Help Gingerblech strangling my SeekDroid app; Thanks alot Moto!

[OcalaFlGuy]

So I've been playing around testing SeekDroid since the Gingerblech downgrade.

Whatever the radio glitch is that is affecting the WiFi/Data/Sleep transfer over is killing the SeekDroid ability to find the phone location **unless** the phone screen is on and the 3G/WiFi is showing in the Blue instead
of the mostly predominant now (since the downgrade) white bars/WiFi.

Thanks tons Moto.

Now, unless whoever finds my phone is actually USING IT, I won't be able to SeekDroid it out.

Is anyone else with SeekDroid seeing this. (And don't say ask the developers, I did, no reponse from them.)

Please. Moto. Get. Your. Freakin. Act. Together. And. Fix. Your. Mess.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

[Ron H]

SeekDroid, as well as all other similar apps, used to be able to turn on GPS in Froyo even if it was off; GB prohibits them from doing this. In GB, if GPS is off, they can only use cell towers to approximate the location.

I agree, thanks GB!

 

[lexluthor]

Why even turn off your GPS? It uses no battery power at all until something calls on the GPS.

 

[Metfanant]

How about we blame the people responsible...Google...NOT Moto...

Or is Google above criticism, so in turn it MUST be Moto's fault

 

[Ron H]

Why even turn off your GPS? It uses no battery power at all until something calls on the GPS.

Correct, but if someone steals a phone, it's likely they would turn GPS off.

 

[mahers]

Correct, but if someone steals a phone, it's likely they would turn GPS off.

They can't turn it off if they can't unlock the phone, so just make sure your pin, password or pattern aren't too easy to decipher. Problem avoided.

 

[Deleted User]

SeekDroid, as well as all other similar apps, used to be able to turn on GPS in Froyo even if it was off; GB prohibits them from doing this. In GB, if GPS is off, they can only use cell towers to approximate the location.

I agree, thanks GB!

Gosh, yes, what a terrible thing. Prohibit apps from overriding a deliberate user choice that has privacy/security/battery implications. Awful, awful.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Gosh, yes, what a terrible thing. Prohibit apps from overriding a deliberate user choice that has privacy/security/battery implications. Awful, awful.

Err...except for the fact that you've already given your explicit legal permission for the app to do just that when you accepted the accesses prior to the download?

(I may have a real convoluted fix for this. It's worked 3 times now in a row.
I also DL Android Lost. It doesn't have real time website tracking BUT it DOES have a function that sends a message to the phone to turn on the gps and the wireless. I've found if I send those signals, that seems to kick the phone in it's butt and get things going. Then I go to SeekDroid and it's seemed to track much better. Still this is a messy way to have to do things.)

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

[Deleted User]

Err...except for the fact that you've already given your explicit legal permission for the app to do just that when you accepted the accesses prior to the download?

So, just because I download an app with the ability to use my GPS, it means I want it to be able to turn on GPS anytime it feels like it?

Isn't that rather like saying in order for someone to borrow your car, you have to make a copy of the key and give it to them permanently with the understanding that they never have to ask again?

 

[mahers]

Err...except for the fact that you've already given your explicit legal permission for the app to do just that when you accepted the accesses prior to the download?

So, just because I download an app with the ability to use my GPS, it means I want it to be able to turn on GPS anytime it feels like it?

Not that I am a mind reader, but I believe Bruce is on the right track here. I have SeekDroid and I knew full well it had access to turn on my GPS...and I was ok with that because it makes the app do what I got it for, i.e. track my phone when I need to! If the OS could provide an option that says, "HEY, the following apps can track you, toggle GPS, etc, is that ok?" and allowed us to pick and choose which ones to allow, that would be ideal.

In other words, if I was ok giving my car keys to Bruce so he can borrow it any time, but YOU would need to get my permission, hence no key unless requested, then that's my prerogative.

 

[Deleted User]

If the OS could provide an option that says, "HEY, the following apps can track you, toggle GPS, etc, is that ok?" and allowed us to pick and choose which ones to allow, that would be ideal.

In other words, if I was ok giving my car keys to Bruce so he can borrow it any time, but YOU would need to get my permission, hence no key unless requested, then that's my prerogative.

Good. Yes. Excellent.

Absolutely, if we could pick and choose each permission that each app was allowed to have, AND those permissions were set to be granular enough that it wasn't just "GPS - Yes/No" and was actually "GPS - Use it - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Turn it on - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Turn it off - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Run in Background - Yes/No/Ask first" etc...

Sure, that'd be great.

But it isn't that way, so Google did the next logical thing and said, "if the user makes a deliberate request to turn the GPS off completely, we shouldn't allow apps to turn it on arbitrarily."

My beef was with the sarcastic, "thanks, Gingerbread" - as if this was an unreasonable feature foisted upon the users without any logic whatsoever.

Frankly, I'd argue that granular permissions like you want are unmanagable to implement and unreasonable for the vast majority of the population to try and work with - especially when you consider most phone users are not going to be well versed in the implications of the permissions they are granting/revoking. It will inevitably turn into anger against the apps or against Android when you give someone the power to confuse themselves and screw up the app's ability to function. That's just my opinion, though.

 

[Metfanant]

Good. Yes. Excellent.

Absolutely, if we could pick and choose each permission that each app was allowed to have, AND those permissions were set to be granular enough that it wasn't just "GPS - Yes/No" and was actually "GPS - Use it - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Turn it on - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Turn it off - Yes/No/Ask first; GPS - Run in Background - Yes/No/Ask first" etc...

Sure, that'd be great.

But it isn't that way, so Google did the next logical thing and said, "if the user makes a deliberate request to turn the GPS off completely, we shouldn't allow apps to turn it on arbitrarily."

My beef was with the sarcastic, "thanks, Gingerbread" - as if this was an unreasonable feature foisted upon the users without any logic whatsoever.

Frankly, I'd argue that granular permissions like you want are unmanagable to implement and unreasonable for the vast majority of the population to try and work with - especially when you consider most phone users are not going to be well versed in the implications of the permissions they are granting/revoking. It will inevitably turn into anger against the apps or against Android when you give someone the power to confuse themselves and screw up the app's ability to function. That's just my opinion, though.

Actually he didn't even blame Gingerbread....went straight after Moto...because EVERYTHING is their fault...

 

[Deleted User]

Actually he didn't even blame Gingerbread....went straight after Moto...because EVERYTHING is their fault...

OP complained about SeekDroid not being able to find him if the data connection was dead and (rightfully) blamed Moto for that.

Second post was the one I was talking about.

 

[mahers]

Good. Yes. Excellent.

Frankly, I'd argue that granular permissions like you want are unmanagable to implement and unreasonable for the vast majority of the population to try and work with - especially when you consider most phone users are not going to be well versed in the implications of the permissions they are granting/revoking. It will inevitably turn into anger against the apps or against Android when you give someone the power to confuse themselves and screw up the app's ability to function. That's just my opinion, though.

Well, you are correct. It's not realistic since not all users are as savvy as us, and it would cause more pain, I suppose, to have that than to just cut it off across the board. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, when Froyo first came out, they said the same thing about apps and their ability to toggle GPS, but ways were found. I may be wrong, but that's what I remember. One thing GB did was kill certain apps, like SwitchPro, to allow a widget to toggle GPS too. That's related and a real pisser!