Android does the same thing:

http://www.android.com/switch/

I think, if you look at it from the perspective of a user who wants to switch from Android to iOS, this tool makes the job easier. And I wouldn't fault Apple for making this transition smoother, they're being "customer-centric" in my books. Is it not that you can take your data and move to any other platform the entire selling point of Android and the openness?

I'd venture that Google's tightening its grip on Android and making it more closed than it ever was. A high profile engineer, JBQ, quit AOSP project for a reason. As an android user, one is already consuming a lot of Google resources for free; and Google isn't going to sit back and not make you pay for it.

So why aren't they being Customer centric by allowing such tools on the iOS AppStore. Heck, even the word "Android" is banned

http://www.techhive.com/article/188696/Apple_Bans_the_Word_A...

> I'd venture that Google's tightening its grip on Android and making it more closed than it ever was. A high profile engineer, JBQ, quit AOSP project for a reason

It might seem nit-picky, but that is so vague as to be untrue. The reason JBQ quit, as I pieced together from his G+/tweets, was because of 3rd party drivers for a Nexus device that were not released as open source as he would have liked (he managed AOSP releases). Inferring from his posts at the time, this was something he realised as a potential problem ahead of time and notified legal, but it seemed nothing was done (or they failed in negotiating with manufacturer).

I'm not a Googler, so I could also be off-base here. I apologise ahead of time if I misrepresented anyone.

You're right. JBQ quit because of the reasons you mention. But he was tired of AOSP in general and doubted the intentions of powers that be. Android was notorious for its non-cooperation with the rest of Google (remember the android browser vs chrome wars?), IIRC. Removal of Andy Rubin from the Android division was a sign enough... Ever since Sundar Pichai has taken over, Google has continued to close source a lot of code that was earlier part of AOSP.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/11/android-5-0-lollipop-...

Evil is a very loaded word because the API is being used for the exact purpose it was created: to allow the users of the platform to move their data unimpeded.

This kind of reasoning central point of the copyleft vs. permissive licensing debate: should the goal be

- to maximize the freedom of choice for the end user even if the choice curtails his own freedom?

- or to maximize the freedom of the software / system itself even if that curtails the freedom of choice for the end user?

Whatever the path taken it is naive to expect people and companies to follow the spirit of the license instead of its letter when is more beneficial to them to follow the later. Neither imoral nor evil IMO.

It's one of those sad cases where someone "doing the right thing" opens doors for the bad guys. I remember Google having a page that "educated" about the potential pitfalls of having data locked up in Facebook (on the OAuth approval page). Maybe they will do the same thing here?

Thing is: for technical people like us it's a no-brainer, stay the hell away. This kind of thing is going to get a whole bunch of Aunt Tillys locked up in Apple. From that perspective the one option is clearly more "evil" as it preys on ignorance.

> Thing is: for technical people like us it's a no-brainer, stay the hell away.

Are you implying that technical people do not use iOS? Well, you might be surprised if you dig for some statistics.

No, just making an assumption about the target market of the feature: Android users. It's not a huge leap of faith to imagine that they would care more about issues like this.

How noble of Google to "educate" their users about their data being locked up in Facebook. I am sure they were doing for the benefit of their users and not so they could access the advertising goldmine that is Facebook. Especially since IIRC this education was happening around the time that Google+ was floundering.

Sure, it's not evil in the ISIS/Cheney sense, not even in the "banner that looks like a Download button on Sourceforge" sense...

But it's misleading because it creates the impression that users can easily move between mobile operating systems, when in fact this door Apple has built is strictly one-way. They won't tell you that ahead of time, of course.

To us technical users, it's obvious that moving data between closed server-based services is fraught with complications. But a lot of regular people don't understand those nuances. Copying data from a phone to another is just moving over some files, right? Apple is supporting that expectation.

The idea that you're locked up in an Evil Apple Fortress, while Google is the open land of the free is not only hyperbolic dogma, it's simply false.

Apple and Google both make access to the lists of songs, contacts, photos, etc data on your device and this app simply uses those APIs to transfer the DRM free music and other data from one device to the other.

It's true that your data being on one device makes it difficult for average people to migrate when they switch devices.

The only difference here is that Apple took the time to write a program to make the transfer onto their platform easy for users. They've had a similar migration assistant for OS X for around a decade.

This is consistent with Apple's focus on the user and building of consumer level technology.

Google's approach is different. Android is just a strategic action, not a product, and so they don't really care to put this level of effort in.

That doesn't make Google virtuous or Apple evil. In fact, I would say focusing on making your customers lives better is virtuous.

It's a shame that such an ideology has sprung up that everything Apple does is routinely asserted to be evil here, even though most of it is designed to protect users, while google, which does nothing to protect people and frequently violates users rights is sign as some paragon of virtue.

I think most people dont care about how closed apple app ecosystem and is not the reason they call it evil. They call apple evil for introducing features in iOS copied from popular apps then outright ban or put hurdles in the way of that app. I dont care that apple allows migration from Android to iOS but they should also allow it to go the other way as well. Apple behaviour with ebook publishers, coders and now the with rumors going on about music shows a consistent. Immoral behaviour if not alway illegal. The Ceo of Apple harps about how people are stealing your data not respecting people privacy but at the same time introduces similar features. They wont be using to sell ad space but they are still getting and collecting the same data.

> Can you be any more Apple fanboy, McRed?

No personal attacks in HN comments, please.

Please would you consider deleting your comment?

For the record, you can get all of that data over USB if you have a computer handy, though these days not everyone does.

Your argument seems pretty misplaced to me. You actually think it's a good idea for third party apps to access preferences/settings from the system and other apps ? Personally I think it's a massive security and privacy risk that will be exploited and used for means that in 99.999% of cases the user never wants. I don't think Apple is being evil at all but rather looking out for their users.

You could already access most relevant information through secured authentication to iCloud anyway.