Hi guys!
I have been following this forum for quite some time now and so far I have not found a problem that did not had an answer here (unfortunately I started reading it after I made a huge mistake). But let me explain the problem from the beginning. A more than a year ago, my service provider offered to change my HTC HD phone for a brand new HTC HD7, free of charge. So, an idiot me went for it. I was to naive to think that new MS operating system is gonna be more advanced with features. Instead of a phone that you can customize according to your needs I got a peace of junk that cant even play mp3 as a ring tone... And I cant sell it. If only I was smart enough to read the review on it before I said yes...
In fact this OS was so bad for me that I put it back in the box, bought two android phones (HTC Desire and Xperia X10) and was finally able to work on something that is worth calling a smart phone... I was never hopping that MS will be smart enough to fix this trash, but I waited to see if those smarter then me will be able to tune it in a way that it can at least be semi-usable. And here I am 14 months later and this garbage is still in the box. I updated it to mango, it looks a little bit better, but still many of the setup functions that I need are missing. I would leave it for another 14 months in a box but I am in a situation that I really need an extra phone.
So, finally, here is my question (and sorry for the long intro, I just needed to say how bad this wp7 crap looks to me). Is it possible to tweak it in some way NOT to auto display a new SMS on a locked screen. Can you set it up just to give you a notification of the new sms, without the actual message on the screen. I dont wont to leave my phone on the office desk and everybody in the room to be able to read the content when I am not there. Only an idiot can leave this without an option to disable it...
If anybody knows some sort of solution, please help. I even tried searching the market for sms applications (like Go SMS in android which lets you customize all sort of sms notifications), but of course, there is nothing out there. If I had the power, I would punish those MS developers who came up with this idiotic OS to be forced to use their own products until the end of time...
Ok, I'm a Noob on here. I just got a Android phone & I am interested in various apps from the Android Market but when I read the permissions that most of the apps have listed as to what they can do to the phone and to your privacy I am quite concerned. Is this really an issue as people seem to download apps without worrying about what the app is or could do without your knowledge. I have searched on here & elsewhere & no one seems to be address the issue. Am I just being paranoid?
I have seen that a lot of these apps will prevent the phone or tablet from going into sleep mode, is this true?
Thanks hope I haven't stepped on any toes by asking this, but I can't seem to find anything on the subject. So far I have decided not to download much a select few apps.
Rebel60 said:
Ok, I'm a Noob on here. I just got a Android phone & I am interested in various apps from the Android Market but when I read the permissions that most of the apps have listed as to what they can do to the phone and to your privacy I am quite concerned. Is this really an issue as people seem to download apps without worrying about what the app is or could do without your knowledge. I have searched on here & elsewhere & no one seems to be address the issue. Am I just being paranoid?
I have seen that a lot of these apps will prevent the phone or tablet from going into sleep mode, is this true?
Thanks hope I haven't stepped on any toes by asking this, but I can't seem to find anything on the subject. So far I have decided not to download much a select few apps.
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Click to collapse
No worries, no toes are being stepped on.
I agree that the permissions required by apps can sometimes look worrying.
But the description is often misleading. Some times it just looks very intrusive but that permission is needed for something alot more simple. It's a broad topic.
Also alot of users are just not concerned by this or just go with the crowd.
Write the developer and ask him what the permissions are needed for, if his apps description is unclear on that or the permissions seem unrelated to the apps purpose.
When it says, prevents your device from sleeping, it is most likely used to prevent the screen from turning off or dimming while something is progressing on screen. It is also needed to ensure that the cpu finishes the current operation if you press the devices sleep button, so it doesn't stop at some random point which might lead to problems for the app.
If there is a specific app and its permissions you are worried you could just SEARCH and then make a thread and ask about it.
If rooted, search for "PDroid" on XDA to control permissions, or search for "Betterbatterystats" to find programs producing wakelocks and preventing deep sleep.
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
Aerocaptain said:
If rooted, search for "PDroid" on XDA to control permissions, or search for "Betterbatterystats" to find programs producing wakelocks and preventing deep sleep.
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
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But then don't complain if the apps malfunction as a result of interferring with permissions or wakelocks.
Also this is kinda missing the question of the thread.
Dark3n said:
But then don't complain if the apps malfunction as a result of interferring with permissions or wakelocks.
Also this is kinda missing the question of the thread.
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Trying to figure out how either of the options I listed does not address the concerns in the OP......
I think you should re-read the OP. Perhaps slower.
Betterbatterystats- used to indicate apps that are using wakelocks that prevent or interrupt deep sleep. Does nothing else. Does not stop them or even hinder them in any way. Its simply a tool to identify problem apps. How does that interfere with the apps themselves?
Pdroid-gives the ability to block (or regulate) unwanted actions from the apps specified by the user. Basically solves the permissions concern in the OP. And does not require root access to operate. The whole point of this software is to interfere with the users apps. If a program is looking into my contacts, I'd like to be able to stop it. If a downloaded app stops functioning because it wants access to my contacts for no discernable reason, delete the app. This app is only needed because of the plethora of greedy sometimes malicious developers releasing software that invades user privacy.
Rebel60, feel free to peruse these threads and see if either is the right fit for you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357056
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
Aerocaptain said:
Trying to figure out how either of the options I listed does not address the concerns in the OP......
I think you should re-read the OP. Perhaps slower.
Betterbatterystats- used to indicate apps that are using wakelocks that prevent or interrupt deep sleep. Does nothing else. Does not stop them or even hinder them in any way. Its simply a tool to identify problem apps. How does that interfere with the apps themselves?
Pdroid-gives the ability to block (or regulate) unwanted actions from the apps specified by the user. Basically solves the permissions concern in the OP. And does not require root access to operate. The whole point of this software is to interfere with the users apps. If a program is looking into my contacts, I'd like to be able to stop it. If a downloaded app stops functioning because it wants access to my contacts for no discernable reason, delete the app. This app is only needed because of the plethora of greedy sometimes malicious developers releasing software that invades user privacy.
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
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How is viewing aquired wakelocks helping the OP understand what aquiring a wakelock does, and why the app did it? It's not about who, but what and why. Any type of wakelock an app aquires prevents deep sleep and a wakelock can not be used to interrupt a device that is in deep sleep.
Again the question was not about blocking permissions, but why some apps want all those permissions and why no one seems concerned with the obvious privacy issue.
While PDroid does not require root to operate, it does require it to be installed, so in the end it still needs a rooted device.
Why did you install an app that needs a worrying permission for no discernable reason anyways?
Thanks for the general developer insult. Developers really are the greediest folks *sarcasm* of them all.
Where did you take that from? How many developers of greedy apps did you ask about the permissions they request?
You can't really make that assumption as just a requested permission doesn't do anything at all by itself and what the app is actually doing with it, is unknown without sourcecode.
...and now i jumped aboard the off topic train, damn
In most cases, it does not matter why an app uses wakelocks. The fact that it does alone is important. It allows the user to identify the trouble app and either tinker with its settings to reduce the wakelock or delete it altogether if the app is not important to the user. Generally speaking, if I would like to maximize my battery endurance, the need to minimize wakelocks is a necessity. After several months of use, a user may not remember every setting he/she setup in their apps. Utilizing betterbatterystats, one could identify the apps that use short sync intervals such as email syncing every 15 minutes or weather syncing every 30 minutes and change them to longer sync periods which would dramatically decrease those pesky wakelocks and save some battery life. Both of those simple examples illustrate in general terms, how important knowledge of wakelocks could be to the battery hungry user. This of course is only one of many applications this program can be used for.
My Pdroid example, once again was a generic sample of the many ways app privacy is a concern. There are a ton of apps on the market that uses the internet even though the internet isn't needed to run the program. Yes more than not, the app is either varifying license files or uploading "anonymous user stats," however that is not all cases and users should be able to control that app and the information it transmits.
Finally, yes I looked up your information and noticed the developer notation and knew you would be offended by my developer comment. But I did not mean to insinuate that you were in that minority. I am unfamiliar with your work. Android is an open source platform and users should have full control over their devices. That is why I through those options out there. Anyone that disagrees with my full control statement should move to the iPhone and enjoy its closed platform.
Rebel60, I hope you find a way to fully utilize your device without fear of privacy infringement or apps that excessively deplete your battery. There are many people on XDA with a passion for these devices. And many different opinions. Take the time to evaluate your options and pick the right solution for you.
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
Aerocaptain said:
In most cases, it does not matter why an app uses wakelocks. The fact that it does alone is the issue. Generally speaking, if I would like to maximize my battery endurance, the need to minimize wakelocks is a necessity. After several months of use, a user may not remember every setting he/she setup in their apps. Utilizing betterbatterystats, one could identify the apps that use short sync intervals such as email syncing every 15 minutes or weather syncing every 30 minutes. Both of those simple examples illustrate in general terms, how important knowledge of wakelocks could be to the battery hungry user. With that knowledge one could change their sync intervals and save precious battery life.
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True, it would definitely help a user identifying battery drainers and in those cases it does not matter why the wakelock was aquired if it is what causes the drain. But the question was not about batteries, but about what/why wakelocks are and the description of the wakelock permission itself.
While BetterBatteryStats being a great tool, it does not answer that question. (Hence my offtopic remark)
Aerocaptain said:
My Pdroid example, once again was a generic sample of the many ways app privacy is a concern. There are a ton of apps on the market that uses the internet even though the internet isn't needed to run the program. Yes more than not, the app is either varifying license files or uploading "anonymous user stats," however that is not all cases and users should be able to control that app and the information it transmits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While bug reports or anonymous statistics are one part of it, i think most of the internet permission needs come from ads that are displayed. I don't use ads, so i'm a bit unfamiliar on that topic.
If solely googles licensing service is used, the internet permission is not needed, just the 'CHECK_LICENSE' permission (which is an extra permission just for that purpose).
It is also often used to update the welcome dialogs with news, if a dev does not want to release a new version everytime he wants to tell his users something.
Aerocaptain said:
Finally, yes I looked up your information and noticed the developer notation and knew you would be offended by my developer comment. But I did not mean to insinuate that you were in that minority. I am unfamiliar with your work. Android is an open source platform and users should have full control over their devices. That is why I through those options out there. Anyone that disagrees with my full control statement should move to the iPhone and enjoy its closed platform.
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I'm not denying that there are greedy and or malicous devs out there. It was the 'plethora of greedy sometimes malicious developers' that threw me a bit off. I see you meant it differently, as you wrote 'in that minority'. As english is not my main language, i might have understood it a bit too harsh too .
Most of my work falls into the 'Tools' category, if you have question about them (or the permissions ), write me a PM.
I fully agree that everyone should have full control over their devices and i also think that users should have the possibility of choice (i.e. apple selecting apps that are published vs androids more or less freedom of apps, though one might have to sort through a 'plethora' of useless apps, i wouldn't trade it for apples store).
[I needed all those big quotes to reflect what i'm responding to as you seem to edit your posts alot after you made the. Makes it a bit difficult to answer ]
Thanks
Dark3n said:
No worries, no toes are being stepped on.
I agree that the permissions required by apps can sometimes look worrying.
But the description is often misleading. Some times it just looks very intrusive but that permission is needed for something alot more simple. It's a broad topic.
Also alot of users are just not concerned by this or just go with the crowd.
Write the developer and ask him what the permissions are needed for, if his apps description is unclear on that or the permissions seem unrelated to the apps purpose.
When it says, prevents your device from sleeping, it is most likely used to prevent the screen from turning off or dimming while something is progressing on screen. It is also needed to ensure that the cpu finishes the current operation if you press the devices sleep button, so it doesn't stop at some random point which might lead to problems for the app.
If there is a specific app and its permissions you are worried you could just SEARCH and then make a thread and ask about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer. I think this best answers what I was concerned about. A lot of apps say that they can dial numbers in your contacts, alter settings, and a lot of other things that make me hesitant to download the app.
My phone is not rooted, although I would like for it to be, but am afraid I will brick it if I don't do something right. I don't know anything about wavelocks etc.
Rebel60 said:
Thanks for the answer. I think this best answers what I was concerned about. A lot of apps say that they can dial numbers in your contacts, alter settings, and a lot of other things that make me hesitant to download the app.
My phone is not rooted, although I would like for it to be, but am afraid I will brick it if I don't do something right. I don't know anything about wavelocks etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether your new to android or a veteran, XDA has all of the information you'll need to educate yourself. Rooting is not for everyone and should only be attempted by someone comfortable with the process. It does however open huge doors to more control and customization with your device. My advice to you is first get to know the Android platform for a few months. In the meantime do some research and see for yourself the pros and cons of rooting. There are dozens of threads with people that are in the same situation as you. Learn from them and talk with them. If you have a direct question about android, feel free to PM me. I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can. Good luck & enjoy your device.
Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
Rooting is pretty simple if you invest some reading time. Just make sure to search alot before asking .
Also be aware that giving an app root access is equivalent to granting every possible permission there is and more.
I'm sure most users are not fully aware of that.
So allowing an app root access is a huge trust investment in the dev, don't do it for fishy looking apps .
Read the description
Try reading through the apps full description. A lot of developers will explain why their app needs those scary sounding permissions.
If they don't explain, you could always contact the developer (seems almost like google requires app listings to include a 'contact the developer' link somewhere).
I have several outdated android smartphones laying around and would like to re-purpose one for an 8 year old.
The thing is, I cannot trust him not to install tons of adware and games on it and play it during school hours which will just cause trouble for everybody. What I'm thinking:
I need the ability to remotely enable/disable lock/unlock the phone and/or turn the phone on or off and/or time periods during which device is automatically locked or unlocked.
I need either a locked down modified cyanogen ROM (or equivalent) or I need to somehow setup everything from scratch.
GPS tracking (realtime constant monitoring isn't necessary but I'd like to be able to ping his location if I'm worried about him and maybe have some sort of perimeter alert system in case he strays into a dangerous neighborhood/gets kidnapped/whatever)
I also need to lockdown which contacts can be called/SMSed/telegramed/IMed/emailed
This kid is sharp, so if there is a way to circumvent these measures, he'll probably figure it out. But I'd like you're ideas and I'll try anyway. How would you go about this? If you're going to tell me I'm a horrible person for tracking my child, I know already.
wow your asking for alot OP. lol eaither this is a really dangours kid, or your extremely protective lol
eaither way il try and help as best as i can. for tracking you can use "wheres my android" app. its gps tracking after you text it a certain phrase, it gives the location to the phone you texted.
you can try cnmod and just install wa app passwors to lock the settings, so the kid wont change anything
Thanks for the reply. He isn't dangerous, he is more of the absent minded genius type. I'm more afraid a stranger will say "lets go to my place to build model rockets" and he won't be able to resist.
What do you mean "wa app passwords"?
You sort of addressed the tracking and locking down apps. Any ideas for contact control so he doesn't just use up all of the minutes calling buddies and 900 numbers?
Hello, what phone are you going to give your child?? What I'm thinking is putting custom rom on the device and use the multi user option if the rom supports it. Then maybe, (maybe) you'll be able to omit which things can see/use and disable some of the things you're asking for.
Good luck.
Sent from my 1+1
go0 said:
Thanks for the reply. He isn't dangerous, he is more of the absent minded genius type. I'm more afraid a stranger will say "lets go to my place to build model rockets" and he won't be able to resist.
What do you mean "wa app passwords"?
You sort of addressed the tracking and locking down apps. Any ideas for contact control so he doesn't just use up all of the minutes calling buddies and 900 numbers?
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Click to collapse
We use MMGuardian Does everything you want and more and it's pretty cheap. I just assume you know a thing or two about Android so I'll tell you this, mmguardian is amazing, the only thing is you have to turn off persistent notifications for the app. I get why they don't have that built in, but just do that and hide that app and your as good as gold. You can add 'key words' that when come up in a text, IM, email or search, it will send you and alert on your phone. You get transcripts of their texts, im and email (which I was happy for, now I just find creepy and intrusive to my childs privacy) but it's pretty sold service OP
For a while now I've been like many other drivers, constantly fighting the urge to respond to every beep, blip and flashing light on my phone while driving. Working in IT, I have an "on call" position, and I've found that the urge to respond to every alert, IM and email I get is hard to resist despite my best intentions. More and more, I find I have to force myself to keep my eyes on the road, and not on whatever fan or cpu alert has popped up in the data center. I keep having to tell myself "it can wait til I get there".
So I had an idea for an app that would fix this problem once and for all. Basically, it would use GPS to detect movement and any time it went past a set speed, say 10 MPH it would instantly lock your phone to a non interactive screen and block all alerts, possibly even sending automated responses like "Can't talk now, I'm on the road. I'll contact you when I get there". Brilliant. Simple. Safe.
So after doing a little digging, it looks like a European Car Insurance company, Esure (not to be confused with eSurance here in the US) created EXACTLY that app. It's called DriveOFF, and the last known iterations of which seem to have disappeared from the play store about 2 years ago. What I can't figure out is why every trace of the app seems to have been eradicated from the face of the planet. It's been removed from the Play Store, and I can't even find it as an .apk download on any of the shady app sites floating around the web. I guess there's not a whole lot of demand for apps that make your safer among the seedy, side of the Internet with questionable legality. But as far as I can tell, DriveOFF somehow violated Google's design criteria and thus was pulled from the Play Store. If that is the case, it really is a shame that a legal loophole has destroyed an app that should (in my honest opinion) be the STANDARD behavior for all smart phones, period. On the other hand, I know that when I am driving, if I see a billboard or something that catches my attention, I'm frequently tempted to Google it. I'd hate to even consider that Google would place more value on ad revenue generated by reckless driving than on the health and safety of it's users. But that certainly is worth consideration...
So, I am BEGGING. If ANYONE happens to have this app or knows where I can still get it, please feel free to contact me.
EDIT:
Okay, so after doing some more digging I was able to find that the app was in fact available on the app store perhaps as recently as January of 2014. It seems as though the rights to the app were handed over from the Esure Insurance Company to a non-profit organization based out of Surrey, UK called "Safe Drive, Stay Alive" or "safedrivesurrey.org"
http://www.esure.com/media_centre/safe_drive_stay_alive.html
I've contacted both Esure and Safedrive in order to try and track this app down.
Hi!
I'm looking for a really simple app or hack to track an android. There are way too many apps out there to find the right one and the ones I tried were horrible (big, advertising, data collection...).
The built in "locate my android" through google devicemanager works as of now, but we would like an app that does the following:
- displays a track on a map with dots with timestamps
- keeps a history of the track - a few days is enough. More than 5min update intervall isn't necessary and only when moving.
- updates ideally only when actively using GPS or after it detected movement for an hour or so, stays quiet and doesn't consume battery and activate GPS unnecessarily.
- doesn't do anything when not asked for (except sending updates of position if position changed), like notifications, activating GPS, ads
Purpose is to see quickly where people are or last were. Precise times and locations are only needed for moving targets (and then navigation is likely being used and GPS active anyway) so you can tell when someone will arrive roughly.
I have Xprivacy and could control rogue apps to some extent, but my girlfriend doesn't and I'd like an app that doesn't need accounts and wants access to other data.
Molvol said:
Hi!
I'm looking for a really simple app or hack to track an android. There are way too many apps out there to find the right one and the ones I tried were horrible (big, advertising, data collection...).
The built in "locate my android" through google devicemanager works as of now, but we would like an app that does the following:
- displays a track on a map with dots with timestamps
- keeps a history of the track - a few days is enough. More than 5min update intervall isn't necessary and only when moving.
- updates ideally only when actively using GPS or after it detected movement for an hour or so, stays quiet and doesn't consume battery and activate GPS unnecessarily.
- doesn't do anything when not asked for (except sending updates of position if position changed), like notifications, activating GPS, ads
Purpose is to see quickly where people are or last were. Precise times and locations are only needed for moving targets (and then navigation is likely being used and GPS active anyway) so you can tell when someone will arrive roughly.
I have Xprivacy and could control rogue apps to some extent, but my girlfriend doesn't and I'd like an app that doesn't need accounts and wants access to other data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This kind of thing not authorized here on XDA.
Ashwinrg said:
This kind of thing not authorized here on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? I thought this is Q&A for questions like this! Nothing unethical here, as I said there are tons of apps for family/friends tracking. I just want a very simple one with mapview and a little history. And I got frustrated with trying out contenders which didn't do anything close to what I wanted in a simple way. So I hope someone had better luck than me and will share their experience.
Something like Life360 might be what you're looking for.
Try browsing around other related apps on the play store.