Wyze app contains adware?

@rmaulsby, I appreciate your respect for forum etiquette and thanks for the forthright DM.

I’d like to ask the permission of the OP, @marcosr, to post your DM text to the thread. I think it expands the original subject quite reasonably without diverting it.

In fact, you can post it yourself, if agreed. marcosr?

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What are the biggest concerns about adware?

Annoying:

Ad display

Theft:

Of device resources

  • to process and display ads
  • to collect and transmit data

Of personal information

  • behavioral
  • identity and security credentials

Untargeted ad display is like a flyer left on your porch or windshield: theft of your attention and energy to remove and dispose of it (click off.)

Targeted ad display (unsolicited) is downright creepy. Baby clothes? Pot dispensaries? Free clinics? Who at our IP is relevant to that? T’ain’t me, babe.

There’s a whole nuther topic on this forum about privacy and security and money (with respect to cloud technology) boiling down to trust. Trust is the currency you can’t counterfeit - it must be genuinely earned.

Wyze is demonstrating an understanding of that fact every day, in that thread, this thread and others.

They are distinguishing themselves among their peers according to many endorsements on the boards.

They are legitimately different, I believe, and seem to be interested in remaining so.

The problem is, the business and technical ecosystem they operate within is not trustworthy.

So being different is a double-edged sword, both distinguishing AND disadvantaging with respect to competitors untrammeled by issues like trust and ethics.

These are the dilemmas that form character.

In the degraded nature state of our current culture, those that still wrestle with them stand out in bold relief.

OK Peepeep. Go ahead. My problem still hasn’t been resolved. I still see lots of ads. Other than Ad Detector reporting AdMobService in the Wyze app, all the other antivirus apps that I have tried (Malwarebytes, AVG, Avast, CleanMaster) can’t find anything wrong with my phone. So any help is welcomed.

@marcosr if you’re having problems with random ads, you may not want to hear this but buy an iPhone.

Their app review process is much more rigorous. They do a better job of controlling the user experience through a more tightly controlled environment.

I use an iPhone, and all Google apps. Email. Calendar. Docs/sheets/slides. All G-Suite applications. It’s the best of both worlds.

Bloat and malware is a much bigger issue on Android based phones. I have used and really like stock Android, but I always have more problems on those phones especially with one that isn’t nearly new.

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marcosr, if you’re into it, try taking a few screenshots of the ads/apps displayed and post 'em to the thread. Here’s a how-to if you’re unfamiliar with the process:

Posting @rmaulsby’s DM may not directly contribute to solving your problem but he’s an interesting and informed guy and I think it will enrich the thread.

I have a class bias against Apple. A friend of mine has been trying to give me a pristine old BMW for about ten years. I tell him, “I wouldn’t wear that t-shirt.” He gets a kick out of it, calls it my “principled rejection.” We get in his helo and fly off to lunch.

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Ha! I have owned multiple, currently drive a BMW, and get where you’re coming from. Tell him I have a home for that pristine bimmer if he’s looking to give it away!

BMW is amazing at making cars, despite how many of their owners love to cut you off. Apple is amazing at making hardware, creating a great consistent user experience, and charging a premium that at least historically people have been willing to pay.

That said, look for quality and use the elements that fit what you need or want. That’s why I like Wyze – other companies have hardware or features that are more advanced, and I see Wyze quickly meeting and surpassing those offerings in a democratized approach.

Circling back on the original topic - while it appears Wyze is using technology that allows them to advertise and retarget us/their-users I believe they are the best player in the home automation space and that’s why I’m comfortable placing their products in my home and my money buying their new offerings. :rocket:

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Yikes, just found out a bimmer is a car and a beemer is a motorcycle. I think. Clubs, belonging, and those-that-would-have-me-as-a-member, come to mind.

In any event, he’s a good guy for the most part, but he’d have to know you wouldn’t accept before he’d offer. :wink:

With respect to “democratizing” (a Wyze term) gotta say using loaded language like that in the commercial space makes me squirm.

I think people don’t squirm as easily as they should anymore but I’m definitely in the minority.

Which brings us back to the topic, adware, tracking and what about it is most objectionable. @marcosr, you started this whole kerfuffle… what say you? :slight_smile:

Huh, gone dark. Didn’t expect that.

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Both from OP and from the additional questions posed in the thread. Assuming the OP figured out the overlay ads issue. May need to open another topic on the other questions.

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If you are referring to me, my problem still hasn’t been resolved. It got worse. I still see lots of ads and this app OlympTrade installs itself even if I keep deleting it. I get ads from Fiverr and phantom.me and there is another app called “WiFi Settings” that installed itself. All this started with the Wyse app. And when I start the Wyse app the ads keep popping up. The thread took a turn that I didn’t expect. I just wanted to find a solution to my problem, but so far I didn’t. So I don’t have anything else to add.

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for queation 2&3 , the answer is no. we do not have admob account and we do not have ad revenue. that is not our business model.

regarding 1. our understanding is that admob is part of firebase. Whether we can remove admob, or if there is any setting to turn off Admob, we looked at it before. I am tagging @XRoyHe to see if he has any updates.

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Thank you for your response. This is exactly what I expected and very happy to make that clear for everyone.

In my view, and I want to convey this to others, just having the existence of admob in the app is not a problem. It’s part of other services used to create and manage a quality app experience.

Thank you again!

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@marcosr It sounds like you have some pretty serious malware on your phone. If I were you, I’d wipe my phone to factory settings and start installing just your needed apps.

I’ve run Wyze on both iPhone and Android devices and have never seen what you’re describing. Both the Play/App store versions as well as the beta version.

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I agree with @rmaulsby.

If a bad actor is so deeply embedded and cloaked that the remediating utilities don’t even see it, time to wipe and reinstall essentials.

If you have an extensive set of installed apps that you’ve tweaked to get just right, receiving this advice doesn’t just blow it sucks. Still, a clean slate may sound pretty good to you right now, @marcosr, worth the tedious process of reconstructing your custom-tailored experience.

I have editorial comments to make about this (Google!!) but will show remarkable restraint by keeping them to myself for once. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

@marcosr It sounds like you have some pretty serious malware on your phone. If I were you, I’d wipe my phone to factory settings and start installing just your needed apps.

Definitely this :arrow_up::arrow_up::arrow_up:

Hardcore malware can hide itself from anti-viruses and/or scanners.

Also, any chance of posting a screenshot? Just curious to see what you are seeing in terms of the ads on the Wyze app :sweat_smile:

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Also curious.

Never seen any ads in the Wyze app. No ad blocker either. Running Nougat on the tablet and Oreo on the phone.