Technology - Google News

Facebook-quitting advice from a professional internet quitter
AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Details: Four CPUs, Pre-Order Today, Reviews on the 19th
Android's trust problem isn't getting better

Facebook-quitting advice from a professional internet quitter

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 09:34 AM PDT

Back in 2012, I quit the internet for a year. Between May 2012 and May 2013, I didn't use the internet or ask people to use the internet for me. To make it extra hard, I didn't use text messaging either.

In a nutshell, I wanted to discover how many of my problems in life (lack of productivity, constant distraction, a sense running as fast as I could just to keep up) were the internet's fault, and how many of those problems were just my own inherent faults.

Spoiler: it was mostly just me.

But if you've been following all the recent Facebook drama or you can't stand the culture of Twitter discourse or you feel like the Instagram algorithm is harmful to your well-being and you've decided that you need to make a statement by quitting something, I might be able to offer some advice.

Boredom

You're standing in line. You're sitting down to poop. You're waiting for the train. You just woke up. You're about to go to sleep. You're waiting for a commercial break to finish. It's not even a commercial break; you just got antsy. You're bored during a conversation. You're not bored during a conversation; you just wanted to check something real quick.

You pull out your phone for whatever reason.

What app do you open? And why?

The first question is easy: for me, personally, it's Twitter. For many other people, it's Instagram or Facebook.

But the "why" question is harder to answer. There's a great Why'd You Push That Button? episode that explores how app developers try to create a reward loop to incentivize you to keep checking back. For instance, I check Twitter because someone might've read one of my articles and liked it. Or, at the very least, someone might've liked one of my tweets or followed me or retweeted me. I'm searching for praise.

What's messed up about it is I can check Twitter, see nothing new, put my phone in my pocket, and 15 seconds later, I'll pull my phone out once more to look at Twitter again. It's a little sick, to be honest.

So, let's say Facebook is your app of choice. And I'm just going to assume you're as hooked as I am. What are you going to do every 15 seconds with your thumbs if you quit?

I'm going to humbly suggest, based on personal experience, that you try boredom.

Boredom is a complicated thing. And most people are desperate to avoid it. It turns out that smartphones full of social network apps are a great antidote.

But if you choose to replace your go-to app, whatever it may be, with nothing, you can push through the discomfort of boredom, and you might find something cool on the other side.

Boredom is a dissatisfaction with what you're doing. If you allow yourself to be bored for just a little bit, you can use that free brain power to decide what you actually want to do. Like, what will make you feel good in the long run, instead of what will make you feel good for the next 15 seconds.

You can use boredom as an alert that you might be living life on auto-pilot, instead of doing what's actually important to you.

Boredom was seriously one of the best parts of my year without the internet. I eventually discovered new ways to waste time and fill the boredom void, and that kind of ruined everything. But for a few glorious months back in 2012, boredom was my guide to getting shit done and living right.

Loneliness

Without Facebook, or your own social network of choice, it's very easy to not only be lonely but to actually feel lonely.

The solution is simple: reach out to people. Ask people to meet up. Talk to people on the phone. Text more, and reply to text messages instead of ignoring them. Express concern and interest in other people's lives with words instead of only Likes and faves and reaction emoji.

Problem solved!

Just kidding. I mean, I do believe that doing those things is the correct antidote to loneliness. But loneliness, both the subjective feeling and the objective reality, never seems that simple to solve.

When I was off the internet, I had some of my best interpersonal successes in life. People said I was "intense" to talk to because I was so undistracted. I got to know family members and some close friends better than I ever had.

But simultaneously, I lost friends and ended up very alone.

What's up with that?

Well, let's just be honest with ourselves. The internet is where people are. If your friends are heavy Facebook users, and you quit Facebook, it's a little bit like if your friends all hang out at a certain bar and you stop going there.

When I was off the internet, I didn't have any serious blow-ups or falling outs with my friends. I just sort of fell out of step with them.

Here's an example: let's say a big new movie is coming out. It's called Super Cape People. When the trailer hits, maybe one of your friends shares it on Facebook with a comment: "Omg I can't wait for this." A few of your other friends with similar tastes chime in. Maybe a dozen other conversations on social media sprout up over the following six months. By the time the movie comes out, you're pretty sure who you know that wants to see this movie. Maybe you're even in a Facebook Messenger group of buddies that obsesses over the Super Cape franchise.

But even if you just make midnight screening plans over plain old text message, you have all the social networking context to know who to include. You also know that your friend Jeff is on vacation so maybe you all agree to wait two days to see it with Jeff.

Without social media, you can't broadcast your interests and availability to your friends. You have to do it in pieces. You need to hang out with people or talk to them on the phone or at least text them to let them know that you love all things Super Cape and drop heavy hints that you'll be crushed if your friends see it without you.

And what if your friends don't like phone calls? And what if they forget you quit Facebook when they send out a party invite? And what if your appointed liaison to all Facebook drama becomes tired of being your social networking sherpa?

After a while, if you miss enough parties and are absent enough friend group outings, your friends might assume you aren't interested.

Sadly, I'm speaking from experience. I'm not trying to scare you away from quitting Facebook. I'm just letting you know that you'll have to be very proactive to stay in touch with the people you care about.

I wasn't, and it sucked.

Changing the world

Of course, your friends aren't the only people using the internet. The internet is a marvelous megaphone. You can speak to anyone or everyone. If you're super popular on Instagram, and you quit Instagram, you're silencing your loudest voice. You're limiting your reach. It almost feels like self-censorship. You set out to protest Facebook, but you're only hurting yourself, right?

I don't know. Maybe. This one is complicated.

When I was off the internet, I started a band. While I've always been interested in music, and I've been in bands before, there was something freeing about being off the internet, creativity-wise. I stopped comparing myself to the best possible version of the thing I was doing. Instead, I just asked myself: "Do I like this?" If I liked it, then I did it. I didn't feel silenced; I felt free.

This has been freeing in other parts of my life as well. When I was comparing myself to everyone on the internet, I was afraid of programming, math, skateboarding, philosophy, and writing fiction. For each of those activities, I could point to a million people better than me.

I doubt this is debilitating for everyone, but for a long time, I allowed these worldwide comparisons to keep me away from things I was interested in because I knew I couldn't be great at them.

I think the fear of "de-platforming" yourself gives Facebook and Twitter too much credit, and it also doesn't give enough credit to what's actually valuable about your voice and particular set of skills.

Just think about it: would you, given the choice, rather use your words to encourage someone you love or to win a Twitter debate? Are your talents more valuable to your friends and family or to the global economy?

Twitter virality is famously hard to engineer. Facebook makes you pay to actually reach your "audience." Instagram will always work best for people who only show their most beautiful side.

But your friends love it when you sing at karaoke, no matter what you sound like. And your mom doesn't doxx you when you disagree with her about politics. She might even change your mind, or you might change hers.

The impact you can have on the people close to you can be just as great, or greater, than the impact you can have on the "world" through your internet voice. Possibly not in quantity, but certainly in quality.

Does that kind of make sense?

Coming back

Hey, I'm not saying you're going to crack. But you might return to Facebook after a week or month or year away. It might be in a moment of weakness, or it might be something you do deliberately after careful consideration of the pros and cons.

People ask me if I'd consider leaving the internet again. I always say "no way." Not that I regret my year off the internet. I just feel like I learned the lessons I needed to learn, and the immense positives of the internet — even the weird and scary places like Facebook — outweigh the cons.

One thing I always tell people, and it's something I wish I did a better job of putting into practice, is to "keep it small."

It's a reference to Fahrenheit 451, which is a book I read when I was off the internet, but it's is also now a hip cultural reference because there's a Michael B. Jordan movie coming out.

In the sci-fi world of Fahrenheit 451, everyone has these immersive TV rooms. Every wall of the room is a screen. And then they watch TV all the time. It sounds pretty fun, to be honest.

But, also, they burn books. So something isn't quite right with this society.

When the protagonist meets an outlaw book collector, he's surprised to discover the collector has a TV. It's hidden behind a picture frame.

"I like to keep it small," the collector explains.

Just because you use Facebook doesn't mean it has to dominate your life. There are ways to "keep it small." You can reduce Facebook's ability to gather data on you. You can take the app off your phone. You can block yourself from using it during certain hours of the day. Despite the enormous efforts by internet giants to influence your life and control your behaviors, they haven't won yet. You still have some power in this relationship.

In summary: book burning is wrong, Michal B. Jordan is possibly my favorite actor on the planet, and if anyone would like to watch his new movie with me it premieres in May on HBO and so let's start planning this viewing party now. I will bring the chips and perhaps some beverages. Please respond to this invite even if you can't make it. Thanks! See you there.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

AMD Ryzen 2nd Gen Details: Four CPUs, Pre-Order Today, Reviews on the 19th

Posted: 13 Apr 2018 06:04 AM PDT

Today marks the initial start of AMD's pre-sale of 2nd Generation Ryzen processors. The full launch is set for April 19th, which is when reviews and performance numbers will be officially available, but today we are able to tell you a bit about the processors that are coming, as well as some pictures, and link readers to where they can pre-order. We're not overly fond of manufacturers offering pre-orders before revealing performance numbers, as with the Threadripper launch last year, however we can at least discuss the details of each part.

First Stop: Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 on 12nm

The launch on April 19th will consist of four processors: two from the Ryzen 7 line, with eight cores and sixteen threads, and two from the Ryzen 5 line, with six cores and twelve threads. These processors are built on GlobalFoundries' 12nm process, which uses some slight process changes to enable up to 10% better performance when directly porting a 14nm design (as AMD is doing here), which means that compared to the previous generation, the new parts have slightly higher frequencies.

2nd Generation AMD Ryzen
AnandTech	Cores	Base	Turbo	L2	L3	TDP	SEP	Cooler
Ryzen 7 2700X	8 / 16	3.7	4.3	4 MB	16 MB	105 W	$329	Prism RGB
Ryzen 7 2700	8 / 16	3.2	4.1	4 MB	16 MB	65 W	$299	Spire RGB
Ryzen 5 2600X	6 / 12	3.6	4.2	3 MB	16 MB	95 W	$229	Spire
Ryzen 5 2600	6 / 12	3.4	3.9	3 MB	16 MB	65 W	$199	Stealth

The king of the stack will be AMD's Ryzen 7 2700X processor, with a suggested retail price of $329.

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 2700X on Amazon.com

The underlying design of this processor is identical to the Ryzen 7 1700X, with the same number of cores and same amount of cache, but with much higher frequencies: AMD will ship this part with a 3.7 GHz base frequency and a 4.3 GHz turbo frequency. This means AMD is able to surpass the 'hard' limit of 4.1 GHz with the previous generation, and now offer a processor that turbos +200 MHz more, for another 10W on the TDP. At the $329 price, AMD will also throw in its new Wraith Prism LED cooler which it introduced back with the Ryzen APUs. It's worth taking a look at this cooler in the images below.

Users might note that this is called the 2700X, whereas the top of the pile in the previous generation was called 1800X. We know the reasons why, but they are technically under embargo until the 19th. What we can say is that the previous model of XFR, whereby the CPU can boost beyond its turbo frequency, has been replaced. More details on the 19th.

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 2700 on Amazon.com

Following the 2700X is the Ryzen 7 2700, or non-X model. This part is slightly lower clocked, with 3.2 GHz base and 4.1 GHz turbo, mainly because it occupies the 65W TDP space, and comes bundled with the Wraith Spire LED cooler. At $299 it becomes an interesting counter to the 2700X: the difference in $30 means an extra +500 MHz on the base and the beefier cooler. On paper this looks like an upsell – where the Ryzen 7 1700 was a nice buy compared to the 1700X/1800X, here the 2700's redeeming feature is more the lower power consumption while still retaining high single clock frequencies. It will be interesting to take this CPU for a spin.

Buy AMD Ryzen 5 2600X on Amazon.com

Buy AMD Ryzen 5 2600 on Amazon.com

The Ryzen 5 2600X and 2600 fill in at the six-core level, at the $229 and $199 price points respectively. These parts are more like their first generation cousins, offering 95W/65W, but now also both come with coolers. The frequencies on the Ryzen 5 2600X are also nice and high, with a 3.6 GHz base and a 4.2 GHz turbo. The Ryzen 5 2600 is quite close behind, with only 3.4 GHz base, but a bit more off the top at 3.9 GHz. Both processors use a 3+3 core configuration for each CCX, and have full access to all 16 MB of L3 cache.

The Comparison

If we take the Ryzen 7 2700X up against the Ryzen 7 1800X and Ryzen 1700X, the following differences are:

Generation to Generation Comparison
AnandTech	Cores	Base	Turbo	L2	L3	TDP	SEP	Cooler
Ryzen 7 2700X	8 / 16	3.7	4.3	4 MB	16 MB	105 W	$329	Prism RGB

Ryzen 7 1800X	8 / 16	3.6	4.0	4 MB	16 MB	95 W	$349	None
Ryzen 7 1700X	8 / 16	3.4	3.8	4 MB	16 MB	95 W	$309	None
Ryzen 7 1700	8 / 16	3.0	3.7	4 MB	16 MB	65 W	$299	Spire RGB

As seen, the Ryzen 7 2700X clearly takes up the mantle of both of the older parts. More frequency, a better cooler, and there's some other special second generation stuff we can't mention yet.

Key Features

At this point, AMD is keeping most of the nice features under wraps. We can't talk about them, as much as we would like to. AMD only offers this slide to whet the appetite:

Worth noting are the bullet points. Here is our handy decoder:

Zen+ Architecture: Built on 12nm with other hardware tweaks (more on 19th)
First Processor on 12nm: On GlobalFoundries' 12nm
New Wraith Prism Cooler: Still no word on separate sales
Wraith Cooler on all 2nd Gen Processors: Some 1st Gen had no cooler bundled
New AMD X470 Chipset: See Below
AMD StoreMI Technology: More on the 19th
Generational Compatibility: CPUs will work in X370 with BIOS updates

I like the fact that AMD is bundling decent stock coolers with all of its parts. This arguably removes the need for any sub-$20 cooler on the market, unless you buy a chip from Intel. If there was ever a prominent value-add to a processor purchase, this would be it.

Wraith Prism (LED)

Part of this unboxing/sales embargo means we can look at what comes with the processors. AMD shipped us two motherboards, two retail-boxed* CPUs (the 2700X and 2600X), and some G.Skill SniperX DDR4-3200 C16 memory.

*There is a disclaimer on the retail-boxed part here. Our samples look completely retail, aside from two things: the serial number on the box is #1234567891234, which is clearly filled in, but also our CPUs say '2017' on them. This is interesting as it would mean that AMD has had retail-ready silicon since 2017. Either that or the heatspreader printing/etching did not tick over its counter.

Diving straight into the cooler: AMD's Wraith Prism is an upgrade over the previous Wraith Max with a four-heatpipe direct-contact design as well as a copper coated and flattened base.

This is a nice positive for a CPU cooler, and will certainly help with thermals (even if our sample wasn't a complete mirror finish). The aluminium fins are as with previous Wraith designs, however the fan has been upgraded. It comes with two modes, low and high, with the high mode offering a +1000 RPM boost to the top RPM. For users not concerned with fan noise, this just offers a little more.

There are two connectors available, with bundled cables, for either RGB LED 5050 control on a dedicated header and the motherboard manufacturer software, or connection via a USB header. Having both options is good (I couldn't see a physical LED off switch), although the USB header cable means either reaching behind the motherboard and up the bottom to get it, removing one of the USB 2.0 headers, or going over the graphics card and making a cabling mess. In our testing we use one USB 2.0 header for our mouse/keyboard arrangement, and on one of the motherboards there was not another header spare.

Nonetheless this cooler is a nice chunk of metal, and come shipped with the 105W Ryzen 7 2700X.

For our reviews, AMD shipped us two motherboards: the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi) and the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC. These will be two of the high-end halo motherboards to focus on the new X470 chipset.

Katamari loves motherboards. Or just loves sitting on my review samples. (ed: it's the latter)

Technically the details of the chipset are also covered by the April 19th embargo, so we cannot mention exactly what makes them different to the X370 platform until then. What we can say is that the X470 isn't directly replacing X370; AMD has stated to us that they expect X370 and X470 to be sold alongside each other.

ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero

The first board we opened was the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi), with the box well and truly battered either by shipping or how it was stored.

At first glance we already see a few notable features: a combined 12-phase power delivery (likely 10+2) on the CPU, with dual M.2 slots and reinforced PCIe for x8/x8 SLI operation. The rear IO panel is pre-attached to the system with the shroud, and there is a small cable connecting the integrated LEDs on the motherboard.

The socket is the same as before: AM4 with 1331 holes for the processor. The latch mechanism is the same, as are the cooler dimensions.

ASUS has added a number of RGB headers on the board, as well as what looks like easy-to-use voltage read points or points to enable any 5V operation (such as cold-cathode lighting?).

With the two M.2 sockets, one will be PCIe 3.0 x4 from the CPU and the other is PCIe 2.0 x4 from the chipset. For other storage needs, there are six SATA ports as well.

Onboard are a variety of USB 3.1, USB 3.0, and USB 2.0 ports and headers, although I found it quite amusing that ASUS decided to put 'native USB' on this header to signify that it is from the chipset and not from a controller. This has benefits for VR that requires native ports, allowing the user to put front panel connectors into the native USB headers.

Being a halo board, ASUS has put in its SupremeFX audio configuration. This is based on a custom Realtek ALC1220A codec, Nichicon audio capacitors, an EMI shield, PCB separation, and bundled software.

On the back we get ASUS BIOS Flashback button, such that users can upgrade the BIOS without the CPU/GPU/DRAM installed, a Clear CMOS button, the 802.11ac Wi-Fi, two USB 2.0 ports, a combination PS/2 port, eight USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports (one Type-C), the gigabit Ethernet port, and the audio jacks.

Gallery: ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero Wi-Fi

MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC

By contrast, the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC box was not bashed up, and showed the picture of the motherboard directly on the front. Normally we are used to seeing MSI and the 'ACK' moniker on some of its Gaming M7 motherboards with Wi-Fi, to indicate using a Killer network controller, but not here.

The first look at the board shows something a little less heavy on the styling than the ASUS, although MSI is still pushing a bit of an angled look. The obvious features are the DRAM supports, the multitude of chokes in the power delivery, and that dual-fingered chipset heatsink which hides two M.2 slots.

A close up of the DRAM 'cover' shows that this is how MSI is evolving its reinforced memory slot concept. We can argue if reinforcing memory slots is actually worth anything (it certainly helps PCIe), but here it can contribute to the aesthetic.

I'm counting 14 chokes on this motherboard, which would make it one of the biggest power delivery options on any AM4 motherboard. The power delivery heatsinks are not connected together, perhaps indicative of cost or MSI's confidence in the power delivery efficiency. It is worth noting that MSI uses dual 8-pin power for the CPU here, compared to the 8+4-pin arrangement on the ASUS ROG.

One of the more esoteric features of recent MSI motherboards is this big knob, which goes all the way up to 11. This is MSI's Game Boost overclocking feature, designed such that each twist gives a bigger overclock boost to the processor. In the past these features are often overly harsh to most processors, in an effort to encapsulate as many as possible, and in the past we've never been able to go much beyond the '2' setting on air cooling. Luckily there are power/reset buttons right next to it.

MSI's Audio Boost 6 branding for the audio is almost like the others: a Realtek ALC1220 codec with specialized audio capacitors, an EMI shield, and PCB separation. MSI's add here is in the software, using a license from a company called Nahimic to offer various EQ adjustments and in-game benefits.

Like the ASUS, MSI offers a BIOS update feature without the CPU/GPU/DRAM installed. On the rest of the rear panel we get two USB 2.0 ports, a combination PS/2 port, four USB 3.0 ports, the 802.11ac Wi-Fi module, two USB 3.1 ports, the gigabit Ethernet port, and the audio jacks.

A couple of interesting things to note on the rear of the board - around the chipset heatsink area, MSI has placed this warning about keeping case standoffs away from the bottom of the board. Because most cases are designed to house all sorts of motherboard form factors, users that take older cases and do not remove the unneeded standoffs can result in short circuits and possibly ruined hardware. Although if a user doesn't remove the older standoffs, I doubt they will bother reading the rear of the motherboard.

Here's a handy addition to some motherboards: this tells you how many PCB layers there are. In this case, six. To put that into context, the cheapest motherboards usually have three or four, most mainstream boards will have six or sometimes eight, while high-end desktop usually require eight or ten. Money-no-object motherboards, like server systems, can have twelve. Additional features, like double copper or high-humidity protection, can add +50% each to the cost of the pure PCB.

Gallery: MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC

The Base Line

AMD will launch four new 2nd Generation Ryzen processors on April 19th, with pre-orders starting today. The top end processor, the Ryzen 7 2700X, will have a suggested retail price of $329, and come bundled with the new Wraith Prism RGB cooler. Based on the processor specifications, using the new 12nm process from GlobalFoundries has given the base core design some extra headroom for peak frequency, and it would appear that yield is good given the $329 peak price being well below the $499 initial pricing of the previous generation high end processor. There are other details about the process and the core design, however those are still under embargo.

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 2700X on Amazon.com

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 2700 on Amazon.com

Buy AMD Ryzen 5 2600X on Amazon.com

Buy AMD Ryzen 5 2600 on Amazon.com

Full reviews will be available from April 19th.

Summer has already chosen her processor

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Android's trust problem isn't getting better

Posted: 13 Apr 2018 06:12 AM PDT

Published today, a two-year study of Android security updates has revealed a distressing gap between the software patches Android companies claim to have on their devices and the ones they actually have. Your phone's manufacturer may be lying to you about the security of your Android device. In fact, it appears that almost all of them do.

Coming at the end of a week dominated by Mark Zuckerberg's congressional hearings and an ongoing Facebook privacy probe, this news might seem of lesser importance, but it goes to the same issue that has drawn lawmakers' scrutiny to Facebook: the matter of trust. Facebook is the least-trusted big US tech company, and Android might just be the operating system equivalent of it: used by 2 billion people around the world, tolerated more than loved, and susceptible to major lapses in user privacy and security.

The gap between Android and its nemesis, Apple's iOS, has always boiled down to trust. Unlike Google, Apple doesn't make its money by tracking the behavior of its users, and unlike the vast and varied Android ecosystem, there are only ever a couple of iPhone models, each of which is updated with regularity and over a long period of time. Owning an iPhone, you can be confident that you're among Apple's priority users (even if Apple faces its own cohort of critics accusing it of planned obsolescence), whereas with an Android device, as evidenced today, you can't even be sure that the security bulletins and updates you're getting are truthful.

Android is perceived as untrustworthy in large part because it is. Beside the matter of security level misrepresentations, here are some of the other major issues and villains plaguing the platform:

Version updates are slow, if they arrive at all. I've been covering Android since its earliest Cupcake days, and in the near-decade that's passed, there's never been a moment of contentment about the speed of OS updates. Things seemed to be getting even worse late last year when the November batch of new devices came loaded with 2016's Android Nougat. Android Oreo is now nearly eight months old — meaning we're closer to the launch of the next version of Android than the present one — and LG is still preparing to roll out that software for its 2017 flagship LG G6.

Promises about Android device updates are as ephemeral as Snapchat messages. Before it became the world's biggest smartphone vendor, Samsung was notorious for reneging on Android upgrade promises. Sony's Xperia Z3 infamously fell foul of an incompatibility between its Snapdragon processor and Google's Android Nougat requirements, leaving it prematurely stuck without major OS updates. Whenever you have so many loud voices involved — carriers and chip suppliers along with Google and device manufacturers — the outcome of their collaboration is prone to becoming exactly as haphazard and unpredictable as Android software upgrades have become.

Google is obviously aware of the situation, and it's pushing its Android One initiative to give people reassurances when buying an Android phone. Android One guarantees OS updates for at least two years and security updates for at least three years. But, as with most things Android, Android One is only available on a few devices, most of which are of the budget variety. You won't find the big global names of Samsung, Huawei, and LG supporting it.

Some Android OEMs snoop on you. This is an ecosystem problem rather than something rooted in the operating system itself, but it still discolors Android's public reputation. Android phone manufacturers habitually lade their devices with bloatware (stuff you really don't want or need on your phone), and some have even taken to loading up spyware. Blu's devices were yanked from Amazon for doing exactly that: selling phones that were vulnerable to remote takeovers and could be exploited to have the user's text messages and call records clandestinely recorded. OnePlus also got in trouble for having an overly inquisitive user analytics program, which beamed personally identifiable information back to the company's HQ without explicit user consent.

Huawei is perhaps the most famous example of a potentially conflicted Android phone manufacturer, with US spy agencies openly urging their citizens to avoid Huawei phones for their own security. No hard evidence has yet been presented of Huawei doing anything improper, however, the US is not the only country to express concern about the company's relationship with the Chinese government — and mistrust is based as much on smoke as it is on the actual fire.

Android remains vulnerable, thanks in part to Google's permissiveness. It's noteworthy that, when Facebook's data breach became public and people started looking into what data Facebook had on them, only their Android calls and messages had been collected. Why not the iPhone? Because Apple's walled-garden philosophy makes it much harder, practically impossible, for a user to inadvertently give consent to privacy-eroding apps like Facebook's Messenger to dig into their devices. Your data is simply better protected on iOS, and even though Android has taken significant steps forward in making app permissions more granular and specific, it's still comparatively easy to mislead users about what data an app is obtaining and for what purposes.

Android hardware development is chaotic and unreliable. For many, the blistering, sometimes chaotic pace of change in Android devices is part of the ecosystem's charm. It's entertaining to watch companies try all sorts of zany and unlikely designs, with only the best of them surviving more than a few months. But the downside of all this speed is lack of attention being paid to small details and long-term sustainability.

LG made a huge promotional push two years ago around its modular G5 flagship, which was meant to usher in a new accessory ecosystem and elevate the flexibility of LG Android devices to new heights. Within six months, that modular project was abandoned, leaving anyone that bought modular LG accessories — on the expectation of multigenerational support — high and dry. And speaking of dryness, Sony recently got itself in trouble for overpromising by calling its Xperia phones "waterproof."

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 is the best and starkest example of the dire consequences that can result from a hurried and excessively ambitious hardware development cycle. The Note 7 had a fatal battery flaw that led many people's shiny new Samsung smartphones to spontaneously catch fire. Compare that to the iPhone's pace of usually incremental changes, implemented at predictable intervals and with excruciating fastidiousness.

Besides pledging to deliver OS updates that never come, claiming to have delivered security updates that never arrived, and taking liberties with your personal data, Android OEMs also have a tendency to exaggerate what their phones can actually do. They don't collaborate on much, so in spite of pouring great efforts into developing their Android software experience, they also just feed the old steadfast complaint of a fragmented ecosystem.

The problem of trust with Android, much like the problem of trust in Facebook, is grounded in reality. It doesn't matter that not all Android device makers engage in shady privacy invasion or overreaching marketing claims. The perception, like the Android brand, is collective.

Let's block ads! (Why?)