Why can't it just be a website? Why does everything have to be a fucking "app"?
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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Chrome?
It's probably a security risk like Android, and the vast majority use it.
Also, apps are better at sending notifications (like ICE warnings). IMO this is a pretty decent justification for an 'iOS only' app.
Regarding the an Android version:
https://www.iceblock.app/android
TL,DR: "It's difficult, so we'll hide behind privacy excuses rather than helping the largest number of at-risk people."
Seriously, if VPN companies and every other company that handles sensitive data anonymously can do it, so can these developers. When 70% of the worldwide smartphone user base uses Android, an iOS-only app is just not good enough anymore.
I think their argument is sounding.
Offering VPN is different from storing private information like a device ID. You don’t get notifications from your VPN.
Sounds like the dev is just not that familiar with Android.
I think you aren't that familiar with android. Android's main purpose is to collect as much information on you as possible. Google did not offer it up out of the goodness of their heart. It's integral to their data collection and resale business model.
Super skeptical that this is a Honeypot, or they'd just make it a web app.
There needs to be an Icebook. A Facebook for tracking them with the express purpose of naming, shaming, and black listing.
I don't know. An app that only people with direct interest in this matter would use regularly, seems like a pretty convenient way to mark people of interest, no?
Not even in a sci-fk distopían way. Imaginet: TSE sees the app on your screen as you're powering it down in line? BOOM baby, alligator town.
No?
As much as I trash DeCeNtrAlIZaTiOn, maybe THIS is when you actually need DeCeNtrAlIZaTiOn, to protect all participants
The developer put up more specific details: https://www.iceblock.app/android
Thanks for the link.
So the problem is that using Android's push notification system would require ICEBlock to store people's device IDs, which could then be used against them.
I wonder if this could be avoided by using Web Push instead of google's native push notification system. Or perhaps some other push notification system using rotating ephemeral IDs.
Not an expert but ephemeral IDs would not give you much.
AFIK under the hoods android notifications is just… a chat app (Ehehe classic google). So for sending a notification you need to send it to the ID of your mobile. Even if you manage to convince Android to register with an additional ephemeral ID Google would be able to map the ephemeral to the real since… well… it is running on the mobile
Note this part of what I wrote:
some other push notification system
Google's default one is not the only one.
…almost none of what is said about Android push notification is true. A lot of apps uses firebase, which does not require the creation of user accounts or whatever to send push notifications to a device.
Either they're completely unfamiliar with it, or they don't want to do it, but what they claim is dubious at best.
How can you tell firebase who to notify?
I guess you need a firebase id of sort… and firebase needs the device id… and firebase is an US Company… so it’s just an extra step but the result is the same. They have to store IDs that can link to devices
The same way with iOS. At some point, the third-party service have a way to link a push to a device. It does not mean that you can link an user to a device, or a specific request to a device. You get a unique ID for the notifications, yeah. And someone could tell that the app server have these ID. But that's not particularly different with iOS. It not being exposed to the app dev directly does not mean that this info does not exist on the third-party server, that can still get asked about it.
Unless Apple found a way to magically send a message to a specific device, from a specific external server, without anyone, anywhere, having any idea where the notification should go. Which, fair, could be done by sending every messages to everyone after encrypting it for a specific recipient, but that would be a bit inefficient at this scale. The trace for push notifications exists, whether you're using Apple or Google as the backend.
From what I've been reading on this lately (since this started) on iOS a method exists for a service to send out a list of locations, or references list that exists on device (this can work with date/time triggers as well) that would trigger a notification and the local device itself handles notification of the user so the developer has no idea who has been notified for all they know they just shouted locations out into the void and the on-device location services handles the rest.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications/unlocationnotificationtrigger
The gist of what they're saying is we trust Apple, not Google. Both american companies. But on android it is possible to have real time notifications without google. I also didn't like the wording of their page, read a lot like Apple apologia if not an utter advertisement - an iPhone XR costs only 50$! Don't you guys have ~~phones~~ iPhones??
Let's go back for a second and think about the people who need this type of service the most, today, in the US. Are they Apple or Android users?
If a person is armed and masked and does not identify itself, it is most likely a terrorist and a threat to the public.
I'm surprised how non of them were gunned down on self defense,
I think they have been. But they're not reporting it to avoid copycats.
There was a large number of police shootings in my state when one guy opened fire on a state trooper. Then we were hearing stories every week.
So I'm supposed to believe groups of people with masks running up to folks and grabbing them haven't been getting retaliation back?
Saw some video clip from "ice" getting beat tf up in a Haitian community. No guns on the civ side, but they were charging and tackling " ice" and not letting any of their people get kidnapped. love to see it.
It probably helps that they are targeting decent, normal working immigrants, who are unlikely to be armed.
If they were actually going after armed gang members, they probably would be getting shot. But as we can tell by the fact they are hiding their faces, they are chicken shit losers cosplaying as tough guys targeting defenseless people because it's easier.
Crime statistics plainly show that the immigrant community is objectively one of the least likely groups to commit any crime, let alone violent crimes.
The vast majority of immigrants fear any interaction with police that could jeopardize their path to citizenship, even before trump took office and made everything way worse. These people just want to work and go home to their families. They’re unfortunately a perfect target for fascists like Trump because they are under represented, decent people who aren’t likely to fight back at first. Remember that fascism requires a nebulous “enemy” to rally people towards. You need a group that is simultaneously “evil” and capable of great harm to the government and people, but also easily handled by “security” measures. This allows the dictator to convince the public that all these sweeping powers that are being demanded are for their own safety. And unfortunately the vast majority of people just believe the first thing they hear, and we end up in this situation.
I'm just waiting for a trial where a jury has to decide if shooting at a gang of masked unidentified men in unmarked vehicles kidnapping you or your loves ones counts as self defense.
and regardless of the verdict the supreme court will uphold the right of the state to let unidentified gangs kidnap people off the streets.
remember when these guys couldn't breathe while wearing a mask during lockdown?
edit: "e"
Breath - rhymes with 'death', and is what comes out of your mouth
Breathe - the action of breathing
Try to remember it this way: when you add the 'e' on the end, you're really breeeething.
i just can't type worth shit on a touch screen
Hey, no judgement here.
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Why not just release it as a self install not connected to an appstore?
Yeah. They literally relying on ios walled garden.
Not disagreeing. The issues that come with it:
1 - Not many people will install it because you have to disable default security features. Android gives a huge "Your device is insecure" scary message.
2 - Then you'll get the people who will use this for malicious reasons. Even the app store gets copycats that do nothing but steal information.
No Android app?
Yep. Pathetic. They think ios will save them
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Without open source, it could be a honey pot.
TechCrunch did a traffic analysis: https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/01/iceblock-an-app-for-anonymously-reporting-ice-sightings-goes-viral-overnight-after-bondi-criticism/
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Good stuff, but IOS only at the moment.
Edit to include link: https://www.iceblock.app/
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"If it's a legitimate disappearing, the public has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
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