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YSK: Lemmy browsing app Boost is tracking your data for profiling and more! Consider using other trackingless Lemmy apps such as Jerboa or Voyager (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by orize@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world

199 comments fedilink hide all child comments

According to the tracking scanner Exodus (can be found on F-Droid), which keeps an updated database on trackers and runs your installed app against its register, you can track what apps are tracking you and clues of how. Saw that Boost is tracking me and uninstalled it and went straight to Jerboa. Jerboa is pretty similar to good ole' RedditIsFun-app and easy to use, so I am personally recommending it.

From F-Droid:

Exodus (Exodus show you trackers and permissions in apps installed on your device.) https://f-droid.org/packages/org.eu.exodus_privacy.exodusprivacy/

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[-] Rogue@feddit.uk 395 points 2 weeks ago

This is a rather sensationalist headline.

Every so often software developers need to eat food and live beneath shelter.

The developer of Boost @rmayayo@lemmy.world provides a free version that's supported by ads, or you can purchase an ad free experience for a one time cost. That's been a standard business since forever.

There isn't any grand conspiracy here.

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 185 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yup, the dev commented on this a while back here:

https://lemmy.ca/post/6072534/3382664

Dev here.

The dialog and its content is not created by me, it is a standard solution from Google to comply with GDPR and other laws. More info here: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/10114014?hl=en

The consent dialog is also required by Google AdMob to show ads, and it is shown when the ad network is initialized.

When the app launches, first it checks for the remove ads purchase, and if it is not present, it will initialize the ads sdk. The ad network is not initialized if the remove ads purchase is detected.

Boost for Reddit was using the very same ad networks and consent dialog.

(In fact they've commented on this a few times)

I personally liked Boost, and paid for the ad free version to support the development. For what it's worth, I've also donated to / bought a few others for similar reasons, and I keep a few Lemmy apps installed so I can test things out on the admin side.

Without recommending any particular app, I'd recommend this site, which lets you compare and filter by the factors that are important to you: https://lemmyapps.com/

If you want a guide for new users, we have one here (tldr it links to the site above): https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/lemmy/for-users/mobile-apps

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[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 59 points 2 weeks ago

As long as there is transparency, users can choose. Personally, I would rather not use a service at all than have ads or tracking.

[-] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 52 points 2 weeks ago

It is an excellent app, I just paid for the version without ads, that's all you have to do.

[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 2 weeks ago

Exactly, we both get what we want, everyone is happy. I'm just saying that it's important for both of us to have the relevant information so we can make our choices. Which this app provides. So that's good.

[-] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 2 weeks ago

then don't use it

[-] Machinist@lemmy.world 40 points 2 weeks ago

Developer's needs are pretty simple, however. Keep clean straw for bedding, fresh coffee, and unimpeded access to an Ethernet jack. Your developer can have gummy worms or beer in small quantities, as a treat. Of course, the bulk of their diet should be ramen/developer chow. A simple correction, such as deleting system32 or not properly shutting down Linux, is usually all that is needed. They'll provide you with years of faithful service.

Adopt a developer today!

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[-] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 weeks ago

I paid for the product, I encourage and support products i like instead of seeing ads, whenever i can.

[-] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

Just bought the ad-free version. It's easy to forget developers need to eat too

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[-] ProxyZeus@lemmy.world 244 points 2 weeks ago

As the other comments are saying, this is made very clear when you launch the app for the first time that it is ad supported, and you can donate a small amount to get all tracking and ads removed.

Love the app and I want the dev to continue development so I paid for the ad free. Devs are people and need money to live too, you know this post was just sensationalized for your own clicks.

[-] kameecoding@lemmy.world 60 points 2 weeks ago

Lemmings have a huge obsession with shit being both free and adfree, youtube is the most baffling one, they refuse to pay for it, then bitch about the ads, it seems they are entitled to having VoD delivered to them anytime anywhere in the world got completely free.

[-] AngryMob@lemmy.one 36 points 2 weeks ago

Youtube shouldn't be baffling to you if you pay attention. Youtube still hoards tons of data and tracking on top of its ads. And paying doesn't stop that. Also, they removed the option to pay to remove ads but skip all the other stuff. They removed that option right at the same time they started their war against ad blockers. Combine those points with the typical enshittification and we wind up with a service that doesn't deserve your pity.

[-] foenix@lemm.ee 24 points 2 weeks ago

Counterpoint I think there's a lot of lemmings who put a lot of money into hosting the very server you just posted this comment on.

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[-] samc@feddit.uk 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

For me at least, my objection with YouTube is that Google takes a cut. I'd much rather contribute an equivalent amount to some creators via patreon and adblock the site.

Also I'm not saying the host doesn't deserve a cut, I just think that corporations like Google are a general pest that should be eradicated

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[-] krimson@lemmy.world 38 points 2 weeks ago

I reported this post because it hurts the dev for no reason. Hope it gets removed but the damage is already done. People are stupid.

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[-] LaserTurboShark69@sh.itjust.works 33 points 2 weeks ago

Same! Boost is awesome and it was a no brainer paying for the ad removal

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[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 166 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah there is a dialogue on first launch telling you it's ad supported software and that you can pay a small fee to remove all ads. Your post here is old news about an old strategy and throughout the comments here you claim it's secretive which is false.

It's a charitable reading to say you're uninformed. I would lean more toward you wanting people to be misinformed about Boost, because as others point out, its ad support is called out in multiple ways before you use it, but you don't care. Instead, you choose to call this completely common and standard way of supporting an app "predatory" and "secret", neither of which near truth. Op, is your account the alt of the Sync dev or something?

[-] jballs@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Op, is your account the alt of the Sync dev or something?

I wish that was the case. @ljdawson@lemmy.world - the Sync dev - has been MIA for over half a year now. Which sucks, because Sync currently has a breaking bug causing it to not show posts as read, making it mostly unusable. I had to cancel my subscription for it that I was happily paying for before to support his work.

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[-] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in 99 points 2 weeks ago

You can do a one time purchase to remove the ads and tracking you know, monetising an app without ads is hard.

[-] Rogue@feddit.uk 43 points 2 weeks ago

You're being downvoted for providing true information that disputes sensationalism. This place is truly fucking weird

[-] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in 25 points 2 weeks ago

I get that lemmy userbase in general dislikes ads, i dislike ads too but not every dev can go without it on their projects. There has to be some income from somewhere after all.

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[-] orize@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

As a free alternative, it is unfortunately cluttered with ads and tracking features.

Moreover, it employs a predatory strategy by removing these inconveniences only if users opt to pay, despite the existence of equally effective free alternatives.

This approach can confuse (especially new) users, potentially leading them to choose a less favorable option due to lack of awareness.

[-] Acamon@lemmy.world 44 points 2 weeks ago

For sure, it's worth letting people know if they aren't aware. It's been a while since I installed boost, but I remember there being very clear messages about the ads and tracking, explaining it was to compensate the developer for the time he spent converting the reddit client to lemmy, and with the option of a one time fee to completely avoid trackers and ads.

While I love it when things are truly FOSS, I understand that I pay my barber and my plumber for their time, and I don't have a problem paying a one-off fee to buy software I want. What is exploitative are many subscription models, and all software that takes your money AND still monetises you (looking at you microsoft).

It's good to make people aware of genuinely free alternatives. But I used jerboa, voyager and a few other lemmy clients and I'm much happier with Boost and it was worth every cent.

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[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

It's pretty obvious, nothing is secret here. This strategy has been 1000% standard for like 20 years now.

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[-] vodkasolution@feddit.it 82 points 2 weeks ago

YSK also that the paid version does not have ads or trackers

[-] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

And, importantly, If your account is paid it never even loads the libraries or initializes the ad systems so there is zero data going to these trackers.

I don't use this app (I use Eternity), but there's nothing shady going on here. Developing an app isn't free and it isn't unfair for the developer to want to earn a living.

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[-] vaguerant@fedia.io 53 points 2 weeks ago

What a cool service, thanks for sharing. You can also check the Exodus database via web if you can't or don't want to install the native Android app.

[-] Zwiebel@feddit.org 15 points 2 weeks ago

It's also built into the Aurora Store (frontend for Google Play Store)

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[-] wildcardology@lemmy.world 51 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've seen this kind of post about boost several times now. It's just sad that people are just maliciously uninformed. It made me want to support the dev even more. Paying for the ad free version now.

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 weeks ago

-complains about people being uniformed.

-Does nothing to inform them.

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[-] Warpedtwistedbody@sopuli.xyz 39 points 2 weeks ago

Good work bringing this to the attention of others.

I agree that Jerboa is good. If anyone wants another option, then Connect For Lemmy is clean, simple, and updated frequently. I'm nothing to do with Connect, just someone that has tried loads of Lemmy apps on Android, and has settled on Connect.

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[-] HatchetHaro@pawb.social 33 points 2 weeks ago

i mean, it's just ads. you're blowing this way out of proportion just because of some unintrusive ads.

devs gotta eat. if you prefer FOSS, that's great! i love FOSS software too! but boost is like home to me, even with the ads.

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[-] K1nsey6@lemmy.world 31 points 2 weeks ago

There is a reason so many Lemmy apps are abandoned, they were free and free of advertising. Devs need to eat. I prefer the paid app model to support the devs as opposed to ads. The dev of boost has always been open about how ads work.

[-] Redditsux@lemmy.world 28 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks. Just uninstalled it.

[-] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 2 weeks ago

good now delete every other app on your phone that contains Google ads

[-] mugthol 30 points 2 weeks ago

But that's one less app and there are great alternatives, so why continue using one that tracks you?

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[-] Darkhoof@lemmy.world 25 points 2 weeks ago

You will only pry Boost from my phone over my cold dead hands.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 22 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

YSK that, in general, you should only ever use Android apps from F-Droid unless you've got a very good justification for doing otherwise. That's especially true for generic/basic utility apps like calculators, calendars, and file managers, classic games like solitaire or tetris, and Lemmy clients.

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[-] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 21 points 2 weeks ago

I guess I'm just legitimately confused about how to feel about it all. Lemmy is free, signing up on an instance is free, people are posting/creating content for free, moderators are taking care of the space for free. No one's locking in to get "fed" through the entire chain. The arguments about abandoned apps doesn't really compute since plenty paid and advertising friendly apps go under/stop developing further as well (and the entire Lemmy eco-system is free so silly points of "capitalism better"). There's also the crux of "Apps just replace a webpage", they're really not reinventing the wheel here.

But, if people prefer paid apps, if the developers want to construct the apps in that manner, have at it. I do think spreading awareness of what apps are out there is important, and how they operate (this is YSK after all). I also wouldn't spend time in my day coming into defend organizations that want to monetize on open source community projects either.

[-] Rogue@feddit.uk 25 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I guess I'm just legitimately confused about how to feel about it all.

The freedom of Lemmy and the fediverse let's people choose how to interact with it.

If a user is looking for a free to use , open source, ad-free experience then that's their choice.

If others are happy to pay for an app because they prefer the experience that app provides them they can choose to do so.

I also wouldn't spend time in my day coming into defend organizations that want to monetize on open source community projects either.

OP read that Boost may contain code used for tracking, then started spewing some conspiracy that "Boost is tracking your data for profiling and more!" without any proof or any actual research.

This isn't a case of defending some giant corporation, it's just stopping tedious drama before it spreads.

If you check OPs profile they've been spreading this for over a week. When I first saw this thread the masses were heavily upvoting the conspiracy and downvoting anyone disagreeing.

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[-] bestbry@lemm.ee 19 points 2 weeks ago

ive been on Voyager and i like it very much. is there a known better option, or my first choice was a solid? thanks

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[-] Wildfire0Straggler3@lemm.ee 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Raccoon is also a great alternative for trackerless Lemmy browsing, I personally prefer it over Jerboa and Voyager.

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this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025

1044 points (100.0% liked)

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