Hacker News Reader

Comment by supriyo-biswas | Hacker News Reader

The comment is talking about installation of adware, which you can install on any Android device, including the flagships.

The Apple App Store does have shady apps (see for example the recent ChatGPT clones) but the problem there is much less severe. Whether it stays that way with alternative app stores proposed in the EU is an interesting prospect, and a separate question though.

View on HN

Adware can also be installed on any Mac or Windows device, no matter the price. Apple fans always gesture at a supposed threat of breaking the AppStore monopoly, yet they conveniently ignore that such a monopoly already doesn't exist on their beloved Macs.

Do you not remember how much of a problem malware was on windows just a few years ago? It's why the AV industry is a thing now It's gotten a bit better but still a valid concern

Evolution. Operating systems, and more specifically, security have been constantly evolving.

Bad actors have exploited vulnerabilities and because of that there has been a bigger emphasis on security, even down to the hardware level.

One could argue that the sandbox model used in iOS and other operating systems is a response to that era of malware. And we’re more secure because of it.

I don't think it's much of an issue anymore on Windows. A smartphone OS is also more locked down in terms of user rights.

This sort of comment makes sense if you think phones = computers.

But a lot of people including myself think of them more as consoles or appliances.

And so it makes perfectly logical sense that we want the flexibility and freedom on our Mac but not on our phones.

No, it doesn't make sense, people want freedom on their appliances as well (hint: printer catridges)

Ironically, the only device I ever had to fix adware was on an iphone. Don't know if it's still possible but all the calendar got infested with ads which notified the user in loops.

For awhile people realized that if you spam calendar invites they appear on your phone. Not sure how rot was solved.

It wasn't even an invite, it was a calendar source (not sure of the exact name) which kept spwning more and more events as you go.

iirc there was a time where spamers would send calender invites to random gmail's

Reply on news.ycombinator.com