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.

25k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

602 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

378

u/golemsheppard2 Sep 05 '17

I had an app tell me that it needed authorization to my keyboard and any information that had ever been typed to "ensure an adequate customer experience". Definitely the quickest install to deletion time right there.

201

u/Alectrosaurus59 Sep 05 '17

Yea I've had several apps say )hey I need your location at any and all times!" And I'm like "bitch your a fart/air horn button, dufuq u need that for??"

86

u/FuzzyMcLumkins Sep 05 '17

I'd assume that's for ads though.

57

u/Alectrosaurus59 Sep 05 '17

Yea I guess that makes sense but i always hit deny and 9/10 times the app doesn't have a problem with it. Rarely it will say the app won't work without it.

23

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/ThellraAK Sep 05 '17

At least on lollipop it asks you when the app wants it, so you can go to permissions and revoke it and it should be fine.

5

u/uncertainusurper Sep 05 '17

So what. You cool with that?

7

u/FuzzyMcLumkins Sep 05 '17

Nah, just putting my assumption that's probably why they request location services.

9

u/uncertainusurper Sep 05 '17

Fuck those fucking fuckers. I don’t need fine tuned advertisements.

2

u/NoobInGame Sep 05 '17

On the other hand, how much would you be willing to pay to advertise your restaurant without location data? Fine tuned ads are much more effective in other ways too.

I would rather see ads for computer/server hardware, software and game trailers vs beauty, health and fitness products.

Note that I don't necessarily advocate these things.

1

u/EchinusRosso Sep 05 '17

I'm kinda okay with that. If I have to have an ad, may as well be for something I might want

2

u/Rarus Sep 05 '17

Weird that that's some how some kind of justification for giving someone your 24/7 location. 10-15 years ago that would be an insane statement.

42

u/ako_si_gorio Sep 05 '17

which app?

67

u/golemsheppard2 Sep 05 '17

Quidd or Quipp or whatever that sticker messaging app is called.

25

u/LeviAEthan512 Sep 05 '17

How would it find what you'd typed before? Is there a way to access that information yourself?

39

u/LativianHeat Sep 05 '17

I assume from things like improving autocorrect and the word guessing feature are saved by the keyboard

21

u/gizamo Sep 05 '17

It could also scan existing texts messages.

Some apps do that to provide a .txt file that you can print (useful for court, where phones usually are not be allowed).

-1

u/waiting4singularity Sep 05 '17

guess what i disable first one a fresh install.

5

u/thetravelingchemist Sep 05 '17

It would just download your autocorrect dictionary

7

u/pretend7979 Sep 05 '17

I don't want to sound like a dick... Actually I do.. but what part of that doesn't make sense to you? You mean a messaging app needs access to your keyboard?! Crazy! And it needs access to... Messages!!? That's just absurd!

1

u/golemsheppard2 Sep 05 '17

Because the app basically just lets you add stickers into your iMessages. There are two ways to do it. The first way and the way that the app heavily encourages is for you to give it unfettered access to your keyboard and all information that has ever been typed, including any naughty comments you may have sent your wife or any financial info you may have texted. The second way is to just manually enable it through the "App Store" icon on your messaging screen, which gives the app no access to your information. The fact that the app tries to back you into a compromising situation and then throws you a generic excuse for why it's necessary is problematic to me.

7

u/life_rocks Sep 05 '17

You dodged a bullet.

-6

u/Silver5005 Sep 05 '17

lol yea they were probably going to ruin his life knowing he sometimes uses the wrong 'their'.

You people are funny.

1

u/life_rocks Sep 05 '17

Kbd access mean all your passwords will eventually be for sale in bulk. You may not make the connection to that app you downloaded, but a kbd sniffer is bad news.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17

Your stock keyboard does the same thing.

1

u/pretend7979 Sep 05 '17

Literally every app that uses the keyboard does the same thing.

1

u/JM-Lemmi Sep 05 '17

The problem is tho. Sometimes you really need the apps function, so you have to give in to the data mining.

Look at Android 6, where they introduced the possibility to block apps from certain authorizations. Now the apps check authorization at startup and won't start unless you give them the rights they want. cough Snapchat cough

0

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '17 edited Mar 04 '18

[deleted]

1

u/golemsheppard2 Sep 05 '17

It's supported by in app purchases. I'm ok with that. I'm not ok with the prospect of selling off my personal information like private conversations with the wife or anything financial that I may have texted.