BEWARE OF APPS FROM THE GOOGLE APP STORE

[jx2mad]

i was searching for an app to meet a need that i had. Having found it I installed it on my mobile, and that is where my trouble started. The app hijacked my mobile with the existing apps spread everywhere. Lots of stuff appeared on my phone that was not asked for. To top it all off the app delete function was blocked. I went into settings/apps and force stopped it, but after a time it would reactivate. I was stuffed. I downloaded Ccleaner and ran the program which deleted heaps of rubbish and I got my home screen back. Everything else was still totally messed up. I then thought about the program I run on my pc..trend micro. After spending hours attempting to install it on my mobile I finally succeeded. I hit the clean button and prayed. It showed one suspicious program and suggested I delete it. The one that showed was the app I had been trying to remove. One more click and the problem totally disappeared and all was back to normal. The app I had downloaded was WEATHER HOME. I have since found that this app is a well known TROJAN. I WAS LUCKY

[PhilipA]

And the Android Users criticise Iphones.

I have used Iphones for 10years and NEVER had a problem with rogue apps. Neither has my wife.

Such is the beauty of the App Store.

And I think Fortnite have a gall to criticise Apple for taking a 30% commission. I bet they make millions from the app anyway but they want MORE. It is only downloaded to the extent it is because it is verified Trojan free by Apple.
Regards PhilipA

[incisor]

both stores have issues, apple is marginally better than android it has to be said but neither is definitely 100% safe

android does some thing better than ios and ios does some thing better than android

horses for courses...

[loanrangie]

always read the comments before installing any app.

[Ferret]

And also view the permissions you will be granting the app before you install it. Some permissions are needed for functionality, for instance a weather app can justifiably need access to your gps location etc. but does it really need access to all the permissions Weather Home wants to take.

You gave it permission to do just about anything it likes. Does a weather app really need permission to modify your phone's system settings. Always be suspicious of any app that wants to take device permissions for reasons which seem unrelated to it's purpose.

Weather Home:- This app has access to:
Device & app history
read sensitive log data

Location
approximate location (network-based)
precise location (GPS and network-based)

Phone
directly call phone numbers
modify phone state
read phone status and identity

Photos/Media/Files
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Storage
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Wi-Fi connection information
view Wi-Fi connections

Device ID & call information
read phone status and identity

Other
choose widgets
adjust your wallpaper size
read Home settings and shortcuts
receive data from Internet
view network connections
pair with Bluetooth devices
access Bluetooth settings
change network connectivity
connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi
expand/collapse status bar
full network access
run at startup
set wallpaper
draw over other apps
control vibration
prevent device from sleeping
modify system settings

[maxperformance]

Once I had to see a Sydney woman's iphone 8 with her scared eyes showing me the phone was hijacked by a person somewhere on the Earth. The phone was holding in her hands just trying to work as a ghost phone, all just like you are using iPhone but you can not touch control it, and you are not the person who is controlling it. None of the buttons on that iPhone could work as normal even if I and her trying to use any buttons to turn it off. It was playing like that until battery was out. And when you charge battery it plays again. Scary thing was that the person who hijacked it actually could hear what we were talking, so they tried to show off how they could control the phone from distance. I was speechless then.

[PhilipA]

So they had her password then?
Or maybe her fingerprint or eyeball.
Or was it "jailbroken" so she could buy apps from other than the app store.

Regards PhilipA

[speleomike]

Hi

Apps are very problematic.

"And also view the permissions you will be granting the app before you install it. "
Can't reply on that. My malicious app would not say what it really was going to use :-) You can't trust what they say will what it really does use. Apple apparently checks apps more than Google does so ensure they only use access that the ask for but its not perfect checking.

The issue with Apple and Epic Games isn't just about the 30% its the fact that Epic Games enabled in-app purchases which Apple does not allow. Only the Android App store allow that. There are arguments on both sides and for Apple it's sailing close to US anti competition behaviour.

Mike