[Galaxy S III Original Android Development] curiousrom:
CM Browser, QuickPic, ES File Explorer Privacy & Play Store Auto-update

Yes I tried it for "fun" but the setup before I did:

Downloaded Connection List Free and Network Connections Trial version (For tracking IP connections requested by apps.)

Installed CM Browser and rebooted.

Started the two apps Connection List and Network Connections and then started CM Browser without doing anything with it and here is 2 screenshots of Connection List and it's not pretty.

CM Browser > Manage homepage > disabled both Most visited and Search Buzz > back to homepage and deleted all the preset shortcuts. Killed CM Browser, restarted it > checked in Network Connections > Current connections and CM Browser still has 4 to 6 live IP connections w/ Yahoo, Amazon, Qwest Communications, etc. Network Connections has an IP lookup feature if you press a connection.

If you use the Back button to get out of CM Browser and do not remove it from Recents menu it will keep on using some IP connections for ever because when checking in Settings > Privacy > Privacy Guard it has Keep awake and Run in background enabled by default. Which is not good for Doze & battery life BTW.

In Play Store > CM Browser > scroll all the way down to Permissions:

Device & app history

read your Web bookmarks and history

Identity

find accounts on the device

Contacts

find accounts on the device

Location

approximate location (network-based)

precise location (GPS and network-based)

Photos/Media/Files

access USB storage filesystem

read the contents of your USB storage

modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Storage

read the contents of your USB storage

modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Wi-Fi connection information

view Wi-Fi connections

Other

read Home settings and shortcuts

receive data from Internet

view network connections

full network access

draw over other apps

control vibration

prevent device from sleeping

modify system settings

install shortcuts

uninstall shortcuts

While I agree that the Beijing based Cheetah Mobile developer dropped the ball (privacy and battery life) with the apps Clean Master & QuickPic (see bottom of Wikipedia Cheetah Mobile > Controversies) it's probably a urban myth that the Es File Explorer disaster was caused by Cheetah Mobile buying it.

I used my Google search Ninja powers as much as I could and did not find a single authoritative source to confirm that. Es File Explorer was never bought by Cheetah Mobile according to my fruitless searches. It now belongs to the Chinese Internet Search giant Baidu. Check http://global.baidu.com/about/ > Products after going through owner's names EStrongs > ES APP Group > ES Global.

Baidu complying with Chinese state censorship and China recruits Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent to AI ‘national team’ and whatnot backdoors & data collection for the government makes you think twice about using their products. Yes, yes, same could be said about Google & whatnot probably according to whistleblower Edward Snowden...

Interesting read: Here's why we're removing ES File Explorer from our best apps lists and XDA's ES File Explorer – A Short Story of A Fallen King.

You can get a debloated & re-signed ES File Explorer 4.0.2.2 here in this XDA thread that will not be auto-updated by Play Store. Still connects to IP's like hmma.baidu.com which can be blocked with AdAway > Settings > Log DNS Requests > tap TCPDUMP is not running to enable logging > Open log file after starting ES File Explorer for a while & press guilty IP to add to blacklist. Or use a firewall like AFWall+ for example.

Same for QuickPic 4.5.2 Revived XDA post here: "This is the last version of QuickPic before it was acquired by Cheetah Mobile." And: "Redirect automatic network requests to localhost".

For Browsers with description of different ad-blocking methods & other interesting stuff check the thread [GUIDE][COLLECTION] All About Ad-Blocking.

For you guys running those apps downloaded from Play, fire-up the IP trackers & run the apps for fun.

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Play Store Auto-update

I keep Play Store > Settings > Auto-update apps disabled for battery saving & speedup reasons as mentioned in S3 LineageOS Battery Drain Troubleshooting & Optimization but checked if some apps had some updates and enabled Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only, waited for 1 hour or so & nothing was happening. Plugged the phone & it auto-updated 2 apps.

A couple of hours later checked and YouTube had an update pending. Same scenario as above. My battery was low so maybe after it reached about 60% Play Store did the update.

On battery I tried: Play Store > disable Auto-update > reboot > Play Store > Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only enabled > reboot & nothing happened after 2 hours.

I wish there was an option: Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only when plugged-in.

Also > Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi > gear (cog) > Configure Wi-Fi > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep > Always/Only when plugged in/Never may affect Play Store Auto-update but if Always is chosen then accept battery life sacrifice.

It's frustrating because Google does not publish the Auto-update check frequency nor the criteria for starting the updates.

A troubleshooting suggestion modified from https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/play/he_mwwq6fXQ/l2YetWqMEQAJ which I did not try:

1- Force the Play Store to stop, and clear data for the Google Play Store app (settings > apps > Google Play Store > force stop then clear data > ok).

2-Clear data for Google Play Services (Go to settings > apps or application manager > Google Play Services > manage space > clear all data > ok).

3- Reboot phone.

Many results in Google Play Help Forum: auto-update not working search.

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Samsung Boot Animation

Searching in Galaxy S III Themes and Apps: Samsung Boot Animation returns many results.

I did not try it because I like the LineageOS animation & want to keep LOS 100% stock for troubleshooting purposes but here there is a TWRP flashable zip: [HOW TO] Restore S3 Samsung BootAnimation

Please report there & here if it worked for you or not. :cool:

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