New to Android. Installed ES File Explorer on my GS7 without knowing it's spyware - Samsung Galaxy S7 Questions and Answers

So, like the title says. I wanted a file explorer and I've seen some recommendations of ES as a great option. 20 minutes after installing, I got a popup ad from ES while using a different app; I immediately uninstalled it, but upon searching the web I've since learned that app used to try to hijack your lock screen and creates suspicious folders inside the phone's storage.
Now I'm worried that my phone could somehow be compromised by this app. My questions are:
1. Should I worry, or uninstalling is enough? If this was a Windows computer I'd just wipe the main partition and do a fresh install, but being new to Android I don't know if I'm overreacting.
2. Btw, what would be the Android equivalent of wiping the main partition and doing a fresh install?
3. Just to be sure, I followed what's described in this article and monitored the traffic on my phone for a while with Fiddler. I learned that sometimes when I shut down the phone it connects to api.glympse.com port 443. I understand that Glympse is a geolocation sharing service; does anyone know what in the phone would be trying to send info there and why? Is this normal?
Thanks.

firesinis said:
So, like the title says. I wanted a file explorer and I've seen some recommendations of ES as a great option. 20 minutes after installing, I got a popup ad from ES while using a different app; I immediately uninstalled it, but upon searching the web I've since learned that app used to try to hijack your lock screen and creates suspicious folders inside the phone's storage.
Now I'm worried that my phone could somehow be compromised by this app. My questions are:
1. Should I worry, or uninstalling is enough? If this was a Windows computer I'd just wipe the main partition and do a fresh install, but being new to Android I don't know if I'm overreacting.
2. Btw, what would be the Android equivalent of wiping the main partition and doing a fresh install?
3. Just to be sure, I followed what's described in this article and monitored the traffic on my phone for a while with Fiddler. I learned that sometimes when I shut down the phone it connects to api.glympse.com port 443. I understand that Glympse is a geolocation sharing service; does anyone know what in the phone would be trying to send info there and why? Is this normal?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi... i used ES file explorer without any problem... did you download it from the play store?
1. Usually uninstalling an app is enough.. there may be some files remaining in your storage partition under android >data folder.
2. Wiping your phone by entering recovery mode by pressing home+ vol up + pwr button... you may also reflash your os through odin
3.can't answer that because i don't know

I had ES Explorer for years, until they started to do really stupid things, like these random hyjacks.
So, I uninstalled the app and never had any ads anymore, su I guess this is sufficient to get rid of ES Explorer.

Only happens with the free version, been running Pro for a good while and it does none of the above

Related

[Q] Confused: Titanium Pro Question

Had to get warranty replacement Charge today. Had original since debut. (they didn't have re-furb, wanted to send me one, told them I was leaving town and they gave me bran new one !!)
I am rooted, using EE4dxvodo_DXC. I had used free version of Titanium in the past and deleted several appz. I decided to purchase pro so I could freeze appz this time. Installd free, paid for pro and it installed it. I now open Titanium and it only shows the overview screen. There are no tabs to where I can get to the apps on the phone. I click the change profile button and it says 'functin not available on older Charg ROMS' ??
The free version worked just fine with same Odin on last phone. Is there something I am missing here?
Thanx in advance for any help.
Steve
Chopstix9 said:
Had to get warranty replacement Charge today. Had original since debut. (they didn't have re-furb, wanted to send me one, told them I was leaving town and they gave me bran new one !!)
I am rooted, using EE4dxvodo_DXC. I had used free version of Titanium in the past and deleted several appz. I decided to purchase pro so I could freeze appz this time. Installd free, paid for pro and it installed it. I now open Titanium and it only shows the overview screen. There are no tabs to where I can get to the apps on the phone. I click the change profile button and it says 'functin not available on older Charg ROMS' ??
The free version worked just fine with same Odin on last phone. Is there something I am missing here?
Thanx in advance for any help.
Steve
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is the sd card the same? I thought TiBu saves settings/data to a folder on the sd card
I have a copy of that folder on my desktop, yes. I restored the sd card to basic stock before turning in the phone, not wanting them to know it had been rooted. That's not the point however:
When you open Titanium, there is a tab where it will display all apps on the phone and give you the option of deleting or freezing them. If you try to freeze them with the free version, it tells you that option is only available with the pro version.
Now when I open Titanium, none of that is accessible. It only gives a single overview page of ram status and such. There is no way to get to any other pages within Titanium to manipulate the appz.
The phone is rooted successfully, Open Garden Wifi tether gets granted superuser permissions and super user gives the option to allow/deny permissions. Titanium doesn't seem to be working and I was wondering if anyone else had run into this issue.
I was even rooted with the same ROM on the old phone ...
Chopstix9 said:
I have a copy of that folder on my desktop, yes. I restored the sd card to basic stock before turning in the phone, not wanting them to know it had been rooted. That's not the point however:
When you open Titanium, there is a tab where it will display all apps on the phone and give you the option of deleting or freezing them. If you try to freeze them with the free version, it tells you that option is only available with the pro version.
Now when I open Titanium, none of that is accessible. It only gives a single overview page of ram status and such. There is no way to get to any other pages within Titanium to manipulate the appz.
The phone is rooted successfully, Open Garden Wifi tether gets granted superuser permissions and super user gives the option to allow/deny permissions. Titanium doesn't seem to be working and I was wondering if anyone else had run into this issue.
I was even rooted with the same ROM on the old phone ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it the most up to date version? could've been a bad download perhaps? I've never heard of that happening with Tibu, paid or free
I have had tibu do that before. But a reboot seem to fix it.
Sent from my VooDoo Gummy Charge
*shrug* ... it ain't workin' that's for sure ... I un-installed tibu and re-installed it; made sure superuser had lastest binary; tibu is getting SU permissions, but no apps list is available in tibu, only an overview page.
Though this is the same ROM I was rooted under on other phone before the swap and it worked fine. Not running any kernel with it just straight forward EE4dxvodo_DXC
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
Chopstix9 said:
I have a copy of that folder on my desktop, yes. I restored the sd card to basic stock before turning in the phone, not wanting them to know it had been rooted. That's not the point however:
When you open Titanium, there is a tab where it will display all apps on the phone and give you the option of deleting or freezing them. If you try to freeze them with the free version, it tells you that option is only available with the pro version.
Now when I open Titanium, none of that is accessible. It only gives a single overview page of ram status and such. There is no way to get to any other pages within Titanium to manipulate the appz.
The phone is rooted successfully, Open Garden Wifi tether gets granted superuser permissions and super user gives the option to allow/deny permissions. Titanium doesn't seem to be working and I was wondering if anyone else had run into this issue.
I was even rooted with the same ROM on the old phone ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you have at ready looked at the menu that comes up when you press the menu button. I think that the functionality that you are looking for is under Filters to select stuff that you want to work with and Batch to actually do stuff like bloat freezing, backups, restores, etc..

[Q] downloadfile-x.apk, Invalid Package File, The Package was not signed correctly.

I've seen countless threads on these 2 errors, but I just found something intriguing on my android device.
This one is a Measy U1A android stick (the ones that you connect to your TV via HDMI). A truly nice piece of hardware, but it seems to have some issues.
Since day 1 I can't install apps most of the time. Yes, *most* of the time. 80% I get the "Invalid Package file" error, another 10% of the time I get a "Package was not signed correctly", but curiously enough, a 10% of the time the packages go through and install correctly.
Of course, this gets on my nerves.
Now, I'd really want to know what's going on and I'd love some help from the true Android experts.
This is what I've already done:
Got a Log Viewer to see what was going on.
At first it said that was an error downloading (more on this later)
Then other times it said that there was no signature for X or Y file INSIDE the apk file (I remember some libraries, I was trying to install netflix on my tests)
So, I tried to tackle the download error by checking the space (df), I found that /data had few space remaining, so I cleared stuff from it. Now I have 308Mb free, more than enough to download Netflix (14Mb download). I'm talking about /data since I found out that the downloadfile-x.apk files get downloaded to /data/data/com.android.providers/downloads/cache
Tried again, nothing. Ok, so I thought that maybe there was some weird error in the /data partition. I created a directory on the sdcard portion of the stick and linked it (ln -s). Same issues. I created a directory on my external sd card and liked to it, and the same.
Now, for the weird part, and this is where I'd love some insight:
Out of 5 downloads, ES File Explorer got installed correctly, and I got a bunch of EQUALLY SIZED downloadfile-x.apk files on that directory, but NONE OF THEM HAS THE SAME MD5 SUM. Weird? Yep, but that could only mean 3 things: Either there's a problem with my wifi/network stack, or the /data, /sdcard, /mnt/extsd partitions ALL have errors in them. The 3rd option is that Perhaps Google signs every download with a different salt and that's the reason they are all different. But I DON'T THINK THE 3rd OPTION IS LOGICAL OR PRACTICAL.
Now, I don't have access to recovery here... well, I haven't tried but there's no obvious option, perhaps CWM but I don't want to risk it too much since it ran Ubuntu for a while and now that won't boot (that's another topic, unable to debug it since I can't see anything on the screen until it boots).
I've already tried:
1. Deleting Play Cache and Data, rebooting
2. Deleting Play and installing it again (it took several tries because of the same issue)
3. Factory Default and logging to my google account again
4. FIRMWARE UPGRADE (yes, I found a new firmware, it seems faster and more stable, but I still have that issue).
Now, I haven't found a memory checker or a "nand" (as you call it) checker on the app market, do these apps exist? I'd love to rule this out.
Thanks if anyone has another option, as I said, I'm out of them. The funny thing is that once the apps are installed THEY WORK FINE!!!!
Please help, I just can't spend 15 minutes to install each app that I want :laugh:
I know my way around Linux, so don't be afraid to suggest crazy things :fingers-crossed:
*The only thing I still want to do is to be able to boot Linux again and perform some tests from there*
No one?
Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2
NuttyBunny said:
I've seen countless threads on these 2 errors, but I just found something intriguing on my android device.
This one is a Measy U1A android stick (the ones that you connect to your TV via HDMI). A truly nice piece of hardware, but it seems to have some issues.
Since day 1 I can't install apps most of the time. Yes, *most* of the time. 80% I get the "Invalid Package file" error, another 10% of the time I get a "Package was not signed correctly", but curiously enough, a 10% of the time the packages go through and install correctly.
Of course, this gets on my nerves.
Now, I'd really want to know what's going on and I'd love some help from the true Android experts.
This is what I've already done:
Got a Log Viewer to see what was going on.
At first it said that was an error downloading (more on this later)
Then other times it said that there was no signature for X or Y file INSIDE the apk file (I remember some libraries, I was trying to install netflix on my tests)
So, I tried to tackle the download error by checking the space (df), I found that /data had few space remaining, so I cleared stuff from it. Now I have 308Mb free, more than enough to download Netflix (14Mb download). I'm talking about /data since I found out that the downloadfile-x.apk files get downloaded to /data/data/com.android.providers/downloads/cache
Tried again, nothing. Ok, so I thought that maybe there was some weird error in the /data partition. I created a directory on the sdcard portion of the stick and linked it (ln -s). Same issues. I created a directory on my external sd card and liked to it, and the same.
Now, for the weird part, and this is where I'd love some insight:
Out of 5 downloads, ES File Explorer got installed correctly, and I got a bunch of EQUALLY SIZED downloadfile-x.apk files on that directory, but NONE OF THEM HAS THE SAME MD5 SUM. Weird? Yep, but that could only mean 3 things: Either there's a problem with my wifi/network stack, or the /data, /sdcard, /mnt/extsd partitions ALL have errors in them. The 3rd option is that Perhaps Google signs every download with a different salt and that's the reason they are all different. But I DON'T THINK THE 3rd OPTION IS LOGICAL OR PRACTICAL.
Now, I don't have access to recovery here... well, I haven't tried but there's no obvious option, perhaps CWM but I don't want to risk it too much since it ran Ubuntu for a while and now that won't boot (that's another topic, unable to debug it since I can't see anything on the screen until it boots).
I've already tried:
1. Deleting Play Cache and Data, rebooting
2. Deleting Play and installing it again (it took several tries because of the same issue)
3. Factory Default and logging to my google account again
4. FIRMWARE UPGRADE (yes, I found a new firmware, it seems faster and more stable, but I still have that issue).
Now, I haven't found a memory checker or a "nand" (as you call it) checker on the app market, do these apps exist? I'd love to rule this out.
Thanks if anyone has another option, as I said, I'm out of them. The funny thing is that once the apps are installed THEY WORK FINE!!!!
Please help, I just can't spend 15 minutes to install each app that I want :laugh:
I know my way around Linux, so don't be afraid to suggest crazy things :fingers-crossed:
*The only thing I still want to do is to be able to boot Linux again and perform some tests from there*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey dude
finally a fellow measy u1a user.....
where r u from???
regarding the package invalid problem the rom of the device isnt exactly signing the package while installing....hope measy would release an update(i know its impossible)
i tried installing mk808 firmware but couldnt despite tampering its kernel code
no use of factory reset as it just installs the already existing os
p.s
i am trying hard to find a wifi remote control app to control this dongle from my sammy galaxy r mobile but no luck did u do anything like that??
also check out
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2173501
thanks
mahi98 said:
hey dude
finally a fellow measy u1a user.....
where r u from???
regarding the package invalid problem the rom of the device isnt exactly signing the package while installing....hope measy would release an update(i know its impossible)
i tried installing mk808 firmware but couldnt despite tampering its kernel code
no use of factory reset as it just installs the already existing os
p.s
i am trying hard to find a wifi remote control app to control this dongle from my sammy galaxy r mobile but no luck did u do anything like that??
also check out
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2173501
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mexico City here.
I found a firmware update, it makes the homepage icons bigger, changes the boot screen and overall feels faster. But I still have the same error.
As for the remote control, I found a vnc server that can be run on the dongle, and any vnc viewer can be used to control it.
I got a Rikkomagic III (not S, silly me), and let me say, that thing kicks the U1A over the window, performance is great but it has no bluetooth.
I'll keep trying to find a solution for my issue, as the Rikkomagic works fine.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2
What's that remote app name??
Sent from my GT-I9103 using xda app-developers app
mahi98 said:
What's that remote app name??
Sent from my GT-I9103 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.onaips.vnc
That's the server. You need a VNC viewer for your phone
NuttyBunny said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.onaips.vnc
That's the server. You need a VNC viewer for your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As of now there is only one app . Remodroid which works as per requirement
you can download it from play store. you need to install in both the Dongle and cellphone . it works well.but sluggish at times

Is this malware?

I randomly started getting 2 notifications; one saying I had low memory, a second that I was running out of space. When I clicked on the notification, I get 'attached image' screen. (I have never clicked on the start test button, it's big, and red... It scares me!)
I've done a fair bit of searching but can't find any topics/posts (searching "speed up your Android" is a bit of a nightmare...)
So, yeah. Has anyone seen this before? I have removed the last 3-4 apps I installed, but no change. I was using L launcher until it started overriding my screen with ads for a couple of apps. This would occur when I had installed a new app via playstore. After uninstalling, those ads have gone..
Any thoughts or help will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Franklee99 said:
I randomly started getting 2 notifications; one saying I had low memory, a second that I was running out of space. When I clicked on the notification, I get 'attached image' screen. (I have never clicked on the start test button, it's big, and red... It scares me!)
I've done a fair bit of searching but can't find any topics/posts (searching "speed up your Android" is a bit of a nightmare...)
So, yeah. Has anyone seen this before? I have removed the last 3-4 apps I installed, but no change. I was using L launcher until it started overriding my screen with ads for a couple of apps. This would occur when I had installed a new app via playstore. After uninstalling, those ads have gone..
Any thoughts or help will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That picture tells me you don't own your device, someone else does. For starters, reinstall your current rom with the complete wipe and I mean wiping internal sd too. Remove your simcard before rebooting. Then get root, because if you don't, that would mean that Android system owns your phone. Just because you don't have root does not mean that system apps don't: They do (and you don't). So, get root, set it up for prompt and deselect "trust system user". You don't want to trust anything. Second, get Afwall from F-Droid and allow internet only for apps you use: browser, messaging etc. Don't allow system apps to connect to the internet. I mean none. Second, don't get any app that has ads. Period. If you do, you will always end up in a situation shown on your photo. There are many more things you can do: just read this forum, but these limited steps should protect you from major threats.
Ah, bugger. Thought that may be the response...
When do I reinsert sim card? And I'm guessing I can't use the .zip of the ROM currently stored in my internal storage?
Thanks for your reply.
Franklee99 said:
Ah, bugger. Thought that may be the response...
When do I reinsert sim card? And I'm guessing I can't use the .zip of the ROM currently stored in my internal storage?
Thanks for your reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can reinsert the sim card once you setup the firewall and whitelist the apps that are allowed internet access (all others - denied). You can still use zip files that contain a good rom. You can flash that rom and then format SD card before rebooting (you can also transfer known good apps to your external SD or PC and later put them back).
optimumpro said:
You can reinsert the sim card once you setup the firewall and whitelist the apps that are allowed internet access (all others - denied). You can still use zip files that contain a good rom. You can flash that rom and then format SD card before rebooting (you can also transfer known good apps to your external SD or PC and later put them back).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, cool. So to confirm, you don't believe any .zip or .apk that I'm 100% sure were safe downloads (roms, gapps, playstore backup apks etc), might be infected? (They are stored in internal storage (HTC M7)). I was going to clear everything but if you believe them to be safe I'll keep some of my backed-up apps etc to save redownloading again.. (My current rom and gapps files too for that matter...)
Thanks for taking the time to help me out. :good:
Also, is there a windose virus scanner that's any good at scanning .apks etc for Android nasties??
Thanks.
Franklee99 said:
Okay, cool. So to confirm, you don't believe any .zip or .apk that I'm 100% sure were safe downloads (roms, gapps, playstore backup apks etc), might be infected? (They are stored in internal storage (HTC M7)). I was going to clear everything but if you believe them to be safe I'll keep some of my backed-up apps etc to save redownloading again.. (My current rom and gapps files too for that matter...)
Thanks for taking the time to help me out. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no way I can tell you that the apps or roms you have (which are unknown to me) are safe. It is your call. There is plenty of garbage in playstore. I, for example, don't use gapps or anything Google. I have no google services framework, so there is no way for Google to know what is on my device. Google even does not know I have android: when I login to my gmail (using web browser), I get an e-mail saying someone using Linux just logged in the account). So, I would transfer internal SD somewhere else and then examine each app (you can do it in store) to see if there are any ads. Apps that have ads are no go...
Good luck.

Problem with apps accessing memory when saving???

Hello guys,
I'm on Oreo MHA-L29 8.0.0. 362(C636) also, I have a 128GB class 10 sdcard on the phone.
Before I shoot off, I want to say I didn't have this issue with Nougat but it began from Oreo beta.
Sometimes when I try to save a file the phone takes me to the point of selecting location and also filename to be saved and when I click save, then UI flashes and acts like it has completed the process but it doesn't save.
What I realized is;
1. Printing as pdf never saves (& I really need this function) always doing the flashing.
2. Some apps like WhatsApp, when I try to access documents to send, when I tap on browse other docs at the top it does the flashing (like it wants to access memory then comes back out)
What I've done so far
1. Individually disable then grant memory access to these apps.
2. Remove the sdcard and try using the phone without it but problem still prevails.
Need help guys...
Thanks
Hello guys, an update on this issue.
On going to apps, I found out there are two instances of files.
1. Ver 8.0.0 which I can't uninstall and it doesn't seem to be active and I can't uninstall it
2. Ver 8.0.1.322 which is the active one and it seems I can uninstall and it's also among the administrators
Maybe there is a conflict between the two? Should the second app be there or should it have administrator rights?
Please, I need suggestions, also someone on Oreo can help me check her/his instances of files in apps and also version number
Thank you

Question Enable Google photos backup while charging only

Solid explorer has root access but gives me a message that it can't access this directory since Android 11. Is there another way to access the file described in this article to enable the "backup while charging only" option?
/data/data/com.google.android.apps.photos/shared_prefs
How to bring back the Google Photos Backup while Charging Option
How to bring back the Google Photos backup while charging only feature that Google removed. Requires root access to bring back backup when charging.
www.xda-developers.com
First off, used to be a huge Solid Explorer or nothing fan till I gave MiXplorer a shot. You should try it out. It's free on XDA, and the version on the Play Store(useful so you don't have to go finding it every time) is more like a donation and comes with all the plugins from the XDA thread bundled with it in one install.
Second, try installing this module, then see if you can access the directory again.
Curiousn00b said:
First off, used to be a huge Solid Explorer or nothing fan till I gave MiXplorer a shot. You should try it out. It's free on XDA, and the version on the Play Store(useful so you don't have to go finding it every time) is more like a donation and comes with all the plugins from the XDA thread bundled with it in one install.
Second, try installing this module, then see if you can access the directory again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a magisk module? Is it only for mixplorer or does it work with solid explorer too?
EDIT: The question above still stands but I was able to access the file and edit it without that zip file installed through micplorer. Thank you. Changing the value did bring the charging option up in Google photos, but the current version of the photos app is quite a bit newer since the time this article was written. The option is stuck on and is not a toggleable function like it used to be on my pixel 2 xl. That's okay though. I never mess with it anyways.
It is astonishing Google removed the option in the first place, yet again making something less usable and less user friendly by implementing something a Google nerd thought was a good idea and not the masses.
Curiousn00b said:
First off, used to be a huge Solid Explorer or nothing fan till I gave MiXplorer a shot. You should try it out. It's free on XDA, and the version on the Play Store(useful so you don't have to go finding it every time) is more like a donation and comes with all the plugins from the XDA thread bundled with it in one install.
Second, try installing this module, then see if you can access the directory again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I've been using MiXplorer for a few years on various devices, rooted and non-rooted. It's the best file manager there is, IMO
Schroeder09 said:
This is a magisk module? Is it only for mixplorer or does it work with solid explorer too?
EDIT: The question above still stands but I was able to access the file and edit it without that zip file installed through micplorer. Thank you. Changing the value did bring the charging option up in Google photos, but the current version of the photos app is quite a bit newer since the time this article was written. The option is stuck on and is not a toggleable function like it used to be on my pixel 2 xl. That's okay though. I never mess with it anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at the description of the module, I guess it wouldn't have made a difference now that I think of it, lol.
It's for when you have to grant apps access to folders on the /SD card/ such as the data folder. Sometimes, it won't let me do that even though it's the correct path, and this module just gets rid of that whole thing.
I use SD Maid to clean up a bunch of junk files and empty folders as well as other stuff, but it needed access to the /SD card/Android/data/ but Android wouldn't let me grant it, so this is where that module comes in to play.

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