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Notification Plus...fishy

hept193

hept193

Lurker
I have recently been introduced to Android by purchasing the HTC Wildfire S. So i've noticed a couple of difference about it's operating and other phones.

There isn't any sort of 'Unread SMS notification' sound which would go off at a regular interval until the SMS is read. So I scanned the Andoid App Market for apps and came across "Notification Plus".

Cutting straight to the point now,
PHONE CALLS
READ PHONE STATE AND IDENTITY
Allows the application to access the phone features of the device. An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to and the like.
Click to expand...

I can't seem to tell whether the application is up to anything sneaky or not. Not entirely sure if the application wants permission simply to provide the service. Help please :)
 
I use Permissions Denied for this. I usually read the reviews of an app going back ~60 days. If I don't like a permission, I use this. However this does require a rooted phone. I have the Droid 3 and I use a simple 1 click app that can root and unroot (incase I need warranty work done, or take it into Verizon Wireless) quickly.

Hope this helps.
 
whooaahh said:
I use Permissions Denied for this. I usually read the reviews of an app going back ~60 days. If I don't like a permission, I use this. However this does require a rooted phone. I have the Droid 3 and I use a simple 1 click app that can root and unroot (incase I need warranty work done, or take it into Verizon Wireless) quickly.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

In this particular case, doing that would probably cause the app to cease functioning.
 
hept193 said:
I have recently been introduced to Android by purchasing the HTC Wildfire S. So i've noticed a couple of difference about it's operating and other phones.

There isn't any sort of 'Unread SMS notification' sound which would go off at a regular interval until the SMS is read. So I scanned the Andoid App Market for apps and came across "Notification Plus".

Cutting straight to the point now,


I can't seem to tell whether the application is up to anything sneaky or not. Not entirely sure if the application wants permission simply to provide the service. Help please :)
Click to expand...


Haven't heard of that app before, but GO SMS and Handcent, two very well known and trusted apps in the Android Market has such reminder features in their settings, so you may want to check those out.
 
@snapcase

Thanks, had some really good and important information. I was thinking,

Read phone state and identity
Phone calls

This permission is of moderate to high importance. Unfortunately this permission seems to be a bit of a mixed bag. While it's perfectly normal for an application to want to know if you are on the phone or getting a call, this permission also gives an application access to 2 unique numbers that can identify your phone. The numbers are the IMEI, and IMSI. Many software developers legitimately use these numbers as a means of tracking piracy though. This permission also gives an application to the phone numbers for incoming and outgoing calls.
Click to expand...

The app "Notification Plus" doesn't seem to have access to GPS or Wifi, so even if it were to be doing anything funny, it wouldn't have any means of transporting the data anywhere else...right?

@Whooaahh

That looks like a really useful app, however, I don't fancy rooting the wildfire quite so soon :)

@chanchan05

Yea, i've heard of those, however that would mean using a whole different messaging system/program. I'm quite happy, and liking the current Android messaging system ;)

Thanks for the input guys, the app still seems fishy, i've looked through other apps of the similar sort and managed to pick out this that requires the least permissions but i'm still doubting it alot.

E: Would anyone be able to give me a legitamate reason for why "Notification Plus" would need to be able to "Read phone state and identity"...apart from the reason that the developers need to track the numbers, as means of tracking piracy.

Cheers!
 
It just means it wants to monitor a lot of aspects of the phone's state to give you notifications of every kind. I have it on my phone and I am totally fine with it. If you see a camera app with those kind of permissions, then be worried.
 
Saltine713 said:
It just means it wants to monitor a lot of aspects of the phone's state to give you notifications of every kind. I have it on my phone and I am totally fine with it. If you see a camera app with those kind of permissions, then be worried.
Click to expand...
Well, a lot of games include it too. Sometimes it's for simply being able to "pause" the program while you're receiving a call.
 
Saltine713 said:
It just means it wants to monitor a lot of aspects of the phone's state to give you notifications of every kind. I have it on my phone and I am totally fine with it. If you see a camera app with those kind of permissions, then be worried.
Click to expand...
I do understand the point of view from which you are coming from however, it pains me to say but I can't help being skeptic of this. I mean i'm you will agree in me saying that 'to give you notification of every kind' is a fairly vague...opinion/view/reason.

But I simply can't think of just why it would need to have that permission :) I'm baffled.

snapcase said:
Well, a lot of games include it too. Sometimes it's for simply being able to "pause" the program while you're receiving a call.
Click to expand...
Ooooh, I see. I guess that it a very logical reason however, I don't think that this would apply to the application mentioned ;)

I wish some uber-cool Android programmer happens to see this thread and wishes to explain this to me ~<3
 
whooaahh said:
I use Permissions Denied for this. I usually read the reviews of an app going back ~60 days. If I don't like a permission, I use this. However this does require a rooted phone. I have the Droid 3 and I use a simple 1 click app that can root and unroot (incase I need warranty work done, or take it into Verizon Wireless) quickly.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

If someone is going the root route, I actually prefer LBE Privacy Guard to Permissions denied. Sure, PD can block nearly anything, but you have to deal with possible force closes. LBE just blocks the app's access to various things.
 
hept193 said:
I do understand the point of view from which you are coming from however, it pains me to say but I can't help being skeptic of this. I mean i'm you will agree in me saying that 'to give you notification of every kind' is a fairly vague...opinion/view/reason.

But I simply can't think of just why it would need to have that permission :) I'm baffled.
Click to expand...

Because it gives you a notification of your messages. Its sort of a "permissions code" (for lack of knowledge of a proper term) problem wherein "notifications" on Android probably uses a single access, so it just needs the same permission to access SMS notifications and calendar notifications etc.
 
chanchan05 said:
Because it gives you a notification of your messages. Its sort of a "permissions code" (for lack of knowledge of a proper term) problem wherein "notifications" on Android probably uses a single access, so it just needs the same permission to access SMS notifications and calendar notifications etc.
Click to expand...

Ahh, I see. So the application needs the permission to function, for the notifications. Hmm.

However, I do see now that the letting the application access the nessecary data isn't/shouldn't be a concern but can my phone be prone to hacking, I mean. Could the app be some sort of RAT? Is there a possibility. I'm not sure...

guys?
 
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