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Android Susceptible To Apps That Turn On Roaming

Posted by timothy on from the would-love-to-see-an-actual-toggle-switch dept.

fermion writes "If seems that Google's Android and T-Mobile have not learned from the bad experience and wrath Apple incurred with roaming charges on the iPhone. Applications can switch to roaming and data operation without the user's knowledge. Also, according to The Register, there is no way to switch off roaming. Given the backlash that Apple experienced over international roaming charges, one would think that T-Mobile would have built a phone to prevent such unexpected charges." From the wording of the article, the inability to turn off roaming seems to be on a per-application basis; users can evidently disable it globally.

3 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Not true, marketplace apps tell exactly info by LingNoi · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sounds like BS to me..

    1) go here: http://tmobile.modeaondemand.com/htc/g1/
    2) click Simulation
    3) Click the arrow icon on the screen to the right
    4) click market
    5) select any app
    6) click install

    Look at this screen. It tells you exactly what the app does.

  2. Bad summary by jettoblack · · Score: 5, Informative

    The problem is that the Android OS doesn't strictly enforce its global "Disable Data Roaming" option. Apps are supposed to respect this setting but some do not, thus a user who thinks it is disabled can still end up with $thousands in international data fees.

    1. Re:Bad summary by Ilgaz · · Score: 3, Informative

      It doesn't give ANY credibility to Apple.

      J2ME security model, Symbian Security model which nears a billion installed base wouldn't do a mistake like that and yet there is no "Nokia Store" prison or "Sun Store" lock in.

      Here is Symbian security model (295K pdf) http://www.symbian.com/files/rx/file3202.pdf

      J2ME security (Symbian also carries J2ME) http://developers.sun.com/mobility/midp/articles/permissions/

      It can't be used as excuse for Apple draconian policies. Apple's security policy on iPhone is: Nobody should never, ever compete with their iTunes on device.