Wanted to point out that android by default blocks apps installed from anywhere but the store (this has been the case for several years). While it's still trivial to side-load, you do need to dig through some menus to enable it (and confirm some messages meant to frighten you). It's not exactly the type of thing where someone is going to send you a malicious email with an .apk link and get you to install malware.
"Only security-enforcing functions need security evaluation."
I strongly disagree with this statement. The entire application needs to be evaluated because if a memory leak or buffer overflow can be exploited it can give the attacker privileges to the OS and that buffer overflow doesn't need to be in just a security enforcing aspect of the application. It can be in the most mundane feature of the app and still compromise security. So bottom line I have my doubts about the rest of his assertions.
I do agree in part with your comments but I stand behind my argument that Linux has lots of professionals looking over the code for the benefit of the platform. In comparison you don't hear the same sort of devotion regarding Android.
@sog35 : you mentioned one of the customer bases for Android was tweakers (the computer kind, not meth addicts I presume. :-) ).
Those guys are better served by iOS, and jailbreaking - because it's an easier process for jailbreakers to inject code into any application than it is to do the same thing for Android.
iOS with jailbreaking is a tweakers paradise, and if you are careful about what you tweak does not even have to be any less secure than stock iOS.
At some point one of these vulnerabilities is going to hit the larger population in a big way, and that is going to drive a lot of migration off Android... who is to say that even today people do not buy new phones simply because the old one got infected with something they couldn't shake.
As what kind of green would you describe it? 'Spring' green?
Actually the color depicted in image at the top of the article is not the official color. There is no actual named web color that matches the official Android color but the closest is YellowGreen #9ACD32. There is an unnamed web color (#A4C639) that is right on, but that is irrelevant since the only suitable way to describe a color when writing an article would be to use an official named color. Nasal discharge color is a subjective description used only to demean Android. The actual Android color is a very clean and pure looking shade of green (PMS 376C).
"Only security-enforcing functions need security evaluation."
I strongly disagree with this statement. The entire application needs to be evaluated because if a memory leak or buffer overflow can be exploited it can give the attacker privileges to the OS and that buffer overflow doesn't need to be in just a security enforcing aspect of the application. It can be in the most mundane feature of the app and still compromise security. So bottom line I have my doubts about the rest of his assertions.
I do agree in part with your comments but I stand behind my argument that Linux has lots of professionals looking over the code for the benefit of the platform. In comparison you don't hear the same sort of devotion regarding Android.
I liked the line in the linked article:
"Many eyes give you many eyelashes, and not a lot else."
Eerily reminiscent of the opening words to Malagueña Salerosa:
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Que bonitos ojos tienes.
Actually the color depicted in image at the top of the article is not the official color. There is no actual named web color that matches the official Android color but the closest is YellowGreen #9ACD32. There is an unnamed web color (#A4C639) that is right on, but that is irrelevant since the only suitable way to describe a color when writing an article would be to use an official named color. Nasal discharge color is a subjective description used only to demean Android. The actual Android color is a very clean and pure looking shade of green (PMS 376C).
Its Android which demeans the color, not the opposite. So, calling it Android Green is horrible for whatever green is associated with it ;-).
This article is spot on. The Android Stagefright vulnerability is a perfect example too.
iOS text message bug : reboots your iPhone when you open the message thread. Apple patches it quickly for all iOS users (Who are generally more up to date).
Android text message bug(s) : Infects your Android device with a text message that you don't even have to open. 95% of Android users at risk. Not all Android users will get the update because they're not all on the most up to date version. Will have to wait for their manufacturers to distribute the update. and so on...
It's almost like Apple's software design decisions and philosophies were purposefully implemented to prevent stuff like this.
Why would anyone choose to buy an Android phone over an iPhone?
You would only get an Android if:
1. You can't afford an iPhone (this makes the bulk of Android's customers)
2. You are a tweaker and enjoy messing with writing code and custom ROM's
3. You need stylus support (Note4)
4. You just want something different
Or possibly 5. They simply prefer android more then iOS as is my case. I have an HTC M8 and an iPhone 5s. I prefer android more due to several simple factors that many people I have encountered also enjoy.
A. Ability to change default programs -Yeah this is a big one
B. Hardware options - My HTC M8 has a far superior screen then my 5s. It is not just size, but color quality resolution and the HTC screen seems to float on the glass.
C. Better notification/actionable notifications
D. Not my case but others. Not wanting to be controlled by Apple. Many people do not like how apple decides many of the finer things on the phone such as the default apps. I have a little gripe with this but not a large one.
E. Ability to download apps not available on iOS without jailbreak. Not my case but many people's case like my roommate who uses a Gameboy emulator.
D. Some idiot feature by some dumb Manufacturer: Seriously those gimmicks like Smart (insert idiotic samsung feature here) sales phones. I worked in the wireless industry for years and people would always want the phones for those reasons.
Don't start with a presupposition that iOS is superior to android. It is an opinionated subject. Poeple have opinions on which OS is superior as such no ones opinion is either right or wrong. People will find things they do not like in both of them. When I offered my customers an upgrade option and I was faced with that Question of which one is better I answered honestly. "For each it's own. For some people iphone is great for others they can't stand the way it works and vice versa. If you use an iPhone you will be disappointed with an android because they do not work like an iPhone and vice versa with android.
Proprietary software adds a little bit of security but we all know that 'security by obscurity' is not a sound policy. Take an open source project like Linux. They have thousands of professional programmers from around the world maintaining and contributing to the code base for free. Open source has to be hardened and tested because every line of code is public. The difference is, that the programmers for Linux are passionate and generous. I don't think Android has that much good will. The only people examining it line by line are companies that want to fork it or hackers with malicious intent.
The advantage of Linux is that its actually.... Open... Unlike Android which lets face it, really isn't. Not only that, the commercial imperatives that let the current situation fester, were predictable at the onset. So, Google is 100% responsible for whatever happens next. Even the latest version of Android, there is still parts of the platform that cannot be upgraded without going through the carrier.
Or possibly 5. They simply prefer android more then iOS as is my case. I have an HTC M8 and an iPhone 5s. I prefer android more due to several simple factors that many people I have encountered also enjoy.
A. Ability to change default programs -Yeah this is a big one
B. Hardware options - My HTC M8 has a far superior screen then my 5s. It is not just size, but color quality resolution and the HTC screen seems to float on the glass.
C. Better notification/actionable notifications
D. Not my case but others. Not wanting to be controlled by Apple. Many people do not like how apple decides many of the finer things on the phone such as the default apps. I have a little gripe with this but not a large one.
E. Ability to download apps not available on iOS without jailbreak. Not my case but many people's case like my roommate who uses a Gameboy emulator.
D. Some idiot feature by some dumb Manufacturer: Seriously those gimmicks like Smart (insert idiotic samsung feature here) sales phones. I worked in the wireless industry for years and people would always want the phones for those reasons.
Don't start with a presupposition that iOS is superior to android. It is an opinionated subject. Poeple have opinions on which OS is superior as such no ones opinion is either right or wrong. People will find things they do not like in both of them. When I offered my customers an upgrade option and I was faced with that Question of which one is better I answered honestly. "For each it's own. For some people iphone is great for others they can't stand the way it works and vice versa. If you use an iPhone you will be disappointed with an android because they do not work like an iPhone and vice versa with android.
It is superior, because its integrated with the hardware (including other Apple hardware) and well, its a lot more secure.
Of course, you could say that this is unfair because Google can't really do that. Well, hey, that's how it goes.
Having something integrated brings many advantages. As many of your points, they're massively subjective and then your going on how we shouldn't judge? Are you serious!
Yeah, I do mean it. Some of us have larger attention spans than others, but we've all got limits. I don't come to AppleInsider for snot jokes so it'd be OK with me if DED employed the "focus means saying no" philosophy.
The advantage of Linux is that its actually.... Open... Unlike Android which lets face it, really isn't. Not only that, the commercial imperatives that let the current situation fester, were predictable at the onset. So, Google is 100% responsible for whatever happens next. Even the latest version of Android, there is still parts of the platform that cannot be upgraded without going through the carrier.
Do you know what open refers to in software? It does not mean the ability to install any app on the device. It means that you or I can download the source code to the software, compile it, and modify it and place it on any device I want. I can do this with Android it is open.
I strongly disagree with this statement. The entire application needs to be evaluated because if a memory leak or buffer overflow can be exploited it can give the attacker privileges to the OS and that buffer overflow doesn't need to be in just a security enforcing aspect of the application. It can be in the most mundane feature of the app and still compromise security. So bottom line I have my doubts about the rest of his assertions.
I do agree in part with your comments but I stand behind my argument that Linux has lots of professionals looking over the code for the benefit of the platform. In comparison you don't hear the same sort of devotion regarding Android.
Android uses a Linux kernel.
I am not saying Linux is safe or unsafe for being OSS. It is not inherently safer than proprietary. There are other articles I couldn't quickly find that talk about how much of that vaunted mass of eyeballs actually looks for security issues, etc. and what their qualifications are. It was not reassuring.
Do you know what open refers to in software? It does not mean the ability to install any app on the device. It means that you or I can download the source code to the software, compile it, and modify it and place it on any device I want. I can do this with Android it is open.
Right, as can any decent programmer including those making and selling knock offs (see fake iPhones and fake Sammycrap too) and / or distributing malware and viruses. Android is a nightmare of epic proportions. It will end up the pariah of mobile industry and shunned by all. Remember Google already makes the largest amount of its ad revenue from iOS not Android so I wouldn't be shocked if one day Google quietly drop it and move on to their next big rip off from Apple or whoever.
It is superior, because its integrated with the hardware (including other Apple hardware) and well, its a lot more secure.
Of course, you could say that this is unfair because Google can't really do that. Well, hey, that's how it goes.
Having something integrated brings many advantages. As many of your points, they're massively subjective and then your going on how we shouldn't judge? Are you serious!
Even that is subjected that vertical integration is superior when you fail consider that for every decision made their is a price. For allowing apple full control over the hardware then you are limited to what the device options are. I can easily say my option to buy a 6" screen is an advantage because of that trading off the vertical integration for the screen I want. You have to realize all off these things are going to be subjective. For me vertical integration makes very little difference when I have to buy it with the cost of a superior screen or better better battery life. Face it the choice in OS is purely Subjective their are facts that back them up, but those facts differ in importance from person to person. For me, I don't ever use my camera so a phone that has a great camera means nothing to me while for another an OS with great camera support is the END all of phones. I use what works best for me and my preferences as I hope you do, if you are not you are sadly wasting your money.
Comments
Wanted to point out that android by default blocks apps installed from anywhere but the store (this has been the case for several years). While it's still trivial to side-load, you do need to dig through some menus to enable it (and confirm some messages meant to frighten you). It's not exactly the type of thing where someone is going to send you a malicious email with an .apk link and get you to install malware.
This is not the article I was looking for but alludes to this:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/six-open-source-security-myths-debunked-and-eight-real-challenges-to-consider/
I stopped reading at:
I strongly disagree with this statement. The entire application needs to be evaluated because if a memory leak or buffer overflow can be exploited it can give the attacker privileges to the OS and that buffer overflow doesn't need to be in just a security enforcing aspect of the application. It can be in the most mundane feature of the app and still compromise security. So bottom line I have my doubts about the rest of his assertions.
I do agree in part with your comments but I stand behind my argument that Linux has lots of professionals looking over the code for the benefit of the platform. In comparison you don't hear the same sort of devotion regarding Android.
Those guys are better served by iOS, and jailbreaking - because it's an easier process for jailbreakers to inject code into any application than it is to do the same thing for Android.
iOS with jailbreaking is a tweakers paradise, and if you are careful about what you tweak does not even have to be any less secure than stock iOS.
At some point one of these vulnerabilities is going to hit the larger population in a big way, and that is going to drive a lot of migration off Android... who is to say that even today people do not buy new phones simply because the old one got infected with something they couldn't shake.
"Somewhat ironically, Google even brands Android with a robot logo usually portrayed in the sick color of a sinus infection discharge. "
Really? Going a little over the top on a Friday, aren't we DED?
It adds nothing and only takes away respectability.
As what kind of green would you describe it? 'Spring' green?
I liked the line in the linked article:
"Many eyes give you many eyelashes, and not a lot else."
Eerily reminiscent of the opening words to Malagueña Salerosa:
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Que bonitos ojos tienes.
"Somewhat ironically, Google even brands Android with a robot logo usually portrayed in the sick color of a sinus infection discharge. "
Really? Going a little over the top on a Friday, aren't we DED?
Yeah, he insulted snot there ;-); not even snot wants to be called Android like ;-)
Its Android which demeans the color, not the opposite. So, calling it Android Green is horrible for whatever green is associated with it ;-).
iOS text message bug : reboots your iPhone when you open the message thread. Apple patches it quickly for all iOS users (Who are generally more up to date).
Android text message bug(s) : Infects your Android device with a text message that you don't even have to open. 95% of Android users at risk. Not all Android users will get the update because they're not all on the most up to date version. Will have to wait for their manufacturers to distribute the update. and so on...
It's almost like Apple's software design decisions and philosophies were purposefully implemented to prevent stuff like this.
Why would anyone choose to buy an Android phone over an iPhone?
You would only get an Android if:
1. You can't afford an iPhone (this makes the bulk of Android's customers)
2. You are a tweaker and enjoy messing with writing code and custom ROM's
3. You need stylus support (Note4)
4. You just want something different
Or possibly 5. They simply prefer android more then iOS as is my case. I have an HTC M8 and an iPhone 5s. I prefer android more due to several simple factors that many people I have encountered also enjoy.
A. Ability to change default programs -Yeah this is a big one
B. Hardware options - My HTC M8 has a far superior screen then my 5s. It is not just size, but color quality resolution and the HTC screen seems to float on the glass.
C. Better notification/actionable notifications
D. Not my case but others. Not wanting to be controlled by Apple. Many people do not like how apple decides many of the finer things on the phone such as the default apps. I have a little gripe with this but not a large one.
E. Ability to download apps not available on iOS without jailbreak. Not my case but many people's case like my roommate who uses a Gameboy emulator.
D. Some idiot feature by some dumb Manufacturer: Seriously those gimmicks like Smart (insert idiotic samsung feature here) sales phones. I worked in the wireless industry for years and people would always want the phones for those reasons.
Don't start with a presupposition that iOS is superior to android. It is an opinionated subject. Poeple have opinions on which OS is superior as such no ones opinion is either right or wrong. People will find things they do not like in both of them. When I offered my customers an upgrade option and I was faced with that Question of which one is better I answered honestly. "For each it's own. For some people iphone is great for others they can't stand the way it works and vice versa. If you use an iPhone you will be disappointed with an android because they do not work like an iPhone and vice versa with android.
Proprietary software adds a little bit of security but we all know that 'security by obscurity' is not a sound policy. Take an open source project like Linux. They have thousands of professional programmers from around the world maintaining and contributing to the code base for free. Open source has to be hardened and tested because every line of code is public. The difference is, that the programmers for Linux are passionate and generous. I don't think Android has that much good will. The only people examining it line by line are companies that want to fork it or hackers with malicious intent.
The advantage of Linux is that its actually.... Open... Unlike Android which lets face it, really isn't. Not only that, the commercial imperatives that let the current situation fester, were predictable at the onset. So, Google is 100% responsible for whatever happens next. Even the latest version of Android, there is still parts of the platform that cannot be upgraded without going through the carrier.
I liked the line in the linked article:
"Many eyes give you many eyelashes, and not a lot else."
I almost stopped reading there. The whole article had an arrogant overtone in my opinion.
Or possibly 5. They simply prefer android more then iOS as is my case. I have an HTC M8 and an iPhone 5s. I prefer android more due to several simple factors that many people I have encountered also enjoy.
A. Ability to change default programs -Yeah this is a big one
B. Hardware options - My HTC M8 has a far superior screen then my 5s. It is not just size, but color quality resolution and the HTC screen seems to float on the glass.
C. Better notification/actionable notifications
D. Not my case but others. Not wanting to be controlled by Apple. Many people do not like how apple decides many of the finer things on the phone such as the default apps. I have a little gripe with this but not a large one.
E. Ability to download apps not available on iOS without jailbreak. Not my case but many people's case like my roommate who uses a Gameboy emulator.
D. Some idiot feature by some dumb Manufacturer: Seriously those gimmicks like Smart (insert idiotic samsung feature here) sales phones. I worked in the wireless industry for years and people would always want the phones for those reasons.
Don't start with a presupposition that iOS is superior to android. It is an opinionated subject. Poeple have opinions on which OS is superior as such no ones opinion is either right or wrong. People will find things they do not like in both of them. When I offered my customers an upgrade option and I was faced with that Question of which one is better I answered honestly. "For each it's own. For some people iphone is great for others they can't stand the way it works and vice versa. If you use an iPhone you will be disappointed with an android because they do not work like an iPhone and vice versa with android.
It is superior, because its integrated with the hardware (including other Apple hardware) and well, its a lot more secure.
Of course, you could say that this is unfair because Google can't really do that. Well, hey, that's how it goes.
Having something integrated brings many advantages. As many of your points, they're massively subjective and then your going on how we shouldn't judge? Are you serious!
Yeah, I do mean it. Some of us have larger attention spans than others, but we've all got limits. I don't come to AppleInsider for snot jokes so it'd be OK with me if DED employed the "focus means saying no" philosophy.
The green hues of a baby's diarrhoea.
There a much better image.
FTFY.
It didn't chase after iOS until Andy had his "I guess we're not shipping that version" moment in 2007.
Do you know what open refers to in software? It does not mean the ability to install any app on the device. It means that you or I can download the source code to the software, compile it, and modify it and place it on any device I want. I can do this with Android it is open.
I stopped reading at:
I strongly disagree with this statement. The entire application needs to be evaluated because if a memory leak or buffer overflow can be exploited it can give the attacker privileges to the OS and that buffer overflow doesn't need to be in just a security enforcing aspect of the application. It can be in the most mundane feature of the app and still compromise security. So bottom line I have my doubts about the rest of his assertions.
I do agree in part with your comments but I stand behind my argument that Linux has lots of professionals looking over the code for the benefit of the platform. In comparison you don't hear the same sort of devotion regarding Android.
Android uses a Linux kernel.
I am not saying Linux is safe or unsafe for being OSS. It is not inherently safer than proprietary. There are other articles I couldn't quickly find that talk about how much of that vaunted mass of eyeballs actually looks for security issues, etc. and what their qualifications are. It was not reassuring.
Right, as can any decent programmer including those making and selling knock offs (see fake iPhones and fake Sammycrap too) and / or distributing malware and viruses. Android is a nightmare of epic proportions. It will end up the pariah of mobile industry and shunned by all. Remember Google already makes the largest amount of its ad revenue from iOS not Android so I wouldn't be shocked if one day Google quietly drop it and move on to their next big rip off from Apple or whoever.
It is superior, because its integrated with the hardware (including other Apple hardware) and well, its a lot more secure.
Of course, you could say that this is unfair because Google can't really do that. Well, hey, that's how it goes.
Having something integrated brings many advantages. As many of your points, they're massively subjective and then your going on how we shouldn't judge? Are you serious!
Even that is subjected that vertical integration is superior when you fail consider that for every decision made their is a price. For allowing apple full control over the hardware then you are limited to what the device options are. I can easily say my option to buy a 6" screen is an advantage because of that trading off the vertical integration for the screen I want. You have to realize all off these things are going to be subjective. For me vertical integration makes very little difference when I have to buy it with the cost of a superior screen or better better battery life. Face it the choice in OS is purely Subjective their are facts that back them up, but those facts differ in importance from person to person. For me, I don't ever use my camera so a phone that has a great camera means nothing to me while for another an OS with great camera support is the END all of phones. I use what works best for me and my preferences as I hope you do, if you are not you are sadly wasting your money.