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Since-Pulled Cyanogen Update For Oneplus Changes Default Home Page To Bing

Posted by timothy on from the just-what-I-wanted-except-wait-huh? dept.

ourlovecanlastforeve writes: Nestled into GSMArena's report on the Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for Oneplus [ Note: an update that the story reports has since been pulled.] is this tasty bite: "...you'll find out that your Chrome homepage has been changed to Bing." Then it's casually dismissed with "Thankfully though, you can easily get rid of Microsoft's search engine by using Chrome settings." as if this were the most normal thing to have to do after an OTA update. Is this the new normal? Has Microsoft set a new precedent that it's okay to expect users to have to go searching through every setting and proactively monitor network traffic to make sure their data isn't being stolen, modified or otherwise manipulated?

50 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. There's an obvious solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hosts files. With 64-bit compatible appropriate hosts file management tools we could prevent the phone from ever connecting to Bing. I think we should hear APK hosts file guy's thoughts about this issue.

    1. Re:There's an obvious solution by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      I think we should hear APK hosts file guy's thoughts about this issue.

      Wasn't some "Lord of Hosts" or something mentioned in the Bible? I, for one, welcome our new hosts files overlords. Or was that someone else?

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    2. Re:There's an obvious solution by davester666 · · Score: 1

      wouldn't be surprised if they pulled a Windows and also helpfully use some hard-coded IP addresses, just so freeloaders like you still pay.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. I like it. It's Subversive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I kind of like a funny in-your-face subversive attack into the monopolist's territory by the underdog.

    Of course, the monopolist is Google and the underdog is Microsoft... except that the rapidly dwindling base of people around here who still think it's 1999 haven't realized that the world has changed out from underneath them. Go whine about the IE 6 monopoly!

    1. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This has nothing to do with whether Google has today's version of Microsoft's desktop monopoly (it doesn't, by the way). it has to do with silently changing a user preference. You might argue that a user doesn't want Google as the default search engine from the start - but if they're buying an Android device, at least they know the default search engine is Google - and they can change it. To quietly change the default without being asked is a whole other thing.

      Mozilla pulled this with its switch to Bing. It wasn't supposed to change the search engine for existing installations - but in some cases, it still did. I've even had it changed back to Bing after having switched it back to Google. Don't know if that happened in response to an update or what, but it's nasty.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    2. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by chmod+a+x+mojo · · Score: 1

      Sharpen your google-fu grasshopper.

      If you ONLY want "hosts file" you search with ""hosts" "file"".

      At least the first five pages of results will only return sites with / about EXACT "hosts file" in matches. No hostsfile, no hosts_file, no hosts/file, or any other combination, and no synonyms results.

      --
      To err is human; effective mayhem requires the root password!
    3. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by rudy_wayne · · Score: 2

      Google search is a natural monopoly as all other search engines that don't use google search return shit results

      The problem is that Google is starting to also return shit results.

      Starting to return shit results? Starting? Where have you been? People have been complaining about Google's shitty search results for at least 5 or 6 year, if not more.

      Problem is that the one that's missing is the key term that I'm searching for, and there's no way I've found to force it to include the term that Google has determined is irrelevant.

      Yes, that's the icing on the cake. Not only does Google ignore what you type, there is no way to make them search for what you actually want.

      As much as I hate all the SEO bullshit, I've learned some things from the SEO guys, one of the main things being that shitty search results are deliberate and by design, in the hope that you'll click on one of the paid ads in order to find what you want. Remember, 94% of Google's revenue comes from advertising.

    4. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      Try something a little more esoteric and you might be surprised at the results. For example, I wanted to see if there was a way to check my Chromebook's file system for problems, so I searched for: chromebook check disk consistency

      The top results were missing the word "chromebook", and were completely useless because they were all for Windows. I modified the search by putting quotes around "chromebook" and a plus sign in front of it. The result? No change. Even turning on "Verbatim" results in the Search Tools gives me top results without the word "chromebook" in it. I can find no way to actually search for the exact terms that I entered.

      Yes. Google has become nearly worthless for many searches.

      I was searching for a particular video. No matter how I entered the query I didn't get anything even remotely close to what I was searching for. I don't mind not being able to find it -- it's old and obscure and it is possible that it just doesn't exist on the Internet. But in that case, I should get zero search results. Not thousands of meaningless and completely wrong results.

    5. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by lgw · · Score: 1

      Google search is a natural monopoly as all other search engines that don't use google search return shit results

      I've never seen a problem with DuckDuckGo results (even though they're mostly Bing), and with "!wa" you get a better calculator than Google's. Google tailors your search results to your search history, so you don't see anything that might make you question your beliefs. Maybe that's why people think it's better?

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    6. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      You might argue that a user doesn't want Google as the default search engine from the start - but if they're buying an Android device, at least they know the default search engine is Google - and they can change it.

      You might argue that users neither care nor know that Chrome is a google product nor care nor know which search engine they are using.

      Every system these days seems to be funded by the default search option. That's why Chrome came into existence in the first place, to change the default search provider.

    7. Re:I like it. It's Subversive. by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      It's not that Chrome came about to change the default search provider. Users could certainly change the provider in IE easier than downloading and installing Chrome. There may have been some consideration towards keeping the ability to change it once Microsoft's antitrust remedies ran out, but Chrome had more to do with making sure the web remained the platform of choice for developers. And that that platform remained consistent and compatible across platforms. And it's worked. Microsoft's monopoly remains, but it's a monopoly on legacy win32 desktop software. And nobody want's to write that any more - largely thanks to Chrome and Safari and, yes, Firefox. Without Firefox, we were in danger of losing a consistent web standard. Without a consistent web standard, the iPhone would've never taken off. Without the iPhone, no Android, no Chromebooks and a much more marginal Macintosh. Seems everybody's benefited, except Microsoft. Oh, they're still doing fine, but they've largely lost the power to control the direction of the industry.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
  3. Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by Lawrence_Bird · · Score: 2

    As another example, in late June they promised final snapshot images of CM11 for all devices. Yet relatively few actually got an update while their build system continued to churn out nightlies. Comments on the original blog post are ignored. Sure we all know it is free but don't promise people something if you have no intention of delivering on it.

    1. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by Mazhe · · Score: 2

      Hell, not even counting the number of devices never updated to CM9... So much for expecting to have a longer phone support through CM, they can be as bad as phone sellers.

    2. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      [...] they can be as bad as phone sellers.

      Except that you never gave them money.

      Which makes you (well, me) wonder why they feel a need to lie.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by Mazhe · · Score: 1

      I doubt they refunded the donations from the people using the phone models they ditched.

    4. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by c · · Score: 2

      So much for expecting to have a longer phone support through CM

      It's hit or miss...

      CM is pretty up-front about this; support for specific devices typically depends on a volunteer/champion who's willing to do the grunt work of testing and patching for that device. If that individual or team loses interest (or their devices croak or they just can't figure out how to work around critical bugs) and nobody is willing to step up and take over maintenance, the device can't be supported.

      Generally speaking, it seems that robust and popular devices get longer support, and devices with major flaws drop support sooner. That's happened to one of mine (the tf700t is a nice device with infuriatingly shitty I/O performance), while my other (purchased a year prior) still gets decent support with CM12.1.

      It's still better software support than what the manufacturer gives you.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    5. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      CM is obviously looking for a business model for monetizing their work. I can't completely fault them for that, but - assuming they're in this because they're open source and/or Android fans - selling out to Microsoft is a pretty lousy choice. Especially since it was Google's open sourcing of the OS that created the opportunity for them to exist in the first place.

      So how about this... Make your business one of supporting as many devices as you can for as long as there are users willing to pay for the support. Yep, charge a small fee for maintaining devices that the OEM's orphan. If necessary, share some of that fee with the makers of hardware components that are otherwise unwilling to provide up-to-date drivers for their stuff - while still letting the public know that they might want to avoid devices with components from that vendor in the future. In short, CM could build a business by mitigating some of the fragmentation issues with Android - rather than stoking the fragmentation.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    6. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by jordanjay29 · · Score: 1

      And sadly, unless you're buying the device well into its shelf life, you don't know about major flaws until they're discovered. At which point, you've just sunk several hundred dollars into a device that you'll need to replace in a couple years to stay on top of the current version.

    7. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by c · · Score: 1

      CM is obviously looking for a business model for monetizing their work.

      I kind of thought that myself, until they screwed OnePlus with the Micromax deal. I understand the details are a bit more complicated, but alienating your most enthusiastic and visible client like that doesn't exactly strike me as something a company trying to make money would do.

      selling out to Microsoft is a pretty lousy choice

      If the goal is to ensure that many (most?) of the current "free" CM users don't turn into "paying" users through Cyanogen OS phone purchases, they certainly hit it out of the park with that decision.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    8. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by c · · Score: 1

      And sadly, unless you're buying the device well into its shelf life, you don't know about major flaws until they're discovered.

      I bought it well into the shelf life in spite of the known problems. The pros at the time outweighed the cons. But I didn't really consider the longevity of the community support. There are still people working on it, but not part of CM, and there are far fewer such projects than many other devices.

      --
      Log in or piss off.
    9. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      The CM Micromax Deal was dreadfully short sighted. While they gained Micromax, they pissed off a whole bunch of people. I would be on ColorOS if it weren't for a missing single feature I use regularly, single button screenshot. If they add that, I'll be off CM for good.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    10. Re:Cyanogenmod has gone downhill a bit by c · · Score: 1

      The CM Micromax Deal was dreadfully short sighted.

      Well, that and the whole "a bullet through Googleâ(TM)s head" nonsense.

      Android is a big pool, but people still don't want to swim close to the guy who's pissing in it...

      --
      Log in or piss off.
  4. Re:Troll is successful by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How is it trolling? What with the spyware that was quietly implemented in Windows 7 and 8.1, it's a perfectly legitimate question.

    My coworker had a problem recently with a bit of malware that kept changing Chrome's search engine to Bing whenever Chrome was installed. It was a bitch to remove it (it was nestled in some obscure registry, and I had to decompile the bastard to find out where). The kicker is that he got it off of a program that Microsoft recommended to him to open a certain file extension.

  5. Re:Troll is successful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Except we knew that was the case and expected that behavior. Now we KNOW they support yahoo and are open about it. That's the difference. Microsoft isn't being open about what it's doing and is get caught with its hand in a lot more cookie jars than it should be.

  6. Re:Troll is successful by cinky · · Score: 1

    google pays mozilla to be firefox frontpage for years = good microsoft pays oneplus for bing to be frontpage = new precedent that's how silly you sound...

  7. Re:Troll is successful by lostmongoose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    google pays mozilla to be firefox frontpage for years = good microsoft pays oneplus for bing to be frontpage = new precedent that's how silly you sound...

    It's one thing to do it on a fresh install, it's another ENTIRELY to change my chosen settings in an update, even more so a setting that has NOTHING to do with how the OS functions or handles data. I can change my homepage in FF and it doesn't get reverted upon updating the software.

  8. Re:Troll is successful by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    It's a shitty precedent and a shitty trend to follow. If you can't see otherwise, then perhaps you should re-evaluate just who the fanboy is.

  9. Re:Troll is successful by LichtSpektren · · Score: 1

    People downloaded Firefox knowing what the default search engine would be. Users of CyanogenMod did not expect an OTA update to fuck with their chosen setting.

  10. What? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    Note: an update that the story reports has since been pulled.

    ...what?

    I know you don't take much care over the summaries in the first place, but you could at least make sure your ammendments make sense.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It makes sense to me. I know; English is hard.

  11. Re:Troll is successful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Not exactly accurate. Firefox changed their default search to Yahoo! a few versions back. Updating your Firefox to that version changed it.

  12. Re:Troll is successful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    People downloaded Firefox knowing what the default search engine would be.

    No, most of them didn't.

  13. Re:Troll is successful by joelsherrill · · Score: 1

    And even if you didn't bother to change it back to Google immediately, the inferior search results quickly will drive you to it.

  14. Say what by kbg · · Score: 1

    Note: an update that the story reports has since been pulled

    I think you accidentally a word.

    1. Re:Say what by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Which of the following do you find hard to understand:

      the Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for Oneplus [ Note: an update that the story reports has since been pulled.]

      Note: The Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for Oneplus is an update that the story reports has since been pulled.

      The Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for Oneplus is an update that, as the story reports, has since been pulled.

      The Cyanogen OS 12.1 update for Oneplus has since been pulled, the story reports.

      The story reports that the update has since been pulled.

      The story reports that the update has been pulled since the story was first posted.

    2. Re:Say what by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      The first one, obviously, because that's what in the summary.

      The problem is with the "Note:" lead-in, which serves to separate the note from the preceeding sentence. It would have been slightly better to just put

      (an update that the story reports has since been pulled)

      But it's problematic regardless. The use of the word "update" is ambiguous, especially coming after "Note:". "Which" would have been a much better word choice than "that." "Reports" is also troublesome to parse, being both a verb and a noun. And so on.

      These are the things a decent news editor should consider when writing anything for public consumption.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  15. Serve your users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    CyanogenMOD users are often of the hacker\tweaker variety. Android enthusiasts are often Google fans, but probably not Microsoft fans. Most of the hacker types I know HATE Microsoft as a residual feeling from their monopoly days. We didn't suddenly just start liking microsoft once they started losing.

    What brain damaged individual thought that Cyanogen users would be happy with Bing? Fuck Bing. No one is clammoring for Bing, least of all, hackers.

    1. Re:Serve your users by Imazalil · · Score: 1

      Accounting?

    2. Re:Serve your users by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Bing
      Is
      Not
      Google

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    3. Re:Serve your users by HiThere · · Score: 1

      It's not residual, and it has less to do with their monopoly than with their business tactics. The monopoly just made their tactics much more abusive. They should have been disbanded as an abusive monopoly, instead they bribed the right politicians and were let off with their wrists being slapped gently with a single wet noodle.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  16. Cyanogen OS is NOT CyanogenMod !!! by itsme1234 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, very confusing I know.

    Cyanogen OS is some kind of bastard commercial branch for OnePlus (and possibly for a few more phones).
    The updates are a complete disaster, not only that you can't just get to OnePlus and easily see what to install and what's the latest version.

    On the other hand the "normal" CyanogenMod you can get for your S5 or many other hundreds of phones is (usually) absolutely fine.

    1. Re:Cyanogen OS is NOT CyanogenMod !!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      As a OnePlus user, this is an amusing and annoying distinction.

      I had used a couple of CyanogenMod's on my phones of yesteryear, and actually really liked their stability and features. While I don't usually have any issues with my OnePlus (at least, any more than any stock Samsung phone), some of those features are sorely missed. The baseline CyanogenMod I used was nicely integrated, assorted apps played well together and shared common interface elements. The OnePlus CyanogenOS feels like a halfway point between CyanMod and Samsung.

  17. Re:Troll is successful by jordanjay29 · · Score: 1

    What if you changed it back to DuckDuckGo?

  18. Similar behaviour as other free Software by slashHandle · · Score: 1

    muTorrent does the same and changes default search engine
    "We are among many products that support the production and distribution of our free software through advertising..." http://forum.utorrent.com/topi...
    That's one way developers of free software get paid ...

  19. Re:Troll is successful by Imazalil · · Score: 2

    It's trolling because it's not Microsoft sneaking into the Cyonagen offices at night and switching search engine providers on their builds. Cyanogen made a decision to use Bing as the default search engine (most certainly cash was involved), but it is still a decision Cyanogen made.

  20. Re: MS Needs SOME Return On Its Investment by Enigma2175 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Google set the precedent for preinstalled spyware. Microsoft, as always, just consolidated on the precedent set by another party. Apple is following along as well, of course.

    WTF are you talking about? MS was pre-installing adware and spyware on computers before Google was even a company.

    --

    Enigma

  21. Re:Android HOSTS editor apk by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

    HOSTS might crash your OS but not your butt hole

    Most useful information ever posted on Slashdot!

    +5

  22. Re:Troll is successful by HiThere · · Score: 1

    That said (and agreed with) Firefox recently changed itself to favor Bing as the default search engine. It was reasonably easy to change back, but it was still a change in existing preferences.

    My suspicion is that MS is paying various companies to do this kind of garbage, and several groups are willing to bend over.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  23. Re:How is this microsofts fault? by HiThere · · Score: 1

    When someone bribes someone else, both the giver and the recipient of the bribe have committed a crime.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  24. Re:How is this microsofts fault? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    When someone bribes someone else, both the giver and the recipient of the bribe have committed a crime.

    Generally, the recipient has committed the greater crime though.

    If a criminal bribes a police officer to reveal the address of a witness so that he can go round and intimidate him, in terms of the public good, it is the police officer who is the worse offender.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it