September 13, 2015
Traccar Client 3.6 for Android is now available on the Google Play. There were a couple of minor releases since 3.3 with some bug fixes, but this release is a very important milestone for Traccar Client project.
There are no new features in the app, but there are now two versions of Traccar Client for Android. One is a standard app that goes to the Google Play Store. The other one is a special hidden version of the app. It's not available on the Play Store, but it can be downloaded as an APK file and installed on a device manually. The hidden version includes some modifications to make the app less visible to the phone's owner. The name is changed from “Traccar Client” to “Device Settings”. The default Android settings icon is used as the app icon. After the first start, the app removes itself from the launcher. To open it again, you need to dial 8722227 (TRACCAR) or enable it from app management.
Functionality-wise both versions of Traccar Client are identical. As both apps share the code, in future they will be released together and have same version numbers.
Release 3.6 of the app also includes required modifications for Android Marshmallow. From now on, the tracking service will always run in foreground mode to avoid being suspended. I found a way to hide the status notification, so it's not a problem anymore. Traccar Client now asks for special permissions only when required (on Android Marshmallow).
Instead of an IMEI number, the app now uses a randomly generated 6-digit number, the same as Traccar Client for iOS. The reason for that is to avoid requiring phone permission (needed to get IMEI), which can potentially be used to make calls and therefore can look very suspicious to the end user. It's still possible to change the unique ID manually, so if you prefer an IMEI number, you can set it from the app's main screen.
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