Reminds me of how google moved maps.google.com to google.com/maps so that they can ask for location permission in your browser for the whole google domain.
Similarly Google (and Facebook) moved to a combined privacy policy - it effectively grants permission for all services to collect all types of data, including data you wouldn't expect each service to be collecting. All while using examples that mislead the user into thinking such data collection is limited.
For example, if one reads the Privacy clause regarding collection of financial/transactional information they might assume that this is due to Google Pay, what they'd be missing is that even services such as Gmail, Maps and Photos are also collecting financial data. As mentioned, where examples exist in the policy, they always paint a more obvious, narrower collection of data.
According to Google's own admissions on the App Store, their services such as Maps, Photos and Gmail each individually collect location, financial history, purchases, contacts, user content such as photos, videos, audio (and any others), search history, amongst other personal data. The majority of this data has no bearing on the apps functionality whatsoever and comparable services don't collect -any- of this information.
Is that actually known as the reason for certain, or is that reason being assumed?
Because I've seen that presented as a hypothesis but never any actual evidence. I recall another hypothesis had something to do with better Maps integration on Search pages.
I'm sure there are lots of potential internal technical reasons for such a switch. Location permissions is just one possibility.
They also did that for chat. When hangouts was replaced with "chat" chat moved to mail.google.com. Which means allowing notifications for email allows it for chat as well.
It makes a lot of sense to unify web and geographic search in a seamless way. Many users would prefer not to have to grant permissions twice when they do a search like "<product> near me".
But your browser tells you when your location is being used? It’s not like Google can secretly use your location without your browser alerting you to it?
So I guess they have gone a full 180° on that "Don't Be Evil" thing. For Google employees with a moral compass, that must be a little confusing/upsetting.
Ah, don't get me started about these dark patterns.
Google Maps, the native Android phone app, behaves like a crappy website in navigation mode.
Google really wants to push the assistant, there isn't a way to completely disable it in Android, disable all shortcuts, basically make it go away.
So, in Google Maps, there's a Assistant bar at the bottom. That only pops up when you're in navigation mode, and "conveniently", slides up when you switch apps.
So if you're in another app and decide to exit navigation using the X at the bottom left of Google Maps... the Assistant button slides up and you accidentally press it.
> there isn't a way to completely disable it in Android
This is not true, as there is... just disable the Google app.
You will need to replace the launcher with the Nova launcher in the process, and will likely replace the search box with Firefox search. But the Google app and Assistant will be totally disabled and unavailable anywhere in the Android experience. If you find a link to it, it will ask to enable which you can decline.
I found this out by Google having placed me in some experiment earlier this year where my Pixel 6 Pro went from 24h battery life down to about 3h battery life. The battery was being drained by the Google app exclusively, and so without any fix or published workaround I set about disabling the Google app.
Overall this has been a huge improvement, my battery under near identical usage is now closer to 36h... and the Assistant not being present I have since viewed as a bonus (at the time I thought it a negative). I believe the issue is probably now fixed, but why would I go back when this is a better experience with more battery, disabling the Google app was like upgrading my phone.
> ”don't get me started about these dark patterns”
Here’s another dark pattern for you in a totally different context.
So Google use to have all of it various services on a separate subdomain (eg maps.google.com).
But they moved to having everything under www.google.com.
You know why, it’s because when you allow Google Maps to geolocate you (which is totally appropriate for a Maps use case) … now ALL of Google services get geolocation data about you from Search, Gmail, etc since they are all hosted in the same www root.
Used to love google maps, but I’ve switched to Apple Maps it’s been so bad lately. It’s taken me in literal circles, decides I need to do 2 uturns while sitting at a traffic light, gives instructions that are unclear or too late, etc. I noticed Waze got worse lately too, I guess they’re integrating them more :(
Little protip: if you sign your phone up with Google, it doesn't force the assistant on you at all. Don't remember having to disable it, you just have to not consent to their terms.
Side effect: you can kiss access to the monopoly on apk files goodbye unless you want to use third party hacky methods that use a pool of random people's accounts to talk to the google apk servers...
Using one monopoly to gain market share in another :) The pattern is everywhere with google. I keep wondering why the competitors like TomTom haven't gotten them banned from the country with antitrust suits. Instead, TomTom just cut their losses, threw in the towel for their own map (which has surprisingly good worldwide road coverage for a Dutch company from the noughties), and is starting to use OpenStreetMap as a base layer. I'm not complaining about OSM use, but they were in the prime position to force Google to open the data they funneled from their original monopoly
If you open setting in maps, you can disable driving mode, which gets rid of that bar at the bottom. I then couldn't figure out where to turn it back on. There's still an assistant button but in a less intrusive location.
This complaint is one of the clearest, most concise pieces of legal drafting I've ever seen. It's only 7 pages! The small inline graphics in the pleading are innovative and effective. Great lawyering, kudos to the AG's office. This is likely a big reason behind the quick settlement.
You want text translations from 1 lang to next? Cool. It works.
You want an image text-> translated text? You MUST install and have Google app installed. No real reason other than to re-enable more spyware and garbage.
Has this perhaps changed recently? Tried navigating to translate.google.com on both Android and iOS and the image translation features appear without issue.
Because it was a slap on the wrist. Pretty sure big tech companies have their own people in power positions in the states they operate from. Especially California. You don't build a trillion-dollar empire and leave it to chance.
The power Google has over small, local businesses is ridiculous.
I work for a small local business. We've been struggling to get rid of the "lead generation" spam from the Google Maps listings. This is costing us on the order of thousands to tens-of-thousands a month in work. (That's significant for our business, on the ~10-15% of monthly revenue.)
I dug into these listings. I discovered the company behind them, a marketing firm in Hawaii. I uncovered a network of 80+ listings across the US they operate. I even discovered their recruiting websites where they pay people to create the listings for them and go on to pay people for 5-star reviews.
I provided all of this information to Google via their "business redressal form." Nothing. It's been months. I keep reporting the listings. Nothing.
We're losing work. Other local contractors are losing work. And Google twiddles its thumbs.
What good is it for Google to have a policy if they're not going to uphold it when their inaction is harming others?
Note that Unicode has a lot of characters like this — compatibility forms which are present to allow lossless conversion to/from other character sets, but shouldn’t be used in any new text.
You have a bad browser/PDF viewer. The "spacing" issues are a result of using small caps as a title style, which is hardly unusual - especially in legal documents.
This is both visually accurate and not a forced download for me using Safari.
[+] [-] dandare|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] quitit|2 years ago|reply
For example, if one reads the Privacy clause regarding collection of financial/transactional information they might assume that this is due to Google Pay, what they'd be missing is that even services such as Gmail, Maps and Photos are also collecting financial data. As mentioned, where examples exist in the policy, they always paint a more obvious, narrower collection of data.
According to Google's own admissions on the App Store, their services such as Maps, Photos and Gmail each individually collect location, financial history, purchases, contacts, user content such as photos, videos, audio (and any others), search history, amongst other personal data. The majority of this data has no bearing on the apps functionality whatsoever and comparable services don't collect -any- of this information.
[+] [-] yborg|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stasmo|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] crazygringo|2 years ago|reply
Because I've seen that presented as a hypothesis but never any actual evidence. I recall another hypothesis had something to do with better Maps integration on Search pages.
I'm sure there are lots of potential internal technical reasons for such a switch. Location permissions is just one possibility.
[+] [-] trissylegs|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xnx|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nextaccountic|2 years ago|reply
Firefox should do this
[+] [-] willio58|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vore|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whyenot|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gnu8|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rootsudo|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oblio|2 years ago|reply
Google Maps, the native Android phone app, behaves like a crappy website in navigation mode.
Google really wants to push the assistant, there isn't a way to completely disable it in Android, disable all shortcuts, basically make it go away.
So, in Google Maps, there's a Assistant bar at the bottom. That only pops up when you're in navigation mode, and "conveniently", slides up when you switch apps.
So if you're in another app and decide to exit navigation using the X at the bottom left of Google Maps... the Assistant button slides up and you accidentally press it.
[+] [-] buro9|2 years ago|reply
This is not true, as there is... just disable the Google app.
You will need to replace the launcher with the Nova launcher in the process, and will likely replace the search box with Firefox search. But the Google app and Assistant will be totally disabled and unavailable anywhere in the Android experience. If you find a link to it, it will ask to enable which you can decline.
I found this out by Google having placed me in some experiment earlier this year where my Pixel 6 Pro went from 24h battery life down to about 3h battery life. The battery was being drained by the Google app exclusively, and so without any fix or published workaround I set about disabling the Google app.
Overall this has been a huge improvement, my battery under near identical usage is now closer to 36h... and the Assistant not being present I have since viewed as a bonus (at the time I thought it a negative). I believe the issue is probably now fixed, but why would I go back when this is a better experience with more battery, disabling the Google app was like upgrading my phone.
[+] [-] alberth|2 years ago|reply
Here’s another dark pattern for you in a totally different context.
So Google use to have all of it various services on a separate subdomain (eg maps.google.com).
But they moved to having everything under www.google.com.
You know why, it’s because when you allow Google Maps to geolocate you (which is totally appropriate for a Maps use case) … now ALL of Google services get geolocation data about you from Search, Gmail, etc since they are all hosted in the same www root.
[+] [-] tomComb|2 years ago|reply
Chess.com is annoying me by changing my settings every 1 to 2 months to put them back to what they want.
This sort of thing is really common
[+] [-] liquidpele|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IG_Semmelweiss|2 years ago|reply
It is so frustrating. I hate that app with passion, yet I can't disable it in android.
[+] [-] footlose_3815|2 years ago|reply
This is why I switched to LineageOS. Google, the biggest ad company on the planet, is not to be trusted with something so personal as a cell phone.
[+] [-] lucb1e|2 years ago|reply
Side effect: you can kiss access to the monopoly on apk files goodbye unless you want to use third party hacky methods that use a pool of random people's accounts to talk to the google apk servers...
Using one monopoly to gain market share in another :) The pattern is everywhere with google. I keep wondering why the competitors like TomTom haven't gotten them banned from the country with antitrust suits. Instead, TomTom just cut their losses, threw in the towel for their own map (which has surprisingly good worldwide road coverage for a Dutch company from the noughties), and is starting to use OpenStreetMap as a base layer. I'm not complaining about OSM use, but they were in the prime position to force Google to open the data they funneled from their original monopoly
[+] [-] tmerc|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryukoposting|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marymkearney|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amelius|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] degenerate|2 years ago|reply
https://myactivity.google.com/activitycontrols?settings=loca...
[+] [-] benburleson|2 years ago|reply
Instead, I find myself continually extracting their products from my life.
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] 1vuio0pswjnm7|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaronmdjones|2 years ago|reply
https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/222903183/u
> This question is locked and replying has been disabled.
Oh, nevermind then.
[+] [-] joeframbach|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oblio|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dragonwriter|2 years ago|reply
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bont...
[+] [-] 1vuio0pswjnm7|2 years ago|reply
Google Settles Account Settings Lawsuit Less Than One Week After Being Filed [pdf] (ca.gov)
[+] [-] pierat|2 years ago|reply
You want text translations from 1 lang to next? Cool. It works.
You want an image text-> translated text? You MUST install and have Google app installed. No real reason other than to re-enable more spyware and garbage.
[+] [-] crazygringo|2 years ago|reply
Why would the Google app have more spyware than the Translate app?
That doesn't make any sense. If Google wants to spy on you they'll put it in all their apps...
Regardless of what you think of Google, the reason a feature lives in one app and not another is not to increase spying...
The same functionality spread across two apps doesn't spy more than one.
[+] [-] jwells89|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kokouane|2 years ago|reply
Also the Google app is required for many other apps, like to use Google Podcasts.
[+] [-] aa_is_op|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] diogenes4|2 years ago|reply
Not really necessary when service providers have such massive ability to dictate the contract you sign to use the service.
[+] [-] Garvi|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TrendyCPU|2 years ago|reply
I work for a small local business. We've been struggling to get rid of the "lead generation" spam from the Google Maps listings. This is costing us on the order of thousands to tens-of-thousands a month in work. (That's significant for our business, on the ~10-15% of monthly revenue.)
I dug into these listings. I discovered the company behind them, a marketing firm in Hawaii. I uncovered a network of 80+ listings across the US they operate. I even discovered their recruiting websites where they pay people to create the listings for them and go on to pay people for 5-star reviews.
I provided all of this information to Google via their "business redressal form." Nothing. It's been months. I keep reporting the listings. Nothing.
We're losing work. Other local contractors are losing work. And Google twiddles its thumbs.
What good is it for Google to have a policy if they're not going to uphold it when their inaction is harming others?
[+] [-] lucb1e|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bradrn|2 years ago|reply
At least that much is correct. Quoth the Unicode Standard:
> For most purposes, it is preferable to compose the Roman numerals from sequences of the appropriate Latin letters.
[from https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ch15.pdf]
Note that Unicode has a lot of characters like this — compatibility forms which are present to allow lossless conversion to/from other character sets, but shouldn’t be used in any new text.
[+] [-] kyralis|2 years ago|reply
This is both visually accurate and not a forced download for me using Safari.
[+] [-] Etheryte|2 years ago|reply
Not if you configure your browser correctly? Why would you allow random sites to save files without even prompting you for it?
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]