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Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

(smex.org)
845 points the-anarchist | 1 comments | 21 Jun 25 03:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.665s | source
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AlotOfReading ◴[21 Jun 25 03:43 UTC] No.44334298[source]▶
Because the link is down:

https://web.archive.org/web/20250506145643/https://smex.org/...

The article leaves out quite a lot about what AppCloud is, but it's essentially how Samsung monetizes their non-flagship device users and can do things like insert installation advertisements into the notification tray, and silently install apps.

Personally, if I found this on my device it'd be the final straw to grit my teeth and finally get a personal apple device.

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andrewflnr ◴[21 Jun 25 03:50 UTC] No.44334329[source]▶
Or just don't get Samsung? I guess I don't know for sure that my phone brand doesn't do anything similar, but it at least hasn't hit the news yet.
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boramalper ◴[21 Jun 25 04:00 UTC] No.44334383[source]▶
> AppCloud—pre-installed on Samsung’s A and M series smartphones.

Samsung’s A and M series smartphones are their cheapest models so their buyers probably cannot afford better phones. I don’t know of any other brands selling in the region with similarly priced models that have better privacy practices than Samsung either—they’re all the same at that price point I’m afraid.

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anonymars ◴[21 Jun 25 04:26 UTC] No.44334501[source]▶
In my case I wanted a damn SD card slot. And more than 2 years of security updates.
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imp0cat ◴[21 Jun 25 06:03 UTC] No.44334944[source]▶
Ano now you see why Samsung is able to provide all that at an attractive price. The real costs are hidden.
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1. more-nitor ◴[21 Jun 25 07:02 UTC] No.44335258[source]▶
hmm have you actually read the article? did you find anything of "substance" other than hand-wavy "this company is from israel, so must be mosad" or "has notorious for its questionable practices" (without even giving actual examples or incidents)?

I mean, if I was the mosad guy planting a deal with samsung, I wouldn't even name the app "AppCloud"

heck, why would you even make it appear to the user?

this is a classic competitor-bashing article -- no substance, only hand-wavy "this guys bad!"

I'm guessing this can be traced to others like xiami/huawei/etc who definitely want to get samsung's slice of the market there