this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2024
315 points (76.4% liked)
Technology
59735 readers
2693 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
LG's app is an absolute privacy nightmare too. That app must be used if you want access to any smart appliance features and it requires precise location permissions 100% of the time. Even then, the app features are mediocre, it doesn't work very well and often doesn't notify of a finished wash load until long after it's completed.
Why anyone would want to allow their washing machine manufacturer to continuously track their exact location in exchange for some crappy, poorly implemented features is beyond me.
Thanks for pointing out the location service thing. I just killed that shit.
The LG app also checks SafetyNet/Play Integrity so you can't use it with root. They probably fear that you can then unleash how much more of a privacy nightmare it is.
They probably want to see at which aisle your washing machine spends the most time on its grocery trip.
I just use a timer on my phone .... average wash cycle I use is about 30 minutes ... just set a timer on your phone ... KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid
Just looked at the app's permission settings on my phone... set to only allow location while being used.
Like you I don't see much use for the app, though the notifications can be handy if you want to know when a load us finished and you can't hear it's beeps. I work out of my basement with my washer upstairs so that can be the case with me. But still rare that I ever use it.
I deleted the app and disconnected my LG appliances from wifi over a year ago. Maybe they fixed the issue.
Thinking back, I seem to remember that in order to receive notifications the app had to be running in the background while phone location was turned on, giving LG precise location tracking all the time. Is that no longer the case?
I don't think so. I've had the notifications off though so I'm not 100%. I turned them back on so I'll know soon enough.
I've re-enabled notifications now and was receiving them fine with location setting of "only when app in use". Then this morning I disabled location permissions entirely for the app and I continue to receive the notifications.
The one useful feature I've missed is a high temperature warning for my refrigerator, so since they fixed the app it may be time for another try. Thanks for checking that out.