Question [CLOSED]Android 12 privacy permissions - ASUS ZenFone 8

The Google Play Services app asks for very many permissions - it’s confusing to know which to allow or limit the use of.
I'd appreciate some advice about permission settings for the Play Services app (Android 12) that increase privacy (and minimise background data it collects) but still allow reasonably normal operation of the Zenfone 8?
Thanks.

Mod Edit
Thread closed per [OP] request.
jackeagle
Forum Moderator

Related

[Q] How do Play Store alteregos like AppAware display apps? (legal question)

Moderators, please delete this thread as it is already available on http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52004643
Hi,
We have a very special idea about a new Play Store alterego. We would display Android apps in a dedicated app just like AppAware, 1Mobile Market, AppSales, Appsfire, but in a special way. However, we don't know if we can display the apps without the developers' permission.
Do these apps scrape Play Store for data and display the apps without the permission of the developers or do they ask developers if they can use their apps? Considering these apps provide users with thousands of apps, I don't think they mail all developers.
What do you think? Can this be done? Is there a risk that a developer sues these apps for using his app without his exact permission? These apps have 500,000-1,000,000 downloads which mean they are very popular.
Note: we won't offer direct download of apps. When they click on an app in our App they will be directed to Google Play.
Thanks,

[UPDATED] Better RAM usage [LG Optimus 2x]

All of us know what is the worst thing in our phone. It is a low capacity of RAM. And of course, there is no RAM expander app which can enlarge your RAM from 512MB to 2GB.
Now I am going to show you how to free your RAM with no bad impact on your system stability.
All Users:
In Google Play Store there is an app which allows you to disable various services of system or third-party apps. Its name is My Android Tools. Developed by WangQi. In this app you can disable services which are running in the background and are occupying your RAM and even more.
Also I found out that this app may cause BOOTLOOPs and the only way to get rid of BOOTLOOPs is factory reset. But if you are an enthusiast of this app, you can try disabling all of the Google Play Services. :cyclops: You shall see. :cyclops:
Which services have I disabled?
Code:
[I]Note: Services marked as " *xyz* " are safe to disable. [/I]
com.android.smspush:
-*WapPushManager*
Google Play Services:
-*AdRequestBrokerService*
-*AdvertisingIdService*
-*AnalyticsService*
-*DeviceConnectionServiceProvider*
-*DispatchingService*
-FusedLocationService
-FusedProviderService
-*GcmService*
-*GeocodeService*
-GeofenceProviderService
-*GoogleHttpService*
-*GoogleLocationManagerService*
-*GoogleLocationService*
-*LocationWearableListenerService*
-NetworkLocationService
-*NlpLocationReceiverService*
-*ProxyGTalkService*
-*SyncService*
-*SystemUpdateService*
-*WearableService*
Google Play Store:
-*ContentSyncService*
-*DailyHygiene*
-*InAppBillingService*
-*MarkedBillingService*
Google Services Framework:
-*EventLogService*
-*CheckinService*
-SystemUpdateService
Messaging:
-*TransactionService*
-Network Location:
-*NetworkLocationService*
SIM Tool Kit:
-*StkAppService*
All of the *Voice+* services.
Which receivers have I disabled?
Code:
Google Play Services:
-AccountsChangedReceiver
-CheckinService$ActiveReceiver
-ConnectivityReceiver
-GServicesChangedReceiver
-PowerConnectedReceiver
-SystemUpdateService$ActiveReceiver
-SystemUpdateService$Receiver
Disabling the Google Play services may cause huge battery draining. Be careful with it. I am not responsible for any potential damage to your device.
Anyway, there is always an option to enable services which were already disabled. I have not written all of the services which can be disabled! With this app I have freed almost 35MB of RAM.
And if you want to know which services or processes are persistently causing wakelocks, the best app I have found is Wakelock Detector-Save Battery. It is developed by UzumApps and you can Download it from the Google Play Store. With this app you can see particular name of service which is consistently waking your device and preventing it from deep sleep. And if you know the name of that nasty service you can disable it by My Android Tools app. Isn´t that simple?
Conclusion
There is no need for RAMHack versions of kernel because you will have enough free RAM to switch between two or three running apps. As a daily-driver I can see big imrovements in Graphic. Because that 32MB of RAM did not come from heaven. You can record 720p videos or play "heavy" games without any annoying lags. That is my point of view.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me!
Learn more:
http://www.xda-developers.com/protecting-your-privacy-app-ops-privacy-guard-and-xprivacy/
http://www.xda-developers.com/defend-your-battery-with-wakelock-detector/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2179651
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/disabling-google-play-services-guide-t2999821
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-u/issues/app-disable-service-t2455525
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...hare-myandroidtools-guide-to-disable-t2869119
Personal recommendations
I have been testing custom ROMs for a quite long time. In my opinion, the best stable and reliable custom ROM for our old device is CM10 Look Ma! No Hands! by pengus77. I know that it is old JellyBean Android 4.1 but we have to admit that our device was not made for Android 4.4 Kitkat. When I came to this ROM I was pretty shocked of its amazing performance and fluency. I have not seen any bugs or huge lags like in the latest CM11 ROMS yet. I understood why they call pengus77 master. So I would recommend you this ROM.
You can download this ROM from this post - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49850599&postcount=3775
Also see this post which is really helpful - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54626701&postcount=3790
Do not install heavy apps such as Facebook or Google Chrome. They are not developed primarily to our device since 2013. Disable or unninstall all system apps which are useless. For example default Email, Google Search, Google TTS, Pico TTS, Sound Recorder, Talk/Hangouts, TalkBack, Voice dialler, default launchers and many many more. Instead of default launcher use Nova launcher. Minimize number of widgets on your desktop because they have got running services in the background.
Small advice :
Do not use taskers or "Clean Masters"! Android’s operating system has its own native handler for assigning RAM to apps and making sure that all of it is being used in the most optimal way. In fact, Android purposely tries to keep apps loaded into RAM for better performance.
+CM11 and SlimKat users:
Did you know that in CM11 and latest SlimKat 9.0 there is a feature called Privacy Guard?
With this feature you can simply and easily take control of your apps. You can decide which permissions have to be denied for individual apps.
Go to > Settings > Privacy > Privacy Guard – you will see your apps listed – tap the shield to enable/disable an app* (In SlimKat ROM, Go to > Settings > Security > Privacy Guard)
Check the > Settings menu for the option to reveal native apps
Usage stats – long press an app > options page will show detailed breakdown of each apps permissions. You can control these individually. More important for me is the app option that allows you to see the last time that permission was requested
Most if not all apps permissions will automatically be set to “Allowed”. You can control for example whether an app has access to your location data – if so you can set to “Denied”. For example, in Google Play Services I have denied Location,Wake up and Keep awake.
Once you’ve done the above, you can go back to the main list of apps and tap > Advanced button in > Settings. You will now see a category view which is useful to look through groups of apps with similar problems
Be aware of Auto-Start permission requests in “Bootup”. These are apps that will use your battery and monitor Wake up – useful to keep an eye on!
We should acknowledge that our device is too old and it has got no future. But when God will send to us stable Kitkat ROM and Kernel it will be amazing. :angel:
Changelog
Code:
May 1
- Added hyperlinks
- Deleted typos
- No more updates anymore
March 4
- Added new ScreenShots
- Added more services which can be disabled.
- Deleted unnecessary services.
- Better overview.
March 3
- Services marked as " *xyz* " are safe to disable.
- Added more services which can be disabled.
March 2
- Added more services which can be disabled.
- Deleted typos.
See attachment. CM11 by tonyp norh and CM10 by pengus77 norh.
Thanks i will try it on cm11 i had today 212 MB RAM
how to disable this ?
solved ....download Disable service from google play
mbaier said:
how to disable this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??? ???
EDIT 1:
I do not have the permission to post hyperlinks yet.
lubosmj said:
??? ???
EDIT YOUR POST
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download Disable service from google play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.wq.disableservice&hl=en
It works really well good job !
Which ROM you have actually ? Nice tutorial should be in general section
Wooby said:
Which ROM you have actually ? Nice tutorial should be in general section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See updated post.
Thank you!
I mean the cm10.1
---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 PM ----------
Great thread my opti 2x is alive and so usable now
Which cm11 ROM u have now ( day and month ) ?
Wooby said:
Which cm11 ROM u have now ( day and month ) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I had latest CM11 by tonyp, I think that it was cm-11-20150218-m1-p990. But then I got bootloop (caused by Disable Service app ). After that I decided to flash latest SlimKat 9.0 for p990. IMHO, the best Kitkat based ROM available yet. And then I tried to remove system apps with built-in app. Reboot. Stucked on LG logo. F*cked again.
Then I repaired my phone with AIO toolkit and finally I have just flashed CM10 Look Ma! on my device.
Haha The epic story XD
Its time to change that old device LIKE 2 Years ago GT540. I think i buy a Xperia Z1 compact
Tell me how you do the 200 mb ram free , I disabled everything and have only 170-160 free ;(
Wooby said:
Tell me how you do the 200 mb ram free , I disabled everything and have only 170-160 free ;(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I disabled all of the services which are already written in main post. Also I do not install many apps on my device so it does look fresh and cleanly. Installed apps are cached in RAM and this might be just one of the reasons why you cannot reach such high values of free RAM as I have recently had.
EDIT 1: I think that if you have got 160MB free of RAM, it is everything alright. Do not experiment too much!
Big performance and memory boost (+30-40MB) makes just freezing the Google Play Services (you can do it even with Performance Control only).
On the other hand you will lose various features and various apps (or its features) will stop working - but you will be notified about it with dialog "Application requires Google Play Services, activate it." or something similar. By disabling only some services I think you will not get notified about that and you might be in false impression that everything works okay. Some features that depends on Play services are: Google cloud messaging (push notifications), saving app data in cloud, some synchronizations, google login in apps,...
Also I freeze these apps (just for inspiration - they are safe to disable for me as I don't use them): Cell Broadcasts, Voice Dialer, Themes Chooser and Themes Provider, Print Spooler, Exchange Services, DSP Manager, Voice+, WhisperPush

De-Google-ing my Note 9

Hi guys. I'm starting this thread in hopes of sparking a conversation and a concerted effort to rid ourselves as users from the clutches of Google and other big tech companies. I am sick and tired of Google tracking me and attempting to force feed me ads on a daily send constant basis. Then selling my info to other companies such as Facebook. So, I have started down the path of decluttering (De-Google-ing) my device(s). I am primarily interested in securing my device as much as possible and protecting my privacy.
So far, I have reformatted my entire device to factory default settings installed and using F-Droid (FOSS) for all my apps. I use Yandex as my search engine (I am often to suggestions and recommendations) in the "private browser" app. I use Aurora instead of Google Play store, New Pipe for YouTube-ing, Frost for Facebookingand SlimSocial for Twitter. I have stopped using Google keyboard and any other Google apps. I have abandoned gmail and replaced it with proton mail instead. So far, no ads and as far as I can tell, no tracking. I have also installed a VPN and am using it religiously—Cyber Ghost, a $99 for 3 years subscription with support up to 8 devices.
However, I am still very much connected to Samsung for I am not privy as to whether or not Samsung is as sinister as Google and Facebook.
Again, I am open to all suggestions, corrections and recommendations. Thank you and I hope to engage with you all.
Thread Closed
see De-Google-ing my Note 9 thread already started on this discussion.
Friendly reminder to only open 1 thread concerning your question / topic

Share your love (if you have some) for P40 Pro

It's great to see good ratings and positivity about this phone here.
I'm surprised as I always came here to hack my device to intmstall custom Roms and Huawei doesn't give access to do that
I'm reaching out to you in hopes of getting some actual real user experience threads created on the official Huawei UK Community.
A handful of the moderators including myself have made some reviews on how to get apps etc. We aren't after full blown reviews but similar to what your experiences have been like.
This will help average users make a decision whether to buy the phone or not
If you post remember that most users of the community are not experts or technologists. They are usually people looking for help.
You can access it using Huawei support app by clicking forum or visit
https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/community/list/?forumId=20361
And login With your Huawei ID.
You'll get a generic username so update that to anything reasonable.
You could get featured by Huawei a social media too
Links back to this community will just show as text rather than an active link. Their whitelisted urls are few and far between.
Thanks for your help if you decide to contribute
Whilst you're there you can submit some images to Huawei Next-image which is a Global photography contest of certain topics but have to be photos taken on a Huawei device.
Thanks again.
I have a P40 Pro on the way, i have had many Huawei phones and think what Huawei are doing with HMS is a massive undertaking in the west. Only huawei can pull it off. Each day HMS is getting better and these forums and huawei community are really helping me get used to this new experience.
HMS is not perfect at the moment but when i remember the failures of the BB and Windows - Huawei are going in the right direction and not following those mistakes.
Politics and biases aside. I look forward to seeing more fantastic hardware from huawei and the software is going in the right direction.
I'm amazed to see diehearts like you folks willing to stick to Huawei HMS and refuse to serrender to Google GMS. I'm equally inspired by Huawei which is striving their best to reach out to 1.4mil developers worldwide to port their esteemed apps over to Huawei AppGallery. It's becoming quite usable lately as more and more local everyday used apps have been made available on the AppGallery. :victory:
georgeklee said:
I'm amazed to see diehearts like you folks willing to stick to Huawei HMS and refuse to serrender to Google GMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If notifications worked reliably with HMS-naked, then it would be very easy for me to stick with HMS-naked ... unfortunately notifications really suck, hence I am stuck with a HMS+microG install for now ... but at least that is better than HMS+GMS.
Let me know when notifications are fixed on HMS-naked, then I will uninstall microG.
linux2525 said:
If notifications worked reliably with HMS-naked, then it would be very easy for me to stick with HMS-naked ... unfortunately notifications really suck, hence I am stuck with a HMS+microG install for now ... but at least that is better than HMS+GMS.
Let me know when notifications are fixed on HMS-naked, then I will uninstall microG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got any guide where you got this to work?
Also - Why MicroG, not full GMS ?
JazonX said:
You've got any guide where you got this to work?
Also - Why MicroG, not full GMS ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to thread in this P40 Pro forum .. i think it was in the recent thread in this forum for nova ... linked back to a german forum .. but here is below ...
microG
https://microg.org/
1. Perform a factory reset of the phone.
2. Install F-Droid app
3. Add this repo into F-Droid .... https://microg.org/fdroid/repo
4. In F-Droid, then install MicroG Services Core.
5. In F-Droid, then Install MicroG Services Framework Proxy.
6. In F-Droid, then Install the MicroG FakeStore.
6. Open the Microg Settings app. Grant it all permissions and disable battery optimizations.
7. Add your Google account.
8. Turn on Device Registration, Cloud Messaging and SafetyNet.
9. Restart your phone.
10. Open Microg Settings app, check the status under Cloud Messaging. If it says not connected enter the following in the phone app: *#*#2432546#*#* and restart your phone. Check the status again - it should say Connected. (I had to enter the phone string and restart my phone twice until it said connected).
11. Install apps
12. Check connection in microG app for Google Cloud Messaging
All this will give you is push notifications with Google Cloud Messaging (including the Google Firebase messaging).
I also had notification issues caused by either Huawei PowerGenie and Android Doze .. if the notifications work and then suddenly stop after an hour or so, then try these ..
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hu...-to-improve-notification-reliability-t4100277
linux2525 said:
go to thread in this P40 Pro forum .. i think it was in the recent thread in this forum for nova ... linked back to a german forum.
microG
https://microg.org/
1. Perform a factory reset of the phone.
2. Install F-Droid app
3. Add this repo into F-Droid .... https://microg.org/fdroid/repo
4. In F-Droid, then install MicroG Services Core.
5. In F-Droid, then Install MicroG Services Framework Proxy.
6. In F-Droid, then Install the MicroG FakeStore.
6. Open the Microg Settings app. Grant it all permissions and disable battery optimizations.
7. Add your Google account.
8. Turn on Device Registration, Cloud Messaging and SafetyNet.
9. Restart your phone.
10. Open Microg Settings app, check the status under Cloud Messaging. If it says not connected enter the following in the phone app: *#*#2432546#*#* and restart your phone. Check the status again - it should say Connected. (I had to enter the phone string and restart my phone twice until it said connected).
11. Install apps
12. Check connection in microG app for Google Cloud Messaging
All this will give you is push notifications with Google Cloud Messaging (including the Google Firebase messaging).
I also had notification issues caused by either Huawei PowerGenie and Android Doze .. if the notifications work and then suddenly stop after an hour or so, then try these ..
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hu...-to-improve-notification-reliability-t4100277
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a ton for the guide bro!
But why go the MicroG way, when there are working guides for GMS with Lzplay, Icebox, etc ?
Any particular reason why you've picked MicroG over Full GMS ?
JazonX said:
Also - Why MicroG, not full GMS ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
microG is a small open-source app .. used in many custom ROMs for years .. simple, quick to install, and less risk of update hassles, and easy to uninstall later if needed, and still very close to HMS-naked, it just provides notification access to google push notifications (google cloud messaging and google firebase cloud messaging).
if you want to use google apps, then this really isn't the phone to buy .. all the hassles & problems with GMS and then what is the benefit of the P40 Pro .. just a camera with DXOMARK score of 128, when you could have bought another android phone with a DXOMARK score of 123 .. virtually no difference.
but microG gets us pretty close to HMS-naked (when the notifications get fixed with HMS-naked, then I will go HMS-naked).
the first microG install might take 15 mins .. but if you ever need to install again, it is about a 3 minute process once familiar.
linux2525 said:
microG is a small open-source app .. used in many custom ROMs for years .. simple, quick to install, and less risk of update hassles, and easy to uninstall later if needed, and still very close to HMS-naked, it just provides notification access to google push notifications (google cloud messaging and google firebase cloud messaging).
if you want to use google apps, then this really isn't the phone to buy .. all the hassles & problems with GMS and then what is the benefit of the P40 Pro .. just a camera with DXOMARK score of 128, when you could have bought another android phone with a DXOMARK score of 123 .. virtually no difference.
but microG gets us pretty close to HMS-naked (when the notifications get fixed with HMS-naked, then I will go HMS-naked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've understood! Thanks a lot for the detailed responses.
linux2525 said:
but microG gets us pretty close to HMS-naked (when the notifications get fixed with HMS-naked, then I will go HMS-naked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder how they can fix the notifucations without actually getting a version of the app in the app gallery? Officially at least.
arsenal74 said:
I wonder how they can fix the notifucations without actually getting a version of the app in the app gallery? Officially at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would like to know the answer to this question .. i.e.
a) can huawei update HMS Core with to make apps compatible with huawei cloud messaging system ... or
b) is the only option for wait months or years for all the various app developers to update their apps for huawei cloud messaging system?
hopefully it is (a)
on the huawei forums, one of the regular users, said that the notification problems were a EMUI 10.1 problem .. so I'm not really sure yet
Depending on how easy it is for developers to add HMS and get officially listed in AppGallery.
Hoping it's as simple as
if gms. Not Installed then.... Hms.Notification() else gms.Notification();
Without checking any of the Dev guides or codes.
It wouldn't be too big an undertaking

Question [CLOSED]Google play services permissions

I have not signed into Google on my Zenphone 8 and I'm trying to reduce my Google footprint while using a non-rooted Android. A little research made me concerned about Google Play services: Although I can deny permissions to individual apps there seems to be some confusion about denying permissions to Google Play Services.
For instance if I deny Google Play services location permission does this affect apps such as Waze (even though I allow Waze to access Location while the app is in use?
I have a sneaky feeling that Google Play Services will still function in the background even if I disable it.
Advice appreciated.
Thread closed.

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