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Comment by jackstraw42

15 days ago

I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here.

I also don't mind the downvote, but if you would please tell me how you are able to guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, please tell me instead of hiding behind a downvote. Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device.

wow, downvotes on all three comments! thanks, stranger.

20 comments

jackstraw42

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user_7832  15 days ago

> I don't really see how you can guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, I feel like you may be exaggerating here.

Can you do it on an iPhone? (You can't.)

Between android and ios, which platform is considered more secure or safer? It's not easy to find out directly, but bug bounty programs can be used as a heuristic. Guess which one it is, after both being the same for a long time? (It's android).

You can check out https://www.wired.com/story/android-zero-day-more-than-ios-z... and https://cyberscoop.com/ios-zero-day-zerodium-high-supply/

> I also don't mind the downvote, but if you would please tell me how you are able to guarantee your Android phone doesn't have malware, please tell me instead of hiding behind a downvote. Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device.

The same way you guarantee it on any other OS, be it windows or macos or linux. You do your best, don't download sketchy apps, and don't be a political figure. Of course that doesn't guarantee it, just makes it 99% likely.

> Otherwise my solution is don't use an Android device.

Do you think you can guarantee this on an iPhone? May I ask you how you are able to guarantee this on iOS?

(I haven't downvoted you)

  • jackstraw42  15 days ago

    I haven't said anything about Apple guaranteeing this, I just am saying that Apple seems more trustworthy to me. And unless you can prove Android is actually better, then I still believe that. I feel like people are misunderstanding my original post.

    You would probably not be surprised that I would still trust a heavily regulated government that's occasionally broken rather than one that's run in a totally free market by all varieties of selfish interests.

    • AnthonyMouse  15 days ago

      It seems like you're missing the most important part.

      If you had to rank app stores by probability of malware, the lowest probability would be F-Droid. After that it might reasonably be Apple followed by Google Play.

      But F-Droid isn't available on iOS, so if you want to use the app store with the lowest probability of malware, it's only available on Android. And more to the point, the safest app store is available on Android only because Android has third party app stores.

      To have a single store to the exclusion of all others, that store has to be a big tent, and big tents get full of clowns.

      8 replies →

    • user_7832  15 days ago

      > I just am saying that Apple seems more trustworthy to me. And unless you can prove Android is actually better, then I still believe that.

      And I say, windows XP seems more trustworthy to me. Fewer vectors to attack than the latest windows 11, it's the best! And I believe that.

      How is this any different from your argument? You are not even providing a reason for your source of belief.

      1 reply →

rpdillon  15 days ago

You're getting down-voted because you're structuring the argument in an unwinnable way, and I think you know that. None of us can prove that any phone doesn't have malware. Seems like you're arguing in bad faith.

  • jackstraw42  15 days ago

    the thing is, I didn't mean to argue. I'm merely responding to people's comments, who started an argument?

    I am very, very concerned about our ability to communicate with each other as human beings these days. Maybe this thread was meant to be an example of that, I don't know. I didn't realize everyone was trying to prove me wrong with this. sheesh.

    further, I am seeing why some folks decided to close themselves off completely to stuff like this. I enjoy intellectual curiosity and try to find others who do, but I realize many people don't enjoy it and many even hate it. it's not because it's a lack of intelligence. It's that everyone seems uninterested in the thoughts that made me type that initial comment, they're more concerned with proving me wrong. Am I accurate in this assessment, or can I trust you to not treat this question as an argument, if that is a better way to put it?

vasco  15 days ago

I didn't downvote you, and it's against the rules to focus on the voting anyway.