Odd and possibly paranoid question - please forgive

[AirCatHeavy]

I have a Samsung Intercept that I purchased off ebay.

It's always seemed to be a bit "too busy" and sluggish and always seems to be doing stuff over the Network even though I've disabled everything I could to limit Internet accessing. The battery also seems to die REALLY fast even thought it's new.

Is it even "POSSIBLE" that the outfit I bought the phone from could change the OS so that it reports back to them in any way?

Or is that totally bogus paranoia?

thx

 

[A.Nonymous]

It's possible, but unlikely. You can always do a complete factory reset on the phone if you're worried about it.

 

[AirCatHeavy]

It's possible, but unlikely. You can always do a complete factory reset on the phone if you're worried about it.

And does a Factory Reset 100% guarantee that your phone will get a copy of the ORIGINAL OS as written by the Manufacturer? Or is it possible that the copy it pulls from memory could be corrupted as well since it's coming off the same phone?

I've done a factory reset numerous times and the phone still does the same thing....

Goes dead with a new battery in about 6 hours in idle (No updates enabled), all wifi and bluetooth turned off. Constantly accesses 3G

I do hope you're right and I'm just being paranoid. My phone acts really stupid at times. And, it came from a cell phone shop on ebay.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Anything's possible, but it's unlikely someone would have done that. To be more certain, you can always root it, and flash a ROM yourself.

The Intercept is a slow phone, so what you're seeing is probably not unusual.

 

[AirCatHeavy]

Anything's possible, but it's unlikely someone would have done that. To be more certain, you can always root it, and flash a ROM yourself.

The Intercept is a slow phone, so what you're seeing is probably not unusual.

ok. I think you know what you're talking about.
Frustration with this odd behavior that has started is likely a factor in my new doubts.

I still wish I could find out why my phone does so much 3G activity when not in use and everything disabled to limit it.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

ok. I think you know what you're talking about.
Frustration with this odd behavior that has started is likely a factor in my new doubts.

I still wish I could find out why my phone does so much 3G activity when not in use and everything disabled to limit it.

Here's a link where some others also note some 3G activity: App to determine what is actually using data? - Android Help

It seems there's no easy way to truly determine what is using data, but I think the most likely culprits are social network apps, and any apps that rely on advertising...

 

[Droidtothemax]

I mean you have to be careful for sure when buying phones off da bay, but I wouldn't think it would be as you said, them basically spying on you. Least I wouldn't think they would do that, but in this day in age.......lol!

I know that isn't a lot of help, but like others have mentioned that phone is generally slower.

 

[AirCatHeavy]

It seems there's no easy way to truly determine what is using data, but I think the most likely culprits are social network apps, and any apps that rely on advertising...

thx for the link.
I don't use any social networking apps at all. I'm a slightly older guy and that's not my thing. I use the phone mostly for business and I tried to trim off all the fat and streamline it for business....meaning just for calls.

I'll check for apps that call up advertising.

 

[lunatic59]

If you use an app like Network TrafficStats Lite - Android app on AppBrain you can review exactly which app is using data and how much.