Related
I consider the "find my phone" software a necessary must on any mobile device. The ability to locate, ping, and wipe your Mobile is an extraordinary advantage in the digital age. I've used it once to find an errant iPhone 3GS and again on WP7 with a Samsung Focus.
What do you use on your Nexus S? Have you had an unfortunate circumstance that allowed you to field test? How did it perform?
i use seekdroid its good from my test but ive never had to use it for real. only thing its missing is remote photo taking
Lookout and Plan B(last resort)
tomqman said:
i use seekdroid its good from my test but ive never had to use it for real. only thing its missing is remote photo taking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incredible. I didn't even think they had remote photo operation. I'll assume that, if installed, the functionality allows for remote photo sending and viewing, in realtime at your location?
What a boon. To have your GPS coordinates and pictures of the physical location...
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_find_a_lost_or_stolen_android_phone_for_free.php
Nice article on the topic. Anyone else?
bmstrong said:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_find_a_lost_or_stolen_android_phone_for_free.php
Nice article on the topic. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats what i mentioned in my post
Lookout or Plan B.. Plan B is made by the creators of Lookout
bmstrong said:
Incredible. I didn't even think they had remote photo operation. I'll assume that, if installed, the functionality allows for remote photo sending and viewing, in realtime at your location?
What a boon. To have your GPS coordinates and pictures of the physical location...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be able to do it on my iPhone. Its the only thing that I think seekdroid needs , put you can wipe the phone, sd card, lock, locate, message the person
Anyone else?
Does anyone know if Google will add ability to adjust the camera's ISO in a later update?
It seems rather silly that Google would omit such a basic feature out of the user's control while touting the camera's abilities in the marketing.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...a-new-android-camera-api-supports-camera-raw/
bloot said:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...a-new-android-camera-api-supports-camera-raw/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. It's very interesting that the phone can store raw for the end user.
However, that tells me little about the implementation of manual controls on the phone.
So, a Maps update was released to the play store with "better offline support". Now, i've tried it, and - correct me if i'm wrong - it seems to be the same **** as before. You can only select a tiny part of the map, and i don't know if this has changed now, but with older versions of google maps using navigation, it was still using a huge amount of data, even though i downloaded that part of the map first.
I would really like to use Google Maps as my car nav, for its usability and design, but is there STILL no way to actually DOWNLOAD the maps of a whole country, and then NOT have it use data when i'm driving?
jb91 said:
So, a Maps update was released to the play store with "better offline support". Now, i've tried it, and - correct me if i'm wrong - it seems to be the same **** as before. You can only select a tiny part of the map, and i don't know if this has changed now, but with older versions of google maps using navigation, it was still using a huge amount of data, even though i downloaded that part of the map first.
I would really like to use Google Maps as my car nav, for its usability and design, but is there STILL no way to actually DOWNLOAD the maps of a whole country, and then NOT have it use data when i'm driving?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, questions go in the Q&A Section.
Second, I believe the issue is that routes are not calculated on the device. It is my understanding that your position and your destination are sent to Google's servers where a route (or several route options) are calculated using several algorithms. Additionally, without using your connection to Google's servers, you'd never be aware of traffic incidents that would affect your choice of route. Total offline navigation may come in the future, but I don't believe it's really possible now.
jb91 said:
but is there STILL no way to actually DOWNLOAD the maps of a whole country, and then NOT have it use data when i'm driving?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On Google Maps? No.
Should it be possible to do that? Yes. Nokia does it. Does Nokia Maps (when offline) have the level of detail that Google Maps (online) has? No. Also, it takes somewhere between 2-3 GB of storage on Nokia maps.
mrfeuss said:
First, questions go in the Q&A Section.
Second, I believe the issue is that routes are not calculated on the device. It is my understanding that your position and your destination are sent to Google's servers where a route (or several route options) are calculated using several algorithms. Additionally, without using your connection to Google's servers, you'd never be aware of traffic incidents that would affect your choice of route. Total offline navigation may come in the future, but I don't believe it's really possible now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i am using an external app that is doing exactly that - navigation without ANY data usage and the possibility to download whole countries - obviously without any real-time traffic information then. I don't like the looks of it as much as Google Maps, but at least you can use it as a nav. Traffic information is something that would barely use any data anyway, and if the calculation of the routes actually goes through Google's servers (and you're unable to deactivate this), then this is simply bad design and it renders the whole Google Maps Navigation virtually useless. If you're crossing your country's border and don't want to activate Roaming, the navigation stops, simply because it needs a connection (for whatever). If you're on a low data plan, you can't use it either, because it's just burning through those MBs, even if you did use the cumbersome offline map selection to pre-download some small area.
I just don't get how this is meant to be used.
jb91 said:
Well i am using an external app that is doing exactly that - navigation without ANY data usage and the possibility to download whole countries - obviously without any real-time traffic information then. I don't like the looks of it as much as Google Maps, but at least you can use it as a nav. Traffic information is something that would barely use any data anyway, and if the calculation of the routes actually goes through Google's servers (and you're unable to deactivate this), then this is simply bad design and it renders the whole Google Maps Navigation virtually useless. If you're crossing your country's border and don't want to activate Roaming, the navigation stops, simply because it needs a connection (for whatever). If you're on a low data plan, you can't use it either, because it's just burning through those MBs, even if you did use the cumbersome offline map selection to pre-download some small area.
I just don't get how this is meant to be used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever tried to give your phone voice commands without internet? Generally speaking, Google services require an internet connection. It's kind of what their whole business is built on. It's far from ideal but it's the nature of the beast.
If you require offline turn by turn navigation just use the 3rd party apps such as the one you're already using.
Are you sure it's using a lot of data? I have a N7 2013 Wifi version. I used tethering with my N5 to use google maps on the tablet and it uses 5 mbs during 20 min of driving. I also think most of that was used when I first turned it on to find location. Considering every time you refresh facebook it uses about 1 mb, I don't think that's a lot at all and low data plans should be able to handle it.
PsychDrummer said:
Are you sure it's using a lot of data? I have a N7 2013 Wifi version. I used tethering with my N5 to use google maps on the tablet and it uses 5 mbs during 20 min of driving. I also think most of that was used when I first turned it on to find location. Considering every time you refresh facebook it uses about 1 mb, I don't think that's a lot at all and low data plans should be able to handle it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i have 250 MB a month, so if it's using 5 MB for no apparent reason every time i try to use the navigation, then this is too much.
jb91 said:
Well i have 250 MB a month, so if it's using 5 MB for no apparent reason every time i try to use the navigation, then this is too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, i use a minimum of 400mb data per day. in reality, 5mb data isnt very much, barely any actually. maybe its time to upgrade your plan? or maybe a smartphone isnt right for you?
simms22 said:
lol, i use a minimum of 400mb data per day. in reality, 5mb data isnt very much, barely any actually. maybe its time to upgrade your plan? or maybe a smartphone isnt right for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who cares? And how is 5 mb data for no reason not much, when i'm on a 250 mb plan? Maybe thinking before typing isn't right for you?
jb91 said:
Who cares? And how is 5 mb data for no reason not much, when i'm on a 250 mb plan? Maybe thinking before typing isn't right for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have a 250mb data plan, your smartphone is useless most the time unless you are always around wifi. and still, 5mb data is not much, regardless of what your data plan allows. again, upgrade your data plan, or understand that your tiny allotment of data is tiny. it doesnt make the 5mb data used seem more than it is, 5mb is still 5mb, regardless of how much data you are allowed to use. 5mb is not much data.
simms22 said:
if you have a 250mb data plan, your smartphone is useless most the time unless you are always around wifi. and still, 5mb data is not much, regardless of what your data plan allows. again, upgrade your data plan, or understand that your tiny allotment of data is tiny. it doesnt make the 5mb data used seem more than it is, 5mb is still 5mb, regardless of how much data you are allowed to use. 5mb is not much data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you actually serious right now? If you're on a plan with 4 GB a month, 5 MB is not a lot of data. If you're on a plan with 250 MB a month, 5 MB is a lot of data.
If you are a billionaire, 10000$ is not a lot of money. If you work at McDonalds, 10000$ is a lot of money.
Also, my smartphone is "useless" most of the time because i'm not using a lot of data? It's useless because things like WhatsApp, mails, news, and so on don't use a lot of data? Could you please stop posting in my thread?
jb91 said:
Are you actually serious right now? If you're on a plan with 4 GB a month, 5 MB is not a lot of data. If you're on a plan with 250 MB a month, 5 MB is a lot of data.
If you are a billionaire, 10000$ is not a lot of money. If you work at McDonalds, 10000$ is a lot of money.
Also, my smartphone is "useless" most of the time because i'm not using a lot of data? It's useless because things like WhatsApp, mails, news, and so on don't use a lot of data? Could you please stop posting in my thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesnt matter how much data you are allowed, 5mb is not much. just because your data plan is tiny, it doesnt make 5mb seem any bigger than it is. yes, you can use a "dumbphone" for your apparent smartphone use. and the answer to your question is no, i post wherever i feel like it.
simms22 said:
it doesnt matter how much data you are allowed, 5mb is not much. just because your data plan is tiny, it doesnt make 5mb seem any bigger than it is. yes, you can use a "dumbphone" for your apparent smartphone use. and the answer to your question is no, i post wherever i feel like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
k.
jb91 said:
So, a Maps update was released to the play store with "better offline support". Now, i've tried it, and - correct me if i'm wrong - it seems to be the same **** as before. You can only select a tiny part of the map, and i don't know if this has changed now, but with older versions of google maps using navigation, it was still using a huge amount of data, even though i downloaded that part of the map first.
I would really like to use Google Maps as my car nav, for its usability and design, but is there STILL no way to actually DOWNLOAD the maps of a whole country, and then NOT have it use data when i'm driving?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry Google doesn't cater to your specific want.
I love Maps and use it all the time and it works wonderful for me. You should probably use something else as it sounds like this app is not for you.
tgrgrd00 said:
I'm sorry Google doesn't cater to your specific want.
I love Maps and use it all the time and it works wonderful for me. You should probably use something else as it sounds like this app is not for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the app too. Since i don't use Facebook or anything data-heavy when i'm outside (aka away from wifi), my low data plan works fine, except for Google Maps navigation. That's why i am using another navigation app that's 100% usable offline, even though i would prefer Google Maps.
maps generally IS a huge data hog. with your data allotment for your plan, it sounds like maps isnt right for your use(even though you like to use it). unfortunately, it is what it is. maybe in the future itll use much less data, or will be made to be more useful when offline, but for now its a beast that demands to be fed by data.
jb91 said:
Well i have 250 MB a month, so if it's using 5 MB for no apparent reason every time i try to use the navigation, then this is too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it's not for "no apparent reason". You're using 5 mb in order to use your navigation, just like you will use 5 mb to check your email a couple of times.
PsychDrummer said:
But it's not for "no apparent reason". You're using 5 mb in order to use your navigation, just like you will use 5 mb to check your email a couple of times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what exactly justifies 5 mb for a quick navigation through an area that i've pre-downloaded before?
jb91 said:
what exactly justifies 5 mb for a quick navigation through an area that i've pre-downloaded before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you predownload a large area, it doesnt grab the detail. main roads/highways it would get, but the smaller roads and such remain for your data connection to grab when theres a need for them.
I'm really tempted to buy a Pixel 2 XL but the privacy aspect of it freaks me out a bit.
I'm concerned with my online privacy: I don't have FB, try to avoid having a central provider of apps (i.e. Google), use a VPN, Signal, you get the picture.
Is it possible to stay this way and own a Pixel 2? Some specifics of things I'd like to avoid: microphone recording all the time, definitely not uploading my photos to Google Photos, Google having the ability to "see" my phone screen at all times, location being constantly recorded, etc.
Could rooting the Pixel 2 help with this? Also, does rooting to use something like LineageOS on the Pixel 2 negatively impact the quality of the camera?
Thanks!
How comfortable are you with building android from sources? The pixel 2 is supported by copperhead OS which would probably cover all of your needs.
Miguel Carvalho said:
I'm really tempted to buy a Pixel 2 XL but the privacy aspect of it freaks me out a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, as someone who spent years working on other company's databases, I can tell you from experience that the few people at Google who can access your data aren't going to be accessing it. When they're working on a database, it's not your data they're looking for, it's the reason the database isn't working that they're looking for. Once they find that they go on to the real work they're being paid for and try to catch up on the time they wasted getting the database (which may hold everyone's pictures or everyone's contacts) working. Fixing data isn't their primary job. And they don't have a moment to waste looking at your contacts to see if there's someone they'd like to call. Put someone in with a totally wrong ZIP code (like someone in Los Angeles with a ZIP code starting with 6 - which is Illinois) and they'll never change it for you. It's wrong, if they see it they'll know - but they'll never be looking at it.
I'm concerned with my online privacy: I don't have FB, try to avoid having a central provider of apps (i.e. Google), use a VPN, Signal, you get the picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And the VPN keeps a log of every connection you make, so that keeps it nice and centralized, if the government ever wants it. Bad idea.
Is it possible to stay this way and own a Pixel 2? Some specifics of things I'd like to avoid: microphone recording all the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't turn on your voice recorder. The Pixel doesn't record "all the time".
definitely not uploading my photos to Google Photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then turn Photo Sync off. (Although even if you had pictures of a plot to overthrow the government, I doubt that anyone would ever find them.)
Google having the ability to "see" my phone screen at all times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't, any more than anyone else on the internet does. If you don't run a VNC server, no one does.
location being constantly recorded
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep location turned off. Of course, if you lose your phone, you won't be able to use Android Device Manager to find it.
Could rooting the Pixel 2 help with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not unless you want to use an app that requires root access that would "help with this". And none of what you're talking about so far involves root access.
Also, does rooting to use something like LineageOS on the Pixel 2 negatively impact the quality of the camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can run Lineage without rooting. If you root, then install Lineage, you'll have to root again, because (as far as I know - I haven't run Lineage yet) Lineage doesn't come rooted. Does it affect the camera? Not if you still run Google's camera app. If you run a 3rd party camera app, probably. (Google does the HDR in the software of the camera app.)
If you want total anonymity, just do 2 things - never use a phone and never get on the internet. (Also never use a credit or debit card, don't have a bank account, pay cash for everything all the time, don't have a real job [wages have to be reported to the government - any government] ...) Basically, live totally off the grid. As soon as you get on the internet (even from a library's computer) you've left a trail. As soon as you've opened a bank account you've left a trail. As soon as you've applied for a credit card you've left a trail. And any of those 3 is a lot less secure than the data you back up to Google.
So you have a choice - live a totally paranoid life as a hermit in a cave, or learn to live in society, take normal precautions and stop thinking that everyone's trying to get your information. Very few people (other than organizations like your government's taxing agency) care. (I've been on the internet, storing data on servers, since servers used to dial each other up once a day - and I've never had any data compromised or had a "visit from the black helicopters". [And, on most sites, I've used my real name and real location, so I'm easy to find, if anyone wants to look for me.] I've been bothered more by people trying to sell me their brand of religion waking me up, and I don't have "No Trespassing" signs on my lawn.)
(Just don't use your phone for anything illegal. But don't use a computer for anything illegal either. If the police come for you they'll take your phone. But they'll take your laptop, desktop and all your papers.)
Miguel Carvalho said:
I'm really tempted to buy a Pixel 2 XL but the privacy aspect of it freaks me out a bit.
I'm concerned with my online privacy: I don't have FB, try to avoid having a central provider of apps (i.e. Google), use a VPN, Signal, you get the picture.
Is it possible to stay this way and own a Pixel 2? Some specifics of things I'd like to avoid: microphone recording all the time, definitely not uploading my photos to Google Photos, Google having the ability to "see" my phone screen at all times, location being constantly recorded, etc.
Could rooting the Pixel 2 help with this? Also, does rooting to use something like LineageOS on the Pixel 2 negatively impact the quality of the camera?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just like you! I suggest to check all the settings on myactivity.google.com and turn every option off, especially "web activity and apps". I stay away from social networks and use a good VPN too, but I've just found out on XDA that it's a bad idea, as VPN keep log of your activity... What do you think??
I also use Orbot sometimes, but with all scripts disabled some sites are unreachable.
As to the photos, to tell you the truth I'm not concerned at all, since I only post pics of my cats, animals, wallpapers and so on... :laugh:
I can't help you with rooting, this is my firt Android phone, I bought it in April!
Having multiple phones allows me to observe their battery life under different scenarios.
This is what I have seen:
If you have no sim installed, you get best battery life.
If you have only one sim installed, you get around 20% more battery life than when you have two SIMs installed. This is even if you're using WiFi throughout.
While this is largely dependent on your mobile network provider and the network reception where you live, work, etc., this is something that would affect most users.
I'm seeing roughly 45 minutes to an hour of extra SOT on average after I moved my 2nd sim to another phone on my S22U.
What about screen off time?
blackhawk said:
What about screen off time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have given the details here.
TheMystic said:
I have given the details here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Specifically how much battery % per hour when sleeping with phone/internet service active?
My N10+ gets:
AOD always on, about 1%@hr (good battery)
Tap on AOD, >.5%@hr (good battery)
Right now with a degraded battery of about 3200 mAh I'm getting about 9 hr SOT. With a new battery it's over 12 hours.
Heavily optimized stock still running on Pie.
Not optimized those figures are halved and it's a hot running battery hog out of the box. All Samsung's should be hand optimized.
blackhawk said:
Specifically how much battery % per hour when sleeping with phone/internet service active?
My N10+ gets:
AOD always on, about 1%@hr (good battery)
Tap on AOD, >.5%@hr (good battery)
Right now with a degraded battery of about 3200 mAh I'm getting about 9 hr SOT. With a new battery it's over 12 hours.
Heavily optimized stock still running on Pie.
Not optimized those figures are halved and it's a hot running battery hog out of the box. All Samsung's should be hand optimized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
9 hours SOT is just unbelievably good. I don't know how many apps you have installed and what apps you use and when. I see that of I'm only watching videos at night (low brightness) on YouTube, the battery life is excellent during that period. But that isn't typical usage which involves browsing, chatting, video calls, a bit of camera, etc.
My phone is turning 1 year tomorrow, and here are the battery stats for now:
Everything ON: 1.5% per hour (AOD OFF)
Everything OFF: 05.% per hour (Power Saving ON)
By everything, I mean WiFi, Mobile Data, Bluetooth and Location.
More details here.
You'll notice from my stats there that WiFi consumes about 0.5% per hour on standby, and the SIM card consumes another 0.5% per hour on standby, even though no mobile data is being used.
I have a very unusual setup too. VPN running on the Main Profile, Work Profile and the Secure Folder. I'm sure that consumes additional battery.
TheMystic said:
9 hours SOT is just unbelievably good. I don't know how many apps you have installed and what apps you use and when. I see that of I'm only watching videos at night (low brightness) on YouTube, the battery life is excellent during that period. But that isn't typical usage which involves browsing, chatting, video calls, a bit of camera, etc.
My phone is turning 1 year tomorrow, and here are the battery stats for now:
Everything ON: 1.5% per hour (AOD OFF)
Everything OFF: 05.% per hour (Power Saving ON)
By everything, I mean WiFi, Mobile Data, Bluetooth and Location.
More details here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the reasons I love this model.
With a fresh battery browsing Brave uses about 6%@hr. Online vids about 9%, offline vids about 6%. Not optimized this phone was a mess, a night and day difference.
I always have wifi disabled as it's a security risk and not needed. Bluetooth standby on or off doesn't impact the battery much for me.
Power is always set on optimized.
All global power management is off.
Brightness, manual generally between 30-40%
AOD always tap on.
Location always off unless needed.
No bixby ever, NFC payment disabled
Google play Services temporarily disabled unless needed, Playstore disabled, Google backup Transport disabled, OTA updates disabled, all feedback disabled.
About 70 packages are always disabled with Package Disabler, mostly bloatware.
Your screen off usage suggests something(s) is running in the background.
Cloud apps are prime offenders.
TheMystic said:
I have a very unusual setup too. VPN running on the Main Profile, Work Profile and the Secure Folder. I'm sure that consumes additional battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Karma Firewall* (VNP based) which uses almost nothing and NextDNS to lock it down.
*only fully functional on Pie or lower
blackhawk said:
Not optimized this phone was a mess, a night and day difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Paying a subscription to some unknown company and giving them access to my device is something I'm not comfortable with. I would rather charge my phone twice everyday.
blackhawk said:
I always have wifi disabled as it's a security risk and not needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you elaborate this in detail?
blackhawk said:
Google play Services temporarily disabled unless needed, Playstore disabled, Google backup Transport disabled,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is something I can't do. I'm heavily invested in the Google Ecosystem.
blackhawk said:
Your screen off usage suggests something(s) is running in the background.
Cloud apps are prime offenders.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have plenty of accounts on my device (mail, cloud, etc.) and over 500 apps. At one point, I had crossed 1k apps.
These WILL consume battery, irrespective of whether they are in deep sleep or not.
blackhawk said:
I'm using Karma Firewall* (VNP based) which uses almost nothing and NextDNS to lock it down.
*only fully functional on Pie or lower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Karma doesn't work reliably on Android 11+ as you pointed out.
Would be worse if you have data turned on both SIMs.
TheMystic said:
Paying a subscription to some unknown company and giving them access to my device is something I'm not comfortable with. I would rather charge my phone twice everyday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I firewall block it, it runs fine. If you don't use something like this or adb edits then there a lot of resources being squandered. This not only impacts SOT but performance.
TheMystic said:
Can you elaborate this in detail?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running Pie, wifi is a known weak point. I have no need for it anyway. My unlimited data plan is cheap and grandfathered with excellent signal.
TheMystic said:
This is something I can't do. I'm heavily invested in the Google Ecosystem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouch. Gmail and occasionally Gmaps are the only ones I use aside from system apps but at least 10 of those are disabled. I use some of their Samsung counterparts instead like Calendar and and contacts.
TheMystic said:
I have plenty of accounts on my device (mail, cloud, etc.) and over 500 apps. At one point, I had crossed 1k apps.
These WILL consume battery, irrespective of whether they are in deep sleep or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My total app count including system, bloatware is 474 with 138 blocked, apps I installed are 138 (about 10 of those are on the block list).
TheMystic said:
Karma doesn't work reliably on Android 11+ as you pointed out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will still block but you loss it's valuable logging features. I simply use my N10+ running on Pie as the template for the one running on Q.
blackhawk said:
This not only impacts SOT but performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. But I'm always concerned about whether unknown entities/ mods/ ROMs etc. do more than what they claim. I find it safer to deal with the known devil than take help from the unknown angel.
blackhawk said:
I use some of their Samsung counterparts instead like Calendar and and contacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use multiple platforms (Android, iOS, Windows, macOS) and Google products allow me to access my content on all of them. Quite indispensable.
blackhawk said:
My total app count including system, bloatware is 474 with 138 blocked, apps I installed are 138 (about 10 of those are on the block list).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get this number from? I see that the number is different under system settings, Google Play Store and 3rd party apps. Not sure which one is giving the correct figures.
TheMystic said:
That's true. But I'm always concerned about whether unknown entities/ mods/ ROMs etc. do more than what they claim. I find it safer to deal with the known devil than take help from the unknown angel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock with locked bootloader only. Package Disabler runs well and keeps the demons stfu.
TheMystic said:
Where did you get this number from? I see that the number is different under system settings, Google Play Store and 3rd party apps. Not sure which one is giving the correct figures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD Maid Pro, a very useful app.
blackhawk said:
Stock with locked bootloader only. Package Disabler runs well and keeps the demons stfu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you search the internet, you'll see bad actors can simply install a service on your phone (locked bootloader) that you won't see anywhere and they'll be able to see everything you do, and more. As an unsuspecting user, it will make no difference to you unless they want you to know.
blackhawk said:
SD Maid Pro, a very useful app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to be using an old version. Here's mine (I see I'm still over 1,000 apps). 🫣
TheMystic said:
If you search the internet, you'll see bad actors can simply install a service on your phone (locked bootloader) that you won't see anywhere and they'll be able to see everything you do, and more. As an unsuspecting user, it will make no difference to you unless they want you to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keeping it locked reduces the risks considerably.
You are what you install though...
TheMystic said:
You seem to be using an old version. Here's mine (I see I'm still over 1,000 apps). 🫣
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend not to update apps unless I have a good reason. Updates carry risks.
629 apps is an awful lot. I throw out apps I don't need or if they cause trouble. Sampling apps is a bad practice that can result in messing up hidden user settings. Not all apps uninstall clean and undo changes they made. I stick to mostly to apps/versions I know to be good. One of the reasons this load will be 3 yo in June.
blackhawk said:
Keeping it locked reduces the risks considerably.
You are what you install though...
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I have seen a video where an IT expert demonstrated how easy it is to infect someone's device with spyware and the user wouldn't even know it. The takeaway was to not give your phone to anyone.
Here we are talking about an unknown entity that charges a subscription to disable something on your phone to help with performance and battery life. How do you know for sure that they don't do anything more than that?
blackhawk said:
629 apps is an awful lot. I throw out apps I don't need or if they cause trouble. Sampling apps is a bad practice that can result in messing up hidden user settings. Not all apps uninstall clean and undo changes they made. I stick to mostly to apps/versions I know to be good. One of the reasons this load will be 3 yo in June.
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I agree. About 250 of them are watchface apps which are essentially just placeholders that help launch the app page on Play Store on the watch.
Even then I'll be having about 400 user apps which is still very high. May be I'll uninstall the rarely used ones someday instead of keeping them in a frozen state.
TheMystic said:
I have seen a video where an IT expert demonstrated how easy it is to infect someone's device with spyware and the user wouldn't even know it. The takeaway was to not give your phone to anyone.
Here we are talking about an unknown entity that charges a subscription to disable something on your phone to help with performance and battery life. How do you know for sure that they don't do anything more than that?
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Yeap.
Never give your phone to anyone or allow remote access. Never plug in foreign OTG drives.
TheMystic said:
I agree. About 250 of them are watchface apps which are essentially just placeholders that help launch the app page on Play Store on the watch.
Even then I'll be having about 400 user apps which is still very high. May be I'll uninstall the rarely used ones someday instead of keeping them in a frozen state.
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Yeah occasionally I'll spot a misbehaving app, not malware just poorly written. Just uninstalled a photo gallery app like that a few days ago; it's database size was abnormally high. Took a good 30 minutes to clean up the mess it made. Deleting it's data screwed up another good gallery app. Fortunately it was repairable by simply clearing the good app's data and letting it rebuild. It had me going at first
blackhawk said:
it's database size was abnormally high.
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Let me guess: Was it Aves Gallery?
blackhawk said:
Deleting it's data screwed up another good gallery app.
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This is unusual. Never experienced something like this. I mean all apps are sandboxed and something like this is not expected.
TheMystic said:
Let me guess: Was it Aves Gallery?
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Simple Photo Gallery, what a mess
TheMystic said:
This is unusual. Never experienced something like this. I mean all apps are sandboxed and something like this is not expected.
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I'm running on Pie so no scoped storage. Still it shouldn't have done that. I backed up the whole dcim folder before I uninstalled it because I was expecting trouble However it didn't damage the contents of the dcim folder, just another app. Swell. Glad it's gone... it was always firewall blocked.
blackhawk said:
Simple Photo Gallery, what a mess
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If you're talking about this, I would be surprised. It works fine on my phone.
blackhawk said:
I'm running on Pie so no scoped storage. Still it shouldn't have done that.
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That's true.
blackhawk said:
it was always firewall blocked.
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Simple Mobile Tools make very clean apps, unless you are referring to something else. None of their apps have internet permission in them.