feral afJun 19
The Guardian are scum.
https://mastodon.social/@anon_opin/114710131878132986
QueJun 19
Show threadferal af

Why is the reading experience better in the apps (like the Guardian)?

Because the tracking cookies and adversarial content is baked into the app and governed by the terms of service. You don’t have a way out, unlike the web site with the cookie notice.

So that’s why they push the apps. They’re less accountable that way.

Jun 19 at 1:22pmWeb
Show threadviqJun 19
@af also app can get way more information from/about your device than web page can.
Show threadmborusJun 19

@af

Mandatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1174/

App

xkcd
Show threadMarko KarppinenJun 19
@af to be fair the opposite can also be true. News sites receive a steady stream of biz dev proposals that basically go like “just add this simple tag on your site to make more money” and very often the folks receiving those pitches are not in a position to turn them down. Apps are not inherently better, but most of that stuff doesn’t end up on the apps because they would take actual development work to integrate.
Show threadSam Easterby-SmithJun 19

@karppinen @af It is probably not *as* bad as the web, still I’ve had to have some quite big arguments over the wisdom or otherwise of including SDKs - particularly those of Google, FB, Twitter, Adobe, IBM, etc etc all of which are mysterious black boxes that could be doing anything.

And normally being given no option by product/business, who look at me like I’m wearing a tin-foil hat.

Show threadSam Easterby-SmithJun 19
@karppinen @af often “we’ve already signed a contract, paid for it, and had it signed off by the DPO. Put it in.”
Show threadMarko KarppinenJun 19

@sam @af glad you’re fighting the good fight! At least you can make sure that any decision is an informed one. As a vendor we have slightly more leverage in that not every SDK is necessarily “compatible” with our platform.

That said, having worked with dozens of publishers in this space I haven’t had one express the point of the original toot yet (apps beating the web because fewer user protections)

Show threadferal afJun 19
@karppinen @sam I said it is this way in response to my previous toot. The guardian has broken reader view because they want you to either pay for “ad lite” or accept full fat tracking. This is a false choice. Even that that option isn’t available on the app. It’s full tracking.
Show threadRoche LimitJun 19
@af
Is there a reader view problem with theguardian.com? I just tried a variety of pages in Firefox/ Android, and reader view works just fine. What's your experience?
@karppinen @sam
Show threadferal afJun 19
@rochelimit very much broken on iOS Safari.
Show threadLeelooJun 21

@af
The GDPR doesn't make a difference between apps and browsers, if those cookie popups were actually required, they would be in the app as well.

They exist to convince people that it's a bad law, and are getting a second purpose of making the web site suck worse than the app.