Just updated to iOS 26 and a few hours later got this notice about “enchanted 5g” for some apps. I had no idea what it was, so I checked the details and saw that it was automatic enabled and shares info about what apps you use with Verizon. If it wasn’t for this notification I would have no idea this was running.
No thanks. Disable that.
Edit: “enchanted” lol. Meant enhanced.
I looked further into this and I think this is just really bad communication on Apple’s part. This is network slicing and basically lets apps call for a dedicated 5G connection tailored for them.
So if this is on, a compatible app can say, “I’m streaming live video, please prioritize for low latency and packet loss”, or like a navigation app can say “I’m a background service, I don’t care about latency, packet loss, or throughput stability”.
It isn’t sharing exactly what apps are being used, just what type of network service the apps need. So while Verizon might be able to infer what type of activities you’re doing, your actual activity is encrypted and can still be hidden behind a VPN. This seems like it’s just for better network stability and speed, and I wouldn’t consider it a violation of privacy.
On iphone! I expect this behavior on a $49 TCL Walmart phone for Boost Mobile!
It’s become a pretty standard practice on Apple, Samsung, and Google devices as well as many other Android manufacturers to enable data sharing by default in the US. Especially the last few administrations want as much data as possible about the people, and in the US pretty much all of the companies share this kind of data pretty freely without requiring any judicial oversight since the supreme court has been corrupted. And the current administration HSS basically cut all investigation into any corporations that are friendly to them, so there’s no essentially no risk in collecting, leaking, or selling this data, so why bother making it opt-in. And recently, it’s explicitly risky to not collect and share as much data as possible with the government.
Yeah it’s not good. And what’s funny is there no details about what it is. They’re not really selling me on what “enhanced” 5G is and why it’s a benefit.
It was a generic settings app notification that said something like “you’re getting enhanced 5G with Verizon” and that was it. I clicked it and then took the attached screenshot. No additional information other than that it shares my info.
You get to help send your data to Verizon for their AD department to process with AI
An auto opt-in is an opt-out.
Where in Settings would this be? Cellular?
Yes. Under cellular. Might be a Verizon-only thing.
this is why t-mobile is pushing t-life so hard.
on android side, was shocked by how much junk and bloatware and how the setup process is tainted with paid suggestions and install offers in this day and age.
What the fuck!?
I am disgusted by this behaviour
Sony has that too. And essential apps (dialer, contacts, gallery) break if you remove Play Services.
There are FOSS alternatives for all of those on F-Droid. But removing Play Services does break google maps, which is the one app of theirs I still make use of
I would love enchanted apps.
Tired of sacrificing? Try sacrificing with enchanted apps!
Oh my god, I would kill for a taxi app that let me pay in the blood of the innocent. Or a map app that got me there ridiculously fast but always seeing something horrible I could see but not act fast enough to stop–or maybe occasionally through a layer of hell, or something?
Maybe a food delivery app that made all other food taste like ash? A workout tracking app that I could lie on and have retroactively spent like three extra hours doing squats?
An app that creates birds to identify.
Pokemon go but the Pokémon are real and I need to wrestle with the ramifications of that.
A calendar I can actually remember to use
A public transit app that makes the busses be where it says.
A web browser that doesn’t suck!
Social media for the mirror world where not everybody sucks.
I think your isp could probably infer this all already from your internet traffic
Yeah but if Verizon were to, say, collect usage data so they could figure out where to charge more to unthrottle specific apps, this type of data could be quite useful.
I don’t know all the technical aspects of what my carrier might know, but I think that if you load the Chase app, for example, it’s basically just sending an https call to Chase. Not sure if Verizon would know whether that came from an app or browser.
Additionally, if you use a VPN, I don’t know if Verizon would see any of that data. But again, I’m no expert.
They can’t. That’s the primary purpose of a VPN.
Exactly! They wouldn’t install spyware on your phone if it didn’t give them more/better information on you.
Yeah seems like it might have the benefit of VPN circumvention. I would be sending data to Verizon about my app usage and they’d get information they wouldn’t otherwise if I’m using a VPN.
