'Rogue' Googlephone App Raises Questions About Android's Open Policy
By Priya Ganapati
January 26, 2009 | 3:55:17 PMCategories:
GooglePhone
An Android application that claims to optimize use of the memory on HTC's G1 phones has drawn the ire of some G1 users who allege it wipes users' data and spams their contacts.
The application, called MemoryUp from eMobiStudio, has now disappeared from the Android market. But the allegations against it have raised questions about Android's open marketplace policy.
"As consumers we all make judgments about what stores we visit and what we buy based on quality, brand, safety and cost," says Carl Howe, director of consumer research at Yankee Group. "Problems like these are going to drive away mainstream users."
Android's Market is built on an open model that allows any developers to post any application. That approach can be advantageous in that developers don't have to go through corporate gatekeepers to get their software in customers' hands. By contrast, Apple vets every single iPhone/ iPod Touch application before allowing it into its iTunes App Store, a process that can take weeks and prevents certain types of software (such as web browsers) from appearing at all.
eMobiStudio released MemoryUp earlier this month as its first application for the Android operating system. The app claims to offer better memory management for the phone making the device run smoother and up its battery life. The application is available for free to try and a full version costs $15 for two years use.
(the Personal version is Free not a trial)
However, some users on the online Android Community forum complained that the program destroys the data on their phone by removing contacts, calendar items and corrupts the memory of the phone.
“Doesn’t work at all erased my phone numbers and froze my phone," allegedly wrote a user according to the
Geek.com site.
The application's developers deny those claims. "We are very disturbed by these reports," says Robert Lee, chief technical associate for
eMobiStudio. "Whatever damage is out there has not been done by our product."
eMobiStudio says it has a strong history of creating useful applications for smartphones. "We are a software development company focused on mobile devices and we have been in business for four years," says Lee. The company has so far developed the same app for Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platform.
"MemoryUp is just such a simple application which does not require any permissions to access user data or SDcards," says Lee. "It does not require to connect to the Internet so how can it manage to do all these bad things without asking for any access permission?"
Lee says his team did "extensive testing" before it released the version for Android. "We don't think our app is capable of damaging any memory or cards."
eMobiStudio says it is trying to get in touch with the users who have complained about the apps and solve the problem. But
the app is now out of the Android marketplace. It is not clear who pulled it out, eMobiStudio or Google. Google has not yet responded to a request for comment.
For Android, this signals a larger issue, says Howe. Unlike Apple's iPhone App store, Android has prided itself on being a truly open system, in direct contrast to the iPhone.
"This was one of the real differentiators for the Android market," says Howe. "But that is also going to mean there is no standard for the apps to be held to."
While MemoryUp may not be the worst out there, the user feedback on it indicates Google and the Android team may need to take a second look at their open policy for the apps marketplace.
"Certainly incidents like these makes it much harder for them (Android) to succeed," says Howe.
Watch out, T-Mobile G1 owners: a dodgy app that appears to be wiping phone memories has made its way onto the Android Market.
Watch out, T-Mobile G1 owners: a dodgy app that appears to be wiping phone memories has made its way onto the Android Market.
app-packrat !!! yes I have many apps that I have uninstalled (but are backed up on the sd) I have about 15 CD's of music and 3 movies on my sd as well ....
