• ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    I just went into my settings after reading this article (and getting a bit frustrated that it was a wall of text with no clear instructions right up front).

    I did a search in settings for “gemini” and found the Gemini settings. There’s no clear ‘off’ switch. But there’s is an option to switch back to Google Assistant. So I did that. And not when I search for Gemini in settings it urges me to enable Gemini.

    I’m taking that as a good sign that I’ve disabled it permanently. Thought I’d post this info in case it helps someone else. Or so if I’m incorrect somebody else can correct me.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      While I wouldn’t assume anything is permanent these days, I’d agree for the moment. I had already uninstalled Gemini on my phone (2ish months ago) and just verified I still see Google listed as the default assistant.

  • anachrohack@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Wish there were better 3rd party mobile options. On pc I can install Linux on any laptop made in the last 15 years and it will work basically flawlessly. No such equivalent exists for smart phones

      • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pub
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        13 hours ago

        You really think that the holy OS can even fit in such a small, restrictive device as a cellphone? Of course not! It needs room to truly achieve transcendence.

    • Trihilis@ani.social
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      23 hours ago

      FairPhone can run Postmarket OS, eOS, iodeos, calyxos and lineageos.

      Some have longer support than others. Also you can buy separate parts for their phones and they are modular.

      • noughtnaut@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Yes but do they support the digital national ID and SSO apps that are (only) avaliable for android and apple? Until they do, a lot of users are going to be locked into those two big OS vendors. 😞

        • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          I don’t get it.

          you’re in a thread discussing the finer points of privacy concerns about a corporation snooping on your apps and your only example of a barrier to not use a privacy focused product is…your requirement for government backdoors and spyware?

          also SSO works just fine on eOS. unless you’re talking about googles MFA. at that point why are you even concerned about privacy?

              • Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub
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                18 minutes ago

                and so, OP’s SSO problems are null since eOS has no issue running it due to it just being android under the hood.

                that apk doesn’t install on arm Linux. Comparing eOS to Postmarket is apples to oranges. eOS is still chained by the buttcheeks to AOSP and Android.

                AOSP may not contain google services, but you’re still at their mercy. No Google = No AOSP, or whenever they feel like it. Tomorrow, maybe.

      • zyberteq @lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Yes, but i have a Nothing Phone (1). I should check the other alternatives, but afaik lineageos does not support my phone.

  • ‮redirtSdeR@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    My experience with Gemini:

    Hey Google, set a timer for 5 minutes.

    Gemini: I’m sorry, I don’t understand.

    WTF is the point of it then?

    Imagine taking away the only useful feature of a voice assistant 💀

    • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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      16 hours ago

      When I first got into Android (I miss my Nexus 6 T.T ), it felt like I could do so much more with my phone than I can now. I had so much cool automation shit that leveraged stuff like Google assistant voice commands, but now it’s shit on so many levels. It goes beyond the user facing side of things; I used to use the app Tasker for a lot of the automation stuff, and over the years, it seems like the dev has been climbing an uphill battle against Google gating off functionality, and generally making things opaque and difficult for developers.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      My recent experience with my phone is I tell it to set a 5 minute timer and it sets one in the fucking Google search browser, and if I page away I lose the timer.

      • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca
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        13 hours ago

        I just use the timer on my microwave, I suppose the kitchen is the most likely place you’d want a timer. Unless you were using 5 minute epoxy.

    • andz@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      I live in Finland using Android on a Nokia and I can switch Gemini off completely and choose to use the old Google Assistant instead. It did initially appear out of nowhere when they patched it in, but I could immediately turn it off with the same prompt that the other guy also got.

      If it’s unavoidable it seems to be an US only thing atm.

    • tinned_tomatoes@feddit.uk
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      17 hours ago

      I’m in the UK and today I got asked whether I wanted to leave this on or not - it just notified me and asked me to confirm my consent.

      So I think this article’s headline is slightly misleading - Google is actively informing users and asking them to confirm their consent.

    • cabbage@piefed.social
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      1 day ago

      I believe /e/OS supports a broader range of devices, and it’s also pretty great in my experience. The focus is on getting rid of google (replacing all services with MicroG and nextcloud integration) and blocking trackers while providing a smooth user experience, so it’s security features are not as over the top as Graphene. It’s still a huge freaking improvement over stock Android though, and I find it to be a joy to use.

      On devices supported by the online installer it can be up an running in like 30 minutes, no technical skills required. :)

      • TheWhetherMan@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Does this work with multiple device accounts? Work requires my phone to have a personal/work account to be able to access applications like teams, and it’s the only thing keeping me from swapping

        • cabbage@piefed.social
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          1 day ago

          In the sense of multiple users in Android settings? That works, it can be enabled in settings -> system -> multiple users. I haven’t tested it though, as I don’t have any need for that.

          I use Microsoft Authenticator and Microsoft Outlook for work, and both work flawlessly with /e/OS. Thankfully I have not had any reason to test Teams, but I’m pretty sure that would work as well.

    • Balaquina@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      Not a day goes by that I don’t regret installing that on my phone.

      • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        So you regret it every day? GOS is amazing in my opinion. What’s your gripe with it?

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          What I’m curious is what kind of ball are you shaped like?

          A golf ball? With divots all over your skin? A basketball? Just round? A baseball? With stitches all over your skin like later years Chucky? A football? Are you Stewie Griffen? Testicles? Wait, are you saying your whole body is one big testicle? Oh my god, the Iron Shiek wasn’t speaking broken english! He was just talking about you!!! “I hit him right in the ball this big!”

          • BallShapedMan@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            Lol! ❤️ run on rants.

            And I used to be quite overweight with a large gut. My kids used to say I was 19 months pregnant. The weight is gone but I kept the name.

      • 6nk06@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        I installed GrapheneOS for the security and lack of Google. I didn’t know it was a very nice stock Android without any crap. I love it.

          • 6nk06@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            Tap to pay is not there. But you can install the Play Store and install all your paid applications, that’s what I did.

              • 6nk06@sh.itjust.works
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                1 day ago

                Everything is sandboxed but I don’t have all the details. You don’t actively turn any sandbox on or off, it’s always there IIRC.

              • 6nk06@sh.itjust.works
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                1 day ago

                I’m not trying to convince you but I was paying for everything with my phone, it was the most important feature. After installing GrapheneOS, i got control back and piece of mind, and I dont miss tap to pay.

  • infyrian@kbin.melroy.org
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    2 days ago

    Narrator: And users did not in fact, take action.

    It’ll just be one more thing for them to complain and do nothing about. That is all.

    • SaneMartigan@aussie.zone
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      1 day ago

      Most people wont even notice. My non techy friends love their new Pixel phones and all the AI assistance.

    • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      Go to Settings --> Apps

      Find “Gemini” and tap into the app page and tap disable

      If you can’t find Gemini, you phone probably didn’t get the Google Play System Update yet, so check the app list when you update next time. (Or you can refuse to update, but outdated android comes with security risks)

      Mine is already disable for some reason. Maybe I did that a while ago and forgot about it.

      • Asidonhopo@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Mine apparently didn’t, but it’s an older Samsung. Like, micro-USB era. I’d be surprised if Google ever autoinstalls Gemini because of the age.

  • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    I swear, whenever I try to use it, it just makes me wish I could delete it. I ask the answer to a simple question and it gives me a whole essay on how this one aspect of what I said is more nuanced than one would imagine, and I’m left there waiting 5 minutes to get it to say anything of substance, but it doesn’t when I explicitly tell it to “just give me the fucking answer”, which I have to say every time for it to say anything useful.

    It also doesn’t work with timers or anything actually useful and I doubt it’ll get any better with third party app access.

    Google assistant was so much better, it even still works with its servers being down (for me at least) because it’s a better assistant than whatever Gemini is supposed to be.

    • John Richard@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Yes, for the amount of hate Google gets… Which I think it is fair to be critical of any product that compromises privacy… I recently tried helping my mom clean up her iPhone, and seriously like 100x worse. Almost everything you do on Apple demands you have another Apple device. One of the worst experiences I’ve ever dealt with.

      • Pycorax@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        Isn’t there some form of sampling bias here though? The kind of people who generally would care about these things likely also care about interoperability and would be on Android. I wouldn’t be surprised if iPhone users simply don’t care if Apple demands them to do anything.

    • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Except Apple has better marketing, and is primarily marketed for those who’re excited for every tech “innovation”.