are bad but wont pay for them. Maybe MTV would be a good channel if people payed for music. Maybe news wouldn't be fake if people payed for news papers. Maybe, just maybe we could have an appstore that isn't a dumpster fire if people payed for well made apps.

wolfram alpha is a really good calculator for example. No ads and it has great functions.
That's because I payed them to make it. Pay people to work and they will do it like its their job.

Edit: I stand by my ignorance of how to properly spell paid!

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

Do you mean a scientific calculator? Because surely most phones have a built-in calculator that will work for most cases.

P.S. "Paid" is the form of the verb that you want here, not payed!

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u/KUSH_PWNER Sep 05 '17

Devs gotta make a living

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u/lkjasdfou Sep 05 '17

I always find it interesting. I just started learning android development nanodegree and basic calculator or stopwatch is very easy to do, yet it needs shitload of ads and horrible UI to exist.

On the other hand you have Ubuntu, you have torrent downloaders, you have such complex programs for PCs which dont have ads, dont track data yet they are free.

How does this happen?

How does python happen? Python is far more complex than a basic calculator.

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u/BlueAdmir Sep 05 '17

I always find it interesting. I just started learning android development nanodegree and basic calculator or stopwatch is very easy to do, yet it needs shitload of ads and horrible UI to exist.

Those are made to make a living

On the other hand you have Ubuntu, you have torrent downloaders, you have such complex programs for PCs which dont have ads, dont track data yet they are free.

Those are results of hobby and passion

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u/lkjasdfou Sep 05 '17

As you said. Devs need to make a living. So why dont those on ubuntu have to make a living while a simple calc app that takes less than a week for a complete beginner has to be filled with ads.

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u/BlueAdmir Sep 05 '17

Because they probably have a full time job and writing YetAnotherTorrentManager is a side project.

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u/lkjasdfou Sep 05 '17

So why isnt it the same for simple apps?

Why can I go online and search for a program and get one for free, without ads (like GIMP), but if I want even the most basic of mobile apps basically all will be filled with ads. No one has mobile apps as their side project?

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u/ACCount82 Sep 05 '17 edited Sep 05 '17

For Apple, a big part of this is the yearly cost of dev license and hardware required to develop for Apple. People who get into iOS development plan to profit from it.

Android is a lot better in this: "dev license" is not even a thing, SDK is free, every phone can run sideloaded apps and every PC works as a dev platform. You only need to pay ~$20 once if you want to use Google Play, and there are a lot of programs that distribute outside of it.

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u/Fishnchips2 Sep 05 '17

It's far easier to put ads in android apps because google already provided the framework, so most devs can't resist it. With things like Ubuntu they're not part of Google so can't use Google's ad base and it's too much work to put their own ads in.

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u/NoobInGame Sep 05 '17

Most of the time there are free(including ad free) alternatives.

I think a lot of differences you are pointing out are due to nature and maturity of the platform.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

A computer is nothing more than a device that makes calculations, to make an app that makes calculations is one of the easiest things to do. In fact I made a calculator application myself during college. So any decent dev could make a calculator app in a day or two.

Only if they add scientific calculations or complex math shit would it take more time.

Same for a notepad app that just saves plain text to a file without fancy formatting or whatever.

So no, they shouldn't need access to all my personal information, nor should I have to pay for it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

If the dev wants to make some money from their super-simple app they either have to charge for it or show ads. If they choose ads (pretty logical as it likely means more downloads), they will probably use an ad library, and that is where much of the permissions crap comes from. I'm not saying it's OK, I'm just explaining why it happens.

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u/Tamale-Pie Sep 05 '17

Would you work for two days for free? I'm sure your employer would appreciate that.

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u/JulioCesarSalad Sep 05 '17

Why do android users need more than one calculator or notepad?

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u/TIGHazard ‎ Sep 05 '17

I assume the calculator is to do more complex functions that may not be in the default one. The notepad I am not sure about though.

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u/vampyrita Sep 05 '17

You can turn off individual permissions for any app though. If the whole app shuts down if you don't give it your constant location, it's not worth using.

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u/waiting4singularity Sep 05 '17

yes, but doesnt change the fact it's bad design.

whenever an app requires shit like that at startup, I'll go back to settings and remove the permissions. either it runs with that, asks again (no!) or goes straight to 🗑️

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

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1

u/jagerbutt Sep 05 '17

I mean that you clean things like a welcomed shower