Romain Guy wrote: > That's also > why there's very little reason to have apps turn it on/off: it's a > *PRIVACY* feature.
Among other things. Near as I can tell, the *only* user-level control over GPS behavior, in stock Android 1.1 or 1.5, is the "Enable GPS Satellites" checkbox in the Security & Location settings activity. Period. Nothing else. Android gives users one switch to throw, and that's it. Hence, users will throw that one-and-only switch for a wide range of possible reasons: -- They are concerned about privacy, beyond the granularity of agreeing to application permission requests to access GPS data -- They are concerned about battery life, because they have applications installed that, while "poorly written", serve a purpose, if they could be better controlled vis a vis GPS access -- They believe that GPS needs to be turned off to fly on airplanes, or to work in a secure government facility, or some such -- They feel that GPS access is banned by their religion's rules regarding days of worship and so elect to disable it one day a week, or on specific holy days, or whatever -- Any number of other reasons Hence, some users may be interested in programs that can throw that switch in an easier or more automated fashion (e.g., home screen widget, automatically disable/enable GPS to cover the day of worship). The very existence and popularity of apps like Power Manager stand as testament. My beef is less with the API change itself -- irritating as it is -- than it is with the process of changing. Here we have a clear regression in capability...and AFAIK, nobody in the independent development community was consulted, advised, or otherwise given an opportunity to participate in that decision. Instead, for the sins of the few, all Android developers were damned. I encourage Google and the OHA to give independent developers "a seat at the table", at least in terms of changes of this nature, so discussions like this one could could be had at better points in time vis a vis the development cycle. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://twitter.com/commonsguy _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ Version 2.0 Available! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
