Brett Henderson App - Unauthorized Install to all DROID3s since Google Play Update?

[ventura521]

Ive got the same problem.

So yesterday afternoon I froze the Video app and after checking my phone this morning the "Brett Henderson app" is gone but the "Souper Android Development app" is still there and grayed out. Any ideas yet about these mysterious "apps"? Is it like someone wrote that these could just be developer errors and that they were there all along just hidden?

 

[doogald]

I found an empty directory /data/data/apps/com.motorola.contacts.preloaded/lib, but still haven't located the actual APK file.

It's in /system/app/Preload.apk

Open that .apk file, open the "AndroidManifest.xml" file, and the top line is:

<manifest_package="com.motorola.contacts.preloaded" versionCode="1" sharedUserId="com.motorola.contacts" versionName-"1.0">

I think that this is a bug in the Play Store and that this is benign and not a virus.

 

[Siouxsie]

doogald, I obviously know nothing about what bugs do to phones do you believe that we can go about business as usual eg:logging into various sites, etc with no negative results?

Sent from rooted D3

 

[doogald]

doogald, I obviously know nothing about what bugs do to phones do you believe that we can go about business as usual eg:logging into various sites, etc with no negative results?

I think that this app is a normal app preloaded on the phone that is being mis-reported on the Play Store. I don't know what else you have on your phone, but it is my opinion that this should not worry you.

(Notice I say I think - I do not know, but it sure looks like nothing out of the ordinary to me.)

 

[WaltA]

Ive got the same problem.

Me too.

I never noticed it before, but it does seem to have shown up around the same time as Google's change from Marketplace to Play Store.

 

[Siouxsie]

thanks doogald. may I ask how one goes about learning about this stuff eg:apk's, where to find them and what all they do WithOut bricking our phones in the process? Or is that one of those inevitable things that everyone experiences while learning?

Sent from rooted D3

 

[jstafford1]

Well. I had some updates today and when i opened the play store this rogue/phantom app was gone.

"Ready to do nothing at a moments notice"

 

[Siouxsie]

Both the Souper Androird Development "app" and the Brett Henderson "app" which appeared Monday has just as mysteriously disappeared.
Sometimes I think it would better to not look behind the curtain. Twould prevent so much worrying

Sent from rooted D3

 

[WaltA]

Both the Souper Androird Development "app" and the Brett Henderson "app" which appeared Monday has just as mysteriously disappeared.

Same here. Gone as mysteriously as it showed up.

However, the Google Play Store app's version number hasn't changed. I would assume from that, Google didn't fix this (remove the app, hide the app) by simply updating its Play Store app.

 

[doogald]

Same here. Gone as mysteriously as it showed up.

However, the Google Play Store app's version number hasn't changed. I would assume from that, Google didn't fix this (remove the app, hide the app) by simply updating its Play Store app.

It was probably a database problem that first surfaced with 3.5.15. Fix the data, fix the problem.

 

[doogald]

thanks doogald. may I ask how one goes about learning about this stuff eg:apk's, where to find them and what all they do WithOut bricking our phones in the process? Or is that one of those inevitable things that everyone experiences while learning?

The D3 is my third Android phone. I rooted my first when it was pretty clear that issues I had with its 2.1 update were not going to be fixed, and that was almost two years ago. As it turns out, I have a spare Droid 3 (long story) that I rooted and was able to find, using an app called Root Explorer (which is merely a file explorer but with features that are useful to users with rooted phones), that app, and then open the .apk file (.apk files are Android apps that are bundled using the .zip format with a specific file structure, so they are easy to explore) to find that XML file.

All (or almost all) system apk files are stored in a location on the phone called /system/app, while third party apps that you add are almost all in /data/app.

How do you learn? Read a lot, I guess...

If you are careful and study and understand the procedures, it is very, very difficult to brick a phone. Bricks almost all happen when somebody does something risky or carelessly. Follow the procedures that people outline and you will successfully root your phone, if that is really what you want. I should note that I think that the Droid 3 is good enough stock that I don't feel that it needs to be rooted, but that's my opinion. Others may disagree. I rooted my spare phone more out of curiosity than anything else, and I'm not sure that there is a huge advantage to rooting the D3 from what I have seen (though I have to be honest and say that the rooted D3 is not an active phone, just a WiFi connected device at this point.) In this case, though, it was useful.

 

[nodixe]

In the DX forum @rootz there was an empty thread started by him (I think). He says 'hear me out" but doesn't post???

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Siouxsie]

Thanks doogald for the info What do you mean when you say a rooted D3 is an inactive phone? Does that mean it has lost functionality? i have mine rooted only but that was to freeze all the junk that came on the phone. Have not ventured to the deep end of the pool as far as apk's and roms, etc.

Sent from rooted D3

 

[cobravnm13]

Thanks doogald for the info What do you mean when you say a rooted D3 is an inactive phone? Does that mean it has lost functionality? i have mine rooted only but that was to freeze all the junk that came on the phone. Have not ventured to the deep end of the pool as far as apk's and roms, etc.

Sent from rooted D3

He means that the spare phone that he has, and has rooted, is not activated (because it's a spare) and only acts as a WiFi connected device. Which means he can only access the internet when he connects his D3 to his WiFi whether it be at home or from a hotspot.

Sent from my 3rd reincarnation of the ever-so-lovable Droid

 

[doogald]

He means that the spare phone that he has, and has rooted, is not activated (because it's a spare) and only acts as a WiFi connected device. Which means he can only access the internet when he connects his D3 to his WiFi whether it be at home or from a hotspot.

Yes, this is what I meant. I have two Droid 3 phones - one is my everyday phone, not rooted, and the other is not activated on Verizon. That one I have rooted. I don't use it for much, though it's useful for things like seeing what a rooted phone can do, trying out apps that I may want but don't want to install on my active phone, etc. Plus, if I ever break the current phone, I have one ready to go.