Where is the outrage with HTC RE: Yelp Ads? - One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Maybe a week ago I noticed that my lock screen started showing yelp advertisements for lunch and dinner.... I searched and found this ONE thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/help/ad-lockscreen-t3104580)
After a little more research it seems HTC has made a deal with Yelp and is talking to others about advertising on YOUR phone screen. Did I misunderstand this? I don't see any outrage and I'm wondering why? Did I get it wrong, or have we just gotten used to being abused by corporations for their own gain that we don't even notice any more?
So after a recent update HTC decided to start advertising on my lock screen... sure, right now I can still disable the advertising on the lock screen. but I cant remove yelp from my blink-feed. My blink-feed is advertising stuff I don't want and I cant disable it!!! Again.. Maybe I missed something?? I cant believe after paying >$650 for a flagship phone that people are not freaking out over this. Nowhere in the settings can I find an option to remove Yelp from my blink-feed.
So, Am I part of some Beta test.. and the rest of you don't have this issue?
Did I miss some "off" switch to disable the ads?
Are the rest of you so used to having content shoved in your face that you don't even notice?
Do you just not care?
At least Amazon has the decency to give you a discounted price on a device with "Special offers"
Whats the deal... I'd really like to know. Someone please tell me I have it all wrong.
**EDIT** Turning off "HTC Location Services" seems to stop Yelp for now.

edit, didn't read haha. Try contacting them and see what they say about you being unable to remove it

I don't have Yelp in my blinkfeeed nor anywhere on my phone, so no ads on my lock screen. Do you have a carrier branded M9 and if so, which carrier?
Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Meal time bundle
x51 said:
Maybe a week ago I noticed that my lock screen started showing yelp advertisements for lunch and dinner.... I searched and found this ONE thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/help/ad-lockscreen-t3104580)
After a little more research it seems HTC has made a deal with Yelp and is talking to others about advertising on YOUR phone screen. Did I misunderstand this? I don't see any outrage and I'm wondering why? Did I get it wrong, or have we just gotten used to being abused by corporations for their own gain that we don't even notice any more?
So after a recent update HTC decided to start advertising on my lock screen... sure, right now I can still disable the advertising on the lock screen. but I cant remove yelp from my blink-feed. My blink-feed is advertising stuff I don't want and I cant disable it!!! Again.. Maybe I missed something?? I cant believe after paying >$650 for a flagship phone that people are not freaking out over this. Nowhere in the settings can I find an option to remove Yelp from my blink-feed.
So, Am I part of some Beta test.. and the rest of you don't have this issue?
Did I miss some "off" switch to disable the ads?
Are the rest of you so used to having content shoved in your face that you don't even notice?
Do you just not care?
At least Amazon has the decency to give you a discounted price on a device with "Special offers"
Whats the deal... I'd really like to know. Someone please tell me I have it all wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not advertising. I believe you are referring to the meal time recommendations that pop up on the lock screen. Go to Blinkfeed settings and find "Notification on lockscreen", click that and uncheck "Meal time bundle" (which shows you meal recommendations nearby). There are people that find it an interesting feature, for those that don't, just disable it.

effortless said:
This is not advertising. I believe you are referring to the meal time recommendations that pop up on the lock screen. Go to Blinkfeed settings and find "Notification on lockscreen", click that and uncheck "Meal time bundle" (which shows you meal recommendations nearby). There are people that find it an interesting feature, for those that don't, just disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought too that he meant that, but he already said in his post that he knows he can disable that, but what he cannot disable is YELP advertisements in blinkfeed itself.

sausje85 said:
I thought too that he meant that, but he already said in his post that he knows he can disable that, but what he cannot disable is YELP advertisements in blinkfeed itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up.. It's late and I did miss that. I'm not sure, I haven't seen that problem.

*deleted*

I'm pretty pissed about it. Mostly because there was no information from HTC about it. They just started showing up on my wife's M8 lock screen, and of course there was nothing in the lock screen settings about it, and as this was on "zero day", nothing showed up on Google. So I had no clue where this stuff was coming from, and it smelled like malware. Wasn't till the next day that search results came up, pointing to Blinkfeed as the culprit.
I suspect this is just the start of a movement toward "monetizing" the lock screen, as it's been blissfully free of ads till now, and is prime real estate for covering in ads to get in our face even if we don't unlock the damn phone.

effortless said:
This is not advertising. I believe you are referring to the meal time recommendations that pop up on the lock screen. Go to Blinkfeed settings and find "Notification on lockscreen", click that and uncheck "Meal time bundle" (which shows you meal recommendations nearby). There are people that find it an interesting feature, for those that don't, just disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weather people find it useful or not is irrelevant. I purchased a phone with certain features and expectations, and you cant just force this type of intrusive advertising in my face to make a few bucks. I didn't sign up for that. It's one thing to sell the device like that from day one (I.E Kindle Fire). Then at least I could have made an informed decision to be advertised to or not. . I wouldn't, for example, complain about the ads on Facebook. They were always there. (And Facebook didn't charge me $650)
I'm all for new features.. and lots of people love yelp. This is not a bad OPTION, but this should have been an OPT in option. It shouldn't be an OPT out option, and it most certainly under any circumstances should not be a forced non-option.
I CAN turn off the lock screen stuff. (I.E mealtime bundle) But I don't see an option to remove Yelp from my blinkfeed. Sometimes when I remove a source from blinkfeed, the old posts stay until they get pushed off with new content.. I assumed this would be the same, but it was not. I kept getting yelp items in my blinkfeed telling me to try this or that restaurant.
I have the Developer edition M9. I'm running ARHD.
This is 100% with a doubt advertising. I dont have yelp installed, I've never had Yelp installed. I dont use yelp. HTC signed a deal with yelp, and rumors and leaked HTC images indicate there will be more coming.
So I see at least some of you don't have this issue?
Perhaps I'll try to delete data for blink-feed. Maybe disabling mealtime bundle didn't take? (even though the lock screen bit went away)
I also found that searching Google today indicated many more users complaining about Yelp in the blinkfeed than last week.
Also some more info here: http://blog.gsmarena.com/leaked-doc-reveals-htc-planning-introducing-ads-blinkfeed/

Not only that, but unless you live in a major metro area Yelp is totally useless. There are businesses that have been closed for over a year that are getting recommended to me. Oh, and last week I got this recommendation for lunch: http://i.imgur.com/XIJjSZt.jpg Yea, nice restaurant.

Turn off HTC location Services
Saw a solution here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-m9/520602-do-messages-show-top-blinkfeed.html#post4414788
Thanks Neo905
Turn off HTC location Services.
I must have left this on. I tried this and cleared my blinkfeed data. I have been yelp free ever since.
This is a ridiculous fix... and a half measure work around. I'm guessing there is no yelp because HTC doesn't know where you are. What happens when they decide to advertize things that don't require a precise location?

x51 said:
Saw a solution here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-m9/520602-do-messages-show-top-blinkfeed.html#post4414788
Thanks Neo905
Turn off HTC location Services.
I must have left this on. I tried this and cleared my blinkfeed data. I have been yelp free ever since.
This is a ridiculous fix... and a half measure work around. I'm guessing there is no yelp because HTC doesn't know where you are. What happens when they decide to advertize things that don't require a precise location?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you would have to turn off all notifications from Sense Home. This solution here makes sense because I never signed onto HTC Location services when I first setup the phone. However, I kept getting notifications to complete this, so since I also don't use the Home widget, I just went and turned off all notifications for Home, Settings> Sounds & notifications> App notifications> Sense Home> turn on Block. I only use Facebook in Blinkfeed and it still updates itself.

I have to agree regarding "Where is the outrage?" Everyone I know with an HTC One M(x) is outraged about the yelp ads on Blinkfeed, yet the internet is surprisingly quiet on the issue. Even at XDA, where I would expect to see some serious backlash, there is very little mention of it. Yes, we can remove them from our lockscreens, but it still frustrates me to see Yelp ads on Blinkfeed. I didnt opt-in for this, I payed for my phone, I'm am not under contract, and I pay for my cell service. I have owned strictly HTC phones since the original EVO, but if this doesnt go away, I will be switching to another manufacturer. I will not pay full price for a phone and my service and then have forced ads on my home screen. WTF are they thinking? And more importantly, where is the backlash from the owner community???

How about finding the server ip it gets it's info from and block it in the host file?
Not the best method, but it should theoretically work.

My phone just started doing this TODAY, and when I went to blinkfeed -> 3 dots -> settings, I see that "Notification on lockscreen" is greyed out!
Any ideas?

I too have the same issue. Quite irritating. If I learn anything, I will post here. Glad I am not the only one experiencing this, but sad we have to experience this.

sausje85 said:
How about finding the server ip it gets it's info from and block it in the host file?
Not the best method, but it should theoretically work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect AdAway should take care of this. I have it running and have never seen one of these.

I just had a chat with HTC. Press and hold on the Yelp tiles, then select remove. Blinkfeed supposedly will learn that you do not want yelp. :good:
Good Luck Everyone!

Yes, I confirm that seems to work. Getting those ads less and less. Still HTC should offer a normal option to turn that off. Maybe they will learn too if turnover drops.

You missed an off switch.
Run the "setup" app again. Turn off the "give my precise location blah blah blah" and the other one. Now you won't get location based ads at all.

Related

[Q] Have you ever heard of mystery texts from 9329 saying "Your validation code is: "

[Q] Have you ever heard of mystery texts from 9329 saying "Your validation code is: "
I was really creeped out by this today.
Normally when you get a text saying "Your validation code is: [followed by some 8 digit code] " it's because *you* asked for it.
And if you *didn't* ask for it, you could be justifiably concerned that someone else *did* try to authenticate using your credentials somewhere.
Usually this is a harmless random occurrence, but in my case today I got three of these in a row immediately after the phone recovered from a mysterious freeze.
Today I had been downloading some unfamiliar apps ("VPN Connections", VPNC widget, and 2X (remote desktop) Client after which the phone did something I haven't seen before: I was running the maps application when it froze, stayed frozen, and after trying everything possible, I just held down the power key for like 20 seconds after which the blue skateboard CM7 boot animation appeared immediately (bypassing the usual white HTC EVO 4G screen) and the OS reloaded in just a few seconds.
Admittedly this fast boot behavior could be normal for all I know, but combined with the rest of it seems really odd and I feel paranoid.
What could I have been doing lately that might trigger this particular sequence of mystery freeze followed by mystery text?
Has anyone personally experienced anything similar?
bump - I did search google for any reports of similar experiences and got nothing which is why I thought I might ask around here..
I called Sprint. They could not tell me anything about these text messages or any text messages in fact. They said they have access to call detail but not text details. Basically unless law enforcement gets involved you can't talk to the super *duper* part of Sprint support that can retrieve information on texts. Seems a little lame not to be able to talk to customers about what is going on on their own network, but there it is.
Anyway while I was researching all this I checked my account online and while reviewing my bill I discovered a (presumably older and unrelated) mystery charge for $9.99 from
Mobile Love: Alerts - 34095 MBLLOVE
If you google this scam you will find many people receive three text messages in a row (in this case from 34095) and then discover the charge on their bill later on. Supposedly if you text "STOP" back to that number you don't get charged but it's a total scam either way. It's possible I got a text from 34095 at some point and just disregarded it. I can't remember honestly. Anyways Sprint removed the charge for me.
They also said, going forward, if any charges appear as a result of the 9329 texts (see OP) I could always call back and have them removed later. Otherwise there will not be any record of these texts or any way to find out more about them. Ever.
I'm not really as worried about getting *charged* for something as somebody untraceably signing up for some *access* to something in my name. Oh well. No point in worrying about something you can't control I guess.
Wow that's bizarre dude.
Are you sure you weren't looking for love in all the wrong places?
Sent from my Infected EVO using XDA Premium App.
KB112 said:
Are you sure you weren't looking for love in all the wrong places?
Sent from my Infected EVO using XDA Premium App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zing!
Sent from space
My guess is that you installed an app that had permission to modify your SMS Text Messages and Use Services That Cost You Money. Alternately, if any of the apps required root access that is the same thing.
What happens is this: the app uses it's permissions to send a SMS text to a short code and then delete the text. That way you cannot directly see that "you" signed up for a premium text service. You need to be very careful to look at permissions before installing apps of questionable origin... even if they are on the official android market... even if they do not require root.
NxNW said:
I was really creeped out by this today.
Normally when you get a text saying "Your validation code is: [followed by some 8 digit code] " it's because *you* asked for it.
And if you *didn't* ask for it, you could be justifiably concerned that someone else *did* try to authenticate using your credentials somewhere.
Usually this is a harmless random occurrence, but in my case today I got three of these in a row immediately after the phone recovered from a mysterious freeze.
Today I had been downloading some unfamiliar apps ("VPN Connections", VPNC widget, and 2X (remote desktop) Client after which the phone did something I haven't seen before: I was running the maps application when it froze, stayed frozen, and after trying everything possible, I just held down the power key for like 20 seconds after which the blue skateboard CM7 boot animation appeared immediately (bypassing the usual white HTC EVO 4G screen) and the OS reloaded in just a few seconds.
Admittedly this fast boot behavior could be normal for all I know, but combined with the rest of it seems really odd and I feel paranoid.
What could I have been doing lately that might trigger this particular sequence of mystery freeze followed by mystery text?
Has anyone personally experienced anything similar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Sprint Visual Voicemail app uses a validation code
The other day I was in my Sprint.com account and found 2 9.99 charges on 2 of my lines for some text thing also. I called Sprint and told them I don't know where they came from. Sprint took the charges off. I asked them if there was anything I could do about it because this wasn't the first time it had happened. The lady said I can block all 3rd party text so you don't get spam text and extra charges. It didn't effect anything else. I had them do it and everything works flawlessly. It doesn't cost a dime for them to do it.
Typical SMS scam, the really messed up part is that the carrier takes a cut in exchange for looking the other way and acting like they don't know whats going on..... essentially, by NOT responding to these messages you signed up for their service. Thankfully, these have never shown up on my bill, but if they did I wouldn't call sprint....Ill call my lawyer instead.
This video explains everything....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9MQAfh-bCE&feature=youtu.be
One of my co-workers got one of these messages like a year ago, he has paid it every month because he never looks at his bill but just pays it regardless of the amount. On the flipside, people make fun of me sometimes for taking my good-ol' paper check down to the bank and not having my bills automatically pay themselves....
EDIT: Im astounded at the claim made by the poster above me, where sprint was actually willing to do something about it...I deal with a lot of cell phones and I have never seen an instance where a carrier took proactive action without hassle...they always pull the "duhhhhhhhhhhhh...we don't know whats going on so were going to transfer you around until you get frustrated and give up/hang up".
starnostar said:
Typical SMS scam, the really messed up part is that the carrier takes a cut in exchange for looking the other way and acting like they don't know whats going on..... essentially, by NOT responding to these messages you signed up for their service. Thankfully, these have never shown up on my bill, but if they did I wouldn't call sprint....Ill call my lawyer instead.
This video explains everything....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9MQAfh-bCE&feature=youtu.be
One of my co-workers got one of these messages like a year ago, he has paid it every month because he never looks at his bill but just pays it regardless of the amount. On the flipside, people make fun of me sometimes for taking my good-ol' paper check down to the bank and not having my bills automatically pay themselves....
EDIT: Im astounded at the claim made by the poster above me, where sprint was actually willing to do something about it...I deal with a lot of cell phones and I have never seen an instance where a carrier took proactive action without hassle...they always pull the "duhhhhhhhhhhhh...we don't know whats going on so were going to transfer you around until you get frustrated and give up/hang up".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't a claim. They did it. I told her what was up and she got her supervisor on the phone and they did it. I'm sorry if you think things can't be done with a good attitude and the right words.
I wanted to ask for some clarification on this actually: you said they happily took action to block "all 3rd party texts". Does that mean you have effectively disabled SMS completely?
I mean I do want to receive real texts from warm bodies. Do they have some way of detecting and blocking texts from short codes?
Does this break other notifications (eg visual voicemail or alerts from sprint letting you know about new services or when your bill is ready for viewing)?
NxNW said:
I wanted to ask for some clarification on this actually: you said they happily took action to block "all 3rd party texts". Does that mean you have effectively disabled SMS completely?
I mean I do want to receive real texts from warm bodies. Do they have some way of detecting and blocking texts from short codes?
Does this break other notifications (eg visual voicemail or alerts from sprint letting you know about new services or when your bill is ready for viewing)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The other services you are referring to are Sprint services. This blocks 3rd party. Meaning outside spam text as we call them. It does not disable SMS at all. It just blocks outside spam text and things that cost you extra charges from happening.
mdean1981 said:
It wasn't a claim. They did it. I told her what was up and she got her supervisor on the phone and they did it. I'm sorry if you think things can't be done with a good attitude and the right words.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't use the term "claim" to be rude, just out of personal philosophy that this is the internet and everything is to be taken with a grain of salt, this is compounded by my experiences with carriers and their knowledge and/or willingness to take care of the issue.
I have personally never had to call sprint for this issue for myself or anyone else, 99% of the time I have to deal with this issue, its with at&t or cricket, only one on verizon and this was a while ago.
Did you get this app off the market ? There suppose to scan stuff before it goes up to keep that from happening . If you got it off the net then that's how it happens .
Did you get this app off the market ? There suppose to scan stuff before it goes up to keep that from happening . If you got it off the net then that's how it happens .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was doing a lot of things to the phone that day. Also, just to review, the phone "crashed" (did some kind of fast boot) while using maps, and then immediately after the OS came back up, I got the three text messages telling me what my "valdiation code" was.
Amongst other activities I had been doing that day, I installed 3 apps:
VPN Connections (not downloaded from market, yes downloaded from the net)
2x Client for RDP / Remote Desktop
VPNC Widget
At the time of the crash I had already uninstalled the first one after I discovered the last one worked better for me.
None of these look like they require unusual permissions (like "Use Services That Cost You Money") that illogos mentioned above.
I actually still have the download of "VPN Connections" on my SDCard. I double clicked the apk again just to see what permissions it required, and it just said "Storage (modify/delete SD card contents)" and "Phone Calls (read phone state and identity)". I downloaded it from here, http://code.google.com/p/get-a-robot-vpnc/ , which doesn't look *that* sketchy. However it hasn't been updated since June 2010 and no longer appears in the app market, so clearly it was not going to be my first choice. I did run it, it did work; But, for the reasons above, I quickly replaced it once I found something equally functional that looked like it was better supported.
It is a credit card conformation from a half rate escort service called hoopty booty
jayshocka said:
It is a credit card conformation from a half rate escort service called hoopty booty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to get a life dude
Yeah. I wasn't sure, but just in case, I decided not to use hoopty booty anymore.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
CNexus said:
You need to get a life dude
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something about glass houses......
!!!!Donnie your out of your element!!!!!

Spam notifications?

Hi,
I just got my Galaxy Nexus yesterday, and am using it on T-Mobile USA. It's working like a champ, except that I've noticed a few weird notifications. They are not texts - they are notifications, as if they are coming from some app.
My G-Nex (is that too crass?) downloaded a bunch of my apps automatically, so it could well be coming from one of those. A couple of the notifications I noticed almost immediately after installing Google Voice. I don't recall what they said, but they took me to a web page which looked like a Google page, but there was something not quite right about it.
Then, this morning I got a notification to "back up my contacts" - and it took me to a pretty shoddy graphic telling me to install something to back up my contacts.
I realise I'm not providing much details - but has anyone seen anything that sounds like this on their new Galaxy Nexus? I expect its coming from one of the apps it pulled down, but I don't know....
Most likely just some stupid app that auto-downloaded. I'd be interested to know which it is if you narrow it down.
Nope,
The only notifications i get are ones that you would expect - SMS,Email etc
EDIT: As it has been with all my android phones
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just got my Galaxy Nexus yesterday, and am using it on T-Mobile USA. It's working like a champ, except that I've noticed a few weird notifications. They are not texts - they are notifications, as if they are coming from some app.
My G-Nex (is that too crass?) downloaded a bunch of my apps automatically, so it could well be coming from one of those. A couple of the notifications I noticed almost immediately after installing Google Voice. I don't recall what they said, but they took me to a web page which looked like a Google page, but there was something not quite right about it.
Then, this morning I got a notification to "back up my contacts" - and it took me to a pretty shoddy graphic telling me to install something to back up my contacts.
I realise I'm not providing much details - but has anyone seen anything that sounds like this on their new Galaxy Nexus? I expect its coming from one of the apps it pulled down, but I don't know....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to try a factory reset? It does seem quite odd...
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just got my Galaxy Nexus yesterday, and am using it on T-Mobile USA. It's working like a champ, except that I've noticed a few weird notifications. They are not texts - they are notifications, as if they are coming from some app.
My G-Nex (is that too crass?) downloaded a bunch of my apps automatically, so it could well be coming from one of those. A couple of the notifications I noticed almost immediately after installing Google Voice. I don't recall what they said, but they took me to a web page which looked like a Google page, but there was something not quite right about it.
Then, this morning I got a notification to "back up my contacts" - and it took me to a pretty shoddy graphic telling me to install something to back up my contacts.
I realise I'm not providing much details - but has anyone seen anything that sounds like this on their new Galaxy Nexus? I expect its coming from one of the apps it pulled down, but I don't know....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remembered reading about this kind of app-vertising (that is definitely too crass :]) in the notification bar. Take a look at this article from Androinica: How to disable ads in the Android notifications menu.
The situation sounds a lot like what you've described and it's troubling to see it crop up in the wild, as it were.
Note that I haven't had to use this myself, so hopefully the linked apps operate as advertised and can narrow down what has been installed on your phone that's opening up Airpush BS.
If that doesn't fix it, then your phone is definitely cursed and you should get rid of it immediately. I'll PM you my address so you can send it to me instead
sosquidtaste said:
I remembered reading about this kind of app-vertising (that is definitely too crass :]) in the notification bar. Take a look at this article from Androinica: How to disable ads in the Android notifications menu.
The situation sounds a lot like what you've described and it's troubling to see it crop up in the wild, as it were.
Note that I haven't had to use this myself, so hopefully the linked apps operate as advertised and can narrow down what has been installed on your phone that's opening up Airpush BS.
If that doesn't fix it, then your phone is definitely cursed and you should get rid of it immediately. I'll PM you my address so you can send it to me instead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it! Thank you for the link to "Airpush Detector." That, and a related app it pointed me to, "Addons Detector" both came up with "My Settings" by JQ Soft as using Airpush. I have used this very handy My Settings app for a long time on several Android devices, but I checked it's Android Market page and sure enough the latest update to "My Settings" last week, added Airpush ads. Boatload of people complaining and - deservedly - 1-starring it now. I will be uninstalling it promptly!
Thanks for the help, I'd never have tracked this down otherwise! Relieved my Galaxy Nexus is not infected with some spyware or virus (although you could argue that's exactly what this airpush crap is)!! Anyway, I'll uninstall "My Settings" and hope the problem goes away!
Rad-- I'm happy you got it all sorted out. Shame it showed up in the first place, but all's well that ends well!
P.S. Your phone may still be cursed. Mail it to me anytime

Facebook keeping tabs on calls and sms via FB app? (Creepy!)

For a while now I've been weirded out with some of Facebook's friend suggestions that pop up on the right (desktop), because it's putting customers of mine up there that I have never corresponded with via FB or email, basically only by phone or text. And the timing was always crazy because I would work at their house or talk to them on the phone and the next day they would come up as a suggestion. Well last night I spoke with an old colleague of mine on the phone that I haven't spoken to in about a year and today I go to my profile and sure enough, he's at the very top of my friends list. I have come to the conclusion that the FB app on our phones MUST be keeping tabs of who we are talking to and making the suggestions based on that information, and god knows what else they are doing with that info. How else can this be explained? It is the only explanation that I can think of. Checking the permissions of the app, it DOES have the ability to check pretty much everything we do on our phones.
Has anybody else noticed anything like this going on?
I'm only surprised that you're surprised. I assumed this was true without even using the app.
I guess I'm not surprised but I didn't think they dug that deep into our privacy. Nowhere is it disclosed that they use that information for anything, and when I google it I find people posting about similar findings as me but never anything official from Facebook.
Permissions Denied can block most of those! It still bugs me that GPS can't be blocked without crashing the app, though (even if you've turned off posting with location).
PDroid seems to be a good option for those with Cyanogen, but it's not available for my E4GT. Anybody have a moment to put together a PDroid patch for Calkulin's ROM?
Thank you for that, pinandstutter! I use AdBlock, NoScript and Peerblock on my PC for these exact reasons. I didn't know something like this was available for my phone.
Quite frankly FB is a sack of scuzzbags.

google now no longer snowing events from Gmail?

First off not sure if this is posted in correct section, mods please feel free to move if not. More of a general Android/8.0 question.
Overall I'm not a huge fan of how the Google launcher has evolved. Some of the most useful features in the past for me have been the way Google Launcher almost sources of travel assistant. If a Flight confirmation was in my email, on my desktop it would show flight arrival times Etc. Similarly it would do the same for hotel reservations and even my travel companions plans. However, I haven't seen my new pixel 2 phone do this.
And yes, im sure I have checked all the right buttons in the play launcher, have given it access to Gmail, etc. Have told it I want it to display these things ( ideally on my desktop! With the Google now widget), although it just hasn't been doing so.
Again, I'm sure this is more of a software issue than hardware, although was wondering if anyone else has been having similar frustrations, or has any solutions
Cowbell_Guy said:
First off not sure if this is posted in correct section, mods please feel free to move if not. More of a general Android/8.0 question.
Overall I'm not a huge fan of how the Google launcher has evolved. Some of the most useful features in the past for me have been the way Google Launcher almost sources of travel assistant. If a Flight confirmation was in my email, on my desktop it would show flight arrival times Etc. Similarly it would do the same for hotel reservations and even my travel companions plans. However, I haven't seen my new pixel 2 phone do this.
And yes, im sure I have checked all the right buttons in the play launcher, have given it access to Gmail, etc. Have told it I want it to display these things ( ideally on my desktop! With the Google now widget), although it just hasn't been doing so.
Again, I'm sure this is more of a software issue than hardware, although was wondering if anyone else has been having similar frustrations, or has any solutions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing is happening to me. Nothing is showing up.
Google Now is slowly getting ruined. Only think that ever show now for me is packages, calendar, events, recipes, and time to work/home. They might as well deprecate it at this point and shut down the Newstand app as that's basically what Google Now is....now. Almost every story in Google now is the same thing in my Newstand.
AndrasLOHF said:
Google Now is slowly getting ruined. Only think that ever show now for me is packages, calendar, events, recipes, and time to work/home. They might as well deprecate it at this point and shut down the Newstand app as that's basically what Google Now is....now. Almost every story in Google now is the same thing in my Newstand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It used to be fantastic. I travel a ton and it would always keep track of all my flights or they were on time delays etcetera. Almost like a built-in travel assistant. All I needed was the flight information in my email that was sent to me at the time I book the flight. But for some reason I'm having trouble getting that.
The only work around I found so far is to click on the envelope looking icon at the top that shows upcoming events. This has given me better luck at showing the great stuff I used to see.
Same boat. It used to track my packages (through gmail).
It hasn't done that in a while though.
Yeah, same as above. I'm slowly moving things over to Outlook.
Might need to go with Google Trips to reliably get automatic importing of flight info from Gmail. I dislike how after opening up the Feed by swiping to left from home screen, I now have to click on that stupid icon on the upper right AND click it again on the bottom to get my personal info. Way too many clicks

Question Phone hacked detection

Good morning everyone,
I am not super tech savvy, and need some help. I truly believe that my phone is somehow hacked, here is the situation:
My significant other and I are going through a break up in court,
She seems to know what I am saying in real time, often mentioning in it later that day or the next day; She seems to know what I am google searching, and even possibly what photos I have taken.
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Could she have hired someone from the dark web or something and they have hacked or cloned my phone?
The program I have for security is Avast.
Is there anything I can do other than trading my fold 3 in for the fold 4 to completely gain confidence I am not being spied on? I know that she would go to any extreme to find out what I am doing, her whole family is schizo like that and I am really worried, I just want to have the piece of mind my phone is safe, and as of now I dont trust it, or anything else electronic in my house.
Any comments or suggestions are truly appreciated and welcomed.
Check Google account for any unauthorized logins.
Backup all critical data, remove Google and Samsung accounts from phone.
Factory reset from settings, then reset your Google account password. Done.
Be careful what you install and don't let others use the device or connect foreign flash drives to it. Do Not install or use trash sites like WhatsApp, FB, Tiktok, etc.
blackhawk said:
Check Google account for any unauthorized logins.
Backup all critical data, remove Google and Samsung accounts from phone.
Factory reset from settings, then reset your Google account password. Done.
Be careful what you install and don't let others use the device or connect foreign flash drives to it. Do Not install or use trash sites like WhatsApp, FB, Tiktok, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree completely with the recommendation that you do the factory reset. And if you have access to a laptop or computer-- or any other device: use a web browser to change Google and Samsung passwords. Also if you use any other email provider, chat apps change those passwords too.
eliniko said:
Good morning everyone,
I am not super tech savvy, and need some help. I truly believe that my phone is somehow hacked, here is the situation:
My significant other and I are going through a break up in court,
She seems to know what I am saying in real time, often mentioning in it later that day or the next day; She seems to know what I am google searching, and even possibly what photos I have taken.
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Could she have hired someone from the dark web or something and they have hacked or cloned my phone?
The program I have for security is Avast.
Is there anything I can do other than trading my fold 3 in for the fold 4 to completely gain confidence I am not being spied on? I know that she would go to any extreme to find out what I am doing, her whole family is schizo like that and I am really worried, I just want to have the piece of mind my phone is safe, and as of now I dont trust it, or anything else electronic in my house.
Any comments or suggestions are truly appreciated and welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree completely with the recommendation that you do the factory reset. And if you have access to a laptop or computer-- or any other device (not the phone in question): use a web browser to change Google and Samsung passwords. Also if you use any other email provider, chat apps change those passwords too.
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Yeah in this case I would say she definitely somehow has access to your Google account. Your best bet is to first go through and remove any recovery email / phone numbers you don't recognize from your account and then do a factory reset of your current device, if you want to go further you could reflash Android onto the device using ODIN but that does take some knowhow. Also check for any unrecognized apps on your device, as simply having access to your backups will not give her instant access to what you said so my best guess is that she has your passwords.
eliniko said:
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you receive any messages when in airplane mode?
eliniko said:
The program I have for security is Avast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can deinstall it. It's worthless.
WoKoschekk said:
You can deinstall it. It's worthless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, you can tell I dont know anything, can you tell me what program/app can scan my phone?
WoKoschekk said:
How do you receive any messages when in airplane mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they all come through in a flurry when I switch my phone back on. I turn it on in airplane mode when I have my son with me, this is what I am most concerned about is she is spying on me for.
eliniko said:
thanks, you can tell I dont know anything, can you tell me what program/app can scan my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brain.exe! An anti virus app compares your installed packages (apps) with a black list on its home server. Is there a match => show a warning screen. The problem here is that it's no problem to install a package with a random generated name (Magisk users should know what I mean). So you have no chance to detect it. And that's only one method to bypass your anti virus.
Afraid of unknown apps? Check your installed apps either in your device settings or by checking the folder /data/app which is accessible without root permissions. Every app for Android has to store its APK in this directory or otherwise it is not executable.
Apart from that a Google account must be secured by at least 2FA. This is the minimum to secure your data. Find it in your Google settings. There is also listed which devices are currently logged in.
Messenger apps can't be installed with your account on 2 or more different devices without a warning or without being uninstalled on the first device. Additionally you need a verification for that which will be sent to your mobile no.
Spying on a device also means permanent data traffic. Did you check your device settings if any app shows irregular high data traffic?
eliniko said:
Good morning everyone,
I am not super tech savvy, and need some help. I truly believe that my phone is somehow hacked, here is the situation:
My significant other and I are going through a break up in court,
She seems to know what I am saying in real time, often mentioning in it later that day or the next day; She seems to know what I am google searching, and even possibly what photos I have taken.
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Could she have hired someone from the dark web or something and they have hacked or cloned my phone?
The program I have for security is Avast.
Is there anything I can do other than trading my fold 3 in for the fold 4 to completely gain confidence I am not being spied on? I know that she would go to any extreme to find out what I am doing, her whole family is schizo like that and I am really worried, I just want to have the piece of mind my phone is safe, and as of now I dont trust it, or anything else electronic in my house.
Any comments or suggestions are truly appreciated and welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. A friend of mine went through something similar. His ex had connections to email accounts and online messaging accounts by password spoofing and other means and might have had some help knowing what passwords he used or like to use. He was alerted of random locations of unauthorized access to gmail and yahoo many many times, he sent them to me along with other chat messages from things she wouldn't know unless she or someone was watching him. I believed his vehicle or phone had been tracked by gps but we never found anything. His ex knew stuff that didn't make sense and where he was were as if he was being watched, and I'm also positive he was being watched. They were living together during court for a 3 months and then separated. I told him to stop using all the online chats, reset phone and change passwords. And he did, but he was still being tracked. I said either they put in some gps tracking device like an apple air tag or cheap gps tracker or a recording device somewhere or had someone watching him. I told him to buy a temp phone with new number and he did and communicate with only a handful of people he 100% trusted and left his main phone at home most of time until the court stuff was over. He thought she had connections to a law enforcement detective. I said anything is possible. Talk about being paranoid. I went through most of it with him. He also bought a new computer and after a new phone and trading in his car, yes, he did all three. I thought he shouldn't have to go that far but there was a lot crazy stuff going that didn't make sense. So after he did those things and also got a secure place of his own, and bought video cameras for his car and house, she went completely was clueless...but also turned crazy agitated and annoying. There's so much more but its amazing what lengths some people will go to on both ends.
Oh I forgot to add she or someone had attached random different emails to two of his accounts for backup emails. He sent me pictures. I believe that is for an alternative login and forget password. So even if you changed it she could still get access. So check that too!
Do you have separate phone accounts or on the same plan? Hopefully separate or she could be accessing your mobile account.
Is she using Android or iPhone?
You can care or not care about it, but I say do what makes you feel safe and comfortable.
Definitely start with what Blackhawk wrote!
I'm so sorry to ramble on, your post just made me think of that and all the horrible stuff she did to my friend.
One day at a time my friend, it will get better!
I wish you the best of luck!
defcondoc said:
I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. A friend of mine went through something similar. His ex had connections to email accounts and online messaging accounts by password spoofing and other means and might have had some help knowing what passwords he used or like to use. He was alerted of random locations of unauthorized access to gmail and yahoo many many times, he sent them to me along with other chat messages from things she wouldn't know unless she or someone was watching him. I believed his vehicle or phone had been tracked by gps but we never found anything. His ex knew stuff that didn't make sense and where he was were as if he was being watched, and I'm also positive he was being watched. They were living together during court for a 3 months and then separated. I told him to stop using all the online chats, reset phone and change passwords. And he did, but he was still being tracked. I said either they put in some gps tracking device like an apple air tag or cheap gps tracker or a recording device somewhere or had someone watching him. I told him to buy a temp phone with new number and he did and communicate with only a handful of people he 100% trusted and left his main phone at home most of time until the court stuff was over. He thought she had connections to a law enforcement detective. I said anything is possible. Talk about being paranoid. I went through most of it with him. He also bought a new computer and after a new phone and trading in his car, yes, he did all three. I thought he shouldn't have to go that far but there was a lot crazy stuff going that didn't make sense. So after he did those things and also got a secure place of his own, and bought video cameras for his car and house, she went completely was clueless...but also turned crazy agitated and annoying. There's so much more but its amazing what lengths some people will go to on both ends.
Oh I forgot to add she or someone had attached random different emails to two of his accounts for backup emails. He sent me pictures. I believe that is for an alternative login and forget password. So even if you changed it she could still get access. So check that too!
Do you have separate phone accounts or on the same plan? Hopefully separate or she could be accessing your mobile account.
Is she using Android or iPhone?
You can care or not care about it, but I say do what makes you feel safe and comfortable.
Definitely start with what Blackhawk wrote!
I'm so sorry to ramble on, your post just made me think of that and all the horrible stuff she did to my friend.
One day at a time my friend, it will get better!
I wish you the best of luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this is exactly happening to me. I believe she has seen photos either from google photos or on my phone, although I dont know how she could access, as well as a critical timeline of texts have just disappeared, I have no idea how to recover them, only her texts on the text app on the fold 3 phone have disappeared, a 2 month block of our conversations, I dont know how to e tthem back, I tried reinstalling my back up, but those messages are gone, even in my samsung back up and google back up, any idea how I could have my phone professionally recover those messages, i am willing to pay whatever amount, i really need those messages for court.....any ideas? I will pay for someone to try...
What happened was, she had my phone for like an hour (before the breakup) and I noticed days later those messages gone, then came the break up, seperation, court order, etc.....it is a true nightmare that was thought out by her. I know her brother stalked his girlfriend with a gps tracker, broke into her email, facebook, etc, so i know she used his know how to do the same.
Any ideas on how to ge tthose messages back? I would be extremely grateful to get those...
You should not forget that this person was part of your life for a long time. She knows a lot of your habits in daily life and there are a lot of people knowing both of you. One of them might see you somewhere and the next day this person meets your Ex and they talk about it. You can get a lot of information about a person even without having access to his/her mobile phone, accounts and so on. Sometimes you only see what you want ro see. Especially in such a challenging situation like a separation. Often you realized it by yourself when some time is passed and you have enough distance to it.
eliniko said:
Thanks, this is exactly happening to me. I believe she has seen photos either from google photos or on my phone, although I dont know how she could access, as well as a critical timeline of texts have just disappeared, I have no idea how to recover them, only her texts on the text app on the fold 3 phone have disappeared, a 2 month block of our conversations, I dont know how to e tthem back, I tried reinstalling my back up, but those messages are gone, even in my samsung back up and google back up, any idea how I could have my phone professionally recover those messages, i am willing to pay whatever amount, i really need those messages for court.....any ideas? I will pay for someone to try...
What happened was, she had my phone for like an hour (before the breakup) and I noticed days later those messages gone, then came the break up, seperation, court order, etc.....it is a true nightmare that was thought out by her. I know her brother stalked his girlfriend with a gps tracker, broke into her email, facebook, etc, so i know she used his know how to do the same.
Any ideas on how to ge tthose messages back? I would be extremely grateful to get those...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh ha, now this is definitely making more sense. So the actual SMS MMS text app? Only way to get messages back aside from a backup would be from the carrier, AFIK. I believe there is android recovery software that may be able to recover deleted messages.
defcondoc said:
Ahh ha, now this is definitely making more sense. So the actual SMS MMS text app? Only way to get messages back aside from a backup would be from the carrier, AFIK. I believe there is android recovery software that may be able to recover deleted messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the SMS. I would have no idea how to contact them, I had Infinity at the time that the texts were sent, so would they even have those texts?
eliniko said:
Yes, the SMS. I would have no idea how to contact them, I had Infinity at the time that the texts were sent, so would they even have those texts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I don't know Infinity, but I believe you would need to open a case with them and file a court order with other carriers. I would give them a call and ask technical support and customer relations on how you would go about getting those back. Do you have date and time when they were sent? They might need that specific information. Your attorney may have experience with this.
defcondoc said:
I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. A friend of mine went through something similar. His ex had connections to email accounts and online messaging accounts by password spoofing and other means and might have had some help knowing what passwords he used or like to use. He was alerted of random locations of unauthorized access to gmail and yahoo many many times, he sent them to me along with other chat messages from things she wouldn't know unless she or someone was watching him. I believed his vehicle or phone had been tracked by gps but we never found anything. His ex knew stuff that didn't make sense and where he was were as if he was being watched, and I'm also positive he was being watched. They were living together during court for a 3 months and then separated. I told him to stop using all the online chats, reset phone and change passwords. And he did, but he was still being tracked. I said either they put in some gps tracking device like an apple air tag or cheap gps tracker or a recording device somewhere or had someone watching him. I told him to buy a temp phone with new number and he did and communicate with only a handful of people he 100% trusted and left his main phone at home most of time until the court stuff was over. He thought she had connections to a law enforcement detective. I said anything is possible. Talk about being paranoid. I went through most of it with him. He also bought a new computer and after a new phone and trading in his car, yes, he did all three. I thought he shouldn't have to go that far but there was a lot crazy stuff going that didn't make sense. So after he did those things and also got a secure place of his own, and bought video cameras for his car and house, she went completely was clueless...but also turned crazy agitated and annoying. There's so much more but its amazing what lengths some people will go to on both ends.
Oh I forgot to add she or someone had attached random different emails to two of his accounts for backup emails. He sent me pictures. I believe that is for an alternative login and forget password. So even if you changed it she could still get access. So check that too!
Do you have separate phone accounts or on the same plan? Hopefully separate or she could be accessing your mobile account.
Is she using Android or iPhone?
You can care or not care about it, but I say do what makes you feel safe and comfortable.
Definitely start with what Blackhawk wrote!
I'm so sorry to ramble on, your post just made me think of that and all the horrible stuff she did to my friend.
One day at a time my friend, it will get better!
I wish you the best of luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop goofing around with the runt and play hardball. Let the pros handle it. They have tools and methods that would make your head spin like Linda Blair.
&
Gps tracking device on car or other personal belonging. Relax. Sit back and look at the clues, find the cause(s), plug the leaks. Better yet, let the FBI build a case and do as directed... federal crimes will put someone deep in the hurt locker.
You could actually use this situation to your advantage, for a while, you could email/text things that would really make her happy/sad/angry/jealous etc when bored with that do the above wipe recommendations!
eliniko said:
Good morning everyone,
I am not super tech savvy, and need some help. I truly believe that my phone is somehow hacked, here is the situation:
My significant other and I are going through a break up in court,
She seems to know what I am saying in real time, often mentioning in it later that day or the next day; She seems to know what I am google searching, and even possibly what photos I have taken.
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Could she have hired someone from the dark web or something and they have hacked or cloned my phone?
The program I have for security is Avast.
Is there anything I can do other than trading my fold 3 in for the fold 4 to completely gain confidence I am not being spied on? I know that she would go to any extreme to find out what I am doing, her whole family is schizo like that and I am really worried, I just want to have the piece of mind my phone is safe, and as of now I dont trust it, or anything else electronic in my house.
Any comments or suggestions are truly appreciated and welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The likelihood of your phone being hacked is really quite low. if you're truly concerned however, factory reset your phone, start from scratch, don't restore backups.
The main thing I'm certain you need to do is go and change all of your account passwords. If the account offers it, tell it to "force sign out everywhere"
Turn on 2 factor authentication, ideally not using a phone or email that she would know about.
Start here:
Account settings: Your browser is not supported.
myaccount.google.com
What to do if an unknown sign in or hacking attempt is found
FAQ for Samsung mobile devices. Find more about Continue watching videos after leaving Samsung TV Plus with Samsung Support
www.samsung.com
Goes without saying, go change facebook passwords, twitter, all your socials. change everything.
eliniko said:
Good morning everyone,
I am not super tech savvy, and need some help. I truly believe that my phone is somehow hacked, here is the situation:
My significant other and I are going through a break up in court,
She seems to know what I am saying in real time, often mentioning in it later that day or the next day; She seems to know what I am google searching, and even possibly what photos I have taken.
When I put my phone in airplane mode a few times, I could tell, even though she would have no idea that I put it in airplane mode, she freaked out by texting me repeatedly as if she was trying to get me to respond to pick up my signal or something.
Could she have hired someone from the dark web or something and they have hacked or cloned my phone?
The program I have for security is Avast.
Is there anything I can do other than trading my fold 3 in for the fold 4 to completely gain confidence I am not being spied on? I know that she would go to any extreme to find out what I am doing, her whole family is schizo like that and I am really worried, I just want to have the piece of mind my phone is safe, and as of now I dont trust it, or anything else electronic in my house.
Any comments or suggestions are truly appreciated and welcomed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should change your phone and SIM card?

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