Database Info

HtcLoggers.apk and other eavesdroppers

By now, some you have seen reports about the latest bit of under-the-covers eavesdropping, this time by HtcLoggers.apk. In case you haven't, this post on Android Police details the whole thing pretty well.
One thing that really caught my attention was the graphic showing all the different ways various bits of Android snoop on you:
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Those of us not running HTC software don't have to worry about most of these. The one that remains for all of us, at least according to the research so far, is Google Checkin, part of GoogleServicesFramework.apk. You can see in the graphic what kind of information Checkin collects and where it puts it. I've seen /data/system/dropbox before, occasionally I clear it out because it collects a huge number of files. I hadn't really paid much attention to /data/system/usagestats.
Using Root Explorer, I see that the permissions on both these directories is rwx------. As an experiment, to see if I can block whatever Checkin is collecting, I deleted their contents and then removed all permissions on these directories (and rebooted for good measure). I did this about an hour ago. So far, the directories have remained empty.
My G2 (running ILWT CM7 build 216) appears to be functioning normally, including the Market. If anything malfunctions, I'll report here.
Update. More directories to block: /data/anr, /data/tombstones, /data/dontpanic. File to block: /data/system/userbehavior.db (I first used SQLite Editor to empty the file).
Do not attempt this procedure on /data/system/throttle -- this caused my phone to enter a boot loop, which I had to repair by booting into recovery and then reverting my permissions change through ADB.

Quick follow-up... Looks like removing all permissions on the two directories has no effect on the phone's behavior. I've seen no breakage and the directories remain empty. So if you want to thwart some data collection, this looks like a decent approach.

So now that some time has passed, what is veridict? Were there any averse affects on the phone? Does everything still work?

Still seeing no problems. I did the same thing to my Nook Color, and it's also behaving normally.

This is very interesting, I'll try changing the permissions too.

Updated original post: added a few more directories to block based on additional information reported by the Carrier IQ Logging Test App.

I also gave this a try...
And so far so good! Thanks!

[APP][2.2+] SDCard Watcher - Find out which apps clutter your SDCard

SDCard Watcher
Market Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.desaster.sdcardwatcher
Description / Reasoning
Anyone who installs a lot of apps will soon find their SDCard cluttered with strange directories that don't seem to relate to any app you know. You could just remove them all, but how do you know which directories are from apps you are still using, and might contain some important data?
Since the sdcard filesystem lacks ownership info, there's really no easy way of knowing which app to blame. This app is my approach to the problem.
Basically the app lets you monitor any chosen directory for changes, and when a new file or directory is created, it checks which app is currently visible to the user, and saves this information in a database. This way, next time some app leaves an obscure directory rotting on your sdcard, you will know exactly which app to blame.
Why should you care?
Actually, you probably shouldn't. The extra bits of data often don't take any significant space on your memory card. However, it irritates me, and this app gives me a bit more of a sense of control. The XDA forum is probably the best place for me to post this app, since I know there are at least a few other like-minded people here who care about tweaking little things like these
Battery usage
The app's background process uses the kernel's inotify feature to catch changes in the filesystem, and thus uses virtually no processing power, and will not drain your battery.
Reliability
There are essentially two ways for an app to run a background service; as a background service, and as a background service with a notification icon. My app supports both ways, but the default is to run without a notification icon.
I am still unsure if android lets the service run reliably enough without the notification icon, so if you think you're missing file changes, I'd love to hear about it. In any case, the notification icon can be enabled in the settings and should help with the issue (should there be an issue).
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Tweaked S-Pen setting on non-stock ROMs (Requires TASKER)

I noticed that there are many people using AOSP roms (CM mostly) and are unsatisfied with the S-Pen experience. Now there are couple of applications that bring S-Pen sheer awesome back from dead ('Reset S-Pen' for calibration and 'GMD Control' for gesturing), so there's that.
Out of these many people, there are few who notice that even when S-Pen is calibrated, whenever Note goes in landscape mode, the cursor still is following portrait calibration. This is problem 1.
Problem 2 is out of these few people, there are even fewer people, like myself, who are left-handed. So when we go from Stock to AOSP/AOKP/AOSPA/CM/"Insert ROM here", we are screwed pretty much from the beginning.
So, wrapping up the *****ing, here is something I created on Tasker to ease my life, and I hope it teases your's too.
NOTE: I'm a left handed person and everytime android restarts, it sets hand preference to Right hand. So 2 of these tasks automatically set dominant hand to left whenever any of the profiles are matched.
Installation Instruction:
0. Get Tasker from Playstore if you don't already have. It is THE AUTOMATION TOOL for Android devices, makes your phone actually "smart".
1. Download Tasker.zip (or save it, you know what I meant).
2. Open the archive and extract the lonely folder "Tasker" into your sdcard (internal sd if phone has, well, internal sd).
3. Open Tasker. Now if my profiles, tasks and scene isn't already listed, don't worry, just open menu and select Data>Restore. From there you may either get a warning Dialogue to Restore or a file explorer inside Tasker folder containing Backup.xml. Either way, just Restore.
4. Use common/non-sense and activate profiles accordingly.
X. If you're on CM10.2, you can flash this. Replaces Vanilla Black Arrow Cursor with Samsung stock S-Pen cursor. Extremely helpful if you like doodling or drawing.
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Dialogue Box when Headphones plug in:
People stuck on step 3, here's a pictorial:
I hope it helps others. I hope this turns out to be useful and not complete waste of forum-space.
Thank you XDA Community, it couldn't have been possible without you.

Android M will restore application permissions management function

Remember App Ops? Back in Jelly Bean 4.3, the feature could be accessed by resourceful users to switch on or off permissions for individual apps. By KitKat 4.4.2, the feature was completely hidden from users. Google's explanation was that App Ops was never meant for public consumption - it was devised for internal debugging only. But users had gotten a taste of granular app permission controls and wanted more.
Permission controls would ostensibly live in two places - first, in the app itself, where users will be asked for permission using a series of dialogs. Whether all these dialogs will have to be dealt with immediately before opening the app or if they'll be spread out over the course of use remains to be seen. Evidently, granular permission control will be on for every app automatically, with developers left to decide what the app should do if it is denied permission. This is a potentially worrisome scenario, since apps will need to be updated to degrade gracefully with less and less permissions, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.
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The second home of permissions controls will be in the device's Settings app. It appears users will have access to a very familiar-looking interface with a list of permissions and toggles to switch on or off permissions as they see fit.
This is for users, this is a good thing, after all, allows users to better control the application's behavior. However, for developers, if you are rejected by the user, you may not get the information you want.
How this will impact developers remains to be seen, but with a dev preview of M expected this year, there will hopefully be enough time for developers to tie up any loose ends before Macadamia Nut Cookie hits a wide release.

Agreed, now just waiting for I/O to conclude and Google to throw the switch on the M "Marshmallow" preview and see how it preforms, I personally haven't had the L bugs many have/had but battery life is still a shame, let's hope doze does the trick.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

The new Google Now stuff has me more excited than anything else... http://techanet.co.uk/google-now-gets-system-wide-integration-and-smart-enhancements/

[APP][4.1+][NO ROOT]DPI Changer

Sometimes you just don't like the size of the items on your screen. If you're lucky, your phone's software has its own DPI changer of sorts, where you can choose among a few different presets, but what if you want more options, or you aren't one of the lucky few with that feature?
Well, this app aims to fix that problem on any Android device running 4.1 or later. There are quite a few apps out there that change your DPI, but this one doesn't actually require root, even if you aren't running Nougat. You will have to reboot if you aren't rooted, but hey, that's better than being around a computer all the time to use ADB, right?
There are instructions in the app for the setup and usage.
IMPORTANT:
- I don't know if this will work on every device running Android 4.1+. I was able to test it on an emulator running 4.1, along with various LG and Samsung devices on Marshmallow and Nougat, but that obviously doesn't include everything. Send some feedback if it isn't working for you, and include your device + Android version.
- Non-root mode requires you to execute a one-time ADB command (unless you uninstall and reinstall the app). From then on, all you'll need is a reboot.
- Avoid setting the DPI below 72. I don't specifically know what happens, but I know Android tools prevent this from happening by default. I will build the limit into this app in a future update.
Screenshots:
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PLAY STORE:
LINK REMOVED
XDA LABS:
LINK REMOVED
SOURCE CODE:
LINK REMOVED

@ProGuy1 if you can use ADB to change your DPI, that's great! But some people don't know how or don't have constant access to a computer. I figured rebooting would be more convenient than finding a computer with ADB.
Also, devices on 4.3 and above no longer need to reboot, whether rooted or not.

@S. Loranca You can certainly translate it if you want. The source code is on GitHub. Look in `/res/values/strings.xml`.

delete

Thanks for making this! I saw the "Display Size" setting missing on my new Xiaomi phablet; a few apps I tried on the play store failed, but this app works perfectly.

For reasons you'll see soon, I'm removing this project from XDA and closing the thread. If you have the app right now, email me or PM me with any questions.