Develop Bugs

ICS native Data usage widget?

Does anyone know of a data usage widget that pulls its data directly from ICS's native data usage menu in settings?
I found Onavo on market but I do not want a seperate app running in the background.

Not sure about the direct pull from the ICS data usage menu, but this is what I use.
https://market.android.com/details?...S5yb3lzb2xiZXJnLmFuZHJvaWQuZGF0YWNvdW50ZXIiXQ..
Seems accurate enough.

fregor said:
Not sure about the direct pull from the ICS data usage menu, but this is what I use.
https://market.android.com/details?...S5yb3lzb2xiZXJnLmFuZHJvaWQuZGF0YWNvdW50ZXIiXQ..
Seems accurate enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I used on my HTC Desire, I was very pleased with the accuracy. On my Galaxy Nexus... I'm not so sure. Results seem to vary from the internal ICS tally.

I'll give it a try. Thanks

I am aslo looking for such a widget which simply displays data usage monitored by ICS or JB kernel.
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

I've been looking for something that also does this. Seeing as I haven't found anything, I've send an email to the dev of Minimalistic Text to see if there is a way he can modify the data usage stats of his widget or add a new feature to read the native 4.x stats. It seems as though it can be done. I'm no Android programmer (yet) but found the following and included it in the email.
developer.android.com/reference/android/net/TrafficStats.html
His current data usage gets reset to zero after a reboot.

I just created a settings short cut to data usage and placed it on my home screen. Its good enough for now.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Still no luck? I am looking for the same thing. I don't need any special xMB app to count it again and consume system resources, just simple progress graph with the number.

[Q] Mobile AntiVirus - Is it recomended?

Morning,
I've been toying with the idea of installing an Anti Virus solution on to my phone but have a couple of questions.
Is it necessary? I know that most of the AV apps come with nice features like tracking and remote wipe but was wondering how big the threat of mobile malware actually is.
Will it prevent my device from going into 'Deep Sleep' and have a negative impact on battery life?
It is possible that I am going to install Vipre Mobile Security as we use a lot of GFI products at work. Do any of you have experience with this app?
Cheers in advance.

JimmyEatFood said:
Morning,
I've been toying with the idea of installing an Anti Virus solution on to my phone but have a couple of questions.
Is it necessary? I know that most of the AV apps come with nice features like tracking and remote wipe but was wondering how big the threat of mobile malware actually is.
Will it prevent my device from going into 'Deep Sleep' and have a negative impact on battery life?
It is possible that I am going to install Vipre Mobile Security as we use a lot of GFI products at work. Do any of you have experience with this app?
Cheers in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) No it's not. Just install apps from the official google market and none of the chinese/russian ones and look at the permissions each app uses. Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine.
2)Most AV/Malware products have a negative effect on a phones performance and battery. Don't bother, just use your common sense instead.

animaleyes76 said:
1) No it's not. Just install apps from the official google market and none of the chinese/russian ones and look at the permissions each app uses. Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine.
2)Most AV/Malware products have a negative affect on a phones performance and battery. Don't bother, just use your common sense instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to agree here as well. Do not bother with AV apps mate..Just use common sense on what you flash or install on your phone. Simple as that

I have never used Anti Virus on any of my phones and I've never had any problems.

Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.

Cerberus is excellent, does everything.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

animaleyes76 said:
[...] Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine. [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn!

JimmyEatFood said:
Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest try AndroidLost I have tried most of the features like taking pictures, recording and GPS, it integrates nicely with your Google account and best of all its for FREE
I am yet to try its SMS capabilities and Sim notifications
http://www.androidlost.com

Cheers guys. I will look into the free app as I am a tight fisted Yorkshireman.
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.

I use free version of lookout. It don't cause any battery drains and is set to scan any new app get installed on the phone. You can also manual scan the whole phone.

You can install Avast Anti-Virus from the google play store, and if the phone has root access you can install Avast onto the ROM.
Once it has been installed you can set up theft aware for SMS text commands to remote wipe, lock etc.
The reason why the install it to the ROM is because if someone was going to factory reset through the bootloader or even from the settings menu the Avast will still be install but it will be disguised as another app (Which you can name) and they will not know that it is there.
Hope this was helpful.

Av only good for one thing and that's the tracking if its lost/stolen
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

check out Kaspersky, I think it still comes with life time updates, it might not be necessary today but it's a good deal and might get useful in future...

JimmyEatFood said:
Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although not free, PhoneLocator Pro is the best I've seen,
It hides from your app drawer, adds un-installation security, takes an automatic photo of your thief and sends it you, along with his call log, also blocks the phone if the thief changes sim card, along with all the GPS tracking services that it emails you - you also get a web user interface too, aswell as the usual text commands.
Its good stuff, developer is very responsive and eager to add more features all the time too.
However, due to the way HTC have implemented multi-tasking, their pre-installed task manager app will kill it, along with anything else you may have running such as battery saving apps, antivirus, etc etc
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

Google currents: recent performance issues

I really like google currents and have been using it more than pulse since getting my nexus 7. But just the last few days the performance has been horrible. Sometimes I get the forced close option, even though I select wait as it hasn't actually crashed, just maxing out the cpu for a bit.
Syncing takes a really long time now and when done, most of the articles don't have a screen shot even though I have the option to get images for all articles which has always worked previously. I don't know if I have added one too many news sources? I was going to clear the app cache but I'm concerned if that clears all my selected sources as well? I'm wondering if the sources are stored in the cloud and only the articles are cached.
Not sure what else to try but something is hurting the performance of this app lately.
Btw, previously I have a nook color and I have lots of articles starred in pulse. It's just running cm7 off a sdcard so I never installed titanium backups or anything. Is there a manual way I could take all t he cached stuff for pulse from my nook to the nexus 7?

I can't comment on your problems with Google Currents as I don't use it.
For Pulse, if you create a Pulse.me account, you can restore your selected subscriptions and starred article to your other phones or tablets.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

I use Currents also. I find it Sync's in about 5 seconds. You can clear cache, it only clears what has synced. Don't "clear data", that's all your preferences. I get all the photos and is acting no different than when I first started using it. I only have 20 links.

If you're getting below 4g free storage, you might be running into the issues described in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1776538

Not sure how helpful this may be but I was also having problems with Currents taking a long time to load. I realized that I started experiencing the issue when I had switched my offline reading settings to include all images in all editions. As soon as I changed it to only include it in the first 10 editions I noticed an improvement. Perhaps it may be worth taking a look.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm going to try them shortly and report back. I noticed I'm getting a little more lag than usual in chrome so maybe it's not just currents but instead I've entered the dreaded lag zone as described in that other thread. But 4gigs? I thought I read there it was 2. Even 2 is ridiculous for a swap file or whatever it needs. But if it's 4 gigs, we lose a few gigs to the OS of the 16 and then we have to keep 4 gigs free for good performance?! And yes I'm below that, I'm a tad below 2 gigs now. Bought nova 3 and MC3 recently which put me below. And I notice both of them have a startup thing running. Or so Autorun manager tells me. That and a few other apps that I think have no business running on startup. Something like pulse (the purpose being to cache articles in the background) I can understand, but Nova 3? Why?
And what irks me more is not having an elegant way of stopping this. I know the android way is the OS should manage apps/memory and not the user and I get that, however I should still have a way of preventing these apps from launching. From what I've read no app really stops them from launching but rather kills them after launch. Or ones that do you need to be rooted.
I do have that option selected to cache all images and not just first 10 editions. What does first 10 editions mean exactly? the first 10 sites I've added? Or the first 10 stories within each? If the former, there's no way I can see of controlling what would be the first 10.
Even though I really like the layout of currents, maybe I'll switch back to pulse just for the simple fact of being able to retain an article.
I hope it's just a currents issue and I don't actually need to retain 4 gigs free.
If these things fail I'm going to uninstall Nova3/MC3 and see.

Help With Security Solution

I want to be able to granularly set the permissions for each app. From what I understand my options are:
Cyanogenmod - except CM10 for SGS2 is missing this at this time
Pdroid for GB
Pdroid 2.0 - running CM10 only
LBE (from China)
I have had Pdroid 2.0 running on CM10 for a few weeks but CM10 isn't stable - just had it auto-reboot in the middle of a call. Does anybody have any other ideas / suggestions?
On a related note - I'm wondering why it seems that most people aren't bothered with apps monitoring their use and even more important archiving all the data compiled on them?? The only thing that I can think of is that most cell phone / XDA users are really young and just don't know any better??? Didn't they pay any attention in history class?? What am I missing here?

Mrktmind said:
On a related note - I'm wondering why it seems that most people aren't bothered with apps monitoring their use and even more important archiving all the data compiled on them?? The only thing that I can think of is that most cell phone / XDA users are really young and just don't know any better??? Didn't they pay any attention in history class?? What am I missing here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because phone security is generally easy to manage. Most apps make a good name for themselves. And many people check the security of an app as soon as it were to hit the Play Store. It doesn't mean we are young it means that we aren't dumb and know how modern technology works.

hrffd said:
Because phone security is generally easy to manage. Most apps make a good name for themselves. And many people check the security of an app as soon as it were to hit the Play Store. It doesn't mean we are young it means that we aren't dumb and know how modern technology works.[/QUOTE
I highly doubt that anyone on XDA, regardless of age, is dumb. I do believe, however, that there are quite a few younger members who could be a bit naive due to a lack of experience. Younger folks tend to take most things at face value. Just because something is free monetarily doesn't mean it isn't costing you something. Just because an app is on Play Store doesn't mean it is "secure" - especially since the Play Store (as well as Android, Google, et.al.) operate on the same business model as the apps!
Just a random example - Why would Angry Birds need my Sim Card Serial number to operate properly? Why would it need to know the phone numbers of all my incoming calls? Answer - it doesn't - in fact it doesn't need ANY of the permissions it asks for to operate properly. So why does it ask for these permissions? Answer - it is data mining your phone.
Ok, so I think most XDA members are aware of WHAT these apps are doing. My original question is WHY don't more people seem to care?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Mrktmind said:
I want to be able to granularly set the permissions for each app. From what I understand my options are:
Cyanogenmod - except CM10 for SGS2 is missing this at this time
Pdroid for GB
Pdroid 2.0 - running CM10 only
LMB (from China)
I have had Pdroid 2.0 running on CM10 for a few weeks but CM10 isn't stable - just had it auto-reboot in the middle of a call. Does anybody have any other ideas / suggestions?
On a related note - I'm wondering why it seems that most people aren't bothered with apps monitoring their use and even more important archiving all the data compiled on them?? The only thing that I can think of is that most cell phone / XDA users are really young and just don't know any better??? Didn't they pay any attention in history class?? What am I missing here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe MIUI is also a viable option for this, no? You can set app permission on a "per-app" basis with MIUI security I believe.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I tried this app a while back and it basically does what you want but it got annoying https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lbe.security.lite
I don't use these because I am very selective about what goes on my phone.

Thanks Luke!
Not very familiar with MIUI ROM's will have to look into them.

someguyatx said:
I tried this app a while back and it basically does what you want but it got annoying https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lbe.security.lite
I don't use these because I am very selective about what goes on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is the app I listed above - just had the initials wrong! :silly: It is a lot like pdroid but, like you, it scares me.

I have my own small business and run most of it from my phone, in the beginning I used the standard flip phone then graduated on to a touch pro 2 with Windows Mobile 6.5 as I began to accumulate massive amounts of data on my Windows Mobile phone, for some reason I still felt secure in the applications like ActiveSync that I was in control of my data.... A year ago last October I upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy s2.. this was my first real experience with Google's Android operating system. in the first few minutes of using the new phone I could see how deeply the hooks were being placed to data mine my information. I resisted at first but then came to realize if I wanted all the bells and whistles Google was offering I had to play the game... I use the security program mentioned above... maybe they should have an app were you sign a consent of exactly which data you would like to keep on your phone and not share with other people. then when you visit the play store apps that request more of your private data than you're willing to share won't show up? I would like to have an open sourced built firewall that monitors traffic, letting me choose the permissions per app as I see fit.

Mrktmind said:
Thanks Luke!
Not very familiar with MIUI ROM's will have to look into them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've ran both Adhvanlt's and Lens's JB MIUI Roms, and they're both amazing! The standard MIUI launcher feels a bit like the iphone, and there is no app drawer, but that's easily fixed by downloading [insert favorite launcher here] if you don't care for it. There's hundreds of options for customization. They are literally the most customizable ROMs you'll ever run; All of this on top of the fact that it has the security features I believe you are after baked right in to it.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Looked at two MIUI ROM's for the E4GT. Both of them have issues with Google Voice. I need Google Voice.
I am also going to try +AF (Droidwall fork) firewall tonight to see if it will work on FK23. It apparently has issues with some ICS/JB ROM's. That will at least give some protection from apps that don't need network access at all. But for apps that need network access to do their intended job it's useless. Just read last night that the developer has added profiles to +AF - that should be really cool.
I guess I'm spoiled a bit with Pdroid - it works so well and is very detailed.
Thanks for all the replies! Other suggestions, ideas, thoughts, opinions welcomed!

Mrktmind said:
I want to be able to granularly set the permissions for each app. From what I understand my options are:
Cyanogenmod - except CM10 for SGS2 is missing this at this time
Pdroid for GB
Pdroid 2.0 - running CM10 only
LBE (from China)
I have had Pdroid 2.0 running on CM10 for a few weeks but CM10 isn't stable - just had it auto-reboot in the middle of a call. Does anybody have any other ideas / suggestions?
On a related note - I'm wondering why it seems that most people aren't bothered with apps monitoring their use and even more important archiving all the data compiled on them?? The only thing that I can think of is that most cell phone / XDA users are really young and just don't know any better??? Didn't they pay any attention in history class?? What am I missing here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As an app developer, I can tell you that there are some shady apps, but if you download from good devs, the permissions are *usually* necessary. Here's some examples that people question the most:
Access to contacts... Assuming it's not a contact or sms app, if any app has a "share" feature needs this permission.
Access to sd card... Any app that saves anything or lets you change a background needs this.
Read phone state... So the app can properly call the "onpause" method when a call comes in.
Access to location... Assuming it's not a location app or game like ingress or zombies!Run!, you'll typically see this on free apps that have ads. Ads allow developers to get paid for their work while keeping the app free. They don't have access to the ad data, though. They just put in the api and the ad company handles the rest.
On top of that, large organizations will seek phone specific permissions like sim card numbers for analytics.
Google makes most of its money from ads, so it reads your usage to better target ads. Google also uses location data to improve location services like maps.
If you're worried about security, don't download a random app that only has 100+ downloads. If an app has 50000+ downloads, you can rest assured that it's already been vetted.
Also if you're downloading pirated apps, you're just a moron who is opening up his world to who knows who. Many (not all) pirated apps have added data mining code.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Avast

Who uses it?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I use it, in PC & Nexus 4. Any question?

VivaErBetis said:
I use it, in PC & Nexus 4. Any question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have. Does it slow down the system on n4, and have you notice it affecting battery life?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I use it on my N4. No noticeable slow down or additional battery drain.
Sent from my Nexus 4

I really don't see the need for a antivirus program. Half the time it doesn't even catch it from reports I've read..and this goes for all the "name brands" programs.
Sent from my Nexus 4 16GB using Tapatalk 2

porkchopbolt said:
I have. Does it slow down the system on n4, and have you notice it affecting battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No slowdown at all or battery drain. As far as I know the apps are checked only when you started them, so it may take longer, but I didn't noticed a big change. Internet navigation is fluid too.
The option to perform a periodic system scam is very quick too and works well.
And last but not least, it comes with an optional and very complete anti-thief solution that allows you to control some of the functions of the mobile from another mobile using SMS messages or just from avast web account. I've installed and tested it and is fantastic.
For me It's highly recommendable because nowadays Android is a growing market for malware.

Avg is cool with no battery drain. And yesh works
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I don't use anti virus programs... I find it stupid that there are anti viruses on Android. It doesnt get any... I have seen articles saying Android gets them, but I used Android from the release of the Dream/G1 and never have any viruses.

Its on every computer and mobile device I own. GREAT Antivirus.

I use it on my phone as well. I use both Anti-Theft and Anti-Virus feature.

So did anyone ever catch any malware with it? :b

Well, aslng as it won't effect performence / battery drain, why not use it?
It is a layer of protection against 0-day exploits, finds some malware + anti-theft (which is the main rason I think about getting Avast).

I do. Besides, I am definitely a power user and I love every customization / functions / protection on my phone while doing my best to conserve battery and maximize performance.
Avast is currently the best antivirus software on the play store. I dont hear from others, I experience it. I used AVG and then Lookout when I used my LG Optimus One two years ago, and I found them crap. Not for the UI or simply the scanning ability, but the stupid limited functionality they tend to provide in the free version. As someone said above, its just an Android phone, not a big deal, many even thinks that antiviruses are totally not necessary, so why being so serious and offering paid features which is... as well not a big deal?
I don't say that an antivirus is a must, and in regard to the increased security Google offers in their Play Store last year, and even the apk scanning system introduced in android 4.2, the need for an additional antivirus program is nearly unnecessary.
Since the Galaxy Nexus, I said to myself Lookout is real crap I must find a better program then I found Avast, and got amazed. Lookout lags your phone when you install / update an app on the Play Store because the scanning process is bulky. However for Avast, it was totally a breeze.
The open-app scanning is really a top security function, but for the sake of maximizing battery life (reducing any possible additional cpu load), I disabled that. And before Android 4.2 I enabled the install-app scanning function, now it apparently can be disabled
The Web Shield is useful if you use stock browser (if in AOKP) or Chrome, I always enable that.
Privacy Advisor and Firewall are two bonus features which saves my phone space that I don't have to install another two separate apps for them. Network Meter should be designed for post-ICS devices and I have that disabled. SMS and Call filter are totally useful and working, another built-in feature that saves my space.
Last but not least the best free feature it offers is of course Anti-Theft. It does nothing harm to battery and performance and those Norton and Kaspersky make them paid features. Well, they are almost the same which gets triggered by SMSes. Avast offers all functions you can ever imagine in an anti-theft app and it once helped me to locate my phone in my relatives' home Try it and it will never regret.
Also in settings you can disable the ongoing notification if you would like to keep things minimal like me. All in all with the proper settings I can make Avast stay as my antivirus + antitheft when never giving a chance or reason for it to hog my cpu to affect performance / battery as most antivirus apps do, or what most users are concerned about it. I recommend to every of my friends, I hope you will like and enjoy using it too :laugh:

weeo said:
I don't use anti virus programs... I find it stupid that there are anti viruses on Android. It doesnt get any... I have seen articles saying Android gets them, but I used Android from the release of the Dream/G1 and never have any viruses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It IS possible to get a virus on Android, but generally not if you only download apps, etc. from the Play store. I know of a friend who sideloaded a bad apk...

From what I've gathered, having an antivirus on android is pretty useless, unless sideloading downloaded apk's from what could be shady websites. Even then, android itself has a built in 'malware scanner' that checks for this stuff when you try to install a downloaded apk.
To be honest, I've never ever seen anyone report they've seen an antivirus on android catch anything. Nor have I seen it on my own devices either.
None the less, I guess it couldn't hurt having an extra layer of protection.

I do...
I use it on my laptop and reviewed it recently on my N4 for AndroidTapp. Good product and easy to use. It's very much a all-in-one solution which is good if you want something easy and effective but not-so-good if you're a bit paranoid about malware as you're putting all your eggs in one basket so-to-speak.
Malware on Android is massively over-rated and finding a virus on Google Play is very unlikely. I download all manner of apps and games for review on a daily basis- and have been doing so since 2009- and I've yet to find one solitary app that had something bad in it,
Unfortunately, the security of Android must really grate security companies so they put out fear-mongering stories about how insecure the platform is. They refer to 'research' but if they're doing the research themselves it's hardly objective, of course they are going to find threats! In truth it's pretty much all bullsh*t.
As has already been mentioned, the only chance you might find a virus really is if something is sideloaded to your device.

Do you realise that chances of getting a virus on android are lower than winning a lottery jackpot ?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I guess I will disable open-app scanning.
Leaves me with:
Scan on Install
Anti-Theft
Call/MSG Filter
rest disabled.

BTW, there is an online Android malware scan here, for the records:
http://anubis.iseclab.org/