[johnnyanmac]

What does it do on Google's app store? If they are still playing by google's rules, why would they take themselves off Apple's store? is Apple's data more valuable than Google's?

These kinds of theoreticals have likely already been addressed with Apple's biggest competitor. Androids aren't known to be virus ridden privacy compromising devices. At least, no more than any device with communication antennas installed.

[nodamage]

> Androids aren't known to be virus ridden privacy compromising devices.

I mean, statistically, they kind of are. From Nokia's Threat Intelligence Report for 2020 (https://www.nokia.com/networks/portfolio/cyber-security/thre...):

Figure 3 provides a breakdown of infections by device type in 2020. Among smartphones, Android devices are the most commonly targeted by malware. Android devices were responsible for 26.64% of all infections, Windows/PCs for 38.92%, IoT devices for 32.72% and only 1.72% for iPhones.

[johnnyanmac]

statistically, maybe. But it's more about mindshare in cases like these. IoT devices based on your report is even more prone to compromises, but there's not much fear for a person's fridge being compromised.

And as always, these cases come down to how many people really concern themselves with that risk. Windows has had that reputation, but it hasn't helped Apple that much in terms of Mac adoption, let alone Linux.

[nodamage]

I'm not sure why mindshare is relevant? You might not worry much about your fridge being compromised, but these days smartphones contain a lot of personal data which could be very problematic if compromised. There is even Android malware out there that steals 2FA codes.

[johnnyanmac]

>I'm not sure why mindshare is relevant?

because many people commenting on security and privacy aren't necessarily experts on such topics. Their interpretations of what is secure or not comes from marketing and word of mouth.

If you look at the stats in an extremely stark interpretation; no device is perfectly secure (0%), but no device is so malware ridden that you are more likely than not to be compromised (50%). most users will be safe as long as they don't go out of their way to disable default security settings, and few need to. In that way, privacy won't be the main factor determining why a user purchases a device or chooses an OS.

In that respect, What a user feels (or what their immediate bubble feels) has more weight than any statistical reality. Or in other words, "mindshare".