What are some app developers people should avoid?

[ashune]

What app developers that use shady practices do you think people should avoid?

Two developers that come to my mind are:

• Cheetah Mobile (same as Cheetah Games and Cheetah Keyboard?) - the app descriptions of some of their apps make some claims that seem unrealistic, and they add features to their apps that don't seem to actually work. As far as I can remember, one of their apps (not sure if Clean Master or their Antivirus) had a feature that supposedly cooled down your phone's battery or CPU instantly.
• Voodoo - their ads are deceptive (see this Reddit thread) and they do some questionable things when it comes to ad personalization and consent (see this Reddit thread)
• UC Web - they request a suspicious amount of permissions for their main browser app, and I have heard somewhere that they allegedly sell data to third-parties

 

[Rukbat]

Also, Cheetah has been accused of stealing data from phones it's installed on.

 

[B. Diddy]

DU Apps Studio -- I tend to see a lot of complaints with DU Battery Saver.

TouchPal -- history of intrusive ads. It blew my mind when HTC started using it as their stock keyboard.

It's also important to know if a previously trusted app was acquired by one of these companies. QuickPic and ES File Explorer used to be great 3rd party gallery and file manager apps, and then they were acquired by Cheetah and DU, and now they're terrible.

 

[ashune]

There were also some privacy concernes when Avast updated CCleaner for Windows. Avast also has Android apps, so if you're really into protecting your privacy, maybe it would be good to avoid their apps. Note that Avast owns CCleaner and AVG. Avast's Android apps contain, in my opinion, an excessive amount of ads. People also raised other privacy concernes because of Avast's privacy policy which says that they may share some information with third-parties (Reddit thread). In the same Reddit thread, other people say that this information doesn't include information that could be used to identify an individual and that you can opt out of this data collection.

 

[wenso smith]

What app developers that use shady practices do you think people should avoid?

Two developers that come to my mind are:

• Cheetah Mobile (same as Cheetah Games and Cheetah Keyboard?) - the app descriptions of some of their apps make some claims that seem unrealistic, and they add features to their apps that don't seem to actually work. As far as I can remember, one of their apps (not sure if Clean Master or their Antivirus) had a feature that supposedly cooled down your phone's battery or CPU instantly.
• Voodoo - their ads are deceptive (see this Reddit thread) and they do some questionable things when it comes to ad personalization and consent (see this Reddit thread)
• UC Web - they request a suspicious amount of permissions for their main browser app, and I have heard somewhere that they allegedly sell data to third-parties

Very well explained... thanks for sharing the post...

 

[Daniel204]

These are the common 5 mistakes that I think app developers should avoid:

1. Developing For Multiple Platform At Once
2. Bloated Features
3. Bad User Experience
4. Absence Of Analytics
5. Missing On Monetization

 

[B. Diddy]

These are the common 5 mistakes that I think app developers should avoid:

1. Developing For Multiple Platform At Once
2. Bloated Features
3. Bad User Experience
4. Absence Of Analytics
5. Missing On Monetization

Thanks, but we're talking about developers with shady practices.

 

[Mooncatt]

Didn't Cheetah Mobile get caught in a re-branding too? I think they are also Leopard Mobile, so avoid them too.

 

[Javier P]

Didn't Cheetah Mobile get caught in a re-branding too? I think they are also Leopard Mobile, so avoid them too.

Yup.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/...-its-apps-under-leopard-mobile-nice-try-guys/

 

[B. Diddy]

Didn't Cheetah Mobile get caught in a re-branding too? I think they are also Leopard Mobile, so avoid them too.

Ooh, so clever. How did anyone ever figure that one out? What's next, Ocelot Mobile?

 

[anon(10181084)]

Didn't Cheetah Mobile get caught in a re-branding too? I think they are also Leopard Mobile, so avoid them too.

Well, we should begin to expect Panther Mobile, Kitten Mobile, Lion Mobile, Maine **** Mobile, Fluffy Mobile, Floofy Mobile, Snow Leopard Mobile, GingerKitty Mobile, etc... in the future.

(This is purely speculation, not a leak)

 

[anon(10181084)]

Ooh, so clever. How did anyone ever figure that one out? What's next, Ocelot Mobile?

Maine **** Mobile is next

 

[B. Diddy]

I suggest a more truthful name: We Cheetah You Mobile

 

[Almeuit]

Cheetah for damn sure.

 

[ashune]

Was reading a recap on the most controversial apps of 2020, and saw that I somehow missed Google banning 600+ apps from the Play Store, including most of Cheetah Mobile's apps, back in February 2020: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145595/google-app-ban-ads-play-store-android-user-experience

 

[anon(50597)]

I won't download any game. That eliminates 99% of problems.

 

[J Dubbs]

The only third party apps I download are one's that come with something I purchased, like a Fitbit. At the moment my phone is bone stock, nothing on it that it didn't come out of the box with. But it has everything I need on it, and the other 95% I never use lol. And the only (rare) problems I've ever had have been related to security/OS updates.

 

[B. Diddy]

A bit tangential to this subject but still related, I created this short guide recently: https://forums.androidcentral.com/a...5048-guide-how-avoid-malware.html#post6888694

 

[Morty2264]

I won't download any game. That eliminates 99% of problems.

I avoid games, too. It takes me a long time to download apps and other things onto my phones. Looking at reviews and ratings - even number of downloads - helps, as well.

 

[ashune]

Another video on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9-Ed8xjCD8