please guys.. are apps on the marketplace "safe"

[xentrik]

ive been wanting to download a couple apps that im not so sure about...

theyre on the offical market place..

im afraid of getting a virus or malware or something like that...

i really cherish my phone and i just wanna be sure that downloading an app from the offical marketplace wont bring harm...

so they're certificate for apps and such.. do they filter out harmful apps?

am i being too cautious?

are the apps on the offical marketplace 100% safe and "virus/malware etc" free

AM I GOINGTO BE OK???? (LOL)

please guys.. im really curious.. ive done some searches on here and on google.. and im just not convinced..

any input would be greatly appreciated

ty

 

[AndroidEd]

They are. I don't think google will let any malicious apps go through, but I am not sure.
But I am 99% sure non of the apps in the market place are malware.

 

[Melissa31]

So far I have had no problems, but then again I use Lookout Mobile, it scans every app that I download before its installed on my Eris and then it scans my mobile daily Never had any problems yet!

 

[glitch32]

I feel the same way, how do we know if the apps are really safe? Or, how do we know we can trust lookout? I guess you could put your phone on a wireless network and set up a firewall or packet sniffer to see what your phone is sending out. I still just use them and try to go by those warnings when you first download them. If an app says it needs to do something I don't think it shoud do, I don't download it.

 

[mjschmidt]

Read all the comments for the app going back a ways. If there aren't many comments yet, or no comments at all, don't DL until there are. If an app is malware and has been out for a while, inevitably someone will say something in the comments.

 

[vincentp]

I don't know, honestly. I'd like to think that apps are checked for malicious code before being put up on the market, but who knows. I'm not too worried about it.

 

[glitch32]

I don't know, honestly. I'd like to think that apps are checked for malicious code before being put up on the market, but who knows. I'm not too worried about it.

Seems everyone thinks the same way. I worry, but still download them so I guess I don't worry enough to stop me from trying them out.

 

[snorge]

People on howard forums say it is more or less impossible for android to get a virus due to the way the OS works.

 

[gandhimaster]

If android is as open as its meant to be, id guess there are some risks. I'd trust the iphone app store completely but i think android needs a bit of caution?

 

[ari-free]

don't dload any app that doesn't have a real website behind it. Ask yourself: does this website look professional (with forums, contact info) or a fly by night?
Also, don't even consider any mobile bank app that doesn't come from the actual bank.

 

[glitch32]

Pretty much like downloading apps for your computer. What I am wondering is can google remove bad downloaded apps from phones?

 

[noonehereyet]

ive been wanting to download a couple apps that im not so sure about...

theyre on the offical market place..

im afraid of getting a virus or malware or something like that...

i really cherish my phone and i just wanna be sure that downloading an app from the offical marketplace wont bring harm...

so they're certificate for apps and such.. do they filter out harmful apps?

am i being too cautious?

are the apps on the offical marketplace 100% safe and "virus/malware etc" free

AM I GOINGTO BE OK???? (LOL)

please guys.. im really curious.. ive done some searches on here and on google.. and im just not convinced..

any input would be greatly appreciated

ty

When you select an app to download it it shows you a list of permissions required by the app itself letting you know what it has access to... plain and simple if the app has privaliges to something that it shouldn't you know its not safe... and the market is mostly maintained by the users not by google you can upload and release just about any functioning app as long as its signed properly...

 

[noonehereyet]

So far I have had no problems, but then again I use Lookout Mobile, it scans every app that I download before its installed on my Eris and then it scans my mobile daily Never had any problems yet!

Just so you know the "so called" anti virus apps which are essentially useless on a linux based system like Android and have the largest amount of privileges required and are the most likely to be malicious... more than a few have gone missing from the market for just this reason and I would STRONGLY recommend you look into that further....

 

[glitch32]

Just so you know the "so called" anti virus apps which are essentially useless on a linux based system like Android and have the largest amount of privileges required and are the most likely to be malicious... more than a few have gone missing from the market for just this reason and I would STRONGLY recommend you look into that further....

Agreed! I think those are very suspicious. I would only trust an AV from a known author like norton or mcafee etc... But of course they would charge you a bunch of money, and I don't think it would be necessary.

 

[UnsureSherlock]

Agreed! I think those are very suspicious. I would only trust an AV from a known author like norton or mcafee etc... But of course they would charge you a bunch of money, and I don't think it would be necessary.

Norton and Mcafee have been questioned multiple times about whether they pay outside consultants to create viruses in the first place. In other words, to justify their monthly fees. AVG works just as well if not better, and is free. Give it a shot mate.

 

[droid99999]

The apps may be fine from a programming standpoint. However, there are some developers (Monseta, 09Droid, etc.) that are apparently creating apps that are basically shortcuts to full sites. What they are doing with your info in the meantime is anyone's guess.

For anyone with apps that are not from the trademark's owner, beware.

ive been wanting to download a couple apps that im not so sure about...

theyre on the offical market place..

im afraid of getting a virus or malware or something like that...

i really cherish my phone and i just wanna be sure that downloading an app from the offical marketplace wont bring harm...

so they're certificate for apps and such.. do they filter out harmful apps?

am i being too cautious?

are the apps on the offical marketplace 100% safe and "virus/malware etc" free

AM I GOINGTO BE OK???? (LOL)

please guys.. im really curious.. ive done some searches on here and on google.. and im just not convinced..

any input would be greatly appreciated

ty

 

[glitch32]

Norton and Mcafee have been questioned multiple times about whether they pay outside consultants to create viruses in the first place. In other words, to justify their monthly fees. AVG works just as well if not better, and is free. Give it a shot mate.

I personally do not use Norton or McAfee, I was using them as an example of well known names. I was using ESET for quite a while, but decided to switch to Panda Antivirus Cloud Free edition. Some people have never heard of those two, but everyone has heard of Norton.
Most of the time I use my linux partition anyways, so I don't have to worry much right now.

 

[ari-free]

they could be well-intentioned, trying to provide mobile apps for sites that don't have their own Android apps yet. for example, i wouldn't throw out twidroid or bloo just because they aren't official apps. But when it comes to a bank, it is better to wait and do without any app than use an alternative that could be buggy or intentionally malicious.

 

[noonehereyet]

Agreed! I think those are very suspicious. I would only trust an AV from a known author like norton or mcafee etc... But of course they would charge you a bunch of money, and I don't think it would be necessary.

Norton and Mcafee have been questioned several times as stated in another post but again would be useless for a Linux based system such as Android... people are so accustomed to MicroSoft and Apple they just cant grasp the concepts and design of Linux based systems... as for being charged for things that again is a Microsoft/Apple thing.... As i said before if your app needs permissions for things it isnt designed for dont get it meaning like if its a sound board but asks for permissions to system data not a good idea to get it......

 

[droid99999]

If the app requires a password, its best to just use the company's mobile website or full website instead.

Androidz is another frequent app writer with nothing but front ends.

Its only a matter of time that one of these groups of apps gets called to the carpet for stealing or misusing personal information.

Downloaders beware.

they could be well-intentioned, trying to provide mobile apps for sites that don't have their own Android apps yet. for example, i wouldn't throw out twidroid or bloo just because they aren't official apps. But when it comes to a bank, it is better to wait and do without any app than use an alternative that could be buggy or intentionally malicious.

 

[vonfeldt7]

I would say to refer to this thread for info. about virus' and/or spyware on Android...

 

[xentrik]

vonfelt.. thank u for that link

hey guys..

web browsing.. could this mess me up?

i know some websites that are bad, give me trojans on my desktop PC, im not saying im going to use them, but what if there are websites or apps that load websites that may have spyware malware trojans or various bad guys..

are these apps that run fishy websites, or browsing on some websites going to harm my precious little android

is it at all possible?

 

[glitch32]

vonfelt.. thank u for that link

hey guys..

web browsing.. could this mess me up?

i know some websites that are bad, give me trojans on my desktop PC, im not saying im going to use them, but what if there are websites or apps that load websites that may have spyware malware trojans or various bad guys..

are these apps that run fishy websites, or browsing on some websites going to harm my precious little android

is it at all possible?

Not really. The malware is made to run in windows, since this is linux it won't work the same- if at all. The thing you should worry about is sites that use social engineering to get you to think they're one thing, but are another.

 

[CobaltDragon]

I worry more about if apps are screened for skimming passwords and such. For instance, if someone writes an app that lets people manage wordpress blogs (and they already exist), how do we know that app isn't sending my blog admin password to some shmuck in Russia?

 

[vincentp]

I worry more about if apps are screened for skimming passwords and such. For instance, if someone writes an app that lets people manage wordpress blogs (and they already exist), how do we know that app isn't sending my blog admin password to some shmuck in Russia?

I guess you don't really know. You just have to trust the reviews. If someone discovers that an account of theirs has been compromised, word will spread quickly that an application is malicious.