AVG AntiVirus: useful? or useless? - Xperia Z3 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

what do you folks think? it scans everything i install from the Play Store -- but seemingly only AFTER it's been installed. and really, if i only install from the Play Store, is there even a point?

AM Radio said:
what do you folks think? it scans everything i install from the Play Store -- but seemingly only AFTER it's been installed. and really, if i only install from the Play Store, is there even a point?
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I say all antiviruses on android are pointless. Android isn't really affected by viruses to be honest. If there are viruses, it would be on your memory card and you need a pc for that. This is my opinion though. Never had any viruses on any of the androids i've owned so far
Sent from my Compact Beast The Third.

found this review
http://uk.pcmag.com/avg-antivirus-s...2/review/avg-antivirus-security-4-for-android
reviewer was not that impressed

The secret is that android itself is a virus, it makes its users crave updates and they begin to dribble, get irritated and have arguments when they see possible new features on the horizon.
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Premium HD app

Imo you only need a virus scanner if you have realy no idea what you are doing and have the check mark "install untrusted apk" in security settings set .or you use a 3rd party app store. I think it is safe to assume that Google checks their app market for obscure apps.
When installing a new app just check the properties it may use, e.g. a background image supplier app should have no need to dail numbers or send texts, use your personal information etc.
Other than that, the avg supplied is bloatware / scareware and just a trail for 30 days.
I have the worst virus scanner on my PC (ms secueity essentials) it gives the impression of blocking the really bad stuff but doesn't eat all your resources as eg avg or McAfee does.
As long if you know the differents between a softonic installer and the real application you are fine

Cut the crap y'all. See the professional analysis here http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/mobile-devices/android/january-2015/ and decide for yourself.
(I'm on Eset Mobile Security, for almost a year, never disappointed me http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus.../eset-mobile-security-&-antivirus-3.0-150113/)
Sent from my D5833 using XDA Free mobile app

Hiya,
I guess its debatable like task killer?
it really depends on what is defined as "anti virus" and what is "trusted"
are popular social network apps trustable? =p

ultimatsz said:
Hiya,
I guess its debatable like task killer?
it really depends on what is defined as "anti virus" and what is "trusted"
are popular social network apps trustable? =p
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Task Killers are NOT debatable, Google gave an official and final response years ago by explaining how memory management works on Android. I have a task killer, but I only use it manually to kill certain apps, not to free memory aka RAM but to prevent high CPU usage.
Anti-Viruses are always reviewed by the professionals, see the links I posted above.
Nothing on the Internet is trustable. Haven't you heard of NSA's PRISM program and other related stuffs exposed by Whistle-blower; Edward Snowden?
Sent from my D5833 using XDA Free mobile app

I have this on my phone, tho has never found anything apart from a settings warning 'apps from unknown sources'
which I ignore tbh

asab1 said:
I have this on my phone, tho has never found anything apart from a settings warning 'apps from unknown sources'
which I ignore tbh
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That's because Android malware are still rare and it's a warning because most users are novice users.
Sent from my D5833 using XDA Free mobile app

So based on the replies here... when im watching porn on my android, and i receive a pop up window stating "WARNING A VIRUS HAS BEEN DETECTED ON YOUR ANDROID DEVICE" .... there is no actual virus or malware/spyware? This isnt a troll question... i swear lol. And we all do it, quit judging me haha.

DaryllSwer said:
Anti-Viruses are always reviewed by the professionals, see the links I posted above.
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Click to collapse
Define "PROFESSIONAL"
Any normal person knows by now, that many internet professionals are helpless when facing real problems.
And BTW, I am a *real* professional, the smartest of the smartest because my mother told me so.
---------- Post added at 09:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------
M04RT3 said:
So based on the replies here... when im watching porn on my android, and i receive a pop up window stating "WARNING A VIRUS HAS BEEN DETECTED ON YOUR ANDROID DEVICE" .... there is no actual virus or malware/spyware? This isnt a troll question... i swear lol. And we all do it, quit judging me haha.
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When you click OK, things may start happening. Google "stagefright".
However, if you have all the security patches, the risk is low.
And then again, the real viruses are something that anti-virus programs do nothing about. If you are important enough, your camera, your mic will be monitored despite of all the anti-viruses you would like to install.
You do not need to use anti-virus software, if you use Google Browser with warnings enabled, if you have disabled MMS and if you do not install programs outside of Google Play.

bookworth said:
Define "PROFESSIONAL"
Any normal person knows by now, that many internet professionals are helpless when facing real problems.
And BTW, I am a *real* professional, the smartest of the smartest because my mother told me so.
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Av-Test is a reputable organisation. Whether you consider them 'professional' or not is none of my concern. Have fun running an 'antivirus' app on Android. I'm done here.
http://www.av-test.org/en/about-the-institute

DaryllSwer said:
Av-Test is a reputable organisation. Whether you consider them 'professional' or not is none of my concern. Have fun running an 'antivirus' app on Android. I'm done here.
http://www.av-test.org/en/about-the-institute
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Yes, they are reputable. And the results can be bought like with many German based reputable organizations. Like VW, Auto-Build (tyre-reviews) or (Bundesliga match making scandal).
The problem is not whether android phones need antivirus programs. Mostly they dont't. The problem however is if you can blindly believe organizations because they are "professionals".
And please, be done, don't reply, fly away, "captain".

Related

iPhone Style Web browser for WM

Since M$ is taking their sweet @$$ time releasing Deepfish I started looking for a Web Browser that acted like the iPhone. My search resulted with this video . Like what you see? then use this file to make it a reality.
Just a quick note, this program doesn't do an auto connect to your data connection if it's not currently active. You'll have to activate it manually form the Connections Tab under "Settings."
I think it's called Picsel Browser...
raftbone said:
I think it's called Picsel Browser...[/QUthanks, found it! Posted it in the first post.
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Bad news. Picsel browser has been licensed only for use with Samsung devices... :-(
raftbone said:
Bad news. Picsel browser has been licensed only for use with Samsung devices... :-(
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Well don't tell my Wing that, because it thinks it's a Samsung!
And it's illegal to share that file since it's considered in "Warez" category.
(Like i care, i've every kind of "warez" installed, hehe)
Nomadturk said:
And it's illegal to share that file since it's considered in "Warez" category.
(Like i care, i've every kind of "warez" installed, hehe)
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Is it really? What's the difference between this file (which isn't available as a stand alone product for sale) and all the other things that gets posted on here? I'm not arguing with you, I just want to know for sure what constitutes as warez and what doesn't.
can't wait to try this. They should sell this it looks pretty nice. Sad they are only into licensing to specific companies.
I installed it and Im getting an error message that says Unable to connect to the server. Anybody else have any issues?
Works perfectly on my p4350 with TouchFlo 1.1 on it.
Official Wing testing will be conducted t-minus 45 minutes
Allright. Works perfect on my wing.
Running Touchflo 1.1.
AWEEEESOMMEEEEE
falconeyez said:
Is it really? What's the difference between this file (which isn't available as a stand alone product for sale) and all the other things that gets posted on here? I'm not arguing with you, I just want to know for sure what constitutes as warez and what doesn't.
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Well, correct me if i'm wrong but as much as i know, distribution of this program is not legal since it's a products specially coded for/by Samsung. Picsel Browser is not being distributed freely, is it? So, sharing this program is illegal which puts this program in to "warez" status. It's not that a software is warez only when you share a crack or serial along with the release.
As the definition says:
Warez is a derivative for the plural form of the word "software" meaning copyrighted material traded in violation of its copyright license. The term generally refers to releases by organized groups, as opposed to peer-to-peer file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar interest using a Darknet. It normally does not refer to commercial for-profit piracy.
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Therefore, sharing this software makes it "warez" since we're violating it's copyright rules.
This is my humble opinion about the matter.
this is a nice program but since development of this program has not been extended to cover windows mobile there are many problems with this browser. My biggest issue with this application when I initially tried it a while back was that it had trouble with forms and authenticating web pages, made it quite difficult to log into some sites. Used as a pdf reader, picture viewer, browsing blogs, and viewing various files it is quite a remarkable program considering how long ago it came out. Would definately sign a petition to get this up and running again...
Definitely a neat program! It works fast and convenient. It's true that a lot of html gets screwed up, forms and frames and scripts won't always run as they're supposed to but.. I don't think microsofts standard mobile solution in wm6 is much better on that front. This thing makes webbrowsing fun on mobile phones, I can't say that for Pocket IE.
I do however get this cube thing all the time while playing with sites and images.. strangest thing ever
JLine05 said:
I installed it and Im getting an error message that says Unable to connect to the server. Anybody else have any issues?
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Yeah, the problem there is that this web browser doesn't do an auto connect to your data service. You'll have to launch it manually (Start Menu-Settings-Connections Tab-Connections-Manage Connections-then highlight your data connection and select connect). Hope this helps
Memory Hog
Running it on an 8125 (Wizard) WM5. App over all works great but man is it a ram memory hog. I can start with 15 or 17 mb and after a few minutes of searching the web I am getting messages say to free up some memory so it can proceed. I check it in settings and I am down to 1 or 2%. WOW!! No other programs running in the task manager. Great program just wish it didn't suck the resources dry.....
CG
I wish I had a memory card, Im totally out of memory.
curious george said:
Running it on an 8125 (Wizard) WM5. App over all works great but man is it a ram memory hog. I can start with 15 or 17 mb and after a few minutes of searching the web I am getting messages say to free up some memory so it can proceed. I check it in settings and I am down to 1 or 2%. WOW!! No other programs running in the task manager. Great program just wish it didn't suck the resources dry.....
CG
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I'm running it on My Herald. I get "our of memory" too. It would be great if there was a way to set the cache to the storage card,
btw. great way for panning and scanning pictures, just wish file browser had thumbnails.
Tyler, you don't have a mem card, these microSD cards is DIRT cheap!! If you can afford the phone and not the card, then maybe someone should donate you one since you're doing such good work for all of us with the ROMS...

Petition to rid the market if Khalid Shaikh's apps!

I browse the market every day and I see this guy putting apps that consistently get low reviews. His highest ranking app is 3 stars. He spams the market with apps that are overpriced photo galleries that show pics and play sounds of one specific thing. I think we should help him get the message that his high refund/low ranking rates are not giving him. Please reply if you agree that his apps need to stop spamming the market. If you have not tried one yet, look here. I am not doing this to be mean, but he needs to be told not to quit his day job.
Where's the option for "No. I dislike spam apps, but I hate censorship more." ?
So if his apps were malicious would you vote to have them removed? Do you feel spam filters on email are censorship? They fill your box with junk in hopes of making a few dollars off of you. I am against censorship but his apps are rediculous.
So if his apps were malicious would you vote to have them removed?
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There are rules in place for the Market in regards to malicious apps. There would be no need to vote because the gatekeepers of the Market have already said malicious apps would be removed.
Do you feel spam filters on email are censorship?
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Of course not. The key difference is who gets to decide what is removed. With a spam filter, each user gets to decide whether he wants to see content or not. Any system that removes apps from the Market (that aren't infringing the basic rules as stated above) without your knowledge and consent is basically censorship, whether the decision is made by ten people at Google or a hundred people on xda-dev.
Not if your email provider passes your email through spamhaus you dont. Also I would ****LOVE**** to have a configureable filter but I doubt we will. As an acceptable alternative, I would like for consistantly low rated and highly returned items to be removed. Guess what walmart does if a product gets returned 80% of the time it is sold. Do they ask you?
Also, I am not trying to start a fight with anyone, just stating my view on the subject.
Darkrift said:
Also, I am not trying to start a fight with anyone, just stating my view on the subject.
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I don't care to start a fight either; I'm just pointing out that what you are proposing is a path down a slippery slope, and it generally goes against the "open participation" ethos of Android. You should also keep in mind that one person's junk may be another mans treasure. Would I ever buy one of Khalid's lame $5 joke apps (literally, they're joke books!)? No probably not. That doesn't mean that someone else might not want it.
Edit: Just as an example, back in the early days of Market before developers could geotarget the regions for distribution, some Chinese developers put up some app whose interface was completely Chinese. I think it was a Chinese input method or a frontend for a Chinese website. Regardless, the ignorant fresh T-Mobile masses downloaded it, didn't understand what it was for, and then promptly uninstalled it and rated it zero stars. If you do a filtering system based on ratings, you are giving every uninformed ignoramus an equal say in whether an app is allowed to stay or go.
The Markets sucks! It needs the possibility for user to set their own filter
e.g.
dont show apps publiced by Khalid Shaikh! lower than 2stars, more expensive than x$ and so on..
only show apps of a specifig language (e.g. for traffic,taxi,bus,tv gadgets..)
sort for recently updated and so on .. that's what the market app really needs!
bassbox said:
The Markets sucks! It needs the possibility for user to set their own filter
e.g.
dont show apps publiced by Khalid Shaikh! lower than 2stars, more expensive than x$ and so on..
only show apps of a specifig language (e.g. for traffic,taxi,bus,tv gadgets..)
sort for recently updated and so on .. that's what the market app really needs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the market app needs customizable local (meaning on a user's own device) filters. That will partially solve the problem of crap apps littering the marketplace. However, I think overhauling Market client is low on the Google Android team's priority list. Unfortunately since it is a proprietary closed source app, there is no way for the dev community to take the matter into its own hands.
You would think that the king of searching would have some sort of decent searching on their own platform..
jashsu said:
Yes, the market app needs customizable local (meaning on a user's own device) filters. That will partially solve the problem of crap apps littering the marketplace. However, I think overhauling Market client is low on the Google Android team's priority list. Unfortunately since it is a proprietary closed source app, there is no way for the dev community to take the matter into its own hands.
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I am planning on developing an interface to the Market which allows for custom filters. I have a prototype Yahoo Pipe, which uses Cyrket to display Market data and allow simple filters. Basically, I can filter out apps that have certain words in the title, are from a certain developer (or more than one), or are below a certain rating threshold.
I will have to agree though on the statement about censorship. While it is true that his apps may be without any true merit, I do not believe that they are (or he is) breaking any of the Market rules or developer agreements. Unfortunately, as we've seen in the the "free" market and the iPhone AppStore, people are willing to download and even spend money on useless apps. I think as long as there is a market for this type of app we will continue to see them. Now, unfortunately that means we all have to deal with him, his apps, and others like him and his apps until either the Market allows for better filtering/sorting or a developer creates this for the community... It is much needed nonetheless.
nEx.Software said:
I am planning on developing an interface to the Market which allows for custom filters. I have a prototype Yahoo Pipe, which uses Cyrket to display Market data and allow simple filters. Basically, I can filter out apps that have certain words in the title, are from a certain developer (or more than one), or are below a certain rating threshold.
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thats awesome. if its anything like BarTor its going to be good
nEx.Software said:
I am planning on developing an interface to the Market which allows for custom filters. I have a prototype Yahoo Pipe, which uses Cyrket to display Market data and allow simple filters. Basically, I can filter out apps that have certain words in the title, are from a certain developer (or more than one), or are below a certain rating threshold.
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Click to collapse
That's good to hear. What I meant is that the actual Market App itself cannot be modified to work the way we want it to. While being able to display Market data with filtering on a PC is nice, the bulk majority of users are still going to be suffering the standard Market app interface.
Unfortunately, as we've seen in the the "free" market and the iPhone AppStore, people are willing to download and even spend money on useless apps. I think as long as there is a market for this type of app we will continue to see them. Now, unfortunately that means we all have to deal with him, his apps, and others like him
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There will be more, that much I can assure you. As the Android platform grows, there will be more opportunist developers seeking to make a quick buck. It really is like spam. You throw a line out and because digital publishing is free, anything you get back is profit. There is basically no monetary risk involved in creating and distributing crapware. Atleast we won't have to suffer iPhone's idiotic ninety-nine cent "custom" name dialers. Although the number of soundboards posted daily is reaching dangerous limits...
I intend to make it an Android app. While it won't be a permanent fix,it might be what is needed to get Google moving on updates to the official Market app.
Anyway, on another note. I haven't looked at any one of the apps in question but I would venture a guess that they are in violation of copyright laws and as we have seen with the Tetris clones, Google does take action on matters of copyright. Maybe the best recourse then is to inform this developer of the copyright issues either directly or through Google.
?
Frankly i can't agree with having a dev (does this word really apply in this case) removed from the market for producing crap. However i am completely in favour of spamming his inbox with as much crap as i can possibly manage just to see how he likes it. Free porn search here i come!
Anyone wants to help it's --EMAIL REMOVED-- Yes this is a very childish response but i'm pissed with having to sift through his crap every morning, i think it's only fair!
Ideally google can resolve this issue by allowing to create a list of blocked developers. And the ability to block any apps containing the word soundboard would make my day
nEx.Software an app that was basically cryket.com for the android would be awesome. What would really be sweet was if it had an independant comment system that was filterable as well. So we could ban commenters based on their username, words, etc... Filtering by ratings, developer, keywords, etc.. I love it already. Just link the products to their entries in the market. Basically, cryket for the android with comments... I CAN HAZ IT NOW PLZ K?
Also, I'd love to add IndiaNIC, LLC to the filter list. I'm sure *someone* out there likes that they're putting out 300 e-books about India a day, but I'm sure tired of scrolling past them.
The last thing I'd want is to see rigorous policing on the Android Market. He's spreading expensive crapware but I'm sure people are buying it and I'm sure some actually enjoyed it. I don't think removing his apps from the market is the best solution, keep the market as free from censorship as possible if you ask me.
I think the best solution is market search filters as discussed above.
I agree, the ability to "ignore" certain developers would be nice. The new developer I would instantly add to this list would be IndiaNIC, LLC. or whatever the hell they are called. They have about 40 apps on the market, and I don't think a single one has a comment.
/if anyone affiliated with IndiaNIC, LLC reads this, no offense, but please get the message when nobody is buying what you're selling
The more I think about it, the more I realize a filter would be a better idea than removing junk from the market. While I do not agree that anyone will find his apps useful, I do see the point in letting them choose. But at the same time we should be able to choose not to see his crap. As for IndiaNIC, I disagree with placing them in the same category. They have products with good ratings and seem to be making at least SOME useful apps. While I agree they put out too many at once, they seem to have a market for their apps unlike Khalid Shaikh.
Still, a filter would be better for all. I wish I could edit the poll now to add that as an option
ryan75 said:
/if anyone affiliated with IndiaNIC, LLC reads this, no offense, but please get the message when nobody is buying what you're selling
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Spammers don't need to "get the message"! They know exactly what they are selling (junk). The whole point is they are trying to make a quick buck. And in the immortal words of P.T. Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute."
Nevermind the fact that all of those texts can be downloaded for free from manybooks or feedbooks and then read on FBReaderJ...

Anti-Virus for WP7

Being certified by Microsoft and specializing in Internet security, I know that Windows is the most targeted operating system for viruses, trojans, malware etc. Surely there must be an anti-virus by now for WP7.
After doing a search in the Market Place I didnt find any. There were anti-virus applications for WM6x, Iphone, Android and even Symbian but what about WP7. My guess is it wont be long before we need some sort of anti-virus protection for our devices. Picture this, you see a nice application from an independent website which wets your whistle. You install it by Toms Xap installer and your phone goes off. You try to restart but it refuses. The boot screen comes up with a message saying you are a victim of a virus which has now rendered your phone into a very expensive paper weight. It is possible and installing Xap applications through Toms Xap installer makes us even more exposed to malicious applications. WP7 Market Place scans applications and games to make sure you are protected. I'm not trying to scare people here so please dont get me wrong but I am trying to open peoples eyes and urge you to be cautious when installing applications which are not from WP7 Market Place or Xda.
I thought I would create this threat for the Xda community to share their views on this.
Personally I wont bother, its up to the users. Its all documented on Google.
see here: http://www.techgazing.com/2010/01/11/do-i-need-an-anti-virus-for-my-phone/
Russ
I would have to say that is a very interesting read. Nothing in there were mentioned about WP7. All I am saying is to be careful. That article claims there are 420 mobile phone viruses and most targeted is Symbian. This is because Symbian have been out longer than Android, Iphone and WM. Symbian certainly bought out more phones over the years so this would explain why they were targeted.
The case where the anti-virus company actually had a virus and passed it on through updates was shocking. That should never have happened and was very negligent of the anti-virus company.
Although people may think it will never happen to them, for the occasional few it does. People take out mobile phone insurance but how any people claim insurance? Why pay money for insurance when you dont take measures to backup your data and protect your device?
The internet is full of traps and data collecting nasties and you never can be sure that what ever you are downloading is 100% safe. Dont you think better to be safe than sorry should be a moto well remembered?
What you are missing is the fact that WP7 apps run completely sandboxed - they cannot reach out of their own little world.
Sure, installing a homebrew app which includes native code may circumvent this but I'd say that's the risk you take when geeking around with your phone
I think an antivirus-software is a totally useless investion of money for now.
You say, windows is the most targetted OS for viruses. Yeah, for sure, because most of people use it.
But its another thing if you look onto the mobile operating systems. The users are spread in 3-4 groups there: WM, Android, iOS and maybe the Blackberry OS.
So the virus-programmers need to choose first, for which platform they are going to write some malicious code. They are never gonna hit that much users as they would hit with Windows for Desktop.
I never heard of any popular virus for any mobilephone including WM-phones.
Secondly, WP7 is a totally new OS. For now, the count of people using this OS is way lower than that of Android and iOS - Users.
So why should hackers choose WP7 especially now as their victim?
My opinion for my last 5 years of using mobile operating systems is: You dont need it.
You have the same ability for sideloading apps with android and iOS too for now and they are much longer on the market than the new WP7 and I never heard of any viruses.
Anti-virus software is a complete waste of money, i dont use it on any of my 3 windows computers or any phones...
mideel said:
I never heard of any popular virus for any mobilephone including WM-phones.
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Norton and Kaperski have both had anti-virus on Symbian and WM
scbrother said:
Anti-virus software is a complete waste of money, i dont use it on any of my 3 windows computers or any phones...
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OMG are you trying to commit online suicide lol
AndHD2 said:
Norton and Kaperski have both had anti-virus on Symbian and WM
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read my post again. I didnt mean anti-virus-software, I meant viruses!
mideel said:
read my post again. I didnt mean anti-virus-software, I meant viruses!
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I think I had a Homer Simpson moment then.....Duh lol
i do not think antivirus on Phone is necessary. it will rather slow down stuff.
There is only 1 (ONE) existing virus for WM 6.x. Funny enough it was created by Kaspersky in order to demonstrate that viruses are possible and ppl should install AV software
Viruses for WP7 are almost useless as apps are completely sandboxed. Same thing with iOS. Only Android offers enough freedom for malicious code and then again only if rooted.
AndHD2 said:
Being certified by Microsoft and specializing in Internet security, I know that Windows is the most targeted operating system for viruses, trojans, malware etc. Surely there must be an anti-virus by now for WP7.
After doing a search in the Market Place I didnt find any. There were anti-virus applications for WM6x, Iphone, Android and even Symbian but what about WP7. My guess is it wont be long before we need some sort of anti-virus protection for our devices. Picture this, you see a nice application from an independent website which wets your whistle. You install it by Toms Xap installer and your phone goes off. You try to restart but it refuses. The boot screen comes up with a message saying you are a victim of a virus which has now rendered your phone into a very expensive paper weight. It is possible and installing Xap applications through Toms Xap installer makes us even more exposed to malicious applications. WP7 Market Place scans applications and games to make sure you are protected. I'm not trying to scare people here so please dont get me wrong but I am trying to open peoples eyes and urge you to be cautious when installing applications which are not from WP7 Market Place or Xda.
I thought I would create this threat for the Xda community to share their views on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently the certificate and specialization doesn't help much when there is lack of reading. Sorry, you've started your post with that sentence and it only makes you look silly.
If you've read even ONE review of this OS you'd realize that it lacks multitasking! That saidb there is no possibility (yet) of an application (AV) running in the background to check files/processes. Besides this OS is so closed you can't even download unsupported files! Today I couldn't download a simple .rar archive - it said that WP7 doesn't support this filetype
As for sideloading applications it's not officially supported by MS so it's just one of the "risks" advanced users need to cope with as Microsoft is checking each application before posting it on the marketplace. Plus the applications written are all in managed code and we don't even have access to system functions. Even simple functions like reading the battery percentage are unsupported.
So there is technically an extremely low risk of viruses in this pretty much closed OS.
I can't imagine AV's impact on already poor battery performance on HD2 WM7.
P$YCH0 said:
Apparently the certificate and specialization doesn't help much when there is lack of reading. Sorry, you've started your post with that sentence and it only makes you look silly.
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Agreed. And most of us are used to flashing a new ROM every week, which is all you'd really need to do to recover from a 'virus'. I'm struggling to see what the danger is, especially on WP7.
Poor battery performance?
iBimmer said:
I can't imagine AV's impact on already poor battery performance on HD2 WM7.
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What exactly are you doing to cause poor battery performance with WP7 on your HD2? It is probably the best battery life I have had on my phone other than an energy rom.
whycali said:
What exactly are you doing to cause poor battery performance with WP7 on your HD2? It is probably the best battery life I have had on my phone other than an energy rom.
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i think most ppl who say something about poor battery perfomance on wp7 hd2 never used push mail on their phones
whats more likely is that you get a virus on you PC that trashes your phone on flash.
ah the good old days when virus wiped BIOSs and totally ruined your day.
I think its highly unlikely anything could happn on the device its self for the reasons mentioned above, worst case you could hard reset, unlike PCs most stuff is backed up, hopefully everything soon (Myphone please MS!!) and it takes a few min to reinstall, doing the same on your PC would mean a day watching movies whilst you set it all back up again.
Obviously this is a pretty safe OS, but if they do get something like Lookout Security I'll get it, simply for peace of mind.
virus/worm problem
I landed here after a search for antivirus for wp7. i use a htc hd7 chevron unlocked and over the last two days i experienced unwanted outgoing email on my live.com account. i use live.com account on the phone and also on PC via live.com and also using outlook connector...
how can i check which is affected with a virus - pc scan using avg shows clean. the unwanted emails go out apparantly when my pc is off - so is the virus on my wp7 or actually on live.com?
according to this post, there couldnt be a virus on wp7 is it??
any help/thoughts will be much appreciated.
TIA
I think my HD2/WP7 has something dodgy monitoring my actions as after I registered my debit card with the Market & made the first 79p payment for the XDA app I get a dodgy email to my Live email claiming to be from my bank saying there has been unusual activity with a html attachment.
This is a fake, but they new my bank and Live email address and the fact that I made some unusual activity: as in the 79p app.
WP7 is open somewhere!

[Q] [CM7] Security Issues (Viruses, Passwords, Network, Privacy)

I'm just getting started with CM7 and the Nook Color, but I have some general security concerns that perhaps you could help me with?
1. Viruses. I understand that these are real in Android. I've temporarily disabled non-Market apps, but I believe viruses and/or spyware have shown up in Market Apps too. Are there decent AntiVirus apps and what do you recommend?
2. Firewall. What services are open by default? Are there good software firewalls available?
3. Adware. Is it always clear which Market apps are ad-supported? Have apps crossed the line into malicious or near-malicious spyware? (Taking over browsers, redirecting home pages or searches, infecting other apps, etc.)
4. Apparently Google does not require password-confirmation for Market purchases, and no real solution exists, since available apps complicate things and don't address the root issue. Do they have any plans to change that?
5. Where are application and web site passwords, WiFi keys, and the like stored, and are they encrypted?
6. Is there a multi-user / multi-profile facility to allow different users to log in to different desktops and/or applications? (Or is that best accomplished with dual booting.)
7. What major applications are known to "phone home" or otherwise divulge more information than might be expected? I was quite surprised that CM7 itself phones home to CyanogenMod by default, and even with that turned off the ROM Manager still reports usage statistics to Google?
8. Is anyone independently reviewing CyanogenMod itself for privacy and security implications? Right now many of us are relying on a hodgepodge of hacker contributions and the good will of those creating them. I'm sure that anything malicious would eventually come to light, but is anyone proactively checking out the release CM7 distribution, the GApps distribution, and the various installers and packagers? Right now the only verifiable "web of trust" that seems to exist is the good intentions of every contributor, and the general availability of the source code (which should make the review possible, if not particularly easy!).
9. Are there any "best practices" as a user? For example, I've set up a new GMail ID for use with the NC, and haven't yet linked any credit card or payment data. Meanwhile, for the B&N side I've had to submit a credit card number to get access to their market (even to get their "Free" offerings).
10. Any implications for configuring e-mail and/or contacts, etc.? Mass remailing trojans certainly exist on the Windows side.
11. Do the application specific permission settings compare favorably to those of the BlackBerry, and are they easily adjustable after you've already granted permissions to an app?
12. Is there any concept of sandboxing a new app to prevent it from possibly adversely affecting other applications or files?
13. Is there a best practice for how to manage files on both the eMMC and SD card storage, particularly when booting between the two? Can one be locked out from the other?
Okay, that's a baker's dozen. I'll stop now.
Thanks much for any input.
Really? Nobody has an opinion to share on this?
rooting /cm7 / and the purpose behind it may just not be for you. I don't think your going to get an answer your looking for. Also not trying to be rude, but you pretty much wrote a book in your first post. Just ask a question dude.
Thanks for the response, but I asked roughly 13 questions -- would you prefer I "just asked a question" by starting 13 different threads? I certainly wouldn't.
And your first sentence makes it sound as if there's no one here who gives a damn about their own data and that everyone views the Nook Color as a toy -- and I seriously doubt that.
xdabr said:
I'm just getting started with CM7 and the Nook Color, but I have some general security concerns that perhaps you could help me with?
1. Viruses. I understand that these are real in Android. I've temporarily disabled non-Market apps, but I believe viruses and/or spyware have shown up in Market Apps too. Are there decent AntiVirus apps and what do you recommend?
2. Firewall. What services are open by default? Are there good software firewalls available?
3. Adware. Is it always clear which Market apps are ad-supported? Have apps crossed the line into malicious or near-malicious spyware? (Taking over browsers, redirecting home pages or searches, infecting other apps, etc.)
4. Apparently Google does not require password-confirmation for Market purchases, and no real solution exists, since available apps complicate things and don't address the root issue. Do they have any plans to change that?
5. Where are application and web site passwords, WiFi keys, and the like stored, and are they encrypted?
6. Is there a multi-user / multi-profile facility to allow different users to log in to different desktops and/or applications? (Or is that best accomplished with dual booting.)
7. What major applications are known to "phone home" or otherwise divulge more information than might be expected? I was quite surprised that CM7 itself phones home to CyanogenMod by default, and even with that turned off the ROM Manager still reports usage statistics to Google?
8. Is anyone independently reviewing CyanogenMod itself for privacy and security implications? Right now many of us are relying on a hodgepodge of hacker contributions and the good will of those creating them. I'm sure that anything malicious would eventually come to light, but is anyone proactively checking out the release CM7 distribution, the GApps distribution, and the various installers and packagers? Right now the only verifiable "web of trust" that seems to exist is the good intentions of every contributor, and the general availability of the source code (which should make the review possible, if not particularly easy!).
9. Are there any "best practices" as a user? For example, I've set up a new GMail ID for use with the NC, and haven't yet linked any credit card or payment data. Meanwhile, for the B&N side I've had to submit a credit card number to get access to their market (even to get their "Free" offerings).
10. Any implications for configuring e-mail and/or contacts, etc.? Mass remailing trojans certainly exist on the Windows side.
11. Do the application specific permission settings compare favorably to those of the BlackBerry, and are they easily adjustable after you've already granted permissions to an app?
12. Is there any concept of sandboxing a new app to prevent it from possibly adversely affecting other applications or files?
13. Is there a best practice for how to manage files on both the eMMC and SD card storage, particularly when booting between the two? Can one be locked out from the other?
Okay, that's a baker's dozen. I'll stop now.
Thanks much for any input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to admit, you come off as rather paranoid, and i am not sure why you are so.
Yes, there have been a couple of problem apps recently, but Google took care of them, and i would not worry. The best security you can have, is looking at what you are installing. The application cannot hide what permissions it needs, so if you have something asking for way more than you think it should need, take that as your first red flag.
Currently, Virus Scans on Android are a joke, and simply unneeded. Don't even waste you time. Firewalls are just about the same, and again, not worth the effort. One thing to keep in mind, that this is a linux system, and is not as prone to the Windows based attacks that you are used to. Things like email spam bots and such are not a problem.
As for Cyannogen - no code is added to the repository without being peer reviewed; and every code submission is available in public records. Frankly, they did not make it to CM7 by stealing people's data, nor is it simply a hodge podge of devs.
Frankly, I think right now more research is in order for ya. Most of what you ask is already discussed in many places, or is never discussed, because it simply isn't a worry...
Thank you, Divine_Madcat, for the advice and explanation. By hodgepodge I was more referring to the multiple installer methods and packages that newbies like me are relying upon to get everything installed easily. There are a lot of them, from a lot of nice people, from preconfigured SD card images to installation methods with modified boot loaders to interface and performance hacks. Even if Cyanogen itself is well maintained it would be pretty easy for someone to include a little trojan in one of those third-party "distributions".
It's not exactly paranoia, I've just seen this happen so often. Trojan horses are certainly not limited to Windows. Worms and other compromises have affected thousands of Unix and Linux machines in the past. Web sites and PHP and Perl scripts and databases and web frameworks regularly see vulnerabilities discovered and/or exploited. So since this device will be used in part by children with access to my credit card, I wanted to know what we're dealing with.
No, I was not familiar with Cyanogen's review practice (which is one reason I asked), so thanks for that reassurance! I will try to learn more as I go.
I do apologize for the length of the OP though -- I was trying to brainstorm and get everything down in one place that related to possible security concerns. It's not as if I'm worried sick about every little point.
One of the apps I install on all my installs is 'Lookout'. This app scans all my programs I install and update and I have heard very good reviews of it.
I did see that Eric Lundcrest did an article today:
http://web.eweek.com/t?r=2&c=38783&l=64&ctl=11B38843F5D4C728CF30E9F23F9E91BB51617&
You can check them out. I haven't tried them all myself and I noticed that he didn't include the app that I recommended above (and I use it on both my Nook and my HTC EVO)
You Should Also be Aware..
that one of the joys of Android (and of course Unix/Linux) is that everything is "sandboxed" unlike Windoze - there are not many apps that interfere with others - that's why it's so easy to install and uninstall from Android. Compare the uninstalling of even a large Android app with that of uninstalling from Windows.
I would not worry about interfering apps
Thanks, doc. I'm moderately familiar with the Unix security model, but not so much with Android. Is sandboxing really accurate? In Linux processes run with particular user rights, much as in Windows but more flexible -- that is, it's just much more common to have different daemons running as different users. Still, I don't think they're really isolated from one another as they might be with a "chroot jails" kind of function...
I don't think electronics are for you, I suggest books and a cabin in the woods.
No virus really exist yet, a few flaws in the code have been found but they are patched quick.
No real firewall, doesn't work quit that way with android.
Yes, it will say in the permissions of the app in the market.
You sign into the market when you first use it, making sure your devise has a lockscreen PW is how you keep it safe.
/data
no
Some apps phone home, check permissions before you install.
All CM code can be seen in the github, you can compile it yourself if you wish.
Use smart internet credit card practices such as only attaching a low limit card to accounts etc.
If the google email server was hacked maybe but all that stuff is stored encrypted on googles end.
Permissions need to be approved of by you if they change.
Android sandboxes all apps.
Dono, I have CM7 on internal and books etc stored on the SD card.
Nanan00, your actual answers were great, but "I don't think electronics are for you, I suggest books and a cabin in the woods." and the similar dismissive post above are exactly the kind of BS condescension that gives some open source communities a bad name. Stop it. Little by little it devalues the entire community and its projects.
Thanks for the substance of your response.
Truthfully... My parents practice pretty much all of the stuff you have said, they're very careful with credit cards and anything that could be used as personal information.
And yet... Someone got ahold of their credit card numbers and bought something for almost 3k last year...
I have no virus software or even firewall software on this computer, it has not received a virus in over 5 years (I know... it needs an upgrade) and I'm running Windows XP SP2.
If you're prone to viruses then go ahead and install some antivirus software. If you're scared about your kids + your credit card + the nook, then have them make all transactions on the computer.
The reason no one is taking this seriously is because Android is to new for there really to be anything worthwhile on the market. People are just now learning how to develop and code for it. So there aren't a bajillion(give or take one or two) viruses or trojans running around the google market.
On top of that, so long as your legally buying your apps from the google market, you have even less to worry about. As google has shown in the past that they'll go ahead and delete it the second they find it.
As far as permissions go, don't get to hung up on it. Everybody trust Pandora and yet it requires more permissions then some of googles own apps. =\
Thank you, Gin1212. I don't use an AntiVirus on my own Windows machines either -- it's more trouble than it's worth when you know what you're doing. (On Android I don't know what I'm doing, yet.)
And yeah, I already made sure to use a disposable credit card number ("ShopSafe") with a limit when setting up the Nook for the young'un. Google Market, thankfully, doesn't require a credit card unless you buy something, so I'll be checking out the free apps for a while (so that's part of why I asked about adware/spyware).
I was approaching the thing as I would any new (to me) full fledged operating system and computer, fully aware it's not the "safe" and dictatorially controlled little world of iOS or, to some extent, BlackBerry OS.
So thanks for the real world advice!
xdabr said:
Nanan00, your actual answers were great, but "I don't think electronics are for you, I suggest books and a cabin in the woods." and the similar dismissive post above are exactly the kind of BS condescension that gives some open source communities a bad name. Stop it. Little by little it devalues the entire community and its projects.
Thanks for the substance of your response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suffice it to say that Android's and Microsoft's, and even Linux's app model is vastly different. Google does not just act as a repository, as in Linux. From my understanding, Google is rather guarded about it's app market and if anything heretofor is found, the app is yanked from the market immediately.
I agree that website security is more an issue that needs to be looked at, but the lion's share of websites that have virii and adware are aimed at infecting windows machines, but your concerns are noted.
As to the intent of the Devs here, I think you need to understand that these roms, mods and apps are their children, and their passion of the moment. No one goes through all the crap they do just to foment adware. This is their meat and drink and trust me, if there were a dev whose morality came into question, they would police themselves and it would be all here for us to read. There are no secrets here. These aren't script kiddies looking to wreak havoc.
I agree that security is a good thing, but the twin natures of Android are openness and isolation. Each app, at least from my understanding is an island unto itself with rare exception. So I think that while your concerns in themselves are noble, they are unwarranted, and at some points even seem absurd. No offense intended here.
We aren't just drinking the kool-aid here, everyone knows the risks of adopting an unknown and untested ROM, everyone takes the responsibility to themselves when they violate their warranty in search of a better tablet experience. The average person who roots their nook is not your average idiot windows user. We are here because we want more and better than our legacy alientation by microsoft and those who can't think outside of their security model.
Well, there is my Android manifesto. Sorry for rambling.
migrax
No, I appreciate the manifesto -- thanks. Again, I tried to brainstorm and throw the kitchen sink into the original post so as to get everything down in one place. I was hoping it could serve as a general security discussion thread. Not everything there is a huge concern of mine, and sorry if it made things seem absurd.
I appreciate your points about the intentions of the developers and the operation of Google's market (although of course a big selling point is we are NOT limited to that market... conversely, I suppose anything I chose off-market would be something I had by definition come to trust independently).
xdabr said:
Nanan00... "I don't think electronics are for you, I suggest books and a cabin in the woods." and the similar dismissive post above are exactly the kind of BS condescension that gives some open source communities a bad name. Stop it. Little by little it devalues the entire community and its projects.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your overreacting a wee bit too much. I can't speak for Nanan00 but the first sentence of his post feels like a joke. He took the time to write out the answers of OP's question...
Also since you were referring to my post at the top..... I was just being candid with OP.
I read his post, I could see that he was a bit paranoid (IMO) and told him my honest opinion. Which is: Hacking your nook, or any device for that matter, may not be for you. The reasons being that when you hack your device, you inevitably increase its chances of being exposed (even if the increase is small, its there.) I don't feel that I am being arrogant, and I didn't catch that drift from Nanan00. But I wanted to address this since you obviously feel strong that this type of behavior is "devaluing the entire community and its projects."
Anyways to the OP:
Sorry if my post came off rude. I should of taken the time to give you my explanation.
colbur87 said:
I think your overreacting a wee bit too much. I can't speak for Nanan00 but the first sentence of his post feels like a joke. He took the time to write out the answers of OP's question...
Also since you were referring to my post at the top..... I was just being candid with OP.
I read his post, I could see that he was a bit paranoid (IMO) and told him my honest opinion. Which is: Hacking your nook, or any device for that matter, may not be for you. The reasons being that when you hack your device, you inevitably increase its chances of being exposed (even if the increase is small, its there.) I don't feel that I am being arrogant, and I didn't catch that drift from Nanan00. But I wanted to address this since you obviously feel strong that this type of behavior is "devaluing the entire community and its projects."
Anyways to the OP:
Sorry if my post came off rude. I should of taken the time to give you my explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, colbur87, "OP" and I are the same person.
Asking questions is one way we learn. As an Android newbie many of my questions would apply to any Android device, hacked/rooted or not. If they're not appropriate for this forum, or if no one here thinks they're valid or worth a response, that would be okay. But to say in effect "your concerns are stupid and you don't belong here" is not only insulting, but factually wrong. Just because some people are content to not consider security implications doesn't mean they're not real.
Blithe unquestioning acceptance and faith is more of an Apple iFanboy trait, I would have thought.
And much as with Linux as a whole, positioning "hacked" Android as something not amenable to ordinary consumers is counterproductive.
(By the way, I'm not an ordinary consumer.)
Anyway, I do appreciate the answers people have given.
Wasn't lookig at the names so my bad on the mix up.
Anyways if you still think im being rude even after my previous post then so be it.
im out
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Divine_Madcat said:
The application cannot hide what permissions it needs, so if you have something asking for way more than you think it should need, take that as your first red flag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that isn't true. There are holes in Android Market, so if app makers really wanted to, they can hide certain permissions even if your app calls out that permission through androidmanifest, which is how the permission is given in the first place. It was shown that even big name developers had exploited this one time or another. Of course this has nothing to do with CM7. Even stock Android phones are vulnerable to this. However, in general, if you download a popular app, you should be able to trust the permissions listed. Unless your the first person to download an app, you'll usually hear back from initial users if there's something funky going on.

About App Piracy

Me and my friend, (who is a budding app developer for android) ran into discussion about "Android JB vs WP8", and after many aspects, we came to "developer benefits", there I said that Android is not good for developers bcoz people SIDELOAD app and nothing can detect a pirated app. That's the sad truth.
But on WP8 there's no way to SIDELOAD app, so No piracy of apps on WP8.
My friend said there are WP8 custom ROMS available and WP8 can also be rooted. So there maybe ways when people use Pirated apps on WP8 also.
So who is correct Me or my friend? Are there ways on WP8.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Apourv said:
Me and my friend, (who is a budding app developer for android) ran into discussion about "Android JB vs WP8", and after many aspects, we came to "developer benefits", there I said that Android is not good for developers bcoz people SIDELOAD app and nothing can detect a pirated app. That's the sad truth.
But on WP8 there's no way to SIDELOAD app, so No piracy of apps on WP8.
My friend said there are WP8 custom ROMS available and WP8 can also be rooted. So there maybe ways when people use Pirated apps on WP8 also.
So who is correct Me or my friend? Are there ways on WP8.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct, can't root and you can only sideload apps if you're a developer. No custom roms, no root, your friend's a fandroid who's insecure about their OS.
I think disabling Sideloading is better. Because Wallet services are coming to mobile so chances are high that someone might make app which will hack mobile payment passwords and accounts, using app which people sideload. This might make android insecure, when making NFC payments.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Disable sideloading? And then how are dev supposed to test their apps on their phones ? - the emulator is not a good choice in some cases.
Also, there are no custom roms YET, but I am pretty sure there will be. There's nothing in this world that can be protected from hacking
timotei21 said:
Disable sideloading? And then how are dev supposed to test their apps on their phones ? - the emulator is not a good choice in some cases.
Also, there are no custom roms YET, but I am pretty sure there will be. There's nothing in this world that can be protected from hacking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Developers can unlock their phones. Others can't.
Apourv said:
Me and my friend, (who is a budding app developer for android) ran into discussion about "Android JB vs WP8", and after many aspects, we came to "developer benefits", there I said that Android is not good for developers bcoz people SIDELOAD app and nothing can detect a pirated app. That's the sad truth.
But on WP8 there's no way to SIDELOAD app, so No piracy of apps on WP8.
My friend said there are WP8 custom ROMS available and WP8 can also be rooted. So there maybe ways when people use Pirated apps on WP8 also.
So who is correct Me or my friend? Are there ways on WP8.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blocking load of apps is a huge OVERKILL.
Say I wand to write an app, and distribute it freely, and do not want to put it on the market ?
What then ?
Besides that - if the IPhone with all it's locks and vaults can be set to load apps outside the Apple market,
it is safe to say that WinPhone will have the same crack.
Locking the device and limiting the user is a bad thing, and besides alienating your user base it will not do much.
Alienating your user base is never a good tactic, they will leave.
(People who plan to get WinPhone are most likely people who used WinMo - that was totally open to customization and apps from wherever)
Some developers looked into breaking the security on Nokia's WP7 phones and decided it would be to hard but of course there might be ways to do it anyway and allow custom ROMs. Aside from that Marketplace XAPs originally could be modified to be sideloaded on WP7 but this has changed several months ago, when Microsoft started to encrypt the XAP files.
As for modified firmware Microsoft is using Secure Boot to tackle the problem at a much lower level than Android and iOS devices do. Due to that it might be quite some time before anyone figures out a way to do it. And even phones like the HTC One X have not yet been broken (at least the versions that use Nvidias Tegra 3). It was similar with several Sony devices.
But in the end to enable this on a WP8 device it would mean HSPL, CustomROM and modified XAP-Files to allow for pirated Apps. Comparing this to Android where you only modify the APK and allow sideloading using a Checkbox I believe we will a lot more pirated Apps on Android than on WP.
As for: I want to provide my App for free without using the Marketplace - ähm... what would be the benefit to the user? Aside from Hacks they benefit from the fact that Apps are tested for stability, to be Malware-Free and that you can discover them without too much effort right from your phone.
The only thing I believe you're right is that actually lots of people will go for an OS where they can pirate Apps easily. There are enough threads around here were people tell you upfront that they believe that having paid several 100 $ for a device entitles them to get the software for free.
StevieBallz said:
....
As for: I want to provide my App for free without using the Marketplace - ähm... what would be the benefit to the user? Aside from Hacks they benefit from the fact that Apps are tested for stability, to be Malware-Free and that you can discover them without too much effort right from your phone.
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, right.
Like we saw on apple store, and the android market.
(you must be either kidding, or naive)
And as for users thinking paying few 100$ for a device and thinking it entitles them for free apps - well -
people became used to having free programs, and there are many good free programs.
Besides that - I do not support software piracy, but I do believe that you should have the freedom to do whatever you want with the device you payed a lot of good money for, and that the manufacturer should not put you behind bars and in chains, just so they can make more profit from you.
And dont think otherwise - they lock the device for the sole reason of taking some percentage of the money you pay for the apps,
and no other reason.
So every app would have to pass through their, and only their checkout point, and bring them more money.
Android market has no certification process while Apple's and Microsoft's does.
I didn't try to imply that you would want it for the reason of pirating Apps but for most people this is the reason they desire that feature.
But in the end we're talking about the rationale for developers and that is where your (paid) Apps are a lot better protected on WP or iOS than on Android. If this actually benefits you in the case of WP is a different discussion due to the fact that your potential market is smaller. But given that even though Android has a much bigger marketshare than iOS by now developers make a lot more money on iOS it seems the closed marketplaces actually benefit developers in that regard.
StevieBallz said:
Android market has no certification process while Apple's and Microsoft's does.
I didn't try to imply that you would want it for the reason of pirating Apps but for most people this is the reason they desire that feature.
But in the end we're talking about the rationale for developers and that is where your (paid) Apps are a lot better protected on WP or iOS than on Android. If this actually benefits you in the case of WP is a different discussion due to the fact that your potential market is smaller. But given that even though Android has a much bigger marketshare than iOS by now developers make a lot more money on iOS it seems the closed marketplaces actually benefit developers in that regard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same goes for PC apps.
And people still develop apps for PCs.
This is, in my opinion, some kind of propaganda (not to say brainwash) from the manufacturers,
who's only intent is to make more profit for themselves, and want to recruit the developers for their own goal.
Software piracy have been here since forever, and the software industry has always been growing.
I still hold my opinion that the manufacturer must not have me in chains and behind bars.
I believe the manufacturer must let me do whatever I want with my device.
Let me load whatever apps i want, from any source, and not limit me or force me to pay them more and more money over the life of the device.
I'm not saying that it is not a valid desire to be able to do those things - I said it benefits developers if they are not possible. They don't have to care about piracy that much. And instead of putting together a sophisticated scheme to protect their applications (like they have been doing on the PC for more then a decade) they can concentrate on the actual content.
Do you believe PC games that came on floppy discs asked you about keys from the manual just for fun or to avoid copies? Do you believe the industry moved to CDs only because of the additional space or because they could not be easily copied for quite some time? Does Diablo 3 require an online connection because they could not implement a game that could run on the PC only?
Providing those protections in the OS itself takes a big burden off most developers. The 30 % cut Apple or Microsoft take is a big part of what big companies would earn with their software, given that they already have payment solutions in place and might be able to provide storage and bandwidth cheaper. For Indie developers it would be a lot harder to organize all this.
But instead of answering the question on pirac that thread was about y you're completely missing the point and going on a crusade (and your points from a users perspective definitely are valid).
Apourv said:
Me and my friend, (who is a budding app developer for android) ran into discussion about "Android JB vs WP8", and after many aspects, we came to "developer benefits", there I said that Android is not good for developers bcoz people SIDELOAD app and nothing can detect a pirated app. That's the sad truth.
But on WP8 there's no way to SIDELOAD app, so No piracy of apps on WP8.
My friend said there are WP8 custom ROMS available and WP8 can also be rooted. So there maybe ways when people use Pirated apps on WP8 also.
So who is correct Me or my friend? Are there ways on WP8.
Sent from my GT-S5570 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no WP8 custom ROMs, only WP7, and only for select devices. As far as I know, app piracy was effectively killed off even for a fully "rooted" WP7 device now that the apps come in an encrypted package. WP8 devices with an SD card can sideload apps, but it's a feature, not an illegal act. You get the encrypted package straight from windowsphone.com, and when you sideload it via SD card, it checks with the marketplace to see if you already own this app and if you have purchased it- otherwise you get the trial.
So android is significantly less secure in this area, your friend is wrong.
StevieBallz said:
I'm not saying that it is not a valid desire to be able to do those things - I said it benefits developers if they are not possible. They don't have to care about piracy that much. And instead of putting together a sophisticated scheme to protect their applications (like they have been doing on the PC for more then a decade) they can concentrate on the actual content.
Do you believe PC games that came on floppy discs asked you about keys from the manual just for fun or to avoid copies? Do you believe the industry moved to CDs only because of the additional space or because they could not be easily copied for quite some time? Does Diablo 3 require an online connection because they could not implement a game that could run on the PC only?
Providing those protections in the OS itself takes a big burden off most developers. The 30 % cut Apple or Microsoft take is a big part of what big companies would earn with their software, given that they already have payment solutions in place and might be able to provide storage and bandwidth cheaper. For Indie developers it would be a lot harder to organize all this.
But instead of answering the question on pirac that thread was about y you're completely missing the point and going on a crusade (and your points from a users perspective definitely are valid).
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Pretty much this.
As a developer, I love the fact that the WP marketplace protects my app from almost anything a hacker can throw at it, because it protects several aspects I invested in the app:
1) Time. A lot of time. I don't like it when people use what I invested months of research and coding for free, just because they are too lazy to search the marketplace, but are devious enough to google the app and download it from some obscure location (the irony).
2) My intellectual property: I've made the app, therefore I should have complete control over who can download it. How would you feel if you invested a lot in a car, and some random people of the street simply gets in and drives your car away?
3)Coding and researching is certainly not an easy task. If it were, then everyone would be a developer. Pirating my app is like asking me to give away my talents for nothing in return.
Although it is extremely easy for outsiders to judge my app and say it is not worth the money, they really have no idea how much time and effort was put into it. It is a service I provide for you, and as with any service you need to pay for it...upfront or by staring at adds.
Considering that without the OEM I would not be able to create the app at all, and you would not be able to use it either, it is only natural for them to ask a percentage of the profit from the app. It is how business works.
mcosmin222 said:
Pretty much this.
As a developer, I love the fact that the WP marketplace protects my app from almost anything a hacker can throw at it, because it protects several aspects I invested in the app:
1) Time. A lot of time. I don't like it when people use what I invested months of research and coding for free, just because they are too lazy to search the marketplace, but are devious enough to google the app and download it from some obscure location (the irony).
2) My intellectual property: I've made the app, therefore I should have complete control over who can download it. How would you feel if you invested a lot in a car, and some random people of the street simply gets in and drives your car away?
3)Coding and researching is certainly not an easy task. If it were, then everyone would be a developer. Pirating my app is like asking me to give away my talents for nothing in return.
Although it is extremely easy for outsiders to judge my app and say it is not worth the money, they really have no idea how much time and effort was put into it. It is a service I provide for you, and as with any service you need to pay for it...upfront or by staring at adds.
Considering that without the OEM I would not be able to create the app at all, and you would not be able to use it either, it is only natural for them to ask a percentage of the profit from the app. It is how business works.
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Comparing an App to a car is totally inappropriate.
If someone drove away in your car, you do not have this car anymore.
If someone installed an app you wrote - well, you still have another copy, and can produce a million more copies.
Som30ne said:
Comparing an App to a car is totally inappropriate.
If someone drove away in your car, you do not have this car anymore.
If someone installed an app you wrote - well, you still have another copy, and can produce a million more copies.
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He has a very simplistic view on piracy, which is what most people who think they're losing something have. It's hard for them to wrap their heads around new concepts like "pirated does not equal lost sales". It's mostly the RIAA's fault that the practice of sharing is deemed amoral and gave it the misnomer: "piracy". Actual sales lost because of piracy are negligible. I'm not saying it's ok for people to just take without paying, I'm saying you need to realize what is actually happening. Most "pirates" are poor students with no money to spare, kids who have no money of their own, and the most numerous "pirate" of all: those who cannot access a store to legally buy the product.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro
Som30ne said:
The same goes for PC apps.
And people still develop apps for PCs.
This is, in my opinion, some kind of propaganda (not to say brainwash) from the manufacturers,
who's only intent is to make more profit for themselves, and want to recruit the developers for their own goal.
Software piracy have been here since forever, and the software industry has always been growing.
I still hold my opinion that the manufacturer must not have me in chains and behind bars.
I believe the manufacturer must let me do whatever I want with my device.
Let me load whatever apps i want, from any source, and not limit me or force me to pay them more and more money over the life of the device.
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This. And Also, Poecifer, your just the Fandroid, since the discussion was brought ou with no intention to accuse each other party and start a flame war as usual, so just stfu if you don't have anything useful to say.
As a wp developer, i'd like to say that not beeing able to sideload apps freely at times is just a pain in the a**...personally I own a Sony Xperia J and a Lumia 710...my friend is an Android Dev and doesn't have all this kind of limitation...

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