I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
May be the same answer as installers written for windows. If the developer didn't do a good job with cleanup, you get trash leftover you need to manually clean.
i agree with both above. i found devs dont do good with uninstalling and leaving folders left behind, i wonder if there is an app that clears them?
The best way is to realize what should and shouldn't be there and manually take care of it. To write an application to clean up after 50,000+ other applications that are messy. Would be a programming nightmare and I would not want to support such an application.
or someone could make some sort of app similar to those on pc, montors what and where files are being installed to so if uninstall doesnt take em out alteast you know where to look exactly.
Edit: better yet, the app itself can uninstall everything on the users request! now that would be an app i wouldnt mind paying a good buck for.
I agree, apps itself should uninstall everything with user consent.
Also I don't think a lot of us mind taking the manual route as long as we know what to delete ..
Any way to find out what files belong to what apps?.... or is it the same as on any unix/linux platform.
thats what i was trying to say. windows has a simple app that makes a txt file of all files being installed including registery. launch the app to monitor first, install like normal. in this case, the app itself will make a database of the app then the user can use that app to delete everything catched that was installed. that would be very nice. i find myself doing google search to see where files came from and when i see i uninstalled that i have to delete it myself. this would save me lots of time. i dont really worry about it though i have a list of apps i must install and with all the froyo i keep wiping the os to try new roms. until everything is stable ill worry then but for now im good.
garryvirdi said:
I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mean the directories on the sd card?
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
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Sent from my Nexus One
garryvirdi said:
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
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Sent from my Nexus One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have data that could be reused if you decide to use the app again. Settings, preferences, keys, notes, photos etc..
I do hope that the default folder for apps defaults to something like /sdcard/appdata/ instead of the root folder /sdcard/ (unless explicitly set)
Say I download an *.apk file from some site or I get one from a friend, could it potentially harm my phone, cost me money etc.? Basically what I'm wondering is, when I install an app it generally says what the app has/wants access to, is this "warning" coded by the programmer to tell the user what it's accessing or is it determined automatically by built in functions? I don't want to install and app that has access to stuff that I'm not aware of.
Regards,
B
Edit: On a second note. Say I do download some harmful application, would uninstalling it solve the problem or could there be remaining harmful files still at work? The whole Android OS is sorta worrying me...bad experiences with Windows is making me cautious.
if you can think of it
there can always be a chance of happening
yes, a malicious hacker could do something like that
yes, a pissed programmer might including something like that into their apps to stop people from sharing their apps without buying it
yes, the apk might be legit but might have been corrupted some how
yes, you might be able to uninstall if lucky
but worse case scenario if i were a malicious hacker i wouldn't code a way to uninstall the app, instead i'll probably code a way to lock the user out of all access forcing you to Flash the phone from scratch
You didn't really answer my one major question, or maybe you did but I didn't understand. Are the services that the app is able to access programmed or are they determined by a function?
Well when installing I've resorted to checking a few things:
1) Make sure the app that I've downloaded is the same size as the one in the market (for equivalent versions...obviously)
2) Compare the system permissions when installing with those found at www.androlib.com
This way seems pretty safe to me. If the size is the same and the permissions are the same...you can be quite (not 100%) certain that they are legit/the same.
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
To be honest I wouldn't advise downloading an .apk from a non-trusted source. If its on the market, you're near certainly ok, and if its from a trusted developer (say from these boards, or some other similar dev portal) then again, you are likely to be ok. In the second case, you are unlikely to be getting a finished app if you get a straight apk from boards, because when they are finished or at least solid, they go to the app store anyway, so harm in that case is more likely to be of the force close variety rather than bricked variety.
Outside of that, I can't see why you would get an apk from a friend rather than downloading it yourself, simply because that way it makes certain you get a clean, non-corrupted version. If apps don't show up in the market for you, its mostly because your device can't run them, in which case, again, force close.
Uninstalling it is possibly too late. All smartphones suffer this issue though.
As mentioned, if you get the files from market though, you are likely to be safe..
Also, not all melicious programs are obvious..
Daneshm90 said:
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you.
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
andrewluecke said:
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, I know. Thanks for the advice. I've actually been comparing any app I download off the internet to the actual ones on the market (size and permissions).
Hi everyone im a noob member to the site but have read some interesting threads before membership but as usual joining when i have a problem that needs some of your help
I have had a .apk file download to my htc desire running 2.2.2. I was browsing pics of the fake kind when it started downloading. i did see some letters and numbers before the file ext. It is not an official .apk that im sure off. I have searched for it on my phone but cannot find it to delete .
can anyone help please
After hooking up htc to my pc by usb lead, I have managed to locate the file by searching. It was in the download folder, I deleted it via the pc and then did a factory reset on htc.
Would this get rid of it safely
Can anyone help me my galaxy tab keeps going slow and opening apps to run in background I life my tab but this is becoming a, joke now
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
I'd look at the touchscreen being too sensitive, see if you can de-sensitize the screen. If that doesn't work then its possible that you may have run an infected file and gotten a virus... I would first try going to market and getting the free version of an antivirus then if I have no love, COMPLETELY restocking my Gtab... Make sure the stock rom you use wipes the internal sd card - backup 1st as this may not be the problem...
No ideas after this other than to put LBE Privacy Guard (available on market) on and set the permissions of all apps and services... You'd be surprised at how many apps want your IMEI...
I have noticed that I have folder when cleaning cache by clean master with name Moment.me. I did run a full system scan using CM Security and nothing was found.
To explain this matter more in detail. When I open my bank app somewhat is creating an folder in emulated storage by name imagecache. Then when I scan cache using clean master, clean master is telling me that that folder is from uninstalled app from moment.me which I never had anyway. And this is only when I access my bank app. It's like it some kind of logger or trying to be a logger, by either keylogging or image capture cache something like that. I searched all Google to see what comes when typing Moment.me. Can somebody tell me what this is. It doesn't feel good knowing this. Second isn't uninstalled app being deleted from Android all the way. How can there be a left over and if no app. Who creates image cache folder? Which app does that when accessing bank app. And that antivirus doesn't recognize this stuff but recognize which app did that which was never installed in first place. Tell me what you know. Tnx
P.s I'm using stock lg l90 never rooted. Its on KitKat 4.4.2 have no shady app installed on my phone except that I tried yesterday opera max, some onvo data limiter not sure about exactly onvo but something like that and some other data limiter software. I think its with first in search. Blue icon. Please help
Sir,
Please wait until mods will move this thread to the device specific forum for more relevant answers.
Stand by
Good luck
Hello all, I'm a new user here and I have a question about my new amazon tablet. I know that you can't uninstall the annoying preinstalled apps through the OS alone. I know that rooting is an option, but I'd rather wait because I just got this tablet and it'd suck if I bricked it already. There's an app that I downloaded called CCleaner, and I went to an app management option in this app and it lists the preinstalled as system apps, and gives the option to uninstall them. I just want to know if it's safe too do so, that it won't brick/implode my device or make it so I can't access Amazon's features. I can send a pic of the app for reference, thanking people in advance
Neko64 said:
Hello all, I'm a new user here and I have a question about my new amazon tablet. I know that you can't uninstall the annoying preinstalled apps through the OS alone. I know that rooting is an option, but I'd rather wait because I just got this tablet and it'd suck if I bricked it already. There's an app that I downloaded called CCleaner, and I went to an app management option in this app and it lists the preinstalled as system apps, and gives the option to uninstall them. I just want to know if it's safe too do so, that it won't brick/implode my device or make it so I can't access Amazon's features. I can send a pic of the app for reference, thanking people in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CCleaner is a good app. Although is says uninstall most likely it will simply disable system apps on an unrooted device as it doesn't have permissions to uninstall. Start with something benign like the Kindle app. Then move on from there, one app at a time. Good luck.