this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Google’s Gemini team is apparently sending out emails about an upcoming change to how Gemini interacts with apps on Android devices. The email informs users that, come July 7, 2025, Gemini will be able to “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Naturally, this has raised some privacy concerns among those who’ve received the email and those using the AI assistant on their Android devices.

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[–] Elohim_Samael@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Can't you just delete Gemini with Canta?

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 213 points 1 week ago (28 children)

Linux has become good enough to replace desktop operating systems.

Now, we are back at square one. I’ll be the first to inaccurately declare, “This will be the year of the Linux phone.”

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 74 points 1 week ago (8 children)

All I need is a good enough emulation of android apps to fool them (eg for banking).

[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (10 children)

Sailfish OS has it.

Unfortunately the project has some closed source bits which, imho, aren't an issue when you look closer (some parts of the UI). Maybe I'm naive but I trust this EU company.

I use it as my daily driver. It certainly is frugal compared to recent Android versions, but fully functional.

It's an actual Linux OS (as opposed to any Android version). Things work the same way they do on my laptop & server.

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[–] Sunflier@lemmy.world 197 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

Dear tech bros,

We, the people, don't want to use your AI shit. Please stop shoving it down our throats. Thank you.

Sincerely,

-The people

[–] Tiger666@lemmy.ca 69 points 1 week ago

Hahahahhshahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha.

Sincerely,

Tech bros.

[–] dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 1 week ago (20 children)

Is it really the people or just a subset of people that use Lemmy, the vast majority of people seemingly don’t care as is evidenced by the sheer number of people using things like social media.

What might be important to use in this echo chamber isn’t reflective of society on the whole.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

It's mainly tech savy people who don't use it. Tons of people in companies use this shit. The number of people who use "ai" to take auto notes in meetings is insane. It's a massive security risk but they do it anyways thinking it won't be stored.

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[–] commander@lemmy.world 71 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (9 children)

I swear all of this was predicted to happen by open source advocates of the 80s and they'd be called alarmists/whatever and then 30 years later you had Snowden leaks and all the surveillance bills and now Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all advertisement companies mining data through the software and devices they sell

The best people can do is just keep using and advocating for Linux adoption. Try out degoogled Android or a more traditional Linux phone device. Need more users and funding to get the software kinks worked out. They're not as good as the high end Android and Apple stuff, but it's a process

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[–] r00ty@kbin.life 65 points 1 week ago (8 children)

Pretty sure I disabled Gemini as one of the first things I did when I got my phone. But, yes when I read that, to me it did seem like a serious overreach for something that was going to be "on by default" for most users.

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[–] besselj@lemmy.ca 60 points 1 week ago (4 children)
[–] Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 38 points 1 week ago (4 children)

X is blocked on network level here, could you please copy&paste?

[–] Matty_r@programming.dev 51 points 1 week ago (1 children)

GrapheneOS @GrapheneOS We're going to be moving forward under the expectation that future Pixel devices may not meet the requirements to run GrapheneOS (https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices ) and may not support using another OS. We've been in talks with a couple OEMs about making devices and what it would cost. 1:02 AM · Jun 13, 2025

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[–] higgsboson@dubvee.org 52 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (11 children)

I agree it would be concerning if I allowed Gemini access to my phone. Fuck that. This shit is exactly why I am on GrapheneOS.

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[–] rumba@piefed.zip 49 points 1 week ago

I guess my next phone is going to run NixOS.

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 46 points 1 week ago (38 children)

I've been Android and Windows user for pretty much all of my life. Vehemently anti Apple because of the company and I've thought the products are trash. I've been 100% Linux for over a year and a half, and if this Gemini stuff comes through, I will not have an android phone either. I have a Pixel and my old still functional Pixel. I need to try installing grapheneOS or something else and trial it to see if it will work for me.

If Linux isn't an option for me in the future for whatever reason, I will be purchasing a Mac. I will never have a Windows machine for the rest of my life if I have any say in the matter, work being the obvious and uncontrollable exception. The fact that I'm even entertaining the idea of owning an iPhone or a Mac is really telling about how far Android and Windows and enshitified.

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 43 points 1 week ago

"We spent a lot of money on this, so you're going to have it."

[–] TingoTenga@lemmy.world 41 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 27 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Let's not stop at Google. Break them all up!

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Dammit don't make me switch to apple phones, I hate apple. I hate Google too but FFS all you need to do is stay out of my way and the one thing you continuously do is stand in my way...

GTFO of my way! Piss off with that AI crap that nobody asked for

[–] Griffus@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 week ago (7 children)

An ungoogled android variant has to be a lot lesser of an evil, no?

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[–] Fedditor385@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Gemini depends on the Google app, disable it, and it dies.

Have you noticed how the Google app, the one that supposedly just does search and list news articles, has like 400 MB? Over time it accumulated 2GB cache... how?

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[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 33 points 1 week ago (10 children)

In the absence of being able to switch to Graphene (Don't own a pixel), I've done everything I can to replace Google Apps with FOSS alternatives, and disabled Google Assistant on my device entirely.

I know none of that will stop a determined Google eventually fucking with me, but at least I'm trying.

I'm so damned tired of the modern corporate world.

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[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 32 points 1 week ago

“Google is making it easier for Google to pry into your personal data.”

“Water is making it easier for water to make you wet.”

[–] fannymcslap@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago

Laughs in eu

[–] Krudler@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Remember when Google+ was the future?

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[–] MudMan@fedia.io 27 points 1 week ago (5 children)

So there's an opt-out.

The article seems concerned that the email announcing this doesn't include a specific path to the opt-out right in the email (which is a weird concern, considering the email provides two links to... presumably that information)?

I'm not sure what this means, either, but it seems the "whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off" line is saying that you can still have Gemini send texts for you even if you disable Google storing your apps usage server-side? I don't use Gemini as an assistant, so I'm not sure, but looking at the Gemini settings menu on my Android phone that's what it seems to map to.

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[–] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 22 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

IMO, when Google lost most public support, it really started going downhill because the people who wanted to profit the business as much as possible became more determinant than those that were still trying to throttle the company due to ethical considerations. When a company gets criticized for everything it does, its decline increases significantly. Add to that it exists under the US government and how that has completely fallen to corruption.

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[–] HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I don't have Gemini loaded to my phone and I have Google assistant voice command disabled

But a few days ago I was having a conversation with my son next to me on the couch with my phone sitting on the arm of the couch.

When I asked him a question, gemini answered with a prompt on the screen I have never seen before and haven't since.

It still creeps me out

I looked up what the prompt for gemini is supposed to lol like and this looked nothing like that. It looked more like a popup dialogue box from a browser but the only browser I use is opera and it is set as default

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[–] classic@fedia.io 16 points 1 week ago (5 children)

So is Gemini on there as an app? It isn't listed as such on my phone

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