I have been an Android user for 13 years now. After using almost every Google service possible I am going down the privacy rabbit hole lately. Gmail -> Proton Mail, Chrome -> Firefox, Keep -> Notesnook, Google Search -> Kagi, …

I am currently using a Galaxy S23 with as few Google apps as possible (and focussing mainly on open-source apps). I am familiar with rooting (I was a CyanogenMod user back in the days), but today I want to use the phone without tinkering and problem solving. I also like to use a smartwatch and banking apps, so GrapheneOS is a no-go unfortunately.

So it is “Stock” Android (or Samsung’s Android ) vs. iOS for me. Is it better (in terms of privacy) to use an iPhone or stick with an Android phone with an system wide ad-/tracking Blocker (I use Adguard)? It seems there are more privacy-friendly/open-source apps on Android.

  • MagneticFusion@lemm.ee
    131·
    11 months ago

    There are two ways to approach this. You either get an iPhone and try to stick to using as many of the Apple applications as possible and no other third party proprietary apps, that way only Apple has all of your data.

    Or, you get a Pixel, and you can use some proprietary third party apps and you use something like NetGuard to block their access to the internet so they can’t collect data. This way only Google has all of your data, albeit they are a more invasive company than Apple.

    When using any other Android device such as a Samsung, both Google AND Samsung will have your data. So in that sense it would be much worse than an iPhone. The only regular Androids that can compete with iPhones for privacy are Pixels.

    • bzz@sh.itjust.works
      52·
      11 months ago

      Generally Apple apps e2e encrypt your data and can not be read/mined by them. There are caveats such as Siri (anonymized voice clips uploaded for example) or (iirc) Apple News. Things like notes, fitness/health, or iMessage are your data.

      • MagneticFusion@lemm.ee
        52·
        11 months ago

        Every single thing that Apple creates is proprietary so you can’t really trust that they are not reading your data or have some sort of back door in the encryption. It’s best to assume that they have all of your data.

        • bzz@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          11 months ago

          It is a business risk for Apple to mine data on data they have explicitly confirmed in this ToS to be e2e encrypted and private.

          If we’re going that far, none of the Broadcom/Qualcomm/Exynos/Snapdragon chips have open source firmware. Additionally google services are all closed source and proprietary.

          Backdoors exist but all phones have backdoors in them and should be assumed they are exploited by state actors.

          From a privacy standpoint, on stock mobile OS, Apple is the lead. I certainly won’t disagree that there are custom roms without google services that are superior though.

          • SaveComengs@lemmy.federa.netEnglish
            21·
            11 months ago

            I don’t think the average apple user cares about the difference between e2ee and e2ee but apple also has a key

            • bzz@sh.itjust.works
              1·
              11 months ago

              Most privacy conscious people don’t use iCloud, the only place where by default Apple has the key (can be changed for users that don’t want this)

              Apple as of 16.2 has an option to fully encrypt iCloud backups without allowing Apple to have a key. Assuming this is what you’re talking about.

              Otherwise, most privacy conscious people are not using iCloud.

          • settinmoon@lemmy.ml
            1·
            11 months ago

            I agree. I work in tech and having a secret back door opens you up for potentially billions of dollars of lawsuits and all it takes for everything to blow up is one whistleblower.

    • utopia_dig@lemmy.mlOP
      2·
      11 months ago

      I was a Nexus/Pixel user for a very long time (until the Pixel 5). But there is no more small Pixel so I “had” to switch to Samsung. The Pixel 8 could be an option although it is not really high end - I’d like to stay with 3 cameras for example.