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Have you ever deleted an app due to privacy concerns?
I've removed some apps because of the privacy setting requirements e.g. access to contacts when I don't feel its an essential part of enjoying the app's features. Curious to see the results.
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Replies
Jaryl Sim
I removed social media apps on my phone, and I do need to use them, I sign in using a privacy-protecting browser, like Brave.
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I can't remember doing that. But I feel like it's more an Android issue because on iPhone, if I don't want an app to use the contacts, I just don't grant it access to them. There's no blanket agreement like on the Play Store. But maybe there are some examples I don't know about.
@emmanuelhadoux interesting. But sometimes removing access in iPhone settings restricts the app’s features eg if you remove camera access for Instagram you can’t post photos from your existing photo library
@emmanuelhadoux I believe this is the way it used to work long time ago, but not anymore, permissions are requested on-demand on Android too, now.
@abadesi Fair enough, but if I'm not mistaken, Instagram asks you twice: 1 for the access to the library and another time to access the live camera. In any case, I think we can say that photos is an essential part of Instagram. The only situation I can think of would be apps that require you to log in through Facebook to use it.
@emmanuelhadoux I still find it odd that removing only live camera access stops someone from being able to post existing photos from their library. Same with mic access.
@abadesi I just tested on my android phone, if I turn of live camera permission I'm still able to post to Instagram from my gallery.
Facebook, Instagram, ShareIt, sooooo many more. Like, why tf do you need to know my location, random Flashlight app? Time to go!
I think I've opted not to install an app at all based on requested permissions (on android) but also have removed apps that were useless after I denied their seemingly-unrelated permission requests (iOS). But the latter is much more rare.
I remember , first ever app to be uninstalled from my phone due to privacy concerns was UC Browser
Same here, I've done this a couple of times, when I notice that the app asks for more permissions than it actually requires, then it's a problem, I uninstall this type of apps.
@abishekhkc yes, apps need some permissions. But Some apps ask for such permission which they should not ask for.
Yes, I've deleted a few. I'm amazed at the amount of permissions some apps ask for, games being particularly bad.
My girlfriend loves to play the puzzle game Apps you see ads for on Instagram or Facebook, but i personally never feel comfortable with them on my phone because the security checks that the app store uses can miss alot of fairly malicious things. So i pretty much always delete the apps after she's done with them.
I have used Videoder app for a long time. It's one of the best app available to download videos from anywhere. But this app is not available in Playstore. I have downloaded this from their site. But when i need to download any video from a private facebook group, i should login facebook through app's built in browser. I have seriously considering this. I think there might be some security issues in future. I don't know why this app is not published in Playstore.
I think the nope, never really is more of an indicator of how few apps you install or how careful you are. ex: i installed telegram last night (only 1 of 12 or so apps i have currently installed) i uninstalled it about 3 minutes later when i realized i couldnt make the notification about importanting my contacts go away. :)
@abadesi as an app designer/developer, its actually the hardest part about coming up with anything new. junk (no-value,invasive or annoying) gets uninstalled. when i make something i ask myself "is this junk?" (to me) i've never understood why people install apps they dont use or dont like (or do the same things as other apps) but i realize i'm a tiny tiny minority.
The location privacy is still too unclear in many apps that want to use your location now to do one task, are they then tracking you - weather, restaurant booking etc
