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How does Gboard know what my friends has typed? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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Android's Gboard always suggests replies in chat apps that fit the context of what my contacts write.

If my previous message had been related, I would assume it predicted what my contact would say in response and make a suggestion based on that. But even if the contact changes the topic, the suggestions are appropriate.

I don't expect that the apps all share the conversation with Gboard. So how are the predictions made.

It seems unlikely that it would take screenshots and base predictions on that. But otherwise I don't know how it is possible.

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[–] 23 points 2 years ago (2 children)

GBoard has no access to your messages

As far as we know. Gboard comes from Google and I don't trust them even if they put it down on paper

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    You can use GBoard and block telemetry behind a firewall or not giving the app internet access if your OS support that feature. Personnaly I prefer using FOSS such as HeliBoard !

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The only realtime active firewall I can find for Android is NetGuard, but because of the way Android works it uses a VPN connection.

    I guess what I am saying is that running an active firewall 24/7 on an Android device isn't practical for most people, and blocking connections at the router level only works until you leave home, unless you set up your phone to automatically VPN back to your house when your phone disconnects from your home wi-fi.

    But yeah, FUTO and Heliboard are both excellent!

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    GrapheneOS let you disable internet access permission before installing an app. I think you can disable it on OnePlus too but after installing the app. Probably other manufacters has this feature in their Android flavors. But yes running NetGuard isn't ideal in many scenarios.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Oh right! And I forgot that an app called AfWall+ also blocks network connections on a per-app basis and can be active all the time. There's even a magisk module called 'afwall boot antileak' so that nothing gets network access before AfWall does.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Feel free to decompile them - it's all there in the APK, you don't have to live in doubt.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    You know, assuming they have a background with years of coding experience and have the necessary knowledge to decompile a program and the necessary free time to reverse engineer the gibberish the decompiler spits out only for it all to be for nothing before they even finish because a new version was released.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Applications like that obfuscate the already almost unreadable decompiled code

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Obfuscation only makes the effort of decompilation take a bit longer - fundamentally, they are going to be executing the bytecode on your device, and that cannot be hidden from you.

    I'm speaking from experience here - I've decompiled multiple APKs before, all containing bytecode that has been obfuscated by ProGuard. It's a bit harder than reading source code, but with some practice it's always possible to figure out what's going on in the end.

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