Develop Bugs

Seeking a file vault app like truecrypt

Hi, has anyone come across a 'vault' type app?
I am after a container type app that is password protected to keep files in - i am not after a database for passwords type app - on the pc i use truecrypt. I know how to hide files from media in android, but want a more secure solution as hiding files leaves them open to any file manager/explorer.
Suggestions?

+1 to this thread.
Truecrypt is a great program.
Maybe some file compression apps have an encrypt feature, hmm...

you can try "APG":
OpenPGP for Android. It's open source.
* encrypt/sign/decrypt emails/files
http://www.appbrain.com/app/org.thialfihar.android.apg

Stiegi said:
you can try "APG":
OpenPGP for Android. It's open source.
* encrypt/sign/decrypt emails/files
http://www.appbrain.com/app/org.thialfihar.android.apg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is only for files as such. But do not want the pain of loading and unloading file by file. The way how truecrypt encrypts the whole SD card would be awesome.

No news yet? TruCrypt port would be really handy, or even the OTFE.
I wonder how its not available yet?
These types of applications diffrentiate the Real smart phones, from the wanna-be (iPhone)

At least a combination of Tasker and File Magic comes close to your needs. Read more about it here.
I stopped using it due to its hardware hunger. Maybe quadcores or hardware/os integration will solve these problems in the future.
But give it a try.

[Q] Booking system app for Windows Mobile

Hey guys
I'm an entrepreneur from Brisbane, Australia. I'm looking into introducing a new product and am wondering if you guys would be able to help me clarify a few questions. I have to add I have no idea what so ever about programming languages or whats possible or not. I just going to post my vision of the application I will need and hope some of you guys can tell me what of that will be possible, what not and how much effort / money it would take to realise.
Firstly of all and most importantly I need the the Phone application to work with several other systems which would be at the moment : - Iphone, Facebook, Windows Mobile, Blackberry Android, a Website interface, Windows Vista / 7 and Mac OS. I need this to work in two ways. One for the user to sync their data on different apps and secondly for the admin to receive and send data from the main system (that would be working on Windows or Mac)
On first interface the user would have to log in with a username and password, high security would be welcome, after the log in the general interface should be offering the user a booking request form with the ability to use a saved lists of items which have been previously use / prepared but also a interface for add one or editing
It also should offer a open bookings lists and the ability to edit this lists. This should also be able to be synced to the other systems. A third interface showing a history and updates should be also available.
If possible it should offer different accounts and groups where admins can edit the bookings of other users. If this is possible it also should offer a control for the admins which shows bookings and history of other group users.
I would like this obviously to be a professional looking app which offers a good service and is secure and bug free. If anyone has an idea if this is realisable or what parts of it would be difficult or have to be changed please do me the favour and comment.
Thank you for your help in advance.
JPM

[Q] Need to create an apps that is for or agents, and not for everybody else

Is there a way of creating and deploying an wp7 app that would be only available to our company agents.
As far As I understand this you can only deploy any app via the Market Place - this is useless for any internal business application.
Do I need to wait for better mobile device management or is there away around this ?
Any pointers appreciated guys.

Two ways to do it, the way I see it...
1. Add the program to marketplace, but require an registration number to be inputted in the program for it to work.
2. Side-load it

tiwas said:
Two ways to do it, the way I see it...
1. Add the program to marketplace, but require an registration number to be inputted in the program for it to work.
2. Side-load it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 won't work, as it could be redistributed.
1 might, but we all know how well registration models work (cracks)
this might be a job for phone-home drm.

tiwas said:
Two ways to do it, the way I see it...
1. Add the program to marketplace, but require an registration number to be inputted in the program for it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would probably be the best, especially considering that your agents probably need to login anyway.
But I think that you won't pass certification if they can't test the app.
I don't know what your company does, but maybe you could release an app that is many targeted at your customers and everyone could use. This app could then have a hidden setting to enable special functions after a agent has logged in.

Microsoft are planning on supporting this in the future, their current suggestion, IIRC, is to use some sort of login though.

[SDK] Promocodes for your app

Hello!
I'm software developer from Russia, and made one very popular app in local market. Very soon I realized that I need an ability to give licensed version of app for my friends or reviewers or someone else.
Unfortunately AppHub doesn't provide such functionality(private distribution is pain in ass), so I created a webservice for myself.
After two days I realized that it may be useful for other developers, so here it is:
promo.g33k.ru (here I wanted to post url, but I can't due to low post count. You may find it in my profile->interests)
Now it has:
- JSON/SDK with RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
Now this service works in beta mode.
So for developers I have two questions:
1) Is such service useful for you?
2) How to develop it further, in which way?

Not yet clear
I am sorry, but after reading your post and also checking your website I am still not sure what you offer. For me there is just not enough information to understand and then judge the usefulness of your service.
Maybe you could give a step-by-step scenario: Dev does this, then interested user does that, dev then this ...

Ok, I'll try to describe a little more details:
1) Developer wants to add capability of promo codes in his app(to give some specific users full licensed app).
The first problem is that developer need his own server for checking of promo code validity(hardcoding is not an option, of course).
2) So, Developer registers in my service, add his app's guid to his app list and create a promo code for specific app via web.
3) Developer adds support for promo codes in his app by:
a) adding an text box for user to enter promode
b) adding a web request to specific URL for promocode activation
c) adding to his license check web request for checking is current user activated a promo code.
Benefits for developer:
- Add support for promo codes without owning a server.
- Simple way to give full version of program to friends
Benefits for users:
- User may found promo code for specific app somewhere and use it to get full version of app in simple manner.
Benefits for reviewers/portals:
- Developers can easily give promo code for reviewing purpose or as giveaway for news post.

Clear now
Thanks for the additional info, now it's clear
Well yes, sounds useful. Properly implemented is probably really easier than Microsoft's "closed beta" mechanism, and of course can be used for other, non-beta apps as well.
The icing on the cake would be a "frame application" as sample code that basically does nothing more than asking for a promo code and then check against the list of valid codes on your server.

Sounds intresting but how do you ensure security?

chabun, I thought about security and situation is same as with default checking for trial - there is no security Man-in-the-Middle and direct cracking of xap will work, and there is no way out. I could use RSA signing for MitM, but still cracking of xap is very easy option today, so no one really interested will try to use MitM. When WP8 SDK will be out(I believe it will be in several weeks) - some developers may implement trial checks in native code - this will be much harder to crack.
As for server part there are following possible problems
- App's ID squatting(same as domain, someone else could reserve developer's app's guid). Don't know yet what to do with this, may be think about it later when this happens?
- Promocode's for App ID bruteforce - could be easily avoided via server throttling, if this ever happens - i'll add such checks
- Server DDoS - every webmaster's nightmare, I hope this never happens(or my Amazon AWS will pour my purse empty
rbrunner7, nice idea, I'll add a sample app as soon as possible on site.

This looks like an interesting concept
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Yop, you can never avoid direct cracking... However, RSA signing would be good I'd say as it will avoid MitM - with MitM you could create simple tools which can be used by every noob outhere. Cracking xaps requires some skill and it will need an unlocked WP7 as well.

I can see this working i have been thinking about something similar also. You can encrypt the data on device before sending it off to the cloud, you can than verify the encrypted data with a password and compare it to the codes registered on the server. Than link a code to a certain device id (once the code becomes 'registered') if a certain code is already coupled to a deice id and the device is not the same than the app will jump back into trial mode. Otherwise one can use the paid mode.
This can defenetly work and will prevent reselling th codes. Although it requires a server. And users can still hack/patch the app ofcourse but that will require an unlocked device so I should not worry to much about it.
Also to prevent spoofing you can frequently check with the server if this device is legitetmately registered.

Marvin_S said:
I can see this working i have been thinking about something similar also. You can encrypt the data on device before sending it off to the cloud, you can than verify the encrypted data with a password and compare it to the codes registered on the server. Than link a code to a certain device id (once the code becomes 'registered') if a certain code is already coupled to a deice id and the device is not the same than the app will jump back into trial mode. Otherwise one can use the paid mode.
This can defenetly work and will prevent reselling th codes. Although it requires a server. And users can still hack/patch the app ofcourse but that will require an unlocked device so I should not worry to much about it.
Also to prevent spoofing you can frequently check with the server if this device is legitetmately registered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought of... private/public key

chabun, so, for example, how about following scenario:
for each developer server creates public/private key pair.
when checking license on server: if success server encodes userid with developer private key
when checking license in app: server response decoding via public key(hardcoded in app) and comparing to userId. if ok -> licensed.

You might want to ask @ngreader guys on twitter. They do have this concept implemented in their app.

diverofdark said:
chabun, so, for example, how about following scenario:
for each developer server creates public/private key pair.
when checking license on server: if success server encodes userid with developer private key
when checking license in app: server response decoding via public key(hardcoded in app) and comparing to userId. if ok -> licensed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if it would be good to encode the request to the server as well but otherwise it sounds really cool now... I'll use this service when I need this (and tell my friends about it)

Here is one way to do it http://stackoverflow.com/questions/599837/how-to-generate-and-validate-a-software-license-key

wpxbox said:
Here is one way to do it http://stackoverflow.com/questions/599837/how-to-generate-and-validate-a-software-license-key
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what they suggest is not as good as diverofdark's service which is a lot more secure and still easy to use for the customers...

Greetings everyone!
Today I updated promo.g33k.ru, now it has:
- more detailed about page,
- SDK now includes RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
- Many minor bugfixes.
So, from now this service works in beta mode

diverofdark said:
Greetings everyone!
Today I updated promo.g33k.ru, now it has:
- more detailed about page,
- SDK now includes RSA1024/SHA1 sign for additional security checks
- Binary SDK available
- Russian localization(if anyone cares ) (btw, if you can help translating to other language(s) or correct english misspellings - i will appreciate this).
- Many minor bugfixes.
So, from now this service works in beta mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I will check this out

Hey diverofdark
It would be nice if you update the first post in the thread with all information. That's the way it's usually done in the forum.
A possible user (here dev ) can read it and without having to browse the whole thread, he can use your promocode service...

Thanks for mentioning it, I updated the first post.

Creating simple contacts' application

Hello all!
I am looking into development of something which is similar to people's list in people hub. What I want is a huge list of people on one page with (of course) LonglistSelector. When I tap a member of the list, I want the user to be navigated to the details page of that item. User needs to be able to manipulate and modify the data on the details page. The list is going to be real huge. I have a few question about the approach.
1. What is the best way to store data? I am thinking of creating local database with a few columns with person's name in one column, age in another etc.
If this is the approach to go for, can anyone provide me detailed description about the databases? I have deeply gone through the MSDN, WindowsPhoneGeek and many other documentations. I feel dumb about the whole database scenario.
2. Is XML list as database a good approach for large amounts of data or it will be pain?

i would say SQL CE is your best bet to store huge amounts of data. XML is slow at large volumes of data when compared to JSON. I would prefer JSON over XML.

darthveda said:
i would say SQL CE is your best bet to store huge amounts of data. XML is slow at large volumes of data when compared to JSON. I would prefer JSON over XML.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically, I need to go with the local database using LINQ. Now, how do I do that? As I mentioned, I have read intensively. However, I just don't seem to get hang of it.

akshay2000 said:
So basically, I need to go with the local database using LINQ. Now, how do I do that? As I mentioned, I have read intensively. However, I just don't seem to get hang of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created my local database with LINQ based off this sample:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286405(v=vs.92).aspx
First define the columns which you would want to create and then modify the sample code to suit your needs.
For contacts, there is an excellent sample available:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286416(v=vs.92)
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out

darthveda said:
I created my local database with LINQ based off this sample:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286405(v=vs.92).aspx
First define the columns which you would want to create and then modify the sample code to suit your needs.
For contacts, there is an excellent sample available:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286416(v=vs.92)
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had gone through those links earlier! Back then, they made very little sense to me. I have researched a bit by now. I will update here if I get stuck somewhere.

hi
i had read the thread now and maybe this example of MS can help you... it's not based on local database, but uses ASP.NET Web API!
so maybe this is a way for you..

darthveda said:
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm attaching my code file to the post. When I try to run the app and click the button (it tries to add an item to the observablecollection) I get NullReferenceException error. Apparently, the collection's instant hasn't been created. But I tried to instantiate it using 'new' keyword - no luck. Am I doing anything wrong?

akshay2000 said:
I'm attaching my code file to the post. When I try to run the app and click the button (it tries to add an item to the observablecollection) I get NullReferenceException error. Apparently, the collection's instant hasn't been created. But I tried to instantiate it using 'new' keyword - no luck. Am I doing anything wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
solution folder will be better, you are using telerik controls, i can't recreate your solution.

It's done!
darthveda said:
solution folder will be better, you are using telerik controls, i can't recreate your solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response! After a lot of debugging and (almost literally) adding Debug.writeline after each line of code, I managed to solve it. It had nothing to do with the Database or the ObservableCollection. It was totally different - GroupDescriptor issue! More details here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...ion-while-adding-item-to-observablecollection
I'll post here if I get stuck with something again.
Again, thanks a lot!

Any reason you are using telerik controls? for starters and very simple programs, you can use controls from silverlight toolkit or coding4fun toolkit. i am using longlist selector which does the job just like the jumplist from telerik controls does.

darthveda said:
Any reason you are using telerik controls? for starters and very simple programs, you can use controls from silverlight toolkit or coding4fun toolkit. i am using longlist selector which does the job just like the jumplist from telerik controls does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No specific reasons except that the Jumplist provides StickyHeader functionality. And animation framework seems nice addition too!