In order to check whether an app has a new version, we have to send HTTP request to some server where a .txt file is located, and compare its content with the current app version. So, we need a static URL for that purpose. I found that dropbox.com and box.com are very good places to store the file and modify its content without changing the URL.
1st question: Are there any other alternatives for dropbox and box?
2nd question: Does it comply with Google Play Policy if we send http requests periodically to these servers without a user's notice?
Look forward to your responses. Thanks.
To your first question: There are a lot of services. You can go to a simple shared hosting. There are some providers who offers you a small amount of storage for zero costs. You can use Google's Appengine, too, or as you suggested use Dropbox.
But, what do you want to do, if you see, the app on the user's device isn't the newest. If you want to redirect to an update in the play store, don't use such a method. Just wait until the play store notify the user. If you want to provide a link to the new version outside of the play store, store the file at the same place.
As a short idea: Use JSON or XML to provide the data on server side instead of some custom plain text structure.
pbeckmann said:
To your first question: There are a lot of services. You can go to a simple shared hosting. There are some providers who offers you a small amount of storage for zero costs. You can use Google's Appengine, too, or as you suggested use Dropbox.
But, what do you want to do, if you see, the app on the user's device isn't the newest. If you want to redirect to an update in the play store, don't use such a method. Just wait until the play store notify the user. If you want to provide a link to the new version outside of the play store, store the file at the same place.
As a short idea: Use JSON or XML to provide the data on server side instead of some custom plain text structure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for you reply, I appreciate it. Yes, I use JSON format to store data about an app version. The app will send periodically HTTP requests to that file and if there is an app version difference I will show a dialog to a user indicating that there is a newer version. The dialog will contain 2 buttons: UPDATE (which will redirect to Play Store) and CLOSE. I don't have issues with how to implement. The interesting moment is where to store that file. You mentioned that "There are some providers who offers you a small amount of storage for zero costs", can you please note how to find such providers? I have some fears about it, because I could have many HTTP requests and it can be suspicious for such free of charge providers.
SaQada said:
Thanks for you reply, I appreciate it. Yes, I use JSON format to store data about an app version. The app will send periodically HTTP requests to that file and if there is an app version difference I will show a dialog to a user indicating that there is a newer version. The dialog will contain 2 buttons: UPDATE (which will redirect to Play Store) and CLOSE. I don't have issues with how to implement. The interesting moment is where to store that file. You mentioned that "There are some providers who offers you a small amount of storage for zero costs", can you please note how to find such providers? I have some fears about it, because I could have many HTTP requests and it can be suspicious for such free of charge providers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shouldn't be to much calls in a short period of time, cause you shouldn't ask the server for the file too often. If you plan to make monthly updates, its possible enough to query the file, one time in a week. In such a case, the amount is not so big even with thousands of installations. The other point with providers, is afaik they're looking about traffic, not hits, so a small file, won't create really much traffic, even with thousands of calls. If you care, look for something like cloudflare, cause dropbox is limiting too. They are shutting down public links, if they think, you abuse their service, then your file wouldn't be downloadable anymore.
But the problem you always have with those ways is, that the user possible gets the notification and opens the playstore, but Google hasn't proceed your update, or the local cache is too old, so they just got the information, that they have the newest version of your App.
pbeckmann said:
It shouldn't be to much calls in a short period of time, cause you shouldn't ask the server for the file too often. If you plan to make monthly updates, its possible enough to query the file, one time in a week. In such a case, the amount is not so big even with thousands of installations. The other point with providers, is afaik they're looking about traffic, not hits, so a small file, won't create really much traffic, even with thousands of calls. If you care, look for something like cloudflare, cause dropbox is limiting too. They are shutting down public links, if they think, you abuse their service, then your file wouldn't be downloadable anymore.
But the problem you always have with those ways is, that the user possible gets the notification and opens the playstore, but Google hasn't proceed your update, or the local cache is too old, so they just got the information, that they have the newest version of your App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually my current app has more than 100.000 active users and I plan to send HTTP requests at least once a day. It means 100.000 requests to a file in a day. That's why I worry about dropbox like sites, as you said they can simply restrict to access the file. I will take a look at cloudflare, maybe this is what I need.
Another solution would be for me to have several servers to store a file and distribute HTTP requests among them. I think this is more reliable way.
SaQada said:
Actually my current app has more than 100.000 active users and I plan to send HTTP requests at least once a day. It means 100.000 requests to a file in a day. That's why I worry about dropbox like sites, as you said they can simply restrict to access the file. I will take a look at cloudflare, maybe this is what I need.
Another solution would be for me to have several servers to store a file and distribute HTTP requests among them. I think this is more reliable way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion, it is better to leave it to Google to notify the users that there is a new update available.
As the previous user mentioned, how will you handle the situation where you notify the user that there is a new update, but Google did not process and push your update?
Related
I had an App update from Google Play. Turns out all it is for now is another icon for Google Docs.
Sweet, read about it. Wonder if it be as good, or better, than dropbox
Dropbox
It is going to be tough to beat drop box. Trying it now.
I got my email saying I was upgraded, still looks pretty much the same as Docs. For those interested in file hosting below is Romracer's UCL4 radio as a sample download. It displays the files in the "zip" but if you drop down the "file" menu you can download it as the complete zipped file.
http://tinyurl.com/7wmbg9p
Might wanna read the terms and conditions of Google Drive. Looks like Google has decided that the moment you upload something, all rights are transferred to them and they can do whatever they want with anything you upload whenever they feel like it, even if you stop using the service:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57420551-93/who-owns-your-files-on-google-drive/
m4570d0n said:
Might wanna read the terms and conditions of Google Drive. Looks like Google has decided that the moment you upload something, all rights are transferred to them and they can do whatever they want with anything you upload whenever they feel like it, even if you stop using the service:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57420551-93/who-owns-your-files-on-google-drive/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long press - uninstall
Thabks for the heads up
Uncle Irish said:
Long press - uninstall
Thabks for the heads up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the FAQ's regarding this article and other questions and continue reading: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57420402-93/the-google-drive-faq/?tag=mncol;txt
In their Content section of TOS the first line reads "You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours."
Legally, in their TOS, they are stating that they cannot take your content to serve their own purposes. It's only to help improve services/ads for you - which they are already doing with your Gmail account.
I understand that but wouldn't want my business documents to be analyzed by them at all. That's why I have to pay for a cloud solution just to make sure everything is secure. I have to maintain HIPAA with a lot of my biz items
It's an expense I was trying to reduce or eliminate
m4570d0n said:
Might wanna read the terms and conditions of Google Drive. Looks like Google has decided that the moment you upload something, all rights are transferred to them and they can do whatever they want with anything you upload whenever they feel like it, even if you stop using the service:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57420551-93/who-owns-your-files-on-google-drive/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like facebook
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
I just got Drive activated. It's pretty cool.
Like drop box. Just more integrated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA
I'd love to see if Titanium backup will provide this as an option to store backups...
Uncle Irish said:
I understand that but wouldn't want my business documents to be analyzed by them at all. That's why I have to pay for a cloud solution just to make sure everything is secure. I have to maintain HIPAA with a lot of my biz items
It's an expense I was trying to reduce or eliminate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like they have updated the article a few times since I posted the link with some additional info/clarification.
If it's still not kosher with you, check out Wuala. They just bumped up the free storage to 5Gb, and I've come across some promos over time and I've got about 12Gb of free storage now. It's completely encrypted (client side as well as server side) and none of their servers are in the US.
m4570d0n said:
Looks like they have updated the article a few times since I posted the link with some additional info/clarification.
If it's still not kosher with you, check out Wuala. They just bumped up the free storage to 5Gb, and I've come across some promos over time and I've got about 12Gb of free storage now. It's completely encrypted (client side as well as server side) and none of their servers are in the US.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are their Servers? Not sure which Country is "safe"?
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
so on my phone, where are my drive files stored? I'm assuming this is like dropbox, and I should be able to go in and have all 5GBs accessible from other apps (quickoffice, etc..) even when I don't have data service? Or will I still have to use the option to "make available offline"?
The point of Drive, & other "cloud" services... You don't store them on your phone.
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
shaggyskunk said:
The point of Drive, & other "cloud" services... You don't store them on your phone.
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, guess what. SOMETIMES your are in a location that does not have service and you still need to work on a doc.
CLOUD based computing is not solely about keeping everything off your local machine. It's entirely about convenient access to your data elements in a centralized/remote location. Drop box provides local access to your files, not just "CLOUD".
The whole point is to have auto sync'd data on your device without you having to worry about downloading something before getting on a plane, traveling to a foreign country, working in a desert without data connection, etc... (all things I do).
If a business had to rely solely on having network access to work on their data, there is NO WAY they would do that. The risk is too high.
Uncle Irish said:
I understand that but wouldn't want my business documents to be analyzed by them at all. That's why I have to pay for a cloud solution just to make sure everything is secure. I have to maintain HIPAA with a lot of my biz items
It's an expense I was trying to reduce or eliminate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I hear ya! I'm not sure I would want sensitive Business docs on Google Drive especially if you are guaranteeing a security standard to your customers. But for personal use it's not a bad alternative at all.
However, make sure you read the TOS for anyone you go with. Most still have a clause that they need access to your data to move to different servers if need be (wherever in the world they are). And if its lost in transition (which is unlikely) they are not responsible for where it ends up or what happened to it which in turn, would violate your standards you have set for your clients.
Spending the bucks for sensitive data storage is part of the cost of doing business unfortunately.
---------- Post added at 12:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------
bp787 said:
well, guess what. SOMETIMES your are in a location that does not have service and you still need to work on a doc.
CLOUD based computing is not solely about keeping everything off your local machine. It's entirely about convenient access to your data elements in a centralized/remote location. Drop box provides local access to your files, not just "CLOUD".
The whole point is to have auto sync'd data on your device without you having to worry about downloading something before getting on a plane, traveling to a foreign country, working in a desert without data connection, etc... (all things I do).
If a business had to rely solely on having network access to work on their data, there is NO WAY they would do that. The risk is too high.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. There is an option in the Google Apps settings (just as there was in Google Docs) to have them available offline. Where it stores on your phone I haven't seen yet as I cannot set it up. When I go to Google drive to set up it reports that they will Email me when Google Drive is ready for my account. Maybe Canada is getting it last.
And I'm a paying Google Apps for Business user!
That language has to be there. Once you upload it they need to be able to do stuff with it. It also covers integration with other google products. Without those terms you wouldn't be able to access your google docs in you gmail, google calendar, google etc, etc. Technically they are different google products. IMO I trust my data more with Google than any other cloud provider. You trust them with how much personal information in your email, and on your phone?
I have a 100 GB account and once I get everything on it I'm dropping sugar sync. 100GB for $10/mo.
X10D3 said:
That language has to be there. Once you upload it they need to be able to do stuff with it. It also covers integration with other google products. Without those terms you wouldn't be able to access your google docs in you gmail, google calendar, google etc, etc. Technically they are different google products. IMO I trust my data more with Google than any other cloud provider. You trust them with how much personal information in your email, and on your phone?
I have a 100 GB account and once I get everything on it I'm dropping sugar sync. 100GB for $10/mo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I would rethink that move if it's for certain sensitive business data. No doubt, as with any Cloud service, they need access to your data for moving to different servers, backing up etc. But Google has added in their TOS that they can have access to the content of your data to provide you with personalized advertising and product promotion based on what your content contains.
This is what the whole human cry was about several weeks back when Google announced it's revamping of their TOS for their services. Most other Cloud service providers, if not all, highlight in their TOS That in no way do they have access to the Content of your data.
sKiNz-PouNdeR said:
Hmm, I would rethink that move if it's for certain sensitive business data. No doubt, as with any Cloud service, they need access to your data for moving to different servers, backing up etc. But Google has added in their TOS that they can have access to the content of your data to provide you with personalized advertising and product promotion based on what your content contains.
This is what the whole human cry was about several weeks back when Google announced it's revamping of their TOS for their services. Most other Cloud service providers, if not all, highlight in their TOS That in no way do they have access to the Content of your data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A BIG +1
Sent from Down The Rabbit Hole, using Tapatalk 2
Hi,
Sometimes an app (.apk) is either simply not available through Google's store, or it might say "not compatible with your device", etc. There can be various reasons why a person might download a .apk from somewhere other than a "trusted" source.
If this was a file for my PC I could test it in a "sandbox", and I could scan it with both Microsoft Security Essentials and Malware Bytes Antimalware.
On my Android phone(s) I'm not aware of something like the "sandbox" option, and I don't really want to run an "antivirus" program on my phone. Is there an easy way to scan .apk files on the PC to see if they are rogue apps, might send SMS, "phone home", or otherwise mess with other applications or the system software installed on my phone?
Lets give another example: say I thought 15 minutes was not long enough to evaluate a relatively expensive Android game (it certainly isn't!) and I want to test it out first. Let's assume my only option in that case might be an illegally downloaded copy from unknown sources. Of course, we shouldn't do that. But if we did, how could we know if the file is safe and not risk installing some Chinese spyware?
About Android AV programs: anybody know how effective they are? Do some defend against "trojans" - I would think these days trojans are 99% of problems and viruses mostly a relic of the past?
My biggest concern is actually just unwanted crap that runs in the background which eats up battery, makes my phone warm (which I hate), or, perhaps even sends SMS message [this would be even worse because I don't have a text message plan].
EDIT: I see web pages with tiles like "new study finds Android antivirus apps not effective" and articles like this one: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/...bouncer-does-it-offer-enough-protection/17981
Do we have an easy way to boot Galaxy S3 off of "external" SDCARD instead of internal memory?
Search play store for avast antivirus, completely free, updates daily and works really well (firewall. Anti theft. And many more Features
sony xperia ray ics 4.0.4
stock rom unrooted
I found this website, maybe it can help someone.
h t t p://scan.netqin.com/en/
Maybe someone can post another one...
an easy way to check for safe apk
The easiest way to check for safe apk is to have one gmail account and another "whatever" email account. Then just send the apk from the gmail one to the second account, gmail always find viruses in any apk and stop the process to join the file (virus alert). Bad point is you are limited with the size of the file you wanna send.
Nowadays, even pc antiviruses can detect viruses in apks. I would rather not burden my phone with any android antivirus,since they are literally battery hogs.
sent using my HTC One S
Go here and upload the APK
http://anubis.iseclab.org/
Anubis is a service for analyzing malware.
Submit your Windows executable or Android APK and receive an analysis report telling you what it does. Alternatively, submit a suspicious URL and receive a report that shows you all the activities of the Internet Explorer process when visiting this URL.
Andrubis executes Android apps in a sandbox and provides a detailed report on their behavior, including file access, network access, crypto operations, dynamic code loading and information leaks. In addition to the dynamic analysis in the sandbox, Andrubis also performs static analysis, yielding information on e.g. the app's activities, services, required external libraries and actually required permissions.
Found a good one too
apkscan.nviso.be - give it a try. Drag and drop - wait for the upload - than click SCAN . Wait for a few minutes. That`s all. Unlike ANUBIS it has a resolution at the end of the analysis . Usually helpful.
You can also email the file to [email protected] and it will email the report back in about ten minutes. Virustotal can display some interesting info, for example it said that Lucky Patcher is a "Potentially Infected Hosts File (v)", as reported by VIPRE and AVware.
Virustotal also has an official android app.
The Netqin scanner is also an android mobile app.
Late answer, sure, but I think ClamAV is what you want. You also want its bytecode signature file, and to speed things up, you only want that single file (speeds up things quite a bit).
It is the only offline apk scanner i know of, and as for its efficiency i cannot say, but it seems like it is what you are asking for.
An alternative would be to install something like BlueStacks and remap your "Windows shared folder" (through registry) to the folder you have your apk files in, and then run BitDefender on it. BD is by far the most pernickety AV app out there for Android.
I'll have to check out bitdefender (it's also included on virustotal.com)
apkscan.nviso.be seems to be pretty good at analyzing files for suspicious activity, and it also uploads the file to virustotal for you. Then you can copy the sha256 hash into the virustotal's search, to get all the gory details.
anubis.iseclab.org limits files to 8 megabytes.
Another way to avoid malware is:
when installing an update to an already-installed version of an application, it will 99% of the time prompt you to update an existing app. There's been rare instances where some apps do use a new digital signature (for example when spotify had a big security hole, and for awhile there were two apps by spotify in the app store).
One other way to tell, as a final check when launching the apk for installation on the phone: the icon will not have the right icon. I've installed apps before that I thought came from a trusted source, but the icon was not right. In fact, I was considering not posting this publically, so the "bad dudes" would not update their methods.
Another tool I found:
http://andrototal.org/
Although it might be a duplicate of virustotal.
nintendo1889 said:
Another tool I found:
http://andrototal.org/
Although it might be a duplicate of virustotal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried out this site. To me, it appears to be the most thorough virus testing site that I have seen. It takes some time for it to complete the scans. mainly because it scans the file with about 7 or 8 different scanning engines. Just just have to keep refreshing the page every few minutes to see if the results have updated.
I will be using this one as my go to site for apk scanning.
Just install it on the default emulator in the Android SDK
You can also install your apps on other emulator live bluestacks(best for games), jar of beans(best for rooted app) and windroy(the lightest)
Hit thanks if this helps
nintendo1889 said:
I'll have to check out bitdefender ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your signature photo ... awesome ... Bad Dudes
By using GDATA security , When you want to install an app the GDATA will scan it befor installing
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Use google scanning service VirusTotal to scan any app, secondly always use secure source. There are many well reputed apk sites but I personally use apklink.com , on this site required apk file is just a click away and its quite easy as well...
be safe & secure
This threads out of date, but it has me thinking I want to use something as mentioned in several replies to OP.
Are there any sites, or apps that can warn me if an .apk (for example) has malware etc.?
Thanks in advance for any help, including a link to another discussion that may have my answer
denise1952 said:
This threads out of date, but it has me thinking I want to use something as mentioned in several replies to OP.
Are there any sites, or apps that can warn me if an .apk (for example) has malware etc.?
Thanks in advance for any help, including a link to another discussion that may have my answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Malwarebytes can detect malware.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
I tried this site and I like it because it goes into a lot of detail after analyzing and sends me a report in email. It was mentioned, and it is still available to use: https://apkscan.nviso.be/
Thank you for the heads up on MB, I use that on my PC and works great
You can use virustotal.
Update: They've just increased the base storage level to 15GB (or 20GB if you use my referral link)!
Copy.com is a new Dropbox competitor. It's backed by the Barracuda Networks people, so this one's going to be around a while.
You get 15GB free, and if you sign up using my referral, we both get 5GB of free additional storage.
It uses the Holo UI and there are no upload size limits! You can never have too much cloud storage, right?
<No referral ads on XDA please>
Thanks!
(I posted this in the general S4 apps forum, but I thought I'd post it here for us Sprint folks, in case some of you don't look at the other forum.) :angel:
Thanks man
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Thanks appreciate it, just signed up.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Interesting. .. signed up!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks and done.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Been using it a couple days and so far really good stuff.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Same theme but when I went back to stock to grab the MDL OTA, I actually entered my dropbox info at firstrun. Was in the sprint store the first time. Dropbox gave me "an additional 48GB" of space for registering the s4. No idea if this is wide spread or if I need to go get some scratch off tickets, b7t worth a try if you haven't already.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
Grommish said:
Same theme but when I went back to stock to grab the MDL OTA, I actually entered my dropbox info at firstrun. Was in the sprint store the first time. Dropbox gave me "an additional 48GB" of space for registering the s4. No idea if this is wide spread or if I need to go get some scratch off tickets, b7t worth a try if you haven't already.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's for all S4 owners as far as I can tell. But be aware that this additional fee space is for 2 years only. After that you'll either need to pony up to keep the space or delete files until you are back down to your pre - gratis48GB level. Still, 50GB of Dropbox for two years at no cost? I took it and ran.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
I'm trying out my new copy storage. Here's a link to 3 ROMS: https://copy.com/aOCkeSmqaUN0
Includes:
ForceRom 1.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261943)
Omega 3.0 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2253528)
Stock ME2 (as referenced in the Omega thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41332709&postcount=576)
Thanks for the referral credits, keep them coming!
Thank you !! i search this!
Thanks for the tip. Looks good on the desktop side, like you said hard to have too much storage.
However on the phone app side I really DON'T like this part:
Your applications information
retrieve running apps
Allows the app to retrieve information about currently and recently running tasks. This may allow the app to discover information about which applications are used on the device.
Your social information
read your contacts
Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your device, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals. This permission allows apps to save your contact data, and malicious apps may share contact data without your knowledge.
Just saying.
I stopped using copy as when you read the user agreement they indicate that they have the right to use your content as they wish.... Dropbox is still golden for me.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
PapaDocta said:
I stopped using copy as when you read the user agreement they indicate that they have the right to use your content as they wish.... Dropbox is still golden for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you point out where that is stated? The Copy.com terms look just like Dropbox's terms to me.
Copy.com: As between You and Copy, all information You provide to Copy remains your property.
leaderbuilder said:
Thanks for the tip. Looks good on the desktop side, like you said hard to have too much storage.
However on the phone app side I really DON'T like this part:
Your social information read your contacts
Just saying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an "invite friends/contacts to share a folder" option within the app. It uses the contacts for that functionality.
goalkeepr said:
Could you point out where that is stated? The Copy.com terms look just like Dropbox's terms to me.
Copy.com: As between You and Copy, all information You provide to Copy remains your property.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"When you use the Product, you agree that Copy may duplicate and store your data, information, files and folders in accordance with Copy’s policies and these Terms. As between You and Copy, all information You provide to Copy remains your property.
We may also need to share your data, information, files and folders with third parties who assist us in providing the service. You hereby consent to such sharing. In addition, Copy may contain links to third party websites or resources. Your use of the third party materials is governed by their terms and not this Agreement. We are not responsible for or endorse these third parties."
https://www.copy.com/about/tos
And Dropbox: (https://www.dropbox.com/privacy):
Files. We collect and store the files you upload, download, or access with the Dropbox Service (“Files”). If you add a file to your Dropbox that has been previously uploaded by you or another user, we may associate all or a portion of the previous file with your account rather than storing a duplicate.
Service Providers, Business Partners and Others. We may use certain trusted third party companies and individuals to help us provide, analyze, and improve the Service (including but not limited to data storage, maintenance services, database management, web analytics, payment processing, and improvement of the Service’s features).
----------------------------------
The key takeaway here is Dropbox and Copy are using the essentially the same language to do the same thing. I don't see anything different between the TOS of the 2 services. Of course you are consenting to let them copy and store your files. That's what a cloud storage provider does. And both of them use third parties to help provide services.
so basically they are the same?
PapaDocta said:
so basically they are the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. Nothing about either service worries me.:good:
goalkeepr said:
And Dropbox: (https://www.dropbox.com/privacy):
Files. We collect and store the files you upload, download, or access with the Dropbox Service (“Files”). If you add a file to your Dropbox that has been previously uploaded by you or another user, we may associate all or a portion of the previous file with your account rather than storing a duplicate.
Service Providers, Business Partners and Others. We may use certain trusted third party companies and individuals to help us provide, analyze, and improve the Service (including but not limited to data storage, maintenance services, database management, web analytics, payment processing, and improvement of the Service’s features).
----------------------------------
The key takeaway here is Dropbox and Copy are using the essentially the same language to do the same thing. I don't see anything different between the TOS of the 2 services. Of course you are consenting to let them copy and store your files. That's what a cloud storage provider does. And both of them use third parties to help provide services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dropbox does not say they will access (and save!) your contacts, calls messages and how many times you contact each. And when I installed Dropbox on my system it did not ask for permission to do so.
Read the differences in the permissions tab: Copy VS Dropbox https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dropbox.android&hl=en
I see a huge difference one specifically says they can/will save your social contact and stats - that one is copy.
Again it's a choice to use the service or not I was just bring it up because it's so glaring and I don't/haven't installed apps that do that.
leaderbuilder said:
I see a huge difference one specifically says they can/will save your social contact and stats - that one is copy.
Again it's a choice to use the service or not I was just bring it up because it's so glaring and I don't/haven't installed apps that do that.
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This, and any other, app that allows you to share information with your contacts will have that permission (and corresponding description) in its manifest (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Box, Pocket, AirDroid, SoundCloud, EverNote).
I don't see any cause for concern, but everyone's tin foil hat is sized differently. :highfive:
Hey !!
Do Andriod phones need antivirus or internet security as a must? If so provide me some links..
Thankxxxx in advance
The Answer Has been moved to a thread dedicated to security question and other advices to modify safely our Android Devices
Here is the post
Raiz said:
It absolutely doesn't, please don't download them, those are mostly commercial sh*t apps full of ads that plays with the fears of users.
Android Security advice :
• Just don't install apps that you don't trust (apk files and weird looking Google play apps)
• Never share your passwords with somebody not trusted, use a different one for each of you accounts.
Find more here :
https://forum.xda-developers.com/general/security
General security and privacy:
• a VPN isn't a magic app that allows you to go completely invisible, even I can find who you are simply by using your latest Instagram post, the government doesn't have money to spend spying on you anyway
• Public WiFi internet browsing is like taking a bath naked around other people, everybody can see what you're doing and can interact with your browsing by sending you pop up messages on your browser. In that case the VPN is useful. But please don't use anything other than your WiFi network to pay online.
• Change password at least once a year
• For God sake be careful on what you share on social medias !
• If someone blackmails you, just ignore him even if he show you he has your real password/footage of you doing nasty things, most of the time they haven't and tries to scare you. But take action on your account, just don't answer them.
• Not having any of your IRL infos online is a good idea, but it tends to be more and more difficult because of Google assistant, and other Google services that are super intrusive (I mean even with your YouTube Google know your tastes better than your buds). But don't panic, if you're not a terrorist or a criminal you're not risking your life.
Keep in mind that your security is fine most of the time if you have solid password, and you don't give them away, but your privacy is not if you have a social media account of any type. If you post something on the internet, remember it'll stay forever out there, whatever you do !
App that I use to keep my Android phone in good health (install them sometimes to clean up/check on my phone's state then I uninstall them):
Google File Go (cleans files)
AccuBattery (check the battery health)
CPU-Z(has everything you want to know about your device)
When I need to backup an app's data or the entire app:
Titanium Backup
Here you go, I gave you very few the security advises, there are plenty more, don't hesitate to check the internet out for more !
Have a nice day
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I have 2 edits to your suggestions
1. Change your passwords monthly, preferably using a password manager that suggests really hard random passwords
2. Swift backup is much newer and more efficient than titanium backup ever was.
Sent from my OnePlus7Pro using XDA Labs
spart0n said:
I have 2 edits to your suggestions
1. Change your passwords monthly, preferably using a password manager that suggests really hard random passwords
2. Swift backup is much newer and more efficient than titanium backup ever was.
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Click to collapse
I'll update my first post continuously with every recommendation that'll follow on this thread to create the sort of "Index of Android Security". I created a new thread for security questions
Didn't knew about swift backup, what a great app!
patricia123 said:
Hey !!
Do Andriod phones need antivirus or internet security as a must? If so provide me some links..
Thankxxxx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Viruses don't really exist in android. You can be targeted with malicious code but that is only if you open, tap on or accept something without knowing what it is.
For instance, someone could send you a link or a photo that has malicious code embedded in it, when you open it or accept it, then the malicious code has access to your device and your data.
As long as you know that you are dealing with a trusted source, you should be fine. But, if you are the kind of user that goes all over the internet opening things without knowing what it is, you will quickly find yourself targeted by malicious code.
Become a responsible, informed user that is aware of the dangers and what kinds of things can be a problem and you should be fine.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
I recently found a really interesting and useful website called hybrid analysis that is a sandbox scanner for files and programs of all kinds. And recently I've taken it up on myself to upload a few random small game apks that I don't have any permissions given and that I have gotten from the playstore. And all of them come back with disturbing results that they have access to files, contacts, emails and to send and receive them, to record audio from multiple inputs, and track my internet usage. How is this possible? Is there anyway I could get this kind of software scanner on android to check all my apps? Also the website is limited to apps that smaller than 100mbs so even if I wanted to just upload every APK I have on my device that wouldn't be possible. I also checked these apks on virustotal and they didn't find anything wrong with them, like really no red flags at all on them on virustotal. Or at the end of this am I just being too paranoid?
don't think it's necessary to additionally run apps downloaded / installed from Google Play Store through a malware scanner: Google does that by themselves.
spart0n said:
access to files, contacts, emails and to send and receive them, to record audio from multiple inputs, and track my internet usage. How is this possible?
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Two words: Android, Google
Can you name a few apps with "disturbing results"?
Not sure but I get the impression that
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/
is just another FUD to sell their "services" and it's growing nicely... but don't get me wrong such scanners are not useless per se. And the more, the merrier
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.adaway/
results in 35/100 threat score and is labeled as gray. Looking forward to feed their machine with some real bad apples...
Looking up the company leads to a German GmbH (aka Ltd) and further to CrowdStrike in the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrowdStrike
xXx yYy said:
malware scanner: Google does that by itself
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And here is how much I trust Google:
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Yes, it's an empty list