On iOS I’m using OutRun. It provides basic activity tracking, which is what I care about. I don’t need a social network.

It’s open source: https://github.com/timfraedrich/OutRun

I wonder if they will implement the same malicious compliance as they did in the EU with the junk core technology fees and notarization requirements.

Strange, Big Tech has no inherit right to operate in foreign markets. If they want to be in those markets, they need to pay their fair share. I would be glad to see them pull out of those markets, but that won’t easily happen.

Mobile apps are also loaded with third party ad and spyware frameworks which bloats up the size.

The Steam Deck has power pass through so the battery doesn’t get worn down when plugged in: https://bloggedoff.com/2024/04/25/steam-deck-battery-lifespan-power-passthrough/

This also impacts emulators and other re-implementations of proprietary systems. This allows Nintendo to threaten emulator devs and make it illegal to decrypt DRM encrypted games, media, or apps you legally purchased.

Proprietary software is also really dogmatic. Steve Jobs famously didn’t support flash on the iPhone, there also was no direct access to files/file system in the UI for a very long time. Tim Cook told someone’s Mom to just buy an iPhone to access iMessage. There’s too many user hostile dogmatic positions from Apple.

I think this has nothing to do with open source vs proprietary, but rather specific individuals having power/control over the software to force specific decisions.

Valve’s Steam Deck is the only piece of technology to come out over this past decade that is exciting. Desktops/laptops and smartphones have completely stagnated. Proprietary OSes with each release are introducing more user hostile features and spyware. The Steam Deck is a breath of fresh air with it not being locked down and you can install whatever you want, as it includes a full KDE desktop environment.

I’m using Feedly Classic on iOS. I would like to move off of it, but I have yet to find any other RSS client which presents the articles in a card like view which you can vertically swipe through to mark them as read.

Feedly themselves abandoned this UI for an infinite scrolling list on their main app. All other RSS clients I tried have this similar UI, which I feel is really poor.

The root of the problem is growth and profit seeking is what is steering the tech research and production. Which just leads to an endless churn of useless software and hardware updates.

Desktop OSes peeked around Windows 7. macOS hasn’t had a useful feature since dark mode. The UIs have only gone down hill with trying to force them to be mobile friendly and flat.

The iPhone peeked around iPhone 8/iPhone X depending on if you liked the notch/FaceID or not. I’ve seen no useful features since.

Companies must make “progress” each year by releasing worse user hostile software updates and force device upgrades through planned obsolescence.

Sounds like Apple fucked over Imagination Technology by poaching their key employees and executives. Apple even opened a new office for chip development next to theirs.

The company was then doing poorly and got bought out by a Chinese company controlled by the Chinese government.

Pretty sad demise for the company. I remember working with their GPUs in the early 2010s.

I didn’t have a platform chart either. I guess they only show it if you play on multiple platforms.

Linux only for me as well.

The remedies are damaging when you build your business on mafia money from Google to enforce their search monopoly.

This would apply to all consumer electronics besides smartphones, such as smart TVs, gaming consoles, etc.

Android has problems with how each device uses a forked kernel with vendor binary blobs only working for that specific forked kernel. PostmarketOS is trying to avoid these issues by upstreaming the drivers so they can be maintained normally when the kernel changes.

Yes having a trusted entity maintain the software is a big problem.

But giving the option to install your own software would be a big step in keeping the devices in use.

Planned Obsolescence is a problem across all consumer electronics that depend on the software being updated. It’s not limited to Big Tech.

The only way I see to solve it is to force vendors to release hardware specs and unlock bootloaders so you can install your own software on it.

An even better solution would be to force vendors to release their software when the hardware is end of life via their planned obsolescence.

It’s great to see small advances in right to repair for hardware, such as replacing the battery or access to new parts, but those don’t help when you are stuck on an outdated OS version.

The EU actually didn’t force them to implement RCS. Apple did it themselves to try and avoid an regulatory/antitrust scrutiny.

At the moment I think having RCS on iPhone is worse than if Apple was forced to open up iMessage to other platforms. RCS on Android is basically controlled by Google and you can’t use it on custom roms. Google also runs the RCS backend that most carriers rely on (rather than implementing their own). So if you are trying to avoid Google’s spyware, you can’t use RCS to message iPhone users.

Remember when Tim Cook told someone’s mom to just by an iPhone in order to access iMessage. True colors coming out there, total douche bag.

You don’t have to use AI. It’s only being crammed into proprietary software. You can steer clear of it with FOSS operating systems.

I thought VR was dead after Apple’s flop of a launch.

Yes, pre 2013 models had a screwed in battery. I had a 2011 pro that I changed/upgraded the ram, hard drive, and battery myself.