Comment by smashed
7 months ago
It's my phone. It's my data. It's my choice to install the app. It's my choice to grant the permissions to all files. Because guess what, I'm using the app to sync all my files.
I really can't agree with Google in this particular case.
I couldn't agree more. Given how much frigging hoops I had to jump through to get my Obsidian over syncthing setup to sync with my company iPhone - I nearly gave up.
I grew up when computers didn't babysit me and tried to act like the good old GDR, knowing every thing better than their citicens.
Nowadays, I feel more and more hindered by computers, not enabled. Computers used to be a production device (I could create things with them).
Phones are not a computer - phones are a just "consume like we want you to" device.
The problem is, I want my phone to be a creation device. A device that allows me to create content, text, to do lists, shopping lists, ideas and store them. And(!) sync them using the tools I decide to use. And not force me to use tools I friggin hate, because they just don't get the job done.
I gave up. My phone now is just a communication and utility device, and thus I don’t feel the urge to upgrade until it can’t do those tasks. I went back to computers (and Linux) to be able to just use them as a computer.
Same. I wish there were an alternative (a practical pocket computer), but there really isn't. So I too gave up on fighting my phone, and have also completely stopped doing mobile development. I now treat my phone essentially as an untrusted, prepackaged walled garden with limited utility. :-/
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How did you get iPhone Syncthing + Obsidian working? I was under the impression that it was basically impossible to share Möbius Sync's directory with Obsidian.
There is a new app Synctrain which does this.
Got it working myself. I set up a share inside of Mobius Sync that reaches into the Obsidian folder. (note the entire thing, just one vault). I think there was a popup saying it was unsupported but I haven't had any problems yet.
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The java.io.File API isn't removed from Android, nor inaccessible. You can absolutely still use it. Google Play has chosen to not accept it on their store unless you justify it (to their non working bots). In this case, the dev chooses to just drop the entire app because maintaining it just for Fdroid feels pointless.
There's very few permissions on android that are system/privileged/preinstalled.
That's why you can install through F-Droid right?
You don't have root. Google does.
I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it's not exactly a secret when you bought it.
That’s still not your product though. You only bought a licence.
Flash your favorite open firmware, enjoy and let regular users who cannot do that avoid permission extortion. The world has needs and issues, it is not spinning around your skillset.
And yet you'll blame Android when some app steals a lot of data just like it always happens on this site.
Have you considered that it's a plural "you" that you're choosing to pit yourself against, with different people each weighing different complaints?
Almost by definition, the people who argue strongly for free use of their hardware and software are almost never the same people who argue strongly for safety and security restrictions. You seem to be frustrated by a contradiction or inconsistency that doesn't exist.
It's true that Google can't win the hearts of both sides, but they surely know that -- you don't need to get so personally frustrated on their behalf. It's just a company with a product in a market, and the market is never going to be uniform.