Help Multiple questions (new Android user)

[CiCaLiX]

Hi there people,


I got my Edge and after two weeks of using, I have come to several doubts that I can't answer to myself.
Hopefully I can get more info here...

1) After few days, I no longer get notification icons at the status bar (from Snap, Insta, etc.) Why is this ?
2) What is ANT+ service plugin and ANT radio service ? I noticed these two suddenly under DOWNLOADED in application manager.I am guessing its built-in, but... pretty sure I didn't see them before ?
3) This is more general but; what is the best security for Android phone ?


Thanks

 

[The_Chief]

1- Check Notifications Settings. They may have inadvertently been turned off.

2- ANT Radio Service is a system service that was pre-installed by your device manufacturer or added as part of an Android update by your carrier and smartphone manufacturer* to allow the built-in ANT communication hardware already present in your mobile device to operate. It is similar to the system components that enable other forms of wireless connectivity on your phone (ie. WiFi, NFC) and will not run or use system resources unless you start an app that requires ANT wireless communication.

3- I personally use TWO apps for security: AVG Paid, and Cerberus.

Hope this helps and WELCOME to Android! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[CiCaLiX]

Surely it does.

1) Notifications started showing up again last night, weird.I'm sure I didn't play with any settings tho.Is there any known circumstance under which Android device could stop and then start showing them up again ?

2) Got it thanks.

3) How secure Android devices truly are ? How good is Android in terms of being connected to someone's WiFi ?

 

[mikedt]

Surely it does.

1) Notifications started showing up again last night, weird.I'm sure I didn't play with any settings tho.Is there any known circumstance under which Android device could stop and then start showing them up again ?

2) Got it thanks.

3) How secure Android devices truly are ? How good is Android in terms of being connected to someone's WiFi ?

Probably as good as whatever that "someone's WiFi" is. If it's open WiFi i.e. no password, anything that's not HTTPS encrypted is in the clear and can be sniffed, unless using a secure VPN, or if you inadvertently connected to someone's man-in-the-middle device like a pineapple, or "Free Public WiFi", or something, all your stuff is going through their thing, and not the proper WiFi for wherever you happen to be. Same things apply to laptops, and any other WiFi devices here. In fact there was a serious security problem with Facebook and open WiFi a few years ago, with a simple Firefox plug-in you could see everything and post on anyone else's FB pages without even knowing their passwords, who was on the network. FB went HTTPS for everything and that fixed it.

Android itself can be very secure, but be aware about what apps you install, like only install them from trusted known sources, like Google or Amazon, and NOT Chinese app stores. Very importantly look at the permissions of whatever you install, do they tie-up with whatever the app or game is supposed to do. Like a flashlight app, does not need access to contacts, private info, your location, SMS, phone calls, full internet access, etc.

There's no viruses or worms for Android, like there is on Windows which can infect themselves. Anything malicious you have to install it yourself, like a bad app, i.e. a trojan.

 

[CiCaLiX]

mikedt, big thanks for an extremely valuable inputs there.I'd still want to ask few sub-questions regarding WiFi...
I connected once to a portable router of a person I know, for a few minutes approx.It was password protected, but I'm guessing owner was still able to see if I chatted somebody while connected ?

Could he possibly see the stored files on device ? I know for a fact that Windows is very easy when it comes down to this.
Could there be any long-lasting effect from this and do I need to do reset of phone to be sure nothing came over to my device ?

There's no viruses or worms for Android, like there is on Windows which can infect themselves. Anything malicious you have to install it yourself, like a bad app, i.e. a trojan.

I guess this above means a 'no' to my previously asked question, but let's be on safe side here.

Regarding the apps... I only use Google play store and I picked few commonly used apps.However, almost all of them require access to contact list for some reason.I'd say its okay for these apps since these are social apps and want to quickly connect us to people we know.

 

[CiCaLiX]

Gotta quote you to get you informed of my response.

 

[mikedt]

mikedt, big thanks for an extremely valuable inputs there.I'd still want to ask few sub-questions regarding WiFi...
I connected once to a portable router of a person I know, for a few minutes approx.It was password protected, but I'm guessing owner was still able to see if I chatted somebody while connected ?

Depends on what you're actually using. All the reputable IM apps are securely encrypted, things like Whatsapp, BBM, Wechat, Skype, so the owner or the "admin" of the router will not be able to see what's going on.

Could he possibly see the stored files on device ? I know for a fact that Windows is very easy when it comes down to this.
Could there be any long-lasting effect from this and do I need to do reset of phone to be sure nothing came over to my device ?

Yes, but only if you install and turn-on some kind of server on your device. The default is non, no sharing. An example might be something like Airdroid or an FTP service, which has to be done deliberately and you have to specifically allow it.

I guess this above means a 'no' to my previously asked question, but let's be on safe side here.

Regarding the apps... I only use Google play store and I picked few commonly used apps.However, almost all of them require access to contact list for some reason.I'd say its okay for these apps since these are social apps and want to quickly connect us to people we know.

Things that are "social" often do require access to contacts. Basically to try and determine if any of your contacts or friends are also interested in it, and to connect you to them, yes. Many free apps and games that have ads in them often use your course location to serve you localized ads, but should not require precise GPS location.

If you see something that you think is suspicious and is not right, either just don't install it, or maybe even contact the devs and enquire about it. Many good devs list their permissions and why they're using them in their Play store app synopsis. On the other hand, a few devs are either lazy or incompetent and turn all permissions on, whether they need them or not.

 

[CiCaLiX]

Depends on what you're actually using. All the reputable IM apps are securely encrypted, things like Whatsapp, BBM, Wechat, Skype, so the owner or the "admin" of the router will not be able to see what's going on.

Yeah, I heard the same about Skype, BBM, etc... but heard opposite about Whatsapp.Are all those massive articles about it just exaggerating the past issues of Whatsapp or is it truly that insecure ?

Yes, but only if you install and turn-on some kind of server on your device. The default is non, no sharing. An example might be something like Airdroid or an FTP service, which has to be done deliberately and you have to specifically allow it.

So, I am safe then.None had access to my phone and I don't recall using such things either, so...

If you see something that you think is suspicious and is not right, either just don't install it, or maybe even contact the devs and enquire about it. Many good devs list their permissions and why they're using them in their Play store app synopsis. On the other hand, a few devs are either lazy or incompetent and turn all permissions on, whether they need them or not.

Gotcha.Although like I said, I use the most reputable apps only.I am not really into discovering apps on the phone and the ones I use are basically those that whole world found useful after loads of time using it.

 

[CiCaLiX]

UPDATE:

1) What is DSMLawmo ?
2) ELM agent ?
3) What are KNOW and KLMS agent ?

Do I need these three (or four) ? Could they be harmful ?
Not much info around when I google these things.

 

[CiCaLiX]

And yeah...

Perso and Mobile tracker... these two have incredible permissions down there.These came with Android phone or ?
I don't think I ever installed something such as this.

 

[KOLIO]

UPDATE:

1) What is DSMLawmo ?
2) ELM agent ?
3) What are KNOW and KLMS agent ?

Do I need these three (or four) ? Could they be harmful ?
Not much info around when I google these things.

I found quite a bit of info on all of these topics via GOOGLE SEARCH & precise descriptions of what they are,w/less than 5 minutes of my time.

Long story short,they're either SAMSUNG &/or GOOGLE system apps.
While not necessarily harmful,they can be frozen &/or removed,if you're rooted.

Just a BTW:
Rooting trips the KNOX security feature,which is a tattle-tale of sorts,which,if discovered in the instance you should ever have to have your phone serviced,whether sending it in for repair,or,remotely serviced on your desktop,your carrier &/or SAMSUNG reserve the right to deem your warranty null & void (THAT NASTY STUFF IN THE FINE PRINT) .

If you have ?'s regarding Root,especially for this phone,look no further than right here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-edge