Can anyone tell me what all the apps on the Samsung Galazy S4 are?

[Kulindahr]

This is my first smart phone. Trying to use it, I feel like I'm being chased by a tornado that's throwing shit everywhere -- multiple "home" pages (if there's more than one, none of them are home!), and dozens of apps filling up space, and a "help" function that doesn't help even as much as Microsoft manuals.

Can anyone tell me what all the different ones are for? What I've found on line just says "remove the ones you don't want", but I don't even know what any of them do, so how do I know? When I try to find out by touching the icon, just about every last one wants to burn up my data allowance.

I'm beginning to regret ever having gotten the thing anyway, because according to the fine print, just using most apps lets the author have access to my phone, so they can look at my call log, contacts, messages... maybe even pictures? To use the Garmin app for tracking my dog, I have to let google roam my phone at will!

 

[apkmbarry]

May I ask what you are looking to do on the phone?

It can range from Hookups to Games, Instant Messaging to Social Media.

I can throw you in the right direction.

Also, yeah the permissions suck, but no one is going to invade your privacy don't worry! They're weird permissions, but I've not seen any repercussions

 

[Kulindahr]

May I ask what you are looking to do on the phone?

It can range from Hookups to Games, Instant Messaging to Social Media.

I can throw you in the right direction.

Also, yeah the permissions suck, but no one is going to invade your privacy don't worry! They're weird permissions, but I've not seen any repercussions

I'm looking to reduce the number of apps to maybe a dozen that I'll actually use. So I need to know what all the different ones are -- like...

"Group Play" (sounds kinky), "Hangouts", "IMDb", "KNOX". . . .

 

[Kulindahr]

BTW, if they can romp through all my info on my phone, that's an invasion of privacy. I definitely don't want them looking at who I called and for how long, checking out friends' email addresses . . . whatever.

 

[T-Rexx]

Here are instructions on how to remove apps in Android: http://google.about.com/od/socialto...elete-Applications-From-My-Android-Device.htm

If you want to know what an app does, just Google the name.

Android will not let you delete things that the phone needs in order to operate, so you don't need to worry about deleting something critical.

 

[T-Rexx]

There are five "home" screens so that you can group your apps according to how you use them. You can have, for example, a screen with social media apps and another with news feeds. A screen with streaming media sites or one with games. If you don't care to organize your apps this way, then just use the center (main) home screen and leave the others blank.

 

[Kulindahr]

Here are instructions on how to remove apps in Android: http://google.about.com/od/socialto...elete-Applications-From-My-Android-Device.htm

If you want to know what an app does, just Google the name.

Android will not let you delete things that the phone needs in order to operate, so you don't need to worry about deleting something critical.

I've resorted to that -- talk about tedious....

Now I have to learn to put all the apps I want to keep snugly together instead of separated on different screens.

Not letting me delete essentials is good to know -- thanks.

 

[Kulindahr]

There are five "home" screens so that you can group your apps according to how you use them. You can have, for example, a screen with social media apps and another with news feeds. A screen with media players or one with games. If you don't care to organize your apps this way, then just use the center (main) home screen and leave the others blank.

Ah, this helps.

It came with an Amazon home screen, which I eliminated, and a Samsung home screen, which I'm debating about, a "Story Album" one, and one that I somehow blanked by accident. Can I get away with wiping out the "Samsung Hub"?

 

[T-Rexx]

Can I get away with wiping out the "Samsung Hub"?

I would imagine so.

Not ever having owned a Samsung smartphone, I don't know what that does. I suspect it is, like the Amazon screen, just an attempt to draw you into the Samsung ecosystem and get you to buy stuff from them. If there is anything you actually need there, you won't be able to delete it.

 

[T-Rexx]

BTW, if they can romp through all my info on my phone, that's an invasion of privacy. I definitely don't want them looking at who I called and for how long, checking out friends' email addresses . . . whatever.

Certain apps may need access to certain phone services in order to perform their functions.

For example, Grindr would need access to the GPS data in order to know what other Grindr clients are in your vicinity. It is very intrusive, because Grindr knows exactly where you are at any given time. On the other hand, the app could not possibly do what it does without that information. That is why Android always asks you if it is okay for an app to access whatever services it requires. You can decide what you are comfortable with.

 

[T-Rexx]

according to the fine print, just using most apps lets the author have access to my phone, so they can look at my call log, contacts, messages... maybe even pictures?

Most apps need "access" to "Phone calls," which means they need to know when a call is coming through in order to "get out of the way." You would not want your mp3 player, for example, playing through a phone call. The app cannot behave properly unless it knows what's happening with the phone.

Similarly, most apps will require access to "Network communications" so they can access information from the internet, "Storage," so they can store information in your phone's memory, etc. It seems very intrusive, and, in some ways, it is. But, on the other hand, that's kinda what a smartphone is - an interface between you and the rest of the world. If you don't allow any apps to know anything about you, it is impossible to interface "you" to the world.

 

[Kulindahr]

Most apps need "access" to "Phone calls," which means they need to know when a call is coming through in order to "get out of the way." You would not want your mp3 player, for example, playing through a phone call. The app cannot behave properly unless it knows what's happening with the phone.

Similarly, most apps will require access to "Network communications" so they can access information from the internet, "Storage," so they can store information in your phone's memory, etc. It seems very intrusive, and, in some ways, it is. But, on the other hand, that's kinda what a smartphone is - an interface between you and the rest of the world. If you don't allow any apps to know anything about you, it is impossible to interface "you" to the world.

There's a huge difference between knowing the phone is engaged in a call and being able to read my call log and contacts list.

And any app that wants internet access through my phone is out of luck -- that's about the first thing I turned off. It gets internet only when I turn on the wifi function.

At any rate, there's no reason at all that an app mad for tracking my dog via GPS needs either my call log or my contact list. It only comes on when I turn it on, and all it does it get the signal from the GPS unit via cell towers. So they're just information-mining. And the information isn't even for the people the app is from -- Garmin says the information is for google.

 

[SexyGuy]

Kulindahr,

If you're worried about invasion of privacy, you could do what some have done and root your phone (it does void the warranty, but you can unroot it if you have problems), and install a Custom ROM, such as CyanogenMod or others. My suggestion would be to go here (http://www.phonearena.com/news/Best-custom-ROMs-for-the-Samsung-Galaxy-S4_id45569) and look at what ROMs are best suited for the phone.

 

[Kulindahr]

Kulindahr,

If you're worried about invasion of privacy, you could do what some have done and root your phone (it does void the warranty, but you can unroot it if you have problems), and install a Custom ROM, such as CyanogenMod or others. My suggestion would be to go here (http://www.phonearena.com/news/Best-custom-ROMs-for-the-Samsung-Galaxy-S4_id45569) and look at what ROMs are best suited for the phone.

So far with the apps I've wanted I've been able to find good ones that don't pry. I was looking for one that gave me local tides, and it wanted permission to read my phone log and all email done on the phone, plus browse my photo gallery! I found a good one that asked only to be able to check GPS when I call up the app -- which it needs, to know where I am for the tide tables.

I think some apps are written primarily to invade your phone -- why else would they want to know all my contacts and look at my photos and such when those have nothing at all to do with the functioning of the app?