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Anybody hear about how the new google play services will be able to give itself permissions to do what ever it needs to without the users permission. I dont like the idea of forcing updates and making changes to my phone without my permission. I guess Ill be stuck on jellybean until someone can figure a hack that will allow me disable super user features of the service. Maybe even killl the service but still have a fully functional device! You can read about it on arstechnica. The new play service was introduced at google io.
What kind of BS is this. The thread gets closed for informing members of whats new with google play services. No FUD just the truth. How long did it take for google to patch the last exploit. Something like the play service will be a huge target. Also not wanting to give google or anyone else root access and more to my phone. Yes I know they have access to my gmail and location. Thats not a big deal but to be able to just make changes and god knows what else to your phone and all the information on it without my knowledge is not cool. I love android and think google is a great company but what they have done.....not cool Google!!!
Care to share a link to this? I take it there was a reason the previous post was closed. You seem to be spreading false information.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...oems-step-aside-google-is-defragging-android/
I understand why they are doing it but I don't like it.
If I read the article correctly... Seems like they're referring to play services which we have had forever now. Not really sure what the concern is here? Just use common sense when installing apps and not sure if I believe the whole permissions thing because they always list them when installing or updating. I've never heard anything about this before this article. Generally, you can't go by one source before forming a proper opinion or thought. Just seems odd... That's all
sino8r said:
If I read the article correctly... Seems like they're referring to play services which we have had forever now. Not really sure what the concern is here? Just use common sense when installing apps and not sure if I believe the whole permissions thing because they always list them when installing or updating. I've never heard anything about this before this article. Generally, you can't go by one source before forming a proper opinion or thought. Just seems odd... That's all
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Click to collapse
This is a new feature of google play services that is part of kitkat. Yes I have google paly services on my phone now but it cant grant itself permissions as needed and will not auto update unless I tell it to do so. My biggest concern is that we will have a service running granting itself permissions and installing software at will. Great target for exploitation.
tman7510 said:
This is a new feature of google play services that is part of kitkat. Yes I have google paly services on my phone now but it cant grant itself permissions as needed and will not auto update unless I tell it to do so. My biggest concern is that we will have a service running granting itself permissions and installing software at will. Great target for exploitation.
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Click to collapse
Yikes! That does sound crazy... I did reread the article a bit later and did realize they were referring to a new play services like you said. Some people in comments thought it might be more secure this way but I failed to understand their reasoning behind this. I guess were just gonna have to rely on scanning software to am mend these mistakes but I do get that shouldn't have to be necessary bin the first place. Hopefully, it will limit ridiculous permissions some sketchy apps to sneak in but it could just be easily exploitable in the other direction.
Alternatively, if Ur phone is rooted you can just freeze google services... No harm done.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Google Play updates "itself" without any alert to the user's phone.
I'm more concerned about existing apps that have a problem with 4.3,
and then we'll have to wait for corrections - like can happen with any serious
platform upgrade.
So yes basically I know things on xda are supposedly safe in terms of security and roms. But have there ever been a case of a Rom having something like a keystroke logger or any type of hack to gather information or gain access to your personal stuff? And if it had never happened on xda maybe from one of the other sites?
I suppose I'm just trying to address how safe custom roms are I have been using various ones recently so I do trust them some what of course and I assume if a roms been on xda for months and has many posts it's been checked but I still wonder if someone was clever they could wait for the right moment to strike if you know what I mean. Thanks.
Yea, in a way, you are trusting that the devs have no added anything sinister to their custom ROMs. But in the time I've been here (a long time!) I haven't seen anything like this added to any ROMs. You could always do a full scan of the ROM before flashing it to be sure.
the_scotsman said:
Yea, in a way, you are trusting that the devs have no added anything sinister to their custom ROMs. But in the time I've been here (a long time!) I haven't seen anything like this added to any ROMs. You could always do a full scan of the ROM before flashing it to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would you scan it with though? Pc viruses and malware different to mobile no? And anyway surely a clever hacker would make there own hack etc. And maybe they just add it to the update add well . Anyway good to hear no ones reported one yet!
Well I will try a pc scanner...phone scanners seem to just check.apk's so that's useless...done some full scans all the same just for the hell off it. Guess I don't have any money anyway so I'm safe . But like I say if they are clever they will write their own code so the scanners won't find it .
Still no one reported ok that's given me more confidence...a bit :s ...
Only thing I new of was start of the year I had a xperia z ultra and the mostly only way to gain root at the time was to use kingo root. It wasn't a XDA developed root tool is was from a Chinese website and it was suspect as it took your phone details like imei number. Not sure what happened in the end. But if you get a phone and you trust the recognised devs you should be OK.
Golly, I sho hope not!
:good::good::good:
How about as of late and the security involved when you have a rooted phone? I have not been able to locate any substantial info concerning the legitimacy of or about the claim. Do I need to UN root my phone after the new flash or no? Or, am I way of base here and obviously don't fully understand the weekness of having a rooted phone? In other words, a rooted phone is just as safe as a non rooted phone?
Thanks in advance
Edit
Randy L said:
How about as of late and the security involved when you have a rooted phone? I have not been able to locate any substantial info concerning the legitimacy of or about the claim. Do I need to UN root my phone after the new flash or no? Or, am I way of base here and obviously don't fully understand the weekness of having a rooted phone? In other words, a rooted phone is just as safe as a non rooted phone?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, a rooted phone is not as secure as an unrooted phone. You've opened up access to the system when you rooted, and therefore made it vulnerable.
Not that an unrooted phone is completely secure either, but with root access, a malicious app could do much damage.
What would you suggest since I plan to flash a newer, stable ROM with a newer radio binary? I need to ensure my phone is locked up right as possibly allowable without over taxing the system.
Thanks again
Randy L said:
What would you suggest since I plan to flash a newer, stable ROM with a newer radio binary? I need to ensure my phone is locked up right as possibly allowable without over taxing the system.
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all a trust and common sense game. If you flash a rom you are putting the trust in others hands. No way around that. As for keeping it locked down. Your best bet would be to stay on stock. Root is a security hole and that's why Google is starting to allow apps to check for root and if found disable the app or features of the app.
Luckily most of our ROMS don't come from people stand to gain anything from that info and are probably like-minded when it comes to how we want our phones to work.
To answer some of these questions, it might help to fully understand what we're talking about.
What kind of security issues face an Android phone?
Well, for one, there are network-level attacks. This are fake cell towers (sometimes called Stingrays) that can collect the sort of data a cell tower might be able to collect, your location, your messages, and your data.
A third-party ROM or a rooted phone is not intrinsically more vulnerable to this. In fact, there are some apps that help detect this kind of attack, and those apps will generally require root access. This kind of attack is less likely to be a random skiddie, and more likely to be the police or a government.
Another kind of attack is a malicious app. Think of it like a trojan horse, something you willingly let into your phone, and it has a secret malicious payload. Maybe it's a browser that actually skims all your activity to sell to marketers. Maybe it's a widget that shows a neat clock on your lock screen, but it actually collects all of your contacts so they can be spammed later.
Since this would be an app that you've willingly downloaded, a third-party ROM doesn't make you much more susceptible, but granting this app Root could make it much more damaging, since it could hide itself from uninstallation or even modify other apps to do bad things.
Note, though, that certain third-party ROMs and apps that require root can help protect against this. If you download an app, and it says it needs permissions that don't make sense (why does a clock app need access to my camera, or my contact list?), that should be a red flag to not install it. But some ROMs actually let you revoke/block individual permissions., so if a baddie app was trying to access stuff it shouldn't, you can stop that from happening.
But there's a slightly more insidious kind of malicious app. Imagine third-party app that accesses Twitter, or Snapchat, or Instagram. Now this app actually saves all of the things you're doing elsewhere before it punts them off to the service you're trying to access. This app could be appearing to function completely honestly, hoarding your Snaps and your snapchat password, until one day they decide to leak all your snaps, or upload all the images you sent to your private Instagram to a public site.
You're not intrinsically more vulnerable to this kind of attack with a third-party ROM or a rooted phone. These apps will likely be come from a non-Play store source, which can happen even stock/unrooted. An app like this with root access can do more bad stuff, but their wheelhouse is in doing bad things with the data you've already willingly given them, so it's moot.
Then there's the issue you seem to be most worried about, which is malware baked into a ROM. This is by far the biggest danger in terms of risk, because it could be doing all sorts of nasty stuff relatively invisibly. What prevents someone from doing this, though? Well, for one, with an open source project, everyone can see the code. If there is something flagrantly wrong, it could be spotted by other people. It's possible to try to hide it, though, and some smaller ROMs don't attract a ton of eyeballs, so not that many people might be looking.
Then again, plenty of major ROMs could have the same thing going on, just in very clever or subtle ways. Look at how pervasive the Heartbleed issue was, and that was in code that tons of very smart people had the chance to look over.
Third-party ROMs do present more danger in this regard. What do we consider third-party, though? Major carriers lay tons of extra code on top of vanilla Android. And plenty of them may be doing unseemly things with your data, either for marketing reasons or at the behest of someone like the NSA. In that case, you're best but would be to stick strictly to AOSP ROMs, but even then, it's not a sure thing.
Truth be told, the best thing you can do for security is just pay attention to what you're letting onto your phone, and what you're letting those apps do. Your choice of ROM and root status is a part of it, but being generally aware is by far the most important thing.
Is there a possibility that Amazon might remove the ability to side load apps with future firmware auto update, if you are not rooted?
Thank you
Sure there is. There's a possibility they could do all sorts of bone-headed things to it.
wellersl said:
Sure there is. There's a possibility they could do all sorts of bone-headed things to it.
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Click to collapse
But of course they never would. Because then people wouldn't be able to test their apps on it. No people testing apps == no one releasing apps.
the probably couldn;t remove the Install from Unknown Sources since it;s part of the OS. But they could try to hide it. They could try to hide file managers like ES File manager from their app store as well. It;s more truble than it;s worth. But as long as you can use ADB to push and install apps to your device we will be fine.
I think the biggest thing we need is to unlock the bootloader because that will allow you to install a custom recovery like TWRP or CWM if you want full command and control of the unit.
rbox said:
But of course they never would.
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Click to collapse
But of course!
In your esteemed opinion, did they deliberately cause the eFuse/locked bootloader fiasco? IOW - Was that a conscious move on Amazon's part?
---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 AM ----------
tekweezle said:
They could try to hide file managers like ES File manager from their app store as well.
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Click to collapse
They don't need to hide it. They've determined that it's not compatible.
Strange to me how the Amazon app store is so void of apps that *are* compatible with my Fire TV. :silly:
tekweezle said:
the probably couldn;t remove the Install from Unknown Sources since it;s part of the OS. But they could try to hide it. They could try to hide file managers like ES File manager from their app store as well. It;s more truble than it;s worth. But as long as you can use ADB to push and install apps to your device we will be fine.
I think the biggest thing we need is to unlock the bootloader because that will allow you to install a custom recovery like TWRP or CWM if you want full command and control of the unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can do whatever they want. They have all of the source code.
wellersl said:
But of course!
In your esteemed opinion, did they deliberately cause the eFuse/locked bootloader fiasco? IOW - Was that a conscious move on Amazon's part?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very much so. They went out of their way to write a program that blew the fuse.
rbox said:
Very much so. They went out of their way to write a program that blew the fuse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now see, IMO, if I fell victim to that, I'd have them in small claims court in a heartbeat. That's just plain bone-headed consumer product management. That is... if I could prove it.
Note to Amazon: How about a *special* Fire TV with *Special Offers"?
wellersl said:
Now see, IMO, if I fell victim to that, I'd have them in small claims court in a heartbeat. That's just plain bone-headed consumer product management. That is... if I could prove it.
Note to Amazon: How about a *special* Fire TV with *Special Offers"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's common practice. All the manufacturers do it. What would you sue them for? Protecting their product? They are patching vulnerabilities.
rbox said:
It's common practice. All the manufacturers do it. What would you sue them for? Protecting their product? They are patching vulnerabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... it just occurred to me. They aren't actually disabling the device, are they? I keep seeing the term "brick." If, in fact, they're bricking these devices, wrong. There's absolutely nothing that came with or on my Fire TV that says I can't root it.
Else, in terms of vulnerability, I could see them locking me out of AVOD. But they should have any say over my access to Netflix.
wellersl said:
Well... it just occurred to me. They aren't actually disabling the device, are they? I keep seeing the term "brick." If, in fact, they're bricking these devices, wrong. There's absolutely nothing that came with or on my Fire TV that says I can't root it.
Else, in terms of vulnerability, I could see them locking me out of AVOD. But they should have any say over my access to Netflix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the efuse does is prevent you from booting an old bootloader. As long as you aren't doing the things we are doing, it's harmless. But if you try to go out of your way to screw around with the software and use an old bootloader, then it will be bricked because the old bootloader will not work with the fuse blown, and it doesn't boot. It has nothing to do with rooting, nor anything to do with avod or netflix...
rbox said:
... use an old bootloader, then it will be bricked because the old bootloader will not work with the fuse blown, and it doesn't boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still trying to grasp this...
If you aren't trying to root, why else would you use an old bootloader?
rbox said:
They are patching vulnerabilities.
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Click to collapse
I was only using Netflix as an example. I don't see Amazon bricking their devices to patch a competitor's vulnerabilities. Though that is a strange relationship...
wellersl said:
Still trying to grasp this...
If you aren't trying to root, why else would you use an old bootloader?
I was only using Netflix as an example. I don't see Amazon bricking their devices to patch a competitor's vulnerabilities. Though that is a strange relationship...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You use the old bootloader so you can take advantage of the bug in the bootloader and load unsigned code. Custom kernels, custom roms, recovery, etc.
That makes no sense... they patched a vulnerability in the bootloader and then prevent you from using said vulnerable bootloader... It has nothing to do with apps.
rbox said:
You use the old bootloader so you can take advantage of the bug in the bootloader and load unsigned code. Custom kernels, custom roms, recovery, etc.
That makes no sense... they patched a vulnerability in the bootloader and then prevent you from using said vulnerable bootloader... It has nothing to do with apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got the first point (I think).
On the second point, Amazon can obviously patch what they perceive as vulnerabilities -unrestricted-. But as soon as they've patched me out of an otherwise legitimate use of the box, they've gone too far. IMHO.
Some years back, I filed a claim against UPS and won. I'm sure they got the paperwork and had no clue what to do with it.
More recently, I filed a claim with the BBB against Roku for the crappy firmware they pushed out on the 2XS. Roku sent me a new 2XS and a new Roku 3. Just to shut me up.
wellersl said:
Got the first point (I think).
On the second point, Amazon can obviously patch what they perceive as vulnerabilities -unrestricted-. But as soon as they've patched me out of an otherwise legitimate use of the box, they've gone too far. IMHO.
Some years back, I filed a claim against UPS and won. I'm sure they got the paperwork and had no clue what to do with it.
More recently, I filed a claim with the BBB against Roku for the crappy firmware they pushed out on the 2XS. Roku sent me a new 2XS and a new Roku 3. Just to shut me up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bypassing their secure bootchain is not a legitimate use. Exploiting a vulnerability in the kernel to gain root is also not a legitimate use.
rbox said:
Bypassing their secure bootchain is not a legitimate use. Exploiting a vulnerability in the kernel to gain root is also not a legitimate use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously, I'm not getting my point across. But that's ok.
Peace.
rbox said:
But of course they never would. Because then people wouldn't be able to test their apps on it. No people testing apps == no one releasing apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Rbox,
This make sense thank you for responding but can the developer just be released the app in amazon app store as free and then user would just download from amazon app, unless of course it is really painful process to get an app approved by amazon for a developer than i can understand or why go thru the process again with amazon if the app is already on google play store.
It seems there are quite a few folks out there who chose not to root there device as long as they can side load any apps they want, which is fine but if Amazon goal is to lock down user on there echosystem than allowing folks to side load any apps user wants this would seriously undermine there goal (Amazon app store, AFTV device, the whole amazon echosystem), this is Just my opinion.
Thank you
ashsha7877 said:
Hi Rbox,
This make sense thank you for responding but can the developer just be released the app in amazon app store as free and then user would just download from amazon app, unless of course it is really painful process to get an app approved by amazon for a developer than i can understand or why go thru the process again with amazon if the app is already on google play store.
It seems there are quite a few folks out there who chose not to root there device as long as they can side load any apps they want, which is fine but if Amazon goal is to lock down user on there echosystem than allowing folks to side load any apps user wants this would seriously undermine there goal (Amazon app store, AFTV device, the whole amazon echosystem), this is Just my opinion.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has nothing to do with releasing apps. If I make an app for the Fire TV. I'm going to test it on the Fire TV. And the way I do that is using adb install. They can't block that, or else no one would be able to test their apps.
rbox said:
It has nothing to do with releasing apps. If I make an app for the Fire TV. I'm going to test it on the Fire TV. And the way I do that is using adb install. They can't block that, or else no one would be able to test their apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh, since you put it that way it make more sense. Thank you Sir!
Also it would be a pretty stupid move for Amazon to add "Install from unknown sources" in their latest firmware's if they did not wan't people to install 3'rd party android app's on it. As you do not have to "sideload" with adb anymore, you can just install a webbrowser and browse to a web site (kodi.tv for example) click on a installer .apk and it will immediately install. You can also copy the apk to the sdcard and click on it in a filebrowser and it will install.
Amazon put that option in 1 version ago. So beginning to remove sideloading via. adb and hiding apps seems pretty silly to me.
But ofcause in theory they still have the source and the rights to do what they like..
On the one hand, Amazon doesn't have to provide support for side loaded apps, which saves them money. On the other hand, some side loaded apps allow users to access premium content for free, so Amazon might claim they lose revenue, but those users probably would never have purchased premium content from Amazon in the first place and at least they made some money off the hardware. So I would say that they won't revoke side loading functionality.
Has anyone tried to see what works with some bloatware disabled & what doesn't work? Personally I would like the iris scanner and samsung pay to be enabled and everything else disabled.
Yeah, it's working for me quite well
XavierAD said:
Yeah, it's working for me quite well
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Click to collapse
Glad to hear it,arguably the best feature available for any Samsung device,short of root/ROMs.
Hopefully it'll still work once Android 7.0 rolls out.
KOLIOSIS said:
Glad to hear it,arguably the best feature available for any Samsung device,short of root/ROMs.
Hopefully it'll still work once Android 7.0 rolls out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will. They use Knox which is a product of Samsung.
Sent from my XT1528 using XDA Labs
I'm rather confused by this thread. Is the poster asking what will 'break' if you disabled all the bloatware? Or asking something else entirely? Cause you can disable everything that comes on any phone and it'll always work just fine.
And I have no idea what Android 7.0 would have to do with bloatware, or what KNOX would have to do with bloatware...
HikariNoKitsune said:
I'm rather confused by this thread. Is the poster asking what will 'break' if you disabled all the bloatware? Or asking something else entirely? Cause you can disable everything that comes on any phone and it'll always work just fine.
And I have no idea what Android 7.0 would have to do with bloatware, or what KNOX would have to do with bloatware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the O.P.,but,my guess is, as with me, just making sure that it works before purchasing the Note 7,especially for those of us with the Snapdragon powered versions that may have no other way to disable bloat.
JMHO, but, the Q&A regarding functionality of PDP, whatever they may be, are of merit & might as well have a thread addressing the subject.
Most realize you can disable the bloat, but,not everyone, including yours truly, understand exactly how it works & why only on Samsung devices.
The Knox tie-in makes sense to me, even without a full understanding of how it works.
KOLIOSIS said:
I can't speak for the O.P.,but,my guess is, as with me, just making sure that it works before purchasing the Note 7,especially for those of us with the Snapdragon powered versions that may have no other way to disable bloat.
JMHO, but, the Q&A regarding functionality of PDP, whatever they may be, are of merit & might as well have a thread addressing the subject.
Most realize you can disable the bloat, but,not everyone, including yours truly, understand exactly how it works & why only on Samsung devices.
The Knox tie-in makes sense to me, even without a full understanding of how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KNOX doesn't make much sense to me, because that's just a security platform. It just makes sure you protected from being 'hacked' per say. As in like, it adds an extra layer of security over your phone so someone can't just pick it up and plug it into a computer to gain access to all of your stuff. Though thats only the very loosest of analogies.
But I have to ask what you exactly mean by the "not everyone understands exactly how it works and why only on Samsung devices". Do you mean as in why disabling works? or something else. Because you can disable the bloatware on any android phone so long as the carrier and manufacturer didn't lock the option out. Which most devices will let you do it now because of the whole 'you'll get sued for forcing users to use a specific thing without giving them a way out' (an example would be microsoft getting sued over the bundling of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office with the earlier Windows OS's).
What I'm wondering is, based on the title of the thread after thinking about it some, does the OP mean an app that disables/uninstalls bloat? Because I'm sure there are plenty of apps out there that do it. But most I think require Root in order to do it properly and reliably. I use Sprint for my service, and its Sprint ID and such are a pain in the ass, and they can't just be 'disabled' easily even though there is the option to (every time you disable it, Sprint just re-installs it the next time you reboot the phone because it thinks it got uninstalled somehow). But to get it to disable properly on my Note 5, I had to install some random app that I think was called App Quarantine. It looked like a bio-hazard symbol for the icon. I haven't re-installed it since this last wipe I was forced to do, so I can't remember exactly lol. But it was the only one that would let me actually disable the Sprint ID stuff and not have it re-install all the time.
HikariNoKitsune said:
What I'm wondering is, based on the title of the thread after thinking about it some, does the OP mean an app that disables/uninstalls bloat? Because I'm sure there are plenty of apps out there that do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's an app in the Google Play Store that has the ability to disable literally anything on Samsung devices,WITHOUT ROOT, so, care must be taken to not get carried away & I recommend only disabling, not deleting, in the event of not being able to take an update otherwise.
Not everything can be disabled natively, so, that explains the appeal of the app.
If you used it, you'd see the tie-in with Knox........
KOLIOSIS said:
Yes it's an app in the Google Play Store that has the ability to disable literally anything on Samsung devices,WITHOUT ROOT, so, care must be taken to not get carried away & I recommend only disabling, not deleting, in the event of not being able to take an update otherwise.
Not everything can be disabled natively, so, that explains the appeal of the app.
If you used it, you'd see the tie-in with Knox........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then that makes alot more sense. I originally just thought they were basically asking if there was an app to disable everything instead of having to do it manually. I've always just manually disabled everything cause its not that hard to do. Just find the troublesome things and hit that disable button lol. But if this can do it all in one quick swoop, then I'm all in =O I'll definitely be looking into it later today when my phone finally arrives...
Sprint screwed up my pre-order, and is sending me the wrong device, so I have to take it into a store to get it exchanged because they refused to cancel my pre-order or change the order at all even though I legitimately ordered the dang thing 2 minutes past midnight on the 3rd. So ontop of that, they also didn't ship the phone when they said they would, AND the put restrictions on my package. I normally have to physically go to a UPS location to pick up my packages cause the dumb driver will never deliver to my house... always states that they can't find my house even though its the ONLY house down the ONLY long driveway... heck you can SEE my house above the trees! But nope, the guy wont deliver. But because of the restrictions, UPS wont let me flag the package as 'hold for pickup' like usual, so I gotta stand at the end of my drive way for hours upon hours just to catch the UPS driver. Then I gotta drive all the way into town to HOPEFULLY exchange the phone for the Black Onyx variant that I was supposed to get...
Anyway, sorry for the ramble o-o; didn't realize it was that long XD
HikariNoKitsune said:
Then that makes alot more sense. I originally just thought they were basically asking if there was an app to disable everything instead of having to do it manually. I've always just manually disabled everything cause its not that hard to do. Just find the troublesome things and hit that disable button lol. But if this can do it all in one quick swoop, then I'm all in =O I'll definitely be looking into it later today when my phone finally arrives...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a nice tool to have, a powerful one.
Just a friendly piece of advice :
Read up on it before using, check the FAQs on the developers site if need be & go conservative at 1st if you're not familiar with what is safe to disable.
The app gives color-coded guidelines per each app on what is known to be safe to disable. You can go above and beyond that, but, mainly, just disable, do not delete anything & leave the stock keyboard alone.
You might be able to disable the stock launcher, provided you have another one installed, but, I'd leave it alone until you're certain one way or the other........
KOLIOSIS said:
It's a nice tool to have, a powerful one.
Just a friendly piece of advice :
Read up on it before using, check the FAQs on the developers site if need be & go conservative at 1st if you're not familiar with what is safe to disable.
The app gives color-coded guidelines per each app on what is known to be safe to disable. You can go above and beyond that, but, mainly, just disable, do not delete anything & leave the stock keyboard alone.
You might be able to disable the stock launcher, provided you have another one installed, but, I'd leave it alone until you're certain one way or the other........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I'd only disable the things I already know I need to disable. Like all the Sprint stuff. I leave the Samsung stuff alone cause I actually use alot of Samsung's things. But as for Sprint's stuff? All of that goes bye bye lol. Now that is assuming it doesn't somehow show things that you normally can't see from the applications manager. In which case then I wouldn't bother, cause I don't see much of a point lol.
there are a few package disabler for Samsung out there, which one the best?
amenlo9 said:
there are a few package disabler for Samsung out there, which one the best?
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Go with either one,the Pro+ has a hardware lockdown feature,otherwise,there two are identical:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ospolice.packagedisablerpremium&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ospolice.packagedisablerpro&hl=en
I'm guessing Samsung still has a partnership w/Cheetah Mobile,which is one of the main reasons I like having this app,Package Disabler Pro,on-board to ward off the data mining/crapware/etc...
However,I'm not seeing anything in the apps,system or otherwise,that's jumping out & identifying itself as CheetahMobile/CleanMaster/etc.......
I'm guessing it's some/all of the apps identified w/the "Smart" moniker,but,I'm not 100% certain on that.
Anyone have an idea on which,if any,of the apps are actual CheetahMobile bloatware?
Thanks In Advance!
Using EZ Disabler here. Works well, but you gotta be careful using "disable bloat" part as it will turn off many useful things. I just went through and picked what i wanted. Very Easy to use though
Thanks for recommending Package Disabler Pro. I was worried Since not rooted. In past had always used TB . This worked Great!!
Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk
Why would you guys use an app for disabling stuff.
Since we're on xda, enable USB debugging and use pm (package manager) cmd from adb shell.
For instance: adb shell pm hide 'package'
There are other interesting options: list, install, uninstall.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
millicent said:
Why would you guys use an app for disabling stuff.
Since we're on xda, enable USB debugging and use pm (package manager) cmd from adb shell.
For instance: adb shell pm hide 'package'
There are other interesting options: list, install, uninstall.
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I see your point, but i would also say there is a ease to the app though. Whatever works best for people. Im just glad there are options.
Today, I found that ccswe is again not working due to knox license issues, I emailed the dev, and told me that, for whatever reason, samsung revoked his license, again… what a pity this thing is… I am confident about the dev solving this issue, meanwhile.. Samsung: ?
Yeah it's been like that for months. Very disappointing. I find that I'm forced to pay for an appblocker onna yearly basis that has no managed to be viable longer than a year. I miss the GatesJunior rooting years. His apk manager was the best.
Hopefully he's able to get his license back and get the app working. Best part about this guy is I don't have to re buy the app when it starts working again. And he does communicate. I also hope his health is good, last time he was in the hospital for a while.
Yes, the dev is really a honest guy, no need to re-buy or anything of the sort, I think he has troubles derived of how powerful his app is, hopefully he will fix this issue shortly
i also hope he manages to resolve this unfortunate issue with Samsung
Can anyone share the apk? It's been removed from the play store.
I'm so sick of Samsung's bull**** bloatware.
JoshReuben said:
Can anyone share the apk? It's been removed from the play store.
I'm so sick of Samsung's bull**** bloatware.
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Even if you had the apk it wouldn't work. Still has to verify the key and dial into Samsung. It's a lost cause for now.
as i understand that this app needs root to work - wouldn't f.e. Titanium Backup pro be an alternative ? or even remove apps via ADB ?
I've never rooted this phone and it worked like a charm. Don't think root was ever achieved for the VZW N10+
blackspy_ said:
as i understand that this app needs root to work - wouldn't f.e. Titanium Backup pro be an alternative ? or even remove apps via ADB ?
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There are two versions, the one for rooted devices does not need knox licensing, and it is free I think, the other one, which is a pay app works on non rooted devices, that is precisely why it relies on knox
winol said:
There are two versions, the one for rooted devices does not need knox licensing, and it is free I think, the other one, which is a pay app works on non rooted devices, that is precisely why it relies on knox
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oh - i never read about the possibility to really remove apps, without root. interesting. i wouldn't mind paying for this.
for me the two missing things on Samsung stock: proper backups like in titanium, including log-ins, or diskimages, as in TWRP-recovery and completely removing useless apps like FaceBook. deactivating them in Appmanager seems to be no proper solution, especially as as many of them can't be deactivated.
blackspy_ said:
oh - i never read about the possibility to really remove apps, without root. interesting. i wouldn't mind paying for this.
for me the two missing things on Samsung stock: proper backups like in titanium, including log-ins, or diskimages, as in TWRP-recovery and completely removing useless apps like FaceBook. deactivating them in Appmanager seems to be no proper solution, especially as as many of them can't be deactivated.
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Well ccswe, and for that matter, package disabler pro, do not have the ability to unistall certain system apps, they can just totally disable them, ccswe is more powerful than package disabler pro, as it is able to block things inside an app without disabling completely the app itself
winol said:
Well ccswe, and for that matter, package disabler pro, do not have the ability to unistall certain system apps, they can just totally disable them, ccswe is more powerful than package disabler pro, as it is able to block things inside an app without disabling completely the app itself
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Lots of pesky things.
PD MDM is the only reason this 10+ is usable without root.
Lol, AT&T updates/apps and bixby* get blocked first...
*Bixby Vision and Vision Framework are needed by the cam.
The fine granularity on the app is great. We can see all the servi, activities and other interesting elements of each app. I've seen something like that only with apps that have root access, like MyAndroidTools for example.
I was testing the free ccswe app when it stopped working. I'm gonna buy the paid version, the only draw back was that I saw just 10+ downloads on the store. Was wondering why ppl don't buy it. Reading here your opinions gives me more reasons to get it.
blackhawk said:
Lots of pesky things.
PD MDM is the only reason this 10+ is usable without root.
Lol, AT&T updates/apps and bixby* get blocked first...
*Bixby Vision and Vision Framework are needed by the cam.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've blocked them and camera works fine.
w41ru5 said:
I've blocked them and camera works fine.
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No, no it doesn't. Target tracking (yellow square) needs it, possible advanced metering functions and probably more.
Those two Bixby apps only run when the cam needs them.
It does not appear to me that he lost his Knox license, I read sonewhere that he said the "free" model no longer works and he has a paid version up now, so he must have just disabled the license for the free version. The paid version is showing 100+ downloads now.
Stupid question, but I mainly used CCSWE to disable apps starting at boot. However, I never really confirmed if it was working and I've see other apps claim to do that (non-root) such as All-In-One Toolbox I believe. Has anyone confirmed thay CCSWE actually prevented selected apps from starting at boot?
He has posted a notice via ccswe update that Samsung has revoked his partner licence and without it and the keys that license grants the app can not function. both free and paid app are rendered inactive
The developer seems a decent chap and has told me that if I buy the paid version again and email him the details he will refund the original licence. Thing is I'm reluctant to pay for something that depends on a licence I don't own. If I'd realized that it only works seemingly at the whim of Samsung, I probably wouldn't have bought it in the first place!
If Samsung has revoked his partner license, how is he selling a paid version of the app? Is that why it is a beta, so all the reviews from people saying they just purchased it and it doesn't work don't show? Even if he gets it working again, it seems like an extreme gamble to purchase an app that keeps loosing its licensing.
Is there any other non-root method of disabling startups on a Samsung phone?