Hi,
My brother has been told by an associate, that he has hacked his phone and can track and hear everything he does and did it remotely.
Also said the App is undetectable.
His phone is a rooted Note 3 and his wife has a non rooted Galaxy S5.
Now, I have told him there is no way for for somebody to remotely install any app on your phone even if it is rooted, unless it is already compromised and or unless they have your Google account and password, which i am not 100% sure that would allow you to install anything either.
So my question is, if he flashes an original rom and creates a new Google account, can he feel safe that his phone can't have malicious apps installed with out his knowledge ?
I would assume a factory reset wouldn't be enough to get rid of an app installed as a system app ?
Is there any programs he could install to check for malicious apps.
I think my brother is just being overly paranoid and this guy is a ****
Help greatly appreciated.
Hopefully this is the right thread / board, if not please move to the correct thread please mods.
JaGuR said:
Hi,
My brother has been told by an associate, that he has hacked his phone and can track and hear everything he does and did it remotely.
Also said the App is undetectable.
His phone is a rooted Note 3 and his wife has a non rooted Galaxy S5.
Now, I have told him there is no way for for somebody to remotely install any app on your phone even if it is rooted, unless it is already compromised and or unless they have your Google account and password, which i am not 100% sure that would allow you to install anything either.
So my question is, if he flashes an original rom and creates a new Google account, can he feel safe that his phone can't have malicious apps installed with out his knowledge ?
I would assume a factory reset wouldn't be enough to get rid of an app installed as a system app ?
Is there any programs he could install to check for malicious apps.
I think my brother is just being overly paranoid and this guy is a ****
Help greatly appreciated.
Hopefully this is the right thread / board, if not please move to the correct thread please mods.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say, scan with an antivirus like avast and see what can come up, and to your question, if he flashes the stock rom, everything which has been installed as a system app will get removed, also if your phone is rooted , avast has a function which is called firewall, in that you can control the internet connectivity of all the user/system app. I use it to block internet access to systems which in my view do not need any connectivity to run. Its very easy to do also. ask him to change his goole password and also user 2 factor authentication on google.
Sounds like someone's been watching a bit too much Person of Interest...
Do such 'apps' exist? Yes. Are they publicly available? Hell no.
I dont think theres a software like that in public. Thats a lot of money to be earned "IF" ever and theres laws to break.
Just do a factory reset from recovery or a better solution is to upgrade your firmware to the newest build from samfirmware
Factory reset won't delete system apps.
The least you can do is flash stock ROM using Odin to fulfill your brother's OCD.
Thanks guys, will put my mind at rest and hopefully his.
JaGuR said:
1- if he flashes an original rom and creates a new Google account, can he feel safe that his phone can't have malicious apps installed with out his knowledge ?
2- I would assume a factory reset wouldn't be enough to get rid of an app installed as a system app ?
3- Is there any programs he could install to check for malicious apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- Yes. And no need to create a new account, just change the password of the current account.
2- Yes, in some (rare) cases.
3- I'm not sure. You can try some antivirus apps or security apps on the Play Store. But in general, you can check yourself by finding apps that have the following permissions: READ SMS + RECORD AUDIO + FULL INTERNET ACCESS... Try to eliminate well-known safe apps, plus some experiences and some helps from the other, you can identify these malicious apps.
Related
Hello Everyone ,
First off I would like to say I’m new to this forum. I’m hoping to learn alot about my new android Galaxy S captivate phone. I have a couple questions regarding my phone, I would really appreciate if you guys can help me.
1.I bought one app from the market store, I later restore my phone. There anyway to retrieve my app without paying for it again?
2.What is rooting is it just like jailbreaking an iphone?
Thanks,
Michael
Hello there!
1. My guess is that if you login to the market with the same account, you will not have to buy the app again. If you login with a different account, yes, you will pay for it again
2. Rooting means that you have SuperUser access to your phone (just like Administrator for windows). You will be able to install extra programs like task managers, and file managers in order to access the root of your phone (the core of your linux-capable smartphone)
Note that you DO NOT have to root in order to install "pirated" material!
dragunov said:
Hello there!
1. My guess is that if you login to the market with the same account, you will not have to buy the app again. If you login with a different account, yes, you will pay for it again
2. Rooting means that you have SuperUser access to your phone (just like Administrator for windows). You will be able to install extra programs like task managers, and file managers in order to access the root of your phone (the core of your linux-capable smartphone)
Note that you DO NOT have to root in order to install "pirated" material!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the helpful reply! I'm in the process of rooting my phone. Thanks so much!!
dragunov said:
Hello there!
1. My guess is that if you login to the market with the same account, you will not have to buy the app again. If you login with a different account, yes, you will pay for it again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, I've done it many times now. It's linked to the account
dragunov said:
2. Rooting means that you have SuperUser access to your phone (just like Administrator for windows). You will be able to install extra programs like task managers, and file managers in order to access the root of your phone (the core of your linux-capable smartphone)
Note that you DO NOT have to root in order to install "pirated" material!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but keep in mind, don't rely on pirated programs. Google has already provided a framework which developers can use to prevent their use illegally. It allows developers to test if the phones owner purchased the software they installed on start. Previously, pirated APK's I believe ran fine on other devices just by copying the package.
And yes, as mentioned, it is similar to jailbreaking, but unlike the iPhone, rooting has limited uses on Android (because you can install software from 3rd parties anyway).
Last question, lets say if I root my phone, and i magically screwed up. Can there be a chance where my phone is brick and no longer repairable?
Could somebody please tell me what the advantages and disadvantages of rooting the flipside are, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, are there any risks??
Will I be able to take of all of these ATT apps?
Will I be able to move my apps from the phones memory to the SD card?
Can the phone be unrooted?
Will all of my apps still work?
What is the best route to root? I have the z4root.
I am much indebted to anyone who will answer these questions. Thanks.
z4root will work fine, it's nice an easy to use. Rooting won't give you an easy way to move apps to the sd card, but you can remove the AT&T (and other system) apps. You can either do it by hand, or with any number of apps on the market. I prefer titanium backup, personally. All of your existing apps will work, there's no change there.
The only real disadvantage is that you'll have the power to screw up your phone. You can potentially screw up bad enough that you'll need to reflash the stock .sbf file. Generally, this takes some real screwing around, but just thought I'd point it out.
Thank u for your thourough answer. What do you mean by screw it up. How could I do that and how do i avoid it. Are you saying by virtue of the fact that i'm rooting that i'll screw it up, or it's something that i may do afterwards that may do it? Thanks.
also, are there any other advantages to rooting other than taking off the apps?
The act of rooting itself shouldn't screw anything up, but having root means you could possibly do something later that would. Generally, you'd have to be messing with stuff you have no business messing with. With root, you can remount the system directory as read/write, and then end up deleting or modifying a file that won't let the phone boot, which means you'd need to reflash. Stay away from the command line if you don't know what you're doing, and don't grant root access to apps you don't trust, and you're reasonably safe.
Other than removing system apps, like the AT&T garbage, you can also backup and restore apps and their data, which is great for if you need to reflash, if you switch phones, etc. There's not a TON of stuff that requires root, but honestly, removing the AT&T junk is definitely a good reason to root, the phone feels much faster after scrapping a lot of the blur and AT&T stuff.
I'm assuming then that any android/att/Motorola updates will not be problem either? BTW, do you if and when Motorola will bupdating the flipside to 2.2? Thanks.
There shouldn't be any problem updating with an official update if/when we get one, but you'll need to re-root and remove the AT&T stuff again. There's no word on when we'll get 2.2, but I'd assume we'll get it at some point.
Ok. I just rooted! Yeah, it worked! But i cannot figue out how to delete the att bloatware. I go into the apps manager and click on one of the att apps, and there is still no option to uninstall; only to clear the cache. Also, I downloaded the titanium and I cannot figure out how to do it from there either. Plus, I still had to sideload the titanium which i tbought that i would not have to do once i rooted.
mordechai said:
Plus, I still had to sideload the titanium which i tbought that i would not have to do once i rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to enable Unknown Sources before you can install non-Market apps
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867637
This is also an example of how you can mess up your phone by having root access.
That is part of the problem that i do not have that option in two.one. that is why i had to sideload all of those programs. are you saying that i screwed up my phone. i tried clicking on the link but this googlw ad comes up and i cant get past it.
Ok, i got through to the link. But the guy seems pretty shaky as to whether you should follow his instructions. Is this legit or what?
Maybe one of you guys can help. I'm new to alot of this but my last droid x was rooted and it was great I used z4root worked perfectly. But now I have a new X and a z4root apk. On my laptop, now what? Last rooted X, I was fortunate enough to catch z4root on the market, like a day before they updated. HELP!!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
There are instructions in another post in this forum on how to enable Non-Market Apps, also known as Unknown Sources. With Titanium Backup, make sure that you grant it root permissions when it asks, and that it says something like this on the overview:
Root access: OK (BusyBox 1.17.2 from system)
HyperShell (FAST!): YES
Fast/Auto app install: Yes (using HyperShell)
SQLite: YES (SQLite 3.7.2 included)
Then just click on Backup/Restore at the top, and you'll get a list of all your apps. If you don't have backup/restore at the top, your sd card isn't mounted on the phone, unplug your usb cable and hit Menu > More > Reload application.
From Backup/Restore, you get a huge list of all the apps on your phone. Just scroll down to the AT&T stuff, tap them, and click uninstall in the top-right corner. If you're not sure if you want to uninstall something, because it might belong to something important, click Freeze instead. Freezing will stop the app from running, and stop it from showing up in your tray, but you can easily unfreeze it to restore it if it turns out it was important.
Here's the list of stuff I have frozen/uninstalled:
AdService 1.0
all of the "AT&T" apps
all of the "com.motorola" apps
Data Manager and Data Manager Service
Help Center
Home (I use ADWLauncher, don't remove this if you don't already have an alternative launcher installed)
MediaSync
Mobile Video
all of the "MotoBlur" apps
My Uploads
Phone Portal
Quick Contact
Social Messaging, Social Messaging Service, Social Networking, and Social Status
Sticky Note
Video Editor Lite
Vlingo Voice
Weather 2.1
WHERE
Work Contacts
Mobile Banking
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Kodak Perfect Touch
AT&T Address Book
Quickoffice
YPmobile
As for enabling unknown sources, it's a bit of a pain, you'll need to be comfortable with a command line to do replace the files, and comfortable with a hex editor if you want to edit your own instead of reusing someone else's files. I managed to screw up my phone in the process and had to completely reflash and start over, it wasn't fun.
His instructions do work, but his .sh file doesn't work, you'll need to paste the commands one by one into your command prompt. I preferred to edit my own files, so I wouldn't have the same market ID, and that's just slightly more complex. I can help you through it either way though, just make a post over in that thread if you're having problems.
bubba90744 said:
Maybe one of you guys can help. I'm new to alot of this but my last droid x was rooted and it was great I used z4root worked perfectly. But now I have a new X and a z4root apk. On my laptop, now what? Last rooted X, I was fortunate enough to catch z4root on the market, like a day before they updated. HELP!!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just need to get z4root installed on your phone, it should be pretty straightforward. The Droid X shouldn't be blocking non-market apps, so just download it from your phone and run the .apk to install.
So do I hook my phone up to my laptop, and put the apk. on my sd?
Or download the apk. directly to my phone from the site?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I found the link, but the directions are too complicated for my novice understanding of technology. It looks like I am stuck. I don't want to try what he's saying and take any chances. Are there any other alternatives? Or do you have any other suggestions as to how to make the most of the space that I do have with the att bloatware, because I am constantly running out of room. It is a strange phenomenon that I don't understand, that when I turn on the phone it will have around 40mb to play with, and after a few hours it is down to 16 and then 10, and then before I know it, the phone is telling me that my memory is full. So then I reset and it's back to ~40 again. Do you have an explanation? Thanks.
I have switched jobs and ended up with a VM Samsung Intercept I am growing to like it but I hate the bloatware other then rooting it is there anyway to uninstall the junk I will never use and keep the other junk from running at start up every single time?
At a fresh boot I have 52 Megs after running advanced task killer and stopping the bloatware I have 62
Amazon MP3 Never used it never will use it it runs at start up every single time I reboot the phone and I have to go in and kill it (Makes me want to never use Amazon again)
MAPS I have turned off all location bases services but everytime I reboot the phone that dang maps loads again (I Hate it)
Market I use it to download apps and games but I don't need it running every single time I reboot
Voice Dailer never use it doubt I ever will
SSA (not sure what it is)
Hello,
I have the same problems as you do. Download an app called startup cleaner from the marketplace. There you can have it kill the apps you don't want at startup. It's the closest way to getting rid of them without rooting your phone.
Everyone asks this, it's not unique to one phone
These are system apps and are in a system directory that is write and delete protected. Think of root as admin on a computer it grants you special privileges like write and delete.
You lack the permissions necessary without root. As for the answer to you question I think you knew it when you posted and after this should most defiantly know the correct answer is often the most obvious.
When I was new to android I was worried too, but don't worry. Just find a "stock rom" and if you need to ever send the device in you will be able to flash the stock images on to the built in flash memory. It's like any writable memory you can always write over it with original information if you have source for the original info.
Hi I don't have a Samsung Intercept but I know that any rooted phone can remove bloatware using the app, Titanium Backup. You need to be rooted in order for app to work, and it is free.
Eric
Yeah you have to root your phone before you can remove system apps. I suggest anyone root there phone, you can make it like 100 times better. Go over to sdx-developers.com and look around in the intercept section for how to root your phone!
Sent from my SPH-M910 using Tapatalk
Very simple
Rooting this phone is quite simple - using only help and posts from xda I was able to root my intercept, remove the annoying bloatware (which really makes the system run great) and use my phone as a full infrastructure mode Wi-Fi hotspot for my android tablet.
Don't waste your time with startup cleaners and task killers - just head over to the dev section and read the guide and root your phone - then install Titanium Backup from the market - you can use it to remove factory installed apps but still keep a backup of them - you will need to restore them if VM ever pushes out another OTA update (which I doubt; I don't see us getting gingerbread on this device)
PM me if you need help rooting your Intercept. You need a data sync cable, a windows PC, and a little bit of time to get it going.
HEY GUYS
i have just brought my son the xperia play for his birthday sunday.
and before he gets it i want to set it up to work the best it can so i would like to know please is there anything i should know or do to get the best out the phone for him. like updates software that should be added or anything like this that you can recommend.
also how.where is the best place to download the games from or is this all done via the phone,
thank you for all and any help
sut1576 said:
HEY GUYS
i have just brought my son the xperia play for his birthday sunday.
and before he gets it i want to set it up to work the best it can so i would like to know please is there anything i should know or do to get the best out the phone for him. like updates software that should be added or anything like this that you can recommend.
also how.where is the best place to download the games from or is this all done via the phone,
thank you for all and any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well first thing you probably would want to do is root the phone and get rid of all the bloatware. It will speed up the phone a bunch, then move dalvik cache and that will increase internal memory quite a bit(its pretty pathetic internal memory) and also move as many apps as you can to sd card which will give you a bit more memory. On the gaming issue there are lots of emulators on the market available and games too. Plus you can use the fun& downloads app which is basically a direct source for most of the games. Sorry for no links but just head over to development section and you will find how to do the dalvik cache moving, rooting and everything you'll need to get that baby running the way you want it. Hope this helps you out a bit. Have fun
Sent from my R800a using XDA App
thank you for the info look slike i have a fair bit of reading to do lol.
but again thanks
I would like to ad some info.
Moving dalvik cache on the newest firmware build (2.3.4) is not recomended cuz the cache partition is sized down to a 100mb and can cause you not to be able to download from market as dalvik cache would fill it up to much and leave to little free space.
Haven't tried it myself, just some info i read here in the play subforum i would like to share.
Regards Dousan...
What model is the xplay you bought? R800i? As long as your phone is not the R800x you can follow the guide here. Which will give you root then just see this thread for what bloat is safe to remove from the phone.
If you uninstall the apps after rooting then you will not be able to ota update to the latest fw since ota requires all the bloat still on the phone. If you freeze the bloat rather than uninstall it still gives you the same effect uninstalling them would (faster boot up e.t.c) but still allows you to receive the latest updates. If you follow the guide above to gain root then ota update you will be on the latest software SE has released.
No need to move the dalvik cache, i have not moved it and i still have enough internal memory to spare.
You can still grab Yongzh's emulators for free from here. Other than that the android market has everything you could want.
wow thank you for all that info Mozza2k11,
a few questions thou if you dont mind. how do i know what version i have i dont know if its the 800i or 800x.
my phone is on contract to T-mobile can i still root the phone? after reading your comments i think if i can do all this i will just freeze the apps instead of removing so the phone wil still update.
what is rooting yoru phone?
thanks
sut1576 said:
wow thank you for all that info Mozza2k11,
a few questions thou if you dont mind. how do i know what version i have i dont know if its the 800i or 800x.
my phone is on contract to T-mobile can i still root the phone? after reading your comments i think if i can do all this i will just freeze the apps instead of removing so the phone wil still update.
what is rooting yoru phone?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have t-mobile its not the x. My advice is this though. Unless your interested in tinkering with your sons phone all the time / think he would have fun tinkering. Don't root it. While root can give you incresed functionality, it can and will however break functions on the phone from time to time.
This is something you'll need to be aware of.
Of course, if you do. Have fun, cause its awesome!
Sent from my R800x using xda premium
sut1576 said:
wow thank you for all that info Mozza2k11,
a few questions thou if you dont mind. how do i know what version i have i dont know if its the 800i or 800x.
my phone is on contract to T-mobile can i still root the phone? after reading your comments i think if i can do all this i will just freeze the apps instead of removing so the phone wil still update.
what is rooting yoru phone?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If when on the home screen you press the menu key (3rd from the left) then go > Settings > About phone. Its says model number (in my case R800i).
Rooting your phone gives you admin rights basically the same as you would get on a pc (allowing you to access to all files). Once rooted you can use apps you normally could not have such as titanium backup, adfree (blocks pop up, ads in free games its very handy) e.t.c
You can root any xplay with the guide i posted in my last post execpt the r800x, it doesnt matter what carrier you are on.
Tbh mate i dont know how old your son is or if he is into modifiying his phone. If you just run the ota update (settings > about phone > software update) or use pc companion and get the latest software on. He should be good to go for now. This was my first android phone and i didnt root my phone till i had it for a month or so and it still worked great.
If you decide to root the phone look @ my posts in this thread mainly the one towards the bottom for an easier to follow guide.
thank you so much for your help.
i have been told by a friend to install " snappz market " is this good idea or should i stay away from it. must be honest not to sure what it is
if i root the phone so it runs faster by removing some of the crap am i right in thinking i cant ota update? but if i freeze the crap i dont want/use then i will still get the same performance increase and still be able to update?
so if im understanding correct it make sense to just freeze all instead of remove nothing,
sorry if im asking newbie questions
Never even heard of snappz market. Id just stick with android market it has everything you could need.
You cannot ota update if you uninstall the bloat (remove it fully from the phone). If you freeze the bloat it stops it from running but is still hidden on the phone and allows you to ota update. Once an update is out just unfreeze the bloat, run the ota and then refreeze what you had frozen before.
I freeze all the bloat i dont want running now (from the safe apps to remove list). I previously uninstalled them and when the update came out it would not apply so i had to reinstall the software on my phone. Wiping all my apps, game saves e.t.c.
So freezing bloat saves you from having to reinstall the software to get back the stuff you might have uninstalled. Plus you get the benefits of the bloat not running, better battery life e.t.c
Hello new here and while I have done some searches I am not quite finding what I am looking for which is maybe because I am not asking the right questions or searching for the right terms so hopefully someone can direct me to the right place!
I have an old Galaxy Grand Prime Sm-G530W running Android 5.1.1. It has 8gb storage and I would like to maybe remove some of the apps that I wont use, are not useful or are just bloatware.
However I am not sure what apps are what and which one I should avoid removing?
The phone will be used primary to make calls, will not be on a data and only use free wifi hotspot and the wife from my home.
I would like to maybe keep some kind of google maps ability, I do not want chrome but rather would use firefox along with ad blockers etc I know work well for me on FF.
I have have done some research but not a phone expert by far so I am not sure I want to root my phone, install custom roms. I read something about remove bloatware via "remove the pre installed apps using ADB commands" however figured I get some tips advice from people that know what they are talking about.
Ideally it would be great if there was some kind of program I can just plug into from my PC or some such that allows me to then simply remove the samsung and google bloat or unwanted programs so I could gain more room for apps I do want.
Right now after factory reset it uses like 3.50GB out of 8gb.
is there any Debloat program I can use on it out there?
smdebloat said:
Hello new here and while I have done some searches I am not quite finding what I am looking for which is maybe because I am not asking the right questions or searching for the right terms so hopefully someone can direct me to the right place!
I have an old Galaxy Grand Prime Sm-G530W running Android 5.1.1. It has 8gb storage and I would like to maybe remove some of the apps that I wont use, are not useful or are just bloatware.
However I am not sure what apps are what and which one I should avoid removing?
The phone will be used primary to make calls, will not be on a data and only use free wifi hotspot and the wife from my home.
I would like to maybe keep some kind of google maps ability, I do not want chrome but rather would use firefox along with ad blockers etc I know work well for me on FF.
I have have done some research but not a phone expert by far so I am not sure I want to root my phone, install custom roms. I read something about remove bloatware via "remove the pre installed apps using ADB commands" however figured I get some tips advice from people that know what they are talking about.
Ideally it would be great if there was some kind of program I can just plug into from my PC or some such that allows me to then simply remove the samsung and google bloat or unwanted programs so I could gain more room for apps I do want.
Right now after factory reset it uses like 3.50GB out of 8gb.
is there any Debloat program I can use on it out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello member of this small community, well the best way to remove bloatware is by root, the process is relatively simple.
1) Download the twrp recovery (.tar) belonging to the model you have.
2) Install it through Odin
3) Install Magisk Manager
With this done you can use applications such as root uninstaller, another alternative is to look if there is a custom rom for your model, but do not expect much as many roms have been abandoned and only a new project is kept alive, if the current rom does not present problems in performance, I recommend you leave it alone and start removing junk apps, another recommendation is to install SD maid, a great app for cleaning junk content of the phone.