TWeaK

It’s only just about functional and clunky as fuck. But if you want to get rid of WhatsApp from your device but still need to talk to someone in it then it’s a good shout.

Probably not. Back when the WhatsApp Pegasus vulnerability happened, there was a vector on iOS, but it was iMessages.

I don’t know any first hand details, but my suspicion is that the way WhatsApp on Android worked was via Facebook system apps bundled with the phone by the manufacturer. Back in the day, Facebook itself used to be a system app on some phones (making it difficult to remove), but gradually they moved away from that to having the Facebook or WhatsApp apps be the same as the one on Google Play, but there would be a separate system app that would be much harder to remove. I suspect this system app used various exploits for further data mining by Facebook (perhaps even gaining microphone access so they can present ads based on what you say?) and that the Pegasus hack got into WhatsApp, then simply called the system app to use its established exploits. One other thing that maybe points to this: the Pegasus hack would only sometimes be effective on Android phones, and researchers couldn’t pin down why. To me, that suggests some other app or configuration variation.

WhatsApp on iOS shouldn’t have this vector, as Apple control both software and hardware on their phones, hence why the strategy was to go for Apple apps directly (as they had the direct access to system level permissions, like I’m alleging Facebook sometimes had on Android).

Like I say, the exact workings of the hack are my own assumptions, and I understand that the WhatsApp Pegasus entry vector has been patched, but ultimately I don’t think Facebook/Meta or any of their apps are trustworthy and encourage people to remove them from their devices.

WhatsApp is the big one, that shit is a proven vulnerability. It was literally the vector for zero click access to Android devices in the Pegasus toolkit.

One way around it is to have a separate device for WhatsApp itself, then use WhatsApp4Web from F-Droid. It’s basically a web wrapper for the browser version of WhatsApp, but it does run somewhat independently of the main WhatsApp device (unlike eg Threema where the website won’t work unless the device has internet).

It’s a bigger problem in the States than elsewhere. In the US, awarding legal costs is the exception, not the norm, so someone with a lot of money and access to lawyers can basically intimidate a defendent into avoiding court. In the rest of the world, courts are much more likely to award costs to a defendent who has done nothing wrong - if you file a frivilous lawsuit and lose, you’ll probably have to pay the costs of the person you tried to sue.

This guy’s in Germany, so I think he’d be alright if he clearly won. The issue, however, is that courts aren’t really equipped for handling highly technical cases and often get things wrong.

Squirt/apply lubircant, open and close the hinge to work the lube in.

WD40 works as a lazyman’s option, for a short time. However really WD40 is more of a solvent and not a lubricant - it will dissolve out any real lubricant, then dry out much more quickly than a proper grease and also possibly attract more dirt.

You can get plenty of other lubricant sprays. A quick search suggests things with PTFE (teflon) in them can be good. WD40 do a teflon spray can, that was the recommended lube for my crosstrainer.

Other, possibly better lubricants are silicone or lithium based.

Petroleum jelly can work also. Any lube is better than none, but this website suggests petroleum jelly < PTFE < silicone or lithium. However I’d defer to some proper science to decide which is really best.