[APP][4.1+][ROOT] User Management - Simple multi user helper - Android Apps and Games

User Management
Dropbox link - While it's available on Dropbox, I'd really prefer it if you would use the Google Play option, as it help me keep statistics on device usage, and allows you to send error reports in case of problems
As recently discovered, Jelly Bean contains experimental and unofficial multi user support.
I've written an app for rooted Jelly Bean devices that allows anyone to use a simple GUI interface to do the following, without even touching the command line:
Create a user
View list of existing users
Rename users
Delete users
Switch to another user
The Primary user can be renamed, but not deleted. I disabled its deletion as it near-bricks the device, as detailed here (along with fix if you somehow manage it).
There is a donate version as well, but I won't be linking to that as it seems to be against the rules.
NOTICE: The SD Card permissions are required to rename the users. I couldn't find a way to save to the file system, so I read the user's file using the cat shell command, edited it with the new name, saved it to the SD Card and then used the cat command to overwrite the initial file. It's hacky, but it works.
I'd appreciate it if you could try out the app, perhaps buy it if you like it
Comments/suggestions are always welcome
As of now, the only way to switch back to the Primary user is if you hold down the power button and select the Primary user from there. This is because root access does not persist for any app, including Superuser itself across different accounts.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

FAQ
What commands were used?
All were executed in a # (root) shell
To create a user (leave the quotes in if the username being create has a space. Single word names don't need them):
Code:
pm create-user "user name"
To delete a user (replace <user-id> with the user's ID):
Code:
pm remove-user <user-id>
To list all users:
Code:
pm list-users
To switch to another user (replace <user-id> with the user's ID):
Code:
am switch-user <user-id>
To rename a user:
There is no command for this. I used the cat command to read the user's xml file (/data/system/users/<user-id>.xml) into a string array, replaced the user name, saved the file to the SD Card and used the cat command again to overwrite the original file. To reboot after the rename I used:
Code:
reboot

What could come handy is setting profiles for personal n General usage, most people use various call hiding, media hiding apps to hide personal stuff, the ideal way will be to unlock the phone with two patterns at the screen lock level, one pattern unlock for general profile the other for personal use where your personal call logs, media for gets unlocked automatically, there's an app call switch me, but it requires rebooting which is not practically usable
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

sanghaviraj said:
What could come handy is setting profiles for personal n General usage, most people use various call hiding, media hiding apps to hide personal stuff, the ideal way will be to unlock the phone with two patterns at the screen lock level, one pattern unlock for general profile the other for personal use where your personal call logs, media for gets unlocked automatically, there's an app call switch me, but it requires rebooting which is not practically usable
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really not what the app was designed for. This app was meant to be a simple GUI interface to try out the limited multi user support without having to go to a terminal emulator or adb each time you wanted to do something like create or modify a user. The features you request should be implemented by Google themselves, as they likely will be in upcoming upgrades, and not by a third party app.

Any other comments/suggestions from anybody?

cool app

Good job brotha!
Billy

Raghav Sood said:
Any other comments/suggestions from anybody?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you show a screen shot of the final build main menu (the user selection screen)? Does this show up when you first boot up your phone/tablet?
Thanks!

TBayTom said:
Could you show a screen shot of the final build main menu (the user selection screen)? Does this show up when you first boot up your phone/tablet?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The third screenshot does show the user selection screen. You can tap on any one of the users, and a Context Menu shows up allowing you to rename, switch to, and delete that user.
Here is a screenshot of the menu:
This app does not start up on boot. Once booted, you must manually use the Primary account to open the app. This is because the app is simply meant to allow you to create and manage the users without using the terminal with a nice GUI, not attempt to replace or provide functionality that can only come from Google.

One suggestion: Landscape mode
Raghav Sood said:
User Management
As recently discovered, Jelly Bean contains experimental and unofficial multi user support.
I've written an app for rooted Jelly Bean devices that allows anyone to use a simple GUI interface to do the following, without even touching the command line:
Create a user
View list of existing users
Rename users
Delete users
Switch to another user
The Primary user can be renamed, but not deleted. I disabled its deletion as it near-bricks the device, as detailed here (along with fix if you somehow manage it).
There is a donate version as well, but I won't be linking to that as it seems to be against the rules.
NOTICE: The SD Card permissions are required to rename the users. I couldn't find a way to save to the file system, so I read the user's file using the cat shell command, edited it with the new name, saved it to the SD Card and then used the cat command to overwrite the initial file. It's hacky, but it works.
I'd appreciate it if you could try out the app, perhaps buy it if you like it
Comments/suggestions are always welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

dietrichmd said:
One suggestion: Landscape mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. I'll push an update with it in a few hours

You may want to look at UserDetailSettings.java in the Settings app for the package manager code to enable/disable apps per user.
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Settings/+/jb-release/src/com/android/settings/users/UserDetailsSettings.java

Not sure if it's easy or not but your app driven by a nfc tags open some interesting scenario like when i give the phone to my wife and she say: "oh, what a mess my iphone have few icons..."
or a shared phone usage for team ... or something like the chamaleon gui that when I arrive at home i switch the user from the profession usage to the private ones. Should be nice.
Is this doable?

Zemaree said:
Not sure if it's easy or not but your app driven by a nfc tags open some interesting scenario like when i give the phone to my wife and she say: "oh, what a mess my iphone have few icons..."
or a shared phone usage for team ... or something like the chamaleon gui that when I arrive at home i switch the user from the profession usage to the private ones. Should be nice.
Is this doable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Both of these are doable. However, this isn't the purpose of the app. Though considering the amount of requests I've received for such features, I'll be making another app that does all this and more very soon.

So other than creating/naming etc is there any functionality like choosing apps/restrictions for accounts at this stage?

works as advertised keeps all apps from primary user on the guest accounts they just don't see any info becuase its like just installing them. Good job.

ellesshoo said:
So other than creating/naming etc is there any functionality like choosing apps/restrictions for accounts at this stage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, @bradymobile did post a link to the source code of a User Specific Settings screen a few posts back. However, this appears to be in accessible from the normal Settings menu, and so I'm currently looking for the correct intent to open it up. Beyond that, you can use Nova or Apex as the launcher for the guest user(s), and hide all the apps you don't want to be visible there.

on latest cm10 the user management app doesnt seem to be able to gain root. In fact, even superuser isnt granted root once you switch to an account other than the primary. suerpuser denies itself and the user mangement app.

mallman said:
on latest cm10 the user management app doesnt seem to be able to gain root. In fact, even superuser isnt granted root once you switch to an account other than the primary. suerpuser denies itself and the user mangement app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is because apparently root doesn't persist across user accounts. The only way to switch back to the primary account is by using the power menu options. I haven't quite figured out why the root won't persist. It happens to all apps that need root.

Raghav Sood said:
This is because apparently root doesn't persist across user accounts. The only way to switch back to the primary account is by using the power menu options. I haven't quite figured out why the root won't persist. It happens to all apps that need root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is interesting. i would ask if the superuser permissions have changed upon switch but obviously you're not rooted so you cant tell. Following closely so god luck and thanks for the dev!

Related

[TOOL] iAPK Suite v0.9 - Drag & Drop APK Installer

Alright, straight to it.
This is iAPK Suite 0.9. The newest incarnation of iAPK. It's functions have been vastly increased, while keeping it's sole purpose still unique.
The new version of iAPK merits it a new name, iAPK Suite. This means it not only installs APKs, it is a full fledged manager. It installs, deletes, backups, and restores APKs from your respective Android devices. Aside from being drag 'n' drop friendly, i've incorporated a tremendous amount of useful features. Hell, it even signs APKs with a simple click.
There are currently two versions. iAPK Suite and iAPK Mini. The Suite version allows full APK management, while the mini just has simple drag and drop as well as the docking panel without any other APK functions which makes the file size practically cut in half.
Mind you, the usage of this application gets a lot easier when you learn all of the shortcuts I implemented to making things a lot quicker. A wiki will be made to explore everything about iAPK and how to use every function i've built into it, even the not so obvious ones
..:: Screenshots ::..
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
..:: Features ::..
- Sleek Drag n' Drop User Interface
- Docking Panel
- File Type associations with .apk files
- APK Management
- Signs APKs
- Drag Multiple APKs for installation
- Drag Folders containing APKs for installation
..:: Wiki ::..
iAPK Suite 0.9 Wiki *DOWN*
..:: Download ::..
Download iAPK Suite for Windows (LINK UPDATED JUNE 2012)
..:: Issues/Todo ::..
- adb sometimes has an issue with apks installed from folders with spaces in their name. (Working on a fix)
- small animation glitches tend to appear depending on the environment. (Does not pose any functional problems)
- a system tray icon needs to be added to allow for easy configuration of certain adb options/switches. (Working on)
- several adb switches need to be added to allow forced apk installed (-r) and other various tags. (Working on)
- deleting apks has not been testing thoroughly. (Waiting for feedback)
- iAPK needs an installer instead of being just compiled into a zip. (Working on)
..:: Changelog ::..
v0.9
+ Added quicker docking panel
+ Added File type associations with .apk files
+ Added APK management through the Android Device Bridge (adb.exe)
+ Added APK manifest dumping using the Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt.exe)
+ New UI built from scratch
+ New Information panel notifier
+ Added a mini version for smaller file size
v0.3
+ Added Update Checker(Now notifies the user if an update is available)
+ Added Directory APK Installing(Not tested)
+ Now checks to see if adb is in $Path or already specified instead of always making a copy of adb locally(Not tested)
+ Added a configuration panel(Intended for internal use, otherwise no use right now)
- Taken out some un-needed functions(may work a little faster for some people)
++ Will be available for Mac OSX, Linux in the next release.
++ Will incorporate a default filetype & shortcut for windows(allows auto-install on doubleclick)
v0.2
+ Added Multiple APK Installing functionality (Drag and Drop multiple APK's)
+ Cleaned up some more code
+ Operation manager for internal use (Allows for batch calculation and apk management)
+ Added small tool tip for future use
+ Added an operation summary at the end of each..operation.
- Taken out 99.9% of the popups
- Taken out clunky option gear graphic
++ Coming soon... Just mention it.
This application works globally for ANY Android Device. Posting it in here is just because i'm in this sub-forum a lot. But this application will work with ANY Android device. It would be nice if this thread was pinned for easy access
Pretty cool. Heres another alternative i use. I just created a batch file where i made it pickup a file as an argument and "adb install -r" it. I compiled it to an exe and gave it an icon and set it as a default program for apk's. Here it is for those interested. You can either set it as default program for apk filetype, or just drag an apk into it.
Link
I like it. Simple and nice interface and easy to work with it
Thanks
10 char.
qberty said:
Hey xda inhabitants!
Here's something I made to shorten APK installing. This is my take on an easy drag and drop apk installer with quick and to the point functions. It's very simple and straight forward, drag and drop your APK onto my program, and it will install it over ADB to your phone! Very simple as opposed to using the 0.04 second long browse button, Dragging and dropping saves a bunch of time!
Screenie-bo-beenie
Download-oh-...err
1.4MB RAR
1.6MB ZIP
Please let me know if you want features that adb can provide or ..just anything you want implemented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Does it support multiple/batch apk files? That would be useful for a restore.
wow..nice one
if can drag multiple apk files and batch install would be nice
Binary100100 said:
Interesting. Does it support multiple/batch apk files? That would be useful for a restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pingy_ping said:
wow..nice one
if can drag multiple apk files and batch install would be nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm..You guys are right.. it does not support multiple apks... It might since it's through adbs command, not sure if that would work. But I have a method of making multiple apks work at once. Lemme throw that on the table.
...Done.
Updated, and fixed v0.2 link.
pretty sweeet
sweet, love the idea of batch installs! Save a lot of time when switching between roms
Thanks! If anyone has anything else they want added. Let me know.
color me stupid but i cant get this to work...
may be that im on a pc at work.
there is nothing fancy needed to get it to work is there?
i am able to use the sdk tools and ADB can see my phone but the app keeps saying failed
any ideas would be great.
ceasee said:
color me stupid but i cant get this to work...
may be that im on a pc at work.
there is nothing fancy needed to get it to work is there?
i am able to use the sdk tools and ADB can see my phone but the app keeps saying failed
any ideas would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did some quick debugging and I found out that I broke the single APK installer by adding the multiple batch one. Damn lol. Well for now, untill I release the completely working one, just drop two or more apks on it for them to properly work. That is an error on my part, must have forgot an if/then/else somewhere along the road, I'll fix it now. Should be compiled within an hour. Thanks
Terribly sorry for the confusion. I have fixed the weird problem. Everything now works as it should. Please re-download v0.2 from the original post.
This is a really Nice utility
I have a couple of requests. Feel free to make them come true
1. Make it so if set as a default app for apks, when i double click an apk it launches this program, installs the apk, then shuts the program.
2. Make it so it detects if adb is currently in $path, u can do that using something like errorlevels in batch. So if it detects it, then it shouldnt have to extract the files such as adb and the dlls.
Just my $0.02
Great!! thanks!
Daneshm90 said:
1. Make it so if set as a default app for apks, when i double click an apk it launches this program, installs the apk, then shuts the program.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.. is not the easiest thing to do, since I would now need to make my app utilize commandlines in win shells to allow me to add apk file locations to a command to be installed quickly. It's definitely possible, but unfortunately i can't complete it within an hour so, that'll take a bit longer.
Daneshm90 said:
2. Make it so it detects if adb is currently in $path, u can do that using something like errorlevels in batch. So if it detects it, then it shouldnt have to extract the files such as adb and the dlls.
Just my $0.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is definitely an easy task, never thought of that, consider it done as I have the exact code in my head
I'll compile everything when I get homerz.
$0.2 is actually 20 cents... wow. You put a lot thought into this one. lol
Anyway, keep in mind, I can do..just about ANYTHING with this app. So don't hold back with your suggestions.
qberty said:
This.. is not the easiest thing to do, since I would now need to make my app utilize commandlines in win shells to allow me to add apk file locations to a command to be installed quickly. It's definitely possible, but unfortunately i can't complete it within an hour so, that'll take a bit longer.
This is definitely an easy task, never thought of that, consider it done as I have the exact code in my head
I'll compile everything when I get homerz.
$0.2 is actually 20 cents... wow. You put a lot thought into this one. lol
Anyway, keep in mind, I can do..just about ANYTHING with this app. So don't hold back with your suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol my bad. Typing on phone/in a hurry don't go too well
Btw wht did u write this in ? vb?
qberty said:
This.. is not the easiest thing to do, since I would now need to make my app utilize commandlines in win shells to allow me to add apk file locations to a command to be installed quickly. It's definitely possible, but unfortunately i can't complete it within an hour so, that'll take a bit longer.
This is definitely an easy task, never thought of that, consider it done as I have the exact code in my head
I'll compile everything when I get homerz.
$0.2 is actually 20 cents... wow. You put a lot thought into this one. lol
Anyway, keep in mind, I can do..just about ANYTHING with this app. So don't hold back with your suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anything? Lol (I won't go there!) What is the advantage to this verses using su file manager to just copy and paste within the phone? I guess I should just try it out, but didn't want to waste my time cause I have no problems with adb commands, but some of my friends might like it! Thanks!

[APP][2.2+][24 Jul - v0.11] CommandCenter the power of shell without the terminal

Have you ever dreamed of an app to execute your favorite shell commands, whether it is for collection dmesg/logcat/dumpsys or set kernel parameters.
Well here comes CommandCenter, a generic app for grouping all your favorite commands.
CommandCenter is free with ads and can be downloaded from the Google Play (please be patient, it takes a while to update as I just published)
It is also open source and your can check my repo to inspect / review the code.
If you are a kernel developer you may want to provide a tool for your users to run certain commands without havint to maintain an app for that; if yes just submit a Command Set and have your users download it.
If you are a poweruser there are commands that you use all the time, wither from adb shell or in the terminal. Make one or multiple Command Set and enjoy the comfort of an Android app and the power of your favorite commands.
From version 0.10 a Locale / Tasker Plugin was added to execute command from actions.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
How it works
The command sets are stored of the sdcard in the app's private folder /sdcard/Android/data/com.asksven.commandcenter/files in the form of json files. On load the files are parsed and each file (Command Set) shown as a tab.
A single click on a Command displays its details, a long click pops up a dialog from where you can run the command (this is configurable in the preferences).
A command has two parts:
- the command to be executed itself: it may contain a variable and in that case a popup will ask for the value to be used
- an optional command to retrieve a status: if a status can be read it will be displayed
CommandCenter comes with two pre-configured Command Sets:
- general commands for logging / diagnosis
- a few command for Fracisco Franco's awsome GN kernel
Want to contribute?
If you want to create and distribute command set just drop me a PM. I would be happy to give you more details about the syntax of the command sets and there is a section in this thread to list authored Command Sets. I may also add some to the Market app.
Caution
Always check the command's before running them. CommandCenter support 'su' command and you should know what you do as those could harm your phone. I will not take any responsibility for any dammage caused by command run using CommandCenter
Contact
You can contact me here (PM, this thread) or on twitter
Release Notes
v0.11.0 2012-07-24
Major fix: added synchronization to avoid freeze conditions
#24: "refresh" reads changes on command collections from the external storage
#26, #27, #28: different error conditions from reports
v0.10.1 2012-05-06
#15: samples scripts were being re-created on every start instead of once at first install
#14: FC when turning to portrait
#16: FC when number of result lines for a command < 5
#17: Various FC conditions from google play logs
#21: error in one script should not cause the other not to load
v0.9.0 2012-03-10
Solved stability issues (threaded processing)
Tablet support
#8: new command dialog layout
v0.8.0 2012-02-24
#4 Popup menu was called "edit"
#5 added support for user defined and editable commands
#6 added support for commands returning data
v0.7.2 2012-02-12
#2: dumpsys missing su, and logcat files have zero-length
#3: A few issues with backward compat to Android 2.1/2.2 fixed
v0.7.1 2012-02-11
#1: fixed Android 2.1 compatibility issue
v0.7 2012-02-11 Initial release
Command Sets
If you want to create command set for CommandCenter please read this
FAQ
For future use
sounds quite nice, can't wait to try. Have been using Tasker + Secure Settings for that so far, let's see how it compares.
V0.7.1
Fixed a minor issue with Android 2.1 (getExternalFilesDir does not exist on Eclair)
When I try and dump logcat radio or logcat it creates the file but it's blank. Also when I dump alarms the file reads Permission Denial: can't dump AlarmManager from pid=5637, uid=10128. ComandCenter never ask for SU Permissions. I ran the dump alarms with su permission from the terminal and it worked fine. HTC Inspire running ICS.
harpo1 said:
When I try and dump logcat radio or logcat it creates the file but it's blank. Also when I dump alarms the file reads Permission Denial: can't dump AlarmManager from pid=5637, uid=10128. ComandCenter never ask for SU Permissions. I ran the dump alarms with su permission from the terminal and it worked fine. HTC Inspire running ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok the alarm dump is fixed, it was a definition error in the command set (dumpsys did not require su).
Testing the other commands now on rooted and unrooted device
V0.7.2
Fix-Release is rolling out, see post #2 for release notes.
I did quite a lot of testing on 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 4 devices with and without root and I hope the fixes work for everyone.
chamonix said:
Fix-Release is rolling out, see post #2 for release notes.
I did quite a lot of testing on 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 4 devices with and without root and I hope the fixes work for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for fixing this so fast. Everything is working perfectly now. Great app.
Another great release from chamonix
I have been looking for an app like this..so thank you very much. Now I'll start study it to take full advantage from it
Sent from my sandwiched SGS
It's time to collect some feature requests and build some use cases. Do you guys have suggestions for feature or know a kernel dev who has no time to write a sexy "settings" app. I'd be happy to provide the command sets while finalizing the schema aiming at making it public for contributors
Should it be possible to add or modify the command sets? I don't seem to be able to do either. In Edit mode, my soft keyboard never open and I don't see any option to create a new command set. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?
This is on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running a rooted AOSP ICS.
short/y said:
Should it be possible to add or modify the command sets? I don't seem to be able to do either. In Edit mode, my soft keyboard never open and I don't see any option to create a new command set. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?
This is on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running a rooted AOSP ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fact the is no way of editing the commands from within the app. I have been thinking about that a lot and the functionality itselt is not the problem (it occurs to me that the popup menu is named "edit" and this is of course not correct).
The reason I did not provide edition of commands within the app is that I want to offer a distribution channel for authors to update their command sets. Those updates would overwrite the local changes.
What you can do to edit the commands is edit the json files located on the sdcard in Android/data/com.asksven.commandcenter/files (one file per command set).
Do you feel the need to have "local" commands as well that could be edited from the app and stored in a local database?
chamonix said:
In fact the is no way of editing the commands from within the app. I have been thinking about that a lot and the functionality itselt is not the problem (it occurs to me that the popup menu is named "edit" and this is of course not correct).
The reason I did not provide edition of commands within the app is that I want to offer a distribution channel for authors to update their command sets. Those updates would overwrite the local changes.
What you can do to edit the commands is edit the json files located on the sdcard in Android/data/com.asksven.commandcenter/files (one file per command set).
Do you feel the need to have "local" commands as well that could be edited from the app and stored in a local database?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Local commands would be handy also you can do generics for brand htc Samsung etc as the kernels tend to have commands in the same spot, also a log viewer would be cool but they are. Readily avaliable
Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk
Auto upload to paste bin would be sick and the ability to email to dev as well as adding the kernel version to the file name
Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk
chamonix said:
In fact the is no way of editing the commands from within the app. I have been thinking about that a lot and the functionality itselt is not the problem (it occurs to me that the popup menu is named "edit" and this is of course not correct).
The reason I did not provide edition of commands within the app is that I want to offer a distribution channel for authors to update their command sets. Those updates would overwrite the local changes.
What you can do to edit the commands is edit the json files located on the sdcard in Android/data/com.asksven.commandcenter/files (one file per command set).
Do you feel the need to have "local" commands as well that could be edited from the app and stored in a local database?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'd like to have that. I can think of a few I'd like to have NOW as opposed to waiting for someone to come up with them
Code:
df -h /sdcard
df -h
ls -lrt /mnt/sdcard | tail
ls -lrt /sdcard/Download | tail
ping www.google.com
ifconfig lte_rmnet1
netstat -rn
netstat -l
netstat | grep CLOSE
uptime
And probably few others that I could come up with once I really thought about it. Why not have "protected" command sets which are updated thru the app or Market and "user" or, as you call them, "local"?
First of all, thanks for develop another great application.
I concur that having the possibility to add commands is really a 'must have'. Of course, if we are thinking about to create commands, this means all of us have already a terminal app installed to run them, but the purpose of this app is to make life easier for having our favorite commands ready to execute. Many of these commands are possibly a small subset of common ones, but even with that, I probably prefer to redirect the output to a diffferent place that abother user using the same command. So having a 'user tab' to be able to add, edit and delete commands (also maybe copy a command from other tab) will be very useful.
Anyway, congrats for comming up with this useful app.
short/y said:
Yes, I'd like to have that. I can think of a few I'd like to have NOW as opposed to waiting for someone to come up with them
Code:
df -h /sdcard
df -h
ls -lrt /mnt/sdcard | tail
ls -lrt /sdcard/Download | tail
ping www.google.com
ifconfig lte_rmnet1
netstat -rn
netstat -l
netstat | grep CLOSE
uptime
And probably few others that I could come up with once I really thought about it. Why not have "protected" command sets which are updated thru the app or Market and "user" or, as you call them, "local"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One question about those commands: some of them return results that will not fit on one line and so would not fit in the space reserved for the status (lower line in the list).
How would you like to display the result?
- as a popup when running the command
- as a multi line status field 'growing' when required and updating automatically
pp1276 said:
First of all, thanks for develop another great application.
I concur that having the possibility to add commands is really a 'must have'. Of course, if we are thinking about to create commands, this means all of us have already a terminal app installed to run them, but the purpose of this app is to make life easier for having our favorite commands ready to execute. Many of these commands are possibly a small subset of common ones, but even with that, I probably prefer to redirect the output to a diffferent place that abother user using the same command. So having a 'user tab' to be able to add, edit and delete commands (also maybe copy a command from other tab) will be very useful.
Anyway, congrats for comming up with this useful app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am convinced: https://github.com/asksven/CommandCenter/issues/5

Linux guy buys first android device

Hi folks,
I'm relatively new to XDA and similarly new to smartphones. My old dumbphone broke down and finally got an android device, samsung galaxy note, I really liked the huge screen.
I've been using linux for 2 decades now and chose an android device because everyone was telling me how it is linux-based which sounded like a good selling point. I'm quite pleased actually but have a few questions all of them related to my expectations that the OS will be linux-like:
1. I've been reading about rooting the phone and the like, but nobody explained the basics: why is it a special procedure to root the phone, why isn't it simply multi-user like any desktop linux? You could log in like a normal user or like root and that would be it. I guess there are serious reasons for the current design but it certainly doesn't seem natural at all.
2. In linux I can always figure out what the UI does in terms of the command line, so for instance if I use something on the UI (click an icon or bring up a menu) I can almost always do the same from the command line. This way I really know what's going on and if needed I can customize things. Case in point: right now I have to tap the phone a couple of times until I get to the broadband data transfer ON/OFF switch. It would be really neat to have an icon on the home screen that would do this. But I can't figure out what "command" needs to get executed to bring up the data transfer ON/OFF switch, so I really don't know how to create such an icon. This is just an example, I could come up with others easily, stuff I'd like to do, but can't figure out what happens under the hood. And it seems people create all sorts of simple trivial apps for these kinds of simple trivial tasks, when it should be possible to hack something up really fast. Any pointers on how to see what a UI interaction does and how to replicate it in a slightly different context? For example the broadband data transfer ON/OFF switch on the home screen?
3. I'm missing bash and top, ping, kill, cat, ls, etc, etc, Is there such a thing? (I already found connectbot but it would be nice to have scp and ssh inside a shell).
4. On my linux notebook I have a bunch of ad servers in /etc/hosts redirected somewhere else so they don't consume my bandwidth and don't clutter the webpage I'm trying to read. Can I have something similar on the phone? Is there something like an editor? I normally use vi, would be great to have that on the phone.
5. What controls the startup applications on boot? There are a bunch of stuff I bet I don't need but can't tell the phone to not start them. I guess I need to "root" the phone for this, but see question 1 Something related, I heard it's not possible to delete the factory installed bloatware without "rooting" the phone, is that true?
I guess that's it if anyone would make me feel as at home on the android phone as I feel at home on a linux desktop/notebook/etc I would be really grateful!
Cheers,
Daniel
1) Because the phone manufacturers lock Avg. Joe out of the system files to keep them from doing potential harm to the software. It saves your carrier millions per year in technical support costs.
2) Hold your finger down on an open section of the homescreen to open up a menu that will allow you to create shortcuts to important commands. You may also wish to install a custom Launcher that has more customizable features compared to whatever stock Launcher your carrier put on it.
Addendum: Root your phone, then install "Terminal Emulator" from the Play Store. Type in "su" and you'll then have superuser access to your phone's command line. From that point, it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect from Linux.
3) See Addendum to 2.
4) You could do it yourself, or let others do it for you. Root your phone, then install "AdFree" from the Play Store. Set up AdFree to automatically update and you're good to go.
5) 2 ways to get rid of bloatware, either root and use the Terminal to delete it yourself, or root and install a custom ROM that already has it removed. I highly, highly suggest rooting and switching to Cyanogenmod 9 as soon as possible. Go to your phone's specific forum on this site for instructions for practically everything you could ever want to do with your phone.
Note to 5: Your carrier sticks its bloatware into your system files, instead of in your user accessible app data. To change system files in any way, you'll need root access to your phone.
Here's a link to the development section for the Galaxy Note, please read all the rules and very thoroughly read all instructions before actually doing anything to change your device in any way:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1349
sreza said:
1) Because the phone manufacturers lock Avg. Joe out of the system files to keep them from doing potential harm to the software. It saves your carrier millions per year in technical support costs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, makes some sense for them, but I'm wondering if Microsoft can afford to have an Administrator account exist on Windows, why can't android be shipped that way (rhetorical question).
Addendum: Root your phone, then install "Terminal Emulator" from the Play Store. Type in "su" and you'll then have superuser access to your phone's command line. From that point, it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect from Linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like this is what I have to do
I highly, highly suggest rooting and switching to Cyanogenmod 9 as soon as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the cyanogenmod website I don't see samsung galaxy note listed as a supported device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1349
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this is very helpful.
Another n00b question: how the hell does one quit the default browser? It looks like there is no way to close the last remaining window.
fetchinson said:
I see, makes some sense for them, but I'm wondering if Microsoft can afford to have an Administrator account exist on Windows, why can't android be shipped that way (rhetorical question)
On the cyanogenmod website I don't see samsung galaxy note listed as a supported device.
Another n00b question: how the hell does one quit the default browser? It looks like there is no way to close the last remaining window.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because Windows can't afford to alienate power users by locking down their system. If they did, they'd be Apple. Also, remember that it's not Google that's locking you out of root, it's the phone manufacturer/carrier; which aren't exactly known for being bastions of ethics...
Windows is actually starting to lock you out of functions with Windows 8, the ARM version of Win8 can't sideload applications.
Cyanogenmod might not be officially supported for the Note, but there's probably a few devs on the Note's forum that are unofficially making a port. Try this ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1552554
There is a way to close the final window if you go into the browser menu and close it, but it's really not necessary. Android will auto-close old background tasks if you start to run low on memory. You may also want to look into downloading a different browser from the Play Store. I've never bothered, but I've heard good words about Opera Mobile. Dolphin HD is absurdly popular, but at it's heart it's basically the stock browser reskined, which offends my sensibilities, lol.
Also, if you're on ATT, you may want to check out these instructions on how to get unlimited data on smartphones for $15 per month:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1446373
Thanks for all the useful info!
While looking further around on the phone I stumbled upon another thing which would be quite trivial on ordinary linux: how do I see the creation/acces/modification times for any file? I've installed Terminal Emulator from github, "ls" works, but not "ls -al".
Also, how do I check if there is any network access at all or if an application tries to access the network or not? On linux I would run the program though strace and that would show me all system calls so I would see what the application is up to. For instance the S Note application (it's a samsung note taking application for the Note) takes a long time when I save a note, which makes me think maybe it wants to sync the file to a samsung cloud service or something like that. How do I check what takes so long for this app, in particular if it wants to access the network or just plain slow?
fetchinson said:
Thanks for all the useful info!
While looking further around on the phone I stumbled upon another thing which would be quite trivial on ordinary linux: how do I see the creation/acces/modification times for any file? I've installed Terminal Emulator from github, "ls" works, but not "ls -al".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the terminal, I'm not sure, but you could download one of many file managers from the Play Store and view the files' properties through that.
Edit: I have Terminal Emulator from the Play Store, and "ls -al" works fine for me (see screenshot). I'm also using Bash for my shell, so that could be it. Also, see about Busybox below.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Also, how do I check if there is any network access at all or if an application tries to access the network or not? On linux I would run the program though strace and that would show me all system calls so I would see what the application is up to. For instance the S Note application (it's a samsung note taking application for the Note) takes a long time when I save a note, which makes me think maybe it wants to sync the file to a samsung cloud service or something like that. How do I check what takes so long for this app, in particular if it wants to access the network or just plain slow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can probably find an app in the Play Store with that functionality. Wireshark is in there, so I'm sure something like strace has been done.
Also, look into installing Busybox from the Play Store. It provides a lot of the normal Linux terminal commands you might be missing.
EndlessDissent said:
Edit: I have Terminal Emulator from the Play Store, and "ls -al" works fine for me (see screenshot). I'm also using Bash for my shell, so that could be it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet! So how did you get Bash? Is it something working together with Terminal Emulator or a separate application (whatever the appropriate android lingo is )? If I search the play store for "bash" I don't really get anything resembling a shell, but probably I'm just overlooking something obvious. Installing this would be a great start.
EndlessDissent said:
Also, look into installing Busybox from the Play Store. It provides a lot of the normal Linux terminal commands you might be missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this looks great too!
Going the Other way
Hi
Android and it UI's is not like any X11 based desktop, but buying an android devices is what got me into using linux as my main desktop and I tend to think as them as one and them same at a command line level at least.
If you comfortable with building from source you can cross compile any tools you are missing.
They numerous time saving widgets and the like on google play. i.e wifi toggling which sit right on your main screen.
You'll find that most utilities and useful stuff has been ported to android.
If you want to use vim I would download "terminal ide" which is an IDE which runs on android, if your familiar with java you can create application directly on the devices
it also contains bash, busybox and more.
Busybox is a multicall binary. Androids native one is called toolbox and can be found in /system/bin. If you want to port your favourite bash scripts over then there's script managers which will run scripts at startup etc.
Obviously with these optimized binary all the help and in the case of android toolbox, any command not need by the system is general left out. It's not meant for as a general purpose shell.
Trivia: splitting up you parameters when using toolbox can sometime help e.g "ls -l -a" works where as "ls -al" didn't
You can remount the root and /system as read writable, a man of twenty years linux doesn't need the dangers of that explaining.
There's a plethora of Root tools for removing system packages and general tweaking, google play is you friend in this case.
If the android UI really does not live up to your expectations than you always install Ubuntu.
When you rooted your device and unlocked you bootloader and basically voided any manufacturers warrenty (not something I care about, but I t seems important to some people ) that came with the device you just got a computer with a different cpu architecture, so the opportunities are limitless with what you can do with it
Have Fun!
T

[WindowsTool] APKSharp: De-bloat, view full details & manage APKs on any Android

APK# v1.4
==================================================
Copyright (c) 2020 Captain Majid
Chat with me on Discord: https://discord.gg/F3Ds69M#android
==================================================
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
​Description:
==============
Quickly de-bloat, view full details & manage APKs on any Android device/emulator, no other app do/show all that.
Features:
==========
Easily know what app works on what device/emulator by comparing Android cpu architecture to the app's supported architectures (arm, arm64-v8a, x86, etc...), and also by comparing the minimum Android ver required to run an app.
Backup multiple apks at once.
Install multiple apks at once.
Quick-infos of multiple apks at once.
Disable multiple apks at once. (for Android >= 6.0 only)
Uninstall multiple apks at once, including system apps (for Android >= 6.0 only, this doesn't require root, it just uninstall it for the current user, use this to remove unnecessary pre-installed junkware/bloatware system apps).
Push/pull files/folders to/from your Android even when its on Charge mode or connected wirelessly.
Quickly search for a package name without waiting for the whole list to be ready. (really time-saving feature)
Displaying current WiFi & IP with the ability to connect to the Android device wirelessly, no other tool automates that that easy.
Infos mirrored/logged to Excel files by default, also you can save custom screen contents as columns to Excel file for later reference, simply press Alt + Space -> Edit -> Select All/Mark -> Enter -> then paste the clipboard in a text file but change the extension to .csv
APK names encoded in UTF8 text to Excel file format (for non-Latin letters like Arabic, Japanese, Russian, etc...), you can also use an advanced cmd emulator (like mini cmder, that can display these characters on console screen).
Requirements:
==============
Windows ADB drivers: there is no generic solution for all Android manufacturers, even Google solutions mightn't work for your device: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/oem-usb#InstallingDriver, also remember that Windows disables installation of unsigned drivers unless you enable it manually on Windows boot.
So the generic solution is: to get https://sdi-tool.org/SDI_Update.torrent we only need to select \drivers\DP_zAndroid_*.7z, maybe also DP_Telephone_*.7z, & maybe DP_MassStorage_*.7z for MTP or ADB if you use Windows XP, you can also try this solution if the previous didn't work.
.NET 4.0 (if you've Windows older than 8).
Enable "USB Debugging" on your Android device/emulator.
Screenshots:
=============
Videos:
========
While searching on Google, I found this fan-made video, [Perfect Tool] ? :fingers-crossed: uhmmm... but I'm not done yet .
Review & Download:
===================
https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/APK.shtml
Donations:
I don't need donations, just made this tool to ease the pain on users that aren't able to root/own their Android anymore, found it useful ? spread the word !
Why didn't you put it in the Play Store?
S.l.v.n said:
Why didn't you put it in the Play Store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not an Android app, It's a Windows app written in C# no app/apk is installed on Android at all.
@Zer0De8th Sorry for the late reply to your pm, yes I'm going to add an option to disable a package later and some other features, hopefully not more than a week from now, thanks for the feedback.
You can also join me here if you're on Discord: https://discord.gg/F3Ds69M
Moataz Bellah said:
@Zer0De8th Sorry for the late reply to your pm, yes I'm going to add an option to disable a package later and some other features, hopefully not more than a week from now, thanks for the feedback.
You can also join me here if you're on Discord: https://discord.gg/F3Ds69M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for considering my request.
Updated to v1.3
Donations:
I don't need donations, just made this tool to ease the pain on users that aren't able to root/own their Android anymore, found it useful ? spread the word !
While searching on Google, I found this fan-made video, [Perfect Tool] ? :fingers-crossed: uhmmm... but I'm not done yet .

			
				
Moataz Bellah said:
Windows ADB drivers: there is no generic solution for all Android manufacturers, even Google solutions mightn't work for your device: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/oem-usb#InstallingDriver, also remember that Windows disables installation of unsigned drivers unless you enable it manually on Windows boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what kind of solution is in that torrent file (maybe again koush one that distributes illegally MS sign program makecert.exe, like devcon.exe it's not allowed really. But then again also Intel and Amlogic has done/does it, so who cares...) but here is another Windows ADB driver generic solution, signed and all... by me
Yet Another Universal ADB Driver Package and adbupdater for Windows
:laugh::silly:
MesterPerfect said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback, this error happens when screen resolution (width) is <= 1024, so make it anything above 1024x786 and the problem should be gone, this will be fixed in the next release.
CXZa said:
I don't know what kind of solution is in that torrent file (maybe again koush one that distributes illegally MS sign program makecert.exe, like devcon.exe it's not allowed really. But then again also Intel and Amlogic has done/does it, so who cares...) but here is another Windows ADB driver generic solution, signed and all... by me
Yet Another Universal ADB Driver Package and adbupdater for Windows
:laugh::silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing your project with us, you also seem to be a fan of emojis, right?
Well, the torrent is a collection of drivers called Snappy Driver Installer, it's almost the same as DriverPack Solution, both are trusted by thousands of people, but SDI has more features, flexible, and you can just update/download 1 driver when you want, not the whole pack, I don't think alot of people cares if the driver is signed by Microsoft or not as long as it works, does your solution covers all Android manufacturers ?
The phenomenal v1.4 update is here, why I say phenomenal ? well, I checked other similar adb-based tools on the web, and most of them are not just poor in functionalities compared to APK#, but paid/require donations to unlock very basic features, which is annoying.
For example, I didn't find any tool to automate the wireless connection between Windows & Android as easy as APK# (even awesome tools like https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy doesn't), also the tool does not make you wait to load all the packages infos anymore, you just use the Quick Search feature, and save your day.
Enjoy
Moataz Bellah said:
So the generic solution is: to get https://sdi-tool.org/SDI_Update.torrent we only need to select \drivers\DP_zAndroid_*.7z, maybe also DP_Telephone_*.7z, & maybe DP_MassStorage_*.7z for MTP or ADB if you use Windows XP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moataz Bellah said:
does your solution covers all Android manufacturers ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, and future manufactures too if the drivers don't change too much. And it isn't around 130MB like those files that you suggest downloading by using that torrent.
Moataz Bellah said:
The phenomenal v1.4 update is here
< --snip -->
Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like how? 1.3 is available, not 1.4... just saying...
CXZa said:
Yep, and future manufactures too if the drivers don't change too much. And it isn't around 130MB like those files that you suggest downloading by using that torrent.
Like how? 1.3 is available, not 1.4... just saying...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for that delay, I was waiting for Softpedia to re-test/re-scan the update, I wanted the source of download to be them for additional trust, and to monitor the download count easily, now APKSharp v1.4 is ready. I also added your ADB drivers solution to the main post.
Moataz Bellah said:
Sorry for that delay, I was waiting for Softpedia to re-test/re-scan the update, I wanted the source of download to be them for additional trust, and to monitor the download count easily, now APKSharp v1.4 is ready. I also added your ADB drivers solution to the main post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, great, have to check what's this phenomenality is all about...
My driver package's phenomenality is maybe questionable but it usually does its ****...
Scrolling and filter issues
Overall appreciate your program. Very helpful and useful.
(Currently using ver 1.4 of your apk sharp program on the latest version of windows 10).
Having said this, there seems to be some issues with your program or perhaps
I am misunderstanding its use in certain places which hopefully you can clarify.
1. Is the “quick search” feature the same as your filter except it’s used at the very beginning to preclude the wait period as the app lines are created but then after that the filter is basically one’s search function?
2. Filter option issues:
Don’t understand how the filter works?
Example: If I type in the line number say 205 (of line 205; wuffy player etc.) no result is shown.
Any reason why typing in a number as my filter/search phrase won’t work?
If I type in “wuffy player” (without the quotes) a resulting line is shown as expected.
If I select the “wuffy player” phrase then do ctrl-c to copy then a ctrl-v to paste, its pasted correctly on the filter line but no result is subsequently shown so I am always forced to MANUALLY write in the search phrase which is NOT very helpful.
I even tried doing the ctrl-c OUTSIDE of your program using one of the csv files your program creates, and then tried the ctrl-v to paste in your program with no result. It is as if the ctrl-c or ctrl-v confuses your program.
I think you really need to resolve this because no one wants to always have to manually type in their search phrase every single time.
3. OR’s and ANDS’s in filter phrase – how to?
How do you do OR’s and AND’s with your filter? I tried “search phrase 1” “search phrase 2” (space in between, also tried commas, semi colons etc. in between the phrases) to execute an AND search but got no results.
For an OR’d phrase I tried “search phrase 1” | “search phrase 2” using the “|” as the separator and tried many other chars for the separator char but all yielded no results. Can you please explain how to do OR’s and AND’s when using your filter option?
4. Unnecessary scrolling of existing app lines:
After all the app lines are shown and one sorts say by name using option key ”1” for name, if one enters any char key like say “t” that is not a valid option key the entire app lines are unnecessarily re-scrolled which is quite annoying and provides no added value in doing so. The screen should remain as is with the invalid option char simply ignored.
Also, when a valid option key is pressed and its results are shown, the last valid char is seen on the line so if one backspaces which is a NATURAL user instinct to subsequently erase that char in order to select the next valid char option, all the existing app lines again get unnecessarily scrolled because the backspace just happens to be an invalid option selection char.
This is confusing because for a next valid selection to work, one needs to type in a valid option char at the same time a previous valid selection still remains on the line. This is not a natural user interaction.
Thanks
Ed R.
Burgrio said:
put it in the play store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I won't :laugh:
ed_ray said:
Overall appreciate your program. Very helpful and useful.
(Currently using ver 1.4 of your apk sharp program on the latest version of windows 10).
Having said this, there seems to be some issues with your program or perhaps
I am misunderstanding its use in certain places which hopefully you can clarify.
1. Is the “quick search” feature the same as your filter except it’s used at the very beginning to preclude the wait period as the app lines are created but then after that the filter is basically one’s search function?
2. Filter option issues:
Don’t understand how the filter works?
Example: If I type in the line number say 205 (of line 205; wuffy player etc.) no result is shown.
Any reason why typing in a number as my filter/search phrase won’t work?
If I type in “wuffy player” (without the quotes) a resulting line is shown as expected.
If I select the “wuffy player” phrase then do ctrl-c to copy then a ctrl-v to paste, its pasted correctly on the filter line but no result is subsequently shown so I am always forced to MANUALLY write in the search phrase which is NOT very helpful.
I even tried doing the ctrl-c OUTSIDE of your program using one of the csv files your program creates, and then tried the ctrl-v to paste in your program with no result. It is as if the ctrl-c or ctrl-v confuses your program.
I think you really need to resolve this because no one wants to always have to manually type in their search phrase every single time.
3. OR’s and ANDS’s in filter phrase – how to?
How do you do OR’s and AND’s with your filter? I tried “search phrase 1” “search phrase 2” (space in between, also tried commas, semi colons etc. in between the phrases) to execute an AND search but got no results.
For an OR’d phrase I tried “search phrase 1” | “search phrase 2” using the “|” as the separator and tried many other chars for the separator char but all yielded no results. Can you please explain how to do OR’s and AND’s when using your filter option?
4. Unnecessary scrolling of existing app lines:
After all the app lines are shown and one sorts say by name using option key ”1” for name, if one enters any char key like say “t” that is not a valid option key the entire app lines are unnecessarily re-scrolled which is quite annoying and provides no added value in doing so. The screen should remain as is with the invalid option char simply ignored.
Also, when a valid option key is pressed and its results are shown, the last valid char is seen on the line so if one backspaces which is a NATURAL user instinct to subsequently erase that char in order to select the next valid char option, all the existing app lines again get unnecessarily scrolled because the backspace just happens to be an invalid option selection char.
This is confusing because for a next valid selection to work, one needs to type in a valid option char at the same time a previous valid selection still remains on the line. This is not a natural user interaction.
Thanks
Ed R.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall thank you so much for this highly constructive feedback :victory:
1. & 2. "Quick Search" only searches for a package name (not app name) inside user/sys apps, so to search for "Google Play Store" app, you need to type any part of the package name which is "com.android.vending", so just typing "vend" will do the job.
"Filter" will search in the current cached list of apps for an EXACT phrase like: "cpu arch" or "app name" or "package name", so just typing "arm64-v8a" or "play store" or "vend" will give the same result, but you can't use more than 1 filter in the same time, so you can't say "play store arm64-v8a", you also don't need to specify a full word/phrase, just typing "sto" or "pla", is enough to get "Google Play Store".
3. Sorry if you get lost in this, the default filter is an EXACT phrase like I said above, if you find it necessary, I can add "OR" & "AND" filter later.
4. I've added a small update here to prevent apps relisting when an unsupported character is provided.
Please also note that with sorting, pressing the digits from 1 to 5 two times will reverse the sorting method (ascending/decending), so you can get the biggest/smallest app in size at the end by pressing '4' two times.
I'll add this in the main post later, thanks again and have a nice day.
Ooh, this looks like just what I needed to remove bloatware (without touching the necessary stuff). Two questions:
1. Does this work for a samsung galaxy s7 (G930T)?
2. How do I get started? (Instructions on how to use would be nice.)
Hopefully this works for my device (I tried using ADB to uninstall stuff, but kept hitting issues (and reset several times), so now it's sitting in a new (unopened) state. Important stuff is backed up before I started the uninstalling.
pyereciae2788 said:
Ooh, this looks like just what I needed to remove bloatware (without touching the necessary stuff). Two questions:
1. Does this work for a samsung galaxy s7 (G930T)?
2. How do I get started? (Instructions on how to use would be nice.)
Hopefully this works for my device (I tried using ADB to uninstall stuff, but kept hitting issues (and reset several times), so now it's sitting in a new (unopened) state. Important stuff is backed up before I started the uninstalling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as
Code:
adb devices
detects your device, you're good to go.
1. It should work for any Android device/emulator, if you have an issue, let us know, screenshot it, etc...
2. Just follow the on-screen instructions and press the corresponding keys, maybe watch the video in the 1st post.
AHHH~
This worked better than I expected (especially the part where it lists the package name along with the file name). Also, thanks for color-coding everything! I can finally tell what something is, the file name, version, etc. It's also easier than using ADB for uninstalling, as it's just searching for the names, filtering with "6" + Enter, then uninstalling with "u" + Enter then the numbers with plus signs in between (e.g. 1+2+3). Much faster and simpler than "pm uninstall -k --user 0 [FILE NAME]" where [FILE NAME] is what the file name is (e.g. com.nimblebit.pocketfrogs for Pocket Frogs).
Now I can sleep without worrying to much...
I think one error is when I tried to undo uninstalling but it just gives "Uninstalled system apps:" then moves on as normal without the app being re-installed...

[APP] AppDash: Tag, sort & backup (beta)

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AppDash: Tag, sort & backup
AppDash is an app management tool which shows detailed information about your apps and allows tagging, backup and restore.
Download
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.appdashboard
Join the beta program
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/flar2.appdashboard
AppDash has been in development for over two years and incorporates everything that I've personally wanted out of an app manager. I've put a great deal of effort into the user interface, with the goal of making it convenient and intuitive, simple yet detailed, with a polished and pleasant look and feel. I hope you enjoy and find it useful. Please leave your feedback here in this thread, as the app is still under heavy development.
FEATURES:
• Tag your apps, perform batch actions, see screentime by tag, share app lists
• Backup and restore apps
• Analyze, extract and install APK, APKS, XAPK, APKM and split apk files
• Deep app info, including manifest, components, screentime, install/update history and metadata
• Search, sort and filter apps
Explore
See new and updated apps, quick summaries of tags, app usage, storage, unused and recently uninstalled apps
Apps
A searchable list of installed apps. Long press or tap the app icon to select one or more apps for batch actions, such as backup or uninstall
Tags
Another way to visualize your apps, you can create up to 30 customizable tag groups, and easily add or remove apps. Perform batch actions, such as backup or create sharable lists of apps.
The autotag feature will categorize your apps automatically. You can easily delete these tags and create your own, or modify them in any way you wish.
Backups
A searchable, sortable, filterable list of backups, including batch actions. First, you must choose a directory where AppDash will store your backups. It is strongly recommended to create a new directory for AppDash.
For root users, AppDash offers full backup and restore of apps, app data, external app data and expansion (OBB) files. Please note that some apps don't like backup and restore, so use at your own risk. For non-root users, only the apk will be backed up, no data.
For both root and non-root users, you can enable the auto backup feature, which will automatically back up apps whenever they are updated.
Tools
The Tools screen allows quick access to app history, usage and tools to install or analyze APK files. AppDash can handle many formats such as APK, APKS, XAPK and APKM.
Navigation and UI
AppDash is a new class of app that allows deep navigation. Each tab works independently, with its own backstack, allowing you to multitask and compare app details between tabs. You can always return to the beginning by tapping the icon in the bottom navigation bar twice or with the back button or gesture.
You can think of the Explore tab as home, pressing back enough times will always bring you back to Explore before exiting the app.
Almost everything int he app does something, so tap or long press icons, cards or text within the app and there is a good chance something will happen.
App Details
All the info you could ever want about an app, with a bottom drawer full of actions such as launch, backup, uninstall, share, extract and more. View internal details such as permissions, manifest and app components.
History
Maintains a list of app events. The longer AppDash is installed, the more info will be shown. On first launch, it only shows first install time and most recent update. From the time AppDash is installed, it will also keep track of version codes, uninstalls, updates, reinstalls and downgrades.
Usage
Get details about screen time and number of launches. By default, a weekly average is shown. Tap on the bar graph to show details for each day. You may show usage details for individual apps, or for tags.
Large Apps
Shows all apps using at least 100MB of storage. For root users, you can also quickly wipe cache to increase disk space.
Install APKs
Launches the system file chooser so you can select one or more APK, APKS, XAPK or APKM files to install.
APK Analyzer
Similar to the App Details screen, this scans the selected APK, APKS, XAPK or APKM file to get deep information about the app. You may also launch the APK Analyzer from most file explorers by clicking "Open with" and selecting AppDash.
Privacy
As with all my apps, there are no ads and no user data is collected or monetized. The only revenue is from subscription or in-app purchase. There is a free trial, but you must purchase the app or a subscription to continuing using AppDash for more than seven days. This charge is necessary to support development and expenses.
Beautiful app flar2! Is there a way to "select all" in the Backups tab yet? The autotag feature is pretty neat!
Finally a powerful Titanium Backup alternative is here. And much more, as I see.
Huge hopes and much anticipated. In no time everybody will use it.
And this, delivered by the best guy.
A great news in Android root world.
Thank you, Flar, and good luck!
ninjæon said:
Beautiful app flar2! Is there a way to "select all" in the Backups tab yet? The autotag feature is pretty neat!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping to avoid select all, but so far everyone is asking for it.
I added "select all" to the latest version
I'm going to make a series of short videos to highlight some of the lesser known features of AppDash.
Here's the first one, demonstrating how to create a sharable list of apps:
Will test next backup, cheers
Was going to ask if it backed up appdata, but then i actually read the OP
p.s. what ill be testing/comparing it against is in my sig
I've been waiting for a replacement for the tired old Titanium Backup.
Backed up Messages and all SMS data, cleared all the storage, lost all of my texts, as expected (they go way back).
Restored in seconds. Perfect.
Thank you!
I didn't see a way to schedule backups of updated apps and/or app data. Is this possible or planned for later?
I hope you don't mind some (hopefully) constructive criticism.....
Hit the backup icon and suddenly you're back at the App List tab when you start to select apps to backup... confusing
When you get there there's no obvious button to select all, which is what most people would do, before deselecting the odd app they maybe didn't want or didn't backup well. Instead you have to select an app before you can select all, this is counterintuitive. Also if you did want to filter apps once you have selected all, the filter option is gone once you select all..
Selection is signalled by replacing the apps icon, which is a bad idea, I know the icons, I don't know generic blue circles. App icons should never be hidden/replaced.
There's no obvious sign once backup begins in the GUI, none. I finally noticed a nondescript icon in the pulldown, but by that time I'd hit the backup icon at least twice...once I figured out what the backup icons n is that is. Perhaps label the icons or make that an option? Anyways, once I found the backup icon in the pulldown, and expanded it, there was still no progress...just said it was backing up 171 apps. Me, I like to know where a process is, never more so than a backup one
Why when on the backup tab (sorry, what you assume is the backup tab, but is actually the app list tab...on that front, I wouldn't have backup switch back to another tab, confusing) are there icons to delete apps etc. Once you have signalled you intend to backup these are unnecessary and distracting and taking up space best used by task specific options
There was no sign in the pulldown the backup had completed. There was a sign of something having been done as there was a list apps now in the backup tab, but no "backup completed"
There was no app count in the backup tab to show how many apps were backed up. Mine looked short. I counted them manually...only 42 of 171 apps were backed up.
Will test future versions. Have and use some of your other apps....
Some suggestions from me:
- When about to make a backup apk is always pre selected. Can it be done so that when one already has the last version of an app backed up, the apk is not pre selected and only data and external data is pre selected.
- in the backup dialog there is a very nice icon and text describing what is the last app backup and one knows if he has a backup of the last version of an app. But can you make it colored (red if no current version backup exists and green if it does for example)
- I use GMD Gesture Control. One of my most favorite apps. It is an old app but it still works fine. The apk is attached here. AppDash cannot make data backup for this app. I always get "data backup failed" message for it. Could you please check this.
- share only shares the app. Can you make it so that one can share the app, and/or the app data in one backup file for easy import and in sepatete files. This is very, very useful.
- there is an option "delete old backups". How old? Can one set this? For instance older then... What does it delete?
AppDash is an amazing product. We are lucky to have you, Flar.
Forgot to mention
- besides select all, it is good to have invert selection, exclude tag(s) from selection, include tag(s) to selection and such.
I can make some of the suggested changes, mainly around UI.
My hesitance around select all is that I'm concerned that many phones brands will flag the app for battery consumption and blacklist it or kill the process. And it will use up a ton of storage. It's better to be selective and only backup key apps.
I honestly do not want people to backup 170 apps at once, it's something that is very likely to fail for reasons beyond my control.
It's extremely resource intensive to compress, encrypt and copy several gigs of data.
desertcat said:
Thank you!
I didn't see a way to schedule backups of updated apps and/or app data. Is this possible or planned for later?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can probably add this. It will only make sense for backing up data for root users, as the autobackup feature will be sufficient in other cases.
flar2 said:
I can make some of the suggested changes, mainly around UI.
My hesitance around select all is that I'm concerned that many phones brands will flag the app for battery consumption and blacklist it or kill the process. And it will use up a ton of storage. It's better to be selective and only backup key apps.
I honestly do not want people to backup 170 apps at once, it's something that is very likely to fail for reasons beyond my control.
It's extremely resource intensive to compress, encrypt and copy several gigs of data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your concerns
I'll just point out that my current (and for several years) backup strategy has been over 170 apps weekly backed up and restored from the time i had my old Note 4 till now on my Pixel 2 XL. My current back up is around 4.4Gb and never failed (apart from a single backup app bug, that was fixed a year ago)
Part of my ability to fairly evaluate ROM's when testing is that i can apply the exact same apps to any ROM i test.
I realise this is probably outside of the average users needs, but im just pointing out, its entirely doable and stable with my current backup app.
I will keep my eye on the project though, and wish you the best. I still appreciate your other works, Button Mapper saved my sanity so many times in the past, and EX kernel manager still lives on my phone
@tiho5
GMD data backup fails for me too, but I'm pretty sure it can be fixed.
Thanks all, keep the suggestions coming.
I actually never have backed up my apps, and never used Titanium Backup or others, so not sure how people really use them.
My use cases for this app are more around seeing what apps have been updated, viewing app info, checking app usage and getting rid of apps I don't use.
73sydney said:
I understand your concerns
I'll just point out that my current (and for several years) backup strategy has been over 170 apps weekly backed up and restored from the time i had my old Note 4 till now on my Pixel 2 XL. My current back up is around 4.4Gb and never failed (apart from a single backup app bug, that was fixed a year ago)
Part of my ability to fairly evaluate ROM's when testing is that i can apply the exact same apps to any ROM i test.
I realise this is probably outside of the average users needs, but im just pointing out, its entirely doable and stable with my current backup app.
I will keep my eye on the project though, and wish you the best. I still appreciate your other works, Button Mapper saved my sanity so many times in the past, and EX kernel manager still lives on my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the app you use now? I can't see your signature.
flar2 said:
What is the app you use now? I can't see your signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, sorry forgot if youre on mobile as you may be, you dont see sigs
Migrate: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...20-migrate-custom-rom-migration-tool.3862763/
I used to use MyBackup Pro, but when Migrate came along, i moved to it and never looked back
Appreciate all your work
Select all is needed for other actions too. I could want to clear cache from all apps from a certain tag for example.
Wipe data, restore data to a bunch of apps is often what I need to do for a set of apps in 2 of my tags. We must have these options. AppDash is a powerful, potent app manager and we have to be able to do batch actions like these.
I know you'd want the auto backup to work and therefore AppDash must not be killed. However to me this is less important than the rest of capabilities it may have. Flar, I don't think AppDash will get killed as these batch actions are always done when AppDash is active on the screen, never in the background.

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