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Comment by circuit10 | Hacker News Reader

If that's your main concern you'd be better off with a "degoogled" OS on an Android phone with an unlocked bootloader. iOS is locked down and you can't really see or control what information is being sent.

Here are some other reasons why you or other people might choose Android phones:

- Generally cheaper/better value, especially on the low end

- Less locked down (e.g. you can actually choose what browser engine you want to use, or sideload apps relatively easily)

- More options to choose from

- The core OS is FOSS

If you like iPhones that's fine but it's not true that there's literally no reason for anyone to get an Android phone

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How are degoogled phones nowadays?

Last time I tried that, it was very limited. No paying by phone, no banking apps (and most banks require app as second factor), no proper maps with navigation and routing, no streaming music, no "work" apps like Teams or Slack, no utility apps like taxis or public transport. Even messaging apps wouldn't work well due to lack of push notifications.

Degoogled Android was basically touch display dumbphone. Which is perfect for some people who want it that way, but I like the ability to use public transport, get a cab or message people by something else than a text.

edit: I think there might be a difference between degoogled as in not registered to play store but still having play services install, and degoogled as using shim play services? I honestly don't remember.

Grapheneos is pretty solid

microG works well as a substitute for the Google Play Services client. I generally don't have issues with banking apps on microG, though people using apps for banks based in other regions might have different experiences. Navigation, music streaming, Microsoft Teams, Slack, rideshare, and public transit apps work flawlessly. Push messaging is fully functional. As a bonus, microG does not implement any of the advertising features in Google Play Services.

https://microg.org

Operating systems that have microG preinstalled include CalyxOS, /e/, and LineageOS for microG.

I’m sure someone running a custom Android image with an unlocked bootloader can figure out an Android-compatible alternative to AirTag.

There is no alternative to AirTags which doesn't take up additional space or come with major downsides. The way AirTags work is by using low power ultra wideband communications to respond to what are effectively ping packets which get sent out by apple devices in the area. The devices get the AirTag's ID and the distance and submit it to Apple for processing. Apple uses the distance information to trilaterate the AirTags and sends this information to the owner of the tag.

As such, AirTags only work because of Apple's market position and extremely wide reach. Put simply, Apple is abusing their control over their devices and the trust their users have placed in them to perform a form of mass surveillance.

Tile works the same way but just with bluetooth. Any phone with a tile app on it is snitching on every tag it sees. Apple of course wins here because it's just every damn iphone, not just the ones that have an app installed.

As someone who has used both the airtag is just plain better when it comes to locating it, the uwb stuff is awesome. But the tile tags have some upsides as well. I love the button on the tile that you can use to ring your phone, helps solve ye olde.. i have my keys, where's my phone problem.

AirTags encrypt the location data end-to-end between the finding device and the Find My app on the owner’s devices. There’s no mass surveillance, unless you count masses of individual users surveilling their own AirTags.

So Apple is abusing their control over devices by making devices that work well together?

I fail to see any abuse or mass surveillance. “Find my” is end-to-end encrypted, and Apple does not have access to the device location or anyone’s identity:

https://support.apple.com/guide/security/find-my-security-se...

Samsung has smart tags but they probably have the same or similar issues as Apple tags.

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