Apple and Privacy
If Apple really cared about iOS privacy they would give the user to ability to block any app from reaching the internet. A lot of the iOS apps I used have no need to ping the internet but they all do to gather metrics and do who-knows-what.
Rather than create a complex and unenforceable privacy policy Apple should just let users block the app from using the internet. Or require a certificate to access the internet and don't allow it if the fundamental use of the app isn't to connect to the internet. There is no need for single player games to hit the internet all the time.
I use Little Snitch on the Mac and everything f**king program tries to connect to the internet. I block them all and only a handful fail so, yeah, they don't need to.
If Apple really cared about my privacy they would do this.
Is Google any better? Do they allow you to block an app from reaching the internet?
Imagine reading a book and having 20 people peeking over your shoulder to see what you are doing. Just plain ridiculous.
A few months back a friend needed a new laptop and was wondering about the OS. In the end, Mac and Windows were rejected due to limitations to privacy and control over the system.
I would never have believed that these would be valid decision criteria 20years ago.
"Is google any better?" "Do they allow you to block an app from reaching the internet?"
I was under the impression Ron was writing about his Computer. So with that said I would say the questions are irrelevant, on my computer google is a search engine on a Web page at best and has no business blocking my apps.
I'll assume you're referring to mobiles and tablets. Then I would pretty much say yes, but not by much and my reasoning behind that boils down to Android being open source while Apple is not. They say it's for security reasons which I'm not buying. And no, google doesn't block apps, especially not their own so in that sense google is up there with Apple. Only way to give you back total control over your mobile/tablet is via customized OS via XDA or develop one yourself.
Now I just hope it's on Apple's roadmap.
That's going straight into my quotes file. :)
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/lockdown-privacy/id1469783711



If I was making a RPG like game what was constantly being updated then knowing how players played could be very helpful but I'd be upfront about it and have an option to turn it off.
"If I was making a RPG...". Am I sensing an RPG game under development? If so, that would be interesting indeed. Perhaps in the style of Lord Britishs Ultima series? Now That's a thought 😀
tip top, thank you.

Also.. Considering your previous work and comments Im sure we can trust you would go with something a lot more interesting than the generic fantasy setting.
https://code.visualstudio.com/
Yes, it has a different UI but it is available for Linux, mac and Windows.
VS Code contains Microsoft telemetry/tracking functionality.
There is a forked version, called VS Codium, that doesn't include telemetry.
With iOS 15 Apple now has the "very low power mode" so users will now officially never be able to turn off their iPhone, Apple & partners can locate your turned off phone, access the turned off phone, and turn on microphone/camera on a turned off phone.

but, for the informed, there is a steam group that tries to keep track of what games track & how, and if its possible to block them:
Exposed Connections
aka /groups/exposedconn on steam
i myself have been using gnu/linux for years, and try to remain educated about privacy trends
https://www.jetbrains.com/clion/
Another thing that can help a bit (but possibly take ages to set up!) is running an instance of WireGuard at home (runs fine on a first-gen Pi) or on a cheap VPS, and just keeping your phone connected to it all the time. You can then filter traffic and run things like Pi Hole and it applies to the phone.
I agree with the general sentiment though, we should be able to block apps from accessing the internet altogether, not just on cellular.
In this case of security & privacy I believe you are correct. All those apps in Ios do gather and send data back to Apple with the purpose of "improving" security, which is a bit funny as the method used is unencrypted and can in the end cause more harm than good.
To quote Han-solo "I got a bad feeling about this". I think Apple is loosing it.