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Latest Update to ES File Explorer Android App Brings Adware To Your Lockscreen (xda-developers.com) 249

Posted by msmash from the Android-app-goes-rogue dept.
An anonymous reader writes: ES File Explorer (Google Play link) is one of the handiest file manager apps in the post-Android Gingerbread era, and it continues to ride up on its popularity (Editor's note: Google Play listing suggests the app has been downloaded between 100,000,000 and 500,000,000 times) and functionality. Recent changes to ES File Explorer, however, are signalling its decline. The newest update might just be the last straw that breaks the camels back, as ES File Explorer now bundles in adware. This adware comes in the form of DU Battery Booster, which adds in a lockscreen on your phone and brings ads directly to your lockscreen, irrespective of your choice. There was no intimation, no choice, no changelog to mention the same; all features which are characteristic of such deceptive "Booster" apps.Plenty of users have taken it to the Google Play listing of the aforementioned app to express their grievances. "This software is getting some major bloat with a lot of features that has very little to do with file browsing in general, so going to look elsewhere for a simple file explorer without all the 'extras'," a user wrote.
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Latest Update to ES File Explorer Android App Brings Adware To Your Lockscreen More

Latest Update to ES File Explorer Android App Brings Adware To Your Lockscreen

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  • Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jesseck ( 942036 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @01:53PM (#52085363)
    I used to use this, because it was the best out there... but these days, and with all the pointless (to me) updates, I am close to removing it.

    • Re:Not Surprising (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @01:55PM (#52085385) Journal

      Their promotion of other products means it's a lot bigger pain in the ass to use. Frankly, I think Google should just do the right thing and put a proper file browser in Android. But if it's going to start throwing ads on my lockscreen, then whatever utility the app may have, it's going to be deleted. There's a level of assholeishness that I just won't tolerate.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

        At least in my case, the reason I used ES for a LONG time wasn't due to lack of other file browsers - ES had REALLY good built-in LAN support (such as a fully userspace SMB client that did not require the kernel SMB client support to be enabled/existent).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jesseck ( 942036 )
          That's what I needed when I first installed it, and though I haven't used it in months, I keep it because it is useful.

      • I totally kicked ES File Explorer off of all my android systems quite some time ago because of these pop-ups.

        However, from the developer's perspective, I wasn't giving them any money, nor likely to in the future, so... I guess they don't really care that I don't use their app anymore.

        Too bad that it's difficult to choose what level of software update you want to use - their older program was the best I'd used.

    • Re:Not Surprising (Score:4, Informative)

      by war4peace ( 1628283 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:11PM (#52085565)

      I stopped it from auto-updating using the link below:
      http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/... [gizmodo.com]

      I'll stick with the version I have until Kingdom's Come - or until a better app comes along.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mlts ( 1038732 )

      A few weeks, I installed it to find and move an OS image. It didn't look like the traditional file manager... and instead of the regular Android filesystem, it only supported bouncing between user directories.

      If this program is spewing ads, that is even worse, because in the past, I used to trust it with root. I guess I'll use the ancient Root File Explorer utility from now on.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

      I already hit that threshold 3-4 months ago. It was giving me some popup about some sort of "optimization" routine, which had the options of "OK" or "Hide" - Hide did NOT stop it from running in the background.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nadaou ( 535365 )

      Yeah, ditch it. Or roll back to the last version before the original author sold it to the wolves, you can find it on ApkMirror. Look for version 4.0.2.3. You'll have to double check with another root file manager if that version is already sending back logs to China or not, ES hides the log file. You can unpack and repack the .apk installer to either change the name or resign the package, either one will stop the update manager from trying to install the new ruined version. You don't get SMB security patch

    • I passed the "close to removing it" point a few months ago when it was pushing mysterious notification to my screen - that's not what I expect out of a file explorer application.

      Solid Explorer seems to do what I need without the un-necessary intrusions.

  • dammit, filesystem, you had one job (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pseudonymous Powers ( 4097097 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @01:58PM (#52085427)

    ES File Explorer is one of the handiest file manager apps in the post-Android Gingerbread era, and it continues to ride up on its popularity

    ES File Explorer's slogan should be "Because for some reason Google has some sort of policy against including a decent file manager with Android by default".

    That decision has always made perfect sense to me. Just because you're writing an operating system, that's no real reason to get bogged down messing around with "files" and "directories" and stuff. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write some audio-processing software for my printer.

    • The reason I use Android versus iOS is because I want to mess around with files and directories. One use case, I don't trust the phone's magic to gather all the images from the camera for me, so much easier and straight forward to just select and move the image files to my network storage. I also use ES Explorer to do this... which will definitely not be staying if I have to look at adware. Seems to be a pretty big price to pay for a file manager.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by KGIII ( 973947 )

        Up above people are saying it's $2.99 and that the paid version has no ads. Well, one AC says it has ads and then calls people names but registered users are asserting it has no ads.

        Err... I... I umm... I use Windows Phone so I don't actually know if there *is* a File Manager app in the store? (It comes with a functional file manager.) There probably is but I can't help with that either. No, no I'm not that helpful. I'm not even sure why I'm in the thread. Morbid curiosity, I suppose. But, it's dirt cheap i

    • I'm going to go write some audio-processing software for my printer.

      Are you *still* working on Pulse Audio Lennart? [wikipedia.org]

    • Re:dammit, filesystem, you had one job (Score:4, Insightful)

      by iampiti ( 1059688 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @03:10PM (#52086121)
      Well, it's pretty obvious that Google doesn't want a file manager in Android because it doesn't fit their goals. They want you to store everything on the cloud so they can datamine the hell out of it
      I hate that mobile OSs give the user so little control over their own devices, they should be like a PC only smaller. And, no, that doesn't mean they should be hard to use for regular users just that they shouldn't prevent power users to use their devices as they see fit

    • ES File Explorer's slogan should be "Because for some reason Google has some sort of policy against including a decent file manager with Android by default".

      The policy is simple. Android by design was not supposed to care about exact files. Everything was media scanning and OS level control of where things were being saved. And quite frankly as a user myself I should not ever have to browse through a filesystem on a damn phone or tablet, save for maybe a downloads folder ... which Android provides a default store and app to access. Want to take something specific and do something with it? There's usually an app that interacts with that file format be it the PDF

  • I've never used ES (Score:5, Informative)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:06PM (#52085493)

    fx File Explorer has always been great for me. I use the free version - no ads. There is also a paid version with additional features. Easy, intuitive, works well as either user or root.

    Oh shit - I think I just wrote a Slashvertisement ...

  • It can be used as a file manager, but I installed it to upload / download files to a PC via your account's web page.

  • There's no silly "file explorer" problem on iOS, because we can't access files! /joke

  • Alternatives? (Score:5, Informative)

    by pr0t0 ( 216378 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:13PM (#52085583)

    This /. story prompted me to search for alternatives, and found this which seems relevant.
    http://www.guidingtech.com/536... [guidingtech.com]

    I've installed Solid to see how that looks. A decent ad-free file explorer is worth a couple of bucks to me.

  • Thanks! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:14PM (#52085607)
    I got up this morning and looked at my phone and saw the ad screen and was WTF!? because I had no idea what was generating it. I was late so I didn't have time to investigate further. Now I know what it was.

  • X-plore (Score:3)

    by DiSKiLLeR ( 17651 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:17PM (#52085625) Homepage Journal

    I don't get it. What's wrong with X-plore? It's the midnight commander or norton commander style file manager for android and I've been using for some 5 years. It's amazing.

    No bloat or other shit.

    Never even heard of ES File Explorer before, and I guess I haven't been missing anything...

    • Maybe it's that X-Plore's UI is a hot mess?

    • When I was looking for a file manager, either those ones weren't there yet or the glowing reviews of ES prevented me from finding the other ones. I'll be looking for them now.
    • How free is it?

    • You may want to consider to what app you're likening X-Plore to.

      My first reaction when you mentioned MC was "wtf why would someone write a keyboard interaction app on the phone", not "that awesome CLI file exploring utility in Linux".

  • Scanning apps to make sure they're safe (Score:3)

    by cdrudge ( 68377 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:17PM (#52085635) Homepage

    It's annoyed me for a while now that it likes to scan every app I download to make sure it's "safe". I wonder if I hadn't uninstalled it just now if it would scan itself and prevent it from being installed?

    • I wonder how they were doing that. [slashdot.org]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cdrudge ( 68377 )

        Perhaps that was what they were doing. My money was on they were tracking what everyone was installing for analytic purpose to sell to whoever would pay for the data. That's an easier conclusion to jump to now that they're bundling adware with it then it is to think that they are are "security researcher" actually trying to protect my device.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @02:27PM (#52085719)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I used to use ES File explorer, but after so many times loading it up and seeing all these new "features" they added like file cleaner or whatever (don't remember off the top of my head). I got sick of it and wanted just a simple file manager. Switched out about a month ago, now glad I did... It's a shame seeing awesome apps get filled with bloat.

  • I use ES File Explorer on my phone (Jellybean), while I get the DU Boost Lockscreen, I only get that when it's plugged in. And there are no ads.

    I also have ES File Explorer on my tablet (Lollipop), the lockscreen is unchanged.

  • So I have had a replaced lockscreen on my HTC One (M7) for a few months now. It's really annoyed me but I was too lazy to find out what was doing it. I had assumed it was HTC or my phone provider and was just 'happy' being annoyed about it.

    Then when I saw this article, I thought it may have been the problem but, alas, I had already removed ES File explorer previously.

    It got me to looking and I found out that it was in fact the TouchPal keyboard app doing it on my phone. - http://forums.androidcentral.c... [androidcentral.com]

    Wh

    • So I have had a replaced lockscreen on my HTC One (M7) for a few months now.

      HTC's lockscreen is bad enough as it is. It has an ugly clock that you cannot configure, move, or remove. And it is telling me that "weather unavailable", which means that it would normally try to reach across the net to find the local weather, were the location services not turned off. You can't configure or remove the weather, either.

      Further, it has four apps at the bottom that, if you miss the small center bit while "swiping up", become active should you enter the unlock code. You can't change those ap

  • when they introduced a mandatory home page peddling their additional software. Too bad this app is still the most useful file manager in Android but luckily you can replace it with something less intrusive by giving up on certain non-essential features.

    Also if you still cannot live without it, uninstall it and manually install one of its old shit-free versions from here [apk4fun.com]. Make sure you've disabled automatic updates in the Google Play (Store) app.

    • Also if you still cannot live without it, uninstall it and manually install one of its old shit-free versions from here. Make sure you've disabled automatic updates in the Google Play (Store) app.

      How far back do you have to go?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by KGIII ( 973947 )

        Someone above mentioned 4.0.0.2. Don't ask why I remember. I don't even have an Android phone and I'm just in the thread being an ass to celebrate. (I'm just a helpful ass.)

  • EStrongs *USED TO* make great software, but they sold out several years ago to a Hong Kong based company that just keeps stuffing more and more bloat and ads into what was once some of the best Android software.

    I personally use Root Explorer now which works great, even on non-rooted devices.

  • I never could figure out how they made money. The seemed to offer great software for nothing until recently. If you can't figure out what the product is... it is you. That is why I paid $2 for FX File Explorer.

  • Cabinet [google.com] open source, only a file manager, actively developed.

  • The issue is quite old actually. Here's just "one" of the topics on the matter, listing other apps that do the same: https://www.reddit.com/r/andro... [reddit.com]

  • It's not about the money (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    For me at least, it's not about the sticking ads in there. They're developers and they have (until recently) made a great application that was my go-to file manager for years.
    The problem is that they have, without any notification whatsoever, silently added a 3rd party app to theirs. Not only that, but the app they have bundled is totally crap. It "claims" that it will boost your phone's charging rate by 20%, which is just total and utter rubbish (in my, admittedly short test, it lengthened the charging tim

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