If I deactivate my google account will my apps disappear?

[Notes_Norton]

I'm going to be traveling with a couple of old "throw away" phones, to a place where there are supposed to be pickpockets and phone thieves. (One for me and one for the wife)

All I want to use is the off-line translator app and WiFi in a hotel or hot spot or perhaps the camera.

So here comes the newbie queston

If I deactivate my google account, will the downloaded apps stay on the phone and be usable?

I guess I could just try it, but one of the downloads takes a loooooooong time to d/l and install.

The reason why I ask is if the phone gets stolen, I really don't want them to get to my gmail account or app store.

I could password protect the phone, but that would delay using it as a translator or camera.

When I get home I could re-activate the account so the apps could update themselves.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Beefpunch]

If it gets stolen you wouldn't have a phone to download apps to. So if your going to want to have those spps you'll need a new phone and would need to download them any ways.

 

[funkylogik]

Hey norton mate. Usually to remove a google account you have to factory reset the phone so you would lose the apps. Play Store is password protected for purchases now so it will be safe and if you do lose the phone, you can go online and change your password :thumbup:

 

[funkylogik]

Check out the Smart App Lock app btw. You can put a pin on any apps you want including Settings :thumbup:

 

[Notes_Norton]

It's not my real phone, it's an oldie that no longer makes calls. But if I keep the google account active, they can get to the play store and my gmail account.

This concerns me.

I'm looking for a way to use the apps without having to open the phone with a password and still have my accounts protected.

Perhaps there isn't a way

Notes

 

[chanchan05]

you can make a dummy google account.

 

[Beefpunch]

Can you lock the phone as a whole? Like with a lock screen as you turn it on.

 

[bjacks12]

I don't know that you could do that with Android, but you could set up 2-step verification on your Google account. It would require a separate, google issued, password for any devices that log in. All you have to do is revoke the password and they should lose access, IIRC, to your account.

 

[divinebovine]

You could also use any of the many anti-theft and lost phone apps that will let you disable or even erase the phone remotely.
http://androidforums.com/android-applications/578226-lost-stolen-phone-apps-best-best.html
However, beware that many do not work properly without mobile data...make sure you use one that will work over wifi instead.

 

[funkylogik]

i think an App Lock app is the best option if you dont wana use a lock screen :thumbup:

 

[divinebovine]

That reminds me...you could use a pattern/password/PIN lock along with Active Lockscreen. Active Lockscreen will give you quick access to the apps you want, and the pattern/password/PIN lock will prevent access to the rest, if I remember correctly how Active Lockscreen works with pattern/password/PIN lock.

 

[funkylogik]

That sounds pretty cool man.. like a lockscreen with a "white list"?

 

[divinebovine]

It's like a lockscreen with a mini-launcher. You define what apps it should offer, then when you wake your phone there is a target. You drag the target towards your app icons and drop it on the app you want, or you drop it on unlock and the phone unlocks. If you've defined a pattern/pin/password lock then after dragging the target to unlock you uncover the stock lock screen.

 

[funkylogik]

Sounds cool man. I dont even use a lockscreen.. home or power button take me straight to the launcher. if that lockscreen app works smoothly, it could tempt me to start using a locker :beer:

 

[Notes_Norton]

Thanks all for the help. You've given me a lot of food for thought.

Notes

 

[Notes_Norton]

I think solved my own problem, and it was duh simple.

In a BFO (blinding flash of the obvious) all I need to do is to change my gmail password right before I go. Then if I'm careless and the phone gets lost or stolen, the new 'owner' can't get to the market or the gmail account.

I tried this at home and all the off-line apps still worked and I got on-line with WiFi. This is all I want the old decommissioned phones to do. After all, I'm going to a place where a US phone won't work anyway.

As far as the mail is concerned, I could see g-mail titles that were still stored on the phone, but couldn't open them. (I'll offload and delete anything that the subject might reveal anything sensitive - or perhaps offload them all). Couldn't send anything either.

A nice, long password with letters, numbers and symbols should be not worth anyone's time to crack. I read somewhere that 20 mixed characters will take the most powerful computers a looooooooooooooooooooong time to crack - making it for all practical purposes impossible (at least to get to my gmail account - which isn't my primary e-mail anyway - I have my own domain name and web host)

Keep in mind, the two phones we are bringing on vacation aren't really phones. They are not connected to any service - decommissioned. They will work as WiFi web browsers (mail2web.com is a decent browser based mail service) and for me, most importantly, the off-line dictionary and translator app.

I can't see a flaw in this, if I'm missing something, please let me know.

Notes

 

[divinebovine]

You might consider a little bit different password strategy, which may be even more secure than 20 random impossible to remember characters:
xkcd: Password Strength

 

[Notes_Norton]

You might consider a little bit different password strategy, which may be even more secure than 20 random impossible to remember characters:
xkcd: Password Strength

Thanks.

I have an easy (for me) system (which of course I will not divulge) for remembering a string of seemingly random characters - none of which spell an actual word - but this looks even easier.

I don't understand how the bits of entropy are calculated, but that is something that all of a sudden I'm curious about (hello google).

Bob

 

[Notes_Norton]

Well I googled those bits of entropy and I can't say that I completely understand how to score a password's bits, but I did learn a lot.

Thanks again for mentioning it, I love learning new stuff.

Notes