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by sayusyz 2515 days ago
Will EU regulate mobile apps and the two dominant platforms too? On web I'm safe using blockers, no JS etc. But on my phone I lack alternatives to suppress privacy abusers.
4 comments

I believe Apple is trying to get in front of this, and hopefully that means Android isn’t far behind.

https://www.consumerreports.org/software/apple-ios-13-will-i...

Android is far ahead… as long as you only use AOSP or Lineage, avoid Google Apps and install apps from F-Droid and not from the Play Store.
That's not the Android that people are talking about.
Sure. The Android people are talking about exists so Google can control everyone's life. I would not trust it to protect my privacy.
Even on the Google Play Store, there's a browser called Firefox that supports the concept of "add-ons".

I know these are a novelty on Android where most people use Chrome because it's pre-installed - but add-ons are small, self-contained downloadable additions to your browser. There are multiple such add-ons that will block ads for you. They also work in-app where the Firefox WebView/custom tab is used.

> I know these are a novelty on Android where most people use Chrome because it's pre-installed

I still don't understand which law allows _not_ to show a choose your default browser installer, like Windows had to after the court decision.

Are you in Europe? I am and recently I was asked this exactly question out of blue, and I was given 5 options (if I recall correctly).
DNS666 is an open source local proxy for android that doesnt require root permissions. Filters out all ad traffic, from websites and in app crap.

This is old tech, and it works very well, on any variant of android. Apple is the one that's very behind.

I am talking about at the platform level. My mom isn’t going to install DNS666. She wouldn’t trust it.
> She wouldn’t trust it.

Then ot doesn't matter. If she trusts Google, there's nothing to do.

Use the Guardian App. Of course, privacy costs money in this day and age, so it depends on how much you value your privacy:

https://guardianapp.com/

Use the Duckduckgo app.
I don't think the GDPR separates apps or websites, but the difference is that with apps you often agree to their terms by downloading/buying it whereas with websites you really can't agree until after you open it.