While Spotify crashing on launch may be a nuisance, this also affects life-critical apps crashing on launch. Our forensic analysis [1] found that half of the top 21 iOS safety apps send data to Facebook, and last time this happened back in May we spot-checked some of these safety apps and they were all crashing on launch. The SDK is typically included for ad attribution/tracking, not Facebook login, so it wouldn’t even be visible to the end user, and there’s no way to disable it.
Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this. I absolutely understand your concerns and I would be equally skeptical if I was reading this. Ultimately, anyone is free to repeat this analysis independently and see for themselves. Everything presented in our report is evidenced, recorded and cross-checked very extensively over a long period of time in anticipation of this. You'll also notice that we try to include as many references as possible to independent analyses and articles
Re manipulation of app pool, we searched very extensively both on our own and using outside services like AppFollow and AppFigures to get global rankings and these really were the top 20 we could find. You'll see that by the last one, we are reaching single-digit ratings, so we capped it at that. There are some other apps that match the "safety" keyword, but are not relevant to this study. For example an enterprise app for managing OSHA reports or a passive police scanner. If you can point us to an app that should be on the list, we will happily update this
Re more disclosure, this definitely should be read critically and with the understanding that we are one of the people in the space. From my point of view, I see the word "Parachute" on the URL, nav bar logo and author before getting to the title of the blog post. If you have a suggestion on how to better elucidate this, please let me know. We do believe that companies have the right to shine light on something, even if it's in the space in which they operate, but the reader should be fully aware of this at all times
Hi HN! I'm Marinos, engineer and Parachute founder
We originally developed Checkup as a way for changemakers around the world to alert their colleagues and loved ones in case they suddenly "go missing". However, we realized that, amid COVID-19, others can also benefit from this powerful feature, and today we are making it available to everyone on Parachute
Unlike apps that do 24x7 location sharing, Checkup keeps your location history private, and only releases it in the event you fail to mark yourself safe. This conditional release allows you to get the life-saving benefits of others having access to your location, but without having to sacrifice your privacy 24x7
Parachute is an independent, VC-free, tracker-free personal safety app with 4600+ 5-star reviews from around the world
Happy to hear your thoughts and answer any questions. You can also email me directly at [email protected]. Stay safe, healthy and sane
I've had an office/desk at WeWork in NYC since 2014 (although I almost never use it any more). It's been interesting to see WeWork's evolution through the years.
At the beginning, there was a lot of emphasis on community building, almost acting like a fake incubator with "WeWork Labs" (which has since shut down). The same pattern would repeat itself: new ambitious founder moves in (typically ex-Deloitte-type-person), would talk a strong game about how they're changing the world and reinventing and revolutionizing. Would have loud meetings in the conference rooms and loud fundraising calls in the phone booths that everyone would overhear and supposedly be envious of how much funding they are about to get. They would always be asking around about 'connecting' them to people who can build this app idea that they have, and how much it costs to build an app. Then, 6 months later, you would look at their desks. Empty. They were gone. We would never hear from them or see them again. I have seen this cycle repeat countless times. Starting around 2016, WeWork shifted its its efforts towards leasing to larger businesses instead of small startups or individuals. For example, last month my friend was given notice that they need to move because because a new company is renting the entire "dedicated desk" area (about 80 desks).
I found it to be a very bad environment for a coder to be in. The offices are all right next to each other and the only thing separating them is a single pane of glass. Typically, 80% of the offices are occupied by loud sales-type people, who are yelling on the phone to their "overseas developers". Even if you're wearing headphones, it's pretty annoying. Especially when their conversations reveal how terrible their products and businesses are. When everyone is working at the same company, open-office-style environments are easier, because there's a level of respect among coworkers. But when you're surrounded by other companies, it's very hard to enforce.
So, bottom line, if you're there to meet interesting people or be surrounded by quality companies, you will be disappointed. And if you're there to code in a quiet environment, better to stay at home.
It's easy to hate on WeWork. But WeWork offers a few things that are very hard to match. First, design. You get an office space and environment (furniture, rooms, common spaces, food, snacks, coffee) that feels like you're working at a large fun tech office, which would be impossible to replicate if you just leased a commercial space on your own. Second, consistency. I can go to any WeWork in the world and I know exactly what it's going to be like — what the conference rooms will look like, how to book a day desk, how to print, etc. I know that it's going to be a good environment to have a client meeting or to do work, and I won't be let down. Third, flexibility. Most leases are month to month, and so it's very easy to move to different neighborhoods and offices (I've switched buildings 3 times). Good design, consistency and flexibility should not be discounted. I know I can rely on WeWork wherever I go. And so that's why I've still kept an office there as a pied-a-terre even though I almost never use it anymore
I started Parachute [1] by accident when I won the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015 Hackathon with its first prototype. I dropped everything else I was doing and launched it right here on HN a few months after that [2]. Today it's a healthy business without having taken a single cent of VC funding. I'm the only one full time on it, and it's made possible by relying heavily on a network of amazing friends who are each responsible for specific subprojects within their areas of expertise. Everyone is geographically distributed and I spend 9 months a year in NYC and the remaining 3 months traveling
Cheers to all the amazing engineers here who run ethical, douche-free, sustainable businesses
Can you give a few examples?
> none of them had ads
The comment was about the Facebook SDK being used for ad attribution, not that the apps themselves have ads.