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Comment by drzaiusapelord | Hacker News Reader

To MS's credit, Win10 does have a metered connection mode that tries to save data.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/633571e5-...

Not sure how this is worse than what Android or iPhone do. My apps are constantly chatting on the internet and I have zero visibility over it and any attempt to control it involves a lot of behind the scenes controls not obvious to the end user.

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Not sure how this is worse than what Android or iPhone do. My apps are constantly chatting on the internet

I thought that what iOS apps can do in the background is fairly limited:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/iP...

E.g., Dropbox can only synchronize the camera roll when you keep the app open or enable the location updates permission. Also, on iOS, you can disable cellular data for specific applications.

This is exactly why you can't get a decent photo uploader on iOS to upload in the background. The existing ones either stop after a few because iOS puts it to sleep (or whatever the term is) or they have to use location services to stay awake longer, but that's a gross hack.

I get why Apple does this. I just wish they would let me choose to have an app run as a service. Being able to sync all my photos to NextCloud while running in the background (and not divulging my location) would be great.

Developers will abuse this ability and average iPhone will be filled with apps constantly uploading usage data and downloading meaningless updates, significantly reducing battery life and performance.

Apple should just have some kind of API for background uploads. I know, that API for background HTTP downloads exists.

No. There are many other cases where "background upload" isn't enough. Like Fitness Tracker apps, that want to sync your Tracker with iOS Health in the background. There must be a more general solution.

My Garmin sports watch syncs via Bluetooth and uploads to their website in the background. What more do they need beyond this for your application? Is there a particular limitation that it can't update Apple Health in the same background operation?

And it is why you get so much better battery life on the iPhone compared to an Android device.

I did say I get why they do it.

It ignores that setting for updates, telemetry, etc

No it doesn't. Automatic updates will not occur over metered connections. Manually initiated, sure. Unsure about telemetry.

source: seen it happen with my own two eyes

You're right. It limits, but not stops, updates on metered connections. Say you have a device that is on metered only for weeks or months, Windows will rightfully start downloading updates as not having these updates is a security risk. I think MS has made a lot of controversial decisions with Windows 10 but I don't believe consumers should have the ability to dismiss security updates out of convenience. The risk to themselves and the larger internet is far too great.

Also, putting aside the politics of telemetry data, the actual file is a compressed XML file. I don't know the real size off hand, but its just compressed text. Its not going to affect your metered connections quota. A 20kb transfer every month shouldn't bankrupt your connection.

Not to mention, its trivial to disable telemetry if you have basic technical chops. Windows updates too. Or don't use Windows if your use case is so far from the norm. Its designed for the lowest common denominator, not for techies.

Microsoft's problem is that they have conflated "security" updates and non-security and even OS version upgrades.

If my dog keeps crapping in my house I'm not going to let him back in without being housebroken.

LTE-equipped laptops have existed in the past. How is this offering going to be substantially better?

> as not having these updates is a security risk

We couldm say that; but Microsoft's definition of what critical security updates are is very different to most people's.

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