Database Users

just got a vibrant....oh my where to start! :)

Got a Vibrant yesterday to "try out" the android world for the first time. Must say I'm impressed by the phones performance out of the box even with all the bloatware and crap on it. I've been a windows mobile guy for quite some time now, so the people that know both platforms well, know they are two completely different monsters. My two options were the hd2 (since i know the WM world pretty well) or learn a whole new platform with the vibrant.
I like it so far, but also miss some of the things from WM (or rather miss knowing my phone well). I guess i just have to start from zero and get acquainted with it first.
Any suggestions on getting the bare down scoop of the platform and such as far as learning it from the ground up? The sticky explains how to do these things, but I need something more basic...I just wanna become proficient in the android world as I am in the WM world starting from zero.

Its hard to say where to start, the best thing about android is the customization. Playing with phone is the only way you are gonna learn, I have been an android owner since day one and am still learning new things everyday. If there is something I don't know I simply come here since this is the best android community on the web. Hope you enjoy IMO the best android phone on the market.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Yeah, really not that much to help with...everything seems pretty intuitive to me. When in doubt, long press or press menu.

My first questions were always like:
Sweet I have Avatar on here, what else Can I put on?
Oh damn, there's only a 2GB Card, and if I remove it, I lose Avatar.
WTF is amazon kindle for? I don't need this? How can I remove Bloats?
That's where I started off, you're most likely going to want to root it. Search the forums around. There's some great stickies to follow by and just go with that.
Can't wait for CM? Learn to make your own APP to have fun with ;p

phragg said:
My first questions were always like:
Sweet I have Avatar on here, what else Can I put on?
Oh damn, there's only a 2GB Card, and if I remove it, I lose Avatar.
WTF is amazon kindle for? I don't need this? How can I remove Bloats?
That's where I started off, you're most likely going to want to root it. Search the forums around. There's some great stickies to follow by and just go with that.
Can't wait for CM? Learn to make your own APP to have fun with ;p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, kindle isn't that bad considering you can get a ton of free books for it.
Sent from my Galaxy S using the XDA App

phragg said:
My first questions were always like:
Sweet I have Avatar on here, what else Can I put on?
Oh damn, there's only a 2GB Card, and if I remove it, I lose Avatar.
WTF is amazon kindle for? I don't need this? How can I remove Bloats?
That's where I started off, you're most likely going to want to root it. Search the forums around. There's some great stickies to follow by and just go with that.
Can't wait for CM? Learn to make your own APP to have fun with ;p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you could always copy Avatar onto a larger card and then go wild! That's what I did, it will play lots of 720p mkv's that you might have laying around no problem!

Long press and menu are your friends. Other than that look here on xda and use the search function. The stickies typically have the most current info.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

phragg said:
My first questions were always like:
Sweet I have Avatar on here, what else Can I put on?
Oh damn, there's only a 2GB Card, and if I remove it, I lose Avatar.
WTF is amazon kindle for? I don't need this? How can I remove Bloats?
That's where I started off, you're most likely going to want to root it. Search the forums around. There's some great stickies to follow by and just go with that.
Can't wait for CM? Learn to make your own APP to have fun with ;p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is CM?
I am a programmer by profession. Maybe I could look into the world of android programming too while im at it

phragg said:
My first questions were always like:
Sweet I have Avatar on here, what else Can I put on?
Oh damn, there's only a 2GB Card, and if I remove it, I lose Avatar.
WTF is amazon kindle for? I don't need this? How can I remove Bloats?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't have those questions. I mean the first thing i did was move avatar to my 16gb msdhc into it and go wild with my music, photo, and videos...which I'm amazed how good of sound/video quality i get on this.
I thought more of like where do how do I view flash websites, how do i stream live .pls live music streams, or smaller things like hiding apps from the notification area at the top left when they are running, or resizing certain widgets, removing some of the applications that came with the phone from t mobile, mapping buttons to do different things based on holding them down or tapping a certain amount of times, things like that that aren't explained in the user manual. Or even like right now, I'm trying to make a call and it says: "Call not sent"...well? whyyyyyyyyy? so many questions!
I don't know, I guess all this is just part of the familiarization process and will sooner or later find them out whether by experience or hunting down resources why certain behaviors and actions happen.

speoples20 said:
Long press and menu are your friends. Other than that look here on xda and use the search function. The stickies typically have the most current info.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is long press?

^ you should read the sticky. A lot of the things you mentioned, are addressed in the sticky.
Also, flash is only on Android 2.2, which we do not have yet.

achild said:
Got a Vibrant yesterday to "try out" the android world for the first time. Must say I'm impressed by the phones performance out of the box even with all the bloatware and crap on it. I've been a windows mobile guy for quite some time now, so the people that know both platforms well, know they are two completely different monsters. My two options were the hd2 (since i know the WM world pretty well) or learn a whole new platform with the vibrant.
I like it so far, but also miss some of the things from WM (or rather miss knowing my phone well). I guess i just have to start from zero and get acquainted with it first.
Any suggestions on getting the bare down scoop of the platform and such as far as learning it from the ground up? The sticky explains how to do these things, but I need something more basic...I just wanna become proficient in the android world as I am in the WM world starting from zero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats on your new phone. Let us know how your GPS works, since that seems to be a hot issue. you can test using google maps, google navigation and GPS Test downloadable from the Android Market.

SamsungGalaxySVibrant said:
Congrats on your new phone. Let us know how your GPS works, since that seems to be a hot issue. you can test using google maps, google navigation and GPS Test downloadable from the Android Market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha that seems to be a problem with any gps enabled phone nowadays. Happened with the fuze and after months and months of tweaking and tweaking we got a hang of it. I tried the GPS yesterday on my way home from work yesterday and did not get a lock, i went ahead and downloaded gps test today to see if that will unlock it before using the gps software. We shall see! Thanks for the heads up tho!
edit: I guess gps test on android works differently than on WM. On WM it scans through your COM ports and gets a fix for you to then use your gps navigation software.

achild said:
what is CM?
I am a programmer by profession. Maybe I could look into the world of android programming too while im at it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please do!
we could always use more programmers.

achild said:
what is long press?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead of tapping on something you hold your finger down for a few seconds. A menu will pop up giving you options like copy and paste.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

If your phone won't play a video format, try RockPlayer
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I would recommend the market as the first place to go. Just start searching and downloading apps and play with your phone. You'll get accustomed to it very quickly!

Droidicus said:
I would recommend the market as the first place to go. Just start searching and downloading apps and pay with your phone. You'll get accustomed to it very quickly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thats what ive been doing. Thats another thing that amazes me about android, soooo many apps, and they are all centralized into one easy, convenient location. In wm you would find a few in the marketplace, and the rest u had to hunt down either on the forum or the web. This is slowly growing on me
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Coming from WM myself, (and just recently and very reticently turned over my beloved Wizard to my mom) the fun and unfun I have with Android:
Apps are so dratted cheap. Have at it.
Cloud connectivity. I use Picasa all the time now. It took me a while to get used to Google contacts, especially first name alphabetization, but I like it now.
You might want to look at subscribing to CompanionLink. It reliably syncs everything Outlook with your Google account (thus your phone).
Almost nothing was built into Android 1.0. Not much was added through 1.5. Some stuff has been added since, like Facebook sync, but custom ROMs don't add stuff. There's an app for everything. There has to be.
The app drawer is a hassle. I use FolderOrganizer (and ADW Launcher) to quell my addiction to organization beyond alphabetical.
It's fun to watch a few things catch up with WinMo and hear all the Android users brag about how great it is. Like app-specific auto-rotation. There's an app for it out now, but it actually costs something you'll think about, and it eats a hunk of RAM. They're just getting into animated GIFs. Lists and their apps aren't anywhere near ListPro, but they almost all have some way to sync to the cloud.
Office documents created on a PC don't always work with the Office apps that are out there. Don't bother with DocumentsToGo, but Sheadspreet is good (you have to convert first) and I'm trying OfficeSuite, and it seems the best. 30-day trial, $15. It's still not WinMo, though.
For those things you don't sync with the cloud, you can't just throw stuff in your My Documents Folder and rely on that backup. DropBox is a good app/service, and GoogleDocs is your friend. Most apps back up thier specific data to your SD, but on this phone, it's on the internal SD. You have to manually handle your backups, or do Nandroid backups (another worthwhile Google).
You have to install an app to install apps not from Market. Instead of exes their apks.
There's no Total Commander. I like Root Explorer. Astro is feature-filled. There are a million file explorers, and every one of them will have its advocates.
Flashing ROMs is tons easier, but you have to root first.
The Android world moves a lot faster. If you're off the forums for a week you'll feel like you've been in a coma for months. On the flip side, if you're waiting for something to get developed, waiting a few days feel like eternity.
Android devs work harder for a lot less, or no money; it's truly inspiring.
Before you go buying the first app that does what you want, check Market for more that do the same thing. I've found that there's a free alternative to almost everything. The paid versions/apps are more luxurious in one way or another, usually, but a little research can save you a bunch of regret.
Widgets suck RAM. Before you know it you've got 25 and you're wondering why your Home screen is lagging. Phones are finite. Even these.
CM is CyanogenMod. Google it, it's worth it. They started on XDA and it got out of control, so they have their own site now, although the threads still hanging on XDA re CM are a much more interesting read. It seems to be the most popular set of ROMS for a variety of devices. I follow and flash them (the ROMs, that is. I dont want the devs to hate me).
Double entendres are rampant. It's Google.
Once you get your apps organized, you'll be surprised at how smoothly your phone useage goes. Frankly, it's just more fun, and much cheaper, to play with.

SamsungGalaxySVibrant said:
Congrats on your new phone. Let us know how your GPS works, since that seems to be a hot issue. you can test using google maps, google navigation and GPS Test downloadable from the Android Market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested it. Google maps got no lock. However, gps test gave me 3 satellites, when I held it in front, under the windshiels it jumped to five satellites, but it wasn't enough for google maps to lock or get my location.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Original sw on nexus s

I was wondering if you guys the following software on your new phone installed by default.
Qik
App brain
Skype
Quadrant
Speed test
Because when I got my phone from best buy it was already there and I am wondering if I got a used phone.
Sent from my Nexus S

None of those apps were preinstalled on the 2 NS's I bought on 12.16. Looks like someone played with/used it before you got it.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

I agree with Herr Bauhaus, app brain alone proves the phone's been played with before you got it.
Disappointing to hear that Best Buy is slipping returned phones into the "new" bin. If nothing else, they should have given you an "open box" discount. I'd take it back and demand that, or a new one. Turn it on before leaving the store and make sure nothing on the phone.

Thanks...this is disappointing. Shame on you best buy
Sent from my Nexus S

just some more confirmation, none of those apps should of been on the phone, you got a used device. Take it back and demand a new one, also as someone else said, open it in store.
if it still has the film over the screen telling you how to turn it on then thats a good sign but best to still turn it on and make sure no other apps are there.

Gingerbread auto-restores apps, are you certain this is not the case?
Sent from my Nexus S

AndroidZ28 said:
Gingerbread auto-restores apps, are you certain this is not the case?
Sent from my Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is a possibility

If you had them on your old android phone that's why they are there. I suppose best buy installed you stored wifi passwords too
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

well.. when you first turn on the phone, it does say Welcome to Nexus S... so thats a indicator if it was used or not

Slapinfunk said:
If you had them on your old android phone that's why they are there. I suppose best buy installed you stored wifi passwords too
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He never said his wifi passwords were restored, and if it were Google restoring apps via the backup feature from an old phone, wouldn't it restore ALL his old apps? I doubt those were the only apps he had installed on his old phone, if he even had one...I guess we should ask him (did you, OP?).

distortedloop said:
He never said his wifi passwords were restored, and if it were Google restoring apps via the backup feature from an old phone, wouldn't it restore ALL his old apps? I doubt those were the only apps he had installed on his old phone, if he even had one...I guess we should ask him (did you, OP?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will restore as many as it can, depending on a couple variables. One variable being reception. If you are turning on your phone for the first time in a location with crappy signal, you will probably only get a partial, if any, app restore. I speak from experience here.

Luxferro said:
It will restore as many as it can, depending on a couple variables. One variable being reception. If you are turning on your phone for the first time in a location with crappy signal, you will probably only get a partial, if any, app restore. I speak from experience here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And the rest will never come in after the first attempt? Not a very reliable system, then.
I remember it working for me once with my Nexus 1 way back when, but it's never worked reliably when switching to any other phone.

Of course also on the app restore issue there will be a notification letting you know that X number of apps were restored (or if there was a partial restore as well, I believe).
Whatever happened to the OP?

knytphal said:
Of course also on the app restore issue there will be a notification letting you know that X number of apps were restored (or if there was a partial restore as well, I believe).
Whatever happened to the OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no restore notification as far as I know.

My apps and settings didn't restore when I replaced my nexus s. I have backup my data and automatic restore enabled, and did on the previous phone too.

in the end it's quite clear the OP got a "used" phone from the "new" phone pile from BestBuy
it might have even been from some of us here in XDA that found some defect and sent it back (j/k)
if i were you, i'd got back to complain at BB, and get a new unit
as mentioned by the guys above, you should get a WELCOME screen, touch here to begin your setup wizard.... blah blah blah, and no weird software should be installed
you can also go into Phone> Settings> About, and check on the usage status

JCopernicus said:
There's no restore notification as far as I know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd, I always get a restore notification letting me know how many apps were reinstalled after changing devices or wiping/restoring.

Thanks guys for the answers. Quick update. I went back to BB to replace the phone and got a new one. No more extra apps.
I also noticed that this time the screen was no longer a finger print magnet either. They must have cleaned the previous phone and stripped the anti-smudge coating.
Problem: This time around though, I have a problem with the back button being stuck sometimes -- checking on xda forums and google forums, it looks like this is a hardware issue. Guess this phone is going back too. Too bad.
Maybe i'll just wait and see what happens to the GT-i9023.....

No for me. I did not own an android phone before (well, except for the 2 weeks I owned a Vibrant last summer), but I never had Skype or Qik installed, so it is not possible that this is a restore.
This was a used phone from Best Buy.

Thank you for the what???

OK so at the recommendation of one of the members I flashed U.K.E. Rom on to my phone. Kinda liking it but I got the oddest text this morning.
谢谢你的电话插孔一天。
Google translate says it's simplified Chinese and means "Thank you for the phone Jack"...
Is this a fluke or should I be worried?
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

Maybe it was built in to send to you when you flashed only One_love could be able to explain it cuz i got the same message when i ran U.K.E
One by One the penguins steal my SANITY

Is your name Jack? Does the text show the number it was sent from? Where did you download your rom from (ROM Manager, SDX website, etc)? Do you have any apps that didn't come from the market?

MrLinky said:
Is your name Jack? Does the text show the number it was sent from? Where did you download your rom from (ROM Manager, SDX website, etc)? Do you have any apps that didn't come from the market?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the Rom from the sdx forum and I haven't installed anything that wasn't from the market. I do have the phone number and it's from a local number, that's what freaks me out the most. If this wasn't a fluke then anyone with this knowledge can get my info let alone could they call out of country on my account and all that stuff...
turkbot said:
Maybe it was built in to send to you when you flashed only One_love could be able to explain it cuz i got the same message when i ran U.K.E
One by One the penguins steal my SANITY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes me feel a bit better though as long as you didn't get any odd charges on your bill...
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

Wow very random if i must say. I have yet seen or heard of this. Im wondering if you have a rogue app messing with you two. Lets see if we can figure this out, what apps do the both of you have the same of? Ive yet to see this message to me or hear of it from others. And i can tell you that there is nothing written into this rom to send you that message. This is why im thinking its a rogue app. If we could get a list of the apps you both have that received this random message.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

one_love_420 said:
Wow very random if i must say. I have yet seen or heard of this. Im wondering if you have a rogue app messing with you two. Lets see if we can figure this out, what apps do the both of you have the same of? Ive yet to see this message to me or hear of it from others. And i can tell you that there is nothing written into this rom to send you that message. This is why im thinking its a rogue app. If we could get a list of the apps you both have that received this random message.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. BTW, I called Sprint just to double check to see if they show any calls placed through my phone number or anything. The lady on the phone said it's possible but if someone did it wont post to my account for a few days, especially if they made any international calls.
I didn't figure there was anything scripted into the rom itself to do this, it's possible that it could be something rogue. It's also possible that someone with the skillz was just driving by and grabed my info from a wifi signal and texted me just to F with me.
Anywho, on to the installed program list...
Andchat
Androzip
Antivirus (AVG)
App 2 SD Free
Astro
Brightness Level
Business Calendar Free
CamScanner
ColorNote
Craigslist
Dropbox
eBay
Echolink (Amateur radio stuff)
ElectroDroid
Evernote
Fast Reboot
Forum Viewer for Warcraft (letting my geek show now...)
Gmail
GO Contacts
GO Launcher EX
GO Locker
GO SMS Pro
(few go themes)
Google Voice (yeah I know... if they realy want to know so be it)
GOWidget Transparent Theme
Gps Speedometer
GPS Test
gTabSiMiClock
History Eraser
Just Playlists
KeePassDroid
Kingsoft Office
Klondike
Linux Utils Lite
Maps (Google...)
market
Offline Dictionaries
Opera Mobile
Pandora
Philly D App
PocketManga
QuickPic
RealCalc
Rom Manager
Scanner Radio
Simple Weather Alert
Sync Settings
Tethering Widget
Titanium Backup
TuneIn Radio
TweakDeck
Uptime Widget
Upvise Pro
Voice Search
WoW Armory
XDA
Yachtc
....
and there's more room to put moah on my phone!!!!
This is the list as of the time I got the text. Sometimes I uninstall things like maps if I don't need it and what not.
And keep in mind, I'm not blaming anyone for what has or may happen. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. Just figured I'd see if this is just an odd ball spam from someone locally trying to troll me or what.

Wow that is odd as hell. I've been running and testing uke since before it was released and I've never had that pop up on me. Its def not something in the rom and I hope you guys find the app doing it. Good luck.

-somebody- said:
Wow that is odd as hell. I've been running and testing uke since before it was released and I've never had that pop up on me. Its def not something in the rom and I hope you guys find the app doing it. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is what's making me think it's just a fluke or a troll... I've been running these apps for a while now and haven't ever had a problem with them. I didn't even expect a comment from One_Love_420 either. VICODAN is the one that recommended the ROM to me so I wasn't going to just point the finger to the ROM anyways. I did have my Wifi running all night long (had the advanced setting setup to not put my wifi to sleep when my phone goes off). The only thing I haven't done yet is check to see what my logs say on my Linksys router (maybe he tapped my phone for internet).
I think it's just a fluke (or at least I hope... this could be an exspensive bill if this person was able to make calls from my phone or anything like that).

retiredhp2200 said:
I think this is what's making me think it's just a fluke or a troll... I've been running these apps for a while now and haven't ever had a problem with them. I didn't even expect a comment from One_Love_420 either. VICODAN is the one that recommended the ROM to me so I wasn't going to just point the finger to the ROM anyways. I did have my Wifi running all night long (had the advanced setting setup to not put my wifi to sleep when my phone goes off). The only thing I haven't done yet is check to see what my logs say on my Linksys router (maybe he tapped my phone for internet).
I think it's just a fluke (or at least I hope... this could be an exspensive bill if this person was able to make calls from my phone or anything like that).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah its def an oddity. have you ran miui on it anytime recently and maybe there was residual mess from it and someone was still able to mess with you? or hell, coulda been someone texting the wrong person, i would think its just a fluke if youve been using the same apps for x amount of time and havent had this happen before.

One thing does come to mind when looking at your app list. Go sms pro is a china developed app and has a ton of permissions that i would never approve of, one being the ability to make calls. Check its permissons list on the market. A little much for an app imho.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

...
Didn't think about that... Figured the GO stuff was lagit since it's all from the same group.
/me uninstalls GO SMS
-somebody- said:
yeah its def an oddity. have you ran miui on it anytime recently and maybe there was residual mess from it and someone was still able to mess with you? or hell, coulda been someone texting the wrong person, i would think its just a fluke if youve been using the same apps for x amount of time and havent had this happen before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried Miui yet. I started with CM7 and wanted to get into somthing light (meaning less sprint stuff and being able to uninstall maps and stuff since I only use them once in a great while). I know I got a lot of GO stuff on it but I've just been tinkering with it since the kernal is running a bit more then just the 800 mhz on the cpu. Wanted to "test" out what this thing is capable of.
The bling is nice, the personalization of colors and stuff is cool and all... But I use this for business a lot and kinda like a rock solid machine that's as efficient as possible. I'm looking into other options of roms that are just plane Jane Android next. U.K.E. has been running nicely even with all the bling (minus go sms now I guess). Depending on how put off I am about no bling I might just go back to using U.K.E.

retiredhp2200 said:
...
Depending on how put off I am about no bling I might just go back to using U.K.E.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U.K.E. is pretty rock solid for an aosp ROM, I try all of the ROMS on XDA for the shift as theyre released and even though that means im trying alot of diff ROMS i generally restore my UKE backups for my daily driver

retiredhp2200 said:
...
Didn't think about that... Figured the GO stuff was lagit since it's all from the same group.
/me uninstalls GO SMS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should always check permissions of apps even from the market..Google doesn't keep track of apps published on the market and if they are malicious or not. It's up to users to report if something funky is happening. That's why I un-installed GoSms a long time ago when they first added all of those strange permissions to the updated versions. It was even causing people to have issues with phone calls. Read through market comments and check permissions Always with any app even if it's just a update to a new version. The devs of GoSms are very un-responsive also when people ask them about the permissions and report issues. If you really want to get down to the bottom of something also run a logcat and see what the app is doing.

one_love_420 said:
Wow very random if i must say. I have yet seen or heard of this. Im wondering if you have a rogue app messing with you two. Lets see if we can figure this out, what apps do the both of you have the same of? Ive yet to see this message to me or hear of it from others. And i can tell you that there is nothing written into this rom to send you that message. This is why im thinking its a rogue app. If we could get a list of the apps you both have that received this random message.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can attest that UKE is a SOLID rom and is very secure.

VICODAN said:
I can attest that UKE is a SOLID rom and is very secure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it's based on cm7?

Solid indeed. Outside of that odd text I haven't had any other issues. I haven't tried to track down who's phone number that is Incas it's a friend just messing with me and I haven't had any charges posted to my account so... Might have just been someone messing with me.
Sent from my Evo Shift using XDA.

It's definately not a rom related issue. Download Addons Detector from the market. This will help you to track down suspicious apps intalled on your device.

So I got rid of all of the GO products and I'm just running the AWD stuff that came with the rom. Only thing I realy miss is the SMS stuff. I looked at handsent and their permissions are the same (for the most part) as go sms.
Any thoughts on an sms program? I'm looking for character count and more info like sent date/time displayed without going into message details.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA

Remote wipe Xoom - which app do you use?

I'm looking for an app that I'll hopefully never need to use. It should be able to track the device, take pictures and such, but also remotely wipe it in case all else fails.
There are quite a few apps out there - I've narrowed it down to these three:
1) Lookout
Apart from being able to track and wipe, this has some stuff bundled that I really don't need... like backups or a firewall of sorts. I'd prefer to keep the app on the down low and not having it ever-present.
2) Prey
This looks really great, but it doesn't seem to be able to remotely wipe the device. Everything else looks stellar though.
3) Android Lost
This looks like it's supposed to do exactly what I'm looking for - except that the developer says things like "wiping the SD card should work, I haven't tried it myself yet, send me an email if you do it and it works" on the website. Kinda turns me off.
Have you used any of the above? If so, I'd love some feedback. I'm just not sure which one is the best choice here. Thanks!

Cerberus
Can't recommend this app enough!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lsdroid.cerberus&hl=en
It can remote wipe, track, take pictures, videos, display messages, alarms etc.
It's got a free trial for a week and best of all its very cheap after that

eh +1 on Cerberus - excellent app, and probably best in its class. I use it

nadiros said:
eh +1 on Cerberus - excellent app, and probably best in its class. I use it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2. It will also take pictures for you and survive a factory reset.

Lawyer "so your saying you stole a Xoom, and the owner took pictures of you without your permission"
Thief "yes"
Lawyer "and you want to file chargers against him and sue him for invasion of privacy"
Thief "yes"
Lawyer "I'll take it"
A year later...
Lawyer "we did it, $10,000,000, to bad you had to give his device back though, to get your money."
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Thanks for the advice guys - I installed it on my Atrix (stock Android 2.2.2) and tested it... unfortunately, it doesn't work like it should.
First it said I needed to make sure that I'm connected to the Google servers by activating Google Talk. I don't use Talk on the pohone - but I activated it and then it worked (partly) for a bit. Then after an hour or so, it stopped working because I had signed out of Google Talk on my computer.
So it depents on Gtalk to work. Gtalk depends on a data plan to work. I need this app because I'm going on a trip tomorrow and I don't plan on getting a SIM card with a data plan - I only want to use WiFi. So a) this app will depend on WiFi to exist wherever the thief goes, and b) I would have to remember to log into Gtalk all the time, else it won't work.
Also, during the short time that it worked, it only ever took pictures with the back-facing camera. When I tried a wrong PIN, it took a picture of my finger that was partly on the camera on the back. Lol. I did try all the different options; it seems that it's not able to use the front-facing camera on my Atrix.
Didn't try it on the Xoom yet - I'm looking for 1 app for both. I do appreciate the tip though, sorry that it didn't work for me
And so the hunt continues...

bwcorvus said:
Lawyer "so your saying you stole a Xoom, and the owner took pictures of you without your permission"
Thief "yes"
Lawyer "and you want to file chargers against him and sue him for invasion of privacy"
Thief "yes"
Lawyer "I'll take it"
A year later...
Lawyer "we did it, $10,000,000, to bad you had to give his device back though, to get your money."
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ lol. But you didn't account for the lawyer fees. Thief will end up in the red because of that, even after the settlement.

Update...
After not getting very far with Cerberus, I went ahead with Android Lost - installed and tested it first on the Atrix and then on the Xoom (MZ601 on Codename Android ICS), and it works wonderfully on both devices. I can recommend it to anyone!
Thanks again for the input. Now, fingers crossed that I'll never have to actually use the app

Anyone else nervous about new Google Assistant?

The pixel seems like I good phone but I'm a little apprehensive about the new assistant app. I'm sure it will arrive on all phones eventually. I really don't want google to always know where I am, how long i was there, where I'm eating, if I'm moving around, what I'm buying, watching on tv, and searching for. Full access to my texts, emails, and friends. Best case scenario is they use/sell all my life's info to a marketing company. They should call the app Snowden assistant. My life is boring, but they don't need to know that. Google is becoming too invasive just to change your money into consumer products. And all Nouget kernels are locked, so without a leak, you become a Google Ad Slave without any self protection. I don't like it.

if you think that's bad it get worse i call tmobile yesterday wifes phone. acting up
they new everything that was on and how many pictures were on phone and the list goes on .they same said 1st issue you have developers on which is bad second that wifi was on and needed to be off for more diagnostic. so any way don't be too worried of google as tmobile also knows what's on your phone

This is why I personally feel root should be option on all devices. Are we to trust all the hands in our private cookie jars? I personally feel more secure with my control of my device than with large companies that are constant targets of hackers. I'm glad we have more control over what apps can access in android 6 and and 7, but still no real control what the carriers and their friends can access about our lives and what they do that info. It will be interesting to see if people end up caring enough about their privacy or maybe I'm just being too sensitive about it.

1iwilly said:
if you think that's bad it get worse i call tmobile yesterday wifes phone. acting up
they new everything that was on and how many pictures were on phone and the list goes on .they same said 1st issue you have developers on which is bad second that wifi was on and needed to be off for more diagnostic. so any way don't be too worried of google as tmobile also knows what's on your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why I disable the My T-Mobile app it is how they gather all this information. If you root the app will even try to request root permissions which is insane.

XmentalX said:
This is why I disable the My T-Mobile app it is how they gather all this information. If you root the app will even try to request root permissions which is insane.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. I have the unlocked S7 Edge .. no carrier or Samsung bloat installed. This Big Bro crap is just that .. crap. They also load up a diag process as part of the MyTmobile app. You don't opt out of their network testing and disable that process .. it will eat your network connection and system resources. It hit my Note 7 and made it unusable for 40 minutes. I noticed the data arrows going mad and figured this was the problem. It was. I disabled all the TMO software and this separate process and everything was good .. then recall. Not a good month all the way around.

Bubba Fett said:
The pixel seems like I good phone but I'm a little apprehensive about the new assistant app. I'm sure it will arrive on all phones eventually. I really don't want google to always know where I am, how long i was there, where I'm eating, if I'm moving around, what I'm buying, watching on tv, and searching for. Full access to my texts, emails, and friends. Best case scenario is they use/sell all my life's info to a marketing company. They should call the app Snowden assistant. My life is boring, but they don't need to know that. Google is becoming too invasive just to change your money into consumer products. And all Nouget kernels are locked, so without a leak, you become a Google Ad Slave without any self protection. I don't like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry, Google Assistant is exclusive to Pixel phones. Google probably doesn't need Assistant to know everything about you anyhow.

XmentalX said:
This is why I disable the My T-Mobile app it is how they gather all this information. If you root the app will even try to request root permissions which is insane.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dr. Fed said:
Don't worry, Google Assistant is exclusive to Pixel phones. Google probably doesn't need Assistant to know everything about you anyhow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And once the Pixel folks have worked out the kinks by beta testing it .. it'll get pushed out to everyone.
Anyone who thinks the Pixel will sell enough to make it work Google doing it as an exclusive feature is just nuts. Also, the folks who created Siri just got bought by Samsung so most likely by summer '17 we'll all be saying "Hey, Viv!" and all that silliness.

1iwilly said:
if you think that's bad it get worse i call tmobile yesterday wifes phone. acting up
they new everything that was on and how many pictures were on phone and the list goes on .they same said 1st issue you have developers on which is bad second that wifi was on and needed to be off for more diagnostic. so any way don't be too worried of google as tmobile also knows what's on your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, when you first get the phone, at the beginning the t-mobile app ask if you give them permission to collect data to "easily diagnosed" issues on your phone ...you have the option of denial or acceptance on that....or you also can disable the t-mobile app on app manager

farru503 said:
Well, when you first get the phone, at the beginning the t-mobile app ask if you give them permission to collect data to "easily diagnosed" issues on your phone ...you have the option of denial or acceptance on that....or you also can disable the t-mobile app on app manager
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kinda wondered what that does. You still have to opt out of maps, chrome, google app and Google account to fully unhook from google. There are many sub menu options in Google account especially.

Bubba Fett said:
I kinda wondered what that does. You still have to opt out of maps, chrome, google app and Google account to fully unhook from google. There are many sub menu options in Google account especially.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well at least Google gives their customers the options to turn off all of that... you just need patience to go over and READ descriptions of every single option...Google puts everything there for ppl to choose...it's just ppl are too lazy lol

What's irritating me, and I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but ever since Google stated only the Pixel would have this feature, Google Now has been crippled on Samsung phones. Used to get news, all sorts of info, now when I go to Google Now, I only get the sports teams I follow and location based stuff. I think Google is pulling a stunt to push people to the Pixel. Not cool.
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