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Comment by everfree | Hacker News Reader

> Then discovered they had to turn it off in each app that uses it individually.

Technically the "Learn from this App" feature isn't an Apple Intelligence feature. It's been there since at least iOS 15 in 2021. I haven't heard people really discuss it at all until recently.

My understanding is that it basically just enables suggestions. So, ordering things on your share sheet according to usage, search suggestions, the little button in Maps that navigates you to the location of your next calendar event, etc.

It could still really benefit from a "turn off all" button, though.

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> enables suggestions

Dear Siri-Clippy, you were never granted permission to spider every decrypted message in E2EE messaging apps. Since you granted yourself this permission by default, please provide a detailed report of all data derived from spidered data, and instructions on how to securely delete said data from disk.

You’re concerned about your phone keeping data on your phone, that it derived from data on your phone? At that point I think you are so far outside of the norm as to be considered a fringe use case.

> derived from data on your phone

By violating the application sandbox!!!

Some E2EE messenger apps have "data at rest" encryption of local messages. How is Apple protecting the spidered app data?

Dec 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-amer...

> Amid an unprecedented cyberattack on telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, U.S. officials have recommended that Americans use encrypted messaging apps to ensure their communications stay hidden from foreign hackers. The hacking campaign, nicknamed Salt Typhoon by Microsoft, is one of the largest intelligence compromises in U.S. history, and it has not yet been fully remediated.

Do you actually have any reason to think it reads notification contents? This feature has never done anything that made me think it is. (genuine question, I’m in the EU and we don’t have Apple Intelligence here)

To be precise, there are two functions, both defaulting on for Siri, each requiring manual, per-application, opt out:

1. "Learn from this app", uses NSUserActivity API: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Ge...

2. "Show content in Search", uses Apple Spotlight to index all app data. For an E2EE messenger, that is not only notifications, but all text/image/audio data in message history.

As stated at the top of this subthread, these menu options preceded Apple Intelligence by several years. Implementation would have changed over time.

At that point I think you are so far outside of the norm as to be considered a fringe use case.

So what if he is?

Apple has three trillion dollars. It can put in a "Turn all off" button.

Can you trade money for software quality and complexity forever?

Forever? No.

For our lifetimes? Yes.

What was learned from the cancellation of Apple Car ($10B) and market rejection of Vision Pro?

Siri-Clippy? I did not know they were siblings, but that does explain an awful lot.

Review what knowledgeC.db is used for.

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