Rooted features:
(root) TA installs itself into the system partition, even on phones with NAND protection, meaning it will not be affected by even full system wipes/resets. The only way to get TA off the phone is by deleting the app via adb, if you know exactly what you're looking for (more on this later), or by flashing a new ROM.
(root) I never thought I'd say this, but phones with locked NAND, like the EVO 4G, actually benefit from the read-only nature of their system partition - in this case, the only way to remove Theft Aware is by doing so from recovery via adb.
(root) That's right - TA can install itself using the update.zip method - the same method used by the OS to upgrade itself. The app generates and signs a custom update.zip package on the fly during installation or writing secure settings. Can you say "brilliant?"
(root) Moreover, it detects and integrates with ROM Manager to make installation (i.e. flashing the update.zip) a snap.
(root) The app is completely invisible not just in the app launcher (any app can do that already), but also in the app manager (Settings > Applications > Manage).
(root) Moreover, if a thief starts Theft Aware and finds it in the "currently running apps" section of the app manager, he or she will not only fail to uninstall it (see above for why), but also won't be able to delete any of its settings by pressing "Clear Data" - all settings are written to /system the same way as the app itself and are wipe-proof.
Non-root features:
TA does not require a data connection to operate - all controls are done using SMS (more info below), which works anywhere you have reception.
There are a variety of remote commands TA can receive and understand via this SMS mechanism. For example, WIPE, LOCK, UNLOCK, SIREN, setting of any option, and even custom commands you can make yourself by programming your own Android activities or services. There is also one more command that deserves its own special bullet point. It's up next.
You can make the phone secretly dial you and spy on the thief by listening in on the surroundings. This command is called CALL, and it's pure genius.
Since the app disappears from the list, the only way to get into it is by dialing a special code that you set yourself during the setup phase. For example, if you set your code to 2222, you go to the Dialer app, press 2222, Call, and voila - Theft Aware starts up. This code authenticates all SMS control messages from the previous step, by the way, so don't let anyone find it out.
(root) TA can install itself as a special device admin, which is a feature introduced in Android 2.2 that allows full wipe, including emails, texts, apps, and anything data-related, including your SD card. On non-rooted phones, this gets rid of Theft Aware as well, but on rooted devices, the app survives.
During the installation, TA asks you if you want to customize its application name, so that an unsuspecting thief would never even think twice about something like "EVO 4G camera driver." This doesn't yet change the internal package name, but Theft Aware's developer liked the idea and is thinking of doing this in the future. This feature doesn't really matter on rooted phones, by the way, as, if you remember, TA is completely invisible there.
For phones with SIM cards, tracking and locking can be initiated on SIM change, rather than manually.
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