Android By Russell Holly Apr. 30, 2014 5:45 pm
A bug in new Android security measures has caused aggressive responses to the Themer app on some phones, accusing the app of password interception and suggesting that you uninstall the app entirely.
The folks behind Themer have had a rough couple of months. After responding to threats from Apple for having themes similar to iOS in their database and finally getting their app back to the Google Play Store, users were greeted with an error message from Android itself. The error message would appear after a reboot from the user. Several reports from Google popped up this morning recommending that the app be uninstalled, though many pointed out that the app hadn’t been removed from the Play Store. We reached out to MyColorScreen CEO and co-founder Ashvin Dhingra for some clarification on the situation, and he has confirmed that this is a bug the Android Security Team is currently working to resolve.
Thankfully, the Android Security Team has confirmed that this is a bug and not an actual threat, so there’s no need to uninstall Themer.
What we’re seeing here is a glimpse into how your phone will now notify you in the event that actual malicious behavior takes place on your phone, which is a good direction for Google to be heading in after reports of behind-the-scenes Bitcoin mining and completely empty antivirus apps. Assuming Google gets the bugs worked out quickly, you can expect this kind of message in the future when there’s something actually wrong with an app on your phone, though now that a false alarm has happened, it will be up to the user to decide whether or not the threat is credible.
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The folks behind Themer have had a rough couple of months. After responding to threats from Apple for having themes similar to iOS in their database and finally getting their app back to the Google Play Store, users were greeted with an error message from Android itself. The error message would appear after a reboot from the user. Several reports from Google popped up this morning recommending that the app be uninstalled, though many pointed out that the app hadn’t been removed from the Play Store. We reached out to MyColorScreen CEO and co-founder Ashvin Dhingra for some clarification on the situation, and he has confirmed that this is a bug the Android Security Team is currently working to resolve.
Thankfully, the Android Security Team has confirmed that this is a bug and not an actual threat, so there’s no need to uninstall Themer.
What we’re seeing here is a glimpse into how your phone will now notify you in the event that actual malicious behavior takes place on your phone, which is a good direction for Google to be heading in after reports of behind-the-scenes Bitcoin mining and completely empty antivirus apps. Assuming Google gets the bugs worked out quickly, you can expect this kind of message in the future when there’s something actually wrong with an app on your phone, though now that a false alarm has happened, it will be up to the user to decide whether or not the threat is credible.
More...
