Basically I’ve acquired a burner Android 8 phone and am running the target.com app which is the only way they let you get parking lot delivery at the store. I assume the Target app is spyware. I keep the phone powered off almost all the time which should limit the spying. The thing is, if I power up the phone and order something, then close the app, I still get an alert when the status of the order changes (e.g. it’s ready for pickup). So the app is still listening for network traffic from Target.
Can anyone explain what is happening in Android and whether there is a way to make an app really stop? Does the app stay in a running state even after I’ve closed the UI part of it? Is there somethng like an inetd in Android that listens for network alerts and re-launches the destination app? Are there Android app permissions associated with this, that I can revoke?
I don’t want to run this type of app on my main phone, but I had at first liked the idea of using a burner for such things. Now, though, I wonder if I need a separate burner for each suspicious app. Thanks.
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I wonder if I need a separate burner for each suspicious app.
That’s going pretty far overboard. Just use an app like island to forcibly isolate and stop the app from running when you don’t want it.
This is a pretty good answer. https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/241281/how-exactly-do-apps-not-running-in-the-background-receive-notifications
Push Notifications: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology
The app isn’t listening, Google Play Servicea is. The app registered with the push server to send you notifications.
A separate burner seems like overkill. I’m no expert, but I think an Android service manages the push notifications and wakes up the app when it receives a notification.
I definitely use a different burner phone for every app. It’s obviously the only sane way to use apps. Ive got my email phone. My weather phone. My alarm phone. A phone for each one of my contacts. Right now Im on my lemmy-only phone, with all of the others powered off and in thier separate faraday bags. Having a separate phone just for the app I use to order something is a must. How dare they tell me the status of the order I paid for? Who do they think they are!? On Sundays I use my magnet wand and wipe each and every phone, just to be sure.
What are you trying to protect against? Having a separate burner phone just for Target feels like overkill to me. If you’re worried about Target spying then why not just go into the store to buy things, and pay in cash?
Can anyone explain what is happening in Android a
It’s using Firebase Cloud Messaging which is a Google service
Are there Android app permissions associated with this, that I can revoke?
You can revoke notification permissions for an app, but then you won’t get notifications of course.
Just to expand on this. The app likely isn’t always running in the background listening (since that’s what it seems the op thinks). The push message causes the android system to wake the app to deal with the message. Otherwise it’s not actively running (and you can limit background running in android settings per app).
