Hi, I'm increasingly concerned by snooping and overreach from Google and State actors, and thought one way to limit their reach into my device is by not updating their apps and staying on older stable versions - I think I understand the balance between missing out on new security/bug fixes/features/etc.
I'm using an Android One phone which I do update when security patches are released, so it's only the apps that are backward versions.
What do others think about this approach, or is there an alternative method to keep Google and 5/14 Eyes out of my junk?
Related
*Moderator(s) I m sorry if this doesn't belong to this section ..please move it if u want ( and inform me please)
Guys I was just wondering why Google releases updates every year ...it doesn't bring any notable new features sometimes ( like froyo to gb = nothing new) sometimes some phones take a whole year to get the update and in the meantime a new update is announced
And then we have our manufacturers who refuse to update our phones( if u r looking at my signature and want to tell me that I should buy a high end phone lets talk about what happened to SGS 1 first ) and make the whole update sick
I think Google should convince the manufacturers to update all devices and Google itself should annonce less updates( less quality updates >>>> more quantity updates)
Or can someone explain Google 's strategy to me???? It sure doesn't make sense to me
Kind of agree with what you have to say.
In my opinion many people have low end devices, which don't really get the latest os updates anyway, thanks to the phone manufacturers. So you'll have a large chunk of the user base using the older versions. Which in turn results in a large amount of applications targeting the older versions too.
The_R said:
Kind of agree with what you have to say.
In my opinion many people have low end devices, which don't really get the latest os updates anyway, thanks to the phone manufacturers. So you'll have a large chunk of the user base using the older versions. Which in turn results in a large amount of applications targeting the older versions too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 ...I just can't see why Google makes the fuss about updates ??? I mean "update " by its very definition means improving I.e. older phones getting newer os but android phones hardly get more than 2 updates! !!! Even if the hardware supports the new software! !!!
What do you mean no changes between Froyo and GB? From Wikipedia here are some:
v2.3
On 6 December 2010, the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) SDK was released, based on Linux kernel 2.6.35. Changes included:
Updated user interface design with increased simplicity and speed
Support for extra-large screen sizes and resolutions (WXGA and higher)
Native support for SIP VoIP internet telephony
Faster, more intuitive text input in virtual keyboard, with improved accuracy, better suggested text and voice input mode
Enhanced copy/paste functionality, allowing users to select a word by press-hold, copy, and paste
Support for Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing the user to read an NFC tag embedded in a poster, sticker, or advertisement
New audio effects such as reverb, equalization, headphone virtualization, and bass boost
New Download Manager, giving users easy access to any file downloaded from the browser, email, or another application
Support for multiple cameras on the device, including a front-facing camera, if available
Support for WebM/VP8 video playback, and AAC audio encoding
Improved power management with a more active role in managing apps that are keeping the device awake for too long
Enhanced support for native code development
Switched from YAFFS to ext4 on newer devices
Audio, graphical, and input enhancements for game developers
Concurrent garbage collection for increased performance
Native support for more sensors (such as gyroscopes and barometers)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of it is new hardware support to keep up with technology. The new audio effects it talks about make it possible for system wide EQ apps without root like Equalizer, before GB IIRC this was not possible. They've also made multitasking better so that task killers shouldn't be needed.
Their update strategy is to debut the new OS on a Nexus device and then release the source so others can use it. Personally I would like to see Google let developers in earlier in development so they can get drivers and upgrades done quicker. This is how Microsoft does things and is why OEMs can have the new OS ready on hardware on its debut day. But Google's strategy is quite a bit different.
spunker88 said:
What do you mean no changes between Froyo and GB? From Wikipedia here are some:
A lot of it is new hardware support to keep up with technology. The new audio effects it talks about make it possible for system wide EQ apps without root like Equalizer, before GB IIRC this was not possible. They've also made multitasking better so that task killers shouldn't be needed.
Their update strategy is to debut the new OS on a Nexus device and then release the source so others can use it. Personally I would like to see Google let developers in earlier in development so they can get drivers and upgrades done quicker. This is how Microsoft does things and is why OEMs can have the new OS ready on hardware on its debut day. But Google's strategy is quite a bit different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even I was thinking about your last point u know, when the update gets announced it should be released simultaneously ......waiting a whole year ( or 5-6months) sucks
That's why there's great community(s) like xda forums and projects like cyanogenmod. Linux is open. Android is based on Linux. Android isn't AS opem.
The developers are here to help remedy some of that.
Starting with Android "L" , apps can no longer get the recently launched apps:
https://developer.android.com/preview/api-overview.html#Behaviors
The documentation (not the one on the internet, as it's still not updated ) says:
This method is deprecated.
As of L, this method is no longer available to third party applications: as the introduction of document-centric recents means it can leak personal information to the caller. For backwards compatibility, it will still return a small subset of its data: at least the caller's own tasks (though see getAppTasks() for the correct supported way to retrieve that information), and possibly some other tasks such as home that are known to not be sensitive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead, they only get a list of apps that the current app has launched.
Is there a way to overcome this? Perhaps with root?
I ask this since I've recently added this feature for my app (allowing to sort apps by recently launched), and sadly it doesn't work as I made it...
Maybe I can get when the files of the apps (those that are used for launching them) were recently used? But this is just like checking the list of running processes, no?
Dear XDA,
just looking for a friendly discussion here. With Android O dev preview, it has blocked apps from drawing on the UI due to a security issue. But to my knowledge it just forces a system wide notification with the ability to turn off the ui elements, and gives the option to allow ui drawing (hiding the notification) per app and if the apps use the newer API can show up as a trusted app. But so many tech articles says otherwise. Are these really a big security loop hole in your opinion? Like for example after the nougat update, os monitor stopped working and the dev stopped support due to a security patch. So I am wondering if android is really getting more closed to security updates or is this just articles fear mongering? I mean I am all up for security and lucky for me all my apps such as emulators, settings, tools, linux containers and such so far I have not needed to root at all and it has really helped me since I use mobile payment on my s7 edge. I do dabble into rooting on my nexus 7 but rooting hasn't been mandatory, unless ofcourse most of my app breaks because of android updates, then I would have to root. So is android really becoming more closed or are these security updates actually required??
Hey there,
as I'm sure some of you are aware, there has been a rather big security problem concerning WPA2 -> https://www.krackattacks.com/
Also this
Does anybody know Sony's stance on this?
panecondoin said:
Hey there,
as I'm sure some of you are aware, there has been a rather big security problem concerning WPA2 -> https://www.krackattacks.com/
Also this
Does anybody know Sony's stance on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our devices are probably vulnerable,
as I read it from the news articles - if you have a patched router you're covered (well, when is that even the case ?), but you can also close the door with updated clients (Android phones !).
In essence: if only one side is patched - the connection is secure
so with recent Android "Stock" ROMs the security is and can be compromised (reading WiFi traffic, injecting HTML stuff and adding potentially malicious code to your browsing data)
That means:
NO Online Banking or Shopping Online via WLAN/WiFi
I'm pretty sure Sony will provide an update to "patch" the system up (updating the components affected)
If they'll stay with latest ROM version (32.4.A.1.54) and provide no further updates - it shall backfire spectactularly
Thanks for the links
Thanks @zacharias.maladroit, for providing the appropriate consequences that users should be aware of. Lets hope for the best and see what Sony has in storein this regard.
I have moaned in the past about the rapid pace of Android OS development, and the usual implication of buying a new phone is you forced to upgrade android, but going from Android 6 to 8, looks like its going to be brutal for me, and hard decisions to be made.
On my old S7 phone running Android6, I have the following working reasonably well.
Xposed
Instagram made useable by xposed (app without it is horrible)
Same with snapchat
Various privacy enhancements thanks to xposed
Anag app works perfectly.
Apps mostly honour auto sync setting
However titanium backup only barely functions, it seems it only works properly with supersu which is considered obsolete these days, this app last worked properly on my s5.
Using android 9, there is no xposed at all, to me having no xposed on android is like going out in the street naked.
Using android 8, xposed is in beta, initially it seemed stable, but I have noticed the contacts app goes crazy and unstable as well as phone app after 2-3 days uptime if xposed is enabled on phone.
Some xposed modules have become abandonware and no longer work on Android 8
Some apps including Anag which has no alternative app have become abandonware and dont work properly or at all on Android 8.
Auto sync is disabled on the phone yet I keep getting notifications from apps, related to background sync activity they are doing, e.g. dominoes apps downloads an advert, and sends me a notification asking me if I am hungry to order some pizzas (never ever seen it do this on android 6), various other apps having similar type behaviours, just 10 mins ago backgrounds hd sent me a notification to inform me its downloaded new backgrounds, how has it done this when I havent gave it permission to background sync? ,either the auto sync setting is broken or there is some new feature in newer android that allows apps to spam you. I suspect its the latter, as I think even with auto sync enabled on android 6 I wasnt getting all this app spam.
The problem is this, new phone hardware is nice, my newest phone is lightning fast compared to my s7. But ultimately its the software that makes the phone. Sadly there is no Android 6 for the oneplus6, I dont expect much sympathy on the XDA community as the majority of people here seem happy to always jump on the latest builds of android without a second thought, often beta/alpha builds to boot. But felt like I needed to rant.
I dont know what I am going to do moving forward, I will probably test OOS 8.x, just to rule out custom rom issues, and if issues persist I can forsee myself selling the phone and buying an older model that still is faster (but wont be as fast) just so I can run android 6. I wonder if anyone else has ever deliberately avoided latest model phones to keep old android.
Its becoming evident to me, that many developers cannot keep up with the pace of android updates, so we get this happening, apps becoming abandonware, and users like myself either have to find replacement apps or accept to lose features on their phone. I wonder if IOS has these issues or if that has full backward compatibility that keeps old apps working. I wouldnt be unhappy if e.g. new android major releases were every 2 years with 5 years security support for each release as well. But a sane software support policy goes against google's policies.
Its kind of interesting as we have many news articles about the problem of android fragmentation as such, and often these articles blame everyone except google, they blame end users, they blame phone manufacturers, and they blame mobile carriers, but they never consider the problem might be google simply releasing new versions of android too rapidly.