Post #1226523
2026-04-16 03:37 UTC
Replies (16)
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@disorderlyf@todon.eu 2026-04-16 03:44
@deviantollam@defcon.social Is it an incorrect assumption this person is either not very tech literate or is tech literate but also way too optimistic?
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@roo@mstdn.ca 2026-04-16 03:49
@deviantollam@defcon.social the share Google thing is a new built in default for Android. You can disable it, but it defaults to on. Link tracking thanks
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@kunsi@chaos.social 2026-04-16 03:53
@deviantollam@defcon.social These "share.google" Links are generated if you share links from the news thingie that's left of the first home screen (idk how its called, i disabled that). There is an option in the settings to disable that, but the sender has to do that. (Apparently that page has a settings menu, again idk i disabled that)
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@wdormann@infosec.exchange 2026-04-16 03:56
@deviantollam@defcon.social Can't any android app register itself to be the handler of any web link, based on what the domain is? https://developer.android.com/codelabs/android-app-links-introduction
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@carraway@sfba.social 2026-04-16 03:56
@deviantollam@defcon.social You (meaning the share-r) can turn that shortner off in the Google app settings, in the "Other settings" section. Shortening has value, but I'm not pleased that it's on by default given the privacy implications.
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@admin@mastodon.slightlycyberpunk.com 2026-04-16 03:57
@deviantollam@defcon.social My Android 15 LineageOS device just opens this in Firefox like any other link, while my inherited stock Motorola Android 11 device opens it in Firefox but then immediately asks if I want to "open in Google" before the page even loads. If I click yes it then pops open the usual app picker asking if I want to use Google or Firefox, and if I say Firefox it immediately prompts again to open in Google :) At first I was thinking maybe Play services intercepting something but might just be pre-installed Chrome associating itself with particular URLs like any other app could...seems pretty obnoxious though lol
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@jpsays@mastodon.social 2026-04-16 04:05
@deviantollam@defcon.social Can confirm, clicking on this demo non-link even here in tusker on an iPhone as well opens the google app to display the contents.
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@Jason844@mastodon.social 2026-04-16 04:28
@deviantollam@defcon.social I'd block that person...
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@Victorsigmoid@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 04:36
@deviantollam@defcon.social the share.google linkage also started happening within chats in the google messages app and it's driving me bonkers. I'm not sure what to tell people to do differently to stop it.
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@skolima@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 07:17
@deviantollam@defcon.social kudos for also having the "Discover" option disabled - it's a cancer, especially for less web savvy folks 🖤
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@retrosponge@kind.social 2026-04-16 08:42
@deviantollam@defcon.social Thank you. I first encountered this bullshit yesterday with a link someone posted on here.
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@CauseOfBSOD@wetdry.world 2026-04-16 09:54
@deviantollam@defcon.social im pretty sure theres also an option in the general android app settings to disable opening supported links in an app, which would probably also work here for preventing the share.google links from opening within google to begin with (although google would still be able to track you with them)
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@stonebear2@hachyderm.io 2026-04-16 11:21
@deviantollam@defcon.social This is also an Android 16-only thing. I checked my -15 phone and no such thingy. Am thinking if I'm lucky I can just stick on -15 until such time as I can /e/OS it...
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@allpoints@mstdn.social 2026-04-16 11:29
@deviantollam@defcon.social That will stop the quick browser nonsense but it's still a valid URL and your default browser will still try to open it. FWIW, GrapheneOS doesn't have the Google assistant nonsense by default. You can add all that stuff back in but runs sandboxed, which is nice. As a security /privacy oriented person, you may find it interesting.
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@phl@mastodon.social 2026-04-16 12:51
@deviantollam@defcon.social I'm so glad Google once again changes something without any notice, for no good reason, for the worse. Edit: I'm on Android 13 and google search settings had both Discover and Shorten on (turned them off now), Open in the app is greyed out as I disabled Chrome on my phone — I've still seen multiple apps switch to embedded browser view recently for no good reason.
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@sova@infosec.exchange 2026-04-24 08:53
@deviantollam@defcon.social it seems the other option is to not have Chrome installed on your device. The option to open the links was grayed out for me because I have an allergy to Chrome. Interesting side note... Disabling the "Google" app on Android does more than just stop their search app from starting. The nearly 400MB app handles Android Auto, Google Voice to Text, and a bunch of other Google stuff you'd assume was in separate apps. I actually hacked my vehicle infosystem to enable the OEM navigation features rather than enable the app and fix Android auto.