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These days there are so many apps infested with spyware or adware, and it almost seems as if the stores themselves are promoting them in exchange for a cut. And some apps that start off clean get "updated" to include ads and spying. How do you find free apps that aren't infested?
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In Tulsa, Oklahoma, it is against the law to open a soda bottle without
the supervision of a licensed engineer.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday June 06 2015, @04:54PM
Usually when someone uses the word apps I assume mobile phones, iphone, Android.
Now all of this advice about a distros and compiling your own, and windows, fly out the window for 99.9999% of the people in the world.
If Sailfish OS, and a couple of others that are closer to linux ever takes off this might change, but even an adequate Linux Programmer is not well equipped to deal with the constraints of mobile device programming.
Its difficult to filter outgoing traffic. You can never be sure if a connection is needed or not, and even tracing an outbound connection back to the originating software running on the phone is a huge issue beyond most users.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday June 06 2015, @05:12PM
You can make the network stack (firewall) to only allow specific type of packets through? Ease up until the app works?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday June 06 2015, @05:43PM
The spyware authors are all wise to this, and http or https for just about everything.
I occasionally use a hub upstream of my wifi router just so I can use wireshark to grab packets and IP Addresses.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday June 07 2015, @12:39AM
Fake their server? or pretend to be outside of coverage..?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday June 07 2015, @01:07AM
There are apps that use the hosts file to make it appear that the mother ship is off line, or just resolve them all to 127.0.0.1
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday June 07 2015, @01:24AM
The question is if the App will accept that state of things. And the hostfile is just a stopgap solution. It's better to enumerate hosts that are allowed.
(Score: 2) by GeminiDomino on Monday June 08 2015, @01:40AM
Its difficult to filter outgoing traffic.
I'm not sure if you're talking iOS, but it's pretty simple on most modern android phones. AFWall+ [f-droid.org] lets you block internet access on a per-app basis (for non-root apps, at least. Apparently root apps share a single entry). A lot of crap-laden shovelware won't crash outright if it can't find a net connection, since that's a good way to get your app dumped when there's no signal.
Definitely a must-have for android.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"