Aqua Mail is spying on us.

[Mukossan]

Still eating popcorn and enjoying the entertainment...

[arf8]

A new release and crickets on the checkbox and deliberate spying/tracking!

Must be like trump hiding in the bunker avoiding all scrutiny.

[Nedialko Kondev, MobiSystems, AquaMail Support]

Still eating popcorn and enjoying the entertainment...

You made my day, thank you for seeing the silly side of things

A new release and crickets on the checkbox and deliberate spying/tracking!

Must be like trump hiding in the bunker avoiding all scrutiny.

This is not a bug and if it is, it's not reproducible. Maybe some edge case or we're missing something specific? We installed an older version of the app (on Android 9 & 10), went back to 1.23 > we did not disable anything there > then started updating > from version 1.25 we disabled the checkboxes > these stayed disabled after every update.
 
If you can give us the exact steps to reproduce this, please do.

[Justin]

I never had an issue with re-enabled checkboxes.

But unfortunately my question about "firebaseinstallations.googleapis.com" was ignored:
https://www.aqua-mail.com/forum/index.php?topic=7964.msg44806#msg44806

[arf8]

How convenient, you can't reproduce it even though multiple users reported it

Here is an idea get some competent developers that don't rely on spying and tracking to debug code. Like the thousands of apps on play who don't use it and have far more complicated code than a simple email app!

[dwolf]

Wow.. okay, now I am really thinking I made a big mistake with this app. I only chose it bc it was one of a few that supports identities (which I can't get to work) and it was privacy and security friendly.. which seems to NOT be the case. If you are using google firebase APIs AT ALL... you can't call your app private or secure. That is just a simple and plain fact. And yes, I AM a developer. I don't use any of these APIs and it does not hinder my ability to develop apps, or debug apps. Google firebase is not private, not even in the slightest.

But I also find it troubling to see the company responding with such arrogance and defensiveness. Even worse, when confronted with the truth, the answer was "we're not going to remove it". That was enough for me to hear.

Uninstalled. Will stick with K9 until something better comes along.

[arf8]

This company can care less about privacy.  Like you said we all know what firebase from google is used for.

[PhilK]

This company can care less about privacy.  Like you said we all know what firebase from google is used for.

I'm a longtime Aquamail user and signed up for the forum today because for the first time in a long time I had an issue I need to address.

But I could not avoid seeing this trainwreck of a thread by gratuitously disrespectful and dramatic people that seem to be spoiled by what appears to be relative freedom in this vendor forum compared to most I've seen in the last 20 years.

First of all: anyone truly concerned with privacy should either heavily modify Android to cut down on what amounts to the most spying OS in the world in stock form, or avoid Android entirely.

Regarding Firebase in particular: it is the latest element of Google's longstanding effort to armtwist developers into including various proprietary, closed-source blobs into their apps in order to maximize Google's control and tracking of users and the user experience.

Firebase was originally a 3rd-party tool for analyzing app behaviour, but over the last few years after Google purchased that company, they have increasingly folded more and more functionality into it (eg push messaging) which used to be separate components, and by blending them all together, including components that are essential for almost any app which wants to be included on Google Play, Google gets to armtwist developers into including all the other, potentially unnecessary and unwanted parts, many of which feed tracking data to Google constantly. (Eg, a developer used to be able to just include the push messaging, otherwise known as C2D messaging or Google Cloud Messaging) and leave the analytics part out, but now the Cloud Messaging part is called Firebase Cloud Messaging and it's thoroughly intertwined with Firebase Analytics and so on.)

Every year Google forces app devs to continuously update their target API level or else be threatened with having their apps kicked out of Gplay entirely. Thing is, often times those newer API levels prescribe certain services that are not privacy-friendly. This is the Google way, this is the Google business-model.

I for one am grateful to see that the staff here are even entertaining such aggressive complaints in their public fora, most companies would have shut it down long ago. It seems from what I am reading here that they have actually made some positive changes in respect to trackers to the code as well. That's great!

But amongst that, people would rather refuse to make a trivial effort to help by sending the logs requested, while continuing to berate the company. Smdh.

[arf8]

I'm not going to debate your comments, there's a lot of misinformation, just end it

[PhilK]

  

[Nedialko Kondev, MobiSystems, AquaMail Support]

 

Did you manage to resolve the issue? Please contact us via the help center here: https://www.mobisystems.com/help-center/aqua-mail/

Or directly email use at support@aqua-mail.com with the details.

[grosOurs]

Hello,
I am *not* responding to this forum’s line of discussion, I am writing this personal point of view about another topic ended more than *two years* ago (topic 7013) :
What’s the “good” about having a “pro version” with a different build from a “free version” one?

I am sorry to say that Kostya Vasilyev, Nedialko Kondev, MobiSystems, Aqua Support, Aqua Dev Team, aren’t my heroes today : They just missed *one* point to be everybody’s heroes tomorrow.

@Nedialko : You said it yourself : “I didn’t want this to happen, but it happened”

You are the “good ones”, but you are not “alone in the world”, and when We start playing with Your “good old” app, many things (accorded by the operating systems, the many libs, many dependencies) also “start playing” before You get an hand on the “option” (I do like that word … it’s funny !) in the settings panel of the app that says : “Hold on, stop that crap; I don’t need that in my life”.
We (your –futur- customers) cannot wait anymore that, we all understand that,
even if you think you can “handle and control” such situations as “How come the default value for that option button changed again ? Who did that ? I didn’t want this to happen !”, 
there is and will be too many “slightly different interests” from FireThatThing.com helper libs and others,
... “good guys” or “bad companies” THAT IS NOT THE POINT, ...
that Your software reputation and access to Our private data, equipment … and life … are depending on.

We need and You can provide with your business  model :
-   A “free version” that provides interests, new ideas, financial support through ads, etc.
-   A “pro version” that ensure security and no “unwanted” behavior (and we mean NONE)
A “pretty good” solution (proposal), 2 years ago by CTK, liquid_ter, etc., if I can resume was :
-   It’s “so easy” to build two different packages (pro version/free version) that if You DON’T DO it, you will be RESPONSIBLE for the current situation where “many things” are out of control.

[grosOurs]

I’d like you (I am begging you in fact)
to have a “second thought” about building TWO (and even more later on, when all dev team will have more tools 😊 to manage such) versions of your software:

-   A free version with “all goodies” from “anywhere” if you want, with “limitations” that you’ll try to keep in line with your “best wishes” … and “ads”

-   A “pro version”, built in a very different way :
o   That is “a separate built” from the “free version”
o   That has no option, no code what-so-ever to “fix” to prevent “unwanted” behavior “belonging to the free version” ….. Don’t think twice : If “it can happen”, “it will one day or another”, If “it is not depending on us”, “it will happen one day for sure !”

-   A “pro version”, that can have an option in its settings panel (off by default 😊) :
o   To let “willing” customers accept to send reports :
     Crash -> Dump -> Send -> YOUR dev Team  to help us having “great experience” by feedback to YOU through FireThatThing helper libs
o   It is OK ! Sent only to your team  !!! because if the libs aren’t open-source, You will ask FireThatThing.com a “commercial license to use” of THEIR “pro version” !!!! … that one (of course !) that DOESN’T contain ANYTHING “not needed” in the “pro version”
(that is … a different built from their “free version librairies”)… and so on.

-   A “pro version” that meets the US-EU Privacy Shield Act for personal data AND email content:
o   That’s “less powerful” than what a good spirit could imagine as “wonderful”
o   But when your customers are buying that “pro version” … they KNOW for sure that Your software won’t “by mistake” (“oups, that option changed state, how come ?”)
“Take care” of their personal data in a “unwanted” and “unwilling” way.

-   A “pro+ version” that does all the “I need that sugar function and more”
o   Less “privacy”
o   More functionalities and “goodies”
o   Clearly stated : Good reputation

@ Nedialko : Please, please, give it a try. Could change the world around you.
Have a nice day (and see the good side of things).
Best regards,
Eric