As we all know the Google Latitude service is shutting down on 9th August 2013.
Does anyone know of a suitable replacement?
p.s I never made it to the moon :crying:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
Solutions Etcetera said:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
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Click to collapse
My family and friends don't use Google+, any other apps?
meyert11 said:
My family and friends don't use Google+, any other apps?
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Click to collapse
Come next month, they won't be using Latitude either. I don't understand why looking for another app is preferential to switching to Google+. Is it just having to add it to your account? Or is it something else?
Solutions Etcetera said:
Come next month, they won't be using Latitude either. I don't understand why looking for another app is preferential to switching to Google+. Is it just having to add it to your account? Or is it something else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google latitude ran under Google maps, so users of Google maps (virtually anyone) could follow each other. Now that latitude is being moved under Google+, only people with plus accounts will be able to use it. Since my family and friends don't use Google+, if we want to follow each other we will all have to sign up for Google+ accounts, just to use latitude. Seems like an unnecessary amount of work, for a feature that is useful during vacations and trips. Hope this explains it a bit.
meyert11 said:
Google latitude ran under Google maps, so users of Google maps (virtually anyone) could follow each other. Now that latitude is being moved under Google+, only people with plus accounts will be able to use it. Since my family and friends don't use Google+, if we want to follow each other we will all have to sign up for Google+ accounts, just to use latitude. Seems like an unnecessary amount of work, for a feature that is useful during vacations and trips. Hope this explains it a bit.
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Click to collapse
Google+ is a single option on a Google account. If they are using Maps with Latitude, the already have a Google account. IIRC adding Plus to an existing Google account is a single mouseclick.
Solutions Etcetera said:
Google+ is a single option on a Google account. If they are using Maps with Latitude, the already have a Google account. IIRC adding Plus to an existing Google account is a single mouseclick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google+ is a social media service, like facebook, that is altogether separate. Larry Page is obsessed with having everyone sign up for Google+ because most people are surfing the web via their mobile phones and Facebook is dominating the mobile ad space. My friends and family are not likely to migrate from Facebook to Google+, so I need an alternative to Latitude.
If you'd like further clarity, feel free to PM me, rather than us having a long personal conversation on a forum about Latitude alternatives.
You don't have to use it, you just need to opt in to use the location services. I don't see what the big deal is but to each their own.
Solutions Etcetera said:
You don't have to use it, you just need to opt in to use the location services. I don't see what the big deal is but to each their own.
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Click to collapse
You will have to open the Google+ app to follow your friends and family. It has been physically removed from the updated Maps app.
The problem is that you don't even HAVE to have a Google + "account" just because you have a Google account. I can go into my Google account right now and delete my Google + profile. So that's not even true. To have to opt into and then use the Google + app is a pretty lame alternative. ALSO, the Google + Locations really sucks right now. My boyfriend and I are in each other's circles, have shared our locations with each other, and turned on background location reporting, but he does not show up as a person who I can see his location. He showed up for 1 hour when we first set it up, but he's since disappeared, even though I've been right next to him and seen his settings on his phone as we tried to troubleshoot. It needs some serious work before it's ready to replace Latitude.
I've been trying to use Glympse for those times when I need to let someone know where I am, and for them to track me. The only down side is you can only let people see your location for up to 4 hours at a time. When you've got an active Glympse running, your GPS is in constant use too, so it will drain your battery faster than Latitude did. You can opt to turn your GPS off and just let Glympse use WiFi or cell networks to locate you, but it won't be as accurate.
Other than that, all the other alternatives are also closer to social networking or checkin apps that also happen to share your location. I just want something simple, LIKE LATITUDE.
Oh. I guess the alternative is Latitude. I don't understand why they killed it off. I hope maybe Backitude will pull a Feedly and create something neat out of this.
Solutions Etcetera said:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, three things:
1. No option to navigate to a person on the map
2. No "last update" time stamp means sometimes the locations are 5 minutes old. Sometimes an hour.
3. No accuracy bubble
It's basically useless as a way to figure out where people are at any given time. Extremely annoying to have that go away. Hopefully there will be a replacement that shows up that doesn't drain the battery. Something that automatically responds to a ping for a check-in rather than polling for locations every X minutes would be great.
ppdd said:
For me, three things:
1. No option to navigate to a person on the map
2. No "last update" time stamp means sometimes the locations are 5 minutes old. Sometimes an hour.
3. No accuracy bubble
It's basically useless as a way to figure out where people are at any given time. Extremely annoying to have that go away. Hopefully there will be a replacement that shows up that doesn't drain the battery. Something that automatically responds to a ping for a check-in rather than polling for locations every X minutes would be great.
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Click to collapse
Hi, these are some valid concerns. I am not a big fan of the location tracking features so were unaware of these. Hopefully, as Google continues to unify its social services we will eventually see more granular features resurface. I miss the offline ability in the new maps more than anything else at the moment. Hangouts not showing online status is annoying as well. Its important to leave Google feedback through official channels when valued existing features go AWOL. It has always been Android's nature to throw out something half-baked, and improve (or kill ) it over time based on user feedback.
As for battery... Google announced a number of new API's that would be rolling out this year. Some of which are specifically designed to reign in apps that poll/push data. I remember location services being a big part of that.I'm willing to bet this will get better over time.
Solutions Etcetera said:
Hi, these are some valid concerns. I am not a big fan of the location tracking features so were unaware of these. Hopefully, as Google continues to unify its social services we will eventually see more granular features resurface. I miss the offline ability in the new maps more than anything else at the moment. Hangouts not showing online status is annoying as well. Its important to leave Google feedback through official channels when valued existing features go AWOL. It has always been Android's nature to throw out something half-baked, and improve (or kill ) it over time based on user feedback.
As for battery... Google announced a number of new API's that would be rolling out this year. Some of which are specifically designed to reign in apps that poll/push data. I remember location services being a big part of that.I'm willing to bet this will get better over time.
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Click to collapse
I've already complained to google, but I'm not real hopeful there. If Latitude wasn't being used heavily, it didn't make sense to leave it in Maps cluttering up the interface. I don't blame them.
For me, literally the only thing I want to use this for is making it easier to coordinate with my wife, or friends/family when we're on road trips. I suspect thats how most people were using it. It's great to be able to see that she's left her office or is at our kids' daycare or is 10 minutes away from a restaurant without calling her a dozen times a day. Losing the 'last update' stamp ruins that use case. Really not sure how they envision people using the G+ locations feature.
Apple's Find My Friends was great when my wife and I were on iOS. It behaved almost exactly right, only ever reporting your location when someone on your whitelist opened up their FMF app. There was no real power drain associated with it. All the apps in the Play store that fill this niche seem to report locations on their own, which is dumb *and* a redundant power drain given that Google location services is already grabbing that location.
Oh well.
ppdd said:
Apple's Find My Friends was great when my wife and I were on iOS. It behaved almost exactly right, only ever reporting your location when someone on your whitelist opened up their FMF app. There was no real power drain associated with it. All the apps in the Play store that fill this niche seem to report locations on their own, which is dumb *and* a redundant power drain given that Google location services is already grabbing that location.
Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple does it right in not allowing apps to just go out and post/get whatever they want, whenever they want it. The app has to register for the info, and the system coalesces these requests for when the corresponding hardware is connected. Google is well on their way to implementing this same behavior.
Having much of this stuff better unified is a good thing IMHO, and I understand the thinking that things related to friends and family should be found in + and not maps. And based on what I saw at I/O, this will get better.
From what I've heard, the previously mentioned Glympse is a pretty decent replacement depending on what features you need. It's more aimed towards temporary location sharing between people during car trips, theme park visits, going out for lunch, etc. There's no option to leave it permanently on, though, and it doesn't appear to use intermittent polling.
Now that Latitude is dead, who knows if it will introduce this functionality to get new users?
I'm hoping that there is a location history feature in the new Google+ locations as I use this a lot, but I would love to eventually reach the moon - and maybe beyond!
It's an opening for another Feedly to come in and increase their market share. Someone like echoecho or swarmly could tweak their application to provide the same functionality, while furthering their own growth, a percentage of those new users would start using their services as result.
If I knew enough about Android development I’d quickly drop an app that pulled the Google+ location information and dumped it into maps provided by the Google Maps API with the options for satellite imagery and streetview. I'm really surprised that Google didn't merge the existing functionality into Google+, it must be available as they'll only be leveraging Google Maps anyway, certainly in regards the above.
theickleone said:
I'm hoping that there is a location history feature in the new Google+ locations as I use this a lot, but I would love to eventually reach the moon - and maybe beyond!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Location history will remain:
If you use Location Reporting and have Location History enabled, your location data will continue to be recorded to your Location History. You can view and manage Location History data on the Location History dashboard.
Note: We’re no longer supporting Google Maps for Mobile 6.14.4 and below for Location History or Location Reporting settings.
google is forcing us to use their G+, first was gtalk converted to hangouts, now latitude
i have yet to find a map of people in G+ on the PC, i can only see people on the phone
now they have a universal "location tracking" setting in android, the new maps v7 is garbage, hopefully someone is able to mod the old maps apk to push and pull data from their new location service, reformat it and keep latitude working in the old maps
laur3n.newm4n said:
Other than that, all the other alternatives are also closer to social networking or checkin apps that also happen to share your location. I just want something simple, LIKE LATITUDE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi laur3n.newm4n, I'm currently building location sharing app for many of the same reasons you mentioned. We're still in private alpha but if after you checkout the features and it's sound like we're solving your problem you can signup for the beta
Hope it will help: yougy.co
Related
According to msmobiles.com (see http://msmobiles.com/news.php/6898.html) a new version of Google Maps was released on November 16th. I have DLd it, but haven't yet installed it.
From reading about it, I am not too sure how much has changed. Here is the list the site speaks to:
Real-time traffic conditions
See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas.
Favorite places and routes
Save time (and avoid sore thumbs) by keeping a list of residential or business locations, and driving routes.
Insta-KB-o-meter
Monitor your data consumption in real-time — just look to the top right portion of your phone screen while using Google Maps.
Enhanced business info
After selecting a particular business, select the "Details" tab for hours of operation, hotel amenities, and more.
BlackBerry support
Just visit www.google.com/gmm on your BlackBerry's web browser, and you're all set to go.
The update can be found here: http://www.google.com/gmm/GoogleMaps.CAB
Enjoy,
-pvs
thanks for the post, wouldn't have known about it otherwise
Yeah, appreciate the heads up!
thanks for the link
Sweet thanks for the headsup! I installed it, and it works better than ever over HSDPA and with my bt gps!
How does this compare to LiveSearch?
sook said:
How does this compare to LiveSearch?
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Click to collapse
I'm not really sure. LiveSearch was the best for a short while (IMO), until Google Maps came out with an executable version. I dropped LS back then, and have not looked back.
Google Maps has many nice features:
1) Look up any of your Contacts for whom you have Address Information
2) Drag-scroll around the map, in map or satellite view
3) Shows real-time traffic conditions
4) Zoom-in and out quickly and easily
5) Provides directions from point A to point B
6) Integration with GPS devices (I haven't used this, but imagine it works ok)
7) Find info on searched-for businesses and easily saving it into Contacts
Some "features" I'd like to see are:
1) Storing data in user-defined locations on the device
2) Management of that data ... selectively deleting old location searches
3) Tilting of the map aka Google Earth
Again, I don't really know how well LiveSearch has developed, so I really can't compare. But maybe you can judge for yourself from what I show above for GM.
-pvs
I'll install it and play around with it, but from what you describe it sounds much the same. LiveSearch also has something called community search that will show you events, movies, and todos in your area, along with traffic and local gas prices.
If I read you correctly, the only thing on your list LiveSearch doesn't have is an easy way to look up contact addresses.
I will report back this weekend, either bumping this one or starting a new thread. I'm quite attached to LS, but if I can find something even better, well, right on.
ER... just in case anyone is having a blond moment like me
the link is CAsE SenSitivE!!
nice find.
has it got rid of those anoying no data warning messages that you had to keep clicking OK to in order to continue?
I was originally using (the previous version of) Google Earth. So far, I like Microsoft Live. The addressing and directions are a LOT more accurate. When I look up addresses, google doesn't even find most of them. Live also does a lot better with one way streets and stuff like that too.
Yes, Live is much, much better, even the diectory is better. Map loading seems a little quicker also.
I wish google showed on the page what version it was up to, so I can know when they've updated it.
I love google maps mobile.
Wow, judging by sook's and Braingears' comments, it sounds like Live Search has come a long way in the past year. Might be time to give it another shot.
And yes, frenchglen, wouldn't it be nice? I guess they have some reason to want to keep the version number a secret, eh?
-pvs
hello guys,
i stumbled over an app called navdroyd in the market. it promises 100% offline turn by turn routing and tts with osm and android tts voice (sdk >1.6). does anybody has some experience with this app? it sounds really promising so I tried the free mapdroyd app from same developer.
navdroyd $6.49/€4.99: http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.osa.android.navdroyd/NavDroyd
mapdroyd free: http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.osa.android.mapdroyd/MapDroyd
mapdroyd works like a charm. you can download worldwide mapcontent via wifi an store them on sd but i'm missing the ability to search and set pois, which navdroyd provides. I think this would be a really awesome alternative to navigon or motonav for people without a dataplan. but before I purchase this app, maybe somebody can share his experience!?
hi there..
i've try both apps on my phone and yes navdroyd is much better than mapdroyd. actually both interfaces and appearance are quite similar but the diff is u get "cruise mode" on navdroyd which provides you 3d navigation =)
ahm ... yeah, that was already clear for me ... just like its named navdroyd and their homepages mapdroyd.com and navdroyd.com discribe: mapdroyd shows map and navdroyd navigates you ... i wanted to know how good this works, not which abilities each program has
e.g ... i'm interested if navdroyd announces only directions or also streetnames via text to speech and if navigation continues if the display is turned off (for motorcycle navigation)... etc
Why dont you simply buy the app, you have 24 hours to ask for a refund! Navdroyd has a simulate route feature, which gives a nice demo of the software.
I have used navdroyd now a couple of times for actual car navigation. It does work pretty well, announces instructions in time, also reads out road names (with comical results when the names are not english), recalculates routes if you miss a turn and so on....
It feels a bit rough still in some places, given its still a very early version. The search function is too basic for my liking, and the routing has a tendency of generating too many keep left/right messages when in fact you simply need to keep driving ahead on the same road.
I only used it in the car, and the display is kept on all the time, so dont know about switching the display off, or even switching to a different app ?
Given it uses OSM data, there still can be data gaps, but hey you can just go to openstreetmap and add the road!
Finally, the developers are very responsive and I have submitted some bug/missing features reports, hopeful this will all be added soon. Just email them if you still feel you have questions.
Anyone care to review this app?
were my brief comments not enough ?
does it have offline routing?
i was wondering how it does it considering it uses OSM maps (yes i know you pre download them).
cheers,
Cool but realistically MotoNav is just as easy. 1 State file and bam.
I wish Google Nav would have something like this. Where I have problems with Google Nav is when I get out of Airports and trying to pull data whilst in a concrete parking garage isn't fun.
Google Maps is worth its weight in gold but I can't get into the Navigator. I use Google Maps to search and navigate mosty and use MotoNav as a backup.
you cant actually go to specific addresses like someones house
Yes its 100% offline routing and maps ... so no need for a data connection once you have downloaded the maps initially. they are pretty small, the whole of the uk for example is 103mb.
because its based on OSM, it doesn't have that many addresses at the moment, but I find that street name in general is more than enough to get where you want to go. You can also search for junctions between two streets which might help as well.
HA
petzlux said:
were my brief comments not enough ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HA!.....................
sorry for bumping this old thread but I had a question:
After paying for the app, do you have to pay for each map you download or is all that free?
Also, does this offer POIs, such as Dunk n' Donuts, restaurants, or gas stations?
Thanks.
yeah, opnce you have bought the app, the maps are free.
2 things, and i hope the Navdroyd people read this, I have been fairly disappointed in the customer service ( i know, $5) but i offered to help with the maps in my local area, as at the moment they are VERY old and near on unusable. well actually, they are unusable as there are WAY too many unnamed streets, which are named in OSM...
secondly, the POIs seem a little limited, not sure about other areas (im in Perth, Western Australia)
well one more, they don't seem to update the maps too often (definately not every 6wks as they say). As a result there is no use updating OSM for your area as you don't see any changes.
Navdroyd people please read this! I would like to assist!!!
Palitu
i'm not very happy with navdroid, ended up driving totally wrong with the out-dated maps, heck, the street where i grew up isn't even on the map (im from belgium)
Wow... they tore down your street? bummer!
alloin said:
i'm not very happy with navdroid, ended up driving totally wrong with the out-dated maps, heck, the street where i grew up isn't even on the map (im from belgium)
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Click to collapse
One option would be to contribute to the OpenStreetMap project and fix those problems you know of
wwwald said:
One option would be to contribute to the OpenStreetMap project and fix those problems you know of
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Click to collapse
no, that wont work, i have gone through and updated this on OSM and there hasn't been any changes.
Not only that, the OSM has the streets alread named. Not sure why they don't cross over onto NavDroyd...
Is there a way to replace the maps from Navdroyd for other ones like google or something more updated?. The area where I live doesn't have the street names and has very limited POIs.
Ahkbal said:
Is there a way to replace the maps from Navdroyd for other ones like google or something more updated?. The area where I live doesn't have the street names and has very limited POIs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope
you cannot... amking up the length of the message
Palitu said:
no, that wont work, i have gone through and updated this on OSM and there hasn't been any changes.
Not only that, the OSM has the streets alread named. Not sure why they don't cross over onto NavDroyd...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is with the update frequency of the NavDroyd maps. They use their own "micromap" format, so the OSM data have to be "compiled" into that format every once in a while.
It's actually in their FAQ, see questions "How often do you update NavDroyd's map database?" and "Can I download OSM maps and use them directly in NavDroyd?".
(sorry, I'm apparently not yet allowed to post external links)
Been here on the XDA a while but bought a Vibrant to check it out. I currently have an HD2 and am very familiar with Winmo but not android.
I have a few questions that I need seasoned android users to help me with. Now...before I get a beating, I have searched the XDA, google, android forums for about 2 days now and while I do have a lot of clarification on many of my questions. There are a few which are still unclear.
I for one do not like any of my information in "cloud" computing. So no contacts, calanders, tasks, etc. I feel that is is nobodys business what I do whether right or wrong and I have read a million posts on how safe or good google is but I really don't care.
Now, while I like winmo, yep it is dated, don't know how win 7 will be so I am experimenting with android. My questions are as follows:
Does cyanogen remove all google specific apps and association with google. Yes, I can use the phone without loging into google. I know I can manually install aps via rooting, SDK and .apk files which is all good so I can circumvent the system. I do use google maps quite a bit so I want that funtionality. I also have yahoo mail accounts for all my emails so I dont need any more. I also have a google account for check out but the phone asks for a gmail account which I will not open up!
So If anyone can help me whith this answer, please let me know so I can keep the phone, If not then its going back although I really really like it.
Thanks
cyanogen removes google apps *you have to flash them seperately from the rom if you want them*.... but I'll be honest, I can't imagine using android if you are going to cripple it like that....
Cyanogen doesn't include Google Apps within his ROM because Google sent a C&D about it not because he wants to not include them. The Google applications is packaged in a seperate package. Yes its optional but those applications are what makes Android what it is. It is a HUGE component of the OS.
Google doesn't go around sniffing on people's data either, check out the privacy policy for the whole deal.
zephiK said:
Cyanogen doesn't include Google Apps within his ROM because Google sent a C&D about it not because he wants to not include them. The Google applications is packaged in a seperate package. Yes its optional but those applications are what makes Android what it is. It is a HUGE component of the OS.
Google doesn't go around sniffing on people's data either, check out the privacy policy for the whole deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to believe you but I am "cynical" in a way that I dont believe and questions many of the things they are doing. I don't like facebook or myspace and twitter is only to follow the folks on XDA! This is good and bad but it is who I am. Also, Google just got in bed with the CIA and NSA so while this is not new...it is the future(there new project is called "recorded future). I wonder why the FTC has not gone after google as it did Microsft for locking people into Internet Explorer years ago?
I have been thinking a lot lately about my phone, I have a Galaxy S and I felt some features that were not there or missing without the third party apps, I think putting these together will help making an already amazing operating system even better
1. SMS and call history
Google should come with service where these are backed up on Google servers, or have the option to save it to the external sd card, so that when you format your phone they should be back again. (Yes I know there are third party software’s that does that but something like that should be a part of Google android)
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
(Right now Yahoo, fringe etc. are there for video chat) but Google should come up with their own video integration service.
3, Google doc support.
Android is lacking with Google doc support, I hope they come up with it, in coming versions.
4. Google chrome,
It should be the default Browser, and should come up as preinstalled browser on the Android.
5. Bookmarks.
Google should come up with a service like xmarks and xpass, which saves your bookmarks and passwords on the servers and sync them with your home and office computers.
6. Video/music player.
I saw this somewhere on the xda where they have put in upcoming default player for android that would be a great thing to come. Also I would want it to have an option where it gives you option to select the directory which you want to scan and put into the music and video player. I don’t want it pick anything and everything (Like the game video/music files)
7. Google sync.
Google should come up with a default pc application, not something like HTC has their own, and Samsung has bull**** kies. Also it should have options to save a back up for settings, sms, applications and call logs etc.
8. Market.
They made the interface better but they still need to sync it much better to the Google account and next time when you format the phone, the applications which the person has always be using, should come in the list of previously installed applications, so that we can install them all in one go.
9. Power saving feature.
I used the task killers etc.. They don’t really do anything. but one thing I do not know when you close the application why does it keep running in background? We don’t really need this, it should be more like Symbian once you close the app, it should not run unless you rerun it.. (This will help fix the battery issues)
10. Google maps.
They are getting better and better day by day with maps, but one thing I would say is still lacking is the navigation part. Google Navigation is really not as good as the Igo, Garmin etc. They should allow you to download the map of the city you are in and should show route by route navigation. Also There is a Mark your place option missing, you can mark your house etc, unless you save it as a contact on Google maps, which is annoying..
This is my experience on Android and features which I feel are missing and can make the Android the best OS on the earth ...
PS. This feedback is more related with software only, if you know any feature that you miss the most, comment
Gaurav Kainth
Android SGS user
196 views 0 reply
Guyz this is not something random picked from some site.. this is what I feel is missing on the android... worth a reading.. may be some devlopers put these issues accoss and might help us all
Contrary to popular believe google software is far from the miracle work it's made out to be. In fact their software is often rather immature. Best example of that is google maps but the whole android os is another example. However, unlike microsoft, google is not looking to provide an all in one solution by themselves. They are in fact intentionally leaving out many of the features you mention in order to make those a commodity (and it works, there are apps for most of those functions). It's bad and good for the enduser at the same time. But considering google's software quality, I think it's mostly positive.
PS: Leaving voice and video out of gtalk on the mobile is retarded. But it will likely change with the new apis introduced in android 2.3
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
Market should be a part of Android (AOSP), not Google Apps.
1. SMS and call history
Syncing to a server would enrage privacy organisations, regular users don't flash thier phone every week. But being able to read them in Gmail would be awesome.
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
Will be here within months, Andy Rubin already showed it on the dive into D:mobile interview
3, Google doc support.
Google docs = webbased, you can edit in the webversion.
4. Google chrome,
Browser already uses the V8 engine and the webkit renderer, just like chrome.
5. Bookmarks.
Bookmarks already get saved and synced on google phones and AOSP roms, samsung disabled it?
6. Video/music player.
7. Google sync.
it's called google apps (gmail, calendar, picasa, enz)
8. Market.
AOSP roms automatically reinstall all your apps after a reset/flash, samsung disabled it?
9. Power saving feature.
Apps dont keep running, they just keep in the RAM so they don't need to reload. They only keep running if they have ongoing processes, and then you probably want them to keep running.
10. Google maps.
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10charsoutsideaquote
RambJoe said:
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
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Click to collapse
Lol yeah you never know but atleast they should give users an access to that
I agree with every point.
So... what with the hoohah about Idevices tracking location data and storing it locally, what do you think about on Android, location data is uploaded to Google?
If I were to create a ROM, I'd modify the source of Android to politely remove this feature / obsfucate where possible...
Considering Android is open source, if Google were doing that, someone would have found it by now. And technically you CAN do this with Android if you enable Google Latitude and allow it to report your phone's location.
Android is basically doing the same thing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/21/android-phones-record-user-locations
oldblue910 said:
Considering Android is open source, if Google were doing that, someone would have found it by now. And technically you CAN do this with Android if you enable Google Latitude and allow it to report your phone's location.
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Click to collapse
There are. Read the TOS.
Can i ask why anybody cares? I mean seriously if you have a cellphone you've always had the potential to be tracked. If google uses it who cares? Personally i like it. It would let someone locate me if i was missing and it would let me locate my phone if i lost it. Google records everything. They scan your email for key words to bring up ads on other sites and on google itself. It's not a big deal it's just one of the things you have to deal with when you have to be in the tech loop.
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
Security risk!
The android location service cache can be read quite easily with root access or without.
As long as this info isn't transmitted, but only used internally for better connection time and location accuracy, the risk is low (if the phone is stolen there is much more sensitive information).
If it is transmitted, it has to be anonymized, and I have to be able to switch the transmission off without loss of on any other non-dependent functionality (i.e. I don't want to be blackmailed).
Why should we put up with everything? Why should we be like stupid sheep? Only if we care about privacy, there is a chance that we can keep some freedom.
matt2053 said:
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
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Click to collapse
even if you opt out when first signing on, you'll get a warning saying that to use location features you have to agree to uploading location data - in the background.
matt2053 said:
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. CrApple doesn't even say that they collect data.
Agreed!!!!!!