What really happens when I swipe away an app?

[Advait]

What really happens when I swipe away an app?

Hi All,

I'm using an up-to-date Nexus 5X w Oreo. What really happens when I swipe away an app? For example, on occasion I use the app "Share-It" but this app seems scammy and I get the feeling it wants to do lots of mischievous things. When I swipe it away does that mean its not calling the mothership or exfiltrating my personal data or other bad things? Or do I need to kill or uninstall the app to make sure its not doing bad things?

If I don't see a notification about any apps running in the background, does that definitely mean that no apps are running in the background?

I tried googling this issue but didn't get clear info. Thanks,

 

[A bochur]

Sweeping an app away from recent apps, definitely doesn't stop it from running in the background.

So if you're suspicious of the app, the only effective method in making sure it's not going to make trouble, is by uninstalling it.

I have an app that hides the 'running in the background' notification. So even if such a notification is triggered by your app, it's possible that the app has a way to hide it. So I'd suggest to uninstall.

 

[mikedt]

What really happens when I swipe away an app?

Hi All,

I'm using an up-to-date Nexus 5X w Oreo. What really happens when I swipe away an app? For example, on occasion I use the app "Share-It" but this app seems scammy and I get the feeling it wants to do lots of mischievous things. When I swipe it away does that mean its not calling the mothership or exfiltrating my personal data or other bad things? Or do I need to kill or uninstall the app to make sure its not doing bad things?

This app is it?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lenovo.anyshare.gps&hl=en
Which is "free" and comes from China. I suspect it would be sharing your data to their mothership servers in Beijing, to be shared and sold onto third-parties, for monetization. If you kill it, it will more than likely just restart, maybe better to uninstall it completely.

For any app, I think look at the permissions and decide if has more permissions than are necessary for the app to do its job, e.g. Run in background, Run at startup, permissions.

 

[Advait]

Hello A bochur, I converted Share-It to an APK, then archived the APK and then uninstalled Share-It. I'll only reinstall it when needed and then repeat the process.

Hi mikedt, Share-It is something different but I think it's also a chinese company, so I'm very wary of it. It works well but I don't trust it.

Converting to APKs and then uninstalling seems to solve my problem with nefarious apps. If there's better ways to do this, let me know. Thanks!

Thanks for your replies. Cheers,

 

[Hadron]

If you are concerned that an app may be nefarious then the only "better way" is not to install it at all. After all, why would it not engage in its skullduggery when you temporarily install it for whatever you want it to do? How long would it take to say upload all of your accounts and your contacts book to some data miners (example picked as something where the damage would be done in a minute, not as something that a particular app is doing)?

 

[Advait]

Hello Hardron, That's a good point. My feeling is that the Play Store defensive wall is not perfect, but not too bad. So I feel that if an app can remain in the Play Store, then it must (to some minimal degree) behave itself. And some apps (like Share-It) will push the edge. So yes, I do feel uncomfortable using it, and uninstalling it after use will hopefully minimize problems. At least I hope so. For one particular purpose, Share-It works very well, so it's hard not to use it on occasion. And keeping it as an APK after uninstall is pretty convenient. I may research other options. Thanks for the reply.