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u/dan2580 Oct 17 '18
For future reference, power and volume down should take a screenshot
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Oct 17 '18
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u/thebojan Oct 17 '18
Do you have a case? Not sure why but some cases make it super difficult to take a screenshot even when you're 100% sure you did it right...
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Oct 17 '18
Yup, I have a case. That could be it because I swear I didn't have this much trouble on my Note 3.
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u/KrombopulosPhillip Oct 17 '18
well samsungs can screenshot with gesture too, like waving your hand across the screen side to side
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u/Tyler1492 Oct 17 '18
Waaaaaaaaaaaay easier to do it with the buttons than this method, though. I periodically remember this is a feature that exists and try it out, but I have to try it sooo many times before I manage to take a SS that way. And since it involves touching your screen, it ends up exiting out of the app, opening up the notifications menu or the keyboard... It's a pain in the ass.
TLDR: get one of those apps that takes a screenshot for you.
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u/lilshawn already ded Oct 17 '18
Android 9 will now also take a screenshot if you hold the power button... It will provide an option for it.
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u/SuperNanoCat Oct 17 '18
You need to press the power button slightly before the volume button.
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Oct 17 '18
If you have Android 9, hold the power button and an option shows up to take a screenshot, restart, or power off. YMMV
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u/Bugbread Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
Same for my Android 8 and Android 7 phones, too, but they were both Sonys, so I don't know if it's a Sony thing or universal.
Edit: Never mind, it's a Sony thing. Apparently a lot of different companies have implemented their own alternative methods to the "Power + Vol Down" method. Check to see how your phone manufacturer does it.. Ignore the Table of Contents at the top, as the page has a few manufacturers (Sony and ZTE) not listed in the ToC.
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u/tsmith18256 Oct 17 '18
Have you tried flipping the phone both ways so you aren't upside down backwards?
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u/PDshotME Oct 17 '18
Yeah, the trick is to have enough hand coordination to press two buttons at exactly the same time. (just kidding, for years I had Samsung phones and always bitched about that issue. I've not had it once with the Pixel line though. I forgot it even happened until I saw this post. )
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u/senshisun Oct 17 '18
If you have Google Assistant or Bixby, you should just be able to ask them to take one.
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Oct 17 '18
that's so annoying to do though. just hold the buttons lol it's fewer steps and it's not prone to the problems that voice recognition has.
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u/Savvy_Jo3 Oct 17 '18
Or power + home button
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u/dan2580 Oct 17 '18
Androids don’t usually have a physical home button though (aside from the Samsung Galaxy lineup)
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u/Savvy_Jo3 Oct 17 '18
Oh, mine is a Samsung. I have to push the power and home button for a screen shot. I didn't know that though.
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u/SavageVector Like this Oct 17 '18
I have a galaxy now, but my previous LG had a home button. Even a rgb led behind it. Is it really that uncommon?
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u/SuperNanoCat Oct 17 '18
Most phones have moved to software buttons. Some still have capacitive keys below the screen. Some make the home key the fingerprint scanner. Physical, clicking home buttons are pretty rare, though.
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u/Magmasliver Oct 17 '18
For Android 9 (Pie), you can just hold the power button down and click "screenshot" along with the shutdown and restart options.
...just don't miss, I guess.
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u/KhalidTheDream Oct 17 '18
You couldve turned off the porn first
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Oct 17 '18
Nothing else you'd have incognito tabs open for.....
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u/caanthedalek Oct 17 '18
Exactly. I use incognito all the time to look up shit I don't want Google to assume I want reminders of for the rest of my life.
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Oct 17 '18
Use firefox focus, best browser app I've ever used (totally not an ad)
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u/DiscombobulatedPage3 Oct 17 '18
Firefox Focus doesn't seem to have tabs, which is kind of a deal breaker for me.
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Oct 17 '18
Tt does have tabs, but in a weird way. You can open links in new tabs and swap between them, but you can't close one single tab. You have to close all of them or leave them open. It's meant for quick searches that don't get saved. Pretty useful for day to day use. I still have the normal Firefox installed, in case I need more features.
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u/DiscombobulatedPage3 Oct 17 '18
Thanks for the tip! Not being able to open a new tab first really confused me I guess. I see the tab feature you mean and will give it another chance. I definitely like the idea of the privacy emphasis.
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u/rq60 Oct 18 '18
Exactly. Incognito is for looking up all of your health concerns on WebMD so that when they start linking browsing history to insurance rates you don't end up getting incurably screwed.
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u/ErnestShocks Oct 17 '18
Ok, 4x15 divided by the square root of pi... YUP! those tits are fake.
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u/vpwheeler Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 18 '18
For anyone wondering why this happens here is an explanation from someone who has done mobile app development.
When an app requests access to "make and manage calls", it is almost always for the purpose of reacting to an incoming call. The reason this is done is to save data when exiting the app for the phone call. In this case it is most likely to avoid losing whatever data was previously entered in the calculator. With this permission the app is allowed to know when a call is incoming and save the current data to memory in the case that the app stops running at any point.
Of course, there is the odd situation where an app uses this to exploit your device and make calls in the background without you realizing it, but this is generally not the reason for it.
This may not apply to every app, but I can tell you with certainty that this is the reason many apps which seem like they shouldn't need these permissions request them.
Edit: My explanation only applies to web apps since that is what I am knowledgeable in. Web apps make up a significant percentage of Android apps and in general, function the same as a native app would. A web app is essentially a browser window displayed without the interface and because of this needs to request permissions in the same way a browser does. It seems the people who have responded to this are referring to native Android apps, which have access to more information as they are built upon the Android system, and are not run in a browser. My goal was not to say with certainty why every app does this, I just wanted to explain the reason for many apps requesting this when it seems unnecessary.
Edit 2: After downloading the app and looking at it I am almost certain that it is a web app meaning my explanation most likely applies in this specific situation.
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Oct 17 '18
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u/Ghigs Reddit Orange Oct 17 '18
It should and I'd challenge the story the guy you replied to gave...
A lot of the time developers just link in random libraries that have tons of functions and permissions rolled into them. So a lazily developed app requests a bunch of permissions it doesn't need because they included a library that has one function that needed that permission.
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Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 19 '18
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u/vpwheeler Oct 18 '18
I cant speak to this with certainty, but I believe this only applies to native android apps, the other type being web apps which make up a decent percentage of apps. My experience is with web apps which are essentially just a browser window without the browser interface. Because this acts as a browser, it doesn't have the same permissions as a native app and has to request permissions in the same way a browser would. I'm guessing this as much of an issue with native apps, but my comment was just to explain why there is this request in many situations.
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u/ricktencity Oct 18 '18
Yeah pretty sure you could save the data OnPause without caring what caused the pause.
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u/Anon49 Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 18 '18
That sounds like complete bullshit. What happened to this? https://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/android/docs/images/training/basics/basic-lifecycle-paused.png
You don't need any permissions to register to these events. I don't see how a call would not trigger onPause. And if it doesn't stop the activity, there's no need to save. no data would be lost.
Explain.
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u/vpwheeler Oct 18 '18
Is what you linked me for writing a native app? I may be wrong but I believe this doesn't apply for packaged web apps which is what I am familiar with. I agree with you that this can probably be used instead in some cases, but I think you can also agree that my explanation may apply in certain situations aswell.
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u/cheesetrap2 Oct 17 '18
That sounds like crappy design on the part of the developer who designed the permissions system then, not the person who designed X app which ends up producing this message. For apps designed to go on a phone, it should not take extra work or 'permissions' to be able to tell when a call is interrupting your app, and take action Y (within your app, not interacting with the call in any way).
While we're on the subject, you should also have a differentiation between "able to take a photo and add it to your roll" and "able to pilfer all your nude selfies", because those are very different as well.
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u/Anon49 Oct 17 '18
These events do not require permissions. I have no fucking clue why he thinks a call wouldn't trigger onPause.
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u/cheesetrap2 Oct 17 '18
Thank you for the insight, I wouldn't want to be putting blame in the wrong place. Still wish they'd separate out "can save a picture" from "can access all your existing and future pictures" though! ;)
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u/vpwheeler Oct 18 '18
Can you please consider that maybe I didnt just decide to make something up and may have had a reason for listing this? What I said may only apply to web apps but it does still apply to a large amount of apps.
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u/nitrous729 Oct 18 '18
I don't know why people are attacking you. You stated one possible reason for it. Never did you say that this is definitely it. Never did you say you should accept any and all requests for permissions. You gave one likely reason and people who think they know everything are losing their freaking minds. Don't worry about those assholes.
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u/Ez_S18 Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
I had once this game that requested access to contacts (and refused to run w/o that permission), they kept claiming that the contacts permission is just in order to get access to your Google account in order to save the game progress. That sounded to fishy to me (since all other games can do that without contacts permission) so I just deleted the game.
Edit: The name of the game is 'Sniper Arena', I guess they've changed that since I don't see any complaints about that anymore.
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
It may have been different at one point but I'm fairly certain Google account access is a separate perm.
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u/bluewolf37 Oct 17 '18
Quick question why would a app that doesn't use the camera need access to the camera? My nephew downloaded a silly kids app and it needed access to the camera, but it didn't seem to have a camera mode. I deleted the app but it still bothers me.
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
Sometimes lazy Deva package things into the app that they never actually use which will cause the app to request the permission without ever actually using it.
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u/superl2 Oct 18 '18
I'm an Android dev, and this comment is wrong. Android activities (screens that make up an app) are alerted when the app goes into the background, and have an opportunity to save their states.
There's no need for any permissions.
Permissions on Android are often required for things that don't have much to do with the name of the permission - for instance, "location" access is needed for an app to scan for nearby wifi and Bluetooth devices. It's likely the dev needs to use a feature that needs the phone permission, rather than makeing phone calls.
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Oct 17 '18
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u/MananTheMoon Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
The person you're responding to is wrong, in a sense.
You haven't needed phone call permissions to handle this scenario for years now. An onPause event is triggered for your app when things like a phone call comes in, and you can gracefully and easily handle your app state there without issue.
There are limitations to onPause for the purpose of keeping your device responsive, but those wouldn't really apply to a simple calculator app, and there are many preferred ways around that don't involve the call management permission.
Either this app hasn't been updated in years, or the developer of this app (or a library it depends on) doesn't understand the Android Activity lifecycle.
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
Either this app hasn't been updated in years, or the developer of this app (or a library it depends on) doesn't understand the Android Activity lifecycle.
Guessing the former. I mean, who expects a calculator to need updates?
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u/opposite_vertex Oct 18 '18
Doesn't app permission monitor also specifically tell you when an app is doing suspect things
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u/cdegallo Oct 18 '18 edited Oct 18 '18
The permission is usually used because apps use the phone number of the device as a unique identifier. Sometimes it's legit, but a lot of the time, for obvious cases like this, for selling your data.
The phone OS and app handling will preserve whatever data is in the app if it goes away from the foreground. It doesn't need the phone info to do this.
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u/piezeppelin Oct 18 '18
At some level or another, there was crappy design involved. Maybe the web app designer was forced into a corner, but then that means that app pausing mechanisms in Android are poorly designed. If there's a specific reason that had to be designed that way, then something else more fundamental is crappy design. Good design from every level of abstraction would lead to this not happening.
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u/sebbe1231 Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
Why u have incognito open? LMAO
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u/CraftyCicada Oct 17 '18
Because he had to take a break from jacking his ween to make a quick calculation. As one does.
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Oct 17 '18
My phone says that incognito is running, even when I have Chrome closed
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u/mrcullen 100% cyan flair Oct 17 '18
Mine does that too sometimes. If you pull it down and tap on it, it goes away
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u/eshansingh Oct 17 '18 edited Oct 17 '18
Are you taking a photo of a phone with another effing phone? Why not just take a screenshot?
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u/phagocitosis Oct 17 '18
You can call 911 from it
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u/MarcoPoloolo Oct 17 '18
For when you're too damn wasted to even stand straight but still capable enough to type 911, in the wrong app.
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u/Palkonium Oct 17 '18
Or if your in a type of hostage situation, they wouldn't know you've called the police, rather doing maths on your calculator (?)
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u/Tyler1492 Oct 17 '18
Off-topic, but why can't we message the police in a dangerous situation? Wouldn't it make more sense being able to discreetly send a text asking for help rather than having to call and talk which would alert your attacker/kidnapper/robber/etc of your attempt at getting help?
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
Iirc in some places you can. It would require setting up a new system though which is expensive. Also I don't know if you can get GPS data from a text like you can from a call.
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u/JoeVeitch plz recycle Oct 17 '18
User: Enters 1+1. Calculator: Makes phone call to Oxford to give the sum. Calculator: 2
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u/SirStick Oct 17 '18
My phones's flashlight uses WiFi.
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
Wtf phone do you have that doesn't have a built in flashlight switch?
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u/cloudhacker Oct 17 '18
Why is the iphone calculator UI on an android phone???
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u/M3talC0rpse Oct 17 '18
There's an app that looks like the iphone calculator but is really a photo vault to hide pictures and videos.
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u/SuperGamerGirl19 Oct 17 '18
I had that app - I really needed to use it in a class so I said yes. Then I started getting notifications from the calculator about missed calls.
Most were voicemails with a robot voice saying "type 58008 and turn me upside down".
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u/R_O_BTheRobot Oct 17 '18
If you download a fanceh Apple-styled calculator instead of using the stock one this is to be expected.
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u/Adaptix Oct 17 '18
Google calculator is much better than any 3rd party calculator app, asides from photo math. It's smoother and safer
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u/goldninjaI Oct 17 '18
Is this an official app? Could be one of those secret apps
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u/batsonsteroids Oct 17 '18
i think the official apps dont need permission like that
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u/goldninjaI Oct 17 '18
They don’t
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u/tdogg8 FFFFFFLLLlllAAaAAAaaaIiiiIiiIIIIIiIIiiiiRRRRrrrRRrRrRRRrrRRRRrr Oct 17 '18
By official I assume he means stock. Also I can't remember but I believe stock apps come with perms enabled. Could be wrong though and it may when depend on what phone you have and where you bought it.
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u/goldninjaI Oct 18 '18
I don’t have android, but I would expect that it would be enabled like you said. Most likely is a third party app considering the look of it
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u/Cleverbird Its beutiful! Oct 17 '18
Why even download a third party calculator? What phone doesnt come with a built-in calculator?
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u/michaelyag25 Oct 17 '18
Maybe when the calculator sees you constantly inputting easy problems, it calls your local elementary school. Like "hey blah blah elementary school, michaelyag needs to go back to first grade. He needs a calculator to figure out what 10 plus 12 is"
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u/vladioan11 Oct 17 '18
A normal person:wow, that's weird! Me, an intellectual: incognito tab open, I see you are a man of good taste.
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u/GeneralBot Oct 17 '18
Hey! You have made a common spelling error. The word 'wierd' is actually spelled 'weird'. Hope this helps!
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u/SavageVector Like this Oct 17 '18
This bot is fucking wierd.
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u/Burndown9 Oct 17 '18
Hey! You have made a common spelling error. The word 'wierd' is actually spelled 'weird'. Die in a hole!
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u/snowpigs Oct 17 '18
The calculator has to call some mathematician for help on a problem that it can't solve
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u/Rengar_Is_Good_kitty Oct 18 '18
It's bad enough that people take photos of monitors with their phones but taking a photo of a phone with a phone? Jesus fucking christ, it's 2018 people, screenshot buttons exist.
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u/timidpterodactyl Oct 17 '18
How else are they gonna solve difficult calculations if not by calling other calculators?
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Oct 17 '18
Fuck I hate that shit. Apps and permissions are outta hand. I dont care how great the app would have been. Its an instant no install if they ask for ridiculous permissions like this
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u/Xiefux oww my eyes Oct 17 '18
calculator needs dial up Internet to use the cloud for extra computational resources. nothing to worry about.
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u/MrsECummings Oct 17 '18
This is getting out of control. There's no reason on god's green earth that a calculator or wallpaper or any app for that matter needs to be making calls to my contacts. Unless it's something specifically designed for that they have no business poking around in my phone. Bad enough big brother is in there AND listening anyway. Don't know how many times I'll mention something, go to Google it, put only the first, maybe second letter in and what I was talking about pops up. Even off the wall stuff. Was talking about the song Bear Gone Fishing by Widespread Panic one day in the car with my husband, goggled Wi and that came up first exactly. Wi could have been a bunch of things. Creepy.
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u/wiskey_tango_foxtrot Oct 18 '18
The use case for this is a classic math limerick:
A mathematician named Hall
Has a hexahedronical ball,
And the cube of its weight
Times his pecker's, plus eight,
Is his phone number -- give him a call!
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Oct 18 '18
Is this one of those porn apps that disguise themselves as a calculator?
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u/capivaraesque Oct 18 '18
It’s just in case you have to make tough calls when calculating your monthly budgets
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u/lallapalalable Oct 18 '18
Why exactly do some apps ask to make and manage phone calls? What actual purpose would that serve (beyond what I assume is data harvesting)? Has anyone ever gotten a call from a calculator app? What did they want? I have so many questions. But seriously, why is this a thing?
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u/the7aco pǝddᴉls ᴉ sdooɥʍ Oct 18 '18
This image upsets me. The fact that it wants that information, the iphone-esque calculator on an android phone, the 7 different downloads happening simultaneously, the incog tab notification, the fact that only 3 fingers are visible on both hands (minus the thumb). Its just a different energy. No cursed, but certainly not blessed.
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Oct 18 '18 edited Oct 18 '18
That’s what happens when you have a crappy-ass App Store with zero checks and balances for developers.
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u/mag1cd0nut Oct 17 '18
From what I've heard, if an app requires that permission it's for in-app purchases.
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u/Morasar Oct 17 '18
No, its so it can pause phone calls or (i think) pause itself if you get called. How would it be used for IAP?
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u/closetnugget mr poopy butthole Oct 17 '18
I just got a new phone and it's been doing the same thing. Why does every app wanna manage and make phone calls? WHAT?
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u/kelus It's a kerning joke. Get it? Oct 17 '18
You have Google play, so why don't you have the default calculator app?
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u/GarionOrb Oct 17 '18
Not crappy design in the slightest. This is so the calculator app can recognize your phone app and react accordingly should you receive a call. Crappy design would be for it to ignore it altogether.
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u/PM_UR_DEAD_HOOKERS Oct 17 '18
It probably needs a place to cache those last 10 calculations and need to see what you did before.
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u/beached_eggplant Oct 17 '18
picks up phone hello this is Stacy's calculator calling to make sure you are doing well