UPDATE (Fri 13 Jan 2012): The below (originally written on 22 Dec 2011) remains completely accurate and relevant for 2.2 Froyo and earlier Captivates. However, 2.3 Gingerbread is now finally available for the Captivate; and as I expressed, below, that I hoped would be the case, the Android-Market-only requirement is not present in it. Hurray!
AT&T Samsung Captivate (model SGH-i897) users (whose phones have not been rooted) are familiar with trying to download and install an app (an .APK file) from someplace other than the Android Market, and then getting this message:
Install BlockedFor security reasons, your phone
is set to block installation of
applications not obtained
from Android Market
http://bit.ly/vk1xmK As it turns out, AT&T has been easing-back on this restriction for some months, now. Most 2.3 Gingerbread phones have no such restriction (certainly the new "Captivate Glide," announced on November 20th, has no such restriction); and some 2.2 Froyo Captivate users have even been told that an update will be "pushed" to their phones which will cause the Android-Market-only restriction to be removed. Most of said users report, though, that it never happened; and most Captivate users, generally, were never so told.
This posting instructs how all AT&T Samsung Captivate users (and, actually, as it turns out, also the owners of virtually any other AT&T Android phone running Android 2.2 Froyo or earlier), who are still experiencing the Android-Market-only limitation, may get it removed with a simple phone call to AT&T Wireless "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones." It can be a little tricky, though, so please read all of this very carefully.
Captivate users may now call AT&T and be routed to the "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones" group, whereupon a member of said group will, at the Captivate owner's request, "push" what's called the "Cross-functional Tool" (aka, the "XDM TOOL") at one's Captivate phone...
...and, once done, said Captivate phone will be able to download and install .APK files from anywhere, not just the Android Market. The "XDM TOOL" effectively removes the Andoird-Market-only restriction, and allows Captivate users to install non-Android-Market apps from anywhere they happen to acquire them....
...all without rooting or sideloading.
If you wish to do it from your actual Captivate phone, begin by calling
611 from it.
Or, if you want to do it from your home or office phone (or even a pay phone), call, toll-free,
1-800-288-2020; or, if you have some other number to reach AT&T Wireless for support-related issues, use that. Just make sure, when you do it, that you have your Captivate in your hand, that it's on, and that it's both WIFI and 3G radios are on.
You'll be connected with AT&T; but, sadly, even if you specify, by your key-presses, that you want "technical support," you'll still be routed to "customer care." AT&T does this deliberately because it is the "customer care" reps, and not any other kind of reps, whom AT&T wants to first screen all calls, no matter what is said calls' purpose. It's just the way AT&T does things.
Sadly, AT&T's "customer care" department not only seems unaware of the XDM TOOL; but, worse, it will lie to the customer and tell him/her that the restriction is not AT&T's doing; that it's a Google or Samsung restriction.
Additionally, "customer care" reps are trained to try to resolve any problem themselves, first; and to try to keep people from being able to get through to other departments. So, initially, even once you've told the "customer care" rep that s/he's wrong, and that there is, indeed, an "XDM TOOL" which can be pushed to your phone, and that you want to speak with "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones" to make it happen, s/he will resist. Remember that "customer care" is the department that can adjust your bill, or add/remove services; but its personnel couldn't punch their way out of a technological paper sack. So you have to get past them; and if you don't want your time wasted, then just avoid having them lie to you, and simply insist, from the outset of the call (and without explaining why), on speaking with either "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones," or the "customer care" rep's supervisor, whichever s/he would prefer. Keep steadfastly insisting, taking no other result for an answer, until it finally happens. Of course, don't add the "supervisor" part until and unless s/he refuses to transfer you. Initially, just ask for "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones".
HELPFUL HINT:
At the beginning of the call, politely get his/her name, plus some other uniquely-identifying information such as an operator number or something. Then also get the city and AT&T center out of which s/he's working. This will come-in handy just before s/he transfers you so that you can call him/her by name when thank him/her and say you'll hold. This could keep him/her, if exasperated with you for your insistence, from putting you on terminal hold (aka, pretending to put you on hold to transfer you, but, in actuality, hanging-up on you) because s/he knows that you can report him/her, by name, to managment if s/he doesn't so what s/he said s/he would do.Once you're finally, allegedly on the phone with an actual "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones" rep, make him/her verify that s/he is, in fact, a "Teir 2 Technical Support for Android Phones" rep, and not merely some other "customer care" rep. Also get his/her name, unique identifier, and city/center from which s/he's working.
Once you're confident that you're really and truly talking with a "Tier 2 Technical Support for Android Phones" rep, simply explain to him/her that you have an AT&T Android phone, then tell him/her its model and OS version, and its telephone number. Tell him/her that said phone, per AT&T's now-relaxed former policy, has never been able to download and install an app from anything other than the Android Market. Tell him/her that you understand that a thing called the "Cross-functional Tool," or "XDM TOOL," can be "pushed" at your phone which will remove said restriction; that it only takes a moment; that it costs nothing; and that you'd like him/her to do it right now. Be polite, but firm. Don't ask, direct.
S/he should be aware of it, and should happily comply. Before s/he finally does it, though, make him/her verify that it is, in fact, the "XDM TOOL" which, specifically, removes the Android-Market-only download restriction; and that once it's applied, you'll be able to download from, for example, the Amazon AppStore, or any appmaker's personal web site, or any other source of .APK files anywhere on the Internet. Make him/her verify it, because there are other similarly-named tools which do other things.
The XDM TOOL comes to the phone over the Internet, either via WIFI or 3G, as two text messages.
The first one has "Configuration Message" in its "Subject" field; and "Bootstrap DM" as its contents.
The second one will have a simple string of numbers in the "Subject" field, similar to what we've all seen whenever we've received a text message that's from a system (such as an SMS server, for example) rather than from an actual cell phone; and the contents of that second message is "nullnullnullnullnullnullnull"
Once received, the effect is immediate... and allegedly without rebooting the phone. However, before testing with the support person still on the line, and then your letting him/her go as soon as it works, I strongly recommend asking him/her to be patient while you reboot the phone, first, so that you may be assured that the application of the XDD TOOL will both "take" properly, and that it will survive reboot. Don't let him/her tell you that s/he doesn't have the time. S/he does. Make him/her wait.
And don't let him/her rush you while you're waiting for reboot. If there are a lot of apps on the phone, reboot takes some time. Be patient. Just as you wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) begin using a freshly-booted Windows machine until its hard drive light calms down and barely flickers (indicating that it's finally done booting), don't begin testing the XDM TOOL on the phone until its messages stop rolling around up in the notification area, and the phone appears to have finally clamed down and is fully booted-up. Every Android user should actually know approximately how long it takes to fully boot-up his/her phone. It's just a nice thing to know.
Anyway, once the phone finishes rebooting, perform this test: Go to the Amazon AppStore web site, and download the Amazon AppStore app so that you can use it to subsequently download any Amazon AppStore app you desire. It's a good app to have on your phone, anyway, since the Amazon AppStore has some pretty good stuff on it; and also because the Amazon AppStore has a daily giveaway of normally commercial (or other kinds of fee-based) apps... some of which are darned nice! So, more than just being a test, you'll be getting the Amazon AppStore app on your phone, and you'll probably actually use and enjoy it.
Here are the instructions:
http://amzn.to/sXDhxRNotice the "Get Started" box, over on the right. Key-in your phone's telephone number, and have it send your phone the link to download the Amazon AppStore's .APK file. The instructions for how to do it all are on that page; but basically what will happen is that the browser will open and download the app; then its .APK file will show-up as the resulting download; then you press it, and you may be asked if you want the "app loader" or just "loader" to handle it; and you say "yes"; and then it installs. Simple as that. What actually happens on your phone, though, may vary slightly, depending on the apps you already have on the phone, and whether any of them is an installer of any kind. And if what actually happens is nothing like any of that, then just do what's logical to get the app installed. Or go back and look at the above-linked-to instruction page and do what it says. The bottom line is to just get the thing installed, by hook or by crook; and these instructions can't possibly anticipate every thing that you'll see, and must respond to, along the way. Just get it installed, by whatever means.
If the Amazon AppStore app downloads and installs (something which unrooted Captivate phones have never allowed), then that, alone, will tell you that the XDM TOOL worked; and if it does so
after you've rebooted the phone (as you made the technical support rep wait for you to do), then you'll
also know that the XDM TOOL application will survive reboot, and so will be permanent.
Technically, that's all the testing you need to do; however, to be extra sure, you could do a second test by going ahead and using the Amazon AppStore app to find and download an app from the Amazon AppStore, and see if it will install. That's actually a good test, because that's where it all fell apart for me before I got the XDM TOOL pushed to my phone. I sideloaded the actual Amazon AppStore app, but even once properly installed, it couldn't install any apps from the Amazon AppStore. You might need to login, through the Amazon AppStore app, to your Amazon account; and for some reason, either at that point, or when you actually go to download something, it makes you verify the payment method... even if what you're downloading is free. Go figure.
If that's a problem, then the other kind of second test you can do is simply finding any .APK file, anywhere out there on the Internet (which isn't, of course, the Android Market, the Amazon AppStore, or AppBrain), and try to download/install it. Here are four possible web sites from which you may obtan .APK files:
*
http://www.freewarelovers.com/android*
http://www.freeandroidware.com/*
http://www.androiddownloadz.com/*
http://www.android-apk.info/Either download anything you can find, just as a test; or actually find something you'd like so you can keep and use it. But just remember that if the AT&T tech support rep is still on the phone, you won't want to waste his/her time; so, if that's the case, just quickly choose anything as a test, and then later uninstall it; or choose it in advance, so you can just go right to it when the rep's on the phone with you.
Please understand that this XDM TOOL is not an actual operating system update, as we tend to understand that term. If it were an actual "update," then the "Unknown Sources" item would be added at the top of the the phone's "Menu" > "Setup" > "Applications" screen. This tool does not do that. All it does is "patch" the OS to remove the Android-Market-only limitation. Period. And it's permanent, but only as long as you don't ever reset the phone back to factory state (something which one may need to do if there's a virus, or some other catastrophe). If you do that, then you'll have to call AT&T and repeat having the XDM TOOL "pushed" at your freshly-reset Captivate phone again.
A few things to consider...
As much as we'd all like to routinely download/install apps from other than the Android Market, the truth is that that's where are the safest, most-likely-to-be-malware-free, apps. Straying away from the Android Market could put your phone in jeopardy.
If you decide to venture out into the world of non-Android-Market apps, then be sure that you're using good anti-malware. And remember -- and this is important -- a recent and credible study by an independent testing agency, found that virtually all freeware anti-malware apps for Android phones are pretty much useless. Seriously.
SEE:
http://bit.ly/s8sflkThe exception is freeware anti-malware from companies well-known in the Windows world... such as from Norton, ESET, or Kaspersky... companies like that. Unfortunately, most of those aren't actually free, even if the app, itself is. Most charge, at the very least, annual fees to keep the virus database up-to-date. AVG, though, as I recall, has a truly free one. I'd have to go research it again.
There is one freeware anti-malware tool, though, which actually did kinda' okay in that test. It was still sub-par, by the testing agency's standards, but it was at least, as my ol' man used to say, "close enough for government work." That freeware anti-malware tool is "Zoner Antivirus Free Edition"...
SEE:
http://bit.ly/uTrkv0...and I don't know about anyone else, but I kinda'
like it. For now, it's what I'm using, and it's kinda' slick... especially considering that it's freeware! But I digress. My point is that if you're going to venture out into the world of non-Android-Market apps, and if you don't yet have serious anti-malware on your phone, then please install at least Zoner until you decide if you're gonna' upgrade to something like Kaspersky, or Norton, or ESET, or commercial AVG, or whatever. Try to stay, in any case, with the well-known names in Windows anti-malware.
The second consideration is that the Android Market, for all its faults, keeps track of the apps on your phone, and you can always see them by clicking on the "My Library" link up near the top-right of any page on the site.... something that's pretty nice when you do it from a desktop/laptop computer.
By so doing, it will also tell you what you've already purchased or installed by putting those two words -- "purchased" or "installed" -- on the "install" button on the pages of any apps you've already installed... so you won't try to install them again. It will also label "installed" or "puchased" apps in lists of apps.
I've not tested it yet, but I'm told that the Android Market will not "notice" on your phone any apps which were not downloaded/installed from it. If so, then the whole inventory system which the Android Market provides starts becoming useless. I'm told, though, that the AppBrain app, when it syncs with one's AppBrain account,
will "notice" all apps; and, so, if so, you can have an accurate inventory which includes non-Android-Market-installed apps through at least your AppBrain account. But I would not rely on any of that until I tested it.
The third consideration is that the Android Market (and AppBrain, too, come to think of it) also knows your phone, and will keep you from installing apps on it which are incompatible... or which could even harm either your phone, or its OS (or maybe other apps on it). Other web sites from which you download .APK files may not care so much.
The fourth consideration is that if you purchase something from the Android Market, it's always considered "purchased," so that you own it; and even if you uninstall a given paid-for app (for testing or whatever), you can go back and re-download/re-install it using your Android Market account without having to re-pay for it. Some other sites may be able to do that, too, but... c'mon... the Android Market has this knocked!
I'm not saying that I'm blindly loyal to the Android Market. All I'm saying is: Make sure your eyes are wide open about what you download from anywhere else.
If I were advising you, I'd say to pretty much stay with the Android Market as much as possible. Use AppBrain, too (since it hooks straight-in to the Android Market), because it makes better (and more) suggestions, lets you make such as "to be installed later" and/or "under consideration" lists (which I've found to be very useful), and a whole raft of other reasons (to use AppBrain, too). Use Amazon's AppStore, too, if you want... especially the cool daily giveaway (just know that whatever you install from it may or may not show-up in your Android Market inventory, though it may show-up in your AppBrain inventory; you must simply test to figure it all out).
You also may be forced to use at least a few other sites. I know one famous utility maker, for example, which has, for some reason, refused to put its commercial version onto the Android Market, or AppBrain, even though his freeware version is in both places. And so, if you want his commercial version, you must go to the other site he's using, which, right there, would necessitate the XDM TOOL if you wanted to install his commercial app without having to sideload.
And, in my case, for example, my JuiceDefender Ultimate, version 3.8, won't update to version 3.9 on the Android Market. Even its maker can't figure it out. And so he told me, as a workaround, to just download the 3.9 .APK from his site. Prior to my getting the XDM TOOL, I'd have had to have sideloaded it.
So there are, indeed, times when you have to go off the Android Market, even if you wanted to be fiercely loyal thereto. Just, if you do, be careful. The incidence of Android malware is on the rise. Almost anything other than the really big-name app sites out there can't really be fully trusted. Always have your eyes wide open; know what you're getting into.
Hope that helps!
_________________________________
Gregg L. DesElms
Napa, California USA
gregg at greggdeselms dot com
