Google To Require As Many As 20 of Its Apps Preinstalled On Android Devices 427
schwit1 writes Google is looking to exert more pressure on device OEMs that wish to continue using the Android mobile operating system. Among the new requirements for many partners: increasing the number of Google apps that must be pre-installed on the device to as many as 20, placing more Google apps on the home screen or in a prominent icon folder and making Google Search more prominent. Earlier this year, Google laid its vision to reduce fragmentation by forcing OEMs to ship new devices with more recent version of Android. Those OEMs that choose not to comply lose access to Google Mobile Services (GMS) apps like Gmail, Google Play, and YouTube.
good (Score:2, Interesting)
I've waited my whole life for this...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:good (Score:4, Interesting)
Just note that the evil(tm) will be compounded by the crapware that some OEMs *and* carriers tend to slather onto the phones, on top of what Google is going to require.
I was stunned when I helped a family member set up their Android phone from a major vendor. A ton of Google crapware preloaded, and you couldn't do anything without signing up for Google everything (I didn't even know Android had an anal-probe permission before then). When I got my Chinese Android phone ($140, 5.5" IPS screen, unlocked, dual-SIM, quad-core 1.3GHz, etc) it had no preloaded crapware and, apart from Google Play which is needed to install apps (well, unless you want to jump through all sorts of hoops) didn't ask to sign me up for anything. The sole annoying thing about it was that the Chinese vendor's taste in wallpapers doesn't necessarily match Western tastes (it wasn't quite Hello Kitty, but close), but that was quickly fixed.
So it seems like the trick is to buy from vendors motivated by good honest greed (the product is the phone they sell you) rather than strategic business alliance blah blah considerations (the product is you).
It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
When a company moves from innovating to abusing its market share, it's usually not a good sign.
Re:It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
When a company moves from innovating to abusing its market share, it's usually not a good sign.
Except when you get a phone with an old version of Android and loads of proprietary bloatware 'innovation' the phone sucks in ways it would not suck if it just had the up-to-date integrated Google app suite and android versions.
In this instance, the more Google succeeds, the better the products are.
Re:It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Insightful)
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My use case was to blow away the crappy, deranged, obsolete version of "Android" that my phone was stuck with and replace it with something closer to stock Android. Without even booting it up the first time, I sideload the gapps.
Re:It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Much of why CM and other AOSP-derivative projects are popular is to get rid of carrier and OEM bloatware. Very few people don't install gapps, and while some of the gapps packagers (such as PA) now offer "micro" gapps packages with most of the unnecessary Google apps installed, the package recommended by CM (as in, linked from their wiki) is a complete one.
This is effectively Google's response to OEMs (especially Samsung) putting on atrocious crapware that was ruining the Android experience for many users. e.g. "this is why OEMs can't have nice things".
One of the biggest issues is that sometimes the OEM crapware would constantly hound you to create an account with the OEMs own ecosystem. Google's stuff, at least, usually doesn't hound you if you click "no" during the initial Google account setup. Samsung, on the other hand, would constantly spam me with persistent notifications until I rooted and removed their crap. Also, OEM/carrier crapware was far more likely to do funky stuff in the background without the user's knowledge/approval than GMS.
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Informative)
This.
The LG G3 I got is preloaded with AT&T bloatware, LG bloatware, and the Google apps. 3 maps programs. One is useful. I see this more as a whipping tool to all the manufacturer and carrier garbage hard baked in the latest ROMS.
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This.
The LG G3 I got is preloaded with AT&T bloatware, LG bloatware, and the Google apps. 3 maps programs. One is useful. I see this more as a whipping tool to all the manufacturer and carrier garbage hard baked in the latest ROMS.
It wouldn't be so bad if they would at least make the crapware removable without having to root your phone first!
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Informative)
In current Android builds, you can disable virtually all pre-installed apps. They can not be "removed" because the APK files are embedded in a single ROM partition, not the same storage location as downloaded apps. Disabling them is good enough though. They cannot run. They're out of the way. They're removed from any app lists. They're effectively gone, with only their package remaining on the static file system.
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While its been years since I bumped up aganst filling up my laptop or desktop hard drives, I often bump into filling my phone storage. I suppose I should spring for a 32G-64G microSD since my phone is capable of that, but still. Out of the way isn't quite the same as not on my phone and not taking up megabytes of precious storage. It is a slight improvement, but a better one still would be decoupling manufacturers and carriers from the OS entirely.
Re:It's sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, some of the google apps are considered bloatware by some of us.
The constant nagging to sign up for Google+, the automatic creation of accounts and the like.
I prefer to use YouTube anonymously, if at all. Not so long ago on my Nexus 7 tablet, the app decided that I must have intended to sign up for a YouTube account and created one for me ... YouTube had its data cleared and was immediately disabled.
Google has been a little too pushy with some of their services. I don't want your damned Google+, I'm not interested in it ... stop telling me I need the damned thing.
I agree the proprietary bloatware is crap, and that's why I bought a Nexus branded tablet ... but don't think for a minute Google isn't also doing some annoying things.
Sometimes, just launching one of their own apps can change your account in ways you didn't expect, and don't get told about.
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I just created an empty shell of a google+ account like most people.
I have a feeling this is what is driving google to get away from the mandatory google+ for everything. I reckon half of google+ is empty accounts created to make the prompts go away. To anyone who actually wants to use google+, they add all their friends only to find no actual activity.
Empty shell of a Facebook account (Score:2)
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I don't know. But I created an empty shell Facebook account, my only facebook account, because it is the only way to access a slingbox on Linux. The FB Slingbox app works great. I never created a shell Google acct.
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One of my accounts which I've had for years is definitely not my own name.
Because I use it for different things.
I've been studiously avoiding Google+ because of that stupid real-name policy, because the interweb isn't always a place you want to use your real name.
I understand Google have relaxed the real name requirement for Google+, but I honestly have no idea of what the net benefit of it would be to me.
I'm not interested in Google's vision of social networking everywhere. In fact, I'm actively disintere
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I understand Google have relaxed the real name requirement for Google+
Actually, Google eliminated it rather than just relaxing it.
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I like google+, but I hate having a useless youtube forced on me. Google+ is where friends are. Don't know about facebook, never tried it, probably never will.
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im happy letting google think my sole function in life is to play plants vs zombies.
Don't you get it? You're not supposed to tell Google the truth in a shell account...
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Insightful)
1) Remember when simply bundling IE was a monopoly abuse? Google is behaving in exactly the same way, only corporatism has grown so powerful over the last 15 years that the Overton window extends infinitely off in one direction;
2) There are loads of better options to Google's own apps. The first thing I do on an Android device reset is to install Link2SD and freeze most of the Android apps (and OEM apps, but there are fewer of them);
3) The usual problem is with the base OS not being updateable, and with many built-in apps therefore not being updated either (my Messaging and Browser and Phone apps on Android 2.3.7 have been updated... never).
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1) I think Microsoft also required OEM's to not preload Netscape. Don't think Google does anything like that - though requiring the Google search box in launchers may come close... Plus, Android has not reached anything approaching monopoly status (yet).
2) You prove my point - nothing prevents you from loading alteratives.
3) This does not apply to the Gapps suite - all of which are now upgraded through the Play store.
Anything else?
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1) I think Microsoft also required OEM's to not preload Netscape. Don't think Google does anything like that - though requiring the Google search box in launchers may come close...
I don't think so, Compaq shipped Windows PCs with Netscape preloaded. The real issue back then was Microsoft offered IE for free and Netscape charged a fee for their browser.
Plus, Android has not reached anything approaching monopoly status (yet).
Really? They pretty much own the global market for smartphones.
2) You prove my point - nothing prevents you from loading alteratives.
That's irrelevant, nothing ever prevented you from loading Netscape on your Windows PC either.
For what it's worth I don't think there's anything wrong with Google doing this, so long as you can install alternatives there should be no issue, but then that's what I thought ab
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No, that wasn't the anti-trust issue, that was exclusivity partner agreements.
And that was what I consider the real issue. I don't give a damn if MS installed IE on those computers I was forced to buy with an MS operating system on them. It was trivial enough to install another browser, but unless I wanted to take the time to build my own computers from parts and then have basically no warranty on the system as a whole, I had to pay MS for their OS. And that points out that having an MS OS on the system wasn't the issue, it was having to PAY for the privilege.
And you ought to know
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In this instance, the more Google succeeds, the better the products are.
Hardly. I like Android. But I'm not such a big fan of Google.
The play store being installed is fine, and I'd actively like maps installed.
I readily accept that the phone should come with email and a browser but I prefer other browsers to chrome and actively despise the gmail app. So I'd like to be able to easily remove both once I've got something else in place.
I also have no use for hangouts, or google+, play newstand, and I'm not even
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Insightful)
So you're saying it's a case of, "Google, products so good you need to be forced to use them?"
If they're so much better, manufacturers would simply choose them by default.
Sorry, but this is blatantly just a play out of Microsoft's old playbook ... by the day Google are behaving more and more like Microsoft used to, bullying everyone into using their products.
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And if Microsoft required something similar, you'd be crying the same thing, right?
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
No. The problem with Microsoft was the Office lock-in with proprietary file formats.
Re: Apples and Oranges (Score:5, Insightful)
You couldn't be more wrong... the point made by Anonymous Coward (no, not you... the first Anonymous Coward) is valid and is informed by legal precedent set during the Microsoft anti trust case.
So, just to set the record straight... if Jonny Ive and Craig Federighi decide to screw Dan Riccio over by making onerous demands that the hardware engineering team much comply with in order to qualify to run the next version of iOS, the worst that could happen would be that Apple could have no new hardware to ship their fancy new operating system on next year. There would be howls of protest from investors, mobile network operators and customers... but Apple would be the biggest loser... not their competitors.
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Android and the MS case aren't even comparable. It's like comparing oranges to trucks.
Apple can make demands on the phone companies, and Apple can make changes to the carriers don't move any device. This would hurt more then just Apple.
Re:It's sad (Score:4, Funny)
Just continuing the tradition of other apples in human history...
Android version req - long time coming (Score:4, Interesting)
I think that the requirement to ship recent Android versions was long time coming and is sorely needed. The other applications aren't that much of a drain, I don't think, other than taking up some of the "native" storage. Low end devices (say a $100 tablet) that often only have 1G of built-in storage will be thus strained more. Yet storage prices keep falling, so I don't see it as that much of a problem. Cost-wise, soldered-on flash is anyway cheaper than a microSD card that has to have extra packaging and a separate controller chip.
Re:Android version req - long time coming (Score:4, Insightful)
How is this not crapware that you are apologizing for? It was the scourge of the PC industry, we should not be welcoming it in mobile to a greater extent than it exists already.
I agree with you that the requirement to ship recent Android versions is absolutely needed, but 20 different applications sounds awfully overbearing.
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It depends on what the apps are. For example, the text message interface may be counted as one of the 20 "apps" but it is a requirement for a functional phone.
The alternative is not a crapware-free phone (Score:4, Insightful)
The alternative is a phone filled with either the OEM's additions, or the carrier's crappy branded apps.
The cleanest phone you can buy is probably the Nexus 5.
Those of us who want more control will be smart buyers and purchase hardware that is easy to load with custom ROMs, then we can decide exactly how much of gapps we want.
Re:The alternative is not a crapware-free phone (Score:4, Informative)
The alternative is a phone filled with either the OEM's additions, or the carrier's crappy branded apps.
The cleanest phone you can buy is probably the Nexus 5.
Those of us who want more control will be smart buyers and purchase hardware that is easy to load with custom ROMs, then we can decide exactly how much of gapps we want.
The 2013 MotoX is probably the closest second. I haven't had a look at the 2014 MotoX, but I certainly hope they carried on the tradition.
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By taking the apps out of it, it allows them more control on the functionality of the phone, even if the
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Same was true with VZ Navigator. On one of my old phones (Blackberry), there was a fully functional GPS chip, that only worked if you paid the monthly fee. It is one of the reasons I'll never use VZ ever again. Verizon isn't just satisfied being largest carrier, it also wants to extract every penny it can from its customers.
I hate them.
Re:Android version req - long time coming (Score:5, Informative)
but 20 different applications sounds awfully overbearing.
The reason this sounds overbearing is that not all apps are immediately customer visible. Consider looking up the Play Store and search by the vendor Google Inc. and you'll get a lot of things that your phone already has by default without you realising:
Search
Text-To-Speech Engine
Chrome
Youtube
Play
Maps
Drive
Keyboard
Voice Search
Google Now
Google Cloud Print
These apps are already part of nearly every Android install as it is. Some of the rest of the 20 can be due to Google's (IMO silly) decision to split Play store content by type:
Play Newsstand
Play Books
Play Movies
Play Games
Play Music
So what is really left? 4 apps? I probably won't notice or care if 4 additional apps are installed on my phone, especially if it eliminates some of the crapware that already comes with it.
Not all "crapware" is "crapware" when you realise that they are functions of a system that you already use. i.e. do you consider the Windows Print Spooler crapware too? As usual the article is sensationalist and people are freaking out.
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but the stupid google apps re-enable themselves, chewing up my precious rmemory and making my phone sluggish garbage.
The only thing you may be in the minority about is knowing how Android works. Do yourself a favour and load some debugging tools and find out just how many of your precious resources these apps take up. For some of the ones you don't want, think of them as APIs. Google TTS for instance does nothing unless called upon.
Googles "don't be evil" policy died several years ago and it's progressively getting worse.
Infact I've got to be honest, at this point, I haven't seen them do ANYTHING cool or amazing or "oh man, those amazing guys, god they are so great!" in several years, just worse and worse shit.
I genuinely believe they are worse than Microsoft ever was at this point.
Never go full retard man.
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And many device manufacturers prefer to enhance their revenue stream and monetize your experience.
The market never gets to choose.
Because the market is always skewed in favor of the people who control the market.
And they don't want it to be free and open, they want your money and ad impressions.
The manufacturers don't give a damn what you or the market wants.
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You do have the option to disable these apps, however. My phone came with a bunch of Google Play Music/Games/News shit I don't want, and Google+ stuff. The apps are all disabled, now, excepting a few that I do use such as the actual Play store, gmail, etc.
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Re:Android version req - long time coming (Score:5, Informative)
You can disable pretty much all Google services and they won't occupy any RAM (System Memory) when you do so. I thought that was like Android 101. Just because those apps are stored on the Flash doesn't mean they have to be running. You also don't need to update them if you don't use them - go to Settings, Apps, go through all Google apps that you don't use and [Uninstall Updates] followed by [Disable] on each one of them. You need to disable automatic app updates as well, otherwise the apps will get updated and will occupy the Internal Memory (FLASH).
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You want an N900 or its successor, the Neo900 (which is basically a community-developed board designed to go into an N900 case with a faster CPU, better cellular modem and some other hardware improvements) Runs full linux (including X) and is close to the most hackable phone available.
N900 is available now if you look online for a second hand model and Neo900 is currently at the advanced prototype stage.
This is aimed at carriers like Verizon Wireless (Score:5, Informative)
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Have you ever tried to use Bing?
Why preinstall? (Score:2)
Re:Why preinstall? (Score:4, Insightful)
Because then most people would never install most of the apps, and Google needs as many people to install this stuff as possible in order to compile the most complete dossier on you that they can.
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What's the benefit of baking all these apps into the system partition? I've found that even after an OTA update, most have been replaced by newer versions in the data partition within a few weeks.
... because you won't receive a notification that you can update a non-existent app. As long as I can remove what I don't want and install what I want, what's the big deal? For example, I don't use Google Music, but it's only taking up 14 meg, so I'll just leave it installed. If you're worried about space issues, take the plunge and delete something useless like the Facebook apps. Unless, of course, you like Facebook.
My point is that most phones come with a decent amount of storage, and one 20-second
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Why all the separate PLAY apps? (Score:2)
I use the PLAY store to get apps, and it has a bunch of other stuff integrated like music and movies that I ignore. That's fine. Buy why are there now all these separate PLAY apps? What's the point?
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Might as well do one better (Score:2)
So when does GOOG get an EU lawsuit? (Score:5, Insightful)
When they a) unlawfully b) abuse c) monopoly d) an (Score:5, Informative)
Microsoft was busted for abusing their monopoly power to engage in unlawful, anti-competitive practices.
For example, in Microsoft internal emails, executives discussed the fact that they understood they were hurting their own company, in order to hurt the competitor more. It's okay to try to make your product better than the other guy - that's competition. Intentionally making your product worse, in order to cause compatibility problems for the other guy, is not okay.
99.99% of the time that's self-regulating - most companies can't go around intentionally harming their own company and products or they'll go out of business. A monopoly is a special case. In 1996 Microsoft had 99% share of the desktop market. Therefore they could intentionally damage the computer industry, costing themselves $4 billion, if by doing so they'd cost Netscape $3 billion and put Netscape out of business. Any ordinary company purposely costing themselves $3 billion would be committing suicide, but for a monopolist losing $4 billion in order to make your much smaller competitor go out of business is a "smart" move. That kind of thing is why there are laws about what a monopoly power can do and not do.
Android has 51% of the market. They aren't a monopoly. If Google purposely creates a problem that makes Android worse, in order to also cause a problem for iOS, Microsoft would be jumping for joy. Microsoft only has 3.5% of the market, but they also have $380 billion to spend taking advantage of anything stupid Google might do.
So Google isn't a monopoly, and their actions are competitive, not anti-competitive (in the legal sense).
Do you also wonder about the difference between what Hans Rieser did and what Miley Cyrus did at the MTV awards?
Google IE 6 (Score:3)
Google Intertubes Exploder 6 (TM) is tightly integrated with your Andoid operating system. Attempting to uninstall it will void your warranty, the screen will get scratched, the phone will prank call your Aunt, the battery will burst into flames, and you will get a bad case of athlete's foot.
Fine, as long as I can delete them (Score:2)
And, as long as Google is forcing the OEM's to pre-load Google apps, why don't they force all apps to be deletable?
When space gets tight (and this time will always come), I should be able to delete any app I am not using.
Knee Jerk Reaction? (Score:3)
Has anyone seen the list of required apps?
Are the apps on the list required to run the phone?
Is this story a knee jerk reaction to incomplete information?
Is this story click bait so people will sign up to theinformation.com?
Double edged sword (Score:3)
Getting less of Google crapware will be nice, but i fear that the OEMs not compliant enough to carry the google bloat, will create their own much more bloated and crappier crapware
Not suprrising really (Score:3)
I don't have a problem with this... (Score:2)
In return for a free (and Free) OS, and a free suite of half-way decent applications, Google is asking to be "paid" in the form of some prominent exposure on the phone. Did anyone think Google was providing all this stuff out of the goodness of their hearts? Of course they aren't... the whole reason Android exists is to get you using services that feed Google more information about you, which they then sell; it's kind of their entire business model.
If an OEM doesn't like this, they still get to use the OS
It's not forced bundling with the OS. (Score:3)
People aren't being forced to install the GMS to sell an Android phone. They are, however, being forced to install the entire GMS or none of it. There's no unbundling of just one or two apps and leaving the rest uninstalled. So if you want to sell an Android that has for example the GMail app or the Google+ app (or the Play Store app, which is the big clincher) then you have to install the others.
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I actually find myself liking google keep. I wanted a simple thing to make quick on-the-fly lists/notes.. and it delivers.
Calendar isn't bad either.
I find hangouts kinda clunky, but I use it because it's what was there and seems to work.
ColorNote (Score:2)
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I actually find myself liking google keep. I wanted a simple thing to make quick on-the-fly lists/notes.. and it delivers.
Google Keep is nice. Sucks that there's no public API, though.
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I would consider the camera, dialer and play store apps as part of the OS.
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And Google probably counts the entire list as part of the OS.
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It's probably referring to Hangouts, Google+, Keep, Play Books, Play Music, Play Movies, Play Newsstand, Chrome, Currents, Earth...
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This is from my head, so I'm sorry if it's not complete or includes apps not considered part of the GMS suite.
Other than Gmail, Play Store, Youtube, and Maps I can think of:
Play Music, Play Books, Play Games, Play Movies & TV, Play Newsstand, Google search, Google voice search, Google Translate, the Chromecast app, Google+, Google Now, Drive, Chrome, Hangouts, and Google Wallet.
That's nineteen of the twenty I guess. I don't really use the movies/tv app or the newsstand app. The rest I do to some extent
Disabled (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Disabled (Score:5, Interesting)
Is there a reason why these programs can only be "disabled," not "removed?"
Root it (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Root it (Score:5, Informative)
This is why mobile space computing devices will always be toys in my eyes. They system designed to dictate how you suppose to use it. Sure, with enough effort you could bypass and regain control that should have been there from the beginning.
As for quoted response - imagine buying a PC during 90s era where you didn't have enough permission to uninstall AOL. Plus you'd get prompted for AOL credentials to use unrelated productivity software. Even MS in its prime wasn't that evil. Google, on other hand...
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I've noticed Samsung does this. Their own online store will still check for updates to disabled apps and if one is found, update and enable the app.
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Yeah, so they can re-enable them later when you're not looking...
Google does not do that.
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Re:Disabled (Score:5, Informative)
Android devices have a read-write partition and a read-only partition. Out-of-the-box apps go in the read-only partition. There are several reasons for this, one of which is safety --- you can nuke the entire read-write partition and be sure of (a) getting a working factory reset phone and (b) that all user data has been deleted.
If an app's in the read-only partition, then it obviously can't be removed. (Although you can install updates --- the new versions go in the read-write partition and override the read-only one.) All you can do is mark it disabled.
(Of course, if you've rooted your phone, you can remount the read-only partition as read-write and tinker with it to your heart's content. I do this to move updated apps into the read-only partition to save space in the read-write partition. But that only works on rooted phones.)
Re:Disabled (Score:4, Informative)
Because the /system partition is read-only. Removing the apps will screw up OTAs and/or make them MUCH more complicated and difficult to test.
Once disabled, removing them has zero benefit. Free space in /system gains a user nothing whatsoever since, as stated before - it's read-only.
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Of course you can. You just wouldn't get the apps back afterwards.
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Annoyingly, some of them can't be directly disabled.
You need to uninstall updates to get it back to a lower version, and then disable it.
I've seen several of the core Google apps which can't simply be disabled.
It's kind of annoying.
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True. My Android phone has no Google account, so I disabled Google Account Manager, Google Bookmarks Sync, Google Contact Sync, Google One Time Init, Google Play Magazines, Google Play Movies and TV, Google Play Music, Google Play Store, Google+, Market Feedback Agent, and Picasa Uploader. No major problems.
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For the time being, I can still legally get rid of the crap I don't want and install anything I do on my nexus. It's what makes google the least shitty in a pile of shitty options imo.
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Yeah, this is the correct answer. There's a lot of crap on my phone that I'd have murdered if I had genuine administrator access to it, like I do my PC. Nowadays it's weird to think there was a time I liked google products.
not Alright... (Score:4, Interesting)
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worse than crapware (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, it is crapware, at least as I see it. I have no use for social media sites and I'm not a 13 year old girl, so I'm never going to use anything named "Hangouts". If I have to have it installed on my device and I'm never going to use it then it is crapware.
I'm also never going to buy DRM infested books and audio, and if I have to have DRM in my video at least I'm going to buy it on a real piece of physical media, not as a low bit rate crippled download that can go away or might even be taken away at a whim. So the apps that deal with Google selling me stuff that I'll never ever buy are crapware to me.
But it is worse than the crapware installed on a laptop. While the manufacturers think nothing of selling a laptop with an undersized hard disk ad then filling that disk space with crapware, at least I can uninstall the crapware on a laptop and recover the space. On Android, by Google's own design, you can't simply uninstall the crap that has been pre-loaded on your tablet. Significant amounts of very limited flash memory get taken up and are not recovered by a simple uninstall. Even worse, the crap runs, taking resources, and even gets updated, taking more resources and risking an update that might introduce a problem to the tablet, all for software that I didn't want in the first place.
If Google would simply allow this stuff to be easily removed from an Android system, then I could support their requiring the vendors to include it with a new system. But until that happens, it is another case of Google being evil.
Re:worse than crapware (Score:5, Informative)
Hangouts is not just IM. It is also a fully functioning VOIP client, especially if you use gVoice. Really handy when you don't want to give out your Cell number, but want them to be able to call you. Don't dismiss it, if you don't use it. The fact it also does IM, and Video IM (similar to Skype/GotoMeeting) is also nice. And the ability to do desktop sharing has caused me to almost stop using TeamViewer.
It has finally become a very useful application.
I find it funny that a number of people who "don't want to be tracked" are using Smartphones at all. The only way to "not be tracked" is go all Unibomber and live off the grid.