App downloaded itself

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Behodar

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Topic # 84846 9-Jun-2011 09:40

Hi,

I just looked at my phone (Nexus One) and found that "Google Books" had been automatically downloaded without my permission (using up my precious megabytes!). Does anyone know how to stop this sort of thing from happening in the future?

I also can't open the Books page in Market to disable automatic updates (it says that the item isn't available). Is there another way to stop auto-updates?

Thanks :)

n4

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Reply # 479231 9-Jun-2011 10:50

There are individual 'update automatically' options for every app installed. Check under the Market.

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Behodar

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Reply # 479237 9-Jun-2011 10:57

As mentioned in my first post, I was unable to open the app's page in the Market. When writing this new post the Market page was suddenly working but "allow automatic updating" was ticked and it wouldn't untick when I pressed it! It just flashed orange and stayed ticked.

I've rebooted the phone and now I once again can't open the page in Market. The exact message is "Not found: The requested item could not be found".

Edit: It looks like I'm not the only one. The reviews for Google Books show lots of other people received the app without permission.

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KevinL

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Reply # 479241 9-Jun-2011 11:00

Google Books isn't available in the NZ market, although it seems to have been automatically pushed this week (? in preparation for launch of a local service). The only way I can see of disabling automatic updates would be to install MarketEnabler (requires root), spoof your carrier ID to a USA one, then access the market - you should be able to access the Books page then.

wonderferret

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Reply # 479249 9-Jun-2011 11:25

Google music did the same thing on my Nexus One.

Autoinstalled last week and can't remove it because the market says the content is unavailable.

Not very impressed with Google at the moment.

Behodar

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Reply # 479253 9-Jun-2011 11:30

Hmm, I got offered Google Music today as well, but it asked for permission so I didn't have a problem with that one.

I've been thinking, and it looks like Books actually meets the three hallmarks of a virus!

- It self-installed without permission
- It's detrimental (it uses up space and some of the data plan)
- It resists removal

I've submitted a support ticket, mostly for my own amusement, but I'll let you know if I hear anything interesting back.

KevinL

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Reply # 479280 9-Jun-2011 12:09

Books was actually part of the ROM in my stock Nexus S out of the box (listed in all applications but greyed out) - it just wasn't enabled in the launcher. So like any of the other stock applications, it's not surprising that it has automatically updated - the issue I suppose is that there isn't a way to disable updates without spoofing your carrier ID since it has been pushed out prior to an official market launch.

Behodar

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Reply # 479282 9-Jun-2011 12:19

Interesting. It was never on my N1 until today so obviously the story is a bit different with an S.

Kyanar

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Reply # 479305 9-Jun-2011 13:09

I don't have it on my IDEOS. I suspect based on comments here that it is actually only being pushed to devices where Google is the device's OEM via the regular OTA Update functionality- the same one that would install updated Android builds, etc.

Behodar

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Reply # 479309 9-Jun-2011 13:14

Normally when an OTA update is released, you get a notification listing the new version, download size, and a confirmation button that you need to press to actually initiate the download.

This Books app, on the other hand, didn't ask for permission at all and just installed itself without me even touching the phone. Imagine if I was roaming at the time!

Linuxluver

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Reply # 479323 9-Jun-2011 13:38

Behodar: Hi,

I just looked at my phone (Nexus One) and found that "Google Books" had been automatically downloaded without my permission (using up my precious megabytes!). Does anyone know how to stop this sort of thing from happening in the future?

I also can't open the Books page in Market to disable automatic updates (it says that the item isn't available). Is there another way to stop auto-updates?

Thanks :)

Has anyone who doesn't own a "Google phone" (Nexus one / S) had these apps pushed to them?

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hazza87

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Reply # 479359 9-Jun-2011 14:51

Theres a few articles about this on various android sites

http://phandroid.com/2011/06/08/google-books-and-music-apps-hitting-non-us-nexus-handsets/

wonderferret

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Reply # 479788 10-Jun-2011 16:59

Behodar: Hi,

I just looked at my phone (Nexus One) and found that "Google Books" had been automatically downloaded without my permission (using up my precious megabytes!). Does anyone know how to stop this sort of thing from happening in the future?

I also can't open the Books page in Market to disable automatic updates (it says that the item isn't available). Is there another way to stop auto-updates?

Thanks :)

A long push on the app in the market will come with a context menu allowing you to uninstall updates. I did this with the music app

Behodar

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Reply # 479978 11-Jun-2011 08:59

wonderferret:A long push on the app in the market will come with a context menu allowing you to uninstall updates. I did this with the music app

Thanks :)

I've also heard back from Google:

Thanks for reporting this issue. I have passed along this information to our team, and we will work to correct this issue as soon as possible. I'm sorry for the trouble you've experienced.