Ad services in paid apps? - Nexus 10 Themes and Apps

A popular photo editing program that lets you remove all restrictions by participating in a getjar points program or pay for the unlock key. I paid for the app, I think before they offered that other option. I am sure because this is the first I have heard of it. I never signed up through that app to use any 'get jar' service.
Anyhow, trying to figure out where my battery is going. Go into system /apps/running apps and it shows this editor running. It also shows that the getjar service was started by this app____ 64 hours ago!!!!
This service should not be running on my system without permission. My opinion. If I don't sign in or use it, it should not be running or sending any of my info. I paid for the app and the programmer is offering it to others if they use the getjar service instead of paying for it. Right? Does google have a policy on this, apps participating in marketing without the users permission?
I emailed the developer and used the "report" option in settings/apps since it may be a bug. I didn't want to mention it by name if it is not intentional. I can't imagine they intended it to run 65 hours... So it may be a bug. Either way... Didn't fc so it's still running... Doesn't. Show in the prog manager, so fc is the only way to stop it..

metaled222 said:
A popular photo editing program that lets you remove all restrictions by participating in a getjar points program or pay for the unlock key. I paid for the app, I think before they offered that other option. I am sure because this is the first I have heard of it. I never signed up through that app to use any 'get jar' service.
Anyhow, trying to figure out where my battery is going. Go into system /apps/running apps and it shows this editor running. It also shows that the getjar service was started by this app____ 64 hours ago!!!!
This service should not be running on my system without permission. My opinion. If I don't sign in or use it, it should not be running or sending any of my info. I paid for the app and the programmer is offering it to others if they use the getjar service instead of paying for it. Right? Does google have a policy on this, apps participating in marketing without the users permission?
I emailed the developer and used the "report" option in settings/apps since it may be a bug. I didn't want to mention it by name if it is not intentional. I can't imagine they intended it to run 65 hours... So it may be a bug. Either way... Didn't fc so it's still running... Doesn't. Show in the prog manager, so fc is the only way to stop it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you paid for the unlock key it should probably not be running the getjar stuff in the background. I thought that was the whole point of paid apps,to get rid of ads or whatever other stuff they are trying to run in the background? This is not good but I suppose in the end,apps are allowed to do whatever they want,run whatever they want and steal information from your phone whenever they want. Maybe Pdroid could help you out with this problem? A mod is probably going to move your post to Q&A

Related

Disable Start-up Apps

Does anyone know how to stop apps and services from starting up automatically when you boot the phone?
I like to install lots of Apps to try them out, but a lot of these apps start processes with the phone and run in the background. I don't know if they're necessarily using many resources but I don't see why puzzles, games and other apps need to be starting with the phone and running all the time.
I know there's a paid app in the market, but I don't have a credit card and anyway there MUST be an easy way to stop these things from starting with boot, either a file to edit or some commands.
A task-killer isn't what I'm looking for here as I don't think that's a good idea with android, I think it slows the OS and causes instability, and anyway they just come back on next boot. I've searched for this but can't find an answer.
Anyone have any ideas?
I wonder the same.
Nobody is able to give an answer ?
+1 on that. It is quite annoying.
spamianspoon said:
I know there's a paid app in the market, but I don't have a credit card and anyway there MUST be an easy way to stop these things from starting with boot, either a file to edit or some commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is no "easy" way of doing it because of the way that Android handles these things. Essentially, the applications register a receiver which acts on the android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED broadcast action, rather than being explicitly called by the OS.
The app in the Market, autostarts (see http://elsdoerfer.name/=android-autostarts) presumably either amends the apps permission so that it no longer has the rights to receive this message (no idea if this is actually possible), or it is autokilling the task as it starts.
Of course, without a credit card, you are SOL as there do not appear to be any free alternatives.
Regards,
Dave
Nice
The android next step is to start all app found in the market and after boot to shut down manually witch is not installed.

[Q] There are Apps in the background

Dear Friends!
Glad to be here today (after 2 days! )
My dear Streaker is here!!
As the norm is, I have been busy tinkering with the stock material for couple o days, and I will continue to do so for some more time!
___________________________________________________________
Query: There are too many apps running (background) all the time!! I kill them, they resurrect!, How to do away with that?
Solution applied: Used Advanced task killer (but, apps resurrect!)
Another Solution tried: In Settings>Account & Sync settings> Unchecked Background data and Auto sync options. (Now, they dont connect to the net, but, they still restart!!)
Another Solution: Force close (from Manage apps) .. (Still same issue!)
Now, How can I tell the apps to come up only when I call them!?
(And some other apps I want to schedule them to come up every hour or so.. like my Gmail/FB)
____________________________________________________________
And, So far has been amazing experience!!
The screen is football field sized!! (Monster! yikes Scooby!)
Digging up all old posts to read some problems faced by new users..
Current hobby: Market and apps.
Future hobby: Roms and Flash!
Thank you all for your help!
care,
Sony.
Welcome to the cool kids club! I'm in a somewhat similar situation, I got my streak just before the massive snowstorm hit. Some of those apps need to be running... if you close some of them you may not get updates/notifications, or you can shut down your phone/data connection, or lose the use of multitouch.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
from what i understand, froyo is really good with resource management and there is no need to constantly kill processes or apps, its best to just leave them unless your streak is slow like a snail
Telal said:
Welcome to the cool kids club! I'm in a somewhat similar situation, I got my streak just before the massive snowstorm hit. Some of those apps need to be running... if you close some of them you may not get updates/notifications, or you can shut down your phone/data connection, or lose the use of multitouch.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lose multi touch!
How?
@rptw
So, It wouldnt really matter if there are apps running in the BG, and they start by themselves too!?
care,
Sony.
well in terms of the laws of nature (in most cases) stuff doesnt happen spontaneously so i think its safe to assume that your app that "started by themselves" were probably opened somehow either by you directly or indirectly by something else. if, however, you have a large number of apps that have started that you dont recall opening, maybe something is wrong with your software and you shouldnt try to cover the problem with a task killer.
So, what next!?
rptw said:
well in terms of the laws of nature (in most cases) stuff doesnt happen spontaneously so i think its safe to assume that your app that "started by themselves" were probably opened somehow either by you directly or indirectly by something else. if, however, you have a large number of apps that have started that you dont recall opening, maybe something is wrong with your software and you shouldnt try to cover the problem with a task killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, Now, can you or other guys here please suggest how to go to the "root" of this problem!?
Ok.
Look, these apps are open right now!
Voice Search
Email
Messaging
Maps
Astro
Assistant free​
I use the Adv Task Killer free.
(It says 7 apps killed and 180 MB free)
I open Adv task killer after 5 seconds.
and these apps are running!
Email
astro
Voice Search
Assistant Free​
and I am sure, If I wait for some more time, the other apps will join in too!
(Now it says, 3 Apps killed, 171 MB free!!)
care,
Sony.
have you tried using the stock app manager and killing the apps there? i just checked my phone and i have the same apps under the running tab using the stock manager, i think email and messaging are always running since you have push features on them, in terms of the others im not sure. whats so bad about email and messaging running anyways? im sure you use them often enough to not want to have to open and close them right?
Hey, you posted the same question over at Pocketables forum.
As stated earlier, 2.2 is really good at managing back ground tasks.
I can tell you if you use a task killer and you have a problem with an APP, which currently you do not, the programmer for the app probably will not help you till you remove the APP killer program.
What you might try to do is run though your menus and see what you have selected to run, such as locations and sync services and disable what you can. Also if you do not want some thing running, you may want to just uninstall it. I do understand that you want some programs but you only want them to run when you ask, not sure how to tell you to handle that.
But, are you seeing any difference when you have the background tasks disabled. Try to find the APK for the programs and rename them just to see if you have any issues.

Spyware, and how to figure out what installed it.

Ok, maybe I'm in the wrong place. But here goes.
My phone is trying to send text to paid numbers behind my back. I'm using prepaid so it doesn't work. I get a "You have insufficient funds to send this text" message daily, at random times.
I have no pirated apps. Everything on my phone came straight from the market. However, I've not installed a single one of the apps that was on the recent list all over tech sites.
I'm planning on reflashing with a different rom and changing all the passwords that were stored on my phone.
BUT.
Before I do this, I want to find out which app is causing this behavior. Any Ideas on how to find out what is sending random text from my phone (they don't show up in the messaging app)
viogrep said:
Ok, maybe I'm in the wrong place. But here goes.
My phone is trying to send text to paid numbers behind my back. I'm using prepaid so it doesn't work. I get a "You have insufficient funds to send this text" message daily, at random times.
I have no pirated apps. Everything on my phone came straight from the market. However, I've not installed a single one of the apps that was on the recent list all over tech sites.
I'm planning on reflashing with a different rom and changing all the passwords that were stored on my phone.
BUT.
Before I do this, I want to find out which app is causing this behavior. Any Ideas on how to find out what is sending random text from my phone (they don't show up in the messaging app)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install a android antivirus and firewall like Lookout.
Sent from my GingerBread Eris using XDA App
lookout finds nothing. All the other AV software fails to install. "Unknown error -18"
i have plenty of free space.
viogrep,
I wrote a novel, but then thought I should just ask a few preliminary questions:
Q1) does the error message contain any useful "hints", such as the destination number ?
Q2) if you use a logcat - capturing app, does anything show up in the logcat right around the time the message is generated which might provide some further clues?
There's a lot of different techniques you can use, but they require a bit of effort - not only to perform, but to explain, too.
Q3) Are you willing to post up the output of the "ps" command to a pastebin?
Q4) What apps on your phone request "SEND_SMS" privileges? You can find out with
Code:
strings /data/system/packages.xml > /sdcard/strings-pkgs-xml.txt
and then poking through the "strings-pkgs-xml.txt" file. When you see (for instance)
name="android.permission.SEND_SMS"
the immediately prior package is what requested it. Either that or you can do something tricky like
Code:
strings /data/system/packages.xml | awk '/<package name/{pkg=$2;}; /_SMS/{print pkg, $2;}'
bftb0
1. No destination number in the error. Sorry.
2. Also, no clues in logcat from what I've seen.
3. PS > http://pastebin.com/iUAfP9Yb
4. Besides the default gapps, the only other app with SEND_SMS priv. is Koxx Pure Messenger. (Purchased from the market, Have had for awhile, the sms sending is new)
Going to try to call my provider and see if I can get the number that's been denied because of funds.
*edit* No luck with provider.
I'd really like to know whats doing it so I don't install the same app once I flash. Luckily I keep nothing important on my phone. Its gmail account is actually a duplicate with my original forwarding to it. I'm a tiny bit overprotective over my email(address). :x
viogrep said:
4. Besides the default gapps, the only other app with SEND_SMS priv. is Koxx Pure Messenger. (Purchased from the market, Have had for awhile, the sms sending is new)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that it isn't necessarily this simple, but if that really is the only other app besides the GAPPs with SMS priveledges, especially coupled with the knowledge that the SMS capability is new, I think you have your answer.
If you tried a new ROM and restored all but that one app, and the problem never happens again then you can be 95% sure. Only way to be 100% sure is that after a certain length of time without a problem (a week?) you reinstall Koxx and then if the problem starts happening again.
I looked through your "ps" listing.
Didn't see anything too obvious sticking out at me; there were a couple of non-market apps running though. I know that there is no theoretical reason why non-market apps would be malicious - on the other hand, I sort of wonder why they are not on the market... you know what I mean? What is stopping them? (In the case of Tubemate - which was actually kicked off of Google's market, my suspicions are even higher. I realize it was not kicked off because of malware; but still...)
These were the only processes that were either not on my phone, or I didn't really recognize.
Code:
com.dylan.tube = [Non-Market App] Tubemate
com.gau.golauncherex.notification = GO Launcher EX (READ SMS)
com.levelup.beautifulwidgets = Beautiful Widgets (LevelUp)?
com.revsodev.volumecontrol = [Non-Market App] Volume Control (Cyrket?)
com.swype.android.inputmethod = Swype?
com.tencent.research.drop = QQPlayer (no perms req'd?)
net.bajawa.battery = BattStatt (no perms req'd?)
org.sipdroid.sipua = Sipdroid VoIP + video
The Road Warrior has an idea which is sort of useful; but I'll modify it to use binary division.
Start with a freshly installed, clean ROM, and only install half of your apps. (I would put all of your most frequently used apps in the first half, and delay any non-market apps as long as possible). Here's how this goes:
- if the "half" you put on the phone is trouble-free (long enough to know the SMS popup thing is not going on), then, install half of the remaining apps, and wait again to see if there is a problem.
- if the "half" you put on the phone develops trouble, then you know that the problem app is in that group. Wipe the phone and re-install all prior "halves" (that caused no trouble), but split the current half (the group containing the suspect app) in half, and only install that. Proceed in this fashion until you are down to the app which causes the trouble.
If you have 128 apps on your phone, and you wait 1 day between installations, it will take 7 days to find the malicious app. (And if you don't get a failure within the first two days, your phone will have 3/4s of it's apps installed - that's not too bad).
The thing is though, even if you had an app compromise your phone, it might not be an "app" that is doing the dirty work any longer. For example, the most recently discovered malware ran rooting exploits against the device, and once successful, downloaded and installed "other stuff". That "other stuff" could be native binaries. So, examining permissions in the system manifest doesn't necessarily guarantee that you have exhaustively looked at your phone, or discovered all possible means of interacting with the SMS system.
It might be "just an app", though - and if it were me, the first ones that I would suspect are non-Market apps, or apps that *cough* got downloaded from "freeware" sites.
Thanks for the responses. I actually did a fresh flash last night. First thing I installed was tubemate (running through non market apps) and it did it. Ironically I added some money to my account to see if I could get the number it was trying to text. Apparently it still couldn't go through.
Sent from my FroShedYo V10-ERIS using XDA App
I had a game from a Chinese developer that stole my gmail. Log into yours from the website and see if you get a red warning.
Sent from my GSBv1.9 ERIS using XDA App
viogrep said:
Thanks for the responses. I actually did a fresh flash last night. First thing I installed was tubemate (running through non market apps) and it did it. Ironically I added some money to my account to see if I could get the number it was trying to text. Apparently it still couldn't go through.
Sent from my FroShedYo V10-ERIS using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm always amazed when something I suggested actually works. LOL. It's just that I'm used to things being more complicated than I hope.
Glad you figured out the trouble!
Thanks bt and RW for the help.
As far as the gmail thing... I use a different gmail address on my phone with email forwarded (different pass)...
If it gets taken I just stop the forwarding and make a new one. Makes things a more simple. Sure, they can see past emails, but they cant request passes/info from other sites... (I also monitor the login IPs in gmail, religiously. Just a habbit.)
viogrep said:
Thanks bt and RW for the help.
As far as the gmail thing... I use a different gmail address on my phone with email forwarded (different pass)...
If it gets taken I just stop the forwarding and make a new one. Makes things a more simple. Sure, they can see past emails, but they cant request passes/info from other sites... (I also monitor the login IPs in gmail, religiously. Just a habbit.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. You could just change your password from the web if your phone gets stolen.
Especially since it's the gmail address you use on your phone that everything is sync'd to, not the one that's forwarding to it. So if you got another Android phone you'd lose all your contact info and bought and installed apps info, calendar and such. Unless you sync them manually which is so much harder in my experience.
Or you could use one of the many free apps out there that would let you remotely do many things to your phone. Turn the GPS on, triangulate your phone, make your phone scream, do a factory reset to erase everything...
Just a suggestion.

Remove System Apps

Hi Guys
I have a quick question - How do i remove system apps on the Tab S3.
Everytime i go to remove and app thru Tit Backup - It restores it after reboot.
Rooted with SuperSU - Id like to uninstall Knox etc but cant?
I had this on the S8 - Is this to do with the Kernel needing to be permissive? Any help would be welcome.
fkofilee said:
Hi Guys
I have a quick question - How do i remove system apps on the Tab S3.
Everytime i go to remove and app thru Tit Backup - It restores it after reboot.
Rooted with SuperSU - Id like to uninstall Knox etc but cant?
I had this on the S8 - Is this to do with the Kernel needing to be permissive? Any help would be welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have no R/W access to the system. Did you flash the no-verity-opt-encrypt patch when rooting? Download root essentials from the play store. There you have the option to mount system R/W. After enabling that removing the system apps should work.
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-T825 met Tapatalk
Thanks... Completely slipped my mind about the RW access
I'll give it a go
Nope didnt work - Trying to delete anything of the system partition doesnt go anywhere
Solution I found for my Galaxy S7 was to use /system/app mover available from F-Droid.Org
Move apps first to be User apps, reboot and you can uninstall them.
Judging by the number of Thanks on this thread, I can see that problems with apps have been an issue with rooted Tab S3s for quite some time.
The problems I am having are actually the reverse, however; whenever I delete system apps my device becomes all but soft-bricked (Android strips me of many user privileges).
Makes me sick for a device I paid $500 for and own.
Now this is for a recent root "professionally" performed just the other day by OneClickRoot using Magisk.
Having said that, I would suggest that anyone having difficulty removing apps really doesn't want to experience the consequences of what happens when you do.
So far OneClickRoot has been MIA as far as providing assistance for an improperly performed root that voided my warranty and which I cannot use.
But what they do not know (yet) is that I screen recorded the sessions while they had remote access to my PC and were rooting my device. I haven't yet investigated whether there are newer files they could have used, but I do know that I was prompted to update Magisk on my device almost immediately afterward.
It does seem clear that Android came out with some kind of a patch that thwarted the plan. And it was seriously harrowing.
Anyway, with the guidance of the screen recordings I was able to do some experimenting with app removal and unroot/reroot at my leisure.
It didn't take much in the way of app removal to throw the system into a state of angst like I've never seen (I rooted my Galaxy S3 phone a long time ago on my own and it went peacefully and without incident). I never once touched [removed] a single core system file on this S3 tablet (of course, that may be understating it; apps like Chrome could be considered to contain core system files - after all, it is an Android). I also did not remove Google Play Services or Google Play because I kinda had a hunch.
Incidentally, I used ES File Explorer to remove the apps. A decent reputation with Google. Downloaded with Yalp Store. (After removing the apps, some time later I went back to the root section of ES and got a notification that said "Sorry. That feature is not available on this device.")
At the moment I am back in re-rooted state and experimenting with an app disabler/freezer. So far so good. It's interesting to see what I haven't been able to disable - Chrome being one of them. The others (Music, Movies, Maps, Hangouts, OneDrive, etc. were disabled without incident). I'm wondering if this experiment is demonstrating which apps I can safely remove with the root.
Oh, I disabled Google Text-to-Speech and once in a while I get a feeble notification alerting me that it has stopped which is fine by me. I'm sick of them stalking me all over the Internet let alone logging my every keystroke.
Anyway, that's my story and the current forecast where uprooting is concerned.
I looked at oneClickRoot. It wants access to all your accounts. Why does it need that? That scares me. I also don't see how it would root your device without tripping Knox. Maybe it doesn't, I don't know.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
jd1639 said:
I looked at oneClickRoot. It wants access to all your accounts. Why does it need that? That scares me. I also don't see how it would root your device without tripping Knox. Maybe it doesn't, I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JD, sometimes roots trip Knox and sometimes they don't. They didn't advise me of that either way.
I'm not sure why they want access to all your accounts. Maybe it's just because a root requires total access to your device.
There's nothing you don't see while they are performing the root so I don't think it's much to be concerned about.
Picking up where I left off with my original post, I soon discovered Terminal Debloater developed by Magisk (a means of removing apps systemless-ly!).
OneClickRoot didn't advise me of that method (and still hasn't gotten back with me, incidentally). Of course, they do make money selling extended support packages (and it's worth noting that they didn't flash TWRP to my device either).
I thought if Terminal Debloater didn't do it nothing would. And it didn't work, even though I didn't uninstall Google, Google Play Services or Google Play.
I mean, it got rid of the apps just like ES File Explorer did, but my device once again became nearly unusable (unable to open Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore among other features of my device). But systemless-ly? Not so sure about that.
Resetting the device remedied the problem(s) and reinstalled everything without requiring a re-root (minus 3rd party apps that I already had installed, of course). I had forgotten about the previous backup that I had performed with Titanium Backup but it was like 4am and I was getting foggy, you know - there have been a lot of late nights lately. My device was still rooted after the reset and I was able to reinstall Magisk Manager with an .apk (Google Play Store banished it). Maybe that's what they meant by systemless uninstall - the relative ease of reinstall.
So I think that after all of this experimentation it is fair to say that unless you have goals other than uninstalling meaningless stuff like that withTV app it isn't going to work out. And for an app freezer/disabler to work properly you need a root. And an app/freezer disabler won't disable them all. I still have a lot of Google apps it won't disable like Gmail, Chrome, Photos, Movies & TV and Google Play Music (although I realize most people aren't interested in disabling Google apps). I could probably safely remove YouTube, Maps and Drive (I was only able to partially able freeze the former but I was able to fully freeze the latter). There are others I could probably uninstall too - OneDrive, other Microsoft apps, Weather, etc. - it would just seem pointless though since they are already frozen. So maybe freezing is a good enough reason to root for those who only want minimal removal of apps and still want Google where the sun doesn't shine.
Anything that can be frozen can probably be safely removed with the root but I haven't experimented with that. It might require a 4th reset and/or reroot. But you will never have total freedom to do what you want.
As far as OneClickRoot, it is fortunate that I paid with PayPal because I am going to file a claim based on many factors. They asked me why I was rooting my device and I told them I was going to remove apps. They didn't advise me on that either way. They didn't tell me that the root would trip Knox. It says on their Galaxy Tab S3 page, "After the rooting process is completed and done, you may start installing carrier-blocked applications" "you may positively eliminate preinstalled crapware" and "Remember that after rooting, you are the administrator of your own phone so have the freedom to do anything you want with your phone." If they made the mistake of referring to a phone on their tablet page then that's their bad. I do not yet qualify to post links on this forum, but you can find the page by using DuckDuckGo to search "Galaxy S3 Tab OneClickRoot" and it's the first search result).
I paid them $60 total to root my device; the first time I thought I removed too many apps and that it was my fault so I paid them an additional $20 to re-root it. Turns out it really wasn't my fault at all because with the 2nd root I uninstalled even fewer apps than the first time (and like I said before, never any core system apps or even any major android apps like Google Play Services). I figured out how to unroot it on my own (with firmware files from SamMobile and flashed with Odin) and then screen recorded the 2nd root.
At the end of the day I'm not sure it's really worth it to root just to remove a few apps and void your warranty if you're still covered (I have only owned my device for just over a week).
But then, not everyone has the same objectives I do. I am completely crazy serious when it comes to my privacy. One might ask why I even purchased this device and it's because it affords customizations that Apple doesn't (or so I thought). But I can still run Linux. And, of course, I have no intent of setting up a Samsung account or a real Google account. I bought a cheap sim card from TracFone to use with my old S3 phone to set up a fake Google account (because of course you have to have a phone to register a Google account). My TracFone account is under a fake name, my phone number has a Chicago area code (I live across the country), my Google account will be under a fake name and I use a paid VPN on my device(s) using a Chicago IP address. They deserve it.
All just so I can get a few paid - but important - apps. If it weren't for that, Google account be damned. I sold my black little soul to Amazon a long time ago but their selections are limited.
---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
Oh, and for those who aren't rooted and simply want to uninstall system apps for more space, you can force 3rd party apps to SD by enabling that feature in Developer Options.
Go to Settings > About tablet > Model number > Software information
Click on Build number 7 times. That will activate Developer Options which you will then find at the bottom of the column on the left side.
Click on Developer Options and scroll way down to Force Allow Apps on External.
Then scroll up to Running Services and observe what's going on behind the scenes. Especially if you have denied (and even frozen) location permissions, deactivated bluetooth, limited background processes to "none" and deactivated automatic updates. They will grab at ANYTHING - your bluetooth, phone, etc. You can stop the processes but they still keep coming back. It's fun to give them an occasional punt anyway.
I did manage to finally disable blutooth but that *had* to be frozen. Disabling in settings wasn't good enough. Google Location Service cannot be stopped ever.
I should set up the fake Google account on my S3 phone with the Chicago IP address and then play Ingress in my real neighborhood just to taunt them.
Blue team!!!!
You do know there is a root method by ashyx in the development section, right. Also, I'd just freeze apps with tibu. That way if your system starts to freeze you can just unfreeze them.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
jd1639 said:
You do know there is a root method by ashyx in the development section, right. Also, I'd just freeze apps with tibu. That way if your system starts to freeze you can just unfreeze them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JD.
No, I didn't know about ashyx. Thanks for that though. I might end up looking into it. I'm wondering if a root is just a root, though? There are a couple of apps that have given me errors that said "Your SU binary is functional but might not work reliably on some Android 4.3+ ROMs. If you encounter any issues in TB, please try SuperSU instead." I got that error from Titanium Backup today and I think also from Malwarebytes the other day.
So I'm wondering if uninstalling Magisk and installing SuperSU instead might make a difference.
I reallly have no clue. I'm going to try it though. As a last resort I will probably try re-rooting. Have you used ashyx? If so, were you able to remove apps without a hassle?
Also, is that your Porsche? Nice . . . . . if you're in Minnesota, bet you can't wait until June lol.
I'm from the Midwest orignally - I guess it was kind of a rough winter, no? I know last winter was.
You'll get the same message with supersu as magisk in TB. It's not an issue. And, yes, I use @ashyx method for root. It's worked for all firmwares so far, but I'm almost sure it won't (twrp) if Samsung ever gives us Oreo. But I have confidence in ashyx that he'll modify it so it will, he's the man!
jd1639 said:
You'll get the same message with supersu as magisk in TB. It's not an issue. And, yes, I use @ashyx method for root. It's worked for all firmwares so far, but I'm almost sure it won't (twrp) if Samsung ever gives us Oreo. But I have confidence in ashyx that he'll modify it so it will, he's the man!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JD. Long time no see. Or so it seems.
My head has actually been far removed from the Tab this past week. I actually had my S7 rooted just a couple of days before the Tab and so I have been juggling both devices. I think I'm about to pop a blood vessel. I honestly would have rooted them myself but there was just too much scattered information and since I was dealing with two devices I had OCR do it.
But anyway, I haven't been much invested in the Tab over the past several days. I broke a few too many green antennae again and bricked my S7 for the third time. Whenever I have fresh firmware flashed to my device I get those uninstall apps and become possessed. At least I can reinstall the firmware and re-root on my own now.
Things sure have changed since the S3 (phone) and the Galaxy Tab Pro (which was introduced before app permissions became an option). I never did root that device. I guess that's about 4 years old now.
I do believe my S7 was rooted with the ashyx method. I saw a file or something somewhere. It is easier to remove system files on that device but more complicated as there are so many more of them being a phone and all.
As far as Oreo . . . . .ugh. Something about the potential for crush injuries doesn't seem really appealing. I can imagine the "system" is only going to become more oppressive and Google more invasive. Right now I'm still trying to figure out wtf Nougat is.
Besides, Nougat will be a good OS for a long, long time. The OS on my S3 phone [Lollipop?] is still adequate. And developers are still trying to perfect apps for rooted Nougat OS's. A lot of stuff is still buggy.
I'm not *quite* as fanatical about privacy on my S7 since my phone number was tied to my Google account long before I decided to stop being lazy about privacy issues. But once I get the paid apps I need I immediately freeze Google Play Services and Google Play Store. And before I use the store I remove my SD card before they can rape my app settings and data. And, of course, I pay for a Google Play gift card with cash. It's extremely difficult going to these extremes but I am still new at it on my devices so it will just take time to adjust. I went through the same grief with my PCs but it's all good now. My banks and creditors no longer hassle me when I use private browsing and a VPN when I log in. Google will never give in though. Ever. And that really is something scary.
I actually did acquire Windows 10 Enterprise for both of my PCs after many fruitless and failed attempts at tweaking my registry. Now I have full access to Group Policy Editor and live in relative privacy [and peace] where Microsoft is concerned. Wish android had a Group Policy Editor.
Anyway, as far as where I left off with app uninstalls on my Tab, I had only just flashed the stock firmware on that before I bricked my S7 so there are still what I call "secondary" Google apps like Maps, Gmail, Movies & TV, etc. Those are frozen, however. It still might be a couple of days before I get to uninstalling those but I will update. I have no life. I need to come up for air lol. It is important to me to post about this experience; I guess I feel somewhat like an activist in a sense. Google just runs roughshod over everything and everyone like they OWN, you know? And they don't. They don't own me, or you, or our devices. And so this is for people - not "advertising IDs" - who feel similarly and don't want Google invading their devices and private information.
Umm . . . . I know there are a lot of individuals who want to root their Tab S3s and I may at some point post instructions on how to do that using Magisk (it really is simple) but right now I just feel that it would be unethical to do so until I can figure out which apps are truly safe to remove without bricking. And, of course, I can post instructions on how to flash the stock firmware as well.
Thanks for the info about the messages, btw. Still trying to figure out how to disable those. There has to be an .obb tweak somewhere for that. As I recall, the primary reason I rooted my S3 (phone) to begin with was to disable the shutter sound on my camera! And that required an .obb tweak. For the life of me I can't remember what app I used to accomplish that.
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:16 AM ----------
When I get a message telling me that something I don't want has stopped working, it would at least be nice to see a bow on top of that bubble with some streamers and balloons in the background.
:laugh:
The Battle Of Jorte.
The night before last I was making some tweaks to my S7. I had just finished up purchasing some apps I needed from the Play Store and had refrozen that app and Google Play Services. Some time before I had previously installed a day-planning type app called Jorte.
All of a sudden I started getting notifications in my notification area that said "Jorte will not run unless you enable Google Play Services." I tolerated this for a while and then finally thought, "Ok, well, I'll just uninstall Jorte and that will put an end to that." (I didn't really want Jorte anymore - I had installed it along with a couple of other day-planning apps I was making comparisons with and had decided on a different one - one that wasn't "dependent" on Google Play Services.)
So I uninstalled Jorte and realized that there was another app that I forgot to purchase. When I went back into Application Manager to reactivate Google Play Services and Google Play Store they were gone! Well! I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. I opened my App disabler app and sure enough - they were still installed on my phone, just hidden. How trite! How petty! I was furious.
I decided at that point that I had all the paid apps I needed.
One would THINK that an ETHICAL company without nefarious intentions would take the position that if an individual isn't using their services that they would be more than HAPPY that they be disabled especially if they are "FREE". After all, why waste resources?? To whose benefit is it to leave Google Play Services running in the background when it isn't needed?
I did something then that hadn't yet dawned on me. I have an app disabler that allows one to disable all of the services associated with that app (specifically Google Play Services). Uninstalling "GPS" bricked my device before so that wasn't an option. So I went offline and disabled my mobile data (also something I hadn't done before) and went into the app disabler (which I will not name [yet]) and started disabling everything with the word "sync", "collection", forwarding", "uploading", "geolocation", "account", "transfer", "advertiser", "notification", "analytics", "indexing", "listener", "secret", "logger", "metadata", "reporter", "credentials", "metrics", "watcher", "sharing", "monitor", "phenotype?!", "detection", "stats", "supervision", "VACUUM". . . .amongst several others. (Are you guys getting alarmed yet?.) Out of 276 services I disabled 105. I had to disable them one by one because the app would stop each and every time.
I also disabled 4 out of 6 services belonging to Google Services Framework (which were all that the app disabler were able to freeze).
All of these actions effectively disabled Google from running on my device as observed from Running Services in Developer Options (that, of course, combined with disabling/uninstalling Samsung apps and associated services). Staying offline and disabling mobile data prevented my actions during this process from being reported (and interfered with).
So far over the past couple of days all has been quiet. No more '"________ will not run without Google Play Services" or "________ has stopped" notifications, no more Google running in the background and helping itself to my data like a smorgasbord.
I attempted to apply these same settings to my Tab S3 and it didn't fly. I had to disable ALL of the subservices associated with Google Play Services and I also uninstalled Google Services Framework entirely.
That debacle is for a different post.
I want to add that most any app can be uninstalled on the Tab S3 once the disabling of Samsung, Google Play Services and Google Play is achieved. Prior to this, for whatever reason I had a great deal of difficulty uninstalling Chrome and Google Play Music. If you think really, really hard in advance about all of the paid apps that you want that are critical to your root and whatever other paid apps you want, you can install them and ditch Google Play Services. They got their money and earned what they deserved. There is no reason to keep Google services continuously running in the background. You can get top notch apps that don't depend on them. I have My Backup Pro, Servicely, SD Maid, an APK extractor, a couple of really good disablers/uninstallers, ES File Explorer, Root Explorer, etc. Really consider your privacy - your data is important. Would you let a stranger rifle through drawers at your house? Even if Google has been collecting your data for years, all hope is not lost. You have many years ahead of you. Most of the data they have collected becomes obsolete over time and they don't need to keep collecting it. There are many, many apps that are not dependent on Google Play Services. There's an app called F-Droid that has an .apk installation file that can be directly downloaded from the Internet and which offers LOTS of great apps. They have an app called Yalp Store that shows you which apps Google Play Store offers that don't depend on Google Play Services and you can filter those results. You can even download and install them manually. The developers of F-Droid are privacy-conscious and all of the apps that they offer are geared with that in mind.
I paid a lot of money for my devices - what, $1300 overall? The manufacturers are not entitled to more than that, especially if I have paid for additional apps. I do have a dummy YouTube account - I consider it free cloud storage for my videos in exchange for the the data they have stolen from me over the years (I've got some cool videos, too - I'd link to my channel but it would blow my cover).
To achieve all of this you will need to start fresh - uninstall your apps, remove your SD card, clean your device really well, wipe your device and close your Samsung account. You don't need a Samsung account to run your device. You can decline both Samsung and Google services at setup but all of those choices are meaningless because they take what they want anyway.
There may be a few sacrifices that may be a dealbreaker to some such as Facebook, but there are a few apps that work around that limitation such as Tinfoil for Facebook. You may also be able to log into Facebook using a privacy web browser. I have Firefox on my devices using a VPN, Privacy Browsing and multiple privacy plugins and it works just fine for every website I have visited (I can't speak for Facebook, though, because I don't use it (not for privacy reasons, though - I have unresolved mixed feelings about it). It should be fine to use with a web browser although some websites do badger you to use their app. You can try it though before uninstalling the Facebook app and see how it goes. Granted it won't be as convenient but you can bookmark it and still have access. Twitter is dependent on Google Play. As I was writing this paragraph I just found a highly rated app called Metal for Facebook & Twitter which isn't dependent on Google and which allows you to access both of them. No ads, gets you notifications from Facebook, supports Orbot/Tor, etc. Sounds excellent.
So there's some stuff to consider.
Between both of my devices I had become really mentally/emotionally stressed and exhausted and had a short but intense cry yesterday. I would have benefited from a longer one.
Last night I woke up to discover that Google had added another hundred or so services to the Google Play Services app on my S7 which brought the number up to 300+. (As an aside, the same thing happened on my Tab S3 several days ago.) I'm not sure if I had wi-fi or mobile data turned on when it happened or both - I had been turning them both on and off intermittently throughout the day. All I can think is that Verizon must have been sharing data. It happened on the S3 for a different reason and I caught that while it was happening.
I thought that I was using Verizon simply for a signal. I don't use their cloud and I don't sync any data to their servers in any other manner. Come to discover there were a couple of settings I overlooked.
Google and Verizon are in bed together - I did discover that much. I really did want to maintain a location with Verizon so I could at least locate my device if I were ever to lose it; they charge enough and I can be incredibly absentminded at times, like using the calculator on my phone while shopping, lying it down on a shelf when picking something up and walking away. But when I went to Verizon's website to see if they offered such a service I was redirected straight to Google. They're kidding, right?
Google is so unbelievably insidious. You really don't know until you try to escape.
I'm a quiet, introverted person - all I want is my privacy, my freakin' Kindle app and a few simple others. And I WOULD get a Kindle, but even the best one only records video in 720p! But no - 4k or no 4k, I'm not about to curl up in a hollow log with a Kindle.
The S3 has been turned off for the past couple of days; both devices present challenges of their own. The S7 is worse I think with Verizon in the mix. My S7 has turned out to be the guinea pig it seems.
I know how to re-root the S7 if I brick it again but I'll spare myself the hassle. I paid One Click Root for the 6-month extended support package and I'll make them work for it. They pretty much dissed me on the S3 so they deserve it.
Right now the S7 is stable (and functional) again - I was up for hours last night after my ghastly, half-conscious discovery disabling another hundred Google Play subservices. Right now I'm backing up to My Backup Pro's cloud and after that I think I'm going to go offline and uninstall The Framework and Google Play Services. Surely Google can't coerce Verizon to cut off data services to a loyal customer.
A few updates and and an apology. . . .but not in that order. Ummm. . . .I realize that this whole Google privacy thing is a touchy subject and I'm really sorry for having brought it up here (kind of, you know?). I mean, in the sense that this is a really helpful place for what it is and I do understand something about getting knocked back in Google search rankings. I'd really hate to see something like that happen.
So this will be my last post on this topic.
This whole endeavor has really been a nightmare - a real war and I have lost tons of sleep. I'm amazed that I haven't hard-bricked my devices. One day I re-rooted my S3 three times. Yesterday I re-rooted my S7 twice. There is no compromising with Google. None. I thought that I could whittle it down to just not using any of their apps, you know? What other business do they have running data collection or location services on my device? I don't have a connected Samsung or Google account, I declined app usage data, location services and diagnostic usage at setup. I disabled all of those plus everything else that could be disabled in settings and everything possible in permissions. Yet settings keep being switched back on which is the whole reason I rooted my devices. THEN after I root, I install these 3rd party freezing apps and watch Google behind the scenes with their 380 hidden services going to town collecting all sorts of data - Bluetooth, radios, geofencing, storage. . . .it's absolutely unreal. They hide and disable apps I paid to 3rd parties on independent websites. . . .I just don't even know where to begin. I started getting screenshots of all of this and they started deleting and disabling those.
Anyway, I don't know how much longer I have now to return my S3 to Amazon but it might be going back in a pine box. It's defective. I mean, seriously. The permissions keep turning themselves off. Inherently defective perhaps, but defective nonetheless. I've had the S7 since November so I don't know what Verizon can do for me but I think California has some laws.
Anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing some killer videos on rooting and flashing stock firmware to both the Tab S3 and S7 and I will come back and post YouTube links to those when they're done. They will no doubt be immediately removed unless Google finds them lucrative enough to keep, and if they are removed I will PAY Vimeo to host (and protect) them.
Oh - heh - before I forget: YES, you CAN remove every single Google app from your S3 EXCEPT for Chrome. It's part of the infrastructure, man. You will brick your device every time you try to remove it. But remember this - and this is CRUCIAL - install an app freezer (better yet, two), then turn off wi-fi making sure to disable auto-reconnect because everything you do is transmitted and they will brick you. You don't want to clue them into anything. Then use your best judgement to freeze and disable every possible permission before you start Also reboot after every app uninstall (or two). It takes a lonnnng time depending on how many you remove but trust me on this. If you intend to maintain a Google account you should be all good.
I acually use TITANIUM BACKUP
for freezing , u freezing & uninstalling system application's:good:
JackieBlue said:
A few updates and and an apology. . . .but not in that order. Ummm. . . .I realize that this whole Google privacy thing is a touchy subject and I'm really sorry for having brought it up here (kind of, you know?). I mean, in the sense that this is a really helpful place for what it is and I do understand something about getting knocked back in Google search rankings. I'd really hate to see something like that happen.
So this will be my last post on this topic.
This whole endeavor has really been a nightmare - a real war and I have lost tons of sleep. I'm amazed that I haven't hard-bricked my devices. One day I re-rooted my S3 three times. Yesterday I re-rooted my S7 twice. There is no compromising with Google. None. I thought that I could whittle it down to just not using any of their apps, you know? What other business do they have running data collection or location services on my device? I don't have a connected Samsung or Google account, I declined app usage data, location services and diagnostic usage at setup. I disabled all of those plus everything else that could be disabled in settings and everything possible in permissions. Yet settings keep being switched back on which is the whole reason I rooted my devices. THEN after I root, I install these 3rd party freezing apps and watch Google behind the scenes with their 380 hidden services going to town collecting all sorts of data - Bluetooth, radios, geofencing, storage. . . .it's absolutely unreal. They hide and disable apps I paid to 3rd parties on independent websites. . . .I just don't even know where to begin. I started getting screenshots of all of this and they started deleting and disabling those.
Anyway, I don't know how much longer I have now to return my S3 to Amazon but it might be going back in a pine box. It's defective. I mean, seriously. The permissions keep turning themselves off. Inherently defective perhaps, but defective nonetheless. I've had the S7 since November so I don't know what Verizon can do for me but I think California has some laws.
Anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing some killer videos on rooting and flashing stock firmware to both the Tab S3 and S7 and I will come back and post YouTube links to those when they're done. They will no doubt be immediately removed unless Google finds them lucrative enough to keep, and if they are removed I will PAY Vimeo to host (and protect) them.
Oh - heh - before I forget: YES, you CAN remove every single Google app from your S3 EXCEPT for Chrome. It's part of the infrastructure, man. You will brick your device every time you try to remove it. But remember this - and this is CRUCIAL - install an app freezer (better yet, two), then turn off wi-fi making sure to disable auto-reconnect because everything you do is transmitted and they will brick you. You don't want to clue them into anything. Then use your best judgement to freeze and disable every possible permission before you start Also reboot after every app uninstall (or two). It takes a lonnnng time depending on how many you remove but trust me on this. If you intend to maintain a Google account you should be all good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch out the Russians are coming too.

Barclays Bank App contactless payments.

After the recent update to the Barclays app it doesn't seem to stay open in the background so you can't use contactless unless you log into the app everytime. Am I missing a setting in the phone somewhere?
Tcukcufc said:
After the recent update to the Barclays app it doesn't seem to stay open in the background so you can't use contactless unless you log into the app everytime. Am I missing a setting in the phone somewhere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go into settings/battery/app launch you can remove that app from battery optimization and allow it to stay open in the background. That might work--I'm not familiar with the Barclays app.
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately that's how I got it to work originally before they updated the app. That doesn't seem to work now though.
I have the same problem and the latest app version. However jhs39 is correct for the fix. Go into settings>Battery>App Launch select the Barclays App so that it is "Managed Manually", you can leave all three options enabled. You will then need to login to the app once more. You should then be working. I think the issue is that the app want's to have an active process running but the battery manger sweeps it up as it is not recognised and using power!
The really bad thing about this app is that if you reboot your device (or it loses power - battery drain) you will have to remember to re-login each time..... Google Pay and Amex Pay do not have this problem - poor app.
joadams said:
The really bad thing about this app is that if you reboot your device (or it loses power - battery drain) you will have to remember to re-login each time..... Google Pay and Amex Pay do not have this problem - poor app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people may call that a useful security feature that is missing from Google Play & mex Pay
Working fine now. I had changed some other settings to allow it to run but not these ones. Thank you
panman1964 said:
Some people may call that a useful security feature that is missing from Google Play & mex Pay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to jump through enough security hoops to get the card into the NFC chip but I'm all up for security. My point is that this is a poor app because it relies on an unprotected process and when it does fail it comes up with ERROR CM057 which is not really helpful. Furthermore no-one in Barclays can tell you what it means. A better response would be "Please login to complete the transaction" or your "Login Details have expired". So yes this is a poorly written app that Google and Amex do not suffer from.
After discussing the issue with them on Google Play and being asked to be some sort of QA Tester for their broken app that they use in lieu of better contactless options I just gave up and transferred my account to another bank. I can now use Google Pay, problem solved.
How does contactless payments work through the phone? On my iPhone, I would double press the home button to get my list of cards up. I have a Barclays and Tesco card - both of which, do not support Google Pay. 'Doh!!
Do you remember which settings you tweaked to get it to work?
I tried the battery management settings and it is unchecked so it is managed manually with all 3 other options that pop up left switched on but I'm still having the same problem, ever since I had my P20 Pro in fact. When I got my 2nd Mate 20 Pro (1st was replaced for the gluegate issue), it worked once and one other time when I tried switching NFC off and back on but apart from that it hasn't worked since.
I wish Barclays would just ditch this "feature" and allow Google Pay to add Barclay's cards. It's so frustrating standing at the check out trying to get it to work, opening the app, logging in so your balance is there for everyone to see, exiting the app etc. etc. and then it still doesn't work for me and I have to end up going through my wallet to find my card anyway. It won't even work for me on the pay screen with the 30 second countdown!

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