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A comment on Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?. Parent comment

Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by winternett on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @04:14PM (#41372451)
The extra code might there to determine your spending habits across other apps and your bank balance and then to determine where you're located so that it can provide information on regional affluence so they can price toothpaste & brushes higher in strategic regions...

That's just an example guess, but the bloat is there for a purpose... I'm pretty sure the app gets updated on intervals too, just like so many others under the guise of "security or functional updates".

We're in an era where data is weaponized for profit maximization... The most simple and seemingly benign data sets when combined strategically can work against consumers deeply.

We need app audit boards now, maybe even on a government level, and specific detail of everything apps do to be displayed in app stores. There should be serious consequences if apps are found to do things that are not detailed in their release/update descriptions. This collected data can persist forever, and be used in some of the most destructive ways.

Device/OS makers also need to do better at preventing/partitioning non-essential apps from collecting data they don't need access to...

Likely reasons why this isn't already in place is because most don't know how it happens, and many others are invested in these companies, so they turn a blind eye on regulation of them.

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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by ragnese on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @04:36PM (#41372704)
To be fair, all of that tracking and data collection would still never add up to some 100MB. It's more likely that they have extremely unoptimized assets (images, icons, fonts, time zone data, sounds, etc) and/or are using one of these janky "frameworks" that let you slap together a half-baked "native" app in a few hours by translating your poorly-written JavaScript into poorly-written native code.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by JohnBooty on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @06:02PM (#41373621)
This is undoubtedly true. It might be doing nefarious things, but it was definitely not written with efficiency in mind.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by vorticalbox on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @04:50PM (#41372858)
From the x thread 80% of the size is pdfs of their toothbrush products.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by ragnese on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @04:57PM (#41372948)
Makes sense. I don't have an X account, so I can only see the linked post (AFAIK).
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by Tagbert on Wednesday August 28, 2024 @08:14PM (#41385818)
Yes, they likely contracted with a third-party development firm to build the app. They didn't pay or even think about optimization. They also didn't think about maintenance. Its likely that they will issue another request for bid when it is time to do another version and the next bid winner will build a new app that is even crappier.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by gruez on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @04:38PM (#41372723)
>The extra code might there to determine your spending habits across other apps and your bank balance and then to determine where you're located so that it can provide information on regional affluence so they can price toothpaste & brushes higher in strategic regions...

1. I highly doubt that's done on device

2. how are they supposed to link you to your bank account? AFAIK cross app tracking is opt in, at least on iOS so unless the user explicitly opts in, you're not going to get a cross-app identifier.

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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by stratocumulus0 on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @05:03PM (#41373020)
Or maybe it's because every other company has an app, just like every company had a hotline at some point. Even if few people will use it, you have to have all the communication channels covered.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by maest on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @05:59PM (#41373591)
I suggest reading the posted link, it's quite informative and saves you from having to make assumptions.
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Re:Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colga... by TeMPOraL on Tuesday August 27, 2024 @07:13PM (#41374277)
> The extra code might there to determine your spending habits across other apps and your bank balance and then to determine where you're located so that it can provide information on regional affluence so they can price toothpaste & brushes higher in strategic regions...

I think you're overestimating the competence of the shops that develop those apps. I bet that 90% of the code is just company's standard set of frameworks and advertising SDKs they put in every app without even thinking about it.

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