Device Administrator...?

[Extrinsic]

My device is a ZTE Speed on Boost Mobile, so only me and 4 other people have this phone so, naturally, there is no root method and probably never will be, oh well. Anyway, the antivirus/cleaner app I use is an administrator on my phone, which makes sense, but why can my AV app get admin privelages on my phone, yet no app exists that allows me the same? Why cant Superuser be admin the same way? Also, why does anything I attempt to flash through the built in recovery mode always fail signature check? Does the default recovery just fail everything by default? This phone isnt a bad phone, but root would make it a lot better. My complaints to ZTE went unanswered, of course, but I try to send them a complaint once a week anyway.
Another thing...Ive read the "How to root any phone" thread on XDA Developers forum and it totally didnt tell me how to root any phone...I wish people would quit linking to it.

 

[scary alien]

Hey, Extrinsic, I'll try to hit a few of your questions for ya .

My device is a ZTE Speed on Boost Mobile, so only me and 4 other people have this phone so, naturally, there is no root method and probably never will be, oh well.

Surely there are more than just the five you guys (just kidding, of course).

Anyway, the antivirus/cleaner app I use is an administrator on my phone, which makes sense, but why can my AV app get admin privelages on my phone, yet no app exists that allows me the same?

I'm really not that familiar with the device administration features, but the way I read it is that granting device administrator privileges to an app gives that app access to the various device administrator APIs. Those apps could/would then use those APIs to provide you features and functions to enhance the security of your device.

So, there really is no "device administration app", per se, but rather apps that have device administration privileges.

See http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html for more details.

Why cant Superuser be admin the same way?

SuperUser / SuperSU only need to communicate with the su binary (or daesmonsu) to grant or deny superuser access to various calling apps. It actually doesn't need device admin privileges and in and of itself, doesn't do anything that requires superuser access that you would typically associate with a root app (such as accessing a protected file, etc.).

The su / daemonsu binary doesn't need device admin privileges since the world is already wide open to it.

Make sense?

Also, why does anything I attempt to flash through the built in recovery mode always fail signature check?

Your device's stock recovery will indeed only flash a file that contains the proper signature (signing keys). That's a security feature of your device.

Does the default recovery just fail everything by default?

No, if it's a properly signed file (i.e., from the manufacturer or carrier), it should flash just fine.

This phone isnt a bad phone, but root would make it a lot better. My complaints to ZTE went unanswered, of course, but I try to send them a complaint once a week anyway.
Another thing...Ive read the "How to root any phone" thread on XDA Developers forum and it totally didnt tell me how to root any phone...I wish people would quit linking to it.

LOL, I'm not specifically familiar with that thread, but I agree that that sounds pretty general / vague .

 

[Lordvincent 90]

Also, according to well known member/developer/genius @Shabbypenguin this phone is unrootable until the next big exploit is released due to the bootloader being locked

http://androidforums.com/threads/zte-speed.895412/

Ps, for the time being, I have this phone as well... so if I do happen to find a way to root it (Not sounding likely) this forum will be the first to know

 

[Extrinsic]

I just have a hard time understanding why the manufacturer and carrier force me to have some of the apps that it does. Why is "Weather" an irremovable system app? Thats primarily what I use root for, removing apps that are useless to me. This phone does allow me to disable a lot of them, I suppose I should count my blessings, but it wouldnt hurt my feelings to use the space for something useful to me.

 

[scary alien]

I just have a hard time understanding why the manufacturer and carrier force me to have some of the apps that it does. Why is "Weather" an irremovable system app?

It's all about money and marketing agreements, unfortunately .

I'm guessing in some instances, the pre-installed apps might be helping to subsidized the cost of the device--or, that's pure profit going to the carrier .

 

[The_Chief]

Yep. Manufacturers and carriers make big bucks pre-installing apps onto devices: and they're installed as system apps, rather than user apps... so unless you're rooted and have access to the system partition, you can't uninstall or change them.

 

[Lordvincent 90]

I will add that the pre-installed apps live on a different partition than user apps. The extra space you reclaim from removing bloat is limited to the app's stored data.

 

[Extrinsic]

I will add that the pre-installed apps live on a different partition than user apps. The extra space you reclaim from removing bloat is limited to the app's stored data.

Yes, of course, but if I have root then I could install some of my apps on the system partition which allows me more space on the user partition. In some cases this could be a fair amount of space as you are probably aware. However, root seems to be impossible for this crappy phone and I noticed that one of my security apps was listed on the Device Administrator list and ultimately I began to wonder what added privileges this allowed the app and also wondered if it could be exploited to give me the same privileges. I'm actually familiar with rooting, how the partitioning is done, and have customized ROMs for other devices. This stupid phone possibly can't be rooted, people tried and failed and so I am seeking some alternative. I'm stuck with this phone for the time being, and I look forward to the time when I get another phone and can smash this one with a hammer.

 

[Extrinsic]

Hey, Extrinsic, I'll try to hit a few of your questions for ya .


I'm really not that familiar with the device administration features, but the way I read it is that granting device administrator privileges to an app gives that app access to the various device administrator APIs. Those apps could/would then use those APIs to provide you features and functions to enhance the security of your device.

So, there really is no "device administration app", per se, but rather apps that have device administration privileges.

See http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html for more details.

Thanks! That is an informative link and I appreciate you providing it! I just began reading it, but I am always glad to reduce the level of my ignorance.