Android Enthusiasts

2:53 AM

Does anybody know how to hide questions that are being bumpled by Community?

7:57 AM

How can this question be closed, seeing that "too localized" is no longer a VTC reason? android.stackexchange.com/questions/51288/…

Izzy

8:17 AM

@geffchang Being a little heretic: Close->Off topic->Other->Too localized ?

Dan Hulme

@geffchang I wouldn't close it: I'd answer it with "Your phone is broken. Take it to the shop," and hope that the OP comes back to accept an answer.

Izzy

@DanHulme I agree (which is why I didn't VTC). However, @geffchang didn't ask if it should be closed, but how it might be closed, i.e. what closing reason one could give on a question like that :)

Dan Hulme

@Izzy I think, "Oh no, there's no close reason that applies to this question" counts as not being sure whether the question should be closed at all.

Questions like this one worry me:

geffchang

8:32 AM

@Izzy Ooo.. I didn't see that. Thanks.

Dan Hulme

1

Q: Netflix refusing to log in, tried all the typical solutions

Just got my new tablet, tried to get netflix running. I took the following steps. Installed netflix, got 15001 error Ran system update, I am now completely up-to-date, error no longer occurs attempted to sign in, got the following error message: "we're unable to connect you to netflix pleas...

We seem to get quite a few like this where the obvious answer is, "Ask support".

geffchang

@DanHulme Indeed that's the most appropriate solution.

If he replied to my comment and said "it works online", then I'd tell him to go to support. This is no longer an Android issue.

Dan Hulme

so why are they even asking us? especially if they're going to answer every suggestion with, "already tried that"

geffchang

@DanHulme in case somebody else has experienced it. :)

Dan Hulme

I can understand why people might want to make an extra check when the alternative is paying someone to repair their hardware,

or that they'd try a "community support" mechanism like us for a free app (because they don't feel entitled to personal support from the developer),

but Netflix is a subscription service. They have a whole load of people who are there to keep their customers happy.

geffchang

8:39 AM

@DanHulme In some cases, Tech Support is slow / inutile. And sometimes, the Community knows better. There are always several ways to get support. We try to take advantage of that. :)

Crazy Buddy

@Izzy: Have a look at my rant about SE...

crazybuddy1995.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/…

(I just started a blog) :D

Dan Hulme

8:59 AM

@CrazyBuddy Congratulations, I think.

Crazy Buddy

@DanHulme Thank you...

Try to read the SE rant (when you're free) :D

Dan Hulme

I just did

it's not really a rant

Crazy Buddy

Oh my... Thanks again ;-)

Dan Hulme

I was expecting bitching and complaints, but there's not a lot of either.

Crazy Buddy

@DanHulme Well, I named it like that :P

Just my experience. Don't worry... I like SE very much :D

Dan Hulme

9:03 AM

Admit it: calling it a rant is a ploy to get people to read the post. :-)

2

Crazy Buddy

Of course.... That's what bloggers do... Make attractive titles :P

Izzy

11:00 AM

@DanHulme Here I must disagree. Just today I flagged a question to be migrated to AskUbuntu -- we don't have that in the close reasons ;)

@geffchang You're welcome anytime, geff :)

@geffchang Hm, so wouldn't that count as a poll then? Polls are not wanted on any SE site :) And our help center explicitly states something in that direction ("Don't you agree that...")

@geffchang Ack. There's always hope somebody knows at least a work-around while waiting for a working answer from support.

@DanHulme Need to remember that trick LOL

Izzy

11:17 AM

@CrazyBuddy Nice writing! I'm close to propose linking it to our help center for new users, to get an idea about things!

Crazy Buddy

11:43 AM

@Izzy Thank you :)

My blog would be addressing basic physics & stuff... ;-)

Izzy

12:42 PM

@CrazyBuddy That special one addresses how SE sites work in general, and what "can go wrong" with the, hmm, "slightly wrong" attitude (or rather "misunderstanding how they work").

Crazy Buddy

@Izzy So, you like it..? :D

Address it for me then... Spam in Android.SE :)

Izzy

12:58 PM

:)

Question to the devs amongst us, from a user's point of view, on the **permission: MANAGE_ACCOUNTS**:
with this permission, an app can "add or remove accounts", and "set passwords". Does that mean e.g. a Dropbox app could remove my Google account, if it were malware? Or set a different password for it without my knowledge (so I'd get locked out for "too many attempts" lateron)?

GAThrawn

@Izzy comments on this question seem to say that any app with that permission can access details for any of the accounts...

9

Q: What does permission "MANAGE_ACCOUNTS" mean?

Once in a while I read that MANAGE_ACCOUNTS Permission is needed (actually it is called "KONTEN HINZUFÜGEN ODER ENTFERNEN" as I have a German phone. I guess the text below is something like "Add or remove accounts, create accounts and set passwords, use accounts on the device" in English). I'm a...

permissions

Izzy

@GAThrawn I saw this question, even left a comment for Danny to ask for clarification (he seems AFK currently). It looks like my above assumption is correct, but I'm not 100% sure.

GAThrawn

But Dan says here that you get prompted the first time an app tries to use any of the accounts in your account manager, so you get the chance to reject one app accessing a difefrent app's credntials

11

Q: What can an app do with the "USE ACCOUNTS ON THE DEVICE" permission?

Can such an app freely read my emails/calendar/message/docs/etc.? The "USE ACCOUNTS ON THE DEVICE" permission is also known for developers as android.permission.USE_CREDENTIALS. Example of such apps: WhatsApp, MightyText.

permissions

Is it worth editing links for a few of these "what does X permission really mean?" questions into this overall question to explain things a bit?

10

Q: What do the permissions that applications require mean?

When installing an application, the application lists permissions that it needs to perform its functions. I am creating this list of the the system defined permissions and a description of what they mean. It is a community wiki so if new permissions are added in the future they can be added t...

security permissions

Izzy

@GAThrawn Wow -- that part I must have missed. That was exactly what I was hoping for, but was ready to accept a "nice try" as answer...

Dan Hulme

1:15 PM

@GAThrawn yes, that sounds like a good idea

Izzy

@GAThrawn Sure! But that "master question" (aka "Communiti Wiki") also needs to be enhanced. Brillant idea of Bryan to start that, but unfortunately not many "knowing" people contributed details (I blame myself along there).

Dan Hulme

turning that question into an index like "How do I root my device? sounds like a good idea

Izzy

Checking Dan's link which I missed

@DanHulme I'll check if it's at least mentioned in the permissions tag wiki.

Yes, it is. Now I'm checking the other two questions (plus Dan's link) to which of them should be in that wiki as well.

Dan Hulme

btw, I'm likely to be using that permission in the next week, so I might have more to add :-)

Izzy

@GAThrawn I'm not sure if he confused that with USE_ACCOUNTS. I cannot remember any popup like "App xxx wants to access your zzz Account. Grant permission?"

@DanHulme Phantastic! Please remember to let us know (and add important details to that community wiki answer)

@DanHulme Very good answer on list/use accounts! +1 from me!

Dan Hulme

1:27 PM

glad you like it

Izzy

Hope for another one on What does permission “MANAGE_ACCOUNTS” mean? next week then :)

permissions tag-wiki updated :)

Dan Hulme

@Izzy why? there's already a highly-voted answer on that one

Izzy

1:42 PM

@DanHulme See above for the "Why". While your answer on using accounts makes it pretty clear which interaction is involved (though I'd like to know whether I could revoke the access of a given app to the account lateron), this part is not that clear in Bryan's answer. He only confirms the interaction on USE_CREDENTIALS. See the comment of deepc: nothing seems to restrict apps from using any account they like, e.g. to impersonate you on a google account instead of your github account

Dan Hulme

deepc has no idea what he is talking about

he skimmed the API docs and then guessed everything

ultimately it's up to the account authenticator (i.e. the app that actually talks to the server to log in) to decide whether an account can be deleted or not

Izzy

Thanks, just got the same from "skimming the API docs" :)

Also, for "setting a password": This method requires the caller to hold the permission AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS and have the same UID as the account's authenticator. Good. That means, my example app is unlikely to "just change my GMail password", as it won't share the appropriate UID.

If, on the other side, the app provides its own authenticator for a fictive "foobar" service, it might do so for my "foobar" password. Fine with me, so far.

However, on removeAccount() the docu is quite vague: The authenticator may have its own policies preventing account deletion − or it might not, huh? Sounds to me like "you are safe in your house with an atomic bomb, as it may not explode".

Dan Hulme

1:57 PM

well, you have to trust the authenticator anyway, as that's the one with your password

Izzy

No boom Today, Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. (Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5)

@DanHulme Right, but that's a system app (not that that means anything, as we've learned lately from Motorola listening etc.), so at least the manufacturer/ROM vendor should have checked it thoroughly.

Dan Hulme

@Izzy no, not necessarily

it can be any app with the appropriate permission

Dropbox, for example, acts as an authenticator for your Dropbox account

Firefox acts as an authenticator for Firefox Sync, and that doesn't even have passwords

Izzy

@DanHulme Yes, right. But then 1) it's most likely a 3rd party service, and 2) needs a higher permission than MANAGE_ACCOUNTS (AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS?)

Dan Hulme

right

My point is, trusting it to have a useful policy to prevent account deletion is a smaller trust than trusting it not to email your password to all your contacts.

Izzy

@DanHulme Ouch. Yes, that point goes to you.

Dan Hulme

2:06 PM

(Given Dropbox's history, I'm not sure it makes much difference.)

Izzy

But for mailing the password it first needs to have the password (and not just a token). Ah, I see: That's why Blur and BB send the credentials home on account creation...

Dan Hulme

@Izzy right, but again, that's different for each authenticator

it might be logging in with an oauth token, e.g. Twitter

or it might use face detection

or it might just get you to type the password into the app

Izzy

@DanHulme But you see, a nice sum-up of how all that authentication stuff works might be a worthy answer, and help users to get a better understanding.

Dan Hulme

it's a big topic

Izzy

@DanHulme Yes, that's true as well. The authenticator may decide whether to store a password or a token.

Dan Hulme

2:08 PM

I mean, my answer only covered one facet of it, and that was about the longest I think an answer on ASE should be

Next you'll be asking me to coauthor the next edition of your book

Izzy

@DanHulme You did it great for USE_CREDENTIALS and GET_ACCOUNTS! I'm sure you could sum it up like that for MANAGE_ACCOUNTS and AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS :)

@DanHulme Ooops :)

Admitted, I linked to some of your answers already...

But I linked to many resources. You are even mentioned explicitly (remember our little session concerning the Google Cloud Backup?)

Dan Hulme

I remember

the kind of detail you're asking for could easily be a chapter of a book

if it were an ASE question, I'd VTC it as too broad

Izzy

@DanHulme Oh -- OK then. I didn't have a whole chapter in mind. I estimated it being equally in length as your answer on "using accounts".

I either have to look at that topic a little deeper: I then will learn how long the answer would get. See, that's why I ask an experienced programmer: that's an area where I'm not that firm in. All that deveolper/API documentation rarely explains the user's side. And material on the latter is rare.

And I don't want to write an answer if I'm not sure I've got it right.

Izzy

3:09 PM

Heck! Does that sound familiar? gp958.com/questions/44293.html

Looks like the entire site consists only of content copied from here. The only pointer is the HTML TITLE attribute...

geffchang

@CrazyBuddy Just read your blog post. It was interesting, but that was definitely not a rant. :)

Crazy Buddy

@geffchang Thanks :)

That was exactly pointed out by Dan... (I think he triggered everyone from not believing my post)

6 hours ago, by Dan Hulme

Admit it: calling it a rant is a ploy to get people to read the post. :-)

geffchang

@Izzy I think you should report that in SO Meta, or I could also do it

I you look at the source code of that site, it has: <title>Android Enthusiasts</title>

GAThrawn

@Izzy That copyright notice is the big problem, it breaks the CC-Wiki all SE content is published under.

Izzy

@geffchang Yepp, that's what I meant.

@GAThrawn Exactly my point: Not linking to the original is one thing, but claiming the copyright is something else.

@geffchang You mean SE Meta I guess? Feel free to do so, good idea!

GAThrawn

3:30 PM

@Izzy SO Meta is the place for this

147

Q: Report sites that use Stack Exchange content without following attribution rules here

There are a number of license-violating clones of Stack Exchange sites popping up that use Stack Exchange's CC-wiki data without following our Creative Commons attribution terms. Those terms are linked at the bottom of every Stack Exchange webpage, and are also included as a .txt file in every da...

support attribution copycat-sites screen-scraping

Reported

0

A: Report sites that use Stack Exchange content without following attribution rules here

www.gp958.com is a verbatim copy of the majority of content from Android Enthusiasts right down to the site's meta tag, and linking images from stackimg. The copyright line at the bottom of each page says: © 2013 GP958 All rights reserved. Which breaks our cc-wiki license. Example: http:/...

geffchang

3:47 PM

Good job, @GAThrawn! :)

Izzy

4:10 PM

@GAThrawn Thank you! Upvoted :)

Besides: even the question ID (in the URL) matched. And now for a positive example of the same issue: androidenth.com/q/…

Includes our avatars, page mentions CC as license.

Though, it doesn't mention the source of its information either, hm...

That would be a violation of terms as well, as SE is licensed CC-BY-SA − which means, the source (BY) has to be named.

Dan Hulme

4:26 PM

yep, the attribution terms specify the original question has to be linked, and each credited user has to be linked

Izzy

Not a single backlink I could find. All "internal" links (i.e. related questions, linked questions) remain on their site. No links to the users/contributors, nada. For anybody who doesn't know about SE, that makes the impression it's their content they give away via CC-BY-SA, so if you copy from there you have to credit to them.

I already added that to @GAThrawn's post on MSO.

Guess on my search-session today I encountered a couple of more conterfeits, but only got concerned when I found the above mentioned. Btw: I found a few more resources on the MANAGE_ACCOUNTS topic. Only very few proved helpful in this context, those I've linked to from the permissions tag wiki.

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