this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
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148
Google installed Gemini on my devices, disabling Google Assistant and replacing it with Gemini. (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
38 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A few weeks ago, I explicitly disabled it everywhere I could find within account.google.com and I've not used anything gemini since. Now I get this email and find it enabled on my devices.

By default Gemini has permissions to access everything on screen, view your contacts/messages, and can be used from the lockscreen....

I'm not all that surprised; but I'm still annoyed. Especially with the opt-out of data collection/access after it's been given access to everything.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Come to GrapheneOS where your phone just leaves you the fuck alone and does what you ask of it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

This is the way. I resisted doing a custom ROM based on past experience, but GrapheneOS is absolutely worth it. The day I saw Gemini in the text messaging app is the day I bit the bullet. Wish I did it sooner

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It's crazy the peace of mind you get from it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

what's the privacy vs pure security info? is GrapheneOS actually keeping our data more private or just making it really hard to get hacked?

I've been on it for like a week now and love it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Security is the priority, but that does usually give you a good amount of privacy too.

One example I remember where there was a clash was developing their sandboxed Google Play Services rather than supporting MicroG. I think their reasoning was that sandboxing the Google code makes it much more secure, and even though MicroG is more private from Google it's still a mystery blob with full access to your device and therefore less secure.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

It makes the former possible but you still meed to keep up on privacy hygiene. Check out privacyguides.org to help you with that. Privacy is a spectrum, so the trick is finding where you want to be and assesing what you have to sacrifice to do so.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I mean that's complicated. The former is far more in your hands.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Or any degoogled ROM for that matter

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can I install on a Samsung? I know computers and their bootloaders/OSs pretty well but phones are mostly a mystery

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No its only available on Pixels for security reasons.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What does the pixel have that an S24 doesn't?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Honestly don't know. Something to do with the Tensor chip and monthly and quarterly software updates.

https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Unlockable bootloaders and guaranteed security updates for several years (at least, that's the claim).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have a Verizon pixel. Enlighten me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Well for starters there's no Gemini unless you choose to install it on your device.

Other than that, just general privacy and security improvements. Sandboxed Google Play Services is another big benefit.

You can check out the website if you want to know more.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

😞😞😞

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 week ago (2 children)

on my devices

See that’s where we’re fucking up. If a company can install things on ”your” devices, it’s really their devices.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

We don't really own anything

These are pocket computer computers that turn into paperweights the moment our feudal lord Google decides to

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Google "SafetyCore" says hello.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I strongly suspect the Gemini team is trying to artificially inflate the usage statistics for it by opting people in without their consent and requiring you to replace assistant with Gemini in order to access popular tools like image gen.

It's likely that in a few months they'll get exposed, probably not even get a slap on the wrist for it, and go back to their shady business practices.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Sounds about right.

It may inflate the numbers for now, but overall I think it's just going to have a negative impact. I may have decided to play with it at somepoint, I'm just somewhere between disinterested and distrusting of the tech. Now that it's been shoved down my throat though, I adamantly REFUSE to touch Gemini. Installing it on my devices and giving it all my data without consent is absurd overreach and should be a felony.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago

I have the assistant disabled entirely because I find its gesture annoying. Gemini force enabled it back a couple days ago.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I tried Gemini before. The problem was reliability.

E. g. I say "add an event to my calendar: tomorrow 2 p.m., doctor visit", and it parses the voice perfectly. The regular assistant would then just create the entry.

But Gemini sometimes goes like: "Adding an entry to your calendar is easy! Do you have an iPhone? Then these are the steps: ..."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago

This is why LLMs are not appropriate for applications where regular syntax is needed, like calling an API. I don't understand why they made the LLM the first step, handing it off to the old hard coded Google assistant second, rather than the other way around. Having everything go through the LLM first is wasteful, slow and unpredictable. I am very confused about Google's decision here

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

All of the voice assistants have been complete dogshit since day 1 (sometimes even getting worse) and yet somehow we still have them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

The funny part is when you say something and it corrects you

Or that weird thing ChatGPT was doing were it screamed "no" in your own voice before replying like nothing happened.

Edit: it was "no" not "help"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Or that weird thing ChatGPT was doing were it screamed "help" in your own voice before replying like nothing happened.

Wait what the fuck

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

It is vital that the ~~peasants~~ consumers use our AI to keep the ~~Lords'~~ Shareholders' happy.