iOS vs Android. Privacy and security difference in real world?

[Shanghaichica]

Why join an Apple board as an iOS user, come to the alternatives forum for people who have owned Apple hardware in the past and now have moved on to something else, and make these silly arguments that don't apply to most users?

I don't get it. This place isn't usually that adversarial of a tone but your repetitive arguments are just not working.

Every phone on the market has vulnerabilities on launch day.

Even if android has more vulnerabilities a lot of these are just exploits people with too much time on their hands found in a lab. In real life 99.9% of these exploits won’t effect someone using an android device.

I’ve used android devices since 2012 and I’ve never have any security issues neither had my husband who has used an android device as his daily driver since 2012.

 

[pika2000]

Privacy doesn't matter. Look at how Facebook, Google, and Amazon do business. And look how their brands are ranked.
Reality is, people doesn't care about privacy. This is why Facebook and Google can pretty much do whatever they want without much public backlash.

As for security, it's like vaccination. There is always a risk of a disease, but there's also probability of you getting the disease. We already see how people don't care about vaccines today. The same for security.

 

[StellarVixen]

Saying that OS is secure because you never experienced any security breach is like saying guns are pretty harmless because you was never shot from one.


Do not use anecdotal evidence as arguments, people.

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
A number of posts were removed, as they were derailing the thread.

 

[sracer]

Saying that OS is secure because you never experienced any security breach is like saying guns are pretty harmless because you was never shot from one.


Do not use anecdotal evidence as arguments, people.

No its not the same, not even close. I won't get into why that analogy is quite flawed, but the issue of OS security has been used and abused as a marketing tool to sell platforms, goods, and services. Fear-mongering is a great way to motivate people.

 

[jamezr]

Privacy doesn't matter. Look at how Facebook, Google, and Amazon do business. And look how their brands are ranked.
Reality is, people doesn't care about privacy. This is why Facebook and Google can pretty much do whatever they want without much public backlash.

As for security, it's like vaccination. There is always a risk of a disease, but there's also probability of you getting the disease. We already see how people don't care about vaccines today. The same for security.

There is also the misconception about security and the companies you mentioned.

How exactly does Google and Facebook compromise your security?
They data mine your information....not to steal your identity...because the data is made anonymous. They do it to sell your information for advertising. The algorithms do not care...all they want to do is to sell directed targeted advertising. They are not trying to hack your devices or home network.

 

[pika2000]

There is also the misconception about security and the companies you mentioned.

How exactly does Google and Facebook compromise your security?
They data mine your information....not to steal your identity...because the data is made anonymous. They do it to sell your information for advertising. The algorithms do not care...all they want to do is to sell directed targeted advertising. They are not trying to hack your devices or home network.

Where did I say that?

 

[jamezr]

Where did I say that?

yeah...I see your point. I kinda leaped to that conclusion.

 

[cuzo]

The only thing i worry about is if someone can intercept https tls traffic, if they're that good then I'll get scared but i know people spy on phones hooked up on public WiFi all the time and I don't sweat phone security.

Android is most likely less secure than iOS since iOS is basically a low version of Unix and Android is Java. So yeah it is but its nothing the average people has to worry about.

 

[josh27gamer9]

My opinion is that the iPhone and other iOS devices are not designed for private use.

You can read my experiences here.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-is-terrible-about-privacy.2205813/

I'm just saying that iOS devices can't be set up locally and there are generally many areas in the iOS system, iOS api etc.. where you can't turn off tracker functionality e.g. Apple remote keylogger service.


This applies not only to iOS, but also to watchOS, tvOS, macOS and other Apple systems.

The Android without Google service (see Custom Rom: LinageOS) is the most sustainable and secure solution.

But it's up to the user, whether he wants it or not. if he invests more money in independent technologies, developers and systems. then the users profit from it and not Apple or Google.

Without customers' money, harmful companies would die. I just want to say that the customer can change it if he wants. he doesn't have to continue supporting harmful companies.

 

[AustinIllini]

The more I read, the more I think it's just a wash for privacy and security.

Privacy I think is probably a little better on iOS, but I do trust Google with my data overall.

 

[pika2000]

The more I read, the more I think it's just a wash for privacy and security.

Privacy I think is probably a little better on iOS, but I do trust Google with my data overall.

Google by itself, although not a saintly company, is probably not the major concern. The major concern is how their platform (Android) allows other companies to harvest users data willy nilly. In emerging countries, there are a ton of P2P lending apps harvesting people’s data (they can literally suck all your phone’s data, including your contacts and SMS) on Android. No matter what Google says about privacy, the reality is that the platform simply allows unchecked dat a harvesting.

 

[Diamond Dog]

Seeing a lot of conflation of privacy and security in this thread. In either case, I'll take Apple over Google any day.

Google's entire existence is based around building advertising profiles, ie, collecting data. Quite literally, the only reason Android exists is to provide them data to use for their main revenue source-- ads. I'd rather go with the company that makes money selling hardware and wants a stellar OS to go with that hardware, than the company that sells ads and created an OS as a mere sponge for your information.

 

[LBM4]

Seeing a lot of conflation of privacy and security in this thread. In either case, I'll take Apple over Google any day.

Google's entire existence is based around building advertising profiles, ie, collecting data. Quite literally, the only reason Android exists is to provide them data to use for their main revenue source-- ads. I'd rather go with the company that makes money selling hardware and wants a stellar OS to go with that hardware, than the company that sells ads and created an OS as a mere sponge for your information.

Ummm, you do know where Apple is looking to get future revenue from, right? Hint: It isn't hardware. You may want to do a bit of research to see where Apple is heading and then come back and revisit your post. I understand your point, I really do, but Apple is no longer just hardware and OS based.

 

[TopherMan12]

Ummm, you do know where Apple is looking to get future revenue from, right? Hint: It isn't hardware. You may want to do a bit of research to see where Apple is heading and then come back and revisit your post. I understand your point, I really do, but Apple is no longer just hardware and OS based.

Apple hasn't been "just hardware and OS based" for quite some time. Content revenue has been a staple of their business since they first started selling music on iTunes. How does this conflict with what Diamond Dogs said at all? Where is the indication that Apple's future business will come from ad revenue like Google?

 

[pika2000]

Ummm, you do know where Apple is looking to get future revenue from, right? Hint: It isn't hardware. You may want to do a bit of research to see where Apple is heading and then come back and revisit your post. I understand your point, I really do, but Apple is no longer just hardware and OS based.

Apple already dropped from the advertising business a while back. iAds were no more.

 

[LBM4]

Apple hasn't been "just hardware and OS based" for quite some time. Content revenue has been a staple of their business since they first started selling music on iTunes. How does this conflict with what Diamond Dogs said at all? Where is the indication that Apple's future business will come from ad revenue like Google?

Never said their entire business was going to come from ads. IoT and services is their future and this relies on data. Personal data to be specific. And yes, this will include targeted sales based revenue derived from companies trying to sell items to you via your iphone. Opt in or opt out of these targeted ads is up to you. Just like it is in Android 10. But it will still be there. Here is my Notification Center if you think this is not happening:

 

[TopherMan12]

Never said their entire business was going to come from ads. IoT and services is their future and this relies on data. Personal data to be specific. And yes, this will include targeted sales based revenue derived from companies trying to sell items to you via your iphone. Opt in or opt out of these targeted ads is up to you. Just like it is in Android 10. But it will still be there. Here is my Notification Center if you think this is not happening:

That is extremely speculative. Neither you or I can predict the future, but as of right now, that is not the business Apple is in and I see nothing that suggests they are moving in that direction. Also, I'm not sure what you are trying to demonstrate with your phone notifications. You seem to like getting notifications from your Taco Bell, Dominos, and Target apps. So....?

 

[mi7chy]

iOS has advantages after all...

https://www.wandera.com/mobile-security/ios-trojan-malware/

 

[Zwhaler]

Apple for sure treats privacy better than Google by a huge margin. However, if you know how to toggle certain settings (often tucked deep into the account settings), real world difference is negligible. Even if you leave all their tracking stuff on, the real world difference is negligible with the exception of some targeted ads. But iPhone and Android users alike are subject to that if they use Google search, Android more so than Apple, obviously.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Apple for sure treats privacy better than Google by a huge margin. However, if you know how to toggle certain settings (often tucked deep into the account settings), real world difference is negligible. Even if you leave all their tracking stuff on, the real world difference is negligible with the exception of some targeted ads. But iPhone and Android users alike are subject to that if they use Google search, Android more so than Apple, obviously.

When it comes to personal info stored on Apple or Google servers I do not believe there is anything between them, just Apple likes the less well informed users to wrongly assume it applies universally to their devices

When it comes to OEM apps, sure Apple are not marketing like Google and others. But all that marketing affords all users a lot of free services all would have to pay for otherwise. Iphones would be very sad devices if they tried to opt out and go private or your number of subscriptions would increase ridiculously. However one likes to moan about ads its pays for a lot we all enjoy and its quite hypocritical of many to hold some moral high ground whilst reaping the benefits

Some third party apps are equally bad on all OS's, even Apple do it on Android and request contact access for their music app, however I would say Iphones leak slower but that's just delaying the inevitable

 

[torana355]

Saying that OS is secure because you never experienced any security breach is like saying guns are pretty harmless because you was never shot from one.


Do not use anecdotal evidence as arguments, people.

You are right and both iOS and Android do a relatively poor job at protecting users privacy and security. If you really care about those things you should not be using a smartphone at all, not to mention all the popular social media apps that most people use.