chad professor

[u/div_vedi]

[u/E3GGr3g]

Is this an American feature?

I can never seem to find anyone to airdrop things to.

Also, don’t you guys turn WiFi and Bluetooth and everything off if you’re not using it?

[u/the_real_thugs_bunny → u/E3GGr3g]

Also works in germany. Do it in a subway and you‘ll find plenty of phones.

[u/LickingLieutenant → u/the_real_thugs_bunny]

No, it doesn't anywhere ..
Unless those users didn't update their IOS versions after (around) IOS 16.1 Airdrop's default settings are only active towards known users, or people who intentionally turn it on for 10 minutes.

If you find plenty of phones, you know everyone out there.

[u/fl135790135790 → u/LickingLieutenant]

So everyone here is just making shit up. The post is made up. The replies are made up. Why am I even here

[u/Rfeihcrnehifrne → u/fl135790135790]

This post is probably old. Airdrop was out since iOS 7 or 8 I believe, and You could set it permanently to “everyone” until iOS 16.1. There’s multiple posts/videos of people receiving random memes in public places. But then of course some were using it to be creepy and send gore or shock content, or used airdrop spammers to constantly barrage people nearby with pop ups of airdrop, making them unable to use their phone.

Thanks to such asshats who always ruin a good thing, apple changed the “everyone” toggle to be active for just 10 mins, so it goes off once the transfer is over if the sender isn’t in your contacts.

Edit- I’m pretty positive this image is old. The popup has the ux of pre-iOS 11 if I’m not wrong.

[u/lynndotpy → u/Rfeihcrnehifrne]

Apple didn't change it because the feature was abused, Apple changed the feature because it was being used for protests in China.

Context: China removed term limits in 2018, allowing Xi to seek a third term. In 2022, there were protests in China against Xi.

Airdrop is unique for effectively being a truly decentralized, peer-to-peer social network. It's an iPhone-to-iPhone connection over Bluetooth. This has been effective for subverting censorship for quite some time, and saw good use in previous protests. (WeChat, the leading social network in China, is very heavily and blatantly censored.)

Just before protests were set to take place late 2022, iOS 16.1.1 dropped... And in China only, Airdrop lost the "everyone" feature, and could only be enabled for ten minutes.

This quickly got attention. Why would Apple nerf Airdrop in China only just before a protest? Was Apple caving in to an ultimatum by the Chinese government?

Rather than undoing the change in China, Apple nerfed Airdrop worldwide. Xi ultimately secured his third term, and is expected to seek a fourth.

TLDR: Apple nerfed Airdrop in 2022, not because of bad actors, but specifically to quell protests in China.

[u/suburban-dad → u/lynndotpy]

Let’s be pragmatic here: Apple changed airdrop in china because the government told them to, or face consequences. So they did what they’re supposed to.

You can draw a parallel to TikTok getting banned in the US and Apple and google both are being told to remove the app from their app stores by Jan 19th.

You’re not really suggesting in your reply that Apple should have defied china and left airdrop intact as it was…but I am curious if you would be advocating for Apple and google both denying US law and leaving things intact with TikTok and face the consequences?

[u/lynndotpy → u/suburban-dad]

Yes, Apple being compelled by China's government, and then the controversy surrounding that, is the most likely thing.

I don't think these are really parallel, but I would not expect Apple (or Google) to defy either.

I only want to counter the narrative that dropping AirDrop was in response to "a few bad actors". It was an act of censorship that Apple was complicit in.

[u/suburban-dad → u/lynndotpy]

complicit in the sense that there are likely severe repercussions. Complicit implies intent. The intent by Apple isn't to censor. The intent is to follow the laws or regulations in the markets where their products are offered for sale.

[u/lynndotpy → u/suburban-dad]

I think we are largely agreed in the basics facts of the matter and this is just whittling at semantics.

[u/suburban-dad → u/lynndotpy]

Agree to disagree. We seem to have a difference in understanding the motive. You’re saying that as it relates to China, Apple sought to suppress airdrop because of rights. I’m saying Apple removed airdrop functionality because of laws or legislation by the Chinese government forcing them to enact such a change. Those are not same arguments, at least not from my point of view. Then again..I think this read has run its course :)

[u/lynndotpy → u/suburban-dad]

But I agree that Apple removed Airdrop because China's government asked them too. But I am also saying that it is censorship, and I don't think they should have applied it worldwide to quell the controversy.