[Q] Anyone notice increasing Spam due to Android apps? - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Since buying the N1 in April, I've been very happy with both the phone, and the Android OS.
However, I've been noticing an uptick in the past couple of months of dubious emails hitting my Google account which I registered with my phone. admittedly this is anecdotal, but the nature of the emails leads me to think that some of the app devs whose programs I've installed/tried out, are capturing and selling validated email addresses to third parties. It then seems that some of them (besides increasing the usual Spam being filtered by gmail) go a step further and register the email address to various groups, lists, emails, newsfeeds, etc.
I'm not terribly shocked by this, and since I pretty much limit my gmail usage to using on the phone, I just want to sound people out to determine if I'm just being paranoid, or actually noticing something valid.
Not that it's related, but I'm also running Cyan 6.0.0 (8/27)

Seeing as the market is open for any individual to just slap some crap up for people to download, there is no doubt this is possible. Nothing unique to Android.
One way to attempt to protect yourself in the future would be to sign up with these dev's by adding a tag to your email address like such:
Code:
[email protected]
or
Code:
[email protected]
where '+shadydev1' is incremented to identify who is sending what. Though, the spammers could strip the tags making all this pointless, in which case just do what everyone else does and send them to your Hotmail account
*Edit* Looking at your OP again, I guess youre saying that the DEVs are pulling your email from the phone itself which is much more malicious, making my post pointless.

crachel said:
Seeing as the market is open for any individual to just slap some crap up for people to download, there is no doubt this is possible. Nothing unique to Android.
One way to attempt to protect yourself in the future would be to sign up with these dev's by adding a tag to your email address like such:
Code:
[email protected]
or
Code:
[email protected]
where '+shadydev1' is incremented to identify who is sending what. Though, the spammers could strip the tags making all this pointless, in which case just do what everyone else does and send them to your Hotmail account
*Edit* Looking at your OP again, I guess youre saying that the DEVs are pulling your email from the phone itself which is much more malicious, making my post pointless.
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Click to collapse
Hey, I have not noticed this, but thanks for the tip! Had no idea you could tag in the username like that for GMail. I don't use it much honestly, but perhaps I will
I have my own domain and I have like spam1 spam2 spam3 etc I use... but not quite as flexible

Thanks for the suggestion. Going to start utilizing it. Sorry about the late response, been out of touch for a bit.
With the recent dustup over Facebook, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm suspecting is happening in my situation. Because it really started to amp up when I installed Cyanogen 6.0. Now in no way am I implying something wrong or directly related to Cy's code. It's awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But anecdotally, the level of Spam seems to coincide. And as i don't know enough about the Android OS, not sure if 1) rooting the phone and installing a custom ROM left it more exposed than stock, 2) Some market app(s) I've installed have done a 'Facebook' with my data via some exploit or 3) Stock or rooted, wouldn't make much of a difference because jagoffs are the same no matter where, when or how. They'll find a way.
But as my original query didn't seem to gain much traction, doesn't seem others have experienced any noticible increase as a result of rooting their phones. Btw, I should say not just Spam for viagra type stuff has increased in my gmail account. but what would otherwise seem to be 'legitimate' emails that i have no idea as to their origins. religious groups, a car dealership asking me how I like my new car, etc. And after some research, it seems that variants of my email address will find their way into my inbox. according to google's Help. If I create [email protected], i'll also get email for [email protected], for example.

smashmouth_engineer said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Going to start utilizing it. Sorry about the late response, been out of touch for a bit.
With the recent dustup over Facebook, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm suspecting is happening in my situation. Because it really started to amp up when I installed Cyanogen 6.0. Now in no way am I implying something wrong or directly related to Cy's code. It's awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But anecdotally, the level of Spam seems to coincide. And as i don't know enough about the Android OS, not sure if 1) rooting the phone and installing a custom ROM left it more exposed than stock, 2) Some market app(s) I've installed have done a 'Facebook' with my data via some exploit or 3) Stock or rooted, wouldn't make much of a difference because jagoffs are the same no matter where, when or how. They'll find a way.
But as my original query didn't seem to gain much traction, doesn't seem others have experienced any noticible increase as a result of rooting their phones. Btw, I should say not just Spam for viagra type stuff has increased in my gmail account. but what would otherwise seem to be 'legitimate' emails that i have no idea as to their origins. religious groups, a car dealership asking me how I like my new car, etc. And after some research, it seems that variants of my email address will find their way into my inbox. according to google's Help. If I create [email protected], i'll also get email for [email protected], for example.
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Click to collapse
Yep, as does [email protected], or [email protected]
Has nothing to do with this nonsense thread.

I have yet to get a spam mail past Gmail spam filter, and I have my Nexus rooted and on custom ROMs for a long time.
The scenario you describe theoretically might happen if you installed a "semi-malicious" app that would request your permissions for accessing your account / contact list, and you let it. Just rooting and installing whatever ROM won't get you there.

Related

YouMail Visual Voicemail Android App Beta

Don't know if anyone else has seen this yet (or cares), but since I love YouMail, I thought I'd post this up.
They have a link in this forum topic to download the .apk file, but since it says it's a closed beta, I'm not sure if you need to have YouMail allow your YouMail account to use the software.
LMK
http://api.youmail.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=15
Downloaded. It works pretty well. No option to save MP3 messages to SD. Uses polling, which can be a total pain in the ass, and kinda pointless for a voicemail system.
I actually started writing this app about a month ago, but the project manager(i assume) didn't really understand what I was talking about. I tried explaining to him that polling from the device is kinda a kludgy approach, and they should try and implement a different system. I even went so far as to writing a small server side program that would ping the device when there was new messages.
Here's the weird thing though, I sent him a long email one day asking him a bunch of questions about the hardware and software they're using for this system(so I can better design this software), and he never got back to me. THEN, a few weeks later(a month maybe) calls me asking how things are going.
Mind you, I hadn't signed any agreement with them, no deal was in place, and I do have other responsibilities. After a week or so I just assumed they were going with another developer. I assumed from the beginning that there were multiple people working on multiple apps, and they would just release the best one first. Oh well, that's my run-in with them.
Other than all of the above, the service itself is VERY useful. As far as the app is concerned, I think it's a great first-go, but it needs a little refinement. It's a bit slow, and scheduled server checks just isn't going to cut it. Why manually check my messages when I can have them deliver it in MP3 for to my email directly on my phone?
In anycase, good job whoever wrote the app!
I installed it and it shows my messages however it doesn't play anything. I click open and it just sits there. Im running cm 3.4 with hero 1.2, maybe thats why
How is this compared to PF Voicemail?
Probably not as cool as a dedicated app, but I:
1. Simply turn on email notifications on the youmail website with the option to attach an MP3 of the voicemail and send the emails to my gmail account
2. then I setup a filter in gmail to label all youmail messages with attachments to "YouMail"
3. I put a shortcut on my homescreen by "add shortcut" "Gmail label" "YouMail"
4. for good measure I tell the Android message settings to sync emails in the youmail folder for 4 days worth of voicemail in case I run into a problem with my network connection.
Instant Visual Voicemail with push.
wagz said:
Probably not as cool as a dedicated app, but I:
1. Simply turn on email notifications on the youmail website with the option to attach an MP3 of the voicemail and send the emails to my gmail account
2. then I setup a filter in gmail to label all youmail messages with attachments to "YouMail"
3. I put a shortcut on my homescreen by "add shortcut" "Gmail label" "YouMail"
4. for good measure I tell the Android message settings to sync emails in the youmail folder for 4 days worth of voicemail in case I run into a problem with my network connection.
Instant Visual Voicemail with push.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, that's pretty much what I do too...I wish you could set it up to automatically download attachments though, especially since the beta app kinda sucks right now.
The app is in Open Beta now - feel free to download and try it out.
The only thing we (I) ask is that if you find any problems, or have any suggestions - either send us an email ([email protected]) or join in the discussion on the forums.
And yes, currently you need a free YouMail account in order to use the app. At some point you'll be able to sign up as part of the installation process, but that's in a later version.
YouMail for G1
Hi,
Could I please ask that you send *me* a private email with details about who at YouMail you were talking to? I'm the one responsible for the Android app and this is the first I have heard of someone contacting us regarding this app.
Regarding your comments about polling. We would absolutely ***love*** to push your voicemail to the phone similar to the way our Blackberry cousins get their email. Problem here is that in order to do that YouMail would need an interconnect agreement with T-Mobile (and other carriers) letting us use their push technology (yes, the G1 software does support push). The chances of T-Mobile (and other carriers) allowing that to happen are pretty much nil. (We all know that competition is bad... don't we?)
So, out of the box, what the Android app does is:
* Poll every hour to catch up on changes you may have made via the dial-in interface, or the web site (you can adjust it to be as often as every 15 mins, or as infrequent as 'never')
* Poll a couple of minutes after you miss a call - to see if the caller left you a message
* Poll when one of YouMail's special TXT messages arrives (the kind that start with "New VM:....")
* Manually initiated
That's the best approximation to push that we've been able to come up with considering the limitations. The drain on battery is actually remarkably low.
Of course, if you choose to receive your voicemails via email go for it!
I'll put a post up on the YouMail forums explaining battery usage.
Thanks
Doug
InGeNeTiCs said:
Downloaded. It works pretty well. No option to save MP3 messages to SD. Uses polling, which can be a total pain in the ass, and kinda pointless for a voicemail system.
I actually started writing this app about a month ago, but the project manager(i assume) didn't really understand what I was talking about. I tried explaining to him that polling from the device is kinda a kludgy approach, and they should try and implement a different system. I even went so far as to writing a small server side program that would ping the device when there was new messages.
Here's the weird thing though, I sent him a long email one day asking him a bunch of questions about the hardware and software they're using for this system(so I can better design this software), and he never got back to me. THEN, a few weeks later(a month maybe) calls me asking how things are going.
Mind you, I hadn't signed any agreement with them, no deal was in place, and I do have other responsibilities. After a week or so I just assumed they were going with another developer. I assumed from the beginning that there were multiple people working on multiple apps, and they would just release the best one first. Oh well, that's my run-in with them.
Other than all of the above, the service itself is VERY useful. As far as the app is concerned, I think it's a great first-go, but it needs a little refinement. It's a bit slow, and scheduled server checks just isn't going to cut it. Why manually check my messages when I can have them deliver it in MP3 for to my email directly on my phone?
In anycase, good job whoever wrote the app!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mustang_52 said:
I installed it and it shows my messages however it doesn't play anything. I click open and it just sits there. Im running cm 3.4 with hero 1.2, maybe thats why
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you could send me some details I might be able to help.
The app downloads all message data via http.
Sistum Id said:
How is this compared to PF Voicemail?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I'm waiting to hear about before taking the plunge...
Left myself a message and I got the alert. I ran the app and then it says I have a message. I click on the number that was the caller and well nothing seems to happen. I see what appears to be a download button and across a phone/speaker.
Nothing seems to make any noise.
Also this app was in my recently ran apps tray so does this app start on phone turn on or do you have to manually start for the alerts. Also the polling is that to check for messages or to pull down the audio?
The reason I ask this stuff is there really isn't any discriptions of what does what and most apps appear to be straight forward.
Looks like I just got a text now saying I have a message. Thats what brings me to the polling. Does it poll every hour on top of the text message?
kizer said:
Also the polling is that to check for messages or to pull down the audio?
The reason I ask this stuff is there really isn't any discriptions of what does what and most apps appear to be straight forward.
Looks like I just got a text now saying I have a message. Thats what brings me to the polling. Does it poll every hour on top of the text message?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if this is or isn't the info you're looking for, but this info was in the original post for somebody who seems to be working on the app...
ymDoug said:
So, out of the box, what the Android app does is:
* Poll every hour to catch up on changes you may have made via the dial-in interface, or the web site (you can adjust it to be as often as every 15 mins, or as infrequent as 'never')
* Poll a couple of minutes after you miss a call - to see if the caller left you a message
* Poll when one of YouMail's special TXT messages arrives (the kind that start with "New VM:....")
* Manually initiated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh...finally an app is developing for YM I had posted here and even emailed a couple of devs and got nowhere. Even emailed YouMail and got the standard "not at this moment, there are no plans on supporting Android".
omario117 said:
I don't know if this is or isn't the info you're looking for, but this info was in the original post for somebody who seems to be working on the app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I"m blind and dumb. Thanks
Now if it only pulled down the audio it would be awesome. I guess thats why things are work in progress.
kizer said:
So I"m blind and dumb. Thanks
Now if it only pulled down the audio it would be awesome. I guess thats why things are work in progress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if you're calling yourself that, I'm not calling you anything
If you did think I was, I apologize, I was simply trying to make the posting of my info seem credible, as opposed to "here's information but I'm not going to mention where I got it" or "look at the first post by such and such"...
I'd like to thank mustang_52 for getting back to me and helping figure out what was wrong. I believe the app is working correct for him now.
Just in case anyone is interested, there was a problem on one of the back-end servers where it wasn't creating the MP3 file that the app needs, so you were seeing "downloading" forever... we fixed it around noon today and everything seems to be AOK now.
There is a forum set up on the YouMail site that explains how the app checks for messages and the trade-offs we had to make since 'push' technology is effectively unavailable to us at present. (Unless of course we have some senior management from T-Mobile watching, and they want to contact me about making it available.........)
The forum is at: http://forums.youmail.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=8
Doug
Everything is working great since you fixed it. Thanks for such a great app.
Love this YouMail app... THANKS!!!

Thinking about getting Nexus One

I just recently bought (as in a week ago) an AT&T Pure. It's still in perfect condition, but I promptly installed a custom HSPL, Radio, and Rom since I love customization. It's actually a great phone, the tie in with Facebook is amazing as well, but what bothers me is the speed. It lags too much for my tastes (which was one of the reasons I gave my AT&T Xenon to my girlfriend, it lagged too much). I love customization and I know how to work Linux (played with many distros in virtual machines and I have experience deploying Linux based servers).
I have a couple of questions before I buy yet another phone and try to hopefully recover the cost of my AT&T Pure. Does the Nexus One combine Facebook accounts and contacts? Meaning put the Facebook picture as the contact picture, etc.?
Can you put HTC Sense on the phone without unlocking bootloader (rather not invalidate my warranty so quickly)?
I have looked at two backup solutions, MyBackup Pro and Sprite Backup. Which one is better or can you even recommend a much better backup solution?
Can you sync the phone with Outlook backing up contacts and calendar entries?
Is there a field for birthday/anniversary and does those get automatically entered into the calendar?
Is there a calendar widget? An animated weather widget (like the HTC one)?
Can the phone convert into a toaster? Can I use it to travel into the past and kill myself, but survive? Will it tell me the secret to life?
Is there a way of getting root access, without invalidating warranty? Is root access worth it?
If I get the charging dock, when the phone is fully charged, does the dock bypass the battery and provide power straight to the phone, so the battery does not overcharge? The reason for this question is because I want to dock it in the night and essentially use it as an alarm clock to wake me up for work.
Is the phone worth paying over 500$ for when I have the Pure already?
Does it lag at all? Will updates come one after the other as it did before? From what I understand, the Nexus One get it OTA, so we don't have to wait a year to get the update.
Thank you for your time,
Mario Lopez
Yes, you can combine Facebook accounts and contacts - either importing all your facebook contacts onto the device, or merging those entries with the ones already present on your SIM card or with your Google account.
The only option for getting Sense on this phone (if you really really really really really really really want it, for whatever reason) is to flash a custom ROM - which would require unlocking the bootloader, and thus invalidate your warranty.
I think most everyone on this board uses Titanium Backup - it's a very tasty piece of software, but most of the backup options (with any application) will only have full functionality for settings and data if you are rooted - again with a voided warranty.
Supposedly the latest Android 2.2 update allows syncing with Outlook out of the box, and there are third-party apps that I believe will do the same on the 2.1 builds as well. I can't comment for sure as I haven't used these features yet.
I haven't yet encountered a Birthday/Anniversary field in the stock contacts program - could be there, but I don't know.
There is a calendar widget to display your next appointment, and there are weather widgets. As far as the full up Sense animated weather, nothing included in the stock rom has all those pretty touches, but I imagine there are third-party apps that will.
If you leave the phone running some very CPU-intensive tasks, it can indeed turn into a toaster and get quite warm Traveling to the past and killing yourself would interrupt the fabric of the space-time continuum and is therefor discouraged. That said, it's open-source, so you're free to do what you want. The answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything is 42. You don't need a phone to tell you that.
There are no ways to get root access without voiding the warranty. For me, it's worth it.
Can't answer for the charging dock as I haven't used mine yet (lol), but I imagine it would only trickle-charge once the battery is already charged fully. I leave my phone charging overnight when it needs to, and it hasn't combusted yet. To my knowledge.
The phone is worth it if you're looking for a stupid-fast device with lots of community support and quick updates. Keep in mind it's less expensive than an unlocked iPhone
The interface is very quick and snappy. I see occasional lags, but those are few and far between - especially running the leaked test build of Froyo. The NexusOne will get its Android updates straight from Google and a lot faster than anything HTC-branded (where the base code has to be optimized for Sense).
Hope this helps!
Keep in mind, as well: unlocking the bootloader only voids your software warranty...HTC has numerous times done hardware warranty work on rooted phones - a simple search will pull up several results of this, I'm sure.
MaximReapage said:
Keep in mind, as well: unlocking the bootloader only voids your software warranty...HTC has numerous times done hardware warranty work on rooted phones - a simple search will pull up several results of this, I'm sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The language of the waiver you agree to when unlocking the bootloader DOES NOT specify "software only". I just states that your warranty is void if you continue with the unlocking.
HTC *has* been reported to perform warranty work on phones with unlocked bootloaders and obviously defective hardware, but they are not obligated to do so. They would be well within their rights to charge you for any repairs after you knowingly void the warranty.
I wouldn't send an unlocked phone back to HTC unless you're willing to pay for it - they may not make you pay, but it's much better to be prepared to do so.
codesplice said:
I haven't yet encountered a Birthday/Anniversary field in the stock contacts program - could be there, but I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is one.
Jack_R1 said:
Yes, there is one.
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Click to collapse
How do you get to it? I looked briefly before I made that post and didn't see anything.
Jack_R1 said:
Yes, there is one.
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Click to collapse
wtf? really?
codesplice said:
Yes, you can combine Facebook accounts and contacts - either importing all your facebook contacts onto the device, or merging those entries with the ones already present on your SIM card or with your Google account.
The only option for getting Sense on this phone (if you really really really really really really really want it, for whatever reason) is to flash a custom ROM - which would require unlocking the bootloader, and thus invalidate your warranty.
I think most everyone on this board uses Titanium Backup - it's a very tasty piece of software, but most of the backup options (with any application) will only have full functionality for settings and data if you are rooted - again with a voided warranty.
Supposedly the latest Android 2.2 update allows syncing with Outlook out of the box, and there are third-party apps that I believe will do the same on the 2.1 builds as well. I can't comment for sure as I haven't used these features yet.
I haven't yet encountered a Birthday/Anniversary field in the stock contacts program - could be there, but I don't know.
There is a calendar widget to display your next appointment, and there are weather widgets. As far as the full up Sense animated weather, nothing included in the stock rom has all those pretty touches, but I imagine there are third-party apps that will.
If you leave the phone running some very CPU-intensive tasks, it can indeed turn into a toaster and get quite warm Traveling to the past and killing yourself would interrupt the fabric of the space-time continuum and is therefor discouraged. That said, it's open-source, so you're free to do what you want. The answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything is 42. You don't need a phone to tell you that.
There are no ways to get root access without voiding the warranty. For me, it's worth it.
Can't answer for the charging dock as I haven't used mine yet (lol), but I imagine it would only trickle-charge once the battery is already charged fully. I leave my phone charging overnight when it needs to, and it hasn't combusted yet. To my knowledge.
The phone is worth it if you're looking for a stupid-fast device with lots of community support and quick updates. Keep in mind it's less expensive than an unlocked iPhone
The interface is very quick and snappy. I see occasional lags, but those are few and far between - especially running the leaked test build of Froyo. The NexusOne will get its Android updates straight from Google and a lot faster than anything HTC-branded (where the base code has to be optimized for Sense).
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really does help, you answered all of my questions, even the fun ones.
codesplice said:
The language of the waiver you agree to when unlocking the bootloader DOES NOT specify "software only". I just states that your warranty is void if you continue with the unlocking.
HTC *has* been reported to perform warranty work on phones with unlocked bootloaders and obviously defective hardware, but they are not obligated to do so. They would be well within their rights to charge you for any repairs after you knowingly void the warranty.
I wouldn't send an unlocked phone back to HTC unless you're willing to pay for it - they may not make you pay, but it's much better to be prepared to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah okay. So basically, they may or they may not, so it is up to their discretion.
Jack_R1 said:
Yes, there is one.
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Click to collapse
Where is it, because I played with the emulator and didn't show any birthday fields.
Now, one last question before I put in my 700$ order. If I buy today, will I get it tomorrow? It says overnight shipping, but then it says it will be shipped out the next business day?
mariolopezjr said:
Now, one last question before I put in my 700$ order. If I buy today, will I get it tomorrow? It says overnight shipping, but then it says it will be shipped out the next business day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overnight shipping applies to after it ships I imagine if you order early in the day, it might ship out that day and get to you the following day. Otherwise, you're probably looking at two days.
codesplice said:
Overnight shipping applies to after it ships I imagine if you order early in the day, it might ship out that day and get to you the following day. Otherwise, you're probably looking at two days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply, thanks to you guys, you know have a new Nexus One owner. Now I am selling my AT&T Pure on Craigslist. XD
Now, any suggestions on reading I should do? I've read all the rooting tutorials, it's actually very easy to do, anything else I should read? I am currently in the process of reading the Nexus User Guide.
Lastly, I understand Titanium Backup is the best, but root privileges is needed to fully use it. Does that mean that it can do everything MyBackup Pro and Sprite Backup can do? Because supposedly they can backup quite a bit of stuff. What is the difference?
mariolopezjr said:
Thanks for the quick reply, thanks to you guys, you know have a new Nexus One owner. Now I am selling my AT&T Pure on Craigslist. XD
Now, any suggestions on reading I should do? I've read all the rooting tutorials, it's actually very easy to do, anything else I should read? I am currently in the process of reading the Nexus User Guide.
Lastly, I understand Titanium Backup is the best, but root privileges is needed to fully use it. Does that mean that it can do everything MyBackup Pro and Sprite Backup can do? Because supposedly they can backup quite a bit of stuff. What is the difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people use titanium because the interface is more useful. Titanium allows you to create more than app back up but the interface displays the versions and not just the date you decided to back up like mybackup pro. I havent used Sprite Backup but both titanium and mbp backup apks+data, system settings and system data. Both have schedulers. What I like about titanium is that it is usually cooked into roms so its easy to jump roms if its installed but its not like its hard to hop onto the market and get it
I'm not terribly familiar with MBP or Sprite, and have only been using Titanium for the past few days. Basically, pretty much any backup program should be able to make backups of most of your applications, but they're generally going to need root privileges to access some of the system data and settings. At least that's how I understand it... could be wrong. It's happened once or twice.
As for reading.... just stick around here lol. Take a look at some of the sticky threads in each of the N1 subforums - lots of good information there.
Glad to have you on board. I've gotten several of my buddies here to purchase N1s as well
codesplice said:
How do you get to it? I looked briefly before I made that post and didn't see anything.
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Click to collapse
It's funny, I never bothered to take a look myself if I can enter it on the phone, I just saw (more than once) Birthday field when looking at the contact of my darling wife.
Now I checked, and you can't change that field from the phone. But the really funny thing is - enter Gmail, load the contact, it has "birthday" field, change the field, and you'll see it on the phone
One more thing - on Froyo there is full integration of Outlook contacts, but they're different from Gmail contacts - they have different fields and different options. I was quite surprised to see it (it's shown easily - Gmail supports multiple mobile numbers under the same category "mobile", Outlook doesn't, so when you try to enter multiple mobile phones to Outlook contact - you discover that it can't be done). Maybe in this respect it's also different - Outlook-derived contacts might allow editing Birthday while Google contacts don't (not from the phone).
And since I'm running Eclair (CM5.0.7.1), I'm not sure what's going on with Gmail contacts on Froyo.
That's for seeing birthdays on calendar:
http://www.nicholasoverstreet.com/2010/03/android-contacts-birthdays-in-your-calendar/
what the heck are you talking about?
he asked where to put in the birthdays @ stock contacts app... we all know there is a birthday calendar...
you can only add the birthday @ contacts.google.com, unfortunately not in the contacts app
Maybe I don't read well, and maybe I do. Read this quote:
mariolopezjr said:
Is there a field for birthday/anniversary and does those get automatically entered into the calendar?
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Click to collapse
Well, there IS a field, in stock contact app. You can't enter anything there from the phone - oh well, that's the situation (today, and tomorrow it might be fixed, and I didn't even check for market apps that might already do it). You can make it appear automatically in the calendar, too - link above. Now, what the heck was I writing here? Answering his question, most probably. You want a screenshot of a birthday showing up in stock contact app when viewing a contact? I thought it's trivial to try.
and read this quote , your reply to this quote was "yes there is one"
Originally Posted by codesplice
I haven't yet encountered a Birthday/Anniversary field in the stock contacts program - could be there, but I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, understood now. There IS a field but you can not edit it...
I am quite sure codesplice is referring to a field where i can type in a birthday.. not just see it.
think i am the one with reading disabilities..
miketlo said:
Most people use titanium because the interface is more useful. Titanium allows you to create more than app back up but the interface displays the versions and not just the date you decided to back up like mybackup pro. I havent used Sprite Backup but both titanium and mbp backup apks+data, system settings and system data. Both have schedulers. What I like about titanium is that it is usually cooked into roms so its easy to jump roms if its installed but its not like its hard to hop onto the market and get it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I understand what you mean, that makes sense.
codesplice said:
I'm not terribly familiar with MBP or Sprite, and have only been using Titanium for the past few days. Basically, pretty much any backup program should be able to make backups of most of your applications, but they're generally going to need root privileges to access some of the system data and settings. At least that's how I understand it... could be wrong. It's happened once or twice.
As for reading.... just stick around here lol. Take a look at some of the sticky threads in each of the N1 subforums - lots of good information there.
Glad to have you on board. I've gotten several of my buddies here to purchase N1s as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the information, hopefully it'll be able to backup most of my settings without me having to go root just yet.
Jack_R1 said:
It's funny, I never bothered to take a look myself if I can enter it on the phone, I just saw (more than once) Birthday field when looking at the contact of my darling wife.
Now I checked, and you can't change that field from the phone. But the really funny thing is - enter Gmail, load the contact, it has "birthday" field, change the field, and you'll see it on the phone
One more thing - on Froyo there is full integration of Outlook contacts, but they're different from Gmail contacts - they have different fields and different options. I was quite surprised to see it (it's shown easily - Gmail supports multiple mobile numbers under the same category "mobile", Outlook doesn't, so when you try to enter multiple mobile phones to Outlook contact - you discover that it can't be done). Maybe in this respect it's also different - Outlook-derived contacts might allow editing Birthday while Google contacts don't (not from the phone).
And since I'm running Eclair (CM5.0.7.1), I'm not sure what's going on with Gmail contacts on Froyo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be a little annoying, I wonder, does that mean if I have a contact John Doe, and I have him in Outlook and GMail, he will appear twice? Maybe I just will not sync with Outlook but the thought of having to type in my 100+ contact list with multiple numbers, emails, etc. make me shudder....
Jack_R1 said:
That's for seeing birthdays on calendar: snipped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I already knew about the Google Calendar, I just didn't think of applying it on the phone! Thanks for the information!
Had to delete the URL because I guess new users are not allowed to post them.
EDIT: I just want to put it out there that you guys have been EXTREMELY helpful. I love helpful communities. Makes me feel welcome.
watercool said:
ok, understood now. There IS a field but you can not edit it...
I am quite sure codesplice is referring to a field where i can type in a birthday.. not just see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I see your point. That option, unfortunately, is missing (what would be the reason for it - escapes me, really, they already have a field and it syncs, it's VERY weird that it can't be edited). I'm a bit puzzled that I didn't even see it missing until I tried to change it, being asked in this thread Sorry if I mislead you.
mariolopezjr said:
That could be a little annoying, I wonder, does that mean if I have a contact John Doe, and I have him in Outlook and GMail, he will appear twice? Maybe I just will not sync with Outlook but the thought of having to type in my 100+ contact list with multiple numbers, emails, etc. make me shudder....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I remember right from playing with Froyo, it also merges contacts based on name, and you'll see one contact with data from both places. If you'll try to edit, though - you'll have to choose, what contact to edit.
You also have options to import contacts from Outlook to Gmail, or to have them sync-ed between Outlook and Gmail by some free SW (one of the pre-Froyo solutions for Outlook contacts).
Jack_R1 said:
If I remember right from playing with Froyo, it also merges contacts based on name, and you'll see one contact with data from both places. If you'll try to edit, though - you'll have to choose, what contact to edit.
You also have options to import contacts from Outlook to Gmail, or to have them sync-ed between Outlook and Gmail by some free SW (one of the pre-Froyo solutions for Outlook contacts).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. The phone will bring in contacts from all your synced accounts (google, facebook, outlook, twitter, whatever) and merge them based on name. You can then manually correlate any contacts that didn't do it automatically ([email protected] is also Jane Doe).

[Q] Security concerns using a rooted / ROM'd Captivate

Greetings everyone.
Ill just start off with asking the question: How many of you give 2nd, 3rd or nth thoughts about using a rooted (or, rooted and ROM'd) phone?
Now, let me explain why I am asking this question.
Earlier this week, my Google account was broken into. The attacker mass-emailed everyone on my contact list a link to a Viagra ad, of all things. It could have been worse, since my contacts and emails were left in-tact. In a furious, chaotic, post-incident rush, I was scrambling in an attempt to figure out how they obtained my password. At the time of this writing, I have come up with nothing. The first thing I thought, naturally, was a worm/trojan/virus on my PC. Several anti-virus / anti-malware / anti-root-kit scans proved to be clean.
So, I turned my sleuthing efforts towards my phone -- a Samsung Captivate, which had been rooted and ROM'd to Captivate 3.04. I had Lookout installed the entire time, and I have been using Cognition ROMs since late December of 2010. In assuming the worst, I nuked my phone, reverted back to stock and re-rooted and re-ROM'd. While rooting my phone, my virus scanner pleasantly informed me that the One Click rooting solution contained an exploit (Lotoor, I believe). Now, I completely understand that its necessary to use these exploits in order to gain access. However, it kinda got me thinking -- what else could be going into the phone that I dont know about?
Note that all ROMs and Rooters were obtained from links available from this website. I did not get them from "shady" locations.
I am realistic about this. I download and install applications from the internet frequently. I put a some faith in my virus scanners / anti-malware applications. This little incident, however, is making me a little more skeptical about what applications I run, as its difficult and time consuming to monitor every application for "phone home" activities.
The bottom line is that I do not want to sound like that I am placing blame on any of the Cognition developers (or any ROM developer). In fact, I am probably going to donate to them because the 3.04 version finally allowed me to use my GPS normally. I honestly feel like I have a smart phone now, as everything works as it should and the phone is alot snappier compared to the stock version. I am saying this even after I tried out the official Samsung Kies Froyo update, which still leaves me hanging for GPS service.
And yes, I completely understand that I could have very well downloaded something on the Android market that was infected. Even though I did not download any of the applications mentioned on the latest hotlist (really, I just dont care about "screaming sexy Japanese girls"), I could have obtained an undiscovered beast. It could also be the case that I have something on my PC that scanners just arent picking up. I may never know.
Where do you all stand on this issue? Do most ROM creators have more than one set of eyes looking at the packages that get deployed, or is that too unpractical?
Thanks in advance!
(P.S. I have searched the forum and looked at the suggested links before posting. I just didnt find anything that quenched my thirst)
nope 10 chars
Mobile security is becoming a concern and should be. Regardless of stock or rooted, there is a risk.
I don't bank on my phone, use my 'real' gmail or put sensitive info on my phone. Mobile is becoming a huge platform to mine information from.
qwertyaas said:
Mobile security is becoming a concern and should be. Regardless of stock or rooted, there is a risk.
I don't bank on my phone, use my 'real' gmail or put sensitive info on my phone. Mobile is becoming a huge platform to mine information from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that the truth? I definitely have not done any mobile banking over mobile, and I don't think that I ever will. Its just scary that the attacker probably could have dug up more information about me in my emails than I care to think about.
I switched over to Google's 2-step verification system, so hopefully that will deter future attempts. Notice how I didnt say "prevent," as I dont think anything can actually stop a determined attacker short of getting rid of the phone and my gmail account. Obviously, if my phone falls into the wrong hands, I could be potentially hosed.
Check this out
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/06/google-flips-android-kill-switch-destroys-a-batch-of-malicious/
cappysw10 said:
Check this out
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/06/google-flips-android-kill-switch-destroys-a-batch-of-malicious/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dilli already released a fix for this vulnerability for his 7.0 ROM. Maybe u cud get a similar one on ur custom ROM too.
While your concerns are rational and I await the answers, I believe they are borne out of a false understanding of what happened to you. When a spam e-mail is sent "from" your e-mail account it is not always the case that the attacker has gained access to your machine or your e-mail account. Most e-mail spam is sent via smtp "spoofing" whereby an attacker can make an e-mail look like it is from anyone else. These are done by automated scripts that can find and/or generate random "from" e-mails and then send to other recipients that have been found or randomly generated. If many of your friends received the e-mail, it IS POSSIBLE your computer or account was compromised, or that other friends' accounts have been compromised such that the automated spam bot gained access to a similar address book to yours.
Just wanted to let you know that you may not have been compromised.
Anyway, I too, am interested in the vulnerabilities of these custom ROMS.
sircaper said:
While your concerns are rational and I await the answers, I believe they are borne out of a false understanding of what happened to you. When a spam e-mail is sent "from" your e-mail account it is not always the case that the attacker has gained access to your machine or your e-mail account. Most e-mail spam is sent via smtp "spoofing" whereby an attacker can make an e-mail look like it is from anyone else. These are done by automated scripts that can find and/or generate random "from" e-mails and then send to other recipients that have been found or randomly generated. If many of your friends received the e-mail, it IS POSSIBLE your computer or account was compromised, or that other friends' accounts have been compromised such that the automated spam bot gained access to a similar address book to yours.
Just wanted to let you know that you may not have been compromised.
Anyway, I too, am interested in the vulnerabilities of these custom ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said the email was sent to every one if his contacts. He was compromised.
That said. Use a secondary junk gmail account if at all possible on your phone. Don't install any app that asks for stupid permissions. Be very leary of any app that wants internet access regardless of who developed it. Android virus scanners are a joke, do not trust them.
P.s. "(really, I just dont care about "screaming sexy Japanese girls")" = blasphemy
whiteguypl said:
He said the email was sent to every one if his contacts. He was compromised.
That said. Use a secondary junk gmail account if at all possible on your phone. Don't install any app that asks for stupid permissions. Be very leary of any app that wants internet access regardless of who developed it. Android virus scanners are a joke, do not trust them.
P.s. "(really, I just dont care about "screaming sexy Japanese girls")" = blasphemy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point taken. I don't disagree, but the odds say no. I figured he was using hyperbole and didn't really validate with every single person in his address book. The majority of spam e-mails are via spoofing.
sircaper said:
While your concerns are rational and I await the answers, I believe they are borne out of a false understanding of what happened to you. When a spam e-mail is sent "from" your e-mail account it is not always the case that the attacker has gained access to your machine or your e-mail account. Most e-mail spam is sent via smtp "spoofing" whereby an attacker can make an e-mail look like it is from anyone else. These are done by automated scripts that can find and/or generate random "from" e-mails and then send to other recipients that have been found or randomly generated. If many of your friends received the e-mail, it IS POSSIBLE your computer or account was compromised, or that other friends' accounts have been compromised such that the automated spam bot gained access to a similar address book to yours.
Just wanted to let you know that you may not have been compromised.
Anyway, I too, am interested in the vulnerabilities of these custom ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input.
As much as I would like to believe it was spoofed (and inherently making me feel better at the same time), I can say with a high degree of certainty that whoever did this had my password. How can I be somewhat sure of this? The "recent activity" list on gmail.com had an entry from a web browser access in Brazil. I do not have a proxy in Brazil, nor have I traveled there in.. well... ever. Also, the recipients' email headers claimed the email originated from gmail.com. Now, you're completely right that this part could have been spoofed, but I am not so sure about the first part. Upon doing some research, I've found that alot of other people who also had their accounts compromised had the same log entries and same origin in the email headers sent to the recipients.
Digression. Anyways, what they did is not as important as how they did it. Even to this day I am not sure. I really dont want to place blame on the ROM, because honestly the Cognition people did a fantastic job with it.
Bottom line is that I was curious as to everyone's security concerns, or lack thereof, when using custom ROMs.
How can you tell if your phone has been infected? What are some of the signs?
Hondo209 said:
How can you tell if your phone has been infected? What are some of the signs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I am no expert in this area, but the first place to look would be at an anti-virus, anti-malware application (such as Lookout). However, that probably wont do you any good if the virus/trojan/worm/whatever is still unknown.
Second place you might want to look is at your data usage. Excessive amounts might indicate something is up.
Other than that, maybe one of the sure-fire ways is to see which system files have changed and how. For some reason, a software package like Tripwire comes to mind. Although, I dont know how useful something like that would be on a mobile device.
Someone much more versed in this topic should have some better ideas
EggplantWizard said:
Thanks for the input.
As much as I would like to believe it was spoofed (and inherently making me feel better at the same time), I can say with a high degree of certainty that whoever did this had my password. How can I be somewhat sure of this? The "recent activity" list on gmail.com had an entry from a web browser access in Brazil. I do not have a proxy in Brazil, nor have I traveled there in.. well... ever. Also, the recipients' email headers claimed the email originated from gmail.com. Now, you're completely right that this part could have been spoofed, but I am not so sure about the first part. Upon doing some research, I've found that alot of other people who also had their accounts compromised had the same log entries and same origin in the email headers sent to the recipients.
Digression. Anyways, what they did is not as important as how they did it. Even to this day I am not sure. I really dont want to place blame on the ROM, because honestly the Cognition people did a fantastic job with it.
Bottom line is that I was curious as to everyone's security concerns, or lack thereof, when using custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. Interesting.... I may take back my argument then!
As far as the concerns? I am also on Cognition 3.04 and up until now, I brushed aside the security issues. I had concerns, but hoped the community was strong enough to expose them. There definitely is an inherent risk downloading files authored by the developers. I know that some of them add in their own signature files just to track the programs and see if they are being altered. I'm not sure what can be done. Maybe you can run the ROM zips through a virus scanner on your pc before installing?
whiteguypl said:
P.s. "(really, I just dont care about "screaming sexy Japanese girls")" = blasphemy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HA! Now that's just funny.
sircaper said:
I figured he was using hyperbole and didn't really validate with every single person in his address book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I didnt validate with *every* single person in my address book, but I talked with a few that I speak with on a daily basis. They all had the same headers originating from gmail.com
Although, I do have to admit that one of the bizarre after-effects of such a compromise is that I have been "reunited" with people I haven't spoken to in a very long time. Take the good with the bad, I suppose.
I agree that security is a concern especially so when one is rooted. There are so many things to take into account. Even using wifi hotspots where hackers can hijack your logged in sessions whether it be Gmail, websites or banking. There are other methods where they can intercept packets with password and account information. For myself, I try and keep antivirus apps like Lookout running and scan often as well as am very cautious as to what hotspots I connect to. It doesnt look like your virus scanner helped you much. However, there may the possibility that you received malware on your PC where you may also be checking gmail from and it spoofed your account using information from there. Its all a guessing game though as there is probably no way to tell how this happened to you. I'd be thankful that it was just an ad that was sent out and nothing more serious came as a result...and change my passwords damn fast (lol)
Oh yeah, I only use wifi networks that I know. I don't log onto public wireless or random networks...

[Q] Am I missing something?

So, there have been a ton of complaints about the facebook app on windows phone 8. Am I missing something? Why would anyone put an app on thier WP8 phone, when the People Hub ties all that together? I don't even have a facebook app installed, because everything I need to do is done from the hub.I can post an update, check in, see my notifications, whats new specific to my stuff or my friends that I have grouped exclusive.
So what am I missing?
Nothing. Some people are not used to having working things out of the box, so they just download apps to replace what the system already does.
My point exactly. I would even go much more further, I would ban all FB, Twitter... apps from the market since they r not needed at all. Instead, I would want some RDP apps for free, also some good database apps etc...
Good! I thought it was just me! Thanks guys.
Sent from my wicked sexy HTC 8X windows phone using Board Express
There is quite some functionality in the Apps though that is not available in the Hub. It's conversation views in Twitter or Groups in Facebook. If you use those Features you can't rely on the People Hub alone.
StevieBallz said:
There is quite some functionality in the Apps though that is not available in the Hub. It's conversation views in Twitter or Groups in Facebook. If you use those Features you can't rely on the People Hub alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Groups in facebook? Isn't that the same as Groups in the stock app? I don't do twitter, so cant answer to that. But still have found more functionality as well as easier interface when using the stock app on the phone.
I think OP has to look at things way wider. Maybe you just treat your phone more personal...
1)Facebook app can allow me lend my friend/families the phone and he can have a quick look at his facebook. (more social)
2)Facebook allow me to take control of another account I own( not saying about pages though, not sure WP8 facebook app can allow users to manage the page we owned)
3)respond to friend request.
4)As for myself, I have subscribe to many funny pages and news ones, the endless timeline give me look at what I have missed unlike the facebook/twitter integration,it does limits certain number of news/tweets and we can't scroll down after that.
I think these are the things you missing, might be more when compare to facebook apps on other platform since facebook app on wp has lesser feature.
sylau90 said:
I think OP has to look at things way wider. Maybe you just treat your phone more personal...
1)Facebook app can allow me lend my friend/families the phone and he can have a quick look at his facebook. (more social)
2)Facebook allow me to take control of another account I own( not saying about pages though, not sure WP8 facebook app can allow users to manage the page we owned)
3)respond to friend request.
4)As for myself, I have subscribe to many funny pages and news ones, the endless timeline give me look at what I have missed unlike the facebook/twitter integration,it does limits certain number of news/tweets and we can't scroll down after that.
I think these are the things you missing, might be more when compare to facebook apps on other platform since facebook app on wp has lesser feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, my friends are goofballs. If I let them have access to my phone, I get crazy posts on FB, and my profile picture suddenly changes to a crotch picture. So, no one gets to screw with my phone except the better half (and now Jr thanks to Kids Corner). But then again, I do the same to them!
And I don't have more than 1 facebook account, but I see where you can add accounts, so maybe someone who has two accounts can try to add an account under thier different one? Might allow it, although, I think it would merge the two, which could become confusing.
And I have not noticed friend requests, so will have to see if I get one recently and see how that works.
I see where your coming from, guess since I am not a power user I don't utilize all the capabilities that FB has, nor the native / 3rd party app.
Thanks for clarifying, FINALLY some one did! Thanks!
Groups are not the same as WP Groups (well, something similar exists with the lists Feature but that's an entirely different Topic).
Facebook Groups can have members and have there own pin wall, calendar, etc. You can use them e.g. to bundle all the Information on a certain Topic like e.g. when you are part of a certain Club. To my knowledge I can't Access those from the People Hub.
I'm only using two of them but those pretty frequentlly. There are other Features not used by everyone but rather important to others that are not available in the People Hub.
Thanks for the info!
Sent from my wicked sexy HTC 8X windows phone using Board Express
It's missing a lot of the interaction you'd get from the website or a third-party app, for instance:
The messaging app does not pick up Facebook message threads, for one (Just chats).
You can't edit your own status updates.
You can't friend/unfriend people.
The Facebook People Hub is meant more for getting the basic info on people that you have on your contacts list and to keep them in the loop on you. That's it. I think these limitations are by design.

[Q] Send texts from browser? (like DeskSMS for Androids but a windows version).

Good evening gentlemen,
Thanks for taking a look at my problem.
Basically I need something like DeskSMS for Android but for my windows phone (Nokia Lumia 820). The reason is the mother of my son (ex) is being a pain in the ass and "doesn't have an email" but I need to be able to record and send communications and be able to save them. Also thumbing my phone for hours trying to type out an email (via SMS texts) is a huge pain in the ass.
The solution would be a nice little app like DeskSMS or whatever else... instead of fighting her I could just type things out fast with that and after a few texts I'm sure she'd come around to my way of thinking without having to debate it (i.e. texts are not for formal conversations).
So... now I've let you into my strange little world perhaps you could help me? How to send texts from a browser (through my Windows phone)... any suggestions? I'm open to solutions!
Many mobile operators used to (and possibly still do) allow you to send email to an address that's something like <phonenumber>@<carriername>.com or similar. Not elegant, and I'm not sure how well it handles larger messages, but it used to work.
Otherwise, you may be in a bit of difficulty... I believe third-party WP8 apps are not permitted to send SMS directly (because of the risk of malware texting premium services, one of several popular tactics for Android malware). It's quaint and antiquated, but does she have fax? Otherwise, there's always the option of recorded telephone calls, though those can be a pain to transcribe.
TYVM
GoodDayToDie said:
Many mobile operators used to (and possibly still do) allow you to send email to an address that's something like <phonenumber>@<carriername>.com or similar. Not elegant, and I'm not sure how well it handles larger messages, but it used to work.
Otherwise, you may be in a bit of difficulty... I believe third-party WP8 apps are not permitted to send SMS directly (because of the risk of malware texting premium services, one of several popular tactics for Android malware). It's quaint and antiquated, but does she have fax? Otherwise, there's always the option of recorded telephone calls, though those can be a pain to transcribe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some good thinking here especially about emailing her to her phone using <phonenumber>@<carriername>.com which I'll have a look into. I think she uses an iPhone too so seems ludicrous that she doesn't use her email (I don't know but guess you probably have to have one to have an apple account).
As you have guessed though I was hoping for something slick and polished and didn't realise third-party WP8 apps aren't permitted to send SMS directly. Thank you for helping me.
Frustrating really because I don't feel it's reasonable to demand she use a form of communication if she doesn't want to (this is hypothetical I think she must use email! maybe she really doesn't... she never was very tech... who doesn't use email?). I guess I'll have to think about writing an old fashioned letter maybe... god? has it come to this!
EDIT - just noticed I could email a conversation from whatsapp so maybe that's the answer.

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