[allyourbasearebelongtous]

Nothing free in life is free.

absolutely correct. Paid apps or not, Android is littered with ways to share your data through its litany of services.

[Emaderton3]

absolutely correct. Paid apps or not, Android is littered with ways to share your data through its litany of services.

But you could pay and not worry about it.

[allyourbasearebelongtous]

But you could pay and not worry about it.

paying for an app does not stop google from mining various usages and data from your phone.

[idssteve]

How do we pay who? My firm, and other professionals we work with, could readily justify "paying" a SAF premium for professional grade services.

Imagine the impression presented to clients by professionals using tools paid for by "someone else"??

For most interactions, the person writing the check is the REAL customer. WHO are Google's REAL customers? Advertisers? How do I become an "advertiser" ?? Lol.

[Emaderton3]

Don't we all pay for "tools" created by someone else in some manner?

[idssteve]

Depends on how you define "pay". When a payment is deposited from an advertiser, rather than from the end user, that advertiser assumes role of "customer". End user relevance becomes indirect. Possibly insignificant.

How would you feel if during preparations for surgery you saw "scalpels created & provided free of charge by Chicago Cutlery...". ?? Lol. Or, more relevant to my case, an engineer you're considering retaining utilizes "calculations created & provided free of charge by Walt Disney"... ??? Lol.

The point is, that when "someone else" pays for a "tool or service", that "someone else" is who the creator/provider inevitably attempts to satisfy as THE paying customer... Which might, or might not, result in users' best interest.

[anon(10065266)]

How do we pay who? My firm, and other professionals we work with, could readily justify "paying" a SAF premium for professional grade services.

Imagine the impression presented to clients by professionals using tools paid for by "someone else"??

For most interactions, the person writing the check is the REAL customer. WHO are Google's REAL customers? Advertisers? How do I become an "advertiser" ?? Lol.

Haven't you heard of G suite?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_Suite

[Emaderton3]

Does it impress professionals?

Haven't you heard of G suite?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_Suite

[idssteve]

Haven't you heard of G suite?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_Suite

Yes! Of course! And it's grown "impressive" in recent years. Lol. Very useful collaboration and Business subscription even includes some encryption provisions. Sorta. G-Sheets is as good as it gets for spreadsheets on K, imo. About 1/3 as fast as old. D2G on 9900, tho. Not seeing how it, in itself, mitigates OP's concerns any better than the solution he implemented a few pages back ?

If nothing else, Gsuite business subscription model has establish viability as a SAF supported professional "niche". That's the model I've visualized as a step toward a comprehensively "pro grade" OS, browser AND handset. Something that was once THE BB model, in a long forgotten past. Lol. Maybe someday G, M or A might one day "rediscover" a comprehensively Pro Grade niche? Not holding my breath. Lol.

[nevilleadaniels]

As carriers have been doing from the start, sure.

If you have misgivings about Google, give Apple a go. After that, use a dumbphone.

I, for one, am perfectly satisfied with the quid pro quo with Google.

And watch Apple Repairs on YouTube before buying Apple or IPhone etc. It is a money bank.

[the_boon]

And watch Apple Repairs on YouTube before buying Apple or IPhone etc. It is a money bank.

The glass backs on the new iPhones since the 8/+/X from last year are basically impossible to repair, which is why Apple charges at least 399 for it.

[Tsepz_GP]

Funny how a cheap $25 cover protects what costs $399 to fix. I wish phones would go back to being built with Polycarbonate.

[bb10adopter111]

Yes! Of course! And it's grown "impressive" in recent years. Lol. Very useful collaboration and Business subscription even includes some encryption provisions. Sorta. G-Sheets is as good as it gets for spreadsheets on K, imo. About 1/3 as fast as old. D2G on 9900, tho. Not seeing how it, in itself, mitigates OP's concerns any better than the solution he implemented a few pages back ?

If nothing else, Gsuite business subscription model has establish viability as a SAF supported professional "niche". That's the model I've visualized as a step toward a comprehensively "pro grade" OS, browser AND handset. Something that was once THE BB model, in a long forgotten past. Lol. Maybe someday G, M or A might one day "rediscover" a comprehensively Pro Grade niche? Not holding my breath. Lol.

A good hack that can meaningfully protect privacy and increase security is to pay for the basic version of Gsuite with a custom domain and use it with Android for Work for your important accounts, including personal email with friends and family, banks, etc.

Then use a separate email for your social networking and other less private activities.

If you're disciplined about how you do this, you'll segregate your sensitive information pretty effectively for less than $100 a year.

[the_boon]

Funny how a cheap $25 cover protects what costs $399 to fix. I wish phones would go back to being built with Polycarbonate.

I get the trend of sealing phones to get the IP rating, but glass is a terrible material from a durability standpoint.

Well, maybe the new flexible glass Samsung's working on will settle that problem.