Google preps Pixel ‘Audio Memory’ that ambiently tracks your ‘important conversations,’ like AI notetaker pins

Almost everything just works after installing sandboxed Google Play Services. For a few apps you have to tweak a setting to turn off some of GrapheneOS's exploit protections. But I've found very few that refuse to run, and nothing indispensable. If you don't like your main profile having Play Services you can set them up under a second profile or a private area and keep the apps that use them away from your main profile.

Some bank apps may not work, but you can check by searching for you bank name + GrapheneOS

I switched a few months ago and overall its been an excellent experience. Some pitfalls though:

1. Banking apps may not work, Santander in the UK for example but I'm going to transfer away from them
2. Contactless pay through google wallet doesn't work, I couldn't find a way to attach a card to the back of my phone and also keep pixel snap usable so I bought a small pixel snap wallet that works nicely
3. Recently Volkswagen and vw group enabled google play attestation for their app and not hardware attestation, so my cars app no longer works. This is probably the most frustrating for me because as an EV owner there's no other way to track the charge of your car other than via the app. This is particularly annoying when using public charge points and you can't track the charge progress when walking away from the car. First world problem, I can just leave it alone and let it charge without keeping an eye on it but that's annoying to me, I'm sure I'll get over it.
4. Because of the above, I'm concerned other apps may start to follow suit. For example "too good to go" in the UK is "not compatible" with my device from the play store because it doesn't pass the play attestation... Hopefully it's not a trend.

Overall though I would highly recommend. All the other main features work flawlessly.

I've had zero apps not work, including my banking apps.

Amazing for me tbh. I only had to give up contactless payment since my bank switched to google wallet and I have 0 google apps on my phone. Obtanium and Aurora store are life savers.

I am yet to find any app that doesn't work.

It's probably illegal in Germany and some other EU countries. Not that that always stops Big Tech. But this one, at least in Germany, could land the user some jail time.

No, I gave it to the person who resold the phone at a lower cost than what I would've paid to get it from Don't Be Evil Inc.

What a useless and irrelevant comment that adds less than nothing to the conversation.

Technology divergence is inevitable after corporations saw that convergence into an “all in one device” made their work much simpler.

No surprise feature phones, MP3 players and dedicated-use devices are making a comeback. My wish is for full pocket computers to return.

I'm going off memory here, but I think this was an issue way back with some phones having DAC hardware built in, and others skipping that hardware in exchange for requiring dongles that included such?

Maybe you just need to find a new dongle? Hopefully that helps and sorry if it doesn't, but I'd rather just have a headphone jack back and skip all the complications...

They don't always work good. I've tried many even Apple versions. It's finicky somewhat for the audio to pickup like in a car with an aux to the adapter to phone usbc. They do work. Just not perfect. Still prefer 3.5mm jacks and wired headphones. Wireless junk has almost always been a scam to me. Batteries and bluetooth wear out.

Im a perfect world, as they claim, its a secondary system listening that isn't recording or transmitting anything, and is meant to be low power. If it hears the wake up word, it wakes up the other mic and starts recording.

Thats how they claim the smart speakers work anyway.

This would be different.

The reality is they don't need to listen.

They have so much data on users.

• how old you are
• where you are
• what you last bought
• when you just bought it
• who you are near
• what they bought
• what the people around you are searching and what ads they are seeing
• what is being bought and sold by everyone around you
• when you sleep
• what you eat
• the things you are chatting about on MMS
• where you go
• when you're home and when and where you work

It just goes on and on and on.

People think they are unique but they are not as unique as they think.

I always wonder whether we're getting it backwards.

Like, did you see ads for kayaks because you had that conversation about kayaking, or did you have the conversation because an ad company/social network decided it was time for you to get into kayaking?

I'm figuring it's smart TVs and smart speakers, not the phones

It's not all that exciting. If the person you had the conversation with searches for the thing and they're in proximity or on the same network, they can link you to them.

Sadly no, the physical switch recently introduced with FP 6 is by default to activate a distraction-free mode. It can be changed to other features that do not include mic/camera. Furthermore, it implies it's all software managed, nowhere close to the security of real physical kill switch for mic and camera. https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/27533345946258-Switch-button-Settings

The same way slopgen cleverly went around seemingly unbendable coryright laws: by ignoring the shit out of it, and half-scaring half-bribing the governments and the public to allow them to do whatever the fuck they want.

By bribing lobbying local politicians. As always, laws are only real when they’re enforced.

I didn't check the actual law, always a good idea to do so.

So, §201 StGB actually covers both, it is forbidden to "aufnehmen" (record) as well as "mithören" (spy on). Bonus, its forbidden to cite transcription (im Wortlaut mitteilen).

Its an old law, going back to video cameras with magnetic tape and actually tapping a phone line. So it was used quite often, including the mentioned fake surveillance cameras, that didn't record or even view anything but seemed to the public they did.

When dashcams became a thing people would be sentenced for using them. These days you can use dashcams, but never save for more than 24h or show the recording to anyone but the police/court.

I guess the law is a relict of living next door to Stasi, but its really just a guess of mine.

The legal loophole is Google can afford to pay the fine. They make more money breaking ze law than they do following they law

Not a lawyer, but as far as I got it, the storing isn't the punishable part, the recording is.

You can't have security cameras filming public spaces (like the road in front of your house). Even if its dummies, as people couldn't tell the difference whether the camera actually films them or not.

No need to, there is no fruit of the poisonous tree in German law. Police can strip search you in bright daylight on a crowded square for no reason - clearly illegal, bit what they find will be used to proscute you. The officers will be punished as well, at most with a stern talking to.

Your phone told advertisers you were located at Lowe's using GPS. Then your credit card company told advertisers you bought drill bits. If you looked up any cabinet door handles in the past, that data was given to advertisers too. They put all those pieces together to serve you more ads on drill bits and cabinet door handles.

A lot of stores keep track of which aisles you spend more time in, that information is then shared with their "partners" (ad networks). By the time you made it home, they had already shared that you bought bits and that your device spent a while looking at cabinet hardware.

I'm sure there's more than a little Baader-Meinhof happening. I did expand my privacy a bit; pihole, searxng, some other stuff and I notice it less now. Or I think I do, humans are notoriously bad at this.

I've been advertised things that my wife has talked to me about that i otherwise have no interest in. I absolutely believe my phone is listening.

Sure. If you actively turn it on, and all involved know it's on. But this is always active as far as I'm aware.

I'm guessing it'll be toggle off, and it'll toggle itself back on every update.

In other words, they're taking your data for their use all the time, and sometimes they'll share your data with you.

I got banned from Reddit for:

• Saying Peter Thiel should be turned into soup.
• Saying Peter Th-iel should be turned into soup.
• Explaining to someone that I had two warnings about saying Peter Thiel should be turned into soup, which was then deleted and replaced with "user is banned for this post"

They're scared. You hear me, Peter? I'm coming for you with carrots and onions.

I'm sure this current administration and some oligarchs have been, and are, doing everything in their power to know as much about each of us as possible. With AI and some Doge 'behind the scenes' work, a bad actor could say "I want to know everyone who shows even a slight bent to the left" so we can target them." Control and manipulation is the point. Everyone reading this is a target. And I'm sure I'll be bumped up on their 'people to be concerned about' list after writing this.

From all the listening in its doing /s

Until Google decides to lock them out of any sort of verification process.

https://www.sensorwatch.net/

My only barrier to it is the T9 text input. I'm constantly writing notes on my phone. I would have a hard time if I had to T9 every note in.

The technologies honestly don't seem that great anyway. I was happier before slop, and I don't know why people are so excited about slop generators.

Or it accidentally got the wording wrong, oops

Yeah no fuck that

Can't wait for the gaslighting marketing option. Google: "remember that you wanted to buy this?"

I don't think that audio only would be enough for #1 and for #2 oh god fucking no, that easily can and would be abused to hell and back and that would for sure slam the last nail in the coffin of basic human interaction. Yes, doh, rape bad, of course, but if you regulate the shit out of human behaviour we just stop being human beings anymore.

Sex is complicated, rape even more so. Anytime I see these "one easy fix" for these complicated issues I get very nervous, it's not how that works

wtf??? doesnt make it any less extreme privacy violation

for 1: record it yourself consciously (if youre not comfortable with that then why are you comfortable with Google doing it)

for 2: there are other solutions, law enforcement isnt an excuse to violate privacy at all, the government is one of the major things we want privacy against

brave is not a good privacy choice (it has repeatedly shown that it is not to be trusted, it squeezes money out of you, and is run by a homophobic cryptobro (who is also the creator of javascript)

on android, use firefox or ironfox; on desktop, use librewolf

Second the req against Brave, the CEO is actively a fascist sympathizer.

Mullvad and Librewolf are both better, especially since Brave is Chrome-based and is going to stop supporting Manifest v2 when Google finally swings the axe.

I use grapheneOS for many years now. I'm having some trouble coming up with things that haven't worked on it. I use Aurora as an alternate front end for google play, for downloading certain free apps.

I think I've seen problems with apps that check google store for purchase verification, but I don't personally have a google account or purchase android apps so it hasn't affected me.

Its nice if you are actually trying to stay away from Google. Its probably not the best experience if you still want to use their apps and services.

I prefer the experience. My phone doesnt try to get my attention or track me, at least as far as I can tell. Reminds me of when the first smart phones came out and they were just useful tools.

Honestly, it an easy switch and you're going to love the control you regain.

Can’t wait for the compatible moto phones

Pronounced bench-o-day?

Yes, but a good chunk of feature updates notate certain features only works on 9 and up or 10 and up despite no apparent reason, at least to myself why it wouldn't work on the 8 series

Keep shit unplugged when not in use.

If you weren't aware, speakers can be used as microphones.

Interestingly Zuckerberg used to have a sticker over the camera on computer monitor. He was well aware a decade or so ago.

Next update? No, it’s re-enabled automatically when ever you have an important conversation, that way you can’t forget to turn it back on!

I hate what google has become.

How's banking working on Sailfish? Seriously considering Jolla for my next phone but it must work with my bank app.

Yes that's true. But I think if I would sue someone it could have some weight but for this you have to know it, proove it and sue someone. I would wear it more as a statement.

idk about you but never had an issue with chase's website on Firefox that prevented me from using it.

You’re probably just out of date. I had some issues recently on Waterfox, realized I was running a not-super-new version, and things worked great after I updated the flatpak.

The real world of supporting privacy invasion?

The world view that privacy invasion is a bad thing.

Enjoy having all your conversations recorded. Be sure to tell your friends they’re being recorded when they are around you.

Guess what that makes you ;)