Analyst: Apple's poor earnings will recover now they've switched from innovating to rent-seeking

boing
61

Maybe I should have explained it better. I can move files from iOS to dropbox or even a home server (I have a synology server which allows that).
I cannot do the following except on Apple’s servers (or itunes, but only locally)

  • backup the device
  • sync calendar and contacts (although there is support for caldav and carddav)
  • sync my passwords
  • back up music, videos, books, etc…
  • sync the photos stream (for that, I need both itunes and photos and a cable)

All this work automatically, if I use an iCloud account. Not anywhere else.

62

Yeah, you said cannot and not is not as convenient. Big difference.

Backing up the device is something I do not do apart from saving the state, because no information should be stored on it.

My calendar and contacts are synched via my Google account. On my private device, I sync my Google contacts, my Yahoo contacts and my iCloud contacts. It all depends upon which accounts you sync.

There are third party apps that allow for sharing passwords between devices, but a caveat: you are still putting passwords on someone else’s server.

I sync my photos using Google Photos, and my music as well. As for books, I use the Kindle app so it syncs outside of the iCloud ecosystem.

All this to say of course Apple syncs better using iCloud, for two reasons: Apple has always had a habit of setting the bar pretty high when creating default apps, as a way of challenging developers to make better versions. And it is an upselling tool—by making iOS work so seamlessly with Macs, they are trying to get more iPhone owners to buy Macs as their next desktop machine. Which circles back to my point of them wanting to make money off of their hardware.

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63

I want to use a private server at home because I don’t want my info to be on someone’s else computer and you explain that you cans sync everything via google. I don’t think we understand each other.

If I did not care about leaving my data on google’s servers, I would use Android.

64

" If you don’t understand why macOS makes more sense for more users than Linux… well, there are many things in life that I’m sure must confuse you."

Well theres a loaded statement. And thats basically my exact premise. Macs DO make more sense for most people over linux. Thats kind of the point I was making. Did you actually read what I wrote?

Most people don’t have the need or will to learn Linux. I specifically said don’t believe anyone who tells you its easier to learn. Most people don’t care to take the time to learn a complex system by comparison, and the good aesthetic design of apple helps make that decision easier. I even said that as well.

I actually still use windows- on a separate partition, exclusively for 3D CAD/CAM software because I dont have much choice. Ive set up windows 10 in the last year for family. So, Im saying from experience, my own- I hate it. Its flawed and intrusive.

I admitted tactfully I hope that I didnt know about the right click with mac. I think I did learn that fact at one point along the way but I had forgotten, as I choose not to use it.

Much of my grief with mac comes from people like you who evangelize it to me, and laugh at me, chide me I don’t know any better. They are often smug assholes too on this, as we both seem to be when it comes to our software choices. The difference is, when Im getting coffee, I don’t go out of my way to evangelize linux to anyone, and roll my eyes when doing so.

I know what I need, what I prefer, and what I personally find smug. You fit the bill too there, buddy.

Lets drop it, this is unproductive. I agree to disagree with you. Keep using your Mac, and don’t give a damn what I think of your choice. Ill do the same.

65

How can you not sync passwords? I’ve been using Dashlane to sync passwords between Apple devices for years. Working as good as ever under iOS 12.

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66

Except I didn’t do that at all. In fact I pointed out how ridiculous it is to chide people over such choices. Try again!

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One last point of contention that I want to make: I have always—even when Apple was doomed and I had a Performa—kept my Mac up and running for about 10 years before replacing. My current iMac is a 2010 model, and though it doesn’t have a Retina display there’s nothing wrong with it. I can still do everything I want with it (mostly in PHPStorm and in the terminal, admittedly, but I do play games). I don’t expect to replace it until 2020.

Even my iPhones go for about 4-5 years before I replace them. So yes, I am still on my third iPhone. It’s an iPhone SE, if you’re curious. And I have yet to replace my iPad Air because it too is happily doing everything I want it to do. In fact, I am typing this on the Anker keyboard cover for my iPad.

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68

Not to belabor this point, but you are the one who came into a thread about Apple products and complained about how stupid they were because you forgot that they actually do let you right-click on things.

For people looking for not-iCloud and not-iTunes ways of getting stuff off of an iOS device, may I suggest PhoneView for media, contacts, and voice/text messages. I think it provides access to apps’ file storage sandboxes too. For calendars, AFAIK Calendar can connect to any CalDAV service you like, and if not I’m sure there are third-party apps that do. 1Password also still supports local LAN sync for password vaults if you buy a standalone license from AgileBits (which is still possible if you download the app from their website and select the “purchase a license” option in the app’s menu) rather than subscribe to their service. VLC also runs on iOS. It plays pretty much anything you decide to throw at it, and you can send files to it from your computer using a LAN-only web UI, or even FTP.

I hope Panic decides to bring Transmit back to iOS someday, because it was (and continues to be) a solid FTP client that also supports the Files API as a third-party storage service, so it appears just like Dropbox or OneDrive in the file picker UIs.

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69

oh whatever, it’s really easy with tonymac and it’s probably taken me a grand total of 5 hours over 12 years with 4 hacks.

70

I don’t want to leave my data on other people’s computers, how is that difficult to understand?

71

FYI, the reason no one is really understanding your point is because “Except that Apple makes very sure that one cannot use any other cloud system than the one they rent (and I am saying that as an Apple user).”

That is completely false.

Now, if you stated that you are lamenting Apple killing of xserver which lets you use Apple’s apps/services in a locally managed manner, then there would be no confusion. But you didn’t.

If you even complained that you can’t use Apple’s apps with your service of choice. ie. can’t use Photos with some exotic online photo service, then again that is much clearer, but you didn’t.

Between IMAP/Exchange and Owncloud or some variation of, you can get most of the functionality, but you’ll have to step outside of Apple’s apps for some of it.

72

I guess it’s difficult to understand, as it’s sort of the basis of contemporary civilization. I mean, you’re posting here on boingboing, presumably you use other online services as well… So, uhm, yeah, I am having a difficulty understanding that you don’t want to leave your data on other people’s computers, BECAUSE YOU DID JUST THAT IN ORDER TO POST HERE. :stuck_out_tongue:

73

To be fair, public thoughts are not the same thing as one’s bank account password. That said, the claim that it’s impossible to transfer password data to or from one’s iPhone without iTunes or a cloud service is still false.

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74

True. However, the fact is, your bank has your password. Your bank has online systems. The poster’s declaration that they do not wish to have any of their data stored on other people’s computers is – ridiculous. It’s inherent to using technology in this day and age. If you have a login to a website, your data is on someone else’s servers. It’s flowing over other people’s networks. There are reasonable security approaches to dealing with this, SUCH AS using a password service.

shrug

If someone wants to make their own technical life more difficult due to what I would deem a misunderstanding about how to properly identify realistic threats, fine, good for them! But if they’re going to post online on an open forum in a way that implies that this is a totally reasonable approach, well, I might have to call them out on it. :wink:

75

I’ll try a last time.

I have a general purpose computer. It backs up on a private server. The data which I consider private (passwords, my contacts, my appointments, for example), I can sync with a service of my choice. I can sync it with a private server if needs be, I don’t have to put it on a centralized system like google, icloud or facebook.

I would like my phone to behave in a similar manner.

My understanding is that it is not possible with android/google. The phone will always sync with google servers, as soon as I enter a google account (which is a requirement to actually use most of the functions of the device). I understand it is possible with android without google (e.g. LineageOS).

My understanding is that it is possible with iOS, but only using itunes. Possibly, it is also possible with a corporate account and an exchange server (I am not sure).

I would like to have a phone where, when initialized, the OS would give me a choice of servers to sync with, beyond google account / icloud. I would like to be able to point it to the i.p. of a server in my house.

76

Just out of curiosity, what specifically is your concern about your data being backed up to a third party’s servers — in this case the manufacturers of the ubiquitous computing devices humanity now uses?

77

The same concerns that make people refuse to get an account on the equaly ubiquitous facebook.

78

I do have a Facebook account, so assume I am not privy to such reasoning. I mean, I certainly understand not having a Facebook account because they are in general an awful corporation, but I was under the impression your desire to self-manage personal data was more of a security concern?

79

It is a privacy concern, but then lack of privacy is a security problem.

80

So how are hashed passwords a privacy, and thus security, concern? Unless you’re doing a lot of math to generate hash values that themselves are story juicy data, I don’t see how apparently-random strings of alphanumeric characters generated using a strong cryptographic hashing technique are requiring you to give up privacy or security, if you, for instance, want to use a third party password service like 1password or Dashlane.