lost phone apps

[bbrosen]

I just found out from mobile Defense that the Android OS will not let this app or any of these type apps work as intended, ie the OS does not allow the gps or data or wifi to be turned on remotely if off. Kind of kills the whole idea of having these apps, anyone know of a non root work around as the cellular south htc hero cannot be rooted without major issues?

Too bad, i really liked this app....

 

[DarkTLRrider]

Check out Wave Secure. It allows trcking, remote backup, remote wipe, media backup, and right now it is in beta so it is free. I have it installed and it works great. I have heard that the remote sms texts are international texts, so use them spareingly untill you verify that. You can also lock your phone via text yourself from another phone.

 

[bluenova]

Just a heads up, get wavesecure before the end of the month...

Free lifetime accounts till 31st March 2010!

We had previously announced that, as a form of a Thank You for your support through our Android (particularly ADC) journey, we are offering free lifetime accounts to those who downloads WaveSecure Android before 31st January 2010. (usually priced at US$20/year on other platforms)
By popular demand, we are glad to announce that the date has been extended to 31st March 2010!

 

[bbrosen]

Wave secure looks good too but it too will not activate gps,data or wifi if the phone is lost or stolen with those features off, so again it won't meet my needs. I would have to root which is not a workable solution because of my carriers software, cellular south, no one has done a proper root yet. I wish Android was not so restrictive.

 

[bluenova]

Wave secure looks good too but it too will not activate gps,data or wifi if the phone is lost or stolen with those features off, so again it won't meet my needs.

Not yet, but it's under review. If you open and account now you'll have it for life so when they do meet your needs you won't have to buy a subscription.

 

[deman89]

Wave secure looks good too but it too will not activate gps,data or wifi if the phone is lost or stolen with those features off, so again it won't meet my needs. I would have to root which is not a workable solution because of my carriers software, cellular south, no one has done a proper root yet. I wish Android was not so restrictive.

Android RESTRICTIVE!?! Look at N1 and Droid were rooted immediately because it is open source and those builds were almost untouched by carriers! Your Carrier/Manufacter made it hard to root! NOT ANDROID!

 

[DarkTLRrider]

Wave secure looks good too but it too will not activate gps,data or wifi if the phone is lost or stolen with those features off, so again it won't meet my needs. I would have to root which is not a workable solution because of my carriers software, cellular south, no one has done a proper root yet. I wish Android was not so restrictive.

I have data, gps, and wifi on by default. I can't imagine having these features tuned off all the time. I cripples the phone so bad. But then again I understand everyone has different needs. The only advantage to leave them off all the time is for battery conservation. Also as stated the program is still in Beta and they are trying to develop a way that it cannot be uninstalled. Best solution I have seen so far. And most of the things you want is better than none of the things you want. Maybe you should look into an extended battery and just leave it on till someone develops the feature you want. And hey the price is right. Free lifetime account.

 

[bbrosen]

I have data, gps, and wifi on by default. I can't imagine having these features tuned off all the time. I cripples the phone so bad. But then again I understand everyone has different needs. The only advantage to leave them off all the time is for battery conservation. Also as stated the program is still in Beta and they are trying to develop a way that it cannot be uninstalled. Best solution I have seen so far. And most of the things you want is better than none of the things you want. Maybe you should look into an extended battery and just leave it on till someone develops the feature you want. And hey the price is right. Free lifetime account.

I usually do leave these things on, but you never know...besides if it was stolen someone may be smart enough to turn them off to make it harder to be found. i have been around the tech field long enough to know anything is possible. I turn off the data when i am at home because wifi is faster for me, so the phone settings do get changed a lot during the day. i have 2 spare bats I always keep besides the one that came with the phone, because i do tech support all day long with customers. i average about 4-5 hours a day on my cell just talking, not including internet browsing or email. Gps is always on too as i like my weather to update as i travel, i use weather bug for the emergency weather notifications and the animated radar.

Mobile defense seemed like a little extra edge in case it was lost or stolen. I was just surprised to find out the Android OS was restricting this feature. I have been flamed for being an Apple fanboy, because i used to have an Iphone and defend Apple for their locked down software, it caught me by surprise to learn this.

Love that Bike btw...

 

[bbrosen]

Android RESTRICTIVE!?! Look at N1 and Droid were rooted immediately because it is open source and those builds were almost untouched by carriers! Your Carrier/Manufacter made it hard to root! NOT ANDROID!

The Android OS keeps these features from working, period, no matter what carrier or maker. yes you are right, the software from the handset maker and my carrier restricts me from rooting. sorry i did not make that clear.

 

[bbrosen]

Not yet, but it's under review. If you open and account now you'll have it for life so when they do meet your needs you won't have to buy a subscription.

Thanks nova, this is good news indeed. i will sign up for wave secure now, it won't hurt to have a free account. it is stuff like this that is bringing me into the Android side, little by little.

 

[bluenova]

Also as stated the program is still in Beta and they are trying to develop a way that it cannot be uninstalled.

MoDaCo's custom ROM has wavesecure built into the ROM so it cannot be uninstalled. They worked with Wavesecure to achieve this.

 

[DarkTLRrider]

Good news for rooted folks with security concerns.

 

[Eris Lover]

I have wave secure and lookout both installed on my phone and have sample tracked my phone with both with success. A lot of people talk about the strain that gps on all the time puts on your batt. But after running it with it off for a month and then on all the time for a month, can't say that I even noticed a difference. It seems to me that it migh be using extra power only when it's being used not at idle?

anyways...small price to pay to possibly get your phone locked down and recovered.

 

[jfbaro]

It would be good if such feature (anti-thief) would be built-in on Android itself. It would make things much easier and reliable!

What do you guys think?

I am not sure, but I think IPhone has a (paid) solution like this on Iphone OS.

Cheers

 

[bluenova]

I have wave secure and lookout both installed on my phone and have sample tracked my phone with both with success. A lot of people talk about the strain that gps on all the time puts on your batt. But after running it with it off for a month and then on all the time for a month, can't say that I even noticed a difference. It seems to me that it migh be using extra power only when it's being used not at idle?

anyways...small price to pay to possibly get your phone locked down and recovered.

Yes you are right. Having GPS enabled and using GPS are to different things. Having it enabled will not drain your battery if an app is not using it. You know if it's being used when you see the GPS icon in the notification bar.

 

[KlaymenDK]

Having GPS enabled and using GPS are to different things. Having it enabled will not drain your battery if an app is not using it. You know if it's being used when you see the GPS icon in the notification bar.

+1 on that. The only harm in having GPS on is if you're not careful to exit GPS-using apps when you're done with them. I've had a very warm phone after checking Google Maps and then just pocketing the phone; pressing Back to exit would have avoided that.

But do you know if the same is true for wifi? I think it does eat a bit of battery even when not connected, but just today somebody posted something (sorry, no link) than made me unsure.

 

[bluenova]

But do you know if the same is true for wifi? I think it does eat a bit of battery even when not connected, but just today somebody posted something (sorry, no link) than made me unsure.

Not sure, with the stock ROM I felt like Wi-Fi was on all the time it was enabled but with MoDaCo I notice it re-connects when I wake the phone but I do still get email notifications while the phone is asleep so I guess it must be connecting periodically.