# GO Apps (Launcher, SMS, etc.)



## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

<tinfoilhat>
Is it just me or are others a bit leery of using the Chinese GO apps? I don't know but while the software appears to be very popular (and actually quite pretty and functional), I'm somewhat concerned of the Chinese folks generally anyways. And pages like this just seem to make this software sound even shadier. That entire thread seems to reek of people promoting their own software.

Thoughts?

https://market.android.com/developer?pub=GO+Launcher+Dev+Team
https://market.android.com/developer?pub=GO+Dev+Team
https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Go+Wallpaper+Dev+Team


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## r2doesinc (Jun 8, 2011)

talk to @teamandirc about them


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## r2doesinc (Jun 8, 2011)

Found with a quick little google. mostly all i ever hear is specualtion, but its enough to push me personally away from any of the GO Apps and to recommend against using them.

I'm a little suspicious of GO's apps in general. They're all free, without ads, and from a mysterious Chinese company with no visible means of revenue. Oh, and they all need access to your contact data and full Internet access.

Sketchy sketchy sketchy. I'm passing in their apps until I have some assurances about my privacy using them. The fact that you're finding that GO is waking up every few minutes only reinforces my questioning.


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

r2doesinc said:


> I'm a little suspicious of GO's apps in general. They're all free, without ads, and from a mysterious Chinese company with no visible means of revenue. Oh, and they all need access to your contact data and full Internet access.


They're not all free. There are some rather expensive "donation" themes. They also have various donate buttons scattered throughout their apps. I see no reason to be suspicious. The apps that require special access such as goweather, gocontacts, gosms, they explain the reason for their internet access. I use golauncher and goweather myself, and it seems to be a small team of Chinese speaking, or origin, developers. They respond to bug reports with what seems to be real responses. And they speak clean English in emails I've gotten after reporting bugs. Their prodducts, outside of gocontacts, are actually surprisingly very well built. Golauncher is the only launcher I'll use. It's not the smoothest, but it's got features I don't see anywhere else. And they have plenty of theme support.

So give em a chance. You might just end up using everything Go. (I did that for a while, just to see how well everything works together. Well, it doesn't.)

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

r2doesinc said:


> Found with a quick little google. mostly all i ever hear is specualtion, but its enough to push me personally away from any of the GO Apps and to recommend against using them.
> 
> I'm a little suspicious of GO's apps in general. They're all free, without ads, and from a mysterious Chinese company with no visible means of revenue. Oh, and they all need access to your contact data and full Internet access.
> 
> Sketchy sketchy sketchy. I'm passing in their apps until I have some assurances about my privacy using them. The fact that you're finding that GO is waking up every few minutes only reinforces my questioning.


Yeah, these are my thoughts almost exactly (they do have donation/paid-for themes and such, though, for revenue). However, it's purely an uneasiness. I have absolutely nothing as real proof that they're doing anything wrong. In fact, it seems like they're not. However, I just can't shake that nagging feeling, you know?

@DryZebra: I agree with you - they do have items that cost money. I wasn't trying to say they weren't nice apps. I'm just concerned about any shady intentions that are going on there. It just smells fishy, but everything seems to be good on the surface. I don't know...


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2011)

I use Go Weather and haven't had any problems with it. I don't use the launcher, GoSMS, or GoContacts (I'm partial to ADW EX), but I haven't seen any reason not to. For me, it really comes down to personal preference. I like the functionality of the ADW EX launcher better. Chinese developers can be hit or miss, but I believe Go is sincere in their development. I have a friend that swears by their products, and they reply to any emails in a timely manner like DryZebra said. I try not to go the stereotypical route and get a bad vibe simply because it's an inexpensive Chinese product.  With that said, I understand why people are so cautious with all the bad apples in the bunch.


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## EggoEspada (Jun 9, 2011)

I use GoSMS and as far as I can tell, everything is secured. I do understand what you guys are saying though about these developers and how you guys can have this unsettling feeling about them.nin my opinion, they haven't given me a reason not to trust them.


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

I just want to throw out there that this isn't racism on my part. I love Chinese people (my sister-in-law is Chinese), I just don't like the Chinese government.

Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk


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## bretth18 (Jun 13, 2011)

I must agree with your concerns, but damn they are some top grade apps. Very well designed graphics.


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## Sassyontech (Jun 16, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> I just want to throw out there that this isn't racism on my part. I love Chinese people (my sister-in-law is Chinese), I just don't like the Chinese government.
> 
> Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk


My best friend is black, I can't be racist...lol.

The Chinese government hacking your phone to world domination FTW? Seriously, without any like..oh I don't know... an accusation, it's all just xenophobia.

Tossed from my Tunabowl


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

It's not in the US, but they also have the gomarket, which I believe may be a third party external market like Amazon, but it's Chinese only. I'll side load it sometime and see if it's legit, or a pirate store like blapkmarket.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

Surprisingly, it's both. It has some exclusives that I've never seen before (Games, apps, etc.) But it also has some apps that cost money for free like setcpu, deathworm, and titanium backup. Now, I can't tell if these apps released to this market free or not, and I also don't know if the Go team has anything to do with it, but it appears to be a popular market. Perhaps it's an unrestricted market for Chinese android users? I'm not sure. But there's no ads in their products, so using them can't directly support them. But you were right to assume they ARE shady.

www.goapk.com

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

After some Googling and Google translating, I found out goapk is around because there IS no official Chinese market? I didn't know that. But apparently they take in millions of dollars for development, as it's the #1 market for Android in China. Now I'm not sure how I feel about using their stuff.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## abn75 (Jun 11, 2011)

Well the one app from go that I tried to use, the day after i installed it from the market I had 6 attempts to access 3 of my gmail accounts from Malaysia. Strange no

sent using a black and Decker toaster oven and two wire coat hangers


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

That is a bit weird. But it only may be related. It could be that you have a weak password. Maybe you could email and inquire about what happened?

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## abn75 (Jun 11, 2011)

DryZebra said:


> That is a bit weird. But it only may be related. It could be that you have a weak password. Maybe you could email and inquire about what happened?
> 
> Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


weak password? the sucker is 22 char. long, a random mixture of letters and numbers lol. i doubt its too weak


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

Hmm, very suspicious indeed then. I've never experienced anything like this with my goapps. I'll keep an eye on it from now on, thanks for the heads up.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## sidsixseven (Jun 12, 2011)

I like Tinfoil hats as much as the next guy, but I guess here is my question... what exactly will this Chinese company (or government) do with this information that makes it valuable?

Based on the permissions, near as I can tell, the worst it could do is parse through your contacts and messages. I suppose there is some opportunity for corporate espionage there, but what else?

Unless I'm mistaken, it's not like it can snag your credit card or banking information from the browser or another app, right?

The only app I use is GoSMS and that's mainly just for backing up SMS messages when I switch ROMs. I used to use it for the pop-ups until those started pissing me off.

EDIT: For what it's worth, this guy doesn't think it's unusual:
http://android.modaco.com/topic/342722-goapps-investigating-the-privacy-claims/


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## DryZebra (Jun 9, 2011)

Interesting investigation and great find! Makes me feel vastly more comfortable using the apps (which are awesome.) Thanks.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

sidsixseven said:


> I like Tinfoil hats as much as the next guy, but I guess here is my question... what exactly will this Chinese company (or government) do with this information that makes it valuable?
> 
> Based on the permissions, near as I can tell, the worst it could do is parse through your contacts and messages. I suppose there is some opportunity for corporate espionage there, but what else?
> 
> ...


Corporate Espionage is exactly what I'm fearful of, and have reason to be. I don't keep anything on my phone that would really matter for that sort of thing, but if somebody in my company (or a customer) stupidly emails me something sensitive, well, we have a problem if the Chinese gov't can get it. And I promise they would want it.

I forget which product I saw but one of them gave them your account credentials when you look at the security settings. Clearly I didn't install that.

Lastly, if any of these products have root exploits in them, well, then it can get anything it wants off your phone that's not encrypted, including passwords you type in a browser and everything else.

As somebody who is in charge of IT Security, I'm sorry but it's my job to wear a tinfoil hat. If I think these guys are bad apples, well, I need to inform the Android users in my company that they're bad apples and not to use their products despite a quick glance showing that they are popular and well-trusted. The # of downloads used to be a metric for understanding what the general thought was on a product's safety but now that Android is getting so huge, that's no longer the case. There are enough dumb Android users out there that I now need to start being more pro-active in this search.


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## Jmoney4769 (Jun 7, 2011)

Everyone just stop.

Sure these apps can get some info, so what? If you want to read through my text messages, you'll see me joking with friends and hitting on chicks. Shit, if you want to send messages and hit on those chicks for me, be my guest. What could a bunch of Chinese people want with my information?

I understand that if you have sensitive information on your phone that's a problem, but if so, you shouldn't have these apps in the first place.


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

Jmoney4769 said:


> Everyone just stop.
> 
> Sure these apps can get some info, so what? If you want to read through my text messages, you'll see me joking with friends and hitting on chicks. Shit, if you want to send messages and hit on those chicks for me, be my guest. What could a bunch of Chinese people want with my information?
> 
> I understand that if you have sensitive information on your phone that's a problem, but if so, you shouldn't have these apps in the first place.


Clearly you're not in charge of an IT department and keeping a business's intellectual property and customer data secure. If you don't care about this, fine, don't care. Other's don't have that luxury. If somebody's phone gets a trojan on it and that somebody plugs the phone into their laptop to charge it, it could potentially have devastating effects on a business. Yeah, there are other barriers of protection, but that scenario right there just averted most of them. Myself and others who have the duty to be responsible and proactive are trying to prevent such things.

Again, if you don't care, that's fine. But please don't tell me that I shouldn't take my responsibilities seriously.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Clearly you're not in charge of an IT department and keeping a business's intellectual property and customer data secure. If you don't care about this, fine, don't care. Other's don't have that luxury. If somebody's phone gets a trojan on it and that somebody plugs the phone into their laptop to charge it, it could potentially have devastating effects on a business. Yeah, there are other barriers of protection, but that scenario right there just averted most of them. Myself and others who have the duty to be responsible and proactive are trying to prevent such things.
> 
> Again, if you don't care, that's fine. But please don't tell me that I shouldn't take my responsibilities seriously.


Taking responsibilities seriously is a must, for sure. Having worked in Risk Management for a major data company, I understand that completely since we handled SSPI (sensitive information that includes social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) on a regular basis, and we had suffered a breach before. With that said, I haven't really seen a reason to not trust the Go apps besides being a Chinese developer. Since we used Chinese software for a variety of applications in my office, I have grown to understand that they're actually quite competent at what they're doing. Prior to that, I was unreasonably cautious and often went the other way when I found that a piece of software was Chinese. Also, the breach wasn't a software issue. It was a social engineering issue.

I'm still cautious and make sure that whatever I'm running isn't going to cause negative implications, but I don't mind if it's a Chinese product. Heck, there's just as high of a chance that software developed in the U.S. could be malicious in nature. The various articles out there regarding Go apps definitely makes me a little cautious, but I don't think the apps are malicious in nature. To me, it's just paranoia because of the dreaded "Chinese effect." One must always be cautious regardless of the origin of the software.


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## Kiamat (Sep 12, 2011)

Yeah, nothing shadier than a bunch of devs working feverishly to produce an incredible product and then turn around and offer it for free.  My advice? Never run any ROM you didn't pay for.


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## PonsAsinorem (Oct 10, 2011)

Kiamat said:


> Yeah, nothing shadier than a bunch of devs working feverishly to produce an incredible product and then turn around and offer it for free. My advice? Never run any ROM you didn't pay for.


Exactly. The CyanogenMod team has a lot to answer for.


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## ImaComputa (Sep 8, 2011)

I love GO launcher and it's the best/smoothest launcher I've used but I too was suffering a little from "the china effect" haha. Good to know they're clean. I wasn't to suspicious because they sure are on top of updates/bugs and usually add features that you request on their website so if it was spyware then they did a damn good job of making the software legit. I think the language barrier and broken English throw people off.


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## Cojoa13 (Sep 15, 2011)

r2doesinc said:


> Found with a quick little google. mostly all i ever hear is specualtion, but its enough to push me personally away from any of the GO Apps and to recommend against using them.
> 
> I'm a little suspicious of GO's apps in general. They're all free, without ads, and from a mysterious Chinese company with no visible means of revenue. Oh, and they all need access to your contact data and full Internet access.
> 
> Sketchy sketchy sketchy. I'm passing in their apps until I have some assurances about my privacy using them. The fact that you're finding that GO is waking up every few minutes only reinforces my questioning.


With that said, perhaps trying out PDroid (http://goo.gl/eBtnC) to test out the app and circumnavigate the more-so private information they feel they need access too,


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