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Why are MOST windows apps so unaesthetically pleasing. (ugly)

Hello
This is not trying to insult anybody on this forum, but i would like to know,
Why it is that on Devices such as Iphone/Android, the apps look good, and are smooth, whereas on windowsmobile they often end up being ugly .
Obviously some are great on windows mobile, and run flawlessly,
however the majority of apps on the internet are unpleasing.
Take for example, towers of hanoi.
I know most will hate the game but oh well.
On the iphone, there are a few apps for towers of hanoi, this being an example
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Now here is the best one available for windows, NOTING IT IS A PAID APP COSTING £6.84
millions of apps are like this, where there is not a satisfactory wm6 equivilant. this is only 1 app i came across in day to day life .
Saying that, most inventive games on iphone dont even have a wm6 equivilant, satisfactory or not.
Please note, i do realize millions of useful apps not available on other platforms are available on wm6, TF3D etc.
However to me ,I am getting annoyed with the lack of nice games for wm6.
Will this change when the windows marketplace is opened properly?

Maybe because WM is designed mainly to be practical? If anyone wants to see gorgeous landscapes simply copy photos of 'em to your phone and view them, on, for example a VGA screen which is incomparable to ****ty HVGA overiszed iPhones screen.
Want more games? Get yourself an emulator, for example SmartGear. It is paid, but (nearly) everything in iphone's app store is paid. After you get the emulator to work you get hundreds of games with excellent playability. But if you want inventions like:
a) pressing onscreen buttons and blowing into the mic to make sound
b) unlocking the screen by removing the simulated fog by your finger
c) game which is clever because its objective is to... press a button! yeah! The longer the better!
sorry, better get yourself an iPhone. If you managed to get this far and you don't want to kill me... wait for MS to designe the UI in a extra shiny finger friendly manner. Most likely developers will follow it.

I actually think a lot of the apps look nice; they could've been nicer, however, i'd prefer function over "form." Also, one of the reasons they don't look very aesthetically pleasing is becasue a lot are .NET applications so they're just there to deliver what the programs offers.

Because it's more difficult...

Because most apps are written by hobbyist programmers and we're forced to use standard .NET controls.
Programming fancy graphics is incredibly difficult and time consuming.

not that i know anything about applications,,
but having to use .net controls sounds pretty ****.
Its just annoying that android and iphone have applications so far ahead of wm.
I think wm6 needs a complete redesign.
Even wm7 shots look dissapointing.

One problem/strength of WM is that it is available running on a diverse range of hardware which is completely opposite to the i-will-ride-on-my-own-bicycle-only-:babycry: philosophy of iPhone. WM apps are designed keeping all these phones in mind, so to let the app get monetized to the max. iPhone apps have the same hardware, as there is only one iPhone, no choice. They have 3D acceleration, Fast processor etc etc on it, so they design graphics heavy apps that will surely run on their one and only target platform. If you have the money, have an iPhone, and play with the apps, if you dont, just f**k off, thats what apple's philosophy is. If you disagree, tell me an apple phone that comes for the price of HTC GENE.
Apps that are targeted for certain WM phones do run with all the iCandy as possible on that phone. I dont have any exact example right now, but i am sure somebody here will provide if needed.
For example, if an app is designed to run on a HTC Touch Pro 2 exclusively, i m sure you'll see much better interface than the one which is designed to run on as many devices as possible, from the low end HTC Gene to ultra high end TouchPro 2.
I hope this will clear things out a bit for everyone.

Just a few corrections of opinion
First off, whoever thinks that attaching some pretty graphics to the screen in .Net/C# is challenging, you seriously need to take more than an introductory class at a community college. It's not hard, you just have to be willing to find the graphics to use. Animation in WM is certainly more daunting and would be far easier to do if MS would have added WPF to the CF 3.5...
...the abundance of abbreviations in that last line just goes to show that programming is getting too annoying
Anyway, to answer one particular point which everybody else glossed over, is that Android ALSO has a lot of pretty apps like the iPhone (even though people ignore it). What people don't talk about is that android actually has it's own interface mechanism a lot like WPF/XAML which is supposed to be very friendly (I haven't really checked yet, but it seems to be popular).
A lot of people blame it on different devices having such different specs. While that SEEMS like a good argument, everybody who says it is blindly babbling without realizing that in 4-5 years the iPhone and Android phones will ALL BE VGA!!!!! If they aren't VGA, then NOBODY WILL BUY THEM!!!!! Hint hint, that means that both of those platforms will suffer the same problem that WM is "credited" with now.
The different resolution quality (VGA vs QVGA) is little more than a matter of releasing the original graphics in multiple sets. The issue of different resolution dimensions (WVGA vs VGA vs other-weird-boxy-GAs) could actually be handled (in most cases) with a simple bit of programming logic in the OnPaint handler.
Now, my answer to the question.....
Fact is, look at the programming communities of Android and iPhone, they both have a massive amount of open source/dev kit type samples, especially focusing heavily on graphics (especially with the iPhone, which focuses almost exclusively on graphics). WM samples tend to focus heavily on systems programming.
One other issue that exists is that interface programming is historically complicated with low-level programming languages. Apple gets by it using a highly customized and extended form of Objective-C. Android solves it with their xaml-like language which makes building the GUI a lot like writing a web page (loose comparison for the less technically inclined, don't flame me over the inaccuracies). Windows Mobile has the .Net framework, which can be made pretty without too much effort, but it suffers from not being fully integrated with the OS, therefore a lot of apps can be sluggish when written in .Net. The other option is to write in C++, which leads us back to the much more complicated UI programming.
There's your REAL reasons. Most programmers either don't have access to (or awareness of) good samples for a lot of the better graphics tricks, and the rest of them don't want to build something that runs too slow that it's going to get tons of complaints. I think there's one other contributing issue, there's not enough people who are willing to get together and partition out the work. It would only take 5-10 decently skilled graphics programmers to work with the high number of skilled systems programmers on this forum and we could see a nearly limitless number of high quality apps that would blow away anything on any of the competing phones.
As a side note, another thought strikes me....I think a LOT of people are waiting on the Tegra chips to start circulating before they start writing a lot. I know that's had me reluctant to put too much work into a few projects.

Because Apple has a bigger line of programmers.

Two aspects I can think of:
Apple has Steve Jobs, who happens to be educated BIG TIME in User Interface. iPhone is specifically designed (H/W and S/W locking together), so achieving it is easier.
WM (we're talking about WM, right?) is still based on PC / Desktop version, and the GUI (up to XP) doesn't change much. I believe 6.5 brings innovation (as I tested some cooked ROM) in smoothing the GUI. However, as an ex UIQ3 user, I believe, even if WM is intended for many devices (more standardized), MS can learn (and seems to be learning) from UIQ. All theme of UIQ changes a lot (scroll bar, text color, background). While for WM, the standard WM 6.1 theme won't even change the white background when we go to 'Setting' for example ..
Just my 2 cents coming from different world

After reading all this i still do not understand why WM apps, not games, are so ugly looking. People can skin various keyboards, Music Players, creat iPhone looking today screens, skin dial pads, calculators etc. Why not simple make the original app good looking? I'm not talking about animations either. Look how much better looking the dialers people are making compared to the standard dialer that some of our phones have like my Touch pro.
I saw someone on this site made a mobile version of Google Translator tool. Its perfect function wise but it could definitely look better. Someone on Ppcgeeks made a movie searching app called Cinemo. It's not ugly but its not as good looking as the Pre's Fandango app. I'm not talking about the Fandango apps function, just the form.
Look how well Weather Panel themes look & how good iContacts look. Why cant WM users have form & functionality?

charm1718 said:
After reading all this i still do not understand why WM apps, not games, are so ugly looking. People can skin various keyboards, Music Players, creat iPhone looking today screens, skin dial pads, calculators etc. Why not simple make the original app good looking? I'm not talking about animations either. Look how much better looking the dialers people are making compared to the standard dialer that some of our phones have like my Touch pro.
I saw someone on this site made a mobile version of Google Translator tool. Its perfect function wise but it could definitely look better. Someone on Ppcgeeks made a movie searching app called Cinemo. It's not ugly but its not as good looking as the Pre's Fandango app. I'm not talking about the Fandango apps function, just the form.
Look how well Weather Panel themes look & how good iContacts look. Why cant WM users have form & functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Standardisation. There are no default "fancy" controls for either MFC or .NET for Windows Mobile like there are for iPhone (and I assume Android).
To make aesthetically pleasing applications for WM requires the programmer to design their own, making each and every application completely different in appearance. These small changes confuse & irrate most users as they can't find what they're looking for, therefore we just use the default controls instead of wasting time on making it pretty.
Secondly, putting graphics onto the screen is all well and good, but you want your app to run on as many resolutions as possible. That means resizing images (ugh) or having a separate image for each resolution making your application larger (ugh).

Blade0rz said:
Standardisation. There are no default "fancy" controls for either MFC or .NET for Windows Mobile like there are for iPhone (and I assume Android).
To make aesthetically pleasing applications for WM requires the programmer to design their own, making each and every application completely different in appearance. These small changes confuse & irrate most users as they can't find what they're looking for, therefore we just use the default controls instead of wasting time on making it pretty.
Secondly, putting graphics onto the screen is all well and good, but you want your app to run on as many resolutions as possible. That means resizing images (ugh) or having a separate image for each resolution making your application larger (ugh).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are all programs skinnable?
I understand that making a program for various resolutions would be tedious but what I dont understand is why do people only make things look good after its seen elsewhwere? Nobody decided to make better looking media player skins until the iPhone came out. This also the same with contacts, dialers & keyboards. If this could have been done before, why wait until someone else does it then copy it?
When I look in Development & Hacking I see apps for specific resolutions. People post asking for different resolutions and someone else might make the changes if they have a device with that resolution. Is there something the developer has to do on his end to make an app skinnable or can they all be skinned?

charm1718 said:
Are all programs skinnable?
I understand that making a program for various resolutions would be tedious but what I dont understand is why do people only make things look good after its seen elsewhwere? Nobody decided to make better looking media player skins until the iPhone came out. This also the same with contacts, dialers & keyboards. If this could have been done before, why wait until someone else does it then copy it?
When I look in Development & Hacking I see apps for specific resolutions. People post asking for different resolutions and someone else might make the changes if they have a device with that resolution. Is there something the developer has to do on his end to make an app skinnable or can they all be skinned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skins have to be implemented by the developer. Although, all images that are used within a program have to be stored somewhere (either within the program itself or on your device) so those images can be found & replaced as many people on this board do. This does take some knowledge though.
And the reason people only came out with nice-looking interfaces after the iPhone is because it was innovative. It's a lot easier to copy an interface than it is to pick a design out of your brain & implement it from scratch

There's several reasons why WM has a lot of ugliness in its apps.
One is due to the UI itself. Non-fullscreen apps have both a top and bottom bar cluttering the screen and apps are rarely built to "match" the existing bars. The iPhone has less screen real estate taken up by the UI, so developers can control the look a bit more. Also, as I understand it, WM offers uglier barebones formatting. The iPhone gives devs access to prettier standard controls, menus, and fonts, whereas WM devs start with ugly and aliased controls and the like.
One reason is due to age -- WM has been around a (relatively) long time and many of the apps you're seeing were designed for devices with weaker visual capabilities and were also designed when the mobile app market was smaller and less competitive, so there was less incentive to make things pretty.
Another reason is due to the fact that a lot of WM apps are made by very amateur developers who simply don't have the training and know-how to pretty things up. WM, as a platform, seems most popular amongst IT workers, geeks, and tweakers. This is why there's tons of powerful, functional apps out there -- but a lot of us geeks don't know much about design. I, unfortunately, know about design but not programming.

I really didn't know who and what to quote, too many thoughts, so I'm just kinda re-reading the page and commenting back as I go. Sorry it's super long
charm1718 said:
Someone on Ppcgeeks made a movie searching app called Cinemo. It's not ugly but its not as good looking as the Pre's Fandango app. I'm not talking about the Fandango apps function, just the form.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You compare the Cinemo app made by a single unpaid developer against a corporately paid group of developers with pre-defined branding, graphics, and an advertising department (read: designers) under Fandango. That's a bit unfair
Ignoring function, most people on here could steal the graphics and duplicate the app's look.
Blade0rz said:
To make aesthetically pleasing applications for WM requires the programmer to design their own, making each and every application completely different in appearance. These small changes confuse & irrate most users as they can't find what they're looking for, therefore we just use the default controls instead of wasting time on making it pretty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is untrue. This is a now ancient viewpoint that's still held from the days of windows 3.x when everybody was tired and confused by the wildly bad interfaces that existed for business apps which took weeks and months to learn basic function. Sure, people want to have SOME consistency with their apps like how to close it or how to find menus, but an easy interface doesn't need to use only basic controls. If this were true, then each of the new mobile os's that come out would have failed since none of their interfaces match the other phones before them. The best designs offer more graphics than text, a more interactive and direct way of achieving tasks, and having as many options without cluttering the screen or adding more taps.
charm1718 said:
...what I dont understand is why do people only make things look good after its seen elsewhwere? Nobody decided to make better looking media player skins until the iPhone came out. This also the same with contacts, dialers & keyboards. If this could have been done before, why wait until someone else does it then copy it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also untrue. Sure, the amount of skinning went way up after the iPhone, there's been skinning on the media player for years. There's also been 3rd party apps that are far more attractive and functional for contacts and keyboards. The reason most people didn't see this is that these were usually paid apps or poorly advertised amidst hundreds of garbage apps on various repositories of shareware trash that people posted for WinMo.
typo said:
One is due to the UI itself. Non-fullscreen apps have both a top and bottom bar cluttering the screen and apps are rarely built to "match" the existing bars. The iPhone has less screen real estate taken up by the UI, so developers can control the look a bit more. Also, as I understand it, WM offers uglier barebones formatting. The iPhone gives devs access to prettier standard controls, menus, and fonts, whereas WM devs start with ugly and aliased controls and the like
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WinMo developers can hide the top and bottom bars fairly easily (especially in .Net), so screen real estate is still available. I think many times we don't because we don't want to take away the legitimate use of those bars. As to the rest of what you said, spot on...the controls are ugly as opposed to the prettier ones built into other OS's. But remember what it was like to move from windows 98 (or 2000) to XP, the same thing will happen as winmo updates it's own UI libraries.
typo said:
Another reason is due to the fact that a lot of WM apps are made by very amateur developers who simply don't have the training and know-how to pretty things up. WM, as a platform, seems most popular amongst IT workers, geeks, and tweakers. This is why there's tons of powerful, functional apps out there -- but a lot of us geeks don't know much about design. I, unfortunately, know about design but not programming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, since the educated among us were never given serious classes on UI Design or Graphics Programming. The amateurs are stumbling through even a lot of the functional stuff. The hackers are usually good at changing something, but they can't create something new.
You also say something that brings up a subject I've complained about before (and is part of an argument I've made MANY times that we need a full-scale section just for development/programming instead of the single D&H sub-section we have now). There's a lot of people on here that are good at the functional programming. There's also a few (far less) who are good at the graphics programming. There's also a ton of people who are very good at graphic design and photoshop. A LOT of the apps that are released on here have terrible UI's because the people with functional knowledge don't take/have the time to make it pretty while at the same time those with graphic programming skill are wasting weeks trying to make their program functional while it's got a great UI already done. The two types need to work together and we could easily dominate anything ever done for any mobile OS out there.
btw, I want to add my own personal complaint. One of the most performant and potentially best looking API's belongs to OpenGL ES, which is a 3d rendering functionality all of our phones have built into the recent MSM chipsets. The problem is, only some phones have working drivers, and even less have efficient drivers. I would love to use OpenGL ES to write half of the stuff I want to, but I can't do that with any expectation of it being able to run decently on any phone older than the Diamond...and that's just among HTC phones...There's no certainty of any other handset having proper function or speed. This, to me, is one of the biggest setbacks and prevents a lot of devs from aiming high.

Thank you for clearing some things up. It would be great if the programmers and graphic designers could work together on more projects.

charm1718 said:
Thank you for clearing some things up. It would be great if the programmers and graphic designers could work together on more projects.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to get all three working together on projects. There's a few people who really know how to build the UI code, and there's a few wildly talented people who can put together graphics.
The thing I'd really like to do is get an organized team of people set up to work on projects, similar to how it would be done in any professional shop. A few guys who know systems/db/back-end coding, a few UI experts, and a few graphic designers. Baring that, at least get a list of people who would offer to join in on projects as they were put together.

speed_pour said:
I'd like to get all three working together on projects. There's a few people who really know how to build the UI code, and there's a few wildly talented people who can put together graphics.
The thing I'd really like to do is get an organized team of people set up to work on projects, similar to how it would be done in any professional shop. A few guys who know systems/db/back-end coding, a few UI experts, and a few graphic designers. Baring that, at least get a list of people who would offer to join in on projects as they were put together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you reached out to anyone & tried putting something like this together?

charm1718 said:
Have you reached out to anyone & tried putting something like this together?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've suggested it once before. For reasons that are too varied to get into right now, I expect that it would run into some complications on this forum.
With my current constraints (lack of gainful employment), I'm reluctant to get too deeply involved in organizing such a project unless it had the potential of turning profits. I do see a lot of potential in forming a group that produced both freeware/open source apps along with some commercial apps...I would be happy to be involved in that venture. If any serious developers are interested in a project like this, I would certainly find the time to organize and also be a developer.

Which Mobile OS is right for you?

I was having a Delma deciding which Mobile OS I would like to use. Just to help those that are having trouble deciding on an OS, I have made this list. It's small, but it could help some people.. possibly...
Android: (Nook Color & Samsung Stratosphere)
Pros: You can tailor the OS to your needs, apps can easily control other apps, apps can use the system resources more easily, and the market isn't as restricted as other Mobile OS's Ex: MP3 downloaders (legality questioned constantly) can either play music through their own apps, or your phone's built in music player. Apple's App store would probably disapprove of it.
Cons: It needs to be rebooted to flush it's memory, occasionally freezes (in my 1 1/2 years of experience with a rooted Nook color, and less than 3 months with a Samsung Stratosphere, I've had the system crash twice.), and is shifty between devices.
Conclusion: I prefer Android over any other mobile OS, Just do your research before you buy.
Windows Phone 7: (HTC Trophy
Pros: Everything is put together in an elegant manner, while being easy to use. Facebook and other social networks are deeply integrated within the OS, and it was always fast and responsive.
Cons: No unified notifications list like Android and iOS, Small App Store (Skype just came out, and from what I know, is only available in America.) and isn't compatible with the iOS Video messaging format.
Conclusion: If you are using a phone for only business, or for social networking, get Windows Phone 7.
iOS: iPhone 4
Pros: Smooth, clean OS, has the largest app store/market, One of the most popular OS's on the market
Cons: I've found apps on iOS tend to crash fairly often, and I didn't find the experience to be worth 200$.
Conclusion: Not too terribly much I can say about iOS.
Hope this helps anyone going through the same thing I was!
EDIT: If anyone has any other input they'd like to add, please add a reply to this thread.

Windows Phone's app store is far from small and growing at an unheard of rate. It's also more fluid than iOS, much smoother. It's a nice start to a list, but there's a lot to be added.

z33dev33l said:
Windows Phone's app store is far from small and growing at an unheard of rate. It's also more fluid than iOS, much smoother. It's a nice start to a list, but there's a lot to be added.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very small compared to its rivals. Isn't it thirty thousand apps?
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

z33dev33l said:
Windows Phone's app store is far from small and growing at an unheard of rate. It's also more fluid than iOS, much smoother. It's a nice start to a list, but there's a lot to be added.
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Being an open source/linux advocate, the obvious choice for me was android. I quit using MS products years ago and have no regrets. Apple stuff would be my second choice after linux, but the way apple has control over the way users must do things is a major turn off. Thankfully, open source projects aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Android (Nexus S)
Pros: much more "freedom" than other os's (ie: download music player, keyboard, root access, etc), widgets, variety of designs and specs to fit everyone's needs, wants, and budget. ICS holo theme looks fantastic
Cons: may take a while for your phone to be updated to the latest version of android, or may not come at all without rooting. Since its open source, and many different models of phones, this is inevitable.
WP7 (HTC Surround 7)
Pros: Very simple/elegant. Love how all the wp7 apps look.
Cons: small app store, needs better organization of apps (folders).
iOS (iPhone 4)
Pros: biggest selection of apps/quality apps. brightness goes down really low. (i wish i could lower my nexus s brightness even more, but on android it probably differs between each phone/screen (S-LCD/AMOLED etc). simple to use, but not very elegant. id call this the beginner smartphone.
Cons: Looks "boring". The UI is just a grid of static icons, compared to android's live wallpapers, widgets, app drawer, and wp7's live tiles. screen is TOO small. Got tired of the iPhone pretty quickly, not much you can do on it. too expensive for what its worth
OVERALL: Android in a heartbeat.

chase2hoop said:
I was having a Delma deciding which Mobile OS I would like to use. Just to help those that are having trouble deciding on an OS, I have made this list. It's small, but it could help some people.. possibly...
Android: (Nook Color & Samsung Stratosphere)
Pros: You can tailor the OS to your needs, apps can easily control other apps, apps can use the system resources more easily, and the market isn't as restricted as other Mobile OS's Ex: MP3 downloaders (legality questioned constantly) can either play music through their own apps, or your phone's built in music player. Apple's App store would probably disapprove of it.
Cons: It needs to be rebooted to flush it's memory, occasionally freezes (in my 1 1/2 years of experience with a rooted Nook color, and less than 3 months with a Samsung Stratosphere, I've had the system crash twice.), and is shifty between devices.
Conclusion: I prefer Android over any other mobile OS, Just do your research before you buy.
Windows Phone 7: (HTC Trophy
Pros: Everything is put together in an elegant manner, while being easy to use. Facebook and other social networks are deeply integrated within the OS, and it was always fast and responsive.
Cons: No unified notifications list like Android and iOS, Small App Store (Skype just came out, and from what I know, is only available in America.) and isn't compatible with the iOS Video messaging format.
Conclusion: If you are using a phone for only business, or for social networking, get Windows Phone 7.
iOS: iPhone 4
Pros: Smooth, clean OS, has the largest app store/market, One of the most popular OS's on the market
Cons: I've found apps on iOS tend to crash fairly often, and I didn't find the experience to be worth 200$.
Conclusion: Not too terribly much I can say about iOS.
Hope this helps anyone going through the same thing I was!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You missed out webOS and BlackBerry
I've not had much experience with webOS devices, but I've worked my way through a good few BlackBerrys,
The BB7 OS, I found was unparalleled for ease of use, the universal search just by typing from the homescreen was a much loved feature that I miss quite a lot
The truly unified inbox is something else I really miss as well, finding that all notifications from all over various app all in one is something I think should be on all mobile platforms, one way or another.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

I find Android much more flexable & progressive with it's open source. Ditched WM years ago and haven't looked back!

.
Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.

I have an HP Touchpad and an Ipad 2 and I would say I love them both. I also have ICS on my HP Touchpad. I use WebOS mainly for web browsing since it's much easier for me. I also used my HP Touchpad for my thesis since I bought an HP wireless keyboard. I only boot to android for games that I don't have on my IPAD 2. But I must admit that even thought the interface of WebOS is great, my experience using the Ipad is still far superior. I'm no loyal to any manufacturers, my main concern is my own experience.
Btw, I love the split keyboard for Ipad and Android unfortunately WebOS doesn't have one.

z33dev33l said:
Windows Phone's app store is far from small and growing at an unheard of rate. It's also more fluid than iOS, much smoother. It's a nice start to a list, but there's a lot to be added.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I thought I put for people to put in their own input and opinions as a reply. Guess I forgot... :-/

wolfen69 said:
Being an open source/linux advocate, the obvious choice for me was android. I quit using MS products years ago and have no regrets. Apple stuff would be my second choice after linux, but the way apple has control over the way users must do things is a major turn off. Thankfully, open source projects aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know! I love Ubuntu, and Android. This is just my opinion, but I think Ubuntu is the most elegant interface on the market currently! The only reason I have a Mac is because, despite all of the great video editing software on linux, I always wind up back on the mac with final cut 7.

redrumsilence said:
You missed out webOS and BlackBerry
I've not had much experience with webOS devices, but I've worked my way through a good few BlackBerrys,
The BB7 OS, I found was unparalleled for ease of use, the universal search just by typing from the homescreen was a much loved feature that I miss quite a lot
The truly unified inbox is something else I really miss as well, finding that all notifications from all over various app all in one is something I think should be on all mobile platforms, one way or another.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I actually haven't had any experience with BB7 OS, Last blackberry I used was the tour, and I have never used WebOS (well, I have in store, but other than that... no), and I didn't want to provide a review without actually using the device as my everyday phone. I have to say I love the Blackberry Keyboard!

chase2hoop said:
Yea, I actually haven't had any experience with BB7 OS, Last blackberry I used was the tour, and I have never used WebOS (well, I have in store, but other than that... no), and I didn't want to provide a review without actually using the device as my everyday phone. I have to say I love the Blackberry Keyboard!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My last three phones were a BlackBerry Torch 9800, BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Samsung Galaxy S II (GT-i9100)
The few things I've really come to miss from my BlackBerrys are the keyboard, BlackBerry Messenger and the all-in-one inbox
God I miss that inbox...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

I feel like with android you have much more freedom to customize. IOS likes to keep everything on a lock, and I haven't experienced much with Windows, but it does seem super nice.

This program was used as spyware on my phone

I found this, xprivacy, android n developer and more on my phone which has been rooted, without my knowledge or permission. I need to find out who did this so i can have peace of mind and to prosecute. I am not computer literate at all. Please help

Randumblonde said:
I found this, xprivacy, android n developer and more on my phone which has been rooted, without my knowledge or permission. I need to find out who did this so i can have peace of mind and to prosecute. I am not computer literate at all. Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lmao
Sent with the send button at the right.

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****ers.
Android police. Denver dics, 81's and a ***** with a vendetta. Laugh it up, chuckles.

Randumblonde said:
Android police. Denver dics, 81's and a ***** with a vendetta. Laugh it up, chuckles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you kinda have us doing this.
And this
Because the improbability and absurdity of what you posted is a little ..... beyond words.
At the minimum you should have at least said what kind of phone you have. You provided absolutely NO information for anyone to even attempt to try and help you.

Pretend like im an idiot....easily done by all you smart mutha ****as..... and step by step tell me bx i am not even trying to act a little like i know what im talking about

First off, I don't think it's really necessary to pretend.
Secondly, calling people names is no way to get help. But it is a good way to get hammered by the moderators.
Xprivacy is an xposed module that is for protecting your privacy. I use it as do many others. It's a great app. It's not spyware.
What phone do you have? Carrier? Rooted? Custom rom? Xposed?
It is incredibly unlikely that an xposed module just appeared on your phone. You might have accidently clicked it at some point while looking on the xposed repository?
And even if there are apps and spyware on your phone that you didn't put there, there is no way you're going to be able to prosecute anyone. Kinda comes with the territory of having technology.
Don't like it...get an iPhone.
---------------------------
VZW LG G4
Rooted
Android 5.1
Stock ROM
Stock Kernel

I appreciate your stating what is most likely considered the obvious.
I must say, i do not believe that, simply bx i live in the year 2016 and own a smartphone, something like this should be not only expected, but commonplace and laughable. My faux pas while asking for help was to not include obvious key indicators that would help my problem get solved faster, and help me not look like such a twit . The real issue here, imho, is..... is no one concerned about what is a clear and blatant invasion of privacy? I appreciate the fact that anyone using this app, or on this forum is light years ahead of me in terms of my computer knowledge, and, yes, i stumbled upon double apps, files that dont make sense, draining battery, just things that refuse to fit in to logic, by a very novice mistake. Then as i looked further, i began to fit the pieces together.
I can't believe that with technology such as rooting, rebuilding and controlling a phone, all hidden from the primary user/account holder, there is no way to track someone who is committing such a crime.
I am willing to do the work. I just need to know where to start.
I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a girlfriend, a friend. Please put me in the shoes of someone who fills one of those roles for you and think of your reaction when this story is presented to you from their life experience.
Im asking for a little help to protect myself from the fear, anger, unknown use of my personal info, and just plain creepiness that accompanies this predatory hack.
Any help is appreciated.

I appreciate your stating what is most likely considered the obvious.
I must say, i do not believe that, simply bx i live in the year 2016 and own a smartphone, something like this should be not only expected, but commonplace and laughable. My faux pas while asking for help was to not include obvious key indicators that would help my problem get solved faster, and help me not look like such a twit . The real issue here, imho, is..... is no one concerned about what is a clear and blatant invasion of privacy? I appreciate the fact that anyone using this app, or on this forum is light years ahead of me in terms of my computer knowledge, and, yes, i stumbled upon double apps, files that dont make sense, draining battery, just things that refuse to fit in to logic, by a very novice mistake. Then as i looked further, i began to fit the pieces together.
I can't believe that with technology such as rooting, rebuilding and controlling a phone, all hidden from the primary user/account holder, there is no way to track someone who is committing such a crime.
I am willing to do the work. I just need to know where to start.
I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a girlfriend, a friend. Please put me in the shoes of someone who fills one of those roles for you and think of your reaction when this story is presented to you from their life experience.
Im asking for a little help to protect myself from the fear, anger, unknown use of my personal info, and just plain creepiness that accompanies this predatory hack.
Any help is appreciated.

Randumblonde said:
I appreciate your stating what is most likely considered the obvious.
I must say, i do not believe that, simply bx i live in the year 2016 and own a smartphone, something like this should be not only expected, but commonplace and laughable. My faux pas while asking for help was to not include obvious key indicators that would help my problem get solved faster, and help me not look like such a twit . The real issue here, imho, is..... is no one concerned about what is a clear and blatant invasion of privacy? I appreciate the fact that anyone using this app, or on this forum is light years ahead of me in terms of my computer knowledge, and, yes, i stumbled upon double apps, files that dont make sense, draining battery, just things that refuse to fit in to logic, by a very novice mistake. Then as i looked further, i began to fit the pieces together.
I can't believe that with technology such as rooting, rebuilding and controlling a phone, all hidden from the primary user/account holder, there is no way to track someone who is committing such a crime.
I am willing to do the work. I just need to know where to start.
I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a girlfriend, a friend. Please put me in the shoes of someone who fills one of those roles for you and think of your reaction when this story is presented to you from their life experience.
Im asking for a little help to protect myself from the fear, anger, unknown use of my personal info, and just plain creepiness that accompanies this predatory hack.
Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a lot better. As a father of four daughters, and brother of three sisters, I can appreciate your concern.
Regardless of that. I stand by my first statement of the impossibility of this all. I have been doing this for quite awhile.
First off, did you root? If not it is impossible to do without physical possession of your phone. IMPOSSIBLE,
Second, you still have not said what kind of phone you have. Some phones are not possible to root.
Third, If you indeed have Android N Preview, again physical access to your phone is required.
It is impossible to install double apps. It can't be done. Icons may look the same, but applications duplicated, impossible.
If Xprivacy is installed, XPrivacy can prevent applications from leaking privacy sensitive data. It requires another application called Xposed Framework. Xprivacy as stated is a good thing.
Bottom line, nothing could have been done to your phone remotely. It would have to be done with at least 30-60 minutes of physical access to your phone.
With someone with knowledge about such things. If you know someone like that, guess you don't have to look to far.

dicksteele said:
This is a lot better. As a father of four daughters, and brother of three sisters, I can appreciate your concern.
Regardless of that. I stand by my first statement of the impossibility of this all. I have been doing this for quite awhile.
First off, did you root? If not it is impossible to do without physical possession of your phone. IMPOSSIBLE,
Second, you still have not said what kind of phone you have. Some phones are not possible to root.
Third, If you indeed have Android N Preview, again physical access to your phone is required.
It is impossible to install double apps. It can't be done. Icons may look the same, but applications duplicated, impossible.
If Xprivacy is installed, XPrivacy can prevent applications from leaking privacy sensitive data. It requires another application called Xposed Framework. Xprivacy as stated is a good thing.
Bottom line, nothing could have been done to your phone remotely. It would have to be done with at least 30-60 minutes of physical access to your phone.
With someone with knowledge about such things. If you know someone like that, guess you don't have to look to far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could have sworn i stated that my phone is a sprint Samsung g s5. Yes, i am very aware of who has had possession of my phone. I just need the proof. So, i included uploads of a bug report, and several screen shots noting the phone has been rooted and the fake and real starts to apps, etc. In the bug report there is an account number but i dont know to what account and its on page, like, 6000 or something.
So, my g s5 has 2 chromes, 3 clock apps, 2 context somethings, 4 bluetooth test apps, a bunch of stuff idk, new files, etc. My hidden files suddenly say 'root' numerous times, also say things like fake-this and hidden sharing, lots of libstagefright, libtoolbox, lib audio, this is just the very beginning of pages upon pages of allshares, content readers, on and on. So, yes, i imagine xprivacy is to keep the hacker safe, i do have android n, telephony, all sorts of back up data apps, clouds, 3 different launchers, 1 is mine, there's chameleon and easy something too, i mean, i know im not nuts. The camera apps and audio apps lead me to believe i can be watched and heard at any given moment. The lengths that this hacker went to to remain unidentified is absurd. But the real absurdity is that i have discovered all of this, so now i need to be able to prove , with no room to weasel out, that the hacker has done this purposefully and with only one intent.
I have already been educated about how illegal immigrants steal the numbers off phones and use them to commit crimes, by bouncing ip addresses, etc, this knowledge came to me shortly after i began focusing on my phone issues. So, i am now playing with scorching hot fire to beat the clock and get answers b4 something happens to not only the files and info i carry with me, but i have become afraid of what might happen to me, as well.... so.... if i am at all off base, i will tuck my tail and retreat from this point, i do not believe with any slight random bit of my overactive imagination that i am wrong. If you need more file names or copies of, i am happy to provide.
Please forgive my attitude earlier. I am in a panic and no one has listened, much yet taken me seriously, and i just dont know what the end result will uncover. Thank you, thank you

Randumblonde said:
I could have sworn i stated that my phone is a sprint Samsung g s5. Yes, i am very aware of who has had possession of my phone. I just need the proof. So, i included uploads of a bug report, and several screen shots noting the phone has been rooted and the fake and real starts to apps, etc. In the bug report there is an account number but i dont know to what account and its on page, like, 6000 or something.
So, my g s5 has 2 chromes, 3 clock apps, 2 context somethings, 4 bluetooth test apps, a bunch of stuff idk, new files, etc. My hidden files suddenly say 'root' numerous times, also say things like fake-this and hidden sharing, lots of libstagefright, libtoolbox, lib audio, this is just the very beginning of pages upon pages of allshares, content readers, on and on. So, yes, i imagine xprivacy is to keep the hacker safe, i do have android n, telephony, all sorts of back up data apps, clouds, 3 different launchers, 1 is mine, there's chameleon and easy something too, i mean, i know im not nuts. The camera apps and audio apps lead me to believe i can be watched and heard at any given moment. The lengths that this hacker went to to remain unidentified is absurd. But the real absurdity is that i have discovered all of this, so now i need to be able to prove , with no room to weasel out, that the hacker has done this purposefully and with only one intent.
I have already been educated about how illegal immigrants steal the numbers off phones and use them to commit crimes, by bouncing ip addresses, etc, this knowledge came to me shortly after i began focusing on my phone issues. So, i am now playing with scorching hot fire to beat the clock and get answers b4 something happens to not only the files and info i carry with me, but i have become afraid of what might happen to me, as well.... so.... if i am at all off base, i will tuck my tail and retreat from this point, i do not believe with any slight random bit of my overactive imagination that i am wrong. If you need more file names or copies of, i am happy to provide.
Please forgive my attitude earlier. I am in a panic and no one has listened, much yet taken me seriously, and i just dont know what the end result will uncover. Thank you, thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've reread from the beginning and you have never stated model of phone. And not sure where you uploading bug reports and screenshots. It's not in this thread.
Since you have an S5, The Android N Developer Preview is available for Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus 5X.
I'm not sure you are going to find any legal precedence to do anything against anyone who had possession of your phone with your knowledge.
Personally I think you are overacting. But before you go off the rails, on a rant that I'm not helping.
My opinion of you overacting is based on your short term research. Yes there are things possible, but again highly unlikely.
Again, in my opinion your phone has not been hacked. You stated you knew someone had your phone. Someone installed applications on it, and the most possible way is, through the Google Play Store or through Samsung Apps. Which require accounts.....
It takes more knowledge to install them, which would require root access, manually.
From Wikipedia (not saying it's gospel) I don't know where you live, don't want to, but this "should" be reference enough regarding rooting in the US
United States
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) rooting is illegal in the United States except by exemption. The U.S. Copyright Office currently grants phones an exemption to this law "at least through 2015".[41]
In 2010, in response to a request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the U.S. Copyright Office explicitly recognized an exemption to the DMCA to permit rooting.[42][43] In their ruling, the Library of Congress affirmed on July 26, 2010 that rooting is exempt from DMCA rules with respect to circumventing digital locks. DMCA exemptions must be reviewed and renewed every three years or else they expire.
On October 28, 2012, the US Copyright Office updated their exemption policies. The rooting of smartphones continues to be legal "where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of [lawfully obtained software] applications with computer programs on the telephone handset." However, the U.S. Copyright office refused to extend this exemption to tablets, arguing that the term "tablets" is broad and ill-defined, and an exemption to this class of devices could have unintended side effects.[44][45][46] The Copyright Office also renewed the 2010 exemption for unofficially unlocking phones to use them on unapproved carriers, but restricted this exemption to phones purchased before January 26, 2013.[45]
Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, argued in 2007 that jailbreaking is "legal, ethical, and just plain fun."[47] Wu cited an explicit exemption issued by the Library of Congress in 2006 for personal unlocking, which notes that locks "are used by wireless carriers to limit the ability of subscribers to switch to other carriers, a business decision that has nothing whatsoever to do with the interests protected by copyright" and thus do not implicate the DMCA.[48] Wu did not claim that this exemption applies to those who help others unlock a device or "traffic" in software to do so.[47] In 2010 and 2012, the U.S. Copyright Office approved exemptions to the DMCA that allow users to root their devices legally.[49] It is still possible to employ technical countermeasures to prevent rooting or prevent rooted phones from functioning.[50] It is also unclear whether it is legal to traffic in the tools used to make rooting easy.[50]
At minimum from what have experienced and understand, you root you're phone you void your warranty. From what I have read from people that have jacked up there phone from rooting or a process that was available because it was rooted, they just got a new phone.
Myself included.
Based on what you have written, again I believe you are overacting without personally looking at the phone. Some of the apps and files you describe, some are the base software. libstagefright, libaudio, whatever are part of the Android operating system.
Camera, clock apps etc. are easily installed, with an account on Google or Samsung App stores. Now is it illegal from someone that has physical possession of your phone to install an account on there to install apps.... Don't know, probably not. But malicious intent would have to be proven I imagine.
Also based on what read, I said I believe you are overreacting.
But this statement --->"So, i am now playing with scorching hot fire to beat the clock and get answers b4 something happens to not only the files and info i carry with me, but i have become afraid of what might happen to me, as well"
I'm not sure what this means.
I'm not trying to diminish or ignore your concerns.
BUT
Since you say you know who had the phone, and hopefully I have made you understand that anything on it, had to be done with the phone in their possession, my suggestion is YOU stop messing with it and take it someone qualified to investigate what is on it.
The very first thing that is done is make an exact copy of it.
If you are not going to do that, not sure how far you are going to get with what you seek.
How to find accounts that were used to install apps
http://www.androidcentral.com/how-set-accounts-samsung-galaxy-s5
If the account is not on your phone, without it, proving what was installed is difficult. Google keeps a record. Logging into the account will show what was installed and when. But only with the account name and password.
BUT AGAIN
The more you mess with it, the less chances there are to "prove" the purpose or intent of the person that had YOUR phone, installing these apps.

reset the phone to factory settings
and choose another account with Google
I've never heard of this

Save only your important data to your computer. Like photos and documents.
Then go into settings and look for the option to reset your phone. Reset it to factory. If it gives you an option to format your SD card do that too.
Go to your Google account and reset your password and any security questions.
Check your device or app activity and disconnect anything you don't recognize.
Then sign in to your Google account on your phone.
If your phone is somehow rooted this probably won't unroot it. To be sure download an app from the Play Store called root checker and run it. It will tell you if you're rooted or not. You can uninstall root checker once you've verified your root status.
If you're not rooted then you're good to go and can start redownloading your apps and putting all your files back on your SD card (make sure to format the card via your phone).
If you're rooted look for an app on your phone called super user or supersu or something similar. In the settings of supersu is an option to unroot your phone. Once unrooted then set your phone back up how you like.
Only install apps from a source your know, like the play store, and make sure you have all the security settings enabled like verify apps. Also make sure to not allow third party app installation.
These are some steps to get you going in the right direction.
As far as pursuing any guilty parties, if you're afraid of what might happen then leave it alone and don't put yourself back in a position to repeat the situation. If it's someone you know then confront them and take whatever actions you deem necessary.

[APP][5.0+][TOOLS] Pass2Pay - Add your pkpass or pdf passes to Google Pay

As an Android user, I've been complaining for a long time about one of the biggest faults, the administration of passes and tickets for events.
The funniest thing is that it does have the possibility of doing it through Google Pay, but the way they have implemented it, forces the companies that generate the passes to perform a lot of steps that most are not willing to do.
That's why I've decided to create this app that uses all the Google tools to solve this problem, allowing to import almost any type of pass to our Google Pay account so we can use them very easily.
Pass2Pay.
The specific application is called Pass2Pay, and unlike many others that just store them so you can open them in your application. Pass2Pay, allows you to import them directly into Google Pay.
Thanks to this step, you will be able to automatically consult all your passes and use them in all your devices, since Google will save them in its cloud so you never lose them.
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How are passes imported?
As you can see in the image above, importing passes can be done in several ways. From the possibility of directly adding an Apple pkpass file, a PDF by reading the barcode or QR or directly from an image that can be captured on the spot.
Once imported, depending on the method used, we will have more or less data from the pass, so the next step will be the revision of the form, from where we can change the type of pass (Offers, airline tickets, gift cards, loyalty cards, etc.) and even modify some missing data.
Google Pay.
The next step is only to add the generated pass to Google Pay, for which we only have to press the button below and we can save it.
Once inside the Google application, we can use it whenever we want to benefit from all the possibilities of Google Pay, such as notification of events, integration with the calendar or the ability to enter the sites without the need to be looking for the typical PDF they send us by mail.
Example.
To check it out, we tried an old movie ticket to go see a Star Wars movie.
In the photos above you can see the steps to follow:
1. We have sent ourselves the pass by telegram to simulate a real situation.
2. We have opened it and the application has recognized it and has detected all the data
3. We gave him to keep on the phone
4. We cared about Google Pay and we were able to use it
As you can see it has been very simple to import a pass that was sent to us, after doing it we could go to the cinema and present it so that they let us in without having to carry the pdf or anything.
Advertising and contributions.
Due to the fact that the application is free, and it has cost me a lot to create it, I have decided that in order to finance it and be able to continue developing interesting things, advertisements will be used, which are limited so that no more than a long ad appears every 3 minutes. I think it's a good ratio to use it comfortably, but I listen to your opinions.
Anyway, if you like the app you can support it with a donation that removes the ads.
Coming soon.
• Possibility of uploading personalized photos to the passes (we need to create and maintain a server so it will cost money / donations)
• Improvements in overall stability
• More ways to import documents
• OCR reading of the PDFs
Download Link :- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=color.dev.com.tangerine

I don’t understand the personalized photos option in the coming soon section. Who is limiting that? Your app or Google?

cristianndc said:
I don’t understand the personalized photos option in the coming soon section. Who is limiting that? Your app or Google?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To send the pass to Google Pay, we have to create it and then send it to their servers. But they do not accept pictures, we have to upload the photos to a server and give the URL to Google.

Where are the images stored? The comments on Reddit make it seem like there's a potential security issue here. Can you clear that up?

MishaalRahman said:
Where are the images stored? The comments on Reddit make it seem like there's a potential security issue here. Can you clear that up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now we are not uploading the photos anywhere, it's in the coming soon section. Maybe I don't explain it very well as English is not my first language (A lot of people asked already what's the problem with the images in the app... :silly
The problem, it's that Google it's telling us that we have to take care of the images hosting but we don't have the resources to create a server and upload everybody images in there. So right now, we are just taking care of the pases information, the image it's just a static one (our logo). But if the people like our app we plan to make a server to upload the photos.
PS. The comments on Reddit it's because a failure, with the ads outside Europe with Adblock, but we think that it's solved now in v2.7.2 or v2.7.3

xurxooo said:
Right now we are not uploading the photos anywhere, it's in the coming soon section. Maybe I don't explain it very well as English is not my first language (A lot of people asked already what's the problem with the images in the app... :silly
The problem, it's that Google it's telling us that we have to take care of the images hosting but we don't have the resources to create a server and upload everybody images in there. So right now, we are just taking care of the pases information, the image it's just a static one (our logo). But if the people like our app we plan to make a server to upload the photos.
PS. The comments on Reddit it's because a failure, with the ads outside Europe with Adblock, but we think that it's solved now in v2.7.2 or v2.7.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
v2.7.3 is out and it's going well so far.

Thnx
Thank you everyone for your help and comments.
We are receiving so much love and a lot of comments and issues, about some little problems that we are starting to solve. Probably tomorrow we will push an update with a lot of improvements
Also, we are starting to plan the option to upload custom images that everybody is asking us, but it’s difficult because we have to create a server to host your images.
We will keep you updated here

xurxooo said:
Thank you everyone for your help and comments.
We are receiving so much love and a lot of comments and issues, about some little problems that we are starting to solve. Probably tomorrow we will push an update with a lot of improvements
Also, we are starting to plan the option to upload custom images that everybody is asking us, but it’s difficult because we have to create a server to host your images.
We will keep you updated here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see great potential in your app. The idea is brilliant and I believe everyone who uses Google Pay needs it. Google should have introduced something like this a long time ago but it looks that it wouldn't plan it anytime soon.
But let me ask you something: while there is a lot of things to do to make the application really operative, do you believe that it is a good idea to bother with your own server? Think not only about needed technical engagement but also about decent security, fast communication, etc. There are so many cloud solutions to rent (even from Microsoft or Google) with top performance, backup and security that it is at least questionable if it is worth to burn your own staff, technical capacity, and money. Perhaps you're more needed for further development.

piskr said:
I see great potential in your app. The idea is brilliant and I believe everyone who uses Google Pay needs it. Google should have introduced something like this a long time ago but it looks that it wouldn't plan it anytime soon.
But let me ask you something: while there is a lot of things to do to make the application really operative, do you believe that it is a good idea to bother with your own server? Think not only about needed technical engagement but also about decent security, fast communication, etc. There are so many cloud solutions to rent (even from Microsoft or Google) with top performance, backup and security that it is at least questionable if it is worth to burn your own staff, technical capacity, and money. Perhaps you're more needed for further development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your comment I really appreciate it.
Sure, we are not planning to create the server on our machines. When I said "create a server" I refer to design the architecture, technologies, APIs and everything.
But thanks for the advise :highfive:

One thing I would like to recommend is a feature for dealing with websites that don't expose Apple Wallet pass download links unless you are on an iPhone. An easy way to implement this feature is to allow users to "Share..." a webpage to Pass2Pay and then have Pass2Pay display an in-app browser window of that page, but with the user agent faked to appear as an iPhone, tricking the site into displaying the Apple Wallet pass download link.

MehStrongBadMeh said:
One thing I would like to recommend is a feature for dealing with websites that don't expose Apple Wallet pass download links unless you are on an iPhone. An easy way to implement this feature is to allow users to "Share..." a webpage to Pass2Pay and then have Pass2Pay display an in-app browser window of that page, but with the user agent faked to appear as an iPhone, tricking the site into displaying the Apple Wallet pass download link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi MehStrongBadMeh, thank you very much for your comment. Can you give me an example so I can take a look?

xurxooo said:
Hi MehStrongBadMeh, thank you very much for your comment. Can you give me an example so I can take a look?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An example of this functionality can be seen in the app Pass2U, which has the functionality I mentioned (though the resulting passes are saved in the app itself). As for example websites where this feature is needed, that is a bit tough, as you would have to buy a ticket to see it in action. I know for a fact that American Airlines does this as well as my local movie theater, but that probably isn't much help.

MehStrongBadMeh said:
An example of this functionality can be seen in the app Pass2U, which has the functionality I mentioned (though the resulting passes are saved in the app itself). As for example websites where this feature is needed, that is a bit tough, as you would have to buy a ticket to see it in action. I know for a fact that American Airlines does this as well as my local movie theater, but that probably isn't much help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry I take a look. Thanks for your help anyway

Hey man! Nice app you made here! I'm trying it and I'm running into a problem though: When I try to add my boarding pass (via PDF, completing all the missing fields), the app says the flight number is wrong when I try to upload it to Google Pay (flight number VY1572, I've even tried with other shared codes like IB5050). Do you have an idea as to what could I be doing wrong?
Thank you so much, keep up the good work!!

Robdyx said:
Hey man! Nice app you made here! I'm trying it and I'm running into a problem though: When I try to add my boarding pass (via PDF, completing all the missing fields), the app says the flight number is wrong when I try to upload it to Google Pay (flight number VY1572, I've even tried with other shared codes like IB5050). Do you have an idea as to what could I be doing wrong?
Thank you so much, keep up the good work!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Robdyx thank you very much for your nice work and support.
The problem is that the real flight number is 1572 or 5050, the letters correspond to the IATA parameter. But yes it's a problem, it's a little bit messy, we need to make it a little more user friendly.
Greetings from Spain!

Thank you! That didn't come to my mind for some reason. Maybe putting the IATA code grated out (not modificable un that field) in front of the number would make it more intuitive that only the numbers are required. Or making it character sensitive. Anyway, thank you for this great tool!
Un abrazo!

Robdyx said:
Thank you! That didn't come to my mind for some reason. Maybe putting the IATA code grated out (not modificable un that field) in front of the number would make it more intuitive that only the numbers are required. Or making it character sensitive. Anyway, thank you for this great tool!
Un abrazo!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for this, or maybe put the IATA code and flight number on the same row but with the flight number to the right? So it directly follows the airline letters? I guess the drop-down arrow could also be to the left then
Love the idea, wish I had it a month ago but I'm keeping it installed for the next time

supleed2 said:
+1 for this, or maybe put the IATA code and flight number on the same row but with the flight number to the right? So it directly follows the airline letters? I guess the drop-down arrow could also be to the left then
Love the idea, wish I had it a month ago but I'm keeping it installed for the next time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even after upgrade with OCR I can't upload any data (no element could be detected) from the ticket and no ticket could be detected from files (either pdf or picture). There is indeed a limited possibility to capture the ticket with the camera but still, no field is filled automatically. Is it just me doing something wrong or this functionality is yet to be available?

piskr said:
Even after upgrade with OCR I can't upload any data (no element could be detected) from the ticket and no ticket could be detected from files (either pdf or picture). There is indeed a limited possibility to capture the ticket with the camera but still, no field is filled automatically. Is it just me doing something wrong or this functionality is yet to be available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Piskr what version are you using right now? (You can see it on the settings window)

xurxooo said:
Hi Piskr what version are you using right now? (You can see it on the settings window)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's 2.8.4

[SOLVED] How to monitor network connections in Android 12?

(I posted the same question in the ROM 3d but here maybe is more well placed)
I read that something is changed in how the system manage the kernel (kernel proc files) and now all the apps that monitor the network connections didn't work anymore . (tried several and all stay forever in listening without prompt any connection or IP) . Also "Network Connections" app with root access don't work.
I can see the wi-fi icon activate and deactivate the double arrow but not traffic seems generated in "network speed monitor" (app for trace the download and upload traffic) . I also disable the network test that ping the google servers.
I would know the apps list that are using the network and the IP address they are using.
Do you know some apps that can monitor in real time network connections in android 12?

Found a solution! PCAPdroid . SDK31 work on Android 12 ! Ok is not direct and use a virtual VPN... it do the job.
I can finally stomp all the trashy apps that work in background without my consent. (or any consent in general)
PCAPdroid | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
No-root network monitor and traffic dump tool for Android devices
f-droid.org
PCAPdroid is an open source app which lets you monitor and export the network traffic of your device. The app simulates a VPN to achieve non-root capture but, contrary to a VPN, the traffic is processed locally into the device.
Cheer !!

Hi giostark,
Thank you very much for your research! I can't believe how little information is available in the net on such an important topic. Actually I think, each OS should be able to show the user which app causes how much traffic right now, like in the Windows Task-Manager. Unfortunately, Android doesn't. And now, as you pointed out correctly, with A12 even the apps, which added this feature stopped working.
I always used the app Internet Speed Meter for that. It provides a permanent notification about the current network traffic load, which is essential to me. Sometimes I look at the notification and see that my phone has super high traffic going on right now, despite I'm not doing anything and then I just tabbed on the notification and it showed me exactly, which app was causing the traffic. This is soooo important in my opinion. Unfortunately, with A12 this stopped working. The traffic is still shown, but not which app causes it.
I now installed PCAPdroid, as you suggested, and I can confirm it works. This is awesome! However, I'm not happy with the UI. When I open the PCAPdroid notification and open the connections tab, there are many connections shown and it is not easy to find the one connection/app, which causes the actual high traffic right now. There should be a sort function. Even better would be something, where I can just see in a quick and easy way, which app causes traffic right now, as Internet Speed Meter did:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
So, if anyone has a better suggestion than PCAPdroid, I would be really happy. Thanks to giostark for at least suggesting this app though!
Cheers

This is more an eruption than a technical post.
Without rooting the phone , AFwall+ it, disabling by hand lots of service (play service at first) with System Service (that contain adds of course , so you have to keep it off line first of launch it) , disabling the captive portal , the automatic DNS , use Warden also, with lucky patcher destroy all the hidden ads contained in the 70% of your phone ,and.... and other tons of stuff boring to list, you cant simply have control on anything exactly as is intended by the Andorid ecosystem. (and after all this , still you are not in full control eh)
Android is made from Google for Google , non for the people. As Windows is made by MS for MS.
Look , those are system services that automatically will have access to the net. They even don't fit the screen. There are many more listed in other group. (and probably some hidden in the kernel that doesn't show up)
Even NordVpn app have 4 DAMN TRACKERs. Seriously ?!?!!?!? (in some hacker site they caught that it send to some site even sensor proximity activities). Seriously ?!?!?! Yep. Even in the Linux machine I use every day I caught in the journal log that it connect to some site even at the start of the machine. And not just when you use that fk app. (trashed the company at the speed of light)
This is where we are going. And this is why now you cant log properly android.
We all are deeply sleeping . And this world will end bad. That's all.
Then... answering properly to the question if exist a better app , the answer is, will never be.
As stated also in some ROMs sub forum here we are too few for attract the interest of Google , otherwise this trashy company would have found the system for block every rom.
Every one that use a phone (apple especially) is happy. Who made this traps have exactly clear how the reward mechanics of our brain work.
We are too few that try to understand how the things are going and that try to have a wide point of view.
Almost no one know (and understand) the meaning of fallacy. Without it is basically impossible understand if a sentence is valid or not. What hope exist?
Leaving the catastrophic point of view afar , have good luck to track the stuff your phone is doing.

giostark said:
and after all this , still you are not in full control
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100%. Hope there's a warm place in hell waiting for all those responsible. I will never get back the hundreds and hundreds of hours I spend trying to neuter the hidden, anti-consumer behaviors of goods/services I'VE PAID FOR AND OWN. Forced updates should be globally outlawed. /rant.Off

ForestCat said:
I will never get back the hundreds and hundreds of hours I spend trying to neuter the hidden, anti-consumer behaviors of goods/services I'VE PAID FOR AND OWN. Forced updates should be globally outlawed. /rant.Off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is ONLY ONE WAY to prevent tracking: stop using technology.
Smartphones, laptops, etc. are all devices designed with communication in mind, which means they work by connecting to networks and exchanging information. And the entities providing the infrastructure have done so with profit in mind, in addition to tracking users.
You can never use these devices for your benefit alone.

TheMystic said:
There is ONLY ONE WAY to prevent tracking: stop using technology.
Smartphones, laptops, etc. are all devices designed with communication in mind, which means they work by connecting to networks and exchanging information. And the entities providing the infrastructure have done so with profit in mind, in addition to tracking users.
You can never use these devices for your benefit alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly the resignation to laziness.

giostark said:
This is exactly the resignation to laziness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone who thinks he can beat the system would be living in oblivion.
There is a reason why specially designed phones are used by heads of states and they only communicate via secure networks. These are not available to the public.

Anyone who thinks he can beat the system would be living in oblivion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep , but this don't exempt us to do our part. And if "you" don't , is also "your" guilt.
The understanding part (of the things) is fundamental. It help to operate choices. (maybe the right ones).
Understanding need effort. And this cost to us. But we are lazy.
I do not blame too much the humans. (despite I really hope in a new and massive asteroid that don't leave a second chance). By nature design the brain have to consume less ATP (energy) that it can. And it have to solve the task of the moment is the shorter time possible. While this can save life in a savanna in a long projection this is disintegrating the society. This way to go open the gate of lies and laziness.
Tech (in general) is not helping us to evolve, is helping us to become more stupid (and someone else more rich).

giostark said:
Yep , but this don't exempt us to do our part. And if "you" don't , is also "your" guilt.
The understanding part (of the things) is fundamental. It help to operate choices. (maybe the right ones).
Understanding need effort. And this cost to us. But we are lazy.
I do not blame too much the humans. (despite I really hope in a new and massive asteroid that don't leave a second chance). By nature design the brain have to consume less ATP (energy) that it can. And it have to solve the task of the moment is the shorter time possible. While this can save life in a savanna in a long projection this is disintegrating the society. This way to go open the gate of lies and laziness.
Tech (in general) is not helping us to evolve, is helping us to become more stupid (and someone else more rich).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you that we have to do our part. My point is this: just as one must not resign to laziness, one must also not resign to living with a false sense of security.

All you have to do is look at a logcat to see all the sleazy stuff that apps are trying to do that isn't allowed and generates errors to extrapolate to all the stuff that they are getting away with.
That's another reason not to run your device on permissive.