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Comment by Nextgrid | Hacker News Reader

This itself should be a red flag. If they heavily push something for a task that clearly has no reason to require that something then it’s probably fishy.

Same scenario about PayPal offering that I receive receipts in Messenger or Deliveroo offering WhatsApp notifications.

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Instagram does this in several ways. You can't post 'stories' unless you give camera and microphone permission - even for existing videos and photos, when you have no desire to use their app to record. At first you could, now it's more restrictive.

Same for adding location to photos. On iOS you can deny the permission and still enter location manually. On Android, you can't enter a location manually unless you give the app location permission. Totally not useful, either - location info is already embedded in the photo and I really don't need the help of GPS to determine my current location.

Instagram is owned by Facebook and is thus cancer so not surprising. It’s like installing malware and then being surprised it’s doing something malicious.

On a similar note though, I just tried sending a tracking link for my Uber trip to my friend, and it tried to get contacts access permission (which I obviously denied) before giving me the link. I guess it preys on the fact that most people wouldn’t risk denying it thinking it won’t allow them to use the feature otherwise. Uber doesn’t seem to have anything to do with ads/stalking but it seems like nothing is safe in this day and age.

On iOS, it is purposefully a separate permission to allow photo access and to allow the app to access the location metadata of the photo. There have been too many incidents of accidental location leakage.

> If they heavily push something for a task that clearly has no reason to require that something then it's probably fishy.

See also ninety-plus percent of existing javascript, and literally the entire existence of intel management engine.

If you want to use the Alexa/Google button on the QC 35 II, you’d need the app. Also to configure Bluetooth settings and update the headphones’ firmware. I use it daily to connect or disconnect named devices from the headphones to either improve connectivity (fewer devices connected, better bandwidth) or save battery (fewer devices connected, battery lasts a bit longer).

I’m happy to report there’a a toggle in the app’s settings and that it now clearly indicates it sends the song data for diagnostic purposes if checked. (And yes, I disabled it.)

I assume that is checked by default, so the instant you installed everything they can swoop up from any and all caches is transmitted. Then any random update they can forget to preserve that setting and redo it. It breaks my heart that it isn't even hyperbole.

The future sucks.

It seems the goal of most companies is to create a seemingly legitimate need for apps/permissions, no matter how convoluted, just so they can get access to data.

If you're not averse to downloading and running their update application on OS X or Windows instead - you can update your headphone's firmware much more quickly from their website, through that application (http://btu.bose.com/ )

Yeah, but if you download the app again today you will see a new prompt that forces you to agree to waive your right to class action and agree to arbitration over privacy policy violations. No option to cancel or opt out of course. Nice timing Bose.

I bought the QC35 just before the new edition came out. I never downloaded the app because "yeah fuck that..." and all I wanted was some nose-cancelling headphones. I'm still very much in the fence about voice recognition.

The only reason I use the app is also the most useful: switching between paired devices. I have them paired to 4 different products (laptop, phone, tablet, and tv) so switching the active ones is much easier with a visual menu.

I just use the switch on the side to change devices. It reads out the name of each device as you switch so it’s still clear what you’re changing to.

I never installed the app purely because I’ve never had a reason. Then the spying stuff just reinforced my hatred of every single device these days needing one. I now specifically look for hardware devices that don’t need an app or cloud service account.

Unfortunately the switch only allows you to connect to one device at a time - if you want to use the dual source feature (which is a huge bonus for me when i’m at my desk) you gotta use the app to manage it.

You mean audio from from two sources at once? I didn't realize that was a feature. That's wild but I'm not going to install and use an app for just that feature.

My headphones will sometimes automatically switch between sources when it recognizes I'm using another device. Like when I'm listening to music on my PC, if I start browsing my phone I'll start heading audio from it instead.

That’s odd because I swear mine does. I don’t use that feature but I’ve definitely had it connect to multiple at once as I rotate through then I change again to get the single device I want.

I'm not so sure. Mine will automatically connect to both my MacBook (even when closed) and phone, usually selecting as primary the one I didn't care for (the second source has a perceptible delay) making me cycle over all the combinations. I've never installed the app not changed any configuration.

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