Permissions and Warnings - should we pay more attention?

If you've ever installed an app on your phone (who hasn't?) then you'll have seen a list of permissions an app requests before being installed. You've probably also come across warnings on Android, but how much attention do we really pay to either of them? I think too many people blindly agree to a lot of things on their phone without fully understanding what they're asking for, similar to how we always click the little check-box asking if we agree to the T&Cs when we're signing up to stuff.

You have been warned
You rarely get warnings on Android but when you do, make sure you know what you're agreeing to before clicking to go ahead. I've picked the two below that I want to talk about, partly because I was quickly trying to find warnings to use as examples (it's harder than you think!), but mainly because I think they are very important to have a think about. The first is the location services using Google's database, it might seem innocent enough but have you ever had WiFi at your house and gone on Google Maps only to find your location given to a couple of feet without GPS? Chances are that it was your phone that transmitted your WiFi and its location to Google, who are now able to give you an accurate location by only using WiFi. This service constantly runs in the background when WiFi is on and you are not connected to any network. This happens because data is collected from all the networks your phone comes across. As it states, data can be sent back to Google even when there are no apps running, so when your phone is in your pocket this is likely to be happening too. 

Now I might make this seem really evil, but in fact it's not that bad. If you think about it, a database such as this is most effectively built by using thousands of phones to relay data back because of the nature of what's being collected. Basically because WiFi networks come and go quickly, it would never make sense for Google to independently collect this sort of data. Still, bearing in mind what it actually does, at least now you can make a better informed decision about whether you want this going on or not right?

The next warning I want to look at was the input method whereby it warns you about any application potentially being able to collect sensitive data you input onto your phone. I think this one is more serious than the last as it depends more on the app that will handle your input. There are a lot of keyboards on the Play store, but how can you be totally sure that the one you're using right now isn't storing and sending your data to a server about what you've just written? I'm not saying that keyboards on the Play store are doing that, but I think people should take care when trusting apps with their sensitive details. As with all apps, if you're getting it from somewhere that's not the Play store then you should really be wary as apps are very easy to manipulate and what might seem like a legit copy of a keyboard app could be an altered version to record all your keystrokes. You just never really know.

Permission to do what?

Well permission to do a lot of things actually! Permissions are basically rights you give an app in terms of what it can and can't do on your phone. I've taken Viber as an example as it requests a long list of permissions but I think you should have a little flick through the permissions any app requires before installing it just in case you find something that doesn't quite add up. This isn't a witch hunt against Viber as it's an over-the-top service provider like Skype or Whatsapp so they require various permissions, whilst sometimes a permission might only be required for a small thing, such as verifying your phone number at the beginning. You might also notice the system tools permission, which might seem a bit scary at first and hard to work out why an app would need it but for something like Viber, if you receive a call then the app needs to be able to disable your lockscreen to allow you to answer.

These permissions are somewhat expected of a messaging and calling app, to be able to access your contacts and logs to extract and match who uses Viber on your phone. Nothing really that worrying here but again, it's always good to have a think about how an app would use these permissions and how they could potentially abuse them too. 

I don't mean to scare anyone or cause paranoia, but giving permissions a bit of thought before you blindly accept it on your phone might save you a headache or two further down the line, especially at a time when Android is becoming so popular that malware is being created specifically for it.

Mo

Apps you can't live without?

As you might have noticed if you've been on the Play store, its celebrating one year since the renaming and rebranding of the Android marketplace. To celebrate, Google has launched a sale across its movies, books and apps, which is a bit of a letdown to say the least. There's not much on there that's enticing or new in terms of sales. It's basically an EA sale at the moment, one that happens every now and again and I really hope that more apps are added otherwise this will be the worst promotion they've done, period. It's also quite difficult to find what's on sale as there doesn't seem to be somewhere on the Play store where all these promotions are collated. You can check out the 'sale' here.

Since we're on the topic of apps, I always wonder what apps other people have that they think are 'must haves'. I mean the ones that you can't do without and quite unique in what they do. I have quite a few, with the most used app on my phone being Whatsapp, if you don't know what it is then either you've been living under a rock or you have no friends (sorry!), or both. I think the next most important app I have is Titanium Backup but this one is only for rooted users and if you're rooted then you've probably heard about it and what it can do. I guess most of my 'must have' apps are some of the most popular on Android so here's a few gems which I think people could definitely do with:

• mSecure
• AirDroid
• CurrentWidget
• Endomondo PRO
• Kingsoft Office
• Plume

mSecure

Store all your important data in this app, be it credit card details or website passwords. You can even create complicated, random passwords that the app can store for various websites so you can rest easy in the knowledge that your password is very strong and you don't have to remember it as it's stored, fully encrypted mind, on your phone. Instead of having to remember all your passwords for various websites, you only need to remember the password to access the app! Bear in mind you, if someone manages to guess this password then all the information stored is at their mercy. If your password is strong enough you can at least be assured that no-one can access the data stored on mSecure even if your phone is stolen or lost.

AirDroid

A very neat, simple app that allows you to access many of your phone's functions over wifi. You can send text messages, check your phone log and access your media and files and transfer files to and from your phone to your PC/Laptop. It's a feature rich app that you have to try to understand where the reviews are coming from and I think once you've tried it, this app will definitely remain on your phone. One drawback if you plan on using this app for transferring files is that you have to accept the slower transfer speeds compared to connecting your phone up using a USB cable so I wouldn't plan on transferring movies or your music library just yet using this method. For the odd files here and there though it does save you the hassle of connecting your phone up every time or trying to use Dropbox/Google Drive. 

CurrentWidget

This is a bit of a niche app, but I think a lot of people have come across a time when their phone hasn't been charging as quickly as it usually does. This clever widget can tell you what current your phone is accepting when charging so you can see whether your phone is charging normally or not. If it's not, you usually need to unplug your phone from the charger and just plug it back in. If this doesn't solve your issue you might have to change your charger or there could be a more serious problem. Either way, this phone is very useful for isolating the cause of why your phone is charging slowly.

Endomondo PRO

Do you do any sort of distance sports? If yes, then the chances are Endomondo can track your progress when your training. I do a lot of running and use it very regularly, it provides invaluable data when you're training and helps you to train with different modes such as interval training. The best part of the app in my mind is that you can make an Endomondo account online and view in depth how you work out and view all the data the app has collected. I haven't come across another app that does what Endomondo does anywhere near as well or as efficiently. It's definitely one that you must have if you do distance based training of any sort.

Kingsoft Office

One of the best mobile Office suites I've been able to find and it's free! It really doesn't get any better that this, I've tried both free and paid Office apps but none of them are as functional as this or as easy to use. I use this day to day and have slowly started removing my other Office suite apps as I've always kept a few on my phone just in case I want to use a feature that one of them didn't have. It doesn't feel like this with, I can do everything I need to do and do it well and on top of that, it can read PDFs. Perfect, well near enough.

Plume

For Twitter users only! This app is one of the best Twitter clients on the market in my opinion. We've lost quite a few Twitter apps recently owing to the ridiculous 100K user token ceiling that some apps have hit. But that aside, I've found Plume to be a very clean, efficient Twitter client that is much better than the official Twitter app (then again most 3rd party clients are) and competes very well with other Twitter clients on the market. I especially like the design of the app and how easy and intuitive it is to use. 

I'm sure there are a lot of apps that are vital to other users, let me know what your 'must have' apps are and your reasons why.

Mo

Virus scanner for your phone? Hell no!

Are they being serious when they say you need to have a virus scanner for your Android phone? I never understood who 'they' were and why 'they' recommend this but no doubt a lot of people have virus scanners on their phone. Phones are becoming more like computers nowadays, but I'm still adamant that 'they' are giving the wrong advice to people about this topic.

The Play Store and Malware

Android is not Windows, it doesn't need a virus scanner unless you're really pushing the envelope in terms of dodgy activities on your phone. For the average user of an Android smartphone, downloading apps from the Play store, browsing the web, checking social networking and so on are all perfectly safe tasks that you can do without the worry of malware (malicious software; an umbrella term for viruses, worms, trojan horses and so on). Sure there have been reports of malicious apps making their way onto Google's Play Store but Google is constantly monitoring the apps that are published on there using Bouncer, an automated system checking all apps published. Google also remotely monitor apps that are installed on phones to prevent an app that is later flagged as a virus or one might have been downloaded from a third party source remaining on the end user's phone. This technique might seen invasive but think of it as someone doing the rounds on the apps you have installed rather than rifling through your personal details.

Safest way to download

There are many ways that users can prevent a virus or other types of malware making their way onto their phones. It takes just a little bit of vigilance which will save you a lot of headache. The easiest way is to download apps from the Play Store as opposed to other sources. This will dramatically reduce the chances of having malware on your phone as any app on the Play Store will have gone through Google's checks before being made available. After all, when you download an app you only see the file size and you unless you're a programmer, you don't even know what the app contains. You end up having to trust the source you downloaded the app from. There are literally thousands of apps on the Internet that you could potentially download that would fool you into thinking they are genuine when really, they are running background processes doing who knows what to your phone.

Permissions, permissions, permissions!

Always check the permissions of any app you download. This might seem a bit time consuming but it's definitely worth doing. Always think about the app you are about to download to see if you can justify why they need the permissions stated. Most developers avoid asking for permissions which aren't required by their app as it arouses suspicion. You should also be wary of an app that requires new permissions during an update. Developers usually justify the reason for new permissions but think about whether it's actually needed or not. If not, simply don't update the app and voice your concerns to the developer.

Play in my Sandbox?

Android has a sandboxing feature which basically separates each application so that it only acts within certain parameters, namely the permissions it has been granted by you. This means applications cannot interact with each other so if a malicious app tries to read your contacts, it will simply fail if it does not have the specific permission. This is a very handy feature to prevent any apps running rampant on your phone. This feature doesn't allow apps to completely corrupt the phone's memory either, like you might see with other operating systems. The memory for each app is sandboxed too so if an app attempts any such thing, it will just end up crashing itself and nothing else, very handy if you end up in that situation. This safety feature drastically limits the damage a rouge app can do but doesn't eradicate the problem completely as the app can still carry out tasks within its given permissions which is why it is vital to check the permissions an app is asking for before installing.

Still not convinced?

If you're still worried about malware then obviously I can't stop you downloading a virus scanner but just bear in mind the safety features and failsafes built into Android and the common sense that you, as a user, can apply when downloading apps. Then make sure you free yourself from battery draining virus scanners!

Mo