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Zoom needs to clean up its privacy act

(blogs.harvard.edu)
1597 points seapunk | 10 comments | 27 Mar 20 14:18 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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mrpippy ◴[27 Mar 20 20:39 UTC] No.22706650[source]▶
I just downloaded Zoom for Mac, saw that it was a .pkg file. Great, I can see what files it installs before I install it.

I open the .pkg, click Continue so it can run its script, then a second later Installer quits and the app launches. What?!

Turns out, Zoom installs the entire app in the 'preinstall' script of the installer package! Inside there's a copy of '7z', and the app is extracted with that. The preinstall script is littered with typos and poor grammar.

I'm not one of those people who thinks that Apple is going to force all Mac software to come through the App Store, but when I see stuff this stupid...I start to wonder.

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1. pfranz ◴[27 Mar 20 22:37 UTC] No.22707541[source]▶
I feel like Zoom has a history of doing shady things under the vail of "ease of use" (referring to the uninstall complaints a few months ago).

I do think on macOS the average user doesn't understand DMG files, run apps from inside the DMG instead of copying them to /Applications and deleting the disk image. My guess is that most people install Zoom after a meeting has started and this was the quickest, fewest dialog method of getting it up and running.

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2. ThePowerOfFuet ◴[27 Mar 20 22:50 UTC] No.22707610[source]▶
Stop apologizing for them. It's literally two more clicks, and anyone who has gone through the flow expects those clicks. Also, if Installer never realizes it installed something, it won't even offer to delete the installer .pkg.
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3. ratww ◴[28 Mar 20 03:01 UTC] No.22708830[source]▶
> run apps from inside the DMG instead of copying them to /Applications and deleting the disk image

First, there's nothing wrong with that.

Also, some apps display a message asking to be moved to /Applications when launched from a DMG.

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4. pfranz ◴[28 Mar 20 05:23 UTC] No.22709416[source]▶
> First, there's nothing wrong with that.

Sure, you can technically run .app from most places. It becomes problematic in that you can't write to that directory or self update the app if it's still in the DMG. If you reboot you have to know to remount before launching. Not having it in /Applications also becomes a mess if you're in a multi-user environment.

> Also, some apps display a message asking to be moved to /Applications when launched from a DMG.

This is the kind of friction and extra dialog boxes I'm sure they were avoiding.

Personally, I hate pkg files. I wish macOS had a better flow for unsavvy users to deal with DMG and app files.

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5. pfranz ◴[28 Mar 20 05:27 UTC] No.22709433[source]▶
I'm pointing this out not as an excuse for Zoom, but as an example of long-standing friction in macOS. I think it's worth pointing out they've had the same motivations in the past. Like Dropbox, I hope the OS improves so this isn't necessary and knowing this is a pattern (and not a one-off) with the company I will avoid them when possible.
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6. saagarjha ◴[28 Mar 20 07:32 UTC] No.22709789{3}[source]▶
There is also a feature called App Translocation that further restricts the abilities of applications launched from disk images.
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7. ◴[28 Mar 20 15:50 UTC] No.22711834{3}[source]▶
8. rspeed ◴[31 Mar 20 08:12 UTC] No.22735748{3}[source]▶
There are already good solutions to this issue. In particular, simply placing the app package in a zip file, then checking to see if it's installed correctly when opened.
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9. rspeed ◴[31 Mar 20 08:25 UTC] No.22735806{4}[source]▶
Unsigned disk images.
10. pfranz ◴[03 Apr 20 07:43 UTC] No.22767043{4}[source]▶
My annoyance with macOS/Apple is that this isn't standard and default. Therefore, not consistent and can be confusing (especially if you're trying to join a call in progress). Because of this, Zoom chose to reduce the number of dialogs thrown up.