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Android nexus 7. Used to the apple store

S

Superflye

Lurker
I've had a nexus 7 for six months. I don't really use it other than for watching videos or reading books. I use an iPhone 5 mainly. I would appreciate some help on my dislikes and if there is any solutions as I know it's supposed to be really customisable.

Issue 1: when I go to download apps it says it will have access to my contacts and information phone numbers etc and can make calls at anytime. I know I can't call on the nexus but I don't like the idea that so many apps have to be authorised to basically be able to access personal information. The iPhone apps don't give these warnings. Please explain if I'm not understanding this?

Issue 2: the two rectangles shows history screen captures. I hate this feature for privacy reasons as other people may use my nexus. Can it be disabled or changed somehow?

Issue 3: the apps are all contained in the apps file which means that anybody who borrows my nexus can look at every app installed. I prefer the way iPhone has folders that you can put apps in and they can't be viewed by just opening the app icon. I know I can put apps in folders on one of the five screens but I don't like how easy it is to see what apps are there.

I think generally I just feel this is less private and more of a security risk than my iPhone 5 but I'm happy to be told these issues can be corrected somehow.

Thanks
 
Issue 1 - What apps? Launchers etc will need that permission, as will contact apps (obviously) Have a scan through this, see if that helps with your understanding of permissions: http://androidforums.com/android-ap...explained-security-tips-avoiding-malware.html

Issue 2 - Not as far as I'm aware. If other people are using the Nexus, you could create a 2nd, guest account on it?

Issue 3 - As above, a guest account would sort this.

Does that help? Happy to expand a little more if needed. :)
 
issues 2 & 3: check out 'smart applock' or 'smart app protector' or any other app protector from the play store.
 
With issue 1, I imagine the apps that you are downloading are compatible with phones too, so when it says they can access phone/contacts and make calls, that's just a blanket statement for phones and tablets. If there is no phone on the device, that permission won't be used :)
 
Mostly Harmless said:
Android actually tells you what permissions the app is accessing, I believe Apple doesn't tell you at all.
Click to expand...

Indeed many iOS apps need/use similar permissions but Apple chose to hide this from the user in the same way they hide pretty much everything else.

I'll just add that in many (most?) cases the permissions are just to allow things like syncing or to detect phone calls so that they can get out of the way rather than to snoop on the private data. Many apps explain this in their descriptions in the Play Store.
 
when you press the recently used programs list button, you can swipe the apps out of the list to get rid of them/ hide them.

most custom launchers have the option to hide apps from the app drawer, maybe try one of them or any of the "hide my app" style apps available on the play store.
 
Yeah... Android rocks! My daughter has an iphone, yesterday she asked my how to set an MP3 as a ringtone. She has a ringtone maker app, so I told her just put the ringtone in the ringtone folder.... she said "what folder"? I started looking at her phone, searching.... I asked where's your music folder? She said "no clue".... I searched, could find nothing, no file explorer, no way to find anything. I'm clueless with Apple, so if I owned one I'm sure I'd figure it out. But Android just puts it all out there. Easy to find, easy to move, easy to make it do what you want (and everyone can do it differently!)... and I'm not even rooted.
 
Superflye said:
I've had a nexus 7 for six months. I don't really use it other than for watching videos or reading books. I use an iPhone 5 mainly. I would appreciate some help on my dislikes and if there is any solutions as I know it's supposed to be really customisable.

Issue 1: when I go to download apps it says it will have access to my contacts and information phone numbers etc and can make calls at anytime. I know I can't call on the nexus but I don't like the idea that so many apps have to be authorised to basically be able to access personal information. The iPhone apps don't give these warnings. Please explain if I'm not understanding this?

Issue 2: the two rectangles shows history screen captures. I hate this feature for privacy reasons as other people may use my nexus. Can it be disabled or changed somehow?

Issue 3: the apps are all contained in the apps file which means that anybody who borrows my nexus can look at every app installed. I prefer the way iPhone has folders that you can put apps in and they can't be viewed by just opening the app icon. I know I can put apps in folders on one of the five screens but I don't like how easy it is to see what apps are there.

I think generally I just feel this is less private and more of a security risk than my iPhone 5 but I'm happy to be told these issues can be corrected somehow.

Thanks
Click to expand...

#1: These permissions are telling you (the end user) what the app will be given access to. For an app to request access to anything outside of itself, it must request permission from the OS, which is what creates that screen. Most of the time, the permissions are fairly legitimate. Like one that gets people is something along the lines of "monitor phone state" which actually means that the app is allowed to know when you're in a phone call so it can pause itself.

Granted, some of them are pretty vague (like internet access). But if anything looks suspicious to you (like a game asking if it can send or receive text messages, which shouldn't EVER be necessary) then that's a flag that the app may have some malicious intent. Also make sure to read reviews on apps. They can often leave you with a clue if the app is any good.

If you have questions about them, contact the app developer directly (DON'T leave a review asking the question, as its a very poor way to communicate with them). Generally, if the developer is legitimate and wants to preserve their reputation and gain new users, they will gladly respond to any emails and such that you send them. DON'T antagonize or accuse them of anything, because otherwise they may ignore you. They receive a ton of mail, so they may take awhile to get back to you, so don't fret if its the next day and they haven't responded yet. I haven't run into one that outright refused to answer any questions I've had.

#2: This is actually your app switcher (similar to double tapping the home button on an iOS device). The pictures are simply there as a visual aid to what the app looked like when you left it. To clear them individually, you can swipe them away. To clear them all, in the upper right corner, there is an icon with three rectangles. Push it, and it will get rid of all of them.

As far as a way to disable it, not sure, since I'm fairly sure its a critical component of the UI. I know with 3rd party ROMs, its possible to hide the button, but that requires flashing and rooting to do so.

#3: As far as I know, this is more or less because of the way the OS is designed to store apps and present them to the user. The App list acts more like "All Programs" in Windows, where it simply lists every program installed, with the screens acting more like a desktop. Like someone else pointed out, it is possible to hide apps in the app list using a different launcher.
 
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