Very very bad feeling about this... are we edging closer to #DeleteApple?
"#Apple looks to expand #advertising business with new network for apps... Increasing ad sales could help offset slowing #iPhone growth."
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/1/17418664/apple-ad-sales-app-target-smartphone
(UPDATED with non-paywall link)
@switchingsocial not all hope is lost. As long as your phone supports it, you can install a privacy-respecting Android fork.
True. But it's quite a difficult process that most people won't bother with :/
We really need phones with privacy-aware OSes preinstalled.
@switchingsocial #librem5 can't arrive soon enough. Help make it a success when it does so mobile users can be respected customers instead of ingredients for the targeted marketing sausage factory.
@switchingsocial
They have been inching toward this for a while. It's a darn shame, but thus goeth the inexorable gravity of capitalism.
Myself, I loathe Android on both UX and intrinsic levels. I'm praying someone comes up with a Linux phone/tablet with privacy and reliability.
@switchingsocial
Indeed, I'm waiting with bells on!
It sure seems like they have cracked a market, given they broke the funding ceiling with a sledge hammer...
Knock on wood!
Geez #Apple, what are you doing? Just found this article:
"Apple Collected 4 Years of Browsing History in a Hidden Log That American Users Might Not Have Access To"
@switchingsocial to think people actually trust Apple with their private info.
True, but at the moment #Apple gets most of its money from hardware sales. Its customers are mainly the people who buy iPhones, so they have a strong financial incentive to respect users' privacy.
If Apple's profits start to come mostly from advertising, then its main customers would be advertisers. There would be pressure to make the iPhone an Android-style trojan horse.
(Hopefully this doesn't happen, the article is just reporting on future plans rather than current reality.)
I suspect very soon we will see Apple deny any app that displays ads but not using their ad network.
This is a good thing. They are closing a serious privacy hole in their ecosystem.
If Apple starts to get most of its profits from advertising, then they would become a serious privacy hole.
@feld Emphasis on the "if".
I would love a librem phone. Another option if you have the cash is to get a pixel 2 from copperhead preinstalled with copperheados.
@switchingsocial Tech companies can "pivot" and act completely contrary to user expectations.
We can only trust free software these days because pretty much all proprietary services spy on their users. #stallmanwasright
If this happens, then virtually all smartphones would be running OSes made by advertising companies, whose profits go up the more they spy on their users.
😟