Database Info

MoDaCo - Automatic Application Update Check (App2Date?)

Paul over at MoDaCo is starting to get some interest in a new application he's developing - basically it involves developers providing some XML with their installer that ties in with some similar XML on the applications' download page on their web server.
When a new version is released, the XML on the download page is updated, "AppToDate" will check the download server and you'll be able to see that a new version is available.......
AstraWare, Developer One and SK-Tools have already expressed an interest in making their software work with "AppToDate".......what are you waiting for!?!?!
I'll stop babbling, this is what Paul posted over at MoDaCo "AppToDate"
I have a dream! OK, so it's not quite as ground breaking as some other dreams of our time, but it's a dream none the less. It goes something like this...
I have a whole bunch of software on my device. Probably 15 apps at least. I also write software, which is downloaded by a fair few people, both commercial and free. I like to ensure that my software on my device is up to date with the latest versions, and it's a right pain in the ****. Not only that, I'd like my end users to have the latest versions installed to get the best possible experience... and to facilitate that I have to write a custom update checker into each of my applications. Fine for big apps, not great for quickly rustled up apps or tweaks.
But there could be another way.
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What if you could have an application that lived on the device, that wasn't tied to any one application or vendor, that could check for updates for everything installed on your device? IMHO, that would be awesome. A dream. For such an approach to work, you'd need a few things...
Someone to write the update application, and to develop it. A community project perhaps?
The update application MUST be FREE for end users and developers
The update application MUST be easy for developers to plug in to
The application needs to be used by end users!
Freeware developers need to use the application!
Commercial developers need to use the application!
Now here comes the audience participation part - if you are a user, would you like to see such an application? If you are a developer - either freeware or commercial - would you like - and would you use - such an application? Make your voice heard here, and if there's an appetite for this, let's make it happen! I'll be updating this topic to list developers who would like to be involved.
Oh, I forgot to mention... I've basically written the update application! It's simple, has plenty of scope for future development, can update itself (of course) and in order to be used by a 3rd party, just needs an XML file dropped into the updater directory from your install CAB, and a current version XML on your server!
Beautiful! The response to this topic will determine how much time I spend on getting it production ready
P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lend your support to this - with all the updates for various applications flying around, it's an almost impossible task to know if you're running the latest and greatest version - hopefully it will grow into a REALLY useful tool.
Thanks for listening
Mark.

Cheers for the post Mark!
I'd love to see support for all the great apps on XDA-Devs - who's interested?
P

[APP-PROJECT][4.4.X] HIVE APPS (Notebooks, Books, Drawings)

Hello, I don't really know if it's all right to post this kind of thread here but I haven't been able to find any other forum that seems like the proper place for my thread. I'd like to say sorry in advance if I have indeed posted in the wrong section.
Anyhow, me and a friend are working on a set of apps and a slightly modified android rom as our IT project this year. We are hoping to win a prize in the local competition which will be held here in Bosnia on 23rd of next month and then hopefully make our way to some international competitions.
I'd like to quickly go over our project.
HIVE OS is an "operating system" based on android for usage in school tablets. It contains some pre-installed applications such as: Notebooks, Books, Drawings... It synchronizes users' documents with the cloud allowing users to access their files from their personal phones, tablets, computers, etc...
As the competition draws closer we have started with writing academic papers such as the research paper. Some stats are required in a research paper. Some testing and data analysis. Thus, as a member of this forum I thought that I could get some interested people's opinions, let them test the apps and collect their feedback...
If you are interested in testing Notebooks, Books and Drawings apps and helping us with our data collection you can download attached apps and once you are done with your testing you can submit your feedback by filling the form over at feedback website.
Some points to keep in mind:
1 .We are 2 high school 3rd year guys. Our experience with android programming is pretty fresh. My friend only launched ADT for the first time as he began this project, whereas, I, even though I had launched it before hadn't been able to produce anything useful.
2. As these apps are intended for tablets, we didn't really put any special effort in trying to make them fit every screen (smaller screens). They should be fine on devices with screen similar to the one of the nexus 4 and higher...
3. Books app requires at least a single book to be present under /HIVE/Books in your sdcard. Otherwise, it will look empty. This is because these apps are supposed to receive their material by means of synchronization. I'll be attaching a zip file (Introduction to Trigonometry.zip) to extract there but if you end up having problems and can't make the app show a book, please skip books app in the feedback form. Thank you for your understanding.
Another note is that we hope you'll go easy on us. As I already mentioned, we are pretty new into android development. The data collected from the forms are going to be used in the academic side of things. Those who know will probably understand... It won't hurt if you give a 4 where you actually think it deserves a 3. We don't want to have graphs which will make it look like our apps suck.
Of course, this doesn't mean that you should go with all 5s. Fill the forms the way you think, but we'd be happy if you didn't give a lot of 1s and 2s...
Thank you for your understanding on this as well.
Screenshots:
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Thank you all who give feedback and opinions once again!

Awesome..
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Uploaded fixed Drawings apk

How to use Google Service on Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 pro

On the recent event in Munich, Germany, Huawei announced its new smartphone: Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro. With high-end technology units inside, the devices are very likely to be listed on top 1 android phone this year.
However, as one of the outcomes from the current tensions between China and the US, there's a big shortcoming for the series, which is GMS (Google Mobile Services) are no longer available on the devices. Huawei's CEO, Richard Yu has confirmed that GMS will not be preinstalled on Huawei Mate 30 Series, nor will sideload works.
Despite the fact that Huawei has its own ecosystem -- Huawei App Gallery, with a fair reputation to be considered exceed Google Play in the future, we do still need GMS presently. Think about all the data, such as game records stored there, you may lose a big part of it for changing a new device.
So what should we do? Just not using Huawei's new series? To our pleasant, ways for solving this issue has already been published on lots of websites with detailed tutorials. But, as a non-professional Android user, is there a simple method to deal with that? The answer is, yes.
I bet all of you have heard or used the virtual system before. By using a virtual system, we could handle varieties of situations easily which are thought to be hard-asses, and could expand the usage of our devices. So, as I just mentioned, the issue of Google Play & Huawei could also be sorted out easily by using a virtual Android system.
Let's see how it works here:
First off, we could download an app called VMOS, which could run an independent Android system on devices.
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From the picture, we could see VMOS could be downloaded from APKPure directly. Will it work for logging in accounts and downloading apps? Check these out:
Now, the issue has been solved without troubles. GMS and all the apps could be installed and run in this virtual system smoothly, instead of being banned by Google.
Anyway, as a loyal user of Huawei, I hope that in the upcoming new series, Huawei could provide us with rapid wows, and make its hard and soft products great.

Freedom phone

Anybody heard of this new phone to be released in August? Just asking because I would like more details on it. Such as hardware details, OS details etc. And the possibility that the bootloader is unlocked and maybe someone is already working on root method?
Freedom Phone
Freedom Phone
freedomphone.com
Thank you

AFAIK the phones offered by Freedom Phones are Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL running GrapheneOS.
More info here

jwoegerbauer said:
AFAIK the phones offered by Freedom Phones are Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL running GrapheneOS.
More info here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the information but I think we may be talking about 2 different organizations. The link you provided is .net and the one I posted is .com. Not only that but the freedom phone from your post has graphene OS while the one from my link uses freedom OS.
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I saw that on the NTD channel on YouTube (it's a conservative news channel that YT would never recommend)
https://www.youtube.com/c/ntdtv/videos
They were saying that the Freedom Phone is a plan by a guy who become a millionaire by his age of 18, because he invested in Bitcoin. So, a prejudice warning right there.
Next, they said that his main concern was that it is hard to source the hardware (really?), because the big names in cell phone business do dominate the industry, while none of them interested in privacy. (True).
So, he had figured out how to get the hardware and his new freedom phone is flying off the shelves, because it is a revolutionary new concept where the phone has his own store and doesn't allow the network location scanning and so on, so basically it is a de-googled phone.

TRexombo said:
Anybody heard of this new phone to be released in August? Just asking because I would like more details on it. Such as hardware details, OS details etc. And the possibility that the bootloader is unlocked and maybe someone is already working on root method?
Freedom Phone
Freedom Phone
freedomphone.com
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Conservatives are touting this phone to be patriotic, etc... but there are articles claiming its a cheap chinese knockoff with huge security issues, likely built in to the phone at the request of the NSA for snooping purposes.

Replacement for security updates

As my phone (Pixel 3) no longer receives security updates, I'm wondering if there are any security apps that could serve the same function. My parents both have Pixel 3a, and I'm hoping to not have to replace their phones in a few months also. I hate to consider it, but I'm thinking about moving to iOS, possibly the new SE rumored to be coming out in the next few months.
Any recommendations for android apps that could provide sufficient protection? I'm willing to pay for one that keeps me from having to change phones just to be secure.

Correct. Google's support for Pixel 3 phones only was given until end of 2021.

Yes, just wondering if there's an app that could provide a similar level of protection

jlmoon said:
Yes, just wondering if there's an app that could provide a similar level of protection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. If you're on Android 9 or higher you're reasonably secure if you don't do stupid things.
You can scan with Malwarebytes (free).
You can scan suspect files, apps and such with online Virustotal.
Be careful what you install and download. Use Brave browser. If on Android 9 use Karma Firewall. Know the vulnerabilities of your current system and adjust accordingly. Avoid using wifi especially if you have a good data plan. Turn off bluetooth when not using.
The Note 10+ I'm using has been running on 9 for over 2 years. It's current load will be 2yo in June.
Security is not an issue. Over 1 5 years ago I had one malware jpeg that caused minor damage in the download folder, my bad I downloaded it, it was successful deleted. Had one trojan preloader that slipped by the Samsung browser in spite of setting, spotted by Malwarebytes, it died before it got its payload
Check download folder daily, delete anything you didn't download. Open jpegs you did download and take action if unusual behavior occurs as a result. Vet everything before moving it out of the download folder. If you stumble into a bad website try to back out without clicking anything other than nav buttons. Close the tab otherwise and/or browser.
If unusual browser continues clear its cache or if you must data.
Zero tolerance for any malware; if you can't erratic it and repair the damage in 2 hours, factory reset. Reset Google account password afterwards.
Always redundantly backup all critical data to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC.
Use this settings mod to globally block ads and some known bad websites:
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Thank you for the detailed recommendations, but I can guarantee my parents won't be up for that much work. I wish I had a better feeling for how much of a big deal this is - some of the articles I've read make it sound like the end of the world.

jlmoon said:
Thank you for the detailed recommendations, but I can guarantee my parents won't be up for that much work. I wish I had a better feeling for how much of a big deal this is - some of the articles I've read make it sound like the end of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not good. If they don't have a certain level of wherewithal and interest eventually something nefarious from that phone will reach out and touch them. Updates may help but don't eliminate the threats.
I've run unpatched Android OS's for years with very few issues. However there are things I do to mitigate the risk both in setup and while using.
Literally the first word I said as a baby was "No!".
Turned out to be a really useful word to this day... don't be easy.