Alcatel might have a little bit of explaining to do with its users, as the “official” Gallery application for their phones has been updated to third-party spamware on the Play Store. And this isn't really new, either; it's been like this for a couple months with no response.
By now you've probably seen some Android manufacturers upload their core applications to the Play Store for quicker, easier updates to users without dropping a full OTA update. It's a smart move that, up until now, hadn't had any downsides.
But as of a few months ago, Alcatel's Gallery application listing on the Play Store was updated to Candy Gallery by Hi Art Studio with significantly more requested permissions, which means it was probably accidentally loaded onto tons and tons of phones without explicit permission from users. Not a fantastic move.
And while this could definitely be a malicious hijacking of their core apps from Hi Art Studio, that's not something that's easy to do and it's been this way since November with no word from Alcatel about the change. All signs point to Alcatel going along with this for whatever reason, and they're not particularly concerned with how users are reacting.
The app has been bombarded with recent one-star reviews, and the app is sitting at an average of 3.5 stars. That might change as more people notice, but considering the newer app has permissions for things like SMS access and device ID info, which could very easily end up being something malicious.
If you have an Alcatel device, keep an eye on those pre-installed apps. If you notice anything funky, you might want to dig in a bit.
source: Android Police
