The once beloved ES File Explorer was revealed recently to be little more than a Trojan Horse, used to get adware installed on thousands of devices with one update. This was apparently just the beginning. Users have started compiling a spreadsheet of apps that sneak the same adware-infused charging lock screen onto your device. There are already about 20 of them. Google, where are you?
Google needs to address this grotesque abuse of its users quickly and decisively, and remove all applications that install this adware from the Play Store, no questions asked. This is in direct violation of the Play Store rules.
If I still ran Android, I’d have almost certainly been hit by that. I loved ES file explorer. I didn’t even realize this had happened to it until reading this just now.
Hope it’ll never hit Total Commander :/
One would hope it would never hit anything for long. If Google were doing their job, these apps would be removed from the Play Store already! Apple is overzealous in their review process sometimes, but Google’s lack of response is just as extreme and with worse results to boot. Apple’s occasional fanaticism means an app takes a while, or perhaps doesn’t get in right away. Google’s complete hands-off means adware and worse, it would seem.
Edited 2016-05-18 20:07 UTC
The cynic in me says they’re sitting back with the money these ads are generating for them.
indeed, there is a shitload of money to be made from some ~20 almost unknown apps
ES File Explorer is one of the most popular apps there is.
ES File Explorer is the only app in that list which is relatively popular
Hardly, but a shit ton of money to be made from one of the most popular ones… or did you forget that part? ES File Explorer, namely.
So a free app with malware and a lot of installs and its paid version, with no malware and a lot fewer installs.
NetGuard ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.netguard ) without or with ad blocking ( https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/blob/master/ADBLOCKING.md ), block all, allow some, any app that asks for internet while providing no service for me should be damned in the VPN blackhole, I say!
Hey, no internet connection, no ads, no problem, enjoy!
Edited 2016-05-18 18:26 UTC
Don’t you find it to be ludicrous that such a sollution would even be needed on a phone?
A lot of the Android geeks don’t find this a problem. They’re used to having to work around everything after all, they usually run Linux as their only desktop.
</sarcasm?>
If you stick to F-Droid you get zero applications with ads, and a few browser options that offer ad blocking. Pretty much the only thing I get on the Play Store are the Google apps themselves and games.
Why is a “computer firewall” ludicrous here and not elsewhere exactly?
Here I was regretting all I was missing in my walled garden. If only Google would operate more like App…
Apple is much more pro-active and innovative, it doesn’t wait for third parties to fill your phone with full-page unclosable ads, they do it themselves.
And yet I’ve not ever seen one of these mythical full page iOS ads on my iPhone, which I’ve had for over a year now.
Could you cite some sources for this so I can see what all the talk is about? Because I’m obviously not using my iPhone the “right” way. And I get that my experience isn’t absolute; I’m genuinely curious what everyone who has said this about iOS (and by everyone, I mean you and Thom Holwerda) is talking about.
They were all over the news some time ago. I could find one article on The Verge, before the ads came thru and another on reddit, when the ads went live.
https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/3wdh29/app_store_app_now_di…
http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/26/6071891/apples-ios-ads-are-about-…
Yeah, I saw those articles. I’ve yet to see an ad though. Funny. The articles list places where you can find them but somehow, they just aren’t there… It makes one wonder.
Thanks for the links. Wow, the pearl clutching in that Verge headline is beyond the pale. Again, maybe I haven’t seen it because I don’t crap up my phone with dodgy third party apps; based on the Verge article, this is purely a third party app developer choice, and not present in built in apps or the OS itself. In that vein, this is entirely no different than Google’s third party app advertising scheme, and in fact Apple appears to make it less appealing to the app developers to pull such shenanigans (again, based on your own link).
Nice try, but your own evidence doesn’t bear out your claim of first party ads in the OS itself.
Easy solution: Use Total Commander instead.
Also, pick it up for Windows. Best $30 I spent on software ever.
http://www.ghisler.com/
Hardly a solution to the larger issue, though the Windows version is an awesome file manager (haven’t tried the Android one).
ES File Explorer was the only really good file manager for the Nvidia Shield TV. I guess I’ll have to find another one.
And yes, I know this issue (probably) doesn’t affect Google TV devices since they don’t charge and don’t have lock screens, but it’s the principle.
Edited 2016-05-18 20:52 UTC
[q]ES File Explorer was the only really good file manager for the Nvidia Shield TV. I guess I’ll have to find another one. [/quote]
I didn’t even know about this thing with ES. I have the paid version of ES and it doesn’t show anything on the lockscreen or do any shenanigans. In general I try to find open-source apps for the stuff I need/want and if there are none or the open-source apps available suck (which they often do) I try to find a paid app and ES happens to be one of those I paid for.
Since when do people update apps for improvements?
The only updates I take are the ones that actually add functions. I have es installed, but its been the same one i installed when i got my priv.
I dont update messenger, facebook, or chrome even. I remember in the early days of Android you would update an app only to find it included adds. A lot of the free games did that, then they updated to include video apps. I dont game unless its on pc, whats the point. Its not like they are going to make another good android game like dead space.
Unlike Apple and MS, Google seems to be a company that does its absolute best to avoid hiring people for quality assurance and consumer technical support roles.
Ask anyone who tries to get in contact with a human for support of any Google service (YouTube, Business Apps, etc) and it’s all layered behind endless useless FAQs, bots and human contact avoidance.
I bet ALL the vetting on Google Play is fully automated with no human interaction or double checking. And an offending app is only investigated after it has faced numerous complaints using its end user flagging tool.
That’s why I love iOS – applications get no permissions whatsoever to access any system data or install ridiculous background services. I like applications have to ask before using location or microphone or can’t perform many actions in background. Shithead adware developers would probably like to install kernel mode driver to probe each phone’s component and better send live stream of what user is doing. Android applications require insane amount of permissions – all should be optional. If users denies some permission, application should receive fake data.
Marshmallow does this too
I’ve always wondered about that. Google change their internal permission granularity all the time and yet we, the users, don’t ever get granularity of control. They’ve made it so bad that most people, when an update asks for new permissions, just click through it because they all look the same as what you had before. A re-wording here, a new permission to write to SD card there, but it’s an all or nothing deal. They’ve effectively trained users not to give a shit. One might wonder why…
AdAway is working very well here: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.adaway
It’s open source, but needs a rooted phone. I am using this in the first place as an additional layer of security as my phone does not get Android updates since long. The fact that it blocks _all_ app ads is also very nice.
ES File Explorer was an awesome file manager and more, but over the last year or so it’s progressively become shit. Recommended apps, junk cleaner notifications, and now ads. It’s too much.
Switched to Total Commander. It’s not as elegant, and is missing some of the features, but it now seems to be the best free file manager for Android.
I don’t quite understand why Google does not offer their own file manager.
Thank you for the list.
There is an easy way to help get rid of those malware: rate them as they should be on the market…. tell your friends to do the same.
I bought ES File Explorer pro, I had ES applock too and a screen lock that poped up randomly. I am happy to remove them
Google should quickly install some quality control protocol on their market and remove those malware. I have no reason to buy anymore app from them if I cannot trust their market and apps.
One can try Total Commander or FX File Explorer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.fx)
Both are very good.
That’s not the point of the article though.
And your point is?
Oh, I see..