Please read these 5 ideas I have and then make a vote to the app you would love to use the most and would most likely donate towards serious (and opensource!) development. If you are unclear about anything, please ask before voting! Thanks.
1. Better FaceBook Sync - like BookSync, but instead of being restricted to Facebook's ToS it would use the html interface to additionally sync these infos:
* Sync all friends photos with captions tags and comments for offline browsing.
* Phone numbers
* Email addresses (yes, I am aware it's a .gif)
* Addresses
* Facebook Events (and Friends' events)
* as well as profile pics (high res), date of birth (for birthday reminders), name (girls who marry update on your phone instantly)
* option to only silently sync when using wifi (and of course, only updates get pulled down)
2. Better Lock - replace the default WM 6.x security lock feature where you enter a PIN every 24 hours or so, with a much more friendly AND more secure version:
* Incremental Challenge/Response: Have your PIN as 8 or so digits but every 12 hours or so (configurable) it will ask for just 1 digit ("Enter the 4th digit of your PIN"). Enter it wrong and it'll ask for 2 digits now. Wrong again.. 4 digits and so on. Additionally, every 24 hours or so, ask for extra digit.
* While locked, allow for basic functions such as wifi on/off, email/text/call anyone already in address book, turn device off, allow reading of texts that contain a magic password (so owner can communicate with "thief").
* Button to show owner info (incase it's lost) with sub-button to call owners emergency contact number
* 3 invalid attempts = phone texts and calls emergency number and/or integrates with RemoteTracker
3. Better Marketplace - like Microsoft Marketplace and AppToDate merged with improvements
* Microsoft Marketplace requires each dev to upload and maintain thier app (never gonna happen with 100% esp abandoned but still useful apps)
* AppToDate is abandoned? Last update 2008..
* Allow free software only!!!!
* Allow trusted mods to upload apps on behalf of devs, making this BetterMarketplace very comprehensive
* UC compatible & allowing user to record installed apps to our server so after hard reset you can enter user/pass and automagically get all your favourite apps installed
* Compatibility Matrix: only apps that work on your phone are displayed (eg, qvga/vga and wm5/wm6 and so on)
* Popularity Contest: rank apps based on usage in total minutes. This way, only the truly useful apps get to top of list
* Install via web.. using your user account, you can click to install from the Web interface... and your ppc will amazingly start to install it! ppc application interface will exist too ofc.
4. Mobile Proxy - a http proxy on your phone that modifies your web experience via plugins ideas such as:
* Google Maps Mobile - allow supercaching.. which means remember map segments forever on SD card. Perhaps even precaching your area.
* Windows Live Messenger - allow use of MSN when offline. I often turn my phone on/off often and drives friends insane as they see me go offline..online..offline..online. To solve this, this proxy plugin could re-route MSN protocol via our desktop computer so that a) we can sign into multiple locations, something the ppc app doesnt support yet and b) we can receive and view messages we missed while ppc was offline, same for sending msgs could be queued.
* Ad blocker, flash blocker, javascript blocker
* Send custom headers to custom http servers (to fake/force mobile or desktop view per site)
5. Email Redefined - not too sure about my competence to pull this one off though.
Instead of receiving a torrent of email to my device, half of which I don't care about, separate emails into 3 distinct channels:-
1. General crap. When received has no notification, not even a number next to the titanium email plugin.
2. From humans not in my address book. New senders get an instant reply asking them to complete a captcha if they want my mobile to buzz.
3. From friends who are in my address book. I would get a sound played, much like a 'new SMS' sound, and titanium would show "1" next to email.
* If possible with Mobile Outlook, treat facebook inbox-messages as emails.. so buzz, play a sound, and allow reply (via fb).
* If possible (might cost the user), add email push facility whereby the phone receives a hidden SMS text when you have a new email worthy of a beep/buzz, wakes up (but with screen still off and device locked), connects to data (wifi/3g, as configured), gets the email, then beeps/buzzes.
Better Facebook and Marketplace definitely! Those are a must!
Can't decide between Marketplace and Proxy. I LOVE your ideas for marketplace, but I've been wanting to sign into multiple locations since I've had IM on my phone. I hardly ever sign into my IM's because of it. I think I'm going with Marketplace with Proxy being a close second.
Bump (1 of 2).
It would be useful if some of you could post a reply like the above 2 people did too.. as it seems voting in a poll does not bump this thread.. (a forum bug imho). Also useful if anyone can point out competition (free or payware) to each and any of my ideas, unless already mentioned. Thanks!
Bump (2 of 2)
Facebook !
Ciao
I've started on the most popular idea, any alpha testers PM me (your msn address preferred)
facebook sync at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=621538
Better FaceBook Sync all the way......
folks, hope some of you can help with resolution/ideas for a few probs i am facing currently; btw, i got my TP recently and was very pleasantly surprised with how good the OS is....now only if some of the nagging issues below can be fixed, it will be great...
1. Calendar: updates made on Outlook calendar in Touchpad do not appear on OWA; only emails sent from TP appear in OWA; even draft mails saved on TP do not appear on OWA (my firm has MS-Exchange server 2007)
2. Email: HTML emails in Yahoo! are rendered correctly, however HTML emails in the corporate Exchange mail are rendered as text mails (my firm has MS-Exchange server 2007)
3. Maps: shows my current location as somewhere in the Atlantic ocean (i live in South America; my research suggests that the MAC address of my router may not have been resolved by the location servers, so they are probably pointing me to some default location
4. Adhoc networks: does not connect to adhoc networks created, say, from a laptop connected to the Internet through LAN
5. Sound: after using phone/skype app, sound disappeared; rebooting fixed this I need to test this scenario again to try to recreate the issue, but if any of you have faced similar issues, it will be great to hear how you were able to fix it..
6. Apps: does anyone know if any of the google apps can be used on the TP?
Are you using WebOS or Android?
webOS 3.0.4 (with preware, and the recommended patches, overclocked to 1512-ondemand)
I would suggest trying the webos roundup forum for answers to your questions. Many of the webos developers are members of that forum. I do not use exchange myself but have seen these discussions held on the webos roundup forum and the level of knowledge there is very high. Give it a try. I hope to see you there.
Sent from my Touchpad using Tapatalk
I finally posted on Motorola's Forums asking about the suspect APK's with as much info as possible.
See HERE
If they for some reason take it down I will duplicate it here below:
Ok,
We Motorola owners have been silent and I think its time that we was not. Just last year I signed up for the Electrify Beta test for Motorola's 2.3.5 update for the phone. I received an email from Motorola that within 24 hours I would be getting the updated pushed to my device. At the time I got the email (around 9:30 am) I was using a custom ROM (Cyanogen Mod 7) and I proceeded to back up my phone and flash the phone back to Stock 2.3.4. Once I did that, I never got the update pushed to my device. So in turn I posted that question why I never received it on the Forums.
Mark answered it by saying this:
“Wow you've reset your phone 21 times... Whatever for? The reason you can't get the update is because you've factory reset the phone after the update was sent out. I'll reply in the other thread concerning the wifi issue. It's off topic here.
Mark
Support Forums Manager”
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To which I answered that it was really non of his or Motorola’s business how many times I reset my device as for one – its MINE. I also asked what else Motorola was tracking from my device and why we users are not made aware of it. Of course I never got an answer to that post.
To be honest it was a Godsend that I never got the update, because as we all know Motorola relocked the Bootloader and has every intention of never making it unlocked again. However that’s a different issue and not the one at hand here.
Now I get that that I missed the update to 2.3.5 because I was on a custom ROM that is totally not supported by Motorola, and quite frankly this isn’t the issue here.
The issue is that my activity was tracked. When I got the phone and activated it I was not aware of any EULA that would state that Motorola would be tracking its users and activities. There was no such message in the Box, Manual, or on the phone on first boot. If it IS in the manual then it is so far embedded in some clause that it’s criminal that it is in there. However I am pretty sure its not.
So I would put that down to my activity was tracked WITHOUT my consent. Which to me, is a pretty big deal.
So this brings me to the meat of this post. A few users have stated there are some suspect apps (Motorola Stock) that are running in the background and require some insane Access Rights.. I will now list them along with the permissions they require (You can see these for yourself on your own phone. Applications > All > and find them on the list.). Some of these are quite the eye opener…
AdService.apk
Network Communication (Full Internet Access)
Phone Calls (ReadPhoneStateand identity)
DataCollection.apk
Your personal Information (Read Contact Data, Read Sensitive Log Data, Read user Defined Dictionary, Write Contact Data)
Services that Cost you Money (Directly Call Phone Numbers, Send SMS Messages)
Your Location (coarse (network-based) location, fine (GPS) location, mock location sources for testing)
Your messages (edit SMS or MMS, Read SMS or MMS, Receive SMS)
Network Communication (control Near Field Communication, Create Bluetooth Connections, Full Internet Access)
Your Accounts (manage the accounts list, use the authentication credentials of an account)
Storage (Modify/delete SD card Contents)
Phone Calls (intercept outgoing calls, read phone state and identity)
hardware Controls (change your audio settings)
System Tools (Bluetooth Administration, change network connectivity, change WiFi State, Change WiMAX State, Change your UI Settings, Modify Global System Settings, Mount and unmount file systems, prevent phone from sleeping, reorder running applications, retrieve running applications, write Access Point Name settings, write Sync Settings)
(Hidden)
Default (Modify battery Statistics, Read Certificates)
Your personal Information (write to user defined dictionary)
network Communication (view network state, view Wi-Fi state, view WiMAX state)
Your Accounts (discover known accounts, read Google service configuration, View configured accounts)
hardware Controls (control vibrator)
System Tools (Automatically start at boot, expand/collapse status bar, kill background processes, measure application storage space, read Home settings and shortcuts, read sync settings, read sync statistics, set wallpaper, write Home settings and shortcuts)
DataCollectorProvider.apk
Your Personal Information (read contact data)
DataCollectorService.apk
Your Personal Information (read contact data)
KpiLogger.apk
Your personal Information (Read Contact Data, Read Sensitive Log Data, Read user Defined Dictionary, Write Contact Data)
Services that Cost you Money (Directly Call Phone Numbers, Send SMS Messages)
Your Location (coarse (network-based) location, fine (GPS) location, mock location sources for testing)
Your messages (edit SMS or MMS, Read SMS or MMS, Receive SMS)
Network Communication (control Near Field Communication, Create Bluetooth Connections, Full Internet Access)
Your Accounts (manage the accounts list, use the authentication credentials of an account)
Storage (Modify/delete SD card Contents)
Phone Calls (intercept outgoing calls, read phone state and identity)
hardware Controls (change your audio settings)
System Tools (Bluetooth Administration, change network connectivity, change WiFi State, Change WiMAX State, Change your UI Settings, Modify Global System Settings, Mount and unmount file systems, prevent phone from sleeping, reorder running applications, retrieve running applications, write Access Point Name settings, write Sync Settings)
(Hidden)
Default (Modify battery Statistics, Read Certificates)
Your personal Information (write to user defined dictionary)
network Communication (view network state, view Wi-Fi state, view WiMAX state)
Your Accounts (discover known accounts, read Google service configuration, View configured accounts)
hardware Controls (control vibrator)
System Tools (Automatically start at boot, expand/collapse status bar, kill background processes, measure application storage space, read Home settings and shortcuts, read sync settings, read sync statistics, set wallpaper, write Home settings and shortcuts)
MasterClearErrorReporter.apk
Your personal Information (Read Contact Data, Read Sensitive Log Data, Read user Defined Dictionary, Write Contact Data)
Services that Cost you Money (Directly Call Phone Numbers, Send SMS Messages)
Your Location (coarse (network-based) location, fine (GPS) location, mock location sources for testing)
Your messages (edit SMS or MMS, Read SMS or MMS, Receive SMS)
Network Communication (control Near Field Communication, Create Bluetooth Connections, Full Internet Access)
Your Accounts (manage the accounts list, use the authentication credentials of an account)
Storage (Modify/delete SD card Contents)
Phone Calls (intercept outgoing calls, read phone state and identity)
hardware Controls (change your audio settings)
System Tools (Bluetooth Administration, change network connectivity, change WiFi State, Change WiMAX State, Change your UI Settings, Modify Global System Settings, Mount and unmount file systems, prevent phone from sleeping, reorder running applications, retrieve running applications, write Access Point Name settings, write Sync Settings)
(Hidden)
Default (Modify battery Statistics, Read Certificates)
Your personal Information (write to user defined dictionary)
network Communication (view network state, view Wi-Fi state, view WiMAX state)
Your Accounts (discover known accounts, read Google service configuration, View configured accounts)
hardware Controls (control vibrator)
System Tools (Automatically start at boot, expand/collapse status bar, kill background processes, measure application storage space, read Home settings and shortcuts, read sync settings, read sync statistics, set wallpaper, write Home settings and shortcuts)
So, to paraphrase Mark….
Wow these Apps need some insane permissions…. WHATEVER FOR??
And aren’t they named well?
I suggest that someone provides FULL DISCLOSURE on what all these apps do. They are NOT required to run the device (if you are rooted you can freeze the processes with no ill effects and can infact remove them) and they most certainly are NOT part of Android’s original OS.. So whatever ARE they for and what ARE they collecting???
So Motorola, the ball is in your court so to speak, I and a great many others would be really curious on telling us what they are for…
Your move..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a thought on this issue also. maybe a reason you could provide to this **** from Motorola is the fact that these phones have problems out of the box. Random reboots for example. That in itself would be reason enough for me to reset my phone in homes it will go away. Another thing you could point out is that some app developers are using Airpush ads that some people might think are a form of trojan and might also to a reset to try to eliminate them. Bottom line though is you are totally correct and that it's none of their damn business what we do with these phones. Sprint can ***** at us and threaten to void warranties or whatever but Moto has nothing to do with it. I'm curious to know what they respond with. I'm going to post in that forum too
It's funny. Those were the first apps that I had frozen. I have NO problem with my phone since I froze those. It's been about 2 months now and no problems.
My post on that forum rules LOL
Even if they do respond I'll be willing to bet you don't get a straight answer that exposes the truth.
On a side note, are the apps you have listed everything that does the questionable snooping or are there more parts to the puzzle?
I'm a MoPho-er
FernBch said:
Even if they do respond I'll be willing to bet you don't get a straight answer that exposes the truth.
On a side note, are the apps you have listed everything that does the questionable snooping or are there more parts to the puzzle?
I'm a MoPho-er
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I knew how to debug and show what those apps did, I would have more "clout" I guess..
I'm sure there's more in there, but those are obvious (and poorly named) with what they do.
I'm not expecting an answer either, but just sitting idly by saying nothing doesn't achieve anything either. It was worth a shot, and if more people post a response in the original thread, then well... its gonna make it harder for them to ignore it as well.
He posted a reply... Usual PR Snuff and tried to make it look like I was the bad one for breaking an NDA on software that was publicly released two months ago..
I think not, so I replied in kind.... Funny how it took a posting of APK's permissions and concerns about privacy (which was brought up before) for him to garner any response on it...
Lets see if this can carry on...
mistaken, your privacy is important and must be protected, in Europe there are strict legislative on this point, and I hope that clarifies why if the European community discovers that unbeknownst to many users, are read everything that trigger sanctions. I also do not want others to know of my sites visited, etc..
sorry for my English
ZeroManArmy said:
It's funny. Those were the first apps that I had frozen. I have NO problem with my phone since I froze those. It's been about 2 months now and no problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the four has something to do with corp. mail now get an error message. Option to FC every thing working though.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Cythrawl,
Honestly, if I would have known that the Electrify would have been like this, I would have stuck with the Hero S. sometimes...I regret switching from the Hero S to the Electrify.
IBMguy said:
Cythrawl,
Honestly, if I would have known that the Electrify would have been like this, I would have stuck with the Hero S. sometimes...I regret switching from the Hero S to the Electrify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had have known too, I would have stuck with the Mesmerize until we get the SGII
Love it when people have no idea!
"We Motorola owners have been silent and I think its time that we was not."
"If I knew how to debug and show what those apps did, I would have more "clout" I guess.. "
I would not worry about Moto, the govenment is watching you right now through your tv.
halfdriven said:
Love it when people have no idea!
"We Motorola owners have been silent and I think its time that we was not."
"If I knew how to debug and show what those apps did, I would have more "clout" I guess.. "
I would not worry about Moto, the govenment is watching you right now through your tv.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing I don't have TV (or a TV connected to Cable / Sat / OTA) I doubt that...
Thankyou for your really useful post...