Develop Bugs

rom dilemma; paranoia and security

first of all i love this forum SO much!
I have flashed different roms to find the one i like and im currently pretty content with leedroid (even though im not sure if a non sense rom would save more battery)... the thing is, i used miui for a while and loved the fact that it always asks you if you want an app to do a certain action like sending sms and making calls... im pretty paranoid about it and miui made me feel very safe. my question would be; is there a way to have this on other roms? i know Superuser asks you if you grant root access, but i couldnt find anything for sms and calls
thanks for your help, in advance
ps: this is what im talking about
Permissions Manager
The Permissions Manager is split into three sections, root permissions, permissions, and auto-start
Upon installation of an apk off your sdcard, you get asked to grant individual permissions, set "I trust this app," or the default setting will ask you as the app asks for each permission.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i want the feature "ask you as the app asks for each permission" but outside of MIUI
i guess i just want the MIUI permissions manager outside MIUI, or at least something that does the same job
-----------------------------------------------------
alright it seems i have found what im looking for. its the LBE Privacy Guard app, which apparently is the one integrated into MIUI
so... i guess i would say the thread can be marked as SOLVED

rom security.
highdroid said:
first of all i love this forum SO much!
I have flashed different roms to find the one i like and im currently pretty content with leedroid (even though im not sure if a non sense rom would save more battery)... the thing is, i used miui for a while and loved the fact that it always asks you if you want an app to do a certain action like sending sms and making calls... im pretty paranoid about it and miui made me feel very safe. my question would be; is there a way to have this on other roms? i know Superuser asks you if you grant root access, but i couldnt find anything for sms and calls
thanks for your help, in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
every app in the market states what permissions any app requires. most roms also let you set permissions as well.

stevethehedge said:
every app in the market states what permissions any app requires. most roms also let you set permissions as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you. im aware of that. but say i install an apk that needs permission to send sms because of a store inside the app where you can buy items by sms; miui would ask me if its ok for it to send an sms right when the app tries to send an sms. i know that i can remove certain permissions after installing the app, but many apps stop functioning when you use this method

highdroid said:
thank you. im aware of that. but say i install an apk that needs permission to send sms because of a store inside the app where you can buy items by sms; miui would ask me if its ok for it to send an sms right when the app tries to send an sms. i know that i can remove certain permissions after installing the app, but many apps stop functioning when you use this method
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are really worried about security then MIUI is not the best rom for that.

sounds like over paranoia tbh
go to the general android forum and there is something called pdroid which depending on which ROM you have, will block apps from transmitting personal info such as IMEI numbers etc
MIUI isn't 'safe' just because it prompts you
personally it sounds like an annoying feature, much like user access control on Windows Vista (ignoring the fact that Vista was a poor attempt at an OS in its own right)
Android 4 Life

zelendel said:
If you are really worried about security then MIUI is not the best rom for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh?? could you maybe suggest one?

TwistedSanity666 said:
sounds like over paranoia tbh
go to the general android forum and there is something called pdroid which depending on which ROM you have, will block apps from transmitting personal info such as IMEI numbers etc
MIUI isn't 'safe' just because it prompts you
personally it sounds like an annoying feature, much like user access control on Windows Vista (ignoring the fact that Vista was a poor attempt at an OS in its own right)
Android 4 Life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first of all, yes vista was just terrible lol
pdroid looks great!!! thanks! i didnt even know that this data is collected and used for malicious purposes...

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

[APP] Multi-User App Share

I have created an app that will help share apps across users on google's new 4.2 multi user feature.
Thanks to mentose457 and unwired for giving me the idea.
see this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994169)
It works by removing package elements from user's package-restriction.xml file to add the app and adding the package element back to remove the app. (located at \data\system\users\10\package-restrictions.xml where 10 is the user's id)
This is quickly thrown together and will likely have a ton of bugs, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there for testing.
- This is BETA
-You must have ROOT
- This changes system data on non documented files it could screw something up.
- I'm not responsible for any problems this causes or lost data or bricked or broken devices
- please use cation
- it is currently built to run on main user to enable or disable apps on secondary users (once root is fully working on secondary users I will see about making it run correctly on secondary user's account)
- not tested thoroughly with paid apps*
- does not currently support system apps**
- due to the way I pull the app list from the package manager some installed apps may not show as available to add/remove
- apps installed first on a secondary user's profile will probably not show in the list to add/remove
*paid apps seemed to work but I did not have internet access during testing. My theory is that any paid apps that use Google's license verification will not work or not work for long. So adding your Google Account to the secondary user's play store is probably still the best way to share paid apps.
**The entries in the xml for system apps is different. Therefore I will have to research them more before getting it to work or deciding not to mess with those apps. Currently some will show not installed on other users even though they are and removing/adding them will not work correctly.
------> DOWNLOAD HERE https://play.google.com/store/apps/...tm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=app_announcement
I'd love to get feedback to what is working and what is not. Also if anybody figures out anything more about the package-restriction.xml file I'd love to hear it. Especially when it comes to system apps.

Thanks mate added my sons Google account and it is all running perfectly. Seperate saves and account details for apps and allowing me to share my paid ones with him
First review on play store is up.
Will have a mess around with apps and report back but it appears to be running sweet at the moment
Cheers danny...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I wanted to chime in as well. It is working on AOKP. Thanks again jeepguy04.

Looks like it's working for me too :thumbup:

Strange, I'm rooted. Using root apps such as cache mate, titanium & sixaxis.
Multi user app enabler says not rooted.
So does root checker??

DeadlyDazza said:
Strange, I'm rooted. Using root apps such as cache mate, titanium & sixaxis.
Multi user app enabler says not rooted.
So does root checker??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the first 'owner' account I'm rooted, but the second user account doesn't recognize root in apps shared through multi user app.

rkuijpers said:
On the first 'owner' account I'm rooted, but the second user account doesn't recognize root in apps shared through multi user app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a known issue (if you want to call it that). For me it's not a problem as my second user is a guest just like on my computer.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

mentose457 said:
That is a known issue (if you want to call it that). For me it's not a problem as my second user is a guest just like on my computer.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, that's why I quoted the user I meant to answer
It wasn't meant as a negative comment, as I think this app is very useful.

I tried this with ten games and all worked fine (free and paid) except Retro Racing. It works with primary user but crashes with secondary user.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mrqwak.retroracing

Do you think it is possible to have a shared folder for fotos and musik for multiple users?

some one post the apk my devices are not compatible lol

Great idea! My solution involves just buying everyone their own tablets.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium HD app

player911 said:
My solution involves just buying everyone their own tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... Fail

Does it works on nexus10 ?

agabe said:
Does it works on nexus10 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should work on any tablet running 4.2 (or phone if your custom rom enables the multiple user profiles)
joeyman08 said:
some one post the apk my devices are not compatible lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I only have it available in the market to tablets to avoid confusion for people wondering why it doesn't work with their phone. Maybe I will change that since only nexus devices or phones with custom roms are running 4.2. Those users tend to be a little smarter and know if their phone has multiple user profiles or not.
Here is a link to the apk for anybody that can't see it in the market.
bergfex said:
Do you think it is possible to have a shared folder for fotos and musik for multiple users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The shared folder idea is interesting but beyond the scope of this app. Probably could do it with symlinks or something (not very knowledgeable in linux). Maybe I will look into it and either make another app or find a way to make it fit in with this app.

Yes. Symlinking the photos/music folders outside /data/ should work. But I don't have a 4.2 device(nor willing to set up an emulator) so I'm unsure.

Looking forward to trying on my p5113 CM 10.1
jeepguy04 said:
I have created an app that will help share apps across users on google's new 4.2 multi user feature.
Thanks to mentose457 and unwired for giving me the idea.
see this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994169)
It works by removing package elements from user's package-restriction.xml file to add the app and adding the package element back to remove the app. (located at \data\system\users\10\package-restrictions.xml where 10 is the user's id)
This is quickly thrown together and will likely have a ton of bugs, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there for testing.
- This is BETA
-You must have ROOT
- This changes system data on non documented files it could screw something up.
- I'm not responsible for any problems this causes or lost data or bricked or broken devices
- please use cation
- it is currently built to run on main user to enable or disable apps on secondary users (once root is fully working on secondary users I will see about making it run correctly on secondary user's account)
- not tested thoroughly with paid apps*
- does not currently support system apps**
- due to the way I pull the app list from the package manager some installed apps may not show as available to add/remove
- apps installed first on a secondary user's profile will probably not show in the list to add/remove
*paid apps seemed to work but I did not have internet access during testing. My theory is that any paid apps that use Google's license verification will not work or not work for long. So adding your Google Account to the secondary user's play store is probably still the best way to share paid apps.
**The entries in the xml for system apps is different. Therefore I will have to research them more before getting it to work or deciding not to mess with those apps. Currently some will show not installed on other users even though they are and removing/adding them will not work correctly.
------> DOWNLOAD HERE https://play.google.com/store/apps/...tm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=app_announcement
I'd love to get feedback to what is working and what is not. Also if anybody figures out anything more about the package-restriction.xml file I'd love to hear it. Especially when it comes to system apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great to see this is available
Thanks:good:

Why the full network access and google play billing service permissions?

excarnate said:
Why the full network access and google play billing service permissions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Play billing service is for accepting donations via in app purchase. Under settings anybody can donate if they feel the app has value to them... so far I've gotten two $1 donations...lol
network access is for connecting to internet for ads and also for ACRA (Application Crash Report for Android) it basically sends error reports to me to help fix errors. It can be disabled under settings if you do not want it reporting errors.

Does not populate menu on my Nexus 7.

[APP] AppShare(+) – Share Apps Between Users without Separate Google Accounts

I've recently released an app that uses Google's new multi-user accounts feature to share apps between the different users on your device (without each of them requiring a separate Google account).
It's called AppShare(+) and you can get it here (requires root):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spectrl.appshare
You can download apps on your main user account as usual, and then use AppShare to simply select which users you want to have access to the app.
This also works for "unsharing" (disabling) apps for users. For example, you could disable the Gmail, or Play Store apps for a 'Guest' user account.
As a bonus, you can also use the app to disable (but not uninstall) system or user apps on your main account, freeing up resources and potentially speeding up your device.
It was designed and optimised for tablets (tested on a Nexus 7), however it will also work on phones that have multi-user support enabled through a custom ROM.
Even though I am using the same method that the Android system uses to enable/disable apps, some system apps react in a weird way to being disabled and sometimes re-appear.
I have found that disabling certain system apps works best on a "fresh" account – i.e. A new user which hasn't had a Google account previously set up on it.
There are a couple more limitations, but I would suggest that you read the Play Store description for the full run down...
I have tested it as thoroughly as I can, but please let me know if you run into any problems.
I'd love to hear what you think and get some feedback.
Thanks!

I've been getting a fair amount of crash reports lately and it looks like the cause is a missing file related to Google's multi-user implementation which I assumed would be on everyone's device, in the same place.
It appears that it is not there on some devices, causing my app to crash, so I would really appreciate it if I could get a few people to check and confirm that they have the file /data/system/users/userlist.xml on their device?
You can check using any file explorer with root, or using the adb shell terminal if you know how!
Thanks for your help in making the app better.

I do have userlist.xml in that location; running 4.2.2, updated OTA from 4.2.1.
Currently using "Multi-User App Share" for this feature without problem, but I'll keep and eye on this project and see if it's worth the change.

Psoulocybe said:
I do have userlist.xml in that location; running 4.2.2, updated OTA from 4.2.1.
Currently using "Multi-User App Share" for this feature without problem, but I'll keep and eye on this project and see if it's worth the change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that.
My app seems to be working great for the majority of users (myself included) but there seems to be a handful of people running into problems because the app can't find that file...
I'm struggling to figure out why though?! The only explanation I've got so far is that they could be using custom ROMs which messes with multi-user in some way.
You should try out AppShare, its free so you've got nothing to lose!

Is there some type of "permission manager"?

Hi!
Im currently using a Z1C with the MX Rom 8.50 (awesome rom btw). After years of using Cyanogenmod I wanted to give the stock firmware a try, and the MX Rom seemed to be even better, as it is based on stock but with additional functionality.
But what I am missing from CM: the possibility of cutting permissions of specific apps, even system apps. Because I dont want to give all my data to every app I have on my phone. With Cyanogenmod I even blocked the google play services and several other google system apps with that.
Is it possible to get this done by app, or is it somehow exclusive to Cyanogenmod and some other AOSP-based roms?
The MX Rom comes pre rooted with Super SU (but I think the most of you people alredy know that, haha).
Regards

Don't know this ROM myself, but you should be able to install the Xposed framework and use Xprivacy with it. Despite using CM myself, I still use it because it gives you a much more detailed control and apps don't force quit when some permissions are withdrawn.

Wow, thank you. I dont know much about the Xposed Framework as I never used it before (didnt even know that it exists before I used the MX Rom, because there it is already preinstalled).
Xprivacy seems to be pretty awesome, thank you for this!

Xprivacy is great, although it seems that the dev has abandoned it for his other project netguard (no-root firewall) and no, apps WILL fc if you don't know what you're doing..

Ænimal said:
... and no, apps WILL fc if you don't know what you're doing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes sure, especially when taking away some of the "red" marked ones. But I was referring to some of the more "standard" permissions, since Xprivacy instead just uses fake data rather than just plain revoking the permission.