Related
Most of my browsing in the Android Marketplace comes to a dead end when I see a long list of permissions an application 'needs'. The permissions are usually the deal-breaker when I decide against installing. I realize this limits the number of apps I will install. I only have about 10 apps installed, and I paid for four so far, so this isn't an issue with paying developers. I just won't pay you through a third-party ad network.
Is there a way to browse the market and sort results by no or few permissions? A search in the marketplace for 'This application requires no special permissions to run' only yields six results.
I want more games like Solitaire, or apps like NARF file manager that are simple and only use minimal permissions. Many apps seem to have a bloated feature set that require lots of permissions, for features I didn't want in the first place.
Has anyone been able to segregate search results in this way? If so, what worked for you?
Any help will be much appreciated.
I have to install an app which I don't trust, but which requires too many permissions, which obviously I am not keen on giving the app. For reasons beyond my control, I can't name the app (it's a work thing).
My idea is to create a new user on the phone, (OnePlus2) and install the app for that user only. Would this stop it from being able to access the data under my own user, and restrict it to only read the data available for the new user for which it is installed?
It requires permission to: (just incase this info helps)
Draw over other apps
Take pictures and videos
Find accounts on the device
Approximate location, precise location
Read SMS/MMS, Send & View SMS/MMS
Modify or delete contents of USB storage
Read contents of USB storage
Read phone status and Identity
Any other solution I should look at? Or will this work just fine?
Cheers!
No way I would install that. Not on a device I use. Unless I had full control over the source code for the apks. I could see some uses.
But to answer your question, I think that should work. I don't have much experience with the details of extra users on the device bit you can look it up on the Google developer site.
That should be enough.
For good measure, I Tried Doing this on my Moto G4 Plus. I created a new user and installed Drupe and Textra. And here is what happened.
1. The New User did not have access to my contacts, call records or SMS
2. The old user could not see these two apps.
since the gallery is tied to photos on the Moto, the users could not see each other's photos.
UPDATE: I just saw an app on another thread that may work for you. - https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/closed-beta-test-incoming-companion-app-t3366295
Hello guys,
I have been searching for answers to some of the tech stuff, but couldn't find them.
Here are some of those questions. Hope some of you would have answers to these. Thanks in advance!
ANDROID
1. How to share files between multi-users on Android 11?
Before Android 11, it was possible to save files inside the Android/ obb folder, and these files were visible for all users on the device. In Android 11, this is no longer working as the 'obb' folder appears to be exclusive to each user.
I know this is possible via USB OTG or a cloud service, but is there a solution without these?
2. How to copy/ backup game data for non-rooted devices?
Helium Backup doesn't seem to work. I have played a game for long on my Mediapad, and I would like to copy that game to my phone. Unfortunately, my Mediapad is not rooted and losing all that game progress has become a nightmare. I have written to the app developer to provide some sort of backup using either Google Play Games or social media integration like Facebook/ Twitter, but haven't received any response.
3. How to force apps (esp. file managers & gallery apps) to use in-app media viewer without changing system default.
For example, I may use the stock gallery app as default for viewing media. But if I am using another gallery app or a file manager that is capable of viewing media files using its own media viewer, I would rather want it use it than open the default app. Is there a way to do it?
4. Replace stock file manager (a system app) with another app from Google Play Store or other sources. Is this possible?
I am not asking how to convert a user app into system app. I know that part. I tried replacing the apk file of the stock file manager with a 3rd party apk, even renamed it, but it didn't work.
5. Extract a system app from one device and install it on another device without root. Is this possible?
I have tried it, but apk installation fails. For example, Samsung Gallery app on OnePlus phones.
iOS
1. How to install .ipa (iPhone app) on an iPhone (not jail-broken) without a laptop (iTunes)?
2. Is it possible to have SFTP server for iPhone?
All Operating Systems
1. How to provide LAN only access for non-rooted devices as well as in Windows & iOS?
For rooted devices, we have apps like AFWall+ that can do it. But is there a way to do it for devices without root, as well as for Windows and iOS?
For non-rooted devices, we have apps like Netguard that support 'Allow LAN access' whilst blocking internet access.
Are there any alternatives and solutions for other platforms?
2. How safe is it to enter login credentials in an app to allow it access to network drives?
I use several apps (on various platforms) to connect to my laptop over SMB. This requires me to provide the app with my Windows Login Credentials, which is a Microsoft account. Am I risking my account by providing this info to the app? Is it safe to enter login credentials of cloud services in file manager apps?
Just bumping this thread as it seems to have been lost/ unnoticed.
@Ultramanoid can you answer some of these?
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
@Ultramanoid can you answer some of these?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't help much, sorry. As to Android, some notes :
1. Never have used an OEM / Google's version of Android, or anything other than rooted single-user systems.
2. In addition to the previous answer, I'm not a gamer.
3. I usually don't ever set defaults with some rare exceptions, so I am always given a choice of what I want to use to handle a file. It may vary depending on many things; I may want to edit an SVG file as text, or view it as an image, for instance. There are applications / services that will intercept intents to allow you to do this sort of thing as well, but I can't recommend a specific one, never use them myself.
4. Possible, but will break Android as by now the system requires it as a file picker in many instances without recognizing alternatives and developers of most applications do expect it as well and their services will not work without it. Don't do it. With recent Android storage changes, including the scoped storage debacle, this is not a viable option anymore.
5. Depends, but not likely as a general rule, specially for OEM garbage, which relies on their own proprietary modifications of Android, their libraries, frameworks, et al. You'd have to carry those over to the destination too, which may not even be possible. Use OEM-independent and not Google Services reliant applications. ( Edit : you'll find some of those applications built to install on all devices here on XDA by single developers, "SONY camera for all devices" and that sort of thing, not recommended anyway, not well supported or long-lived experiments. )
Ultramanoid said:
Can't help much, sorry. As to Android, some notes :
1. Never have used an OEM / Google's version of Android, or anything other than rooted single-user systems.
2. In addition to the previous answer, I'm not a gamer.
3. I usually don't ever set defaults with some rare exceptions, so I am always given a choice of what I want to use to handle a file. It may vary depending on many things; I may want to edit an SVG file as text, or view it as an image, for instance. There are applications / services that will intercept intents to allow you to do this sort of thing as well, but I can't recommend a specific one, never use them myself.
4. Possible, but will break Android as by now the system requires it as a file picker in many instances without recognizing alternatives and developers of most applications do expect it as well and their services will not work without it. Don't do it. With recent Android storage changes, including the scoped storage debacle, this is not a viable option anymore.
5. Depends, but not likely as a general rule, specially for OEM garbage, which relies on their own proprietary modifications of Android, their libraries, frameworks, et al. You'd have to carry those over to the destination too, which may not even be possible. Use OEM-independent and not Google Services reliant applications. ( Edit : you'll find some of those applications built to install on all devices here on XDA by single developers, "SONY camera for all devices" and that sort of thing, not recommended anyway, not well supported or long-lived experiments. )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much. But I wish you answered the last 2 questions as well.
If time permits, would you be interested in telling us how you use your phone? I mean which device, which OS and what apps you use. I would like to give that a try (on a spare device) and see if it is possible for me to live without Google.
Sridhar Ananthanarayanan said:
Thanks very much. But I wish you answered the last 2 questions as well.
If time permits, would you be interested in telling us how you use your phone? I mean which device, which OS and what apps you use. I would like to give that a try (on a spare device) and see if it is possible for me to live without Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't answer because it won't be helpful.
As to the 1st, I don't use LAN, and I don't keep data in any device or computer unless in use. External independent encrypted storage to be used wherever, whenever, independent of device, cables if needed.
As to the second, it's a matter of common sense, being informed of vulnerabilities and aware of reputation, and trust. Would you trust Chrome or Mozilla with data if you're online banking ? Seems reasonable -- but be aware of major vulnerabilities that may be going on. Would you trust an application released yesterday by a single developer for the same ? Probably not a good idea.
Finally, I doubt what I use and how I use it would be acceptable for you, or most people. In essence you could : Install latest firmware, wipe device, install latest security patched Lineage build for it, remove vendor / Lineage applications, get full root, remove anything you don't need or use which could have vulnerabilities; frameworks, libraries, binaries, etc ( Bluetooth, SMS, Android system-wide downloader, system-wide WebView, NFC, and on and on .. ), install your own binaries, fonts, hosts file, and applications where appropriate ( /bin /etc et al ), install Termux and all Linux packages required for your use, everything open source whenever possible, and stay away from any Google services / Play / applications with ANY trackers, analytics, data mining or even crash report capabilities; zero tolerance. Internet permission only for a secure web browser -- and terminal if / when needed. Half of what I do or use goes through terminal to be honest. In short, for me an Android device is a full Linux laptop replacement with added perks : Always on and on me, camera, GPS, pedometer, unlimited LTE data, and emergency calls for medics / police. ( Edit : And Japanese EEW alarm of course ! Only notification I use. We learned our lesson well in 2011. )
You can use ApkExport to extract any apk including system apks. I've transferred apks between other devices devices with it.
Never had need of doing that though with a system apk.
GOAL - a universal backup and restore solution that can take ALL device accounts and ALL their related passwords - back them up - and restore them to ANY version of android - including Phones, Tablets, and Emulators such as bluestacks, memu, nox etc. even from different android versions.
This is primarily to get all EMAILS - google - outlook - etc loaded into a new device *This is NOT for apps as there are plenty of solutions for apps already but none for ACCOUNTS
This software should basically have a database, preferably in an easy to edit CSV format - which would never need to change as it would always have ACCOUNT_TYPE,USERNAME,PASSWORD,RANDOM_DATA
-you could manually populate this via your computer or you could have the android software export it via coding magic. Maybe use a different format and have it load a spreadsheet or a different database type...
Importing would be trickier- you'd have to have a drop down asking questions like - What android version are you importing to- so that the code could be properly inserted...
I intend to ask for advice here and see what solutions you all have; I will edit this first topic to help others if a solution exists.
Some people spend 50 hours of labor installing hundreds of apps on their phone; each needing custom configured, many require having an Account to access data through the app.
What if you have to load 50+ emails into the phone; each of them having huge complicated passwords.
What if you are always buying new devices, changing roms and having to set this all up again?
=Some Solutions exist but none have worked for me.
1. Built in google 'set up new device' -
This only seems to work when you have reset your phone.. once the phone is active and you've actually used it -- there appears to be no way to turn this on and attempt to bring new accounts over...
q. How can you activate this after the fact?
If you have more than a few accounts on the device, say.. 4... maybe you have 20 or 40 email accounts loaded.. it is almost guaranteed to fail.
q. What causes it to fail? Is there any work around.
If you are on android versions too far apart its also likely to fail
q. Why? is there any work around.
*Here is a site with code related to the account transfer API; I'm not sure how accurate it is:
Account Transfer API | Android Developers
developer.android.com
2. Samsung Smart switch
This only copies ONE account - but it also does a fine job of moving text messages, SOME apps and other info over.
*Is there any way to get it to copy all email accounts; and other random app accounts to the new device?
3. Titanium backup - for non root and root.
I've played with this numerous times over the past 10 years and never successfully. I dont think it is capable of taking all accounts and backing up / restoring to different devices.
More to be added later.
Reserved for random info so I can update later;
One month later and no replies...
Anyone?
1. Is there any app on the planet that can do this - or close? ((samsung smart switch - sometimes - though it mostly fails -- Googles built in set up - which fails 95% of the time) - I know of no other solutions.
2. Is there any desire for this? have any of you been annoyed with the menial task of setting this stuff up again and again?
another month goes by.. now I have a new android tablet.. and guess what?
Samsung smart switch wont copy my accounts...
I cant seem to get the built in google 'set up device' to start == and I'm not looking forward to adding 50 email accounts and various other accounts into this manually.. thats gonna take ages...
Buying a new device every couple months.. is a grueling task when it comes to account transfers...
Nobody has any suggestions on a solution for this? I'm searching around randomly again and finding Nothing.
what is your concern?? reading your thread give me headache
I have the same issue. I am "bored" in getting another mobile because i have to setup from beggining soooo many things
IIRC then account details are stored in SQLite database named accounts.db, its location depends on Android version.
Wi-Fi passwords are stored in file named wpa supplicant.conf.
@jwoegerbauer thanks for the tip. using your filename I found a tutorial that listed the location as follows:
/data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
I've verified this on Nox; my bluestacks still isnt rooted and it seems the phones I have with all email accounts loaded == are not rooted either== I'm going to need to find a workaround for that or make time to root bluestacks to get the account data out of it...
Problem is;
1 there are no passwords included here. Where are they? mine are all crazy long and I have no clue what they are... its very time consuming to manually input them via my password managing tool.
2 Once I export; and change the CSV into a spreadsheet to include all the other missing email /google accounts; how do I replace the accounts_de.db file on each device
3. Why isnt there an app that can do this already; lol?
EDIT
Titanium backup does have an 'accounts' export option that -sorta - works... problem is how picky the app is about using root plus super SU and refuses to work with Magisk (sometimes) or will constantly crash on (some) devices - or will fail to export/import unless you try (5 different file managers that can eventually figure out how to import their file type) - or is otherwise NEEDING root access to function...
Would be nice if a solution existed via ADB or simply in an un rooted device to do this; sorta like how google ''set up nearby device'' was supposed to work (and will; if you use only 5 or less accounts... but its also buggy and fails)
Any ideas on how we can export/import accounts?
Still no successful solution.
1. Notes regarding Titanium:
I've tried about 15 versions of bluestacks using android 4.4.2 and have had mild success with titanium to backup/restore =
however it seems to randomly restore less than all the accounts (missing a few different ones each time)
it also seems to randomly miss the google password tokens randomly =forcing me to log into 10% of the imported accounts with each restore.
It also seems to fail 100% when trying to restore a bluestacks 4.4.2 accounts file on to android 7 bluestacks; or nox / or memu
It has limited success importing into a proper non emulated tablet (again missing about 60% of the accounts randomly)
all in all Titanium doesn't appear to be a good solution.
2. Perhaps a direct edit of the Accounts DB file would be wiser;
I've attempted to export it a few times and am not sure yet how to edit it ...
HeidiSQL has errors when accessing the file
Oracle's sql developer is WORSE; most of the text is gibberish.
*Any ideas on how to edit this?
3. Other xda searches lead me to:
The google password isn't a real password. After first successful authentication, an Auth Token is downloaded to device which is stored in accounts.db.
From the Auth Token is impossible to guess the password.
So I guess I answered my own question on that... I was hoping the passwords were stored on the device database so I could import/export them via a text editor.
4.
*File manager for super users allows one to explore and edit (to a point) a sql database - but one can not add new entries; only edit existing entries.
one can only export to csv; not import.
so this is only a partial solution.
5. an open source XDA solution looks promising but will not work.
Each OnAndBackup version uses different file extensions that are not compatible between versions... so yuo can't backup one android version and restore to another.
OAndBackupX is a fork of the popular open source backup app for Android
Looking for an open source solution to backup individual apps and their data? OAndBackupX is a handy Android app for the job. Check it out!
www.xda-developers.com
Blombardo said:
2. Perhaps a direct edit of the Accounts DB file would be wiser;
I've attempted to export it a few times and am not sure yet how to edit it ...
HeidiSQL has errors when accessing the file
Oracle's sql developer is WORSE; most of the text is gibberish.
*Any ideas on how to edit this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In post #7 you were told it's a SQLite database. Hence use a SQLite browser.
Downloads - DB Browser for SQLite
sqlitebrowser.org
It appears that the art of editing the database file on this is more complicated than it should be...
1. Taking the old DB file from 4.4.2 with a million accounts loaded... -- Export the 'accounts' table into csv
2. taking the new DB file from 7.1.1 with one account loaded - delete existing and then import the old 'accounts' table -
Swap original .db file with new edited one...
and congrats you too have a bootloop...
Anyone know how to PROPERLY export / import the accounts information ?
The sql table otherwise appears the same.. but I'm by no means an expert on these databases so perhaps I missed something simple.
Can't wait to see what happens from nox to bluestacks to memu to real versions of android on multiple devices with multiple android versions...
There HAS to be a better way to do this.?
Edit: 20 plus hours and many weeks into this problem
delving deeper into Titaniums site they have a suggestion for use on emulators that I did not notice; I will try and report back.
12. I have an Android device that is x86 based, and rooted. Can I use Titanium Backup ?
YES. Please ensure that you have a working BusyBox on your device and make the following changes in TB preferences:
enable the “Force use external BusyBox” option (under Troubleshooting) then hit MENU -> Reload application.
1. I've noticed there are two places for saved account info; I still have no success in getting my edited database to properly recognize in the emulator.
system DE on older 4.4.2
and
system CE on 7.1 (also has the DE folder)
2. No luck on titanium either.
a. I've tried making busy box work on the emulator; it pretends to install successfully but when running shell commands it doesnt seem to work; therefore the number 12 from Titanium FAQ is something I can't seem to accomplish either... so Titanium will not work yet; maybe due to the busybox fail.
Blombardo said:
@jwoegerbauer thanks for the tip. using your filename I found a tutorial that listed the location as follows:
/data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
I've verified this on Nox; my bluestacks still isnt rooted and it seems the phones I have with all email accounts loaded == are not rooted either== I'm going to need to find a workaround for that or make time to root bluestacks to get the account data out of it...
Problem is;
1 there are no passwords included here. Where are they? mine are all crazy long and I have no clue what they are... its very time consuming to manually input them via my password managing tool.
2 Once I export; and change the CSV into a spreadsheet to include all the other missing email /google accounts; how do I replace the accounts_de.db file on each device
3. Why isnt there an app that can do this already; lol?
EDIT
Titanium backup does have an 'accounts' export option that -sorta - works... problem is how picky the app is about using root plus super SU and refuses to work with Magisk (sometimes) or will constantly crash on (some) devices - or will fail to export/import unless you try (5 different file managers that can eventually figure out how to import their file type) - or is otherwise NEEDING root access to function...
Would be nice if a solution existed via ADB or simply in an un rooted device to do this; sorta like how google ''set up nearby device'' was supposed to work (and will; if you use only 5 or less accounts... but its also buggy and fails)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip just used Titanium Backup to transfer accounts backup generated from one phone to another (using the generated backup files) both N916K rooted with Magisk version 23.0 (23000) without issues!
So is there any Progress or Solutions found yet?
A good thing would be to see all the accounts and then retype them manually if needed.
Else it would be much better to have something like Smart Switch.
Problem I noticed with SmartSwitch, when you try to transfer the Accounts. Samsung trys to grab and upload all the accounts to their server!! Why? I don't know, but it always asks for Internetconnection etc. ONLY when you want to transfer accounts, everything else works more or less.. some appdata not included sadly anyway.
Swift Backup doesn't seem to or did someone manage it to work with it?
Tipps and possible Solutions would be greatly appriciated.
It seems to be especially problematic with Android 12...
Hello, I'm having the same problem. I'm "bored" with obtaining a new phone because I have to set up so many things from scratch. real estate istanbul
A shame there still doesn't seem to be a good solution for this. TB only tries to backup the non-existent location, while the correct is /data/system_de/0/accounts_de.db
Manually moving just puts me into a bootloop, even after setting the correct permissions.
I dont know if this works, someone should test it.
GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices.
A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices. - GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser andr...
github.com
akhilkhan said:
I dont know if this works, someone should test it.
GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices.
A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser android devices. - GitHub - cluk33/android-multiuser-backup: A set of scripts to backup and restore apps and data of multiuser andr...
github.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spent hours trying to get the script to work, but it will not backup anything in A13. I even disabled DFE on the device and started it over to test.
I bought my twins a pair of Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4" tablets for Christmas and are both into Minecraft. I was going to install a couple mods they used to have on their old Fire 8 tablets, but I hit a roadblock. I can't access the com.mojang folder. I tried a few File Explorer FX, Total Commander and a third one I can't remember and all gave errors trying to copy the files needed into the folder.
At first, I thought maybe Android 11 had been too Appleized to allow access but one of the three file explorer apps I tried finally gave an error stating that it is Google Family link that is causing the problem.
That's, the new issue. I like Google, but their documentation leaves a lot to be desired and some options that should be easily accessible are very unintuitive. Same thing here. I can't find any way to temporarily disabling Family Link in the app aside from deleting my kids account and because the tablet is set up with Family Link, it won't let me add myself as a user.
It's starting to look like the only option is to factory reset both tablets, sign in as me, install the mods, and then set family link up after they've been installed.
Before I go with the nuclear method, does anyone know of some option that Google has buried somewhere that I can't find?