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Hi, I am trying improve the security on my phone, There has been a recent report about a guy who was forced to enter his unlock screen password to border officials at the airport (although he didn't comply). This is a HUGE abuse of power and an even bigger violation of privacy.
I hope never to be in that situation, but if i am i want an easy way out so i am looking for the following solutions:
Entering a secret code / Pattern on the lockscreen that would trigger a factory reset
And / Or
A secret code / Pattern on the lockscreen that would load a "dummy" home Lanucher
as far as i can tell neither exist. Any help/Advice would be great, thanks
Just enter into the guest mode?
HOW??
aniketpatil87 said:
Just enter into the guest mode?
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How? I mean suppose that official is infront of you , how will you switch to gusest mode wihout letting him know .... i mean in power off option ?? or any other way?
What you are describing is similar to the plausible deniability mode of Truecrypt. However Android doesn't have this function natively, and I don't see how you can implement it without doing some major modification to the system.
What about bringing a secondary phone as a distraction instead?
There is already one major bug in Google Play services 7.0.97 reported by Android Police which alllows attackers to unlock the phone without any password since it takes around 15 ~ 20 seconds to re-apply the lock. Another hole seems that attackers could steal your phone if your phone just gets into the standby mode with disabled sceen. There are general known attacks with such smart-lock enabled function which allows to bypass the pin.
not sure if this is relevant , but on any phone i've owned with a 'swipe-down-status-bar' when phone is showing lock screen all i have to do is swipe the status bar down and can click on any icon to bypass lockscreen then back out of that setting , i.e. settings , apps , wifi , etc. and will be on home screen.
"all I can really do , is stay out of my own way and let the will of heaven be done"
mrrocketdog said:
not sure if this is relevant , but on any phone i've owned with a 'swipe-down-status-bar' when phone is showing lock screen all i have to do is swipe the status bar down and can click on any icon to bypass lockscreen then back out of that setting , i.e. settings , apps , wifi , etc. and will be on home screen.
"all I can really do , is stay out of my own way and let the will of heaven be done"
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That only works if you didn't set any password lock.
I have es file manager, and i zip and password protect files or folders wich i need but dont want people finding if my phone ever gets stolen. you can check that out.
Maybe there's gonna be something I oversee, but you could (easily) do this with Tasker.
You could use tasker to make an 'app' to login with a different profile on your android. By opening that app, you go into a self-defined stealth-mode, where you disable everything you want to hide and where you open a minimal homescreen.
Tasker + Secure Settings should have all the tools you need to set it up without destroying your real security.
Maybe dual booting to an empty ROM with sdcard access removed and only a small amount of fake information down on the device?
Would not help if they decided to copy your entire devices info for a close exam but should fool most guards into thinking you don't use your phone much.
Just reboot into that ROM at any time you think anyone would ever check.
When an app asks for permissions, Allow and Deny options show up (regardless if for storage, or camera, etc.) but the allow button does not work. Deny works fine. So far i have unlocked the bootloader via Huawei website method (i guess you call that official) and flashed twrp. I have not rooted the phone yet (getting to that, but one problem at a time) and this is the first one.
I also saw someone else ask, but with now answer. Is there a way to get rid of the splash scren about the phone being unlocked and not trustable, press power button again to boot?
Do you have an special theme activated? Use the standard theme and try again
My 1st question to you is... when the window prompts, do you flag the option "don't ask to me again" or not? Because if yes, the only option avalaible becomes the "deny" one. This mechanism confused me too some time ago, when i wasn't understanding why it was blacked out; Android takes your flag as an "what a bore, just shut up and go **** ya' self leavin' me alone" answer, so it automatically deactivate the possibility to let it pass even one more time. If you didn't checked the flag, i have another question for you. Did you maybe recently made an update OTA, or with an update package found online? If the 2nd answer is what u've done, do a check for being sure that you have updated the phone with the correct package model. (BLN-21, BLN-22, ecc.) If neither this is your case, begin to tell us something more 'bout your phone configuration and start to think to backup your data and do a factory reset for eliminate this weird issue.
For the question of yours about the Nag screen (the splash one, for being clear) at the moment there is nothing that we can do to avoid it to pop out; just skip it pressing immediately the power button, is the best advice that i can do so far
I'll attempt to answer all these at once since I just got home from work. I wouldn't believe rooting the phone would cause this issue, but the problem happened before i unlocked the bootloader so I think that rules that out. I do not use a special theme, but I do use squarehome launcher for my phone, not the standard android launcher. Problem there is, the problem occurs with either launcher being active. And theme wise, I have a 3-d live aquarium for a background (which if turned off and just a static wallpaper, the same behavior occurs). As far as the phone update goes, it was an OTA update from 6 to 7, so still using stock, nothing sideloaded or flashed (yet). My data is all backed up via My backup pro, and doing a full backup with TWRP onto OTG is not a problem. I prefer not throwing in the towel, since setting up squarehome perfectly is a pain in the ass, but if it has to happen, it is better than manually setting permissions for every app that needs them. Not sure what a screenshot would do, think of any app asking for permission to use phone storage, both the allow button and the deny button visible (in white, nothing grey) and allow doesn't respond where deny responds fine. and then i have to go in manually and grant the permission after the fact. I suppose I could just root my phone and give that a whirl, seems some bloatware needs to be removed anyway, and i have the SU sitting on my hard drive already. Thanx for the responses, and let me know what you may have come up with before I just factory reset it which as mentioned, I am dreading doing.
Rommco05 said:
Hi, so you have unlocked bootloader but not rooted? This is maybe problem, you need to have rooted phone if you have unlocked bootloader for fully using phone. Can you post some screeshots?
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Well, I didn't think that would be the answer, but you, sir were right. I rooted my phone and it seemed to have fixed the problem. I don't believe I made any other change whatsoever. Thank you very much. Glad I tried it anyway as you suggested even though I didn't think it would be the answer. I am not above saying thank you, and I was wrong. Kudos. Maybe this will help someone else. Good thing is, I planned on rooting it anyway, and you just kicked me in the pants to do it.
Rooted but allow button is still not activated
Hello guys,
I wanted to activate app twin so I rooted my phone BLN-L21 android 7.0
Allow button still deactivated.
Also the boot screen that asks to press power button still exist.
I noticed that if I activate whatsapp twin it won't work simultaneously .
I.e : when you open whatsapp you get all missed calles & messeges.
Also I was able to download themes through themes app ,but now it just views the local themes.
Note: superSu is installed.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you
Well, I think this is not related to OP (or at least partially), but when unlocking bootloader after setting up SD card as the default storage can break some things, like default themes.
Try to restore your firmware, and then unlock the bootloader.
If successful, you can now set up SD card as default storage.
jackmeat said:
When an app asks for permissions, Allow and Deny options show up (regardless if for storage, or camera, etc.) but the allow button does not work. Deny works fine. So far i have unlocked the bootloader via Huawei website method (i guess you call that official) and flashed twrp. I have not rooted the phone yet (getting to that, but one problem at a time) and this is the first one.
I also saw someone else ask, but with now answer. Is there a way to get rid of the splash scren about the phone being unlocked and not trustable, press power button again to boot?
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Its happened to me before i just wiped the phone. I even sometimes cant click install when installing an apk unless i lock and unlock the screen.
My last phone you couldn't turn off, reboot, or change network settings while the phone is locked. This is a very useful feature as if your phone "walks away" tracking cannot be disabled so as long as your battery is not dead you have full tracking abilities.
I did notice this feature seems to work with GPS. If you try to toggle, it will prompt for a password but that alone isn't enough to track it. I need to lock mobile data as well. I could probly just remove it from my notification tray but that is an inconvenience as I do use that toggle.
Any Ideas?
Username5.2 said:
My last phone you couldn't turn off, reboot, or change network settings while the phone is locked. This is a very useful feature as if your phone "walks away" tracking cannot be disabled so as long as your battery is not dead you have full tracking abilities.
I did notice this feature seems to work with GPS. If you try to toggle, it will prompt for a password but that alone isn't enough to track it. I need to lock mobile data as well. I could probly just remove it from my notification tray but that is an inconvenience as I do use that toggle.
Any Ideas?
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Not all devices have added those as all it takes to beat them is removing the sim card and all android devices will reboot if the power button is held for an extended time.
Well I thought about the reboot and it will boot back up so I didn't see that as a problem. Didn't think about the sim card though. Well lets just hope if someone gets a hold of my phone they won't think about it either. Anything I can do to make it harder is still worth it.
Oh well. If someone has a way to make this happen please share. I don't even know if its something I can make happen with an app or by editing anything in the android system. I will keep looking in the mean time.
Username5.2 said:
Well I thought about the reboot and it will boot back up so I didn't see that as a problem. Didn't think about the sim card though. Well lets just hope if someone gets a hold of my phone they won't think about it either. Anything I can do to make it harder is still worth it.
Oh well. If someone has a way to make this happen please share. I don't even know if its something I can make happen with an app or by editing anything in the android system. I will keep looking in the mean time.
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I can tell you that there are 3 steps when a device is stolen and the first one is remove the battery and the second is remove the sim card so no one can call it. the 3rd step is resetting it.
You will need a custom rom to get those options.
If you care about security too much, I would say never unlock your bootloader.
Its so easy to keep pressing the power button and reboot to bootloader and flash stuff to access your memory (With unlocked bootloader of course)
But with locked BL, they have to erase the storage in order to unlock it and do stuff. So, if security is a big concern to you, its good to always keep it locked.
I just ordered a Pixel 3a and I was gone for a while from the world of Google phones (since Nexus 4).
I know Magisk hides any trace of root and unlocked bootloader, but is there any disadvantages unique to Pixel devices when rooting, like disabled features or is hiding good enough that there won't be any difference? Just to be sure
Artim_96 said:
I just ordered a Pixel 3a and I was gone for a while from the world of Google phones (since Nexus 4).
I know Magisk hides any trace of root and unlocked bootloader, but is there any disadvantages when rooting, like disabled features or is hiding good enough that there won't be any difference? Just to be sure
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Nothing as far as i know.
Unstroofy said:
Nothing as far as i know.
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That sounds great. Wasn't sure if they might have done something through the Titan M or else
Rooting means unlocking your bootloader. This makes your phone at greater risk of being compromised - especially if someone has physical access to your phone (ie you lost it and someone finds it). Therefore you don't want to leave your bootloader unlocked if you have any sort of sensitive, illegal, or secret information on your phone. That's the #1 issue you have to live with. Of course for 99% of the population, there isn't anything really sensitive on their phones.
Google Pay can be hard to get working when rooted. There are ways to make it work, but it's always a cat and mouse game with Google and it may not always work in the future if Google changes something until the developers can catch up. If you can't live without Google Pay, rooting may not be the best choice for you.
There are other apps that can be temperamental when rooted - usually finance apps and some games (because they don't want players cheating). However, the Magisk hide functionality usually works with most of these apps now.
For me, the added functionality that being rooted brings (via modules and apps) is far better than the potential issues.
sic0048 said:
Rooting means unlocking your bootloader. This makes your phone at greater risk of being compromised - especially if someone has physical access to your phone (ie you lost it and someone finds it). Therefore you don't want to leave your bootloader unlocked if you have any sort of sensitive, illegal, or secret information on your phone. That's the #1 issue you have to live with. Of course for 99% of the population, there isn't anything really sensitive on their phones.
Google Pay can be hard to get working when rooted. There are ways to make it work, but it's always a cat and mouse game with Google and it may not always work in the future if Google changes something until the developers can catch up. If you can't live without Google Pay, rooting may not be the best choice for you.
There are other apps that can be temperamental when rooted - usually finance apps and some games (because they don't want players cheating). However, the Magisk hide functionality usually works with most of these apps now.
For me, the added functionality that being rooted brings (via modules and apps) is far better than the potential issues.
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Tl;dr: nothing new. And never had a problem with any apps. Magisk Hide is working well enough, deleting apps data always works as last resort. And on custom ROMs just use MagiskHide Props Config. And if you are concerned about your data, just use the lockscreen passport as bootup protection. Then it's simply impossible to get to the data through that "insecurity", no matter what you do. And since fingerprint readers a more complex password isn't a problem.
Artim_96 said:
Tl;dr: nothing new. And never had a problem with any apps. Magisk Hide is working well enough, deleting apps data always works as last resort. And on custom ROMs just use MagiskHide Props Config. And if you are concerned about your data, just use the lockscreen passport as bootup protection. Then it's simply impossible to get to the data through that "insecurity", no matter what you do. And since fingerprint readers a more complex password isn't a problem.
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I'm not sure exactly what you mean by lock screen passport. Can you share some more details?
The insecurity comes from the fact that a person that has physical access to your phone can simply turn the phone off and then start it and hold the power and volume up buttons. This will boot the device into the bootloader. Because the bootloader is unlocked, it allows that person the ability to flash anything and gives that person access to anything they want. That super secure lockscreen password or fingerprint won't help keep them out and does nothing but give users a false sense of security.
When the FBI paid a 1 million dollar bounty to someone to access an iPhone, they were paying someone to get around the bootloader. If you unlock your bootloader, you give this access right from the beginning - for free, and without any effort required.
I'm not trying to be argumentative either. You asked what the drawbacks to rooting were and I was simply trying to give a thorough answer. It's up to the individual user to decide if the the positives of unlocking the bootloader and rooting outweigh the negatives. If you look at my signature, you can see what side of the fence I fall on.
sic0048 said:
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by lock screen passport. Can you share some more details?
The insecurity comes from the fact that a person that has physical access to your phone can simply turn the phone off and then start it and hold the power and volume up buttons. This will boot the device into the bootloader. Because the bootloader is unlocked, it allows that person the ability to flash anything they want. That super secure lockscreen password or fingerprint won't help keep them out.
Again, I'm not familiar with this lockscreen passport you mention, so perhaps there is a way to secure the phone that I am not aware of.
I'm not trying to be argumentative either. You asked what the drawbacks to rooting were and I am simply trying to give an thorough answer. It's up to the individual user to decide if the the positives or rooting and unlocking the bootloader outweigh the negatives. If you look at my signature, you can see what side of the fence I fall on.
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Was a typo,I meant lockscreen password. Android should ask you, if you set up a lock method other than Swipe to unlock, if you want to be asked for it on bootup.
So no matter what you are able to flash through an unlocked bootloader, /data and with it anything that could be relevant stays encrypted until you enter the lockscreen pin/pattern/password, no matter if you do this on the screen that will interrupt bootup after a few seconds or in TWRP. So it doesn't matter what you could come up flashing, as long as you don't find a way to extract the encryption key from the secure storage either in Titan M or any ARM processor, there is no way to get your hands on user data. The only thing you can do is simply wipe /data. Then you can start up new, but the users data will be gone.
And no, I never asked for disadvantages of root itself since there are little to none, I just asked for Pixel unique stuff since Google always adds stuff that other OEMs won't use for years to come.
Artim_96 said:
And no, I never asked for disadvantages of root itself since there are little to none, I just asked for Pixel unique stuff since Google always adds stuff that other OEMs won't use for years to come.
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I misunderstood your initial post then, but the title of the thread says, "Disadvantages of rooting?"
sic0048 said:
I misunderstood your initial post then, but the title of the thread says, "Disadvantages of rooting?"
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Fixed that. Hope the text is more clear now.
But could you reproduce what I explained? Because I would be very surprised if that was unique to Motorola and not AOSP
Hello;
After looking for hours about this I'm very angry because of the stupidity of Google. Here I go:
I have configured fingerprint to unlock my phone because I sometimes can't or it's very uncomfortable for me to unlock my phone with a password / PIN / Pattern because using with one hand and I need to unlock as fast as possible all the time.
Now it comes the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life: no matter what, the phone will ask me to enter whatever I have configured for security, rendering my fingerprint totally useless. This is completely nonsense because it's not configurable by the user. The correct way of doing this is to enable an option for the user to choose: "Additionally ask every 72 hours for the password to provide extra security". Just a checkbox that can be enabled or disabled, because Google should think about the user. This security crazy paranoia is making devices less secure, because people who don't want to enter their password when they have configured fingerprint choose to disable security completely to stop being asked for the damn password.
But I'm asking here because I absolutely know there is a way to disable this, I don't care if it involves hacking / opening / soldering the device, anything to stop this will be welcome, because for me is completely necessary, or else I will have to either sell the phone or disable security completely. Entering the password on startup or when your finger fails 3 times is ok and full of sense, I have no problems with that, but every 72 hours because yes is an absolute no-no, sorry.
I hope somebody knows the exact formula to [email protected] Google / Xiaomi back, because they are simply stupid.
Thanks.
P.S: Please, if you are about to say things like "it's a feature" or "I like it, it makes more secure your device so it makes sense" or "somebody could cut your finger and use it", I prefer you don't post a comment, because I'm looking for a solution not an explanation on why it is like that to understand why the things are done like they are done, I hope you understand.
How about a factory reset?
bigogofthewest said:
How about a factory reset?
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I think this is the right decision.
Dassote said:
I think this is the right decision.
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This is bad design from Google. When I was in the crowd (e.g. inside the train), people surrounding me were looking at my finger typing the PIN as I was not able to unlock it using my fingerprint anymore after 72 hours. It makes the phone becoming very insecure. You should lock the phone with PIN only when I am not inside the crowd (e.g. during evening hour)