Google Says Bug With Teams and Android Can Cause 911 Calls To Fail

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• I came here to say exactly this. What the actual fuck? I mean, on Windows I'm used to installing a 600MB Solitaire game and suddenly I can't print because the shit OS allowed the shit software to hook somewhere into the goddamn kernel where it has no business.

  But this sort of thing shouldn't happen on an allegedly secure OS, where I can't even access the data that apps are storing on my device without rooting it because everything is sandboxed.

  Probably what's going on here is Teams is requesting (and getting) Manage Phone Calls permission so that it can, I dunno, coordinate phone calls with calendars or something. Yet another argument for Android having much finer-grained permission controls (e.g. allow an app to see my call records, but do not allow it to fuck with my calls.)

  • Re:

    People make calls through Teams, TextForFree, Google Voice, etc

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    this is the first time I've ever heard someone call Android secure, or even "allegedly secure"

    • 2 hidden comments

    • Re:

      Come now, I'm sure Google calls it that someplace... Besides, "secure" these days seems to mainly refer to protecting the DRM and ad/snitchware from the user.

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    Why would you essentially download a movie to play a game that can be coded in 20 MB or less? Now you know, nothing good comes from that much bloat.

    They are sort-of doing this: The side-load application feature, has gone from a system-wide setting to a per-app setting. The problem is, every time they give you more power, they want to ensure that you can't disable their gMail or Photo Gallery or Calendar applications as well.

    • 580MB of add's and paided add ons

      580MB of add's and paided add ons

    • Re:

      Well, that's a whole separate rant. WIndows seems to be a world where it's acceptable for a printer or GPU driver, or a stupid game that a teenager could write in a single page of Python, to be a 700 MB download.

      They are sort-of doing this: The side-load application feature, has gone from a system-wide setting to a per-app setting. The problem is, every time they give you more power, they want to ensure that you can't disable their gMail or Photo Gallery or Calendar applications as well.

      Yep. As was ment

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    That's it, Teams examines phone numbers when they are dialled and routes them through itself if they are part of the company's IP phone system and it is connected to that network. The idea is to save money on calls while also allowing users to call in from anywhere even if they are not on the company VPN.

    In fact the fine grained controls you are asking for already exist. There is one permission to make and handle calls, another to manage call records, and another to access contacts, and another to send SMS.

    • 1 hidden comment

    • • Re:

        Settings -> Privacy -> Permissions Manager

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  Alternate Dialers would need to have this ability. Otherwise all we Android people would have is the default dialer and the the alternative methods of dialing numbers in apps. That being said, Dialers need to be able to dial 911 REGARDLESS of call status; as in drop ALL other dial/phone operations.

  And what Android user uses Teams and not any of the myriad of other options available. Probably some companies that are embedded deep in Corp Shiil / Gartner land.

  • Re: Why the fuck...

    Teams has 250 million monthly average users. Maybe the occasional Android user installed it to, you know, get some actual work done.

    • Re:

      As a regular Teams user I can inform you that I only ever get any work done when Teams is turned off. People seem to think they can call/chat to you on minutiae just because there's a green status icon next to your name, an issue that's compounded when your company has staff in multiple time zones.

• Powerful ad for iOS

  Google said Microsoft teams is releasing an update? Why the fuck can an app do this in the first place.

  Now you see why I would never in a billion years recommend an Android phone to a non-technical person.

  My wife has to use use Teams for work, it's nice to know she's using a platform where it's not possible for an application bug to override the emergency call system.

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    Seems to be an unpopular opinion here, but totally agree. Slashdotters like to bash on Apple and iPhones but I trust them far more than I can throw Google or Microsoft.

    Do I wish iPhones had basic necessities like removable storage? Sure, but I'd take my 100% working iPhone over an Android any day.