Intro
/ Background:
I
don't blog often but feel I should explain some of the new FaceBook
app strategies and subsequent required permissions for their
installation & use, which have some people “freaked.” Also
discussed will be overall space use vs benefits and a suggestion that
works for me. As a Real Estate photographer in Palm Springs CA, staying in contact using several mediums is important but I also value privacy AND efficiency.
When
I was a child I remember my Dad and I getting into the elevator at
Sears in Del Amo Mall, Torrance. The “Pet Rock” craze was in full
swing, and the 2nd floor was where the elusive pets could
be found & purchased. My Dad overheard people on the lift talking
about them, and said in an overt “loud whisper,” ~ “I hear you
can get little sweaters for them.” THREE people wheeled around and
said “WHERE?!?!” My Dad and I almost collapsed with laughter.
Fads
come and go. I hope you're sitting down, but FaceBook is a fad and it
will probably be the equivalent of “Atari” or “Pet Rock” in
5-10 years. While it's here, people lately have pretty much forgotten the
days of yore when they checked FB on a COMPUTER browser. Now it MUST
be on their phone. I mean for God's sake, if you miss a lolcat or
even worse don't know IMMEDIATELY that Mrs. Nesbitt commented on your
checkin at “The Osso Buco Palace” or recommended a Greek endive
vinaigrette … all will be lost! There would simply be no use in
carrying on. I know precisely ONE person who has built several
business around “FaceBook Networking,” and that's Amy Akins. I'll
provide a link to her Vintage Junque Like Page below. Amy has taken
FaceBook to levels seldom seen, and I marvel almost daily at her use
of it. I think she could run General Motors from FB. MOST people just
don't need that level of “on top of it,” unless of course they're
just plain addicted. In contrast, FB often just gives me a depression
headache after 5 minutes, but yet I'm a Google Plus / Pinterest /
Instagram freak. To each their own.
Permissions,
What They Are, and Why They Sound Scary:
When
you install an app it needs functionality, and therefore access, to
some of your phone's processes. Messenger, for example, now has an
icon of a “telephone,” and you can make CALLS within that
application to people you message. For THAT reason it needs “phone
dialer permission.” You can also have it replace your standard
texting/messaging application .. so oila, it needs “to be able to
read and send texts.” There is nothing Satanic about these
permissions, but starting about 3 months ago (and more recently for
the out of touch) there has been a plethora of fear mongering and
handwringing anxiety about whether installing “Messenger”
violates your privacy.
Personally,
part of my love / hate relationship (mostly the former) with FaceBook
is it's incredible battery usage, bloating footprint on the phone,
and use of RAM resources. As of today the FaceBook app install is
39.4MB .. which when installed becomes close to 90MB. That would be
fine (although it rivals the entire Chrome browser in installed
size). Unfortunately it continues to bloat with “data,” which is
NOT stored in a clearable cache. You can clear the data and sign in
again (basically emulating a fresh install) but that fragments data /
app footprint and could result in slowness or freezing. So best to
uninstall / reinstall, and I found myself doing it once a week.
Within 48 hours it was back to almost 200MB. This is IMO crazy for a
single application. Pages Manager isn't much better, 60MB, but I
understand folks like Amy needing a proper Like Page Manager to
control/edit/manage not one but perhaps several like pages.
Along
comes FaceBook Messenger, which in Facebook's view will soon be the
ONLY way to send/receive messages from FB friends. Messaging will in
all likelihood be removed from the FaceBook app proper. This to me is
a GOOD thing for 2 reasons. 1) Removing messaging from the FB app
itself would reduce its size and probably data storage, make it
leaner/meaner, and probably quicker. 2) Most of us who want immediate
notification of a FB message have had Messenger in addition to the FB
app for a while. It also yields other benefits.
For
months I had all 3: FaceBook, Pages Manager, and Messenger. At a cost
of 300MB footprint and almost 15% (FIFTEEN PERCENT!) of available RAM
being taken up at ALL times while the phone was on. No wonder folks
are having shorter battery life. In another blog soon I'll discuss
services that can be reset to factory and turned OFF to make your
battery last about 20% longer. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, with
an outstanding battery .. and I can see the difference plainly when
these apps are not installed.
So
what to do?
Personally
I've given the “permissions” and KEPT FaceBook Messenger, at a
cost of only 36MB installed with instant messaging notification from
FB friends. I've UNINSTALLED (for now, I often vacillate and
reinstall if I'm using it more often) the FaceBook app and Pages
Manager apps. In doing so, I freed up 13% of RAM, plus 260MB+ of
space, and all my other apps
run better. I don't care how much “free space” you
have. I have 32GB, and 23.5GB still free. I still don't want bloat
where I don't need it. Instead I have a simple bookmark for FaceBook
and use the web version on my phone. Getting back to the pet rock and
FaceBook on our computer .. you know, it wouldn't kill most of us to
spend 30 minutes in the morning and/or evening on a computer viewing
FaceBook. There's nothing in stone saying you HAVE TO check it on
your phone every 5 minutes. The possible exception are people like
Amy who use it as a daily tool .. and so I recommend you allow the
Messenger permissions so you don't miss an important contact.
MANY
APPS require permissions that seem intrusive or weird. Get a QR Code
Reader and it will want camera permission. That doesn't mean it's
taking underwear selfies for you while you're asleep. It needs the
camera to view and decode the QR codes. So it is with Messenger; if
you're allowed to make a phone call from within the app, it's going
to need the phone. You have to allow that. Permissions are not
selective, it's an all or nothing YES or NO. If that bothers you, no
Messenger for you :-) But bear this in mind .. posting an Instagram
pic from home with your GPS & “tagging” on just gave away
WHERE YOU LIVE. That is only one example of a far greater security
risk than the chance the esteemed and brilliant Mr. Zuckerberg is
listening to you ordering a pizza. As for content of your messages,
THAT is where you control your privacy. I have never trusted ANY
messaging service, Twitter, FB or otherwise, in transmitting personal
data right down to a phone number or home address. NO ONE knows where
that text is “stored or looked at” on a server. However,
Messenger requiring permissions to do its job is NOT a security
“threat” in my opinion.
Happy
messaging, thanks for the Osso Buco Palace checkin, I'll be in the
grey raincoat & sunglasses. As Jason Bourne put it so well …
“Get some rest, Pam. You look tired.” ;-p
