I'm contemplating getting my 14yo daughter an Android phone for xmas. I want to be able to restrict internet access at the OS level. I've looked into the parental control apps but all of the ones I looked at are pretty easy to circumvent. I figure using hosts.allow and hosts.deny is a better solution (i.e. hopefully take her longer to figure out) but from what I can determine, Android by default doesn't use these files.
Does anyone know of a ROM or kernel that does use these files a la conventional linux?
If not, what are recommendations for restricting internet access?
Related
I know there are certain requirements such as having a 3G radio and camera that google requires for market access. At least, that's what I've read. My question is how are things like the wifi only Galaxy Tab going to access it? Is it going to be packing a 3G radio, but just not activated sort of like how the FM radio shipped in the nexus but wasnt activated out of the box?
I am exploring this question because NOOKcolor is launching this month and runs a skin on top of android2.1. I'm hoping it gets rooted with cyanogen on it because that would be awesome on a $250 tablet. But the question remains...would it be able to access the market? Can the 'hardware requirements' be bypassed by any means on a rooted device?
TIA
Lots of devices run android and don't have a 3g radio and only wifi. They're mostly mp3 players but they can access the market as far as I've seen. It should be possible for the NOOKcolor to be able to reach the market. I don't know for sure though, I've been wrong before.
Sent from my nonsensikal froyo using XDA App
interesting
To access Market there is no hardware requirement. You just need a few apks. And internet connection.
Hello eveybody,
I just switched over from my HTC WinMo phone to this amazing Android EVO phone. I've continuously have been hearing the term "root" or "rooting" alot in this community. My question is sort of noobish; what does it mean to root your phone? Also, how can I do this to my phone?
It means you gain unrestricted access to the kernel of your phone. It allows you to install custom roms, themes, custom apps etc.
the easiest way i know of is to use unrevoked.com. they have an all-in-one method to give you full root in one fell swoop. good luck!
The way I picture rooting the phone is like jail breaking an iPod. So once my phone is rooted, I can download new apps, music, ringtones, wallpapers, themes, ect.??
On android you can download all that from the market, rooting takes customization to a whole other level. Just do a search and read up on it.
sent from the phone that is EVO
To me, rooting is admin like mode.
On your pc you have guest, limited and admin accounts. All accounts gave different levels of clearance.
I don't know much about linux but logging in as root gives you absolute highest permissions to do things. Imo, They sell these phones in non root able fashion so we don't break the os and ask for a replace ment due to malfunction. And to maybe lock us out of goodies that they want to up sell to us like adhoc wlan teathering.
Through the hard work of some folks, we can gain root access and have more fun. On the flip side, we can also do more damage as root.
I am rooted, but seldom use the root access. Imo Most people root so they can flash roms and teather for free.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Hello,
I've had my S4 for a little over a year and have been pretty happy with it. I came from using an iPhone for a few years before. With the upgrade in Kit Kat and not being able to easily access folders has been very frustrating and I wanted more control on my phone (turn on/off GPS for example and other things Tasker is blocked from doing). My understanding is that rooting would fix those issues. However I'm a little scared as how to proceed.
Here are some of my questions/concerns:
Will I get better performance from my phone (assuming I have all the same sort of settings)?
Are there apps that will not work on a rooted phone?
Which is an appropriate ROM to choose? (Stock Android, CyanogenMod, etc.)
Is there a way to backup an entire image (data and everything) of what I have now on my Samsung so I can restore it if I really mess up. I am thinking this would be similar in Windows, where I can make a disk image to be able to restore the entire OS and all the data.
What is the best way to reload apps I currently use (and have paid for) back onto the rooted device? Do I just make a list on paper and then go one-by-one and re-install them?
Will rooting effect my access to the Google Play Store?
How badly can I brick my phone? Can I get it to a point that it is completely restoreable? That is assuming I didn't do anything outside of following instructions and didn't connect it to my car battery
Will I be able to access my S4 like a drive or is that a hardware issue?
Is TouchWiz really that lousy?
Fortunately there is a lot of information out there, but it is overwhelming. Besides this site, are there other ones you recommend reading?
Thank you for the help.
Hello guys,
So I have rooted my tablet and enjoyed the perks of rooting. I haven't rooted my phone yet because I am planning on buying another one but before I do that I want to ask something about rooting. I know that several people used LinuxDeploy and rooting to get Linux distro up and running. Just wondering if this would allow us to use desktop applications on an android device? I was thinking that since I do alot of analysis work for my engineering research projects that if I can use my phone to run some programming codes, matlab, CAD and maybe even OpenFoam? So I am wondering if rooting and using linux would allow me to fully utilize the SOC and maybe run desktop grade software when I am on the go or in a meeting showing something? Most vanilla andriod apps aren't robust enough to allow me to open and edit script files or 3d models/analysis data?
I want to attempt to try this on my nexus 7 (first generation) as a proof of concept?
Also if I use it for this purpose, can I still run my paid applications and google play services on a rooted device normally?
Thanks :laugh:
EternalSeekerX said:
Hello guys,
So I have rooted my tablet and enjoyed the perks of rooting. I haven't rooted my phone yet because I am planning on buying another one but before I do that I want to ask something about rooting. I know that several people used LinuxDeploy and rooting to get Linux distro up and running. Just wondering if this would allow us to use desktop applications on an android device? I was thinking that since I do alot of analysis work for my engineering research projects that if I can use my phone to run some programming codes, matlab, CAD and maybe even OpenFoam? So I am wondering if rooting and using linux would allow me to fully utilize the SOC and maybe run desktop grade software when I am on the go or in a meeting showing something? Most vanilla andriod apps aren't robust enough to allow me to open and edit script files or 3d models/analysis data?
I want to attempt to try this on my nexus 7 (first generation) as a proof of concept?
Also if I use it for this purpose, can I still run my paid applications and google play services on a rooted device normally?
Thanks :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While you can run a Linux distro on an android device and even run some desktop applications anything heavy will generally not run or run very poorly so it depends on what applications you want to run and the power of your android device.
The VTech Kidibuzz is a faux smartphone device that apparently is meant to be a kid's first "smartphone" while still being safe I guess. From what I can gather though, it's just an Android wifi-enabled tablet running some specific VTech stuff on it. I want to try to root it to see if I can flash custom firmware on it. Does anyone know if this would be possible, or if it's done before?
I haven't been able to find a way to access dev mode or any hidden settings, but it does interface with computers via USP or apparently SD card?
Alkalinology said:
The VTech Kidibuzz is a faux smartphone device that apparently is meant to be a kid's first "smartphone" while still being safe I guess. From what I can gather though, it's just an Android wifi-enabled tablet running some specific VTech stuff on it. I want to try to root it to see if I can flash custom firmware on it. Does anyone know if this would be possible, or if it's done before?
I haven't been able to find a way to access dev mode or any hidden settings, but it does interface with computers via USP or apparently SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can "enable custom apps" which basically means install the amazon appstore from the "Parents" account -> Device Settings -> Get More Apps but more importantly you can enable unknown sources from More Apps settings and from there you can download an APK Downloader or use the built in web browser to download any app you want. You can get a hidden settings apk and view the normal android settings menus but when I tried to enable developer settings in there it didn't work , I 'm still trying to figure out how to get the Play Store to work properly on it. You can read/write user files over USB. . I'm still ****ing around with it though.
I think it is definitely rootable and easily exploitable, the OS (atleast on my model) was signed using test keys, meaning you can replace any system apk's with your own, I unfortunately cannot test this as curious as I am because the one I am playing around with right now is a Christmas present and I cannot afford to take the risk of bricking/breaking it. I was just trying to get things like Google Play and Hulu working.