Hi,
I'm using custom roms on note 2 since I bought it (almost a year), but these 4.3 roms don't come with Samsung Apps Apk.
I can't use my smartphone without S pen apps, someone please share the Note 2 Samsung Apps Apk?
Do we have some similar apps to use S Pen that takes place of Samsung ones?
Thank you.
:good:
UnderrTaker said:
Hi,
I'm using custom roms on note 2 since I bought it (almost a year), but these 4.3 roms don't come with Samsung Apps Apk.
I can't use my smartphone without S pen apps, someone please share the Note 2 Samsung Apps Apk?
Do we have some similar apps to use S Pen that takes place of Samsung ones?
Thank you.
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course there are alternative Samsung apps but you can't keep all Samsung features like Airview.
For SNote you have plenty of apps like Papyrus, GNote...
For videos: Showtime, GPlayer...
Primokorn said:
Of course there are alternative Samsung apps but you can't keep all Samsung features like Airview.
For SNote you have plenty of apps like Papyrus, GNote...
For videos: Showtime, GPlayer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I will look for these apps!
Hi all, just off the phone from Vodafone and purchased the Sony Z2 Tablet
Comes this Monday.
Just wondering if you guys can give my advise of personal use to weather I have just purchased the best tablet on the market.
I have looked at a few reviews and heard not much bad about this device. I was also wondering if anyone knows if 4.4.4 KitKat will be available in the future for this device.
I am also waiting on the Sony Xperia Z3 mobile coming out to upgrade, best specs i've seen available for a mobile (I know the note4 is pretty awesome specs, but not a big Samsung fan and the screen size is too big for my liking, 5.2 in' is my maximum)
Thanks in advance for your advice guys
Just quickly saw this tablet at local store and it looked pretty nice.
Without any knowledge whether 4.4.4. is coming to z2, i would say that you wont even miss it.
In my opinion 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 brings mostly security updates and not end user updates. But maybe someone can bring some more light into it.
But i think you made a good choice with Z2
---------- Post added at 09:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------
To addition you are already able to upgrade 4.4.4 through custom roms but that is another story
I have been using it almost every day since June, and I couldn't be happier. It works flawlessly, it is powerful, fast and smooth, it has no noticeable bugs, it is easily rooteable and customizable if you want. I don't miss anything in it. I am so glad I got the 32gb model...
Android 4.4.4 is coming, it has been already certified, I would bet in a couple of weeks it will be amongst us, first for the phone, and later for the tablet, but i don't care, as current fw works so well.
Enviado desde mi SGP512 mediante Tapatalk
Android 4.4.4 is been rolled out now for old models, apparently it will take a little longer for the z2 as Sony wants to add new features present in the new z3 to the z2 tablet
I have had a lot of phones and tablets in the past but this is my favourite, Sony's UI is great nearly stock but with handy features and looks nice. Its the first tablet where I didn't feel the need to install a custom ROM, plus the battery life is great and apparently may be better in the next update
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Vaetheran2107 said:
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya true I do use Nova launcher so I'm probably biased, I actually don't like the Sony launcher, can't change the margins, cant change font, or icon size and it looks a bit like a cartoonist
Also nova, but I meant all of Sony's apps
Vaetheran2107 said:
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Er... you can simply root this device and 1. remove the bloatware (via Titanium Backup or a similar app) and 2. install Xposed.
Where is the problem???
Ofc there is some bloatware in this rom.
It is kind of stupid to blame Sony or any other brand for that.
Compared to the mainstream, we at XDA are a real small group of experienceed users,
who don't need that bloat.
But for the mainstream it has to be as easy as possible. So they install all possible needed sony-apps. And to be honest, Sony has to be stupid to stop doing this, cause it's an easy way to support their services and extra hardware like the ps4 or some tvs.
The ordinary user may loose interest upon the first two steps to use a Sony service.
1. Searching and finding the correct app
2. Installing and configure this app.
The working-out-of-the-box-feeling is most important for the mainstream I guess.
And to be honest... Sonys stock rom works perfectly for me and I don't care about the bloat.
Thinking back to my galaxy tab 2 and the laggy "performance" it had with stock... I love Sony
But to get the mainquestion answered.... You made a great deal. The z2 is an awesome tablet and at the moment I don't wanna switch to an other.
But maybe u have to wait a little for a new firmware to get the touchscreen issues fixed.
Or (what I have done) you use flashtool to get the things working with an user-provided stock rom.
Sent from my SGP511 using XDA Premium HD app
Oh, come on!, bloatware in Android is something of the past. Since 4.1, if i remember well, anybody can disable unwanted system apps, which at all effects is just like deleting them. As these apps are stored in system partition you won't recover free space by disabling them, and if you uninstall them via Titanium Backup, in a rooted device, the freed up space on system partition is useless for installing apps from the store anyway.
Also, as far as i know Sony doesn't include any app which takes too much resources from the system, just their Music/video/games shops, smart connect, some nice image editors, OfficeSuite, Xperia Link, TrackID, Sony Select (the only one i have disabled)... Not a deal breaker to me, they are useful apps, not like Samsung is doing bloating their devices with 2 GB worth of useless apps, constantly poping up with ads.
Oh, and i like Sony's stock launcher more than Google's launcher, i think they are near, buy sony's one looks better and more modern. I never liked the look of pure Android (GB, JB and KK).
You cannot disable all apps unless rooted and even if you disable them, some of them still run in the background and use resources.
SANGER_A2 said:
You cannot disable all apps unless rooted and even if you disable them, some of them still run in the background and use resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example?
Enviado desde mi SGP512 mediante Tapatalk
Phone
SANGER_A2 said:
Phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I've got to give my 2 cents here because I think this last post may be the very beginning of a possibly long and unnecessary discussion.
If and only IF you have one of the WiFi-only models and if and only IF those models include the Phone app it can be called bloatware (I don't own one of those models to know if they have the Phone/SMS Messaging/Contacts apps, mine is a 4G one).
But if you own a 4G Z2 Tablet, be that a SGP521, 541 or 551, then you should know that these tablets are phone-capable tablets, i.e. you can actually make phone calls over the standard mobile network, just like a smartphone, and that is meant as a feature, not bloatware.
You can call a bloatware any other apk in Sony's firmware that is not meant to be used as a system feature and there are indeed many of those in Sony's stock ROMs. To name a few that are in the app drawer, you have OfficeSuite, Xperia Link, TrackID, Sony Select, like @RoberM mentioned, just like you have a few of Google's own bloatware, such as Play Games, Play Music, Play Movies, Google+ and Hangout, to name a few. You can even say that AR Effect, Infoeye, Face Unlock and so many others are bloatware. All of these apps have some sort of functionality but they are in no way essential for any of the tablet's features (unlike Phone). Hell, with the exception of Xperia Link, I personally delete each and every one of the apps mentioned in this paragraph with TB (it is actually one the very first things I do after rooting my device).
If you go deeper inside the system you'll also find some bloatware that are not accessible on the app drawer (in other words, you'll have to go deep with Titanium Backup or search for them in Settings -> Applications or delete them directly on system/app or /priv-app folders). To name a few, you have the Wikipedia/lyrics/karaoke extensions (don't really know which app needs them, but I've always deleted them), you have com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks and partnerbookmarks.res.overlay (which add that useless Sony folder on Chrome's Favorites tab) and so on.
The fact of the matter is that all of these apps I've just called bloatware can be disabled without any problem to the OS. But the Phone apk on a phone-capable device is not (the same goes to Contacts or SMS).
And I have to agree with both RoberM and @schurgatzi when they say that 1- arguing about bloatware is a thing of the past when we can easily disable them; 2- mainstream users don't really care or want to care about this things, so for them it is better to have the app and not need it than to need the app and not have (apps they don't need are just put in a folder labeled "useless crap" and left in the last tab of the app drawer); and 3 (and probably most important one)- we on XDA cannot, under any circumstance, think of ourselves as mainstream users - the very fact that we are here having a simple discussion over what is bloatware and what is not, or the simple fact that we spent a few minutes of our time searching on how to get rid of these bloatwares is proof that we are not mainstream users. Mainstream users (and this counts for every-single-body I know) simply don't care about these things (and I honestly think this is the main reason why iPhones are so damn popular and they'll continue to be in the future).
I'm not kidding. The look on my friends' face (some of which I know for more than 10 years) when one of them couldn't remember his WiFi password and I found it by opening the wpa_supplicant.conf file on the data/misc/wifi folder was absolutely priceless (the geek inside of me rejoiced for a while).
SANGER_A2 said:
Phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you calling "Phone app" bloatware in a calling capable device?, or are you saying that you can disable "Phone app" in settings menu but it still uses resources?. Anyway... Good for you!:good:
RoberM said:
Are you calling "Phone app" bloatware in a calling capable device?, or are you saying that you can disable "Phone app" in settings menu but it still uses resources?. Anyway... Good for you!:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both. For me.
I don't know why you're being such a d!ck about this. I offered some helpful, constructive information into this thread as a further explanation why some people (including me) may want to root. If you don't want to root your device, I won't attack you about it. Most users here will not have the LTE version of this tablet and will have no need for the phone module that runs (even if you root and disable it) all the time. If there is a feature that is installed on a device that I will never use: it is bloatware to me, even if it isn't bloatware to everyone. I have my own method of removing about half of the stock apps on this device because I personally don't use them.
---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------
Tiu Fiu said:
Ok, I've got to give my 2 cents here because I think this last post may be the very beginning of a possibly long and unnecessary discussion.
...
I'm not kidding. The look on my friends' face (some of which I know for more than 10 years) when one of them couldn't remember his WiFi password and I found it by opening the wpa_supplicant.conf file on the data/misc/wifi folder was absolutely priceless (the geek inside of me rejoiced for a while).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I didn't notice this post until I posted my rant. But I agree that it's not worth getting into a flamewar about bloatware!
But the reason I'm not replying is because WOW! I can't believe that file isn't encrypted! Considering that android is basically Linux (which I have a lot of experience of and always assumed it was totally secure) I always assumed that all OS's would encrypt this and hide it away from the user. It lead me on quite an interesting search to see how Linux and Windows hide/secure them. Basically, they don't! It's scary to see how easy it is for anyone with a bootdisk and physical access to a device can gain access to your wifi network.
Thanks for leading me to learn something new today! :good: (I know that sounded kinda sarcastic, but it honestly wasn't).
SANGER_A2 said:
Unfortunately, I didn't notice this post until I posted my rant. But I agree that it's not worth getting into a flamewar about bloatware!
But the reason I'm not replying is because WOW! I can't believe that file isn't encrypted! Considering that android is basically Linux (which I have a lot of experience of and always assumed it was totally secure) I always assumed that all OS's would encrypt this and hide it away from the user. It lead me on quite an interesting search to see how Linux and Windows hide/secure them. Basically, they don't! It's scary to see how easy it is for anyone with a bootdisk and physical access to a device can gain access to your wifi network.
Thanks for leading me to learn something new today! :good: (I know that sounded kinda sarcastic, but it honestly wasn't).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehehehehe the very same thing I thought the first time I learned that. One would normally think this kind of data would be secure somehow (encrypted to say the least) due to its sensitive status. And this is not Android, Windows or Linux's, it's all of them... They basically don't protect WiFi passwords at all. And I'm glad I could share some knowledge today
Tiu Fiu said:
Hehehehehe the very same thing I thought the first time I learned that. One would normally think this kind of data would be secure somehow (encrypted to say the least) due to its sensitive status. And this is not Android, Windows or Linux's, it's all of them... They basically don't protect WiFi passwords at all. And I'm glad I could share some knowledge today
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. Although, I work at a school where we have a Windows domain and all the laptops run Windows 7 and they've been set using active directory policy so you can't view the password just by clicking the "show password" button, even for me as a domain admin I can't do it. I'm gonna try one of the wifi key viewer apps tomorrow and see if the file/registry entry is encrypted or not.
Hey guys!
A friend of mine told me, that he will be equipped with a Samsung Galaxy S5 soon by his employer. I'm not quite sure which model it will be but I predict it to be the G900F as it will be bought in Europe and it won't be the most expensive model of the series.
His employer already told him that it will come with some special app pre-installed that he will need to work with in the future.
He was told too that this app will also track his gps position and record his phone usage stats, especially which numbers he calls on what time and for how long he talked.
These informations will be sent back to his employer who obviously will collect this data and possibly wants to use against him some time (you never know..).
The alternative of using the phone is just using it without putting a SIM in just to work with the app and have an extra phone which he really uses all the time. But that's somehow awkward if you ask me.
Whatever. I'm used to flash custom ROM's, kernels, recoveries on phones and work with them as I just flashed CM 12.1 with Xposed on my own phone but never owned a S5 myself.
So I'm asking for some tips what we could use for preventing the data collection.
I already used PDroid on my obsolete LG P990 in the past and currently use the privacy settings on CM 12.1 to prevent apps from doing against my will.
What would be the most efficient way to achieve power over this nasty spyware?
Thanks in advance.
Greetings,
Seyron.
Well firstly the call data will show up on the monthly bill for his employer to see. Secondly what app is it? Many of these security apps will not install on a rooted device/custom rom. Our work one does not. Location wise he can just turn off he location from the menu.
If he can root just install a privacy app like lbe security and stop the company app from seeing anything.
In the last year I've moved to Linux to protect myself from Microsoft. I know there's a lot of FUD but given that Microsoft can't join a nut and a bolt I don't trust their privy and clumsy hands in my stuff.
I was wondering if LineageOS/CM had that kind of benefit for privacy as opposed to stock firmware? Are there any other ROM that could be?
Thanks!
Prosis said:
In the last year I've moved to Linux to protect myself from Microsoft. I know there's a lot of FUD but given that Microsoft can't join a nut and a bolt I don't trust their privy and clumsy hands in my stuff.
I was wondering if LineageOS/CM had that kind of benefit for privacy as opposed to stock firmware? Are there any other ROM that could be?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably more privacy than stock with Lenovo, but if you install gapps you can forget privacy with google, and even without Gapps iam doubtful. The Google business is to know our life
And I don't talk using apps like Facebook or whatsapp...
I think it's a question of shades, you can't be fully protected, but you can reduce risks
fablebreton said:
Probably more privacy than stock with Lenovo, but if you install gapps you can forget privacy with google, and even without Gapps iam doubtful. The Google business is to know our life
And I don't talk using apps like Facebook or whatsapp...
I think it's a question of shades, you can't be fully protected, but you can reduce risks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I get what you mean. Except the "Probably more privacy than stock with Lenovo". Is there a privacy problem with Lenovo?
Prosis said:
Yeah I get what you mean. Except the "Probably more privacy than stock with Lenovo". Is there a privacy problem with Lenovo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not only chinese companies like lenovo, but do you think chinese communist party is democratic ?
If it's currently admited that google work with NSA, don't you think Chinese autorities wouldn't like to use all these smartphone made in china and sold all around the world
If you don't trust MS as you said, it would be a little bit naive to trust chineses companies
But i'am afraid we have to live with it. when i see the download number of facebook on playstore i think most people don't care anymore about privacy , so why governments or big companies would care to not spy us.
Even on xda a lot of people continue to use supersu (closedsource and chinese owned) rather than magisk-phh opensource, most people simply don't care.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/174...lled-on-lenovo-huawei-and-xiaomi-smartphones/
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/ar...a-smartphones-spy-on-users-researchers-found/
lenovo laptops :
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/...use-of-lenovo-computers-over-chinese-spyware/
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/military-warns-chinese-computer-gear-poses-cyber-spy-threat/
http://thehackernews.com/2015/09/lenovo-laptop-virus.html
And we don't talk about qualcomm "bug" that could be an usefull backdoor : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...million-android-devices-vulnerable-to-attack/
Wow I wasn't aware of all of this! I also didn't know SuperSU was closed source.
Is there a ROM you use that you would suggest?
The less stuff you run the less spyware you're likely to run into.
Two weeks ago I gave up on Google Play Services and it feels great, less stupid useless services in the background.
I've running a really debloated version of CyanogenMod 13 with xposed and the only Google apps I left there were Maps and Translator.
Now I would love to stop using WhatsApp to move myself out of Facebook hands, but most of my contacts are there instead of Telegram so that will be harder.
Love android hate google.
OliverG96 said:
The less stuff you run the less spyware you're likely to run into.
Two weeks ago I gave up on Google Play Services and it feels great, less stupid useless services in the background.
I've running a really debloated version of CyanogenMod 13 with xposed and the only Google apps I left there were Maps and Translator.
Now I would love to stop using WhatsApp to move myself out of Facebook hands, but most of my contacts are there instead of Telegram so that will be harder.
Love android hate google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm going down that road too. I have Facebook but barely use it anyway. I just installed LOS 14.1 and I think I will keep it. I was thinking of getting Xposed and Xprivacy as well.