I am attempting to write my first android app - L.A. Fitness. It will allow you to pull data from the L.A. Fitness website (really nothing special) the real feature that I want is a widget that shows last login time information.
Basically L.A. Fitness stores badge scan information on their site. I want to pull this somehow and show it so that I know the last time I signed in. The problem is that I am spending to much time in the gym and it is bad for body building.
I will also have a map inside that pinpoints the location of L.A. Fitness' close by and give directions.
So... My problem is that I do not know how to pull data from the website. I was told that L.A. Fitness would have to have an API but I dont understand why this is necessary for data from the web. I also dont know how to pass credentials so I guess all in all im lost.
really... no one
I personally haven't played with the SDK a lot myself, but your best bet would be some kind of feed that they have. XML or RSS or something like that. This could be easily implemented into a widget.
You could try to crawl the site. Read the HTML pages and interpret that. But this is usually against the TOS. You are usually not allowed to rip data from their pages and use it in your application. You may need written consent from them, otherwise they can sue you.
BR,
Adrian Vintu
Other people tried spidering web pages. You can search for help here
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and here
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BR,
Adrian Vintu
Okay, so, I summed up some 5 articles on this subject - in the hope of starting a discussion about device security. I hope you will find this interesting and meaningful and perhaps you will find out about some of the risks of using Android.
2 months ago Juniper Networks, one of the two biggest network equipment manufactures, published a blog post (1) about an intensive research their mobile threat department had on the Android market place.
In essence they analyzed over 1.7 million apps in Google Play, revealing frightening results and prompting a hard reality check for all of us.
One of the worrying findings is that a significant number of applications contain capabilities that could expose sensitive information to 3rd parties. For example, neither Apple nor Google requires apps to ask permission to access some forms of the device ID, or to send it to outsiders. A Wall Street Journal examination (2) of 101 popular Android (and iPhone) apps found that showed that 56 — that's half — of the apps tested transmitted the phone's unique device ID to other companies without users' awareness or consent. 47 apps — again, almost a half — transmitted the phone's location to other companies.
That means that the apps installed in your phone are 50% likely to clandestinely collect and sell information about you without your knowledge nor your consent. For example when you give permission to an app to see your location, most apps don't disclose if they will pass the location to ad companies.
Moving on to more severe Android vulnerabilities. Many applications perform functions not needed for the apps to work — and they do it under the radar! The lack of transparency about who is collecting information and how it is used is a big problem for us.
Juniper warns, that some apps request permission to clandestinely initiate outgoing calls, send SMS messages and use a device camera. An application that can clandestinely initiate a phone call could be used to silently listen to ambient conversations within hearing distance of a mobile device. I am of course talking about the famous and infamous US Navy PlaceRaider (3).
Thankfully the Navy hasn't released this code but who knows if someone hadn't already jumped on the wagon and started making their own pocket sp?. CIO magazine (4) somewhat reassures us though, that the "highly curated nature of [smartphone] application stores makes it far less likely that such an app would "sneak through" and be available for download."
A summary by The Register (5) of the Juniper Networks audit reads that Juniper discovered that free applications are five times more likely to track user location and a whopping 314 percent more likely to access user address books than paid counterparts. 314%!!!
1 in 40 (2.64%) of free apps request permission to send text messages without notifying users, 5.53 per cent of free apps have permission to access the device camera and 6.4 per cent of free apps have permission to clandestinely initiate background calls. Who knows, someone might just be recording you right now, or submitting your photo to some covert database in Czech Republic — without you even knowing that your personal identity is being compromised.
Google, by the way, is the biggest data recipient — so says The Wall Street Journal. Its AdMob, AdSense, Analytics and DoubleClick units collected data from 40% of the apps they audited. Google's main mobile-ad network is AdMob, which lets advertisers target phone users by location, type of device and "demographic data," including gender or age group.
To quote the The Register on the subjec, the issue of mobile app privacy is not new. However Juniper's research is one of the most comprehensive looks at the state of privacy across the entire Google Android application ecosystem. Don't get me wrong. I love using Google's services and I appreciate the positive effect this company has had over how I live my life. However, with a shady reputation like Google's and with it's troubling attitude towards privacy (Google Maps/Earth, Picasa's nonexistent privacy and the list goes on) I sincerely hope that after reading this you will at least think twice before installing any app.
Links: (please excuse my links I'm a new user and cannot post links)
(1) forums.juniper net/t5/Security-Mobility-Now/Exposing-Your-Personal-Information-There-s-An-App-for-That/ba-p/166058
(2) online.wsj com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html
(3) technologyreview com/view/509116/best-of-2012-placeraider-the-military-smartphone-malware-designed-to-steal-your-life/
(4) cio com/article/718580/PlaceRaider_Shows_Why_Android_Phones_Are_a_Major_Security_Risk?page=2&taxonomyId=3067
(5) theregister co.uk/2012/11/01/android_app_privacy_audit/
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Now I am proposing a discussion. Starting with - do we have the possibility to monitor device activity on the phone? By monitoring device activity, such as outgoing SMSs and phone calls in the background, the camera functions and so on we can tell if our phone is being abused under the radar and against our consent. What do you think?
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I am finding it sad and troubling but even more so ironic that nobody here cares about this stuff.
Pdroid allows you to tailor your apps and what permissions your device actually allows on a per app basis. Requires some setup, and the GUI is nothing fancy.. but for those worried about permissions, it is quite ideal.
Edit : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357056
Great project, be sure to thank the dev
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DontPushButtons said:
Pdroid allows you to tailor your apps and what permissions your device actually allows on a per app basis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good for a start, I'll look it up
pilau said:
Sounds good for a start, I'll look it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so I looked it up, and Pdroid does look like a fantastic solution to control what apps have access to what information on your droid.
However, it doesn't cover monitoring hardware functions such as texts being sent, calls being placed etc. as described in the OP. Besides, it only works in Gingerbread as far as I could gather.
EDIT: looking at PDroid 2.0, it does exactly what I originally asked
pilau said:
Okay, so I looked it up, and Pdroid does look like a fantastic solution a control what apps have access to what information on you droid.
However, it doesn't cover monitoring hardware functions such as texts being sent, calls being placed etc. as described in the OP. Besides, it only works in Gingerbread as far as I could gather.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually first found out about it on an ics rom, so it's definitely not just gb. As for monitoring, no clue. Any sort of extra process logging would likely bog down resources or space eventually.
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DontPushButtons said:
Any sort of extra process logging would likely bog down resources or space eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely wouldn't know. This solution looks very complicated in first impression but on the Google play page it says 100% no performance effects.
Anyway, I looked up PDroid 2.0 here on XDA, which is the rightful successor of the original app. It does everything the original app does and also monitors many device activities! Here is the full list of features. I would add a working link but I'm still a n00b and I am restricted from doing so. Sigh....
forum.xda-developers com/showthread.php?t=1923576
PDroid 2.0 allows blocking access for any installed application to the following data separately:
Device ID (IMEI/MEID/ESN)
Subscriber ID (IMSI)
SIM serial (ICCID)
Phone and mailbox number
Incoming call number
Outgoing call number
GPS location
Network location
List of accounts (including your google e-mail address)
Account auth tokens
Contacts
Call logs
Calendar
SMS
MMS
Browser bookmarks and history
System logs
SIM info (operator, country)
Network info (operator, country)
IP Tables(until now only for Java process)
Android ID
Call Phone
Send SMS
Send MMS
Record Audio
Access Camera
Force online state (fake online state to permanent online)
Wifi Info
ICC Access (integrated circuit-card access, for reading/writing sms on ICC)
Switch network state (e.g. mobile network)
Switch Wifi State
Start on Boot (prevents that application gets the INTENT_BOOT_COMPLETE Broadcast)
I've always had the luxury of someone else integrating it into the Rom, then I just had to set it up through the app. It is time-consuming, but not very difficult at all. I say give it a shot and see if that's what you had in mind. Maybe the logging is less detrimental than I had previously thought.
I'm sure you could get your post count up by asking for some tips in that thread. Every forum on xda has at least one person that's EXCESSIVELY helpful, frequently more. So have a ball
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I have a friend who owns a restaurant and he offers an astounding number of sushi and sashimi dishes. It's often difficult, with so many offerings, for a server to know the ingredients of each offering and it's also difficult for the customer when he or she wants to look at and determine which offering to choose.
The owner wants to purchase several tablets that can be used for information purposes by both the server and the customer. He wants to put 500 to 1000 pictures on the tablets, with the ability to add a descriptive text for each picture. If this can be achieved by use of the tablet alone that's fine, but each tablet will have to have the same information and he doesn't want to have to configure and at times update the pictures and text on each one individually, which would be time consuming to say the least. He also plans to place a larger monitor at the sushi bar that would display the same information, possibly on a continuous, automatic rotation. The restaurant uses Windows computers at several locations throughout the restaurant so if the information will have to be composed on one of his computers before transferring it to the tablets the tablets and app will have to be able to connect with and be compatible with the Windows OS. Needless to say, these tablets must be user friendly for the server and customer.
I would appreciate it very much if someone could let me know which tablet and app would be the best for doing this. I suppose he would want a small tablet that is easy to use by both the server and the customer. He wants each observed page on the tablet to display only one picture and one description to make it easy for all involved, similar to how a digital photo album displays only one picture at a time and he wants to be able to progress from one page to the next by swiping the page, tapping the page or using an arrow embedded in the picture. I need the recommendation on a tablet for ease of use with the app.
Thank you in advance for your time and any assistance provided.
C. B.
Please visit the following two threads and read there...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2230428 and
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2229761
Hi!
(Disclaimer: I do not have a degree in CS or SE yet, and my knowledge stems from high school and some freelance work. I have coded a few programs and an app before, Though I might have some methods / ideas that would look horrible to you. If such is the case - Please tell me! I am still learning and might sometimes go a certain rout which works but is completely "wrong" regarding coding standards. (For instance: I have a note taking app which saves its content in a text file, which i am pretty sure is not how any other app works)).
My question:
I am in the process of coding an Android app, which needs as a part of the service it provides to send certain messages (text only) to the app users PC (one way).
I would like to use some sort of central service, since in my understanding of routers and IP i'd have to have the user set up port forwarding if his PC is behind a router (which'd be complicated for most users) (If this is untrue and using an IP based solution would be better/simpler then please explain how so).
The first solution i have devised (Which i would very much like to avoid) is to use a third party service (such as Pushbullet) as a means to transfer the messages without paying for any services myself. This is less convenient since (to my understanding) I'd have to name the app "X for Pushbullet" and might have some legal trouble, and also would be dependent on a third party.
The second solution I've thought of would be to host (as in pay monthly for hosting on a server) an online DB with usernames and messages (the message table containing a column for what user sent the message as well), and a local program (written in C# or Python probably) on the target PCs which searches the DB every X interval for new messages for X username. This seems like it would work, though probably isn't the most graceful way to go about it.
Would really like to hear how a more experienced programmer would tackle this problem!
Thanks a lot in advance!
Good day. I don't know if I'm posting in the right place but here goes. I need some help. I am new to app development and I honestly have no idea where to start. I have an app idea and haven't found one like it. It is a app that I really need for myself and would make my life so much easier if it was developed so I thought why not make it myself. I have no real programing knowledge other than basic vbs, basic cmd and basic html coding. This is the plan for my app.
At work we get parts in for our components that need repairing. All the parts have barcode on them so I thought why not speed up my parts checking process by using these barcodes that contain the part numbers to check my parts. The plan is for there to be a computer based program that uses a QR code to link the andriod app and the pc app together over the wifi or Internet. Then on the app you have it using the device camera to scan the barcode in and pass the barcode text to whatever place you have pointed your mouse at in keystrokes much like vbscript sendkeys method. After it scanned there must then be a popup that allows you to enter quantity as some of the items are small with 50 to 100 making scanning that many times just time consuming then after that is complete you can scan again. Also on the scan screen I want the option to manually input the barcode if the barcode has trouble being read. How I see it working is that at he end of the barcode it sends a Tab then after the quantity it sends a Enter. The idea is to use excel and formulas then to calculate parts received from parts outstanding. If someone could be so kind as to assist me or even just help me get starred I will really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance. I do not aim to make money from it just see a flaw that can help me and possibly many other people out there in the world.
I'm no expert. Just a hobbyist. But here is what i do if i have a similar need. You can create a local web server. Have your android app send data to the server. And the server will process the data. And send back data to your mobile app. I usually use apache for this but if you use vbs it might be better to use windows server. Hope this helps point you in the right direction.
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