Apple doubles down on upcoming iOS 14 privacy features

miles · on Nov 20, 2020

Here are the basic privacy features I'd love to see in iOS 14:

* Ability to toggle WiFi on/off per app, just like Cellular

* Restore sane Bluetooth and WiFi button behavior in Control Center http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHQ5R3NwrA&t=0m20s

* Include (or even just allow) an application firewall app like Little Snitch

Yes, this last one is especially unlikely given that Apple is now breaking application firewalls even in macOS[1], allowing all sorts of mischief[2].

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24838816

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25095972

andrewmcwatters · on Nov 20, 2020

I’ve noticed that while these changes are really nice as a consumer, there are some trivial non-tracking scenarios that Apple eliminates through collateral damage and they’re not always transparent about that.

For instance, on the web earlier this year(?) Safari blocking all third-party cookies meant a lot of embeddable iframe tech broke and some design patterns are no longer feasible.

Instead, they could have just created an isolate context that gives the child iframe no information about the parent. But they just blocked all cookies instead.

anupamchugh · on Nov 20, 2020

Should have titled this as "upcoming opt-in ad-tracking feature".