Which of those Apps/Services shouldn't have a full access to Android ?

[AC Question]

So I have lately I have bought a Chinese Smartphone and when I looked at Settings -> Apps -> All some of the apps have a full access to my smartphone which is rather scary, can someone please help me identify which service/app shouldn't have a full access to my phone and also is there a website in which I can type the name of a service/app and it would tell me which permission it requires ? So this is the list:

Atci_service
BSPTelephonyDevTool
com.mediatek
com.mediatek.batterywarning
Common Data Service
EngineerMode
Factory Mode
FotaProvider
Fused Location
Google Account Manager
Google Play services
Google Play Store
Google Services Framework
Input Devices
Key Chain (A lot of permissions)
MmsService
MTK Thermal Manager
Phone
Phone/Messaging Storage
Schedule power on & off
Settings
Settings Storage
Shell
SIM Tool Kit
SmartcardService
System UI
UpgradeSys
User Dictionary (Why does it have a full access to my SMS/MMS and full network access (?)
YGPS
Search Application Provider
Google Contacts Sync
Google Backup Transport
Google App

Very Suspicious Services/Apps:
MTK Android Suite Daemon (e.g it can read phone status and identity or do everything it wants with a SMS or MMS (?) )
MTK NLP Service (What is this and what does it do
MTK Thermal Manager (Why does controller for a battery needs to have a full access to Android (?)
MTKLogger (Is this a spyware (?)
Omacp (e.g it has access to a "Modify secure system settings" or can do whatever it wants with either phone call or SMS/MMS.
Phone (I have two of them and the first one have handful of permissions where the second one has a full access to Android (?)
Shell (What is this ? It mainly has access to " access extra location provider commands, interact acreoss users etc, is it possible that this might be a backdoor ?)
UpgradeSys (I have never noticed it on another smartphone, same as Shell.)
Normal (What is this app ?)
LocationEM2 (Again, what the hell is this app ?)

What I don't understand is that many apps/services has permissions which they shouldn't have .... I have tried to for example find out what's LocationEM2 or MTKLogger but I have ended up with nothing ....

I was also thinking about rooting the device and install some firewall to block incoming connections to such apps/services which are suspicious or what's better remove such permissions. Also I know that Common Data Service can serve as a backdoor. Also I didn't connected this device to a Wi-Fi as I want to sort this stuff out first and it's a bit scary what's going on underneath the mask in this smartphone with services/apps and I must admit I'm a bit concerned about credentials used on such device. Also what's weird is that most of the services/apps I can't disable when for example on Sony Xperia M2 I could do it with most of them.

Can someone give me a hand here please ?
Kind Regards

 

[nahoku]

You know, regarding the scope of your request, I seriously doubt anyone will help you tackle this. Android apps have many permissions that make no sense to me either, but it is what it is. Many on your list are system apps so you'll not be able to do anything about it unless you have root access... and then, if you disable or remove them without regard, you may seriously mess up your phone.

Good luck in your quest!

 

[Gamerzon-P4X]

You know, regarding the scope of your request, I seriously doubt anyone will help you tackle this. Android apps have many permissions that make no sense to me either, but it is what it is. Many on your list are system apps so you'll not be able to do anything about it unless you have root access... and then, if you disable or remove them without regard, you may seriously mess up your phone.

Good luck in your quest!

Can you recommend any program for rooting a Chinese Android which I can run on Windows and it will do the job ?

 

[nahoku]

Can you recommend any program for rooting a Chinese Android which I can run on Windows and it will do the job ?

I have no idea. Do a Google search for your phone model to see if it's even rootable. I'm sure you'll find something out there.

 

[Karmacorrupted]

I can tell you that most of the apps listed in your above mentioned apps ARE in fact, simply system apps (meaning they are either a part of your phones OS or else that they are either running in the background, likely as result of its settings being set for it to open upon boot-up). However, in regards to your questions about some apps appearing to have access to permissions they shouldn't need I say, and I hate to sound cryptic but: anything is possible with apps, especially those developed by "third-party app developers" (which is basically too many words, meaning "anyone, anywhere, with a lil time + any intent") and the creepy truth is that MOST apps on the markets are included in this group.
The best way to protect yourself, + your info (like passwords, and account numbers or credit cards) is to always read the requested permissions of each app B4 you download, and aside from tubemate, stick with apps from your trusted markets and stores like google, windows or apple because they rarely let any malicious apps slip through.
In the meantime, if I find out anything on my own search for answers (which led me to this thread to begin with) about the app called MTK NLP Service... ill stop back through , but sorry if thus carried on, just hoping it was helpful at least somewhere, for somebody. It never hurts to google the unknown apps running on your phone, when you find them. Most times, you get more information than this one yielded for me.

 

[Richard Salvador1]

I have the same problem I have a ZTE Android phone and went to my apps and I found it odd that I couldn't disable locationem2 or MTL I'm getting the feeling these are spyware apps

 

[Rukbat]

Locationem2 and MTL are system apps - you can't do anything at all to them if the phone isn't rooted (and from the way you posted, (I'd say that rooting your phone would make it more dangerous than it is now - you could turn it into a plastic box of parts). An "app" that's part of Google Play Services (and that's most of a phone right now) or an "app"running in Linux as a system program, will have access to just about anything in the phone - due to the fact that the program it forked from has. (If you didn't understand that last comment, you shouldn't have a rooted phone.)

I fully agree with Karmacorrupted - a system app has the permissions it has - period. it may not need a particular permission ... until called by another app, which does need that permission.

And a Chinese phone, either with a known manufacturer's name or with an unknown name, aside from a few well-known Chinese manufacturers, is an unknown quantity - modify anything at your own risk. As for rooting, either obtain temporary root manually (standard Linux stuff) and copy the su binary to /system/bin, or find a root program for the particular model phone (which is probably more difficult than finding another planet with intelligent life in the next week). There's no "generic" rooting method except the first one - do it by hand. If you can't, you need a program to do it - one that's been developed by people who have spent months, and ruined many phones, doing it. (As one XDA member puts it, "if you can't manually root your phone, you shouldn't have a rooted phone". After all, why give the phone capabilities that you don't know how to use - and void the warranty in the process?)

 

[C2Believe3773]

Great question. I have had the same problem with the last 5 or 6 phones that I have had. I was unable to stop/disable/uninstall most apps that gave permissions to my microphone, camera, and just about everything else when I am positive these apps did not need to have access to any of that information. It has been absolutely frustrating to say the least. Bluetooth would always be running, Bluetooth share, smartshare, are just a few others that was running and I couldn't stop, disable or delete the data.. I just got a new phone and I went through and screenshotted all apps. Now I am finding new ones. Common data service is one of them. I thought I would be safe if I went ahead and took some precautions but now I see where I cant even utilize the voice unlock feature. Only screenlocks I have to choose from now is ones that can be manipulated. Anyway, just wanted to let you know you aren't alone in wanting to know what's going on with these apps. Did you ever find if a website exists that can help tell us what these apps purpose is and what permissions they are suppose to have?? IDK I thought I would be safe if I didn't let anyone else touch my phone but obviously these idiots have nothing better to do than screw with other people...

 

[erixz]

Download new apps from Fdroid instead, they only allow non spyware apps.

Use Advances permission manager (install it) to take back rights from apps that they dont need. Like a map app dont need your adress list or access to all your photos.

Good luck!

 

[virxbmc]

On Huawei P8 lite Marshmallow, I can set permissions for all apps. From Google Play Services' 10+ permissions, to the messaging and email stock apps. Unrooted.

I suspect this thread was started pre-Android 6 or some brands don't allow that much access.

 

[s2e0a5n]

I have been using chinese 'knock off' phones since they cloned the first apple i-phone. I prefer the privacy they offer, and am willing to make the trade-off for slight differences in performance to get greater privacy. I have tinkered with all of my phones as much as I dared and have found a few things that can be turned off without too much, if any, effect on the phone's performance.

Most of these apps you posted are system apps. They have to run and have the permissions they have so that your phone will work. But there are a few that you can prevent from loading during boot to reduce the load on your system processor/ram, or to increase your privacy a little. I have used All-In-One Toolbox to tinker with my phone. It is somewhat useful. You can use it to turn options back on if you do not like the effect of turning them off.

Keep in mind that anything you do on your phone, if done without having done your due diligence, causes you to assume a level of risk.

I have bolded the ones that I have successfully experimented with, and that I have discovered have minimal negative impact on the phone functionality. These apps can have their boot process turned off. They can still be used if there is an icon to 'turn them on'; and of course, once your phone is turned off and booted back up again, they will once again be turned off until you use them.

The italicized ones you could experiment with, but you do so at your own risk.


Atci_service
BSPTelephonyDevTool
com.mediatek
com.mediatek.batterywarning
Common Data Service
EngineerMode
Factory Mode
FotaProvider
Fused Location
Google Account Manager
Google Play services
Google Play Store
Google Services Framework
Input Devices
Key Chain (A lot of permissions)
MmsService
MTK Thermal Manager
Phone
Phone/Messaging Storage
Schedule power on & off
Settings
Settings Storage
Shell
SIM Tool Kit
SmartcardService
System UI
UpgradeSys
User Dictionary (Why does it have a full access to my SMS/MMS and full network access (?) - you need this for the spell checker when you text

YGPS
Search Application Provider
Google Contacts Sync
Google Backup Transport
Google App

Very Suspicious Services/Apps:
MTK Android Suite Daemon (e.g it can read phone status and identity or do everything it wants with a SMS or MMS (?) )
MTK NLP Service (What is this and what does it do
MTK Thermal Manager (Why does controller for a battery needs to have a full access to Android (?)
MTKLogger (Is this a spyware (?)
Omacp (e.g it has access to a "Modify secure system settings" or can do whatever it wants with either phone call or SMS/MMS.
Phone (I have two of them and the first one have handful of permissions where the second one has a full access to Android (?)
Shell (What is this ? It mainly has access to " access extra location provider commands, interact acreoss users etc, is it possible that this might be a backdoor ?)
UpgradeSys (I have never noticed it on another smartphone, same as Shell.)
Normal (What is this app ?)
LocationEM2 (Again, what the hell is this app ?)

 

[s2e0a5n]

P.s.: I do not recommend uninstalling any of the apps. Just preventing them from loading on boot.

 

[Rukbat]

Good that you added that last post - turning Google Play Services Google Play Store off will keep you from installing apps from the Play Store.

(BTW, Google doesn't affect your privacy - with millions of contacts, messages and emails flowing through their servers every day, there's no computer fast enough to capture all that information. And if a google employee is found looking through a user's private data, getting fired will be the least of his worries. (I used to work on HIPPA data - it's the same thing - you learn to forget what you just worked on as soon as you go to the next item. Ask me what I did to the last record I accesses, just in general terms, and I wouldn't have remembered. Either you steal users' data or you produce what you're paid to produce. Start paying attention to the data and you fall so far behind that you earn a free keylogger. [I used to catch errors in zipcodes (a Chicago medical practice with a Los Angeles patient and a zipcode starting with 6) and phone numbers (same situation, phone area code 312) or IL as the state. Some people are sloppy in entering data. But you don't even look at the patient's name - there's no way to correct an error there.])

 

[lolkek]

UpgradeSys — remove this malware crap

I have same problem with my new chip GEVO Ginny android phone. It has preinstalled malware which showed ads, blocked screen and buttons.:'(

UpgradeSys
Check out that: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/cyber...y-upping-the-ante-on-adups-fwupgradeprovider/

You can remove it via adb without root.
Some useful commands:

Show all installed packages:

adb shell pm list packages

Check out suspicious package names for their permissions (for example com.fw.upgrade.sysoper):

adb shell dumpsys com.fw.upgrade.sysoper

Find where it's installed:

adb shell pm path com.fw.upgrade.sysoper

Stop & remove it:

adb shell am force-stop com.fw.upgrade.sysoper; adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.fw.upgrade.sysoper

Maybe it's not enough to clean your device completely and you need to remove some other suspicious apps
like com.company.hlmanager.out in the same way.

 

[Ekuyk79]

So...did you or anyone ever find out about the MTK NLP application specificly? Trying to find out WHY this app needs "full access" to my Google account and why I can't change or disable this command on my Android.

 

[jayneygirl]

Is there perhaps anything else you would like done while this labour of Hercules is being worked on?
Perhaps riding a unicycle and singing the Banana Splits song?

I suggest you get some research done and that will aid your understanding far more than just being given the answers.

As a general guideline, don't start amending system parameters without understanding the ramifications, you will probably damage your dvice

 

[MoDoK99]

So...did you or anyone ever find out about the MTK NLP application specificly? Trying to find out WHY this app needs "full access" to my Google account and why I can't change or disable this command on my Android.

Only a few years late, But it stands for Mediatek network location provider. It is literally the hard grained programing on your gps chipset, It needs full access to Android inorder to be able to process a request for location from any app that you may put on your phone. Any of the other ones you want to know about I can explain them all BTW the access to your Google account is because your Google account will constantly ask for your location if this is an issue for you you can always login to Google on a web browser and disable location sharing, and turn of gps services,bas well as the find my phone feature. But like I said let me know witch other ones you find suspicious.

 

[MrL4D]

Only a few years late, But it stands for Mediatek network location provider. It is literally the hard grained programing on your gps chipset, It needs full access to Android inorder to be able to process a request for location from any app that you may put on your phone. Any of the other ones you want to know about I can explain them all ������ BTW the access to your Google account is because your Google account will constantly ask for your location if this is an issue for you you can always login to Google on a web browser and disable location sharing, and turn of gps services,bas well as the find my phone feature. But like I said let me know witch other ones you find suspicious.

I really wanna know what purpose does She'll and Android Accessibility Suite serve?

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

I really wanna know what purpose does She'll and Android Accessibility Suite serve?

Android Accessibility Service allows people with sensory and physical disabilities to... you know... use their phones.

 

[B. Diddy]

I really wanna know what purpose does She'll and Android Accessibility Suite serve?

Welcome to Android Central! Shell is a common computing term and functionality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_(computing). Neither of these are suspicious. If you want to know more about how system apps work, then you would probably need to take a course in Android software engineering. But if you're like me, you should just let the system do its job and enjoy the phone as it is.