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Everyone knows all the apps on your phone

(peabee.substack.com)
1192 points gniting | 4 comments | 29 Mar 25 21:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.2s | source
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andsoitis ◴[30 Mar 25 00:11 UTC] No.43519910[source]▶
> everyone knows all the alls on your phone

On Android phones. iPhone doesn’t have this privacy deficiency.

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WuxiFingerHold ◴[30 Mar 25 05:21 UTC] No.43521565[source]▶
iPhones are less of a privacy nightmare.

One of the biggest incentives for creating apps is to scrape all kind of data from the users. Look at how many apps require permission to see you contacts. And how many actually need your contacts to function. That's why I'm still a bit surprised that many seem to be surprised by findings like this one here.

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1. wruza ◴[30 Mar 25 06:53 UTC] No.43521958[source]▶
Look at how many apps require permission to see you contacts. And how many actually need your contacts to function.

That is, again, not require but ask for on iphone. I have zero non-functioning apps on my iphone due to denied access to contacts. Even a chinese bluetooth light controller doesn't dare (while refusing to work on android for the same reason).

You can hate apple/iphone ecosystem all you want, but let's not sneak false claims into how they actually work.

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2. hk__2 ◴[30 Mar 25 07:54 UTC] No.43522262[source]▶
> I have zero non-functioning apps on my iphone due to denied access to contacts.

You don’t have WhatsApp then.

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3. nechuchelo ◴[30 Mar 25 08:04 UTC] No.43522309[source]▶
I do and deny it access to contacts. Everything works fine.
4. jen20 ◴[30 Mar 25 13:13 UTC] No.43523903[source]▶
iOS grants just the contacts you select - including “none” to apps. WhatsApp works fine in that regime.