This app was mentioned in 31 comments, with an average of 3.10 upvotes
NetGuard manages/edits connections by making the most of Android VPN functionality. I was specifically talking about viewing/reading connections.
Android is based on the Linux OS. The kernel caches various network statistics in the 'proc/net' directory. This folder is readable by any user/app.
Take this app for example. Install it and then disable all permissions (sdcard access). Restart app and it will still work because the 'proc/net' directory is accessible to everyone.
Bonus: Facebook app reads your connections from this directory too
Cloudflare is used by many companies to help deliver web content etc. They have amazing infrastructure and are outstanding at dealing with DDOS attacks and the like.
I guess one of the apps uses their services to deliver content.
You can see what's going on at the terminal prompt with netstat -p and then track down the app or service that way. Easier still, download an app like this:-
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
It will do a similar on all the connections on your device and tell you which app is instigating the connection.
The app: Network Connections may help you.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor&hl=en
I've amended 'Option 2' above.
The answer to your first question is yes, I expect. Question two is such a convoluted method that you would regret not choosing an easier option. I would assume you would need the full Quest firmware (no factory firmware images are available) or a ROM dump for creating a custom ROM (maybe through ADB). An Android ROM Kitchen might be able to produce a ROM that could load in an emulator. Potentially a lot of work and all speculation.
I just thought of another very simple solution:
Sideload a network monitor utility on Quest. The one below is supposed to be low-level and should have minimal or no performance impact - assuming it can be kept running in background at all times. Enable logging and you have the url next time firmware file is downloaded to device.
> Network Connections
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
>https://www.apkmonk.com/app/com.antispycell.connmonitor/
I would say network monitoring 'outside device' is still the ideal choice, if possible.
Some apps seem to communicate via the local IP stack. I've seen connections for flap-flap before now and thought WTF! Its a bit unnerving! I use :- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
Hey, I came across this and remembered your comment.
You can use this app to find the address... You see in the demo pictures in the play store the address that ends in .net ... That is the address you need to block from your app.
Same on all wifi networks? Any chance you have auto photo upload on, maybe set it to wifi only? When i had dsl my upload was pretty bad and made the entire network lag when my phone uploaded pics/video.
Edit: try https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
I did a bit of digging into the TP Log thing. From what I can tell, all it does is drop a timestamped log file in in sdcard0 > jrdlog > tplog that appears to contain registry values.
I ran a logcat while triggering the key combination, and it looks like this is the pertinent part:
[ 06-09 15:16:06.047 858: 1107 W/TPLogcat ] the tp error logcat keyevent have been triggered
[ 06-09 15:16:06.048 858: 1107 W/ContextImpl ] Calling a method in the system process without a qualified user: android.app.ContextImpl.sendBroadcast:1367 com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.interceptCatchTPErrorLog:7362 com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindowManager.interceptKeyBeforeQueueing:5419 com.android.server.wm.InputMonitor.interceptKeyBeforeQueueing:365 com.android.server.input.InputManagerService.interceptKeyBeforeQueueing:1476
[ 06-09 15:16:06.092 858: 882 I/ActivityManager ] Start proc com.tct.feedback for broadcast com.tct.feedback/.tplog.TPLogcatReceiver: pid=10116 uid=1000 gids={41000, 9997, 1028, 1015, 3002, 3003, 3001, 1023, 1007, 1021, 3004, 3005, 1000, 3009, 1010, 2001} abi=arm64-v8a
No, I have no idea what that means. Some Google searching (and poking around the phone) seems to indicate that "jrd" is a common prefix for system apps on Alcatel OneTouch (TCL) phones, so this doesn't immediately seem like a spyware / 3rd party privacy concern.
I also used the Network Connections app to see if the phone was opening any connections immediately after TP Log was run, and didn't see anything.
I suspect it's some kind of debug feature that was mistakenly left active. You can see lots of other debug stuff left accessible if you use Nova Launcher to create an Activities Shortcut (through the widget menu). Don't blame me if you break your shit messing around with any of that shit.
you used to be able to download a network connection monitor like this to see which app specifically is making the connections, but because of privacy changes i dont think you can without rooting your phone.
Instead, in the wifi data usage settings menu you should be able to go to individual apps and disable their ability to use mobile data and wifi, either completely or just when youre not specificaly using the app. If you disable all background data access from all apps, you should be able to eliminate most network access from your phone. if it continues its probably a neccessary android service.
Looking up the connection in google (use quotes "" to search for a website without trying to go to it if your browser tries to automatically go to the connection) will probably help you find out which app uses it as well
I just tried to run another program that run ok on my android 7.0 phones.
Network Connections
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
It seems that CalyxOS Android 11 will not allow a network connection from 'Network Connections' and Talkatone.
Try some monitoring solution like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor&hl=en_US&showAllReviews=true and just watch all the inexplicable traffic going out from all parts of your phone for no good reason. When I saw my Samsung stock PHOTO GALLERY APP chatting away with the Samsung mother ship for no reason that I could justify, I just had it.
Former Android fanboy of 10 years here. Yes they really do a good job serving us the kool-aid. I was chugging it for quite a while.
I’d be interested to know what you conclude eventually.
I also did a lot of digging around under the hood using ADB. The vast array of also hard to explain packages you’ll find have been installed in your phone from the factory... Shudder.
Cheers!
Try 'Network Connections', the app is not open source but is the most close to Network Monitor
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
For full you need to buy the "unlock key"...
Yep here's a link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
I assume there's others out there that will do the same thing.
Simply shows you what servers an app connects to. The app doesn't decode the actual content (and wouldn't be able to without you installing a certificate on your phone and intercepting traffic, like how the EFF have done it), so is relatively safe in that respect.
As for the possibility of it also tracking you and sending information somewhere? I guess that's the same risk with any app you install on your phone these days unfortunately.
>...firewall ...but there are several reasons to use that.
And several reasons for not using that. ;)
Network Connections once in a while + Network & internet > Data usage > tap on App data usage > select app works for me.
Basically you have two options - use an app that somehow mimics the "netstat" command (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor - disclaimer: I just googled this) or setup some sort of network monitoring in your home network. Sounds mire difficult than it actually is, but you should come ready with some basic sysadmin/networking skills. =]
Maybe this, 2nd tab, start live capture - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
No root required.
Im absolutely sure that there are better solutions that require root, but I also think this one I mentioned might easily help you
I used this to find and blacklist the url but the ad still pops up
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
Edit: to anyone in the future, I never did manage to solve this issue, even when blacklisting all the URLs
I just purchased the pro app eventually because it was only that app, nothing else
Turns out the app connects to Facebook servers (Facebook owns Instagram). In my case it connects to these hosts but this may well be different for you:
edge-mqtt-mini-shv-01-amt2.facebook.com instagram-p3-shv-01-amt2.fbcdn.net edge-star-shv-01-amt2.facebook.com ig-telegraph-shv-08-atn2.facebook.com
I used this app to see what connections the Instagram app is making.
EDIT: Unfortunately, blocking these hosts using DNS66 only results in the app connecting to other hosts..
I was curious, it's actually free: Network Connections.
The way I think it works is:
The Network Connections app provides a handy visualization of what connections are open ("Established") by Google Services Framework and other apps/services.
Obviously, there's a good chance that the device already has a socket open to Google servers for other reasons, and Find My Phone merely piggybacks on an existing connection.
When the device (local) with the Find My Phone app or using the web page tries to find the other device (remote), Google Servers send data to the remote instructing it to send data to Google Servers about its location, battery level, and perhaps other things, which it (remote) hopefully dutifully does, and Google Servers relay it to the (local) device. Instructions (ring, wipe) are conveyed from local to remote via Google Servers.
One thing to keep clear in this: a device (client) with a <em>socket</em> open to another device (server, peer, whatever), once established, doesn't need to periodically transmit/receive data at the TCP layer (OSI Layer 3); that's handled at the IP layer (OSI Layer 2) or hardware (OSI Layer 1) level.
Network Connections:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
There are alternatives but this works better imo
I actually had a similar run with this issue recently and spent a few hours debugging my situation before resolving it. My connection would be generally okay, but I'd get a fit of lag for about 10 seconds nearly every game. It just became a thing I dealt with for a couple weeks. I stopped played ranked cause it was almost guaranteed to happen at the most inopportune time.
Then, I had a day where it was completely unplayable, lagging all game long. So, I tried all the normal stuff, hard restart console, router, modem, etc. I normally play on wifi, but I tried wiring it up, no luck. I normally play on my Xbox, but I have it on PC as well and tried that, still laggy. Speedtest was giving me expected results and things like YouTube, Netflix, internet browsing were working without a hitch. I was only having issues in Rocket League.
I went on my router and filtered out every device, but my PC. Played a couple games of RL, no lag. Started adding devices one by one until the spikes came back. Eventually, I found that whenever my phone was connected to WiFi it would start to spike again. I'd disconnect and it would be smooth immediately. Killed all the running apps and reconnected, still lagging. Restarted the phone and reconnected, still lagging.
Ended up downloading an app called Network Connections. I used this to monitor the traffic my phone was generating. Turns out, I had the setting enabled for automatic backup of my photos and videos to my Google drive when my phone was connected to Wifi in the background. When I was getting particularly bad fits of lag it was due to the phone attempting to upload gigs of 4K videos and photos I had taken earlier that day.
Since turning that off, my connection has been pretty much flawless the last few days I've played, ~10 hours of game time. Many apps generate network activity in the background and it can be hard to tell when it's happening. Something to consider for those running into this issue as I assume many people are suffering from the same issue I was. Hope my cautionary tale helps!
I've not tried it on Shield, but sideloading this might help you find the culprit https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor&utma=xd
Network Connections https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
Give Network Connections a try
Monitoring:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5121732/monitor-network-activity-in-android-phones
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
Restrict Internet Access:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.netguard
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.ukanth.ufirewall
Good Luck
Install a network logger on your android and trace what it's trying to talk to? Something like this - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antispycell.connmonitor
I grabbed a random app: Network Connections