All Posts • Charles Harries

Wednesday, 10 Aug 2022 7:30 pm | Stream

Meta's in-app browser tracking

Counterargument to yesterday's post about PWAs vs. native apps: Instagram and Facebook are injecting tracking scripts to their in-app browsers! It looks like they're doing this by using a webview, rather than the embedded Safari view, to show the web within the Instagram/Facebook app.

This is eminently not a problem if you're using Instagram or Facebook in the browser, rather than using the mobile app. Similarly, if you use the "Open in Browser" option for links in Instagram/Facebook, they won't be able to track you there, either. The tracking code is only embedded in webviews launched by the Instagram/Facebook app.

Obviously blame lies at least a little bit with Apple for making this sort of thing possible—which sort of works at cross-purposes to their argument that Safari is the only viably secure browser on iPhones.

(Interestingly, this tracking behaviour isn't found on the in-app browser on WhatsApp—another Meta property.)

Web Security Apple Apps

Killing usbd

On the rare occasions that I plug my iPhone into my computer (a 2015 MacBook Pro), the phone will usually connect and disconnect rapidly, buzzing every couple of seconds as the phone is discovered and undiscovered, not charging. Most SEO-optimised posts online ask you to reset your System Management Controller or completely format your phone, which is not practicable. Instead, I've found that restarting the usbd service fixes the issue. You can do it on the command line but I've found it easier just to open Activity Monitor, search for "usbd", and kill it from there.