Microsoft could have been ahead on this with Cortana if they had any real commitment and vision.

What does sucking dick have to do with technical competency?

Vivaldi, because it is available everywhere, has cross-platform tab syncing, ad-blocking, and a tab bar on Android.

Great article, totally agree with the author. I would still be concerned with that power moving to the government, particularly in countries with limited options for true representation (eg. two party systems, where it is usually more a matter of “lesser evil” voting), but that then becomes the next challenge; still more appropriate in the government’s hands than the level of power corporations currently wield.

The thing is, as we learned with Netflix (and… everything lately), even if it starts off convenient and reasonable, that will last only long enough that they think they’ve cornered the market. So unless something changes to guarantee an ongoing reasonable proposition, i will never trust them again.

How is Australia or Assange related to it?

Doesn’t matter where the tipping points are, humanity will dance straight past them, then do a little spin to flip them the bird as we moonwalk the rest of the way into oblivion.

I think it would be bad for the economy, particularly if everyone had access to it, therefore i suspect if it actually would pan out, some researchers would disappear and the world would never see this released, or it would be made inaccessible to most people somehow (probably money). I’m pessimistic, but of course i also hope we do see something like that in our lifetimes.

Grindr reports down to single digit metres… That level of accuracy is certainly not needed and potentially dangerous. I’ve had stalker issues with Grindr before… Imo the radar aspect can be preserved while simply capping the accuracy or reporting at “<500m”, because seriously that’s close enough to know someone is literally less than 5 minute walk from you.

Sniffies is a similar app, but includes an option to randomise your location within a certain radius that you can set. So you can still determine people are “nearby” or get an idea of their general distance and location, without being able to literally hunt them down.

I feel like some people just hear “crypto” or “ai” and start screeching and clawing at the air.

Not every feature needs to be for you specifically, these features are optional and don’t compromise or even impact their other products. They seem to be on-brand in being more privacy-focused alternatives to some of the existing market options while remaining accessible, and keeps Proton in the game depending on how the landscape develops.

I don’t use Proton (yet) but I generally like what they’re doing and hope they succeed, and I don’t see any of these developments as negatives, just more competition.

For me it’s 100% about banking or payment apps that won’t run if they detect a custom ROM or root. Otherwise i would consider the effort worth it, if only to free the device from the manufacturer’s limited update commitment.

This reminded me of the Jar Jar Binks is a Sith lord theory

I didn’t think it was possible to make Google Assistant worse at this point tbh… but I’m sure Google can prove me wrong.

Maybe they could switch things up and offer a single modern mini phone model, under 5".

I tried a few, and settled on Splitser. It’s good.

Fair enough, but then it’s the same issue to try and convince them to add you on WhatsApp (or iMessage) if they use Telegram. The point is that these are all platforms that we similarly end up stuck on, depending on what most people in our community landed on. In that way it’s not so different to the situation in the US.

People only want to use one messaging client for all their contacts, and as long as the clients remain closed platforms, we are prevented from just using whichever client we individually prefer, we have to use the platform decided on by the community, or fight an uphill battle to get everyone to reluctantly install a second messaging app just for us.

Default launchers need ‘covers’ functionality, where a folder is opened via swipe, and tapping just launched the first app in the folder without needing to open it. It’s the main thing keeping me on custom launchers. That and icon packs.

Europe is a pretty similar situation with WhatsApp, where everyone is kind of forced to use that same platform, just luckily WhatsApp is available on iOS and Android.

Or Facebook Messenger, which I kind of have to use to talk to my relatives and some friends around the world.

Doesn’t have the same weird pressure to use one device manufacturer like in the US though, but trying to get someone (let alone everyone) to add you on Telegram or Signal can be a similar struggle, if they don’t see a value in the effort required to switch apps just for you.

I didn’t buy the Pixel almost entirely because it doesn’t support HDMI video out through the USB-C port. I use that to watch movies from my phone on hotel TVs, or my AR glasses, etc. So I went with the S22. Also has Dex, in case you want to use the phone as a tiny computer with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft’s To Do app is good for that. Free and no ads, and at least for now remains focused and unbloated. It syncs via your Microsoft account, but I think it also can work offline without one.