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Discussion Sentiment
67% Positive
Analyzed from 707 words in the discussion.
Trending Topics
#maps#offline#apple#google#phone#apps#app#ads#iphone#last
Discussion (14 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews
They made it genuinely good. It'd been my only map app for years until I downloaded google maps for a road trip and was perplexed by all the squares I didn't ask for telling me about Arby's and Toyota dealers. "People tolerate this?!"
Long enough to be the villain.
Google maps’ reviews aren’t great - everything is a 4.3 because they incentivised users to review business interactions they didn’t care about by paying them pennies in Google pay credit - but it will at least tell me reliably if a business is closed today or has shut down.
That screenshot in the link is still vastly better than Google Maps: a generic search for "restaurants" may feature a clearly marked sponsored restaurant. There's a long ways to go until they get to Google or Yelp's level. But we all know they'll get there soon enough, copying Google's "innovations" as they go.
Arguably already happened, via notifications. They've long allowed third-party apps to send notifications that are actually ads, and a few first-party apps (most notably wallet with the F1 movie ads last year) have started doing this too. Those made it to the lock screen, and if you happened to dock any of those apps, the obnoxious red notification dot would induce you to click on it.
Any app that did that to me lost its notification privileges permanently and got uninstalled if it wasn't a built-in app, but I suppose Apple could start directly injecting unavoidable ads too.
Voting with wallet doesn’t work, the power imbalance ya too large. This isn’t boycotting your local deli because they get rid of your favourite sandwich.
Eventually china’s cultural takeover will win out and we can only hope it isn’t built on the parasitical advertising industry.
I have a second iphone.
main iphone - mostly revolves around phone and messages. lockdown mode. no bluetooth, no wifi, no location services, privacy stuff all restricted. I also do some web browsing. I run adblock which lets you filter lots of stuff. apple id signed out.
and my second iphone - offline iphone.
I install it using ethernet with outside connection (usb->ethernet dongles work for iphone)
I delete MANY apps, like phone, messages, tips, stock, health, news, tv, all happily.
I install some 3rd-party apps.
I sign into the app store only with apple id.
I install adblock and enable it.
I install audible and kindle, add books/audiobooks (adblock prevents some ad connections like kochava.com)
translation (offline). siri (offline). maps (offline).
All of these have offline data that I download.
Then I sign out of icloud (the app store conveniently kind-of-signs-you in)
-> and I disconnect the phone for the last time.
then I turn on:
- bluetooth on.
- location services on.
- camera with location services.
- siri
I don't use wifi, just the ethernet to my (local only) network. I use some apps that talk to my local network - omnifocus, nextcloud.
and I have an offline phone that doesn't phone home.
the maps problem is: apple offline maps last 30 days then disappear. There are lots of complaints online about this. "I was in timbuktu with no internet and couldn't navigate back to the village because the maps expired".
If I need them have I wipe the phone and start over. Jerks.
also audible downloads auto-remove when you get to the end. hard to find settings: Downloads -> settings -> auto remove books: off
Maybe excessive, but it makes me happy.
But an offline phone? no tracking, but you can still turn on location services, siri, maps (with directions).
it also doesn't need wifi or cellular, so works in the woods etc.
kindle books/audible audiobooks track each thing you do, but can't offline.
so again: makes me happy. You should be able to be left alone.