Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
supitsmike
Specialist - Level 2

DarkHorseSki wrote:

Security wise, you do realize that even a sandbox approach is not beatable.  As I stated previously, it is not necessary for me to wait until there is an actual successful, in the wild, malware to compromise my data to realize that the vulnerabilities exist.


Fair enough.

 


 

As to charging daily, no I did not expect to have to charge it daily.  Given the size of the phone and the increased size of the battery along with the advances in battery technology that have increased energy density, I certainly expected to go at least up to a few days before requiring a charge.  My old Razr could go that long with it's several year old tired battery (in the beginning I could go a week).  By any stretch of the imagination it is not unreasonable to expect to at least get the same amount of actual usage time as previous generations of phones.


Of course it's unreasonable. Is the Razr half the phone the Droid is? Absolutely not.

 


And the security vulnerability IS the biggest concern.  Cell phone virii have existed even before the phones could run Java and they have only become more prominent as the phones capacity has increased.  Android, being an open OS, is a double edged sword when it comes to this business.  I am willing to bet every dollar I own that if the challenge was laid down before the Black Hat conference that by the time of the conference there would be multiple successful strategies for penetrating the Droid phone.  And I bet many of those attacks would be successful in under 60 seconds.  If Verizon doesn't believe me then they should put up the bounty and try it.  They'll have to pay out (typically about 10-20k at last check) but they will gain the benefit of knowing exactly how the attack worked and could then work to have those vulnerabilites patched plus they might be able to discern how other applications make them vulnerable.


Fair enough.

 


And even if the bandwidth is unlimited now, that doesn't mean it will be free of limits forever.  Heck, even Comcast started putting caps on the amount of bandwidth some of their customers can download, and if I recall correctly similar happened on some of Verizons other, previously unlimited, broadband plans. 


Just because other providers have issues with people using Data (A small nod to AT&T), it doesn't mean that Verizon is bound to create the same mistake. And honestly, comparing Comcast to Verizon is like comparing Wal-Mart to Banana Republic.

 

I think you're thinking about their portable modem Wi-Fi thing. That I believe has a cap of 5GB, but is pretty standard.

 


 

 

I have directly identified several apps which are problematic.  There may well be OTHER problems, but for right now I'd like to see these obvious application issues addressed first.  I'm not asking the apps be removed, I am simply asking that the owner of the phone be able to control which applications are running on his or her phone.  That is far from unreasonable.


Don't know what to tell you other than Coporate Calendar, GVoice, or Alarm Clock in my phone aren't running right now, And I haven't touched my task killer in two days.

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
meister
Enthusiast - Level 3

Darkhorseski,

 

You want more control over your phone- noted. Dont we all. You seem to be a little paranoid about security of your phone. Why? I have yet to see anyone post on here that they have a virus on there phone or that their phone was turned into a brick because it was attacked. There are apps out to protect your phone if you must. I have had this phone since it came out and while at first I didnt like seeing apps in the background, I found that they had no bearing as to the performance of my phone- both speed and battery. I really think those "task killers" can turn a person into OCD trying to shut them down, but in the end this is not a window based phone. *side note* I had the Imagio for a few weeks before switching to the droid and it would bog down if you didnt keep on top of the tasks.

 

You are going to have to charge the battery often if you use it medium to heavy. Everyone I know with these types of phones keeps a charger close by, there is just no two ways about it. I will say that my charge last longer now then it did in the first few weeks. 

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
supitsmike
Specialist - Level 2

meister wrote:

Darkhorseski,

 

You want more control over your phone- noted. Dont we all. You seem to be a little paranoid about security of your phone. Why? I have yet to see anyone post on here that they have a virus on there phone or that their phone was turned into a brick because it was attacked. There are apps out to protect your phone if you must. I have had this phone since it came out and while at first I didnt like seeing apps in the background, I found that they had no bearing as to the performance of my phone- both speed and battery. I really think those "task killers" can turn a person into OCD trying to shut them down, but in the end this is not a window based phone. *side note* I had the Imagio for a few weeks before switching to the droid and it would bog down if you didnt keep on top of the tasks.

 

You are going to have to charge the battery often if you use it medium to heavy. Everyone I know with these types of phones keeps a charger close by, there is just no two ways about it. I will say that my charge last longer now then it did in the first few weeks. 


It can be, though I use task killers now primarily to end tasks/apps that aren't working correctly. For example there's this thing where sometimes after using my phone or messaging, the next app I chose regardless of what it is will go to either the messaging or phone app.

Don't know why or how, but I just end all three processes, and it stops. Handy to those who know how to use them and who have been using them since RC29.

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
DarkHorseSki
Enthusiast - Level 2

I'll say it again, cell phone attacking malware and virii are not new.  I don't see any reason to wait until there is an actual successful attack to address the potential vulnerabilities.

 

Using Task Killer and Startup Auditor I have found that my battery is no longer at a low power state at the end of the day, at worst it is usually about 50-60%.  To be sure that those apps were having an effect, I stopped using Task Killer and reversed the Startup Auditor's effects.  Sure enough, that evening I was again having to charge the phone from a low battery state.  Using Startup Auditor  seems to provide the most of the power saving benefit from my further testing.  Let me put it another way, when using the task killer and auditor, I can keep my phone mostly charged simply by using the car charger going to and from work each day (30 minutes each way).  Without them, I end up having to use the wall charger at night.

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
supitsmike
Specialist - Level 2

DarkHorseSki wrote:

I'll say it again, cell phone attacking malware and virii are not new.  I don't see any reason to wait until there is an actual successful attack to address the potential vulnerabilities.

 

Using Task Killer and Startup Auditor I have found that my battery is no longer at a low power state at the end of the day, at worst it is usually about 50-60%.  To be sure that those apps were having an effect, I stopped using Task Killer and reversed the Startup Auditor's effects.  Sure enough, that evening I was again having to charge the phone from a low battery state.  Using Startup Auditor  seems to provide the most of the power saving benefit from my further testing.  Let me put it another way, when using the task killer and auditor, I can keep my phone mostly charged simply by using the car charger going to and from work each day (30 minutes each way).  Without them, I end up having to use the wall charger at night.


See? There is a solution to your small (Albeit still a problem) problem.

 

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
DarkHorseSki
Enthusiast - Level 2

I never said there were not solutions, in fact I pointed out there was a 3rd party, pay, solution, right in my opening statement on this thread.  But, why should I have to pay to fix a poorly thought out implementation?  Plus, that is an inelegant kluge of a solution, and really only part of a solution.

 

The owners of their phones should have the capacity to control the applications on their phones.  They should control when they run, and they should even have the right and abiltiy to swap out the lesser included apps for better ones (calculator, camera, email and the browser all come quickly to mind when thinking about that.)

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
jayjay1122
Enthusiast - Level 3

Guys, I know I am VERY late to this party and I do not want to get embroiled in the moderate disagreements because I tend to agree with each of you (dark horse and mike) pretty evenly...

 

My one comment here though, and maybe one of you can address this for me, is that the VoiceDialer App starts on my phone all the time on its own! It is the only "trouble app" I have in terms of it seemingly starts whenever it chooses.

 

I can kill it with task killer and 3 hours later it is running again with out any rhyme or reason. I have never even touched the icon since I first turned the phone. Anyway, I know this thread has not seen any activity in a while, but if anyone has any thoughts, I am all ears!!

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Re: More control is needed for the pre-installed apps on the Motorola Droid.
DarkHorseSki
Enthusiast - Level 2

Unfortunately, at present, the Verizon/Google/Motorola consortium refuses to accept that autostarting of the built-in applications is a problem.  Until they truly understand that it is an issue for their pre-installed applications to start despite the will of the owner, your only fully real choice is to "root" your phone and gain full control.  The pay-for application I mention early on does provide some relief, but in the long run, if the consortium does not do what they should and fix the applications/OS to provide the proper control, then you'll have to take the responsibility upon yourself.

 

The customers who care don't really matter because we are in the minority as most users simply lack the technical savvy to know the problem even exists.  This is compounded by those who ignorantly defend the product regardless of the merit of any issue raised.

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