Most of the app now require acces to the phone calls..even a news app requires it, sms app such as go sms also requires it. So I want to know after knowing that an app will be able to acces your phone call you still download it? And does anyone in what way the developers use such info?
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Excellent topic, I'm really troubled by this. The business world makes a whole lot of money based on the average persons inertia - their lack of information or willingness when it comes to the products and services they use and the money they use to pay for them. Particular mobile phone network providers come to mind, who are happy to charge the most expensive prices because people don't know or don't care.
This lazy attitude is seeping into the Android app world. It will be a small per centage of us who will realize this threat and do something about it - exactly like cookies and public wifi privacy etc.
For those of us already interested, are there websites or apps which can guide us on this?
I had thought about it before but it seemed to be all apps out there at least need to access your internet, calls, phonebook and etc.. Not sure really if some of these nasty apps has the evil purpose to steal our vital informations in the phone... say if we're checking our bank account or something similar..
What I practice:
1) Installed AVG pro and do scan regularly, and set to scan every newly installed apps.
2) Use both cache cleaner and history eraser to clean up all traces once a day.
3) Hope they don't see me as a target.
Don't worry.
I think access to the phone calls is just to minimize the running app in case you receive a call. In other case you would not even realize an incoming call?!
Deehee3 said:
Don't worry.
I think access to the phone calls is just to minimize the running app in case you receive a call. In other case you would not even realize an incoming call?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about data? When you install an app in most cases you allow data access to it.
Searching for updates or viewing developers homepage maybe?
Sent from my U20i using XDA App
Deehee3 said:
Searching for updates or viewing developers homepage maybe?
Sent from my U20i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if not? What if app you´ve installed is spying on you and sending info to hackers. How would you know?
On android we have the luck that there are a lot of applications that are open source. When I have to choose an application, I always choose and support the open projects!
You will notice that most of those applications don't need all that personal information! Makes you wonder...
On other systems, apps usually have an user/administrator scheme, where the 'user' has access to some things and 'administrator' has access to everything.
There is no such thing on Android (except if you have a rooted phone and some app asks for superuser access, but you get a requester asking for permissions as well).
Each app has to specifically ask for permissions or the system will deny it. A spyware has to ask for those permissions or it won't work.
Some permission requests to look out for:
- "Call phone"
can be used by the application to silently dial some "premium" numbers
- "Send SMS"
can be used to send SMS to special "premium" numbers
- "Record phone calls"
can be harmful if associated with "internet access" permission
- "Access fine location"/"access coarse location" and "internet access"
can be used for tracking purposes
Many apps ask for:
- "Phone identity" / "internet access"
they use it for "statistics purposes" (flurry.com mostly) but it is bad. The developer should always inform the user about those.
BTW, that an app is open source makes no difference. Someone can always (willingly or not) tamper with the final build. And not everyone reviews open source apps.
zapek666 said:
A spyware has to ask for those permissions or it won't work.
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Click to collapse
Sure. But if an app legitimately ask for data transmission and file system access, AND you grant it, how would you know it is not using the granted rights for something else?
ppirate said:
On android we have the luck that there are a lot of applications that are open source. When I have to choose an application, I always choose and support the open projects!
You will notice that most of those applications don't need all that personal information! Makes you wonder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don´t tell me that you evaluate the source code of each application you load from the market. And even so, how would you know the difference between what is shown to you and the final build, available on the market?
vlissine said:
Sure. But if an app legitimately ask for data transmission and file system access, AND you grant it, how would you know it is not using the granted rights for something else?
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Click to collapse
Filesystem access are limited to the external memory card. An app with such permission cannot access other apps' private data (which are stored on the phone).
Android apps are all sandboxed into their own homes.
A good example of a suspicious application is HTML5 Reference.
"This HTML5 reference lists all tags supported in the HTML5 specification.", fine. Let's look at the permissions:
Network communication: full Internet access
Phone calls: read phone state and identity
While the first 2 could be produced as a side effect of the developer implementing some "statistics library" (flurry.com or so), the next 2:
Your location: fine (GPS) location
Your personal information: read sensitive log data
Are a giveaway that this app does a bit more than just listing HTML reference tags
zapek666 said:
Filesystem access are limited to the external memory card. An app with such permission cannot access other apps' private data (which are stored on the phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, how about a picture viewer, which usually picks pictures from each and every
directory, no matter if you want it (and not only from memory card).
Hey vlissine and zapek666. You both have a point.
One individual cannot review every code he or she uses. And also one does not only uses his or her own builds of the projects. But every now and then, I have to go into a project, mostly to add functionality. During that time, I usually have to go over a lot of code to understand the program. It is no guarantee, but you can imagine that some strange code will stand out.
I'm surely not the only person. So while one individual is not capable of such an endeavor. A lot are.
Your other point is as valid as can be. But here again, builds are comparable.
Surely, one does not have to find himself or herself obliged to use certain kind of projects. But to me, when I have the change, I use and support the open source project. One important reason is because of the concern raised by the original poster!
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/update-on-android-market-security.html
Apparently we were not that paranoid, thinking of spying apps
Two options:
1) To avoid being spy and get super paranoid about it... ditch your smartphone and get those early 2000 phones with only calls and sms capable.
2) Use the smart phone eg: X10 mini/pro or any android phones and ignore these spying scene and live with it like nothing ever going to happen since this new technologies really live up our life nowadays..
farsight73 said:
Two options:
1) To avoid being spy and get super paranoid about it... ditch your smartphone and get those early 2000 phones with only calls and sms capable.
2) Use the smart phone eg: X10 mini/pro or any android phones and ignore these spying scene and live with it like nothing ever going to happen since this new technologies really live up our life nowadays..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more option - stop giving stupid advises when you have nothing to say.
maybe apps need to call functions or need it to run?
write them your self if your that bothered?
...
Sent from my E10i using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Good evening,
After months of research, I decided to ask for help in order to find the rare app I'm looking for.
Owner of a N7100 operating under CM 11, I discovered when I upgraded to KK that one of my favorite (and abandoned) app wasn't working anymore.
That app is EasySMS ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fireblade.easysms ). It's a classic desktop SMS app that works locally without any outside server.
I know that there are already a lot of apps that do the same (MightyText, DesktopSMS, MySMS…), but as a privacy minded individual, they just don't do the cut. You can even scare yourself a little by reading their vague "privacy" statements.
My dream requirements for such an app would be that it can work without any external server interaction (like EasySMS) or with end to end encryption between my texts and my device (like the now defunct BrowserTexting).
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Didraskein.
Hello Friends,
I am new in this forum and want to ask something from you and also need your guideline for this, I want to develop an app like whatsapp, viber etc. but I have no idea how they works. I have searched on Google and found that whatsapp working on Ejabberd (XMPP) server. This server facilitates instant message transfer between two or many users at any given second. ERLANG is the programming language and Ejabberd is an open source Jabber server written in Erlang language.
But I want to know that if developed app how that will be work like what setup I required for this to run live and users can use 24 x 7 without any disturbance. Do I need to purchase anything like we need to do in website like webhosting, domain etc.
Kindly guide me in details about this. Your answers will be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
RjAnsari said:
Hello Friends,
I am new in this forum and want to ask something from you and also need your guideline for this, I want to develop an app like whatsapp, viber etc. but I have no idea how they works. I have searched on Google and found that whatsapp working on Ejabberd (XMPP) server. This server facilitates instant message transfer between two or many users at any given second. ERLANG is the programming language and Ejabberd is an open source Jabber server written in Erlang language.
But I want to know that if developed app how that will be work like what setup I required for this to run live and users can use 24 x 7 without any disturbance. Do I need to purchase anything like we need to do in website like webhosting, domain etc.
Kindly guide me in details about this. Your answers will be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all this Question should be in the general section. Hopefully some mods will look into it
And yeah, you need an actual physical server to do this. Only then you can guarantee your customers complete hassle free access to it. Erlang is used in whatsapp because its probably the best language to code for handling large set of real time communication between a very large number of people. Thats why the creators of whatsapp went with Erlang even if its an old language.
As the customers increase your server costs will also go up. All the best. :laugh: :good:
Hey! Its a Idea! But you musst make a lot of monetization for this app! Or you want make this app for your private chats with friends?
Hi there everyone!
As a learning exercise I've attempted to exorcise(zing!) all Google apps from my Samsung S7 Active(not rooted). I have managed to find replacements for everything I need except for one thing: Speech-to-text. I very badly need the ability to speak my texts and emails due to hand tremors. I've done a lot of searching but can't find any solution other than Dragon but that doesn't seem a true solution as it seems to require you do everything in that app and I need to be able to choose to speak in my texting and email apps.
Is this something I can do? Is there a way to get a STT engine on a non-rooted phone without installing Google? I'm using Yalp and f-Droid to manage my apps but have no issues with installing apk's outside of an app manager.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!
wow i see no replies, i have the same issue, any ideas at all?
the original purpose of google was to feed huge amounts of learn-able data into what will ultimately become AI; nothing can compare to the unimaginable amount of data google has learned from already. It is very hard to replace that; especially for "free" (of monetary charge) or even small fee; because we are paying with currency of privacy and insight into humanity.
I bought both of my kids mid-low level Motorola (Android) smartphones for Christmas. Lately their grades have been sub-par and I have taken the phones away. This presents a problem for me when I want to contact or track them.
I am looking for some kind of parental control app. I am trying to find an app that will allow me to deny access to all other apps (YouTube, internet browsers, Google Play etc). In a perfect world I would be able to shut off every app except the dialer and maybe a texting app.
Free is best but I don't mind paying a one time fee. I'm not willing to use a subscription based app that has monthly/yearly charges.
Thanks.
PR
https://families.google.com/intl/en/familylink/