Motorola: Dodgy Android Apps Breaking Our Phones

[Guest brinkley1988]

Is your Android-based Motorola phone running like a piece of junk? Is it so sluggish that a snail could complete Angry Birds before the screen regenerates all your icons? Chances are it's because of the dodgy third-party applications served up on Google's Android Market.

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Technology Conference, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha said that 70-percent of its smartphone returns are caused by the openness of Google's Android platform and essentially sloppy work conducted by third-party app developers. He indicated that there's a lack of quality control at Google, and because of Android's multitasking nature, unoptimized apps are lurking in the background, feasting on precious battery and processing power like fat leeches.

"Anyone can put an application on the Android Marketplace ... without any testing process," Jha told delegates, adding that the ability to multitask is both a blessing and a curse. "Seventy per cent of devices are coming back because they have downloaded a third-party application, and the effect that has on performance."

To help combat this problem, Motorola launched its MOTOBLUR overlay which allows customers to keep up with social networks, back up data, and manage applications to maximize battery power. The problem is that MOTOBLUR is only (currently) available on eleven Android handsets ranging from the Atrix 4G to the DEVOUR. Other consumers must download third-party task killers from the Android Market or Amazon Appstore that don't always do the job.

The fact that many apps insist on running continuously in the background for no apparent reason is a definite performance problem for the Android platform. Amazon's Appstore app can linger behind the scenes even when "killed" multiple times. Slacker Radio is another resource hog, but one of the biggest offenders is actually Google itself, with Google Voice and Google Music gulping down resources even though the apps and their widgets aren't even loaded. Double instances of Google Maps can even show up shortly after the device is rebooted and the app never opened.

Android device owners looking to gain extra battery time can see what's draining juice by heading to Settings / About Phone / Battery Use. Multiple widgets and numerous icons are known to weigh down the processor especially after closing a game or another video-intensive application.

[Guest nvkid909]

Bit of an over reaction imo. We are limited in what we can do in terms of battery & signal.

Probably someone who's phone is very sluggish maybe a juevenile who likes to have all the latest apps & social media & what not running all at the same time - without actually needing them. I fear their main problem will be lack of battery.

It would be helpful if the app's permissions descriptions were better worded - they're slightly confusing, like they say they may have abilty to make calls, read phone contents, etc... I feel that once people have gotten over the initial shock of this, they shrug their shoulders & take the app anyway. The wording needs to change because, well, it's obvious the app will need some of the phones' features for the app to work. What we need to know is that the app is not malicious, or will cost us money behind our backs.

At the moment the permissions descriptions for apps do not help us discern the difference between geniune 'safe' apps & ones that are truly malicious. Only the place we got them from :P ;)

Moreover, this 70% of returns (if true) is probably more due to the advanced developer apps that require root - dev tools for hacking & modding. I would guess that most of these returns are not because of 'everyday use' apps, but the dev tools - that people have bricked their phones or are stuck in bootloops.

People need to read more before they take the plunge into hacking / modding else they brick it / loose warranty. First ask youselves, what is it you're trying to do?