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Comment by idatum | Hacker News Reader

There is a dark pattern in Android that is tangentially related only, but I need to share it:

The service in Android using (B)SSID for "a better experience" is configured off on my phone, and I explicitly turn off all location services when I don't actively need it. Every time I turn on location, then open Google Maps, Maps prompts me to turn on the "enhanced experience". Picture yourself in a bit of a rush, needing to do some quick navigation using your phone and Maps, and how easy it is to quickly dismiss that prompt without realizing you just offered Google more data.

Note: My default behavior regarding Google is to give them the absolute minimum amount of data.

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That's how I ended up paying for YouTube premium one time! I clicked on a YouTube (short)link on Twitter or somewhere and YouTube app opened, then a blocking dialog asked about premium membership and the button to get the membership (after trial period) is bolder, so you are more likely to press it accidentally if you are eager to watch the video! I got so angry that I deleted my payment method from my Google account.

They research patterns, and they know how and when to ask you to press a button. Not illegal but unfair IMO. Take this post for example, changing SSID is so inconvenient that the user might not want to go through the whole process.

I wouldn't be too hasty to call it legal, and even if it isn't, I think most of it should be.

Maybe it's my imagination. But GPS-only location services on Android have progressively gotten worse to the point of utter uselessness today. My G1 could obtain and retain a GPS-only lock nearly as well as my dedicated Magellan GPS handheld. Meanwhile my Moto G4 will try for hours and be unable to obtain even the remotest idea where I am.

The more cynically minded might even suggest Google has purposefully let GPS-only capability degrade as a dark pattern to push users to opt in to SSID-based services.

While only relevant to a small niche of users [1], I created a tiny Tasker profile to press the back button whenever that dialog appears. It should go without saying that if you decide to use this you should check the code first.

https://taskernet.com/shares/?user=AS35m8m3Ara1eYCAa0qvSgM5o...

[1]: People with a rooted Android phone that don't want GLA (Google Location Accuracy) but don't want to (or can't) disable it completely either.

I do the exact same with Google Maps. If I could, I'd stop using Google Maps completely, but I've found no other apps that offer such thorough and up to date information about businesses around me.

> Every time I turn on location

> give them the absolute minimum amount of data

Contradiction, Mannie!

PS: Offline GPS turn-by-turn navigation devices from China are about $50 now. I use them myself ever since I decided I wanted to stop leaking my realtime location to Apple and Google.

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