XPost: comp.mobile.android, alt.privacy   
   From: erholtr@pobox.com   
      
   On Wed, 2 Nov 2022 08:11:56 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:   
      
   >> I do NOT understand WHY this app REQUIRES Google Play Store spyware to run.   
   >> Can you explain why?   
   >   
   > Simplest explanation is that the author (like 99.whatever% of android phone   
   > users) has play store enabled, developed the app and didn't even think to   
   test   
   > it without play store, maybe the software want a unique identifier to   
   > crowdsource data from the users, and if it can't get one it handles that   
   poorly?   
      
   Occam's Razor would tend to agree with you that it's just an innocent coding   
   error this particular author (and no others that I know of) has made.   
      
   Certainly it's reproduceable on a new phone that this app won't come up   
   if the Google Play Store is disabled, force stopped, & the phone rebooted.   
      
   That means the app is definitely interacting with the Google Play Store app   
   (in a way that most other apps as far as we know do NOT interact that way).   
      
   Based on your previous advice a few months ago when this topic came up   
   https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/logcat   
      
   From Windows I connected via adb to the phone over wifi and then typed   
   C:\> adb pair 192.168.1.3:35461 692572   
        Successfully paired to 192.168.1.3:35461 [guid=adb-MODEL-SERIAL]   
   C:\> adb logcat ActivityManager:I MyApp:D *:S   
      
   I was surprised that worked because "MyApp" shouldn't exist.   
   The app is actually "Network Cell Info Lite" "com.wilysis.cellinfolite".   
      
   Nonetheless, this output occurs whenever I tap on the app & it crashes.   
   11-02 11:25:00.346  1432  1476 I ActivityManager: Start proc 170   
   3:com.wilysis.cellinfolite/u0a332 for pre-top-activity {com.wily   
   is.cellinfolite/com.wilysis.cellinfo.Arxikh}   
   11-02 11:25:00.376  1432  1700 I ActivityManager: DSS OFF for co   
   .wilysis.cellinfolite   
   11-02 11:25:00.383  1432  1468 I ActivityManager: Changes in 10332 19 to 2, 0   
   to 15   
   11-02 11:25:00.594  1432  1476 I ActivityManager: Start proc 171   
   3:com.google.android.webview:sandboxed_process0:org.chromium.con   
   ent.app.SandboxedProcessService0:0/u0i7 for  {com.wilysis.cellin   
   olite/org.chromium.content.app.SandboxedProcessService0:0}   
   11-02 11:25:00.594  1432  1476 I ActivityManager: check webview name :   
   com.google.android.webview:sandboxed_process0:org.chromium.conte   
   t.app.SandboxedProcessService0:0check hostingname webview : {com   
   wilysis.cellinfolite/org.chromium.content.app.   
   SandboxedProcessService0:0}   
   11-02 11:25:00.617  1432  1652 I ActivityManager: DSS OFF for co   
   .wilysis.cellinfolite   
   11-02 11:25:00.621  1432  1652 I ActivityManager: Changes in 99007 20 to 3, 0   
   to 15   
   11-02 11:25:00.651  1432  1700 W ActivityManager: Unable to start service   
   Intent { act=com.android.vending.licensing.ILicensingService pkg   
   com.android.vending } U=0: not found   
   11-02 11:25:00.704  1432  3317 I ActivityManager: Process com.wi   
   ysis.cellinfolite (pid 17023) has died: fg  TOP (171,1468)   
   11-02 11:25:00.706  1432  3317 I ActivityManager: Killing 17113:   
   om.google.android.webview:sandboxed_process0:org.chromium.conten   
   .app.SandboxedProcessService0:0/u0a332i7 (adj 0): isolated not needed   
   11-02 11:25:00.706  1432  3317 I ActivityManager: Changes in 99007 3 to 19, 15   
   to 0   
      
   I don't know which lines matter but these seems to be important.   
   (1) Unable to start service ILicensingService   
   (2) pkg=com.android.vending   
   (3) Process com.wilysis.cellinfolite has died   
   (4) Killing com.google.android.webview:sandboxed_process   
      
   Notice the official name of the "Google Play Store" app is   
   "com.android.vending" so there is no doubt the correlation.   
      
   I suspect there is a "licensing service" inside of the   
   Google Play Store app (aka "com.android.vending") which is called   
   "com.android.vending.licensing.ILicensingService") that the app   
   "com.wilysis.cellinfolite" is depending upon that no other   
   app in my new Android 12 phone is dependent upon.   
      
   I suspect it's spyware but I don't know that for a fact.   
      
   All I know for sure is the app requires Google Play Store   
   to be running in order to come up on an Android 12 phone.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)