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?
Unless users take action, Android will let Gemini access third-party apps
Submitted 1 week ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
RedStrider@lemmy.world 1 week ago
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 1 week 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 6 days 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.
AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 6 days 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.
EndOfLine@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Your chats are saved in your account for up to 72 hours, whether Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.
myactivity.google.com/product/gemini
I wonder how long before AI services are added to ad blockers and VPN privacy controls.
Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 6 days ago
up to 72 hours
(then we permanently add them to our private fingerprint folder based on any google-related link or api you’ve ever interacted with)
The time limits on their spyware might as well be ignored.
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 6 days ago
anachrohack@lemmy.world 1 week ago
[deleted]Homefry@infosec.pub 1 week ago
I’m still praying for TempleOS mobile version.
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 6 days 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.
ICastFist@programming.dev 6 days ago
God does not wish HolyC to compile to lowly ARM architectures
Trihilis@ani.social 1 week 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 1 week 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. 😞
zyberteq@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yes, but i have a Nothing Phone (1). I should check the other alternatives, but afaik lineageos does not support my phone.
Amir@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
LineageOS
cheese_greater@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Doesnt Apple also do this with Siri and basically every app unless the user untoggles it?
timewarp@lemmy.world 1 week 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.
ifItWasUpToMe@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Kinda sounds like you just don’t know how to use an iPhone.
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 1 week 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.
galoisghost@aussie.zone 1 week ago
Yes and you have to untoggle it for each and every app.
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Except Apple has better marketing, and is primarily marketed for those who’re excited for every tech “innovation”.
figjam@midwest.social 1 week ago
I switched Gemini language to an unsupported language.
insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Anyone know if this is happening outside the US and if it is whether it’s happening inside the EU?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
Yeah, this seems like an easy lawsuit in the EU tbh
andxz@lemmy.world 6 days 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 1 week ago
I’m in the UK and today I got asked whether I wanted to leave this on or not - it just notified be 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.
insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 6 days ago
That’s good. I haven’t had anything though, hopefully saved by the EU.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
Opt-out in the EU I’m fairly sure.
You can check here: myactivity.google.com/product/gemini
ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 days ago
Is there a petition for antitrust charges against Google somewhere? I’m over the duopoly. Both options suck.
LordWiggle@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I just removed gemini from my phone.
iAvicenna@lemmy.world 1 week ago
me too and then it somehow popped up in messages which I had to “turn off” separately. removing AI from an Android phone is an illusion.
AstralPath@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Make your next phone a Pixel and load GrapheneOS onto it. Problem solved.
FuyuhikoDate@feddit.org 6 days ago
This reminds me that i wanted to unlicl my bootloader on my phone…
ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 6 days 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.
Krauerking@lemy.lol 6 days ago
I mean there were no instructions up front because literally Google is refusing to give them, basically.
No more choice just the company force feeding the user and saying it’s good for them.Nowhere in the email or any of the Support pages did Google say how to remove all Gemini integrations from my phone.
I then emailed Google PR and… I asked if someone could provide actionable guidance for my readers who want to ensure Gemini integrations are completely disabled. Instead of answering the question, the person responding to my email wrote, in part: “This update is good for users: they can now use Gemini to complete daily tasks on their mobile devices like send messages, initiate phone calls, and set timers while Gemini Apps Activity is turned off. With Gemini Apps Activity turned off, their Gemini chats are not being reviewed or used to improve our AI models.”Literally that reads like you can’t turn it off and they just scrape less of your data on a technicality.
r_13@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I just spent half an hour yesterday uninstalling all apps, registry entries and in-program options for Copilot in Windows and MS Office… but I still can’t get rid of the Copilot button in Outlook. Searching for answers I ended up at the Microsoft support forums and clicked a link to office dot com… and realized there that the entire ecosystem is now called MS365 Copilot App (formerly known as Office)… so I suspect there will be NO way to remove this stuff in the future, and probably that MS365 Copilot will eventually replace Windows itself.
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 6 days ago
AICore under all apps. Disable and delete files. Done.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 6 days 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.
daggermoon@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I’m not signed into a Google account on my phone, am I safe?
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 1 week 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.
Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 6 days ago
Gemini: okay! i’m disabled 😉
Asidonhopo@lemmy.world 6 days 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.
Brotha_Jaufrey@lemmy.world 6 days ago
ADB tools —> remove google services and other spyware apps —> oops, you bricked your phone
TheProtagonist@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Hey Folks, we have “AI” for you and you will use it, whether you want it or not…
biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 1 week 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.
mitrosus@discuss.tchncs.de 5 days ago
Gemini? I don’t have Gemini in my pixel 8a, stock
WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Remember when iPhone was the bad guy amongst these kids? But I guess as long as it has more options, surely it’s better!
SnortsGarlicPowder@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
What? Apple is the bad guy, Google is the bad guy. They are both bad guys!
WrenFeathers@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I never said Apple was great, did I?
napkin2020@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
I mean, Google Assistant is getting replaced with Gemini and so far that was the biggest pain point of mine: No I don’t want to turn on Gemini activity history, yes I still want to be able to make calls with it…
This is nicer, imo. You can just not have Gemini app to not let this happen.
ChickenAndRice@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Laughs in Graphene
Balaquina@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Not a day goes by that I don’t regret installing that on my phone.
towerful@programming.dev 1 week ago
This… Except for contactless payment.
I used graphene for a month. It was lovely. Even things like banking apps worked.
I don’t care about absolute privacy, but I do care about controlling my privacy. Grapheme gave me that.
I had only 1 issue.
Contactless payment.
It’s extremely convenient to me, from public transport to groceries. I just bop my phone.
The fact that Google has that locked down surely violates some EU laws. But I’m sure they wave away the laws because of “financial security” or some other bullshit.
As if bank card NFC/contactless doesn’t suffer exactly the same issues.
I looked into some “graphene contactless payment” type systems or workarounds, and I couldn’t find anything that would fill the gap.
GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
So you regret it every day? GOS is amazing in my opinion. What’s your gripe with it?
6nk06@sh.itjust.works 1 week 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.
BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Why? Curious.
cabbage@piefed.social 1 week 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. :)
Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 1 week ago
Thanks for highlighting this. I might try it out on my OP7Pro.
TheWhetherMan@lemmy.world 1 week 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
nightmare786@leminal.space 1 week ago
so jealous, wish it or lineage os worked on any of my phones
redxef@feddit.org 6 days ago
Google: Laughs in “Everybody else you communicate with who has that shit enabled”
ChickenAndRice@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Sadly true in any situation that requires talking to anyone else.
oce@jlai.lu 1 week ago
Does this induce a current?
Venator@lemmy.nz 6 days ago
Is it just me or does it seem slightly sus that GrapheneOS is only available for Google hardware…
Image
ChickenAndRice@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
There are many technical reasons why: grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
Every Android phone (besides Pixel) fails to meet the high technical requirements of the project.