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How does app get notifications when it's not running? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically I've acquired a burner Android 8 phone and am running the target.com app which is the only way they let you get parking lot delivery at the store. I assume the Target app is spyware. I keep the phone powered off almost all the time which should limit the spying. The thing is, if I power up the phone and order something, then close the app, I still get an alert when the status of the order changes (e.g. it's ready for pickup). So the app is still listening for network traffic from Target.

Can anyone explain what is happening in Android and whether there is a way to make an app really stop? Does the app stay in a running state even after I've closed the UI part of it? Is there somethng like an inetd in Android that listens for network alerts and re-launches the destination app? Are there Android app permissions associated with this, that I can revoke?

I don't want to run this type of app on my main phone, but I had at first liked the idea of using a burner for such things. Now, though, I wonder if I need a separate burner for each suspicious app. Thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago

What I'm wondering now is, does the target app have to keep running to receive those messages?

No it doesn’t. What’s happening is target’s webserver sends a message to Google’s webserver, which sends a message to your phone, which is displayed by the OS. The Target app doesn’t need to be launched for this and won’t be launched unless you tap on the notification, which typically launches the associated app.

That means it's potentially continuously collecting the phone's location.

Target’s app isn’t doing this, although they probably do record what you bought from which target and when.

Google can / probably is continuously collecting the phone’s location, to some extent. Your cell service company can do this too.