A recent article from online American magazine PC World has suggested a few reasons as to why applications available for download through the Android marketplace are more secure and less likely to cause harm or access personal information without user knowledge than those available from Apple AppStore. The 3 suggestions, in short, centre around permissions, the marketplace itself and the openness of the platform; more explanation below.
Permissions – Android is based on the Linux platform and each application runs in a separate ‘silo’ unable to read/write data or code to other applications. Each app also has a unique identifier with permissions restricting what it is capable of on the system. This is similar to the way Linux distros run on a PC with users (in this case the apps) being unable to access the full power and cause harm to the system at a whole without ‘root’ password knowledge.
Also for data to be shared across applications (e.g. accessing contact information) the user must be explicitly informed. In other words if the app is attempting to access information you think it shouldn’t, you have the option to stop the installation before any harm is done.
With the iPhone there are a number of system resources that an app can have access to by default, a rogue app could potentially be causing damage without your knowledge whereas the Android app has the ability to raise your suspicions early.
The Marketplace – Apple pride themselves on approving every app themselves before it goes to market whereas Google have faith in their user-evaluated service. While some consider Apple’s stance to be the safer, as the consumer we are unaware what checks the approval service itself actually consists of. Also updates to the app could always include malicious code. Also, security research firm Lookout found after some digging that iPhone apps were nearly twice as likely to be accessing personal contact information then Android apps.
Openness – Android isn’t as open a platform as many would like but there is no denying that it is more open than the iOS platform. The main point here is that the the underlying code of Android is open to scrutiny by users and developers across the world – meaning there are far more people who can potentially discover bugs, holes and problems with the platform and available applications than Apple could possible offer.
What are your thoughts? Have you experienced security issues with downloadable applications on either platform? And what do you think about the openness of Android over the closed approach of Apple? Is user-centric evaluation important to you?
It’s all technology. Every piece has some downsides. What boggles me is that we want to expand technology but we still stick to our uptight “security issues”.
Thanks for the article. I’m a relatively new Android user and security is an issue I care about. So far, I’ve experienced no problems, but I am also a bit selective about what I download. I like that each app informs me ahead of time what the app has access to, and a couple of times I’ve changed my mind at that point in the process. It may not be entirely logical, but the access to my location is particularly dodgy, imho.
You’ve hit on a significant topic, too. I do business with certain companies by choice, and while I am concerned about those 1st party companies having access to my data, it’s just the nature of interactive devices. But how securely do they story my personal data, and do they ever sell it to 3rd parties later? Given Apple’s recent move toward more invasive applications, I feel a bit safer with the non-Apple device I’m using.
I am the proud owner of an IPhone and have not had any security issues as of yet. Thanks for the information. I was not aware that apps could access my personal data on my phone. I wonder if there is a listing of apps that are capable of this. Great post!
As you can tell from my latest blog entry, I’m a huge fan of open systems, and I’m pretty disappointed that Jobs has sold out and given in to the Dark Side.
You would never see things like the complete blocking of Flash on an open platform. If the manufacturer didn’t supply it – someone else would. For good or ill – the choice is yours.
In terms of security, I couldn’t say, but look at it this way. If a security hole is found in Android, it will be quickly made public, and quickly fixed. A security hole in an Apple product is likely to be kept to a few people until they can get around to fixing it – and that might take longer than you think.
Welcome to the Rebel Alliance my friend.
I appreciate that Android forces applications to declare the permissions they will have when installed. I know that most users ignore this but those who pay attention at least have a chance to avoid installing something they’ll regret. I wrote a short comment about this very topic a few months back on WP.
mobilegenius.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/44/
Thank you for writing this, and keeping it real. It helps the entire technical community when someone can explain actual details of the mechanics behind the mobile OS’s. Clear, informative and not just opinionated rhetoric, without discussing the facts – is the biggest trend to hit the news.
As outlandish as it seems – and I do not own one – was the discussion about Flash on the iPhone. I bring this up not so much to favor iPhone, but to show how almost everyone jumped on the ‘hater wagon’, and no one directly argued the issues. Steve Job’s letter was very straight forward and logical. Yet the critics claimed “He’s an egomaniac.” If you READ WHAT THE LETTER SAYS, his logic is indisputable; notably, Adobe is slow to respond to Apple, Flash has chronic stability / memory management issues, and it is clearly too exploitable.
Dancing around Job’s points, Adobe corporate continued to both denounce Apple and disregard another major flash security update they released within a week of Job’s letter.
I have an Android smart phone and absolutely love it. I can even update my WordPress on it at any time. Having used the iTouch and the iPhone, I get better reception, connectivity, and just about every app I want. Sure the iPhone has a lot more, but truthfully how many apps are you going to use? Maybe a dozen at best, and not one who uses their phone for games, I enjoy it a lot. Although there is this one pesky game called “Abduction”…
I definitely think the android system is safe. I have not used IOS but from what I have seen the android system alerts u about what it going on and what u trying to download.
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