I used to use Full Control with great success for my Xperia Z ultra, but since it updated to Lollipop it no longer works. I've looked in to some other apps for children and teens but they either have a horrible graphic overlay on the phone or simply don't do what I want. Basically I want the phone to look and act as normal, but I want the choice to exclude certain apps from accessing the Internet, like Google play or chrome. These could be accessible but only with a password. Or is there a way to inherently restrict access to chrome and play in lollipop? I don't want to have to create another user account.
Help would be appreciated!
WEll you need root for this
Timpaa said:
I used to use Full Control with great success for my Xperia Z ultra, but since it updated to Lollipop it no longer works. I've looked in to some other apps for children and teens but they either have a horrible graphic overlay on the phone or simply don't do what I want. Basically I want the phone to look and act as normal, but I want the choice to exclude certain apps from accessing the Internet, like Google play or chrome. These could be accessible but only with a password. Or is there a way to inherently restrict access to chrome and play in lollipop? I don't want to have to create another user account.
Help would be appreciated!
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well i didn't see any xperia ROM on any sony device that has a custom firewall by default for this purpose. And i am still sure that it is highly unlikely that sony still included something in their roms. What you need is to root your phone. Then you can install a firewall by searching on xda. That will allow you to add a layer of security against internet access for you. It stand between your allowed apps and non allowed apps fo internet as gate keeper. But beware rooting will ruin your warranty status. You no longer can enjoy warranty from sony after rooting.
Related
Over at Random Blame's Sero 7 Pro Jellytime thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2474673&page=20 there was a brief discussion about creating a locked down kid-safe rom for kids with known internet-misuse issues. My basic idea was to turn the Sero into a glorified media player, with no access at all to communication capabilities, including browser, facebook and such, but still permitting youtube and some other niceties.
There are "apps for that" in the store, but at least the free apps have security holes in them bigger than the Titanic, post-iceberg. The largest hole is the easy workaround of accessing the play store through an ad, then simply uninstalling the PC software. If the kid remembers to put it back later, you might never know it was done.
Here's what I came up with, rolling with several of the ideas proposed in that thread. I'm no dev, and no ability to create a rom, all I did was butcher an existing one In theory, you could do this with any custom rom for any rooted device. It's a one-way trip, so make sure you save the original image someplace in case you want to return to full functionality.
As always, proceed at your own risk.
So for my Sero 7 Pro I did as follows:
1. Root and install XboxeXpert's custom rom, from post 3 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2297246
2. Install any apps you want on the device from Google Play. Do NOT install from Amazon, they won't work without the Amazon App store installed, which defeats the entire purpose. Trust me, I blew hours on this.
3. Install titanium backup and save everything thus far. Move the save files to a secure laptop so you can reinstall and update later, as needed.
4. Use an app manager like App Master and start stripping out everything related to communications. I blew away Messenger, Browser, Email services, and a number of others. Use your imagination.
5. Lastly, in direct opposition to almost everything XDA stands for, remove Play Store.
* App Master has a backup function, and you may be tempted to use this to preserve Play Store in case you want to install something else later. I found it does not restore correctly and Play Store was unusable, and had to re-flash and start all over again. You may have better luck with Titanium, but I did not try it.
Without a browser, the kid cannot get on any inappropriate sites. Without an app store, they cannot replace the stock browser / messenger or add Facebook / Snapchat to the tablet, even by clicking on an add. The free game apps I installed worked fine, but the ads went nowhere.
This is pretty efficient, about the only thing the kid can do at this point is install a new rom fresh, for which they would need access to a computer, which you would also control in your own house. Can it be beaten? Sure, some of these kids give the NSA night-sweats, but unless your kid is an aspiring dev, it's about as secure as you can hope for.
Best of Luck,
TM
Hi guys.
My Xperia Z3 compact, as every Sony device, was born full of bloatware, like various content markets for apps and multimedia, apps that I will never use, Google Play apps and Sony apps which do the exactly same things, all the Google+ integration (I have not a Google+ account and I don't want it), etc.
Now I'm wondering if it's better to keep all this garbage in a "Garbage" folder on the app drawer and simply ignores it or disable all of them in the App settings menu. I've always chosen to deactivate the garbage in order to avoid updates downloading and save system resources (so battery life), but a friend suggested me to only ignore them cause they don't significatively waste resources and you can't never know exactly if and when a process call another one that if disabled generates loops and instability.
What you think about it?
Inviato dal mio Sony Xperia Tablet S attraverso l'app ufficiale xda-developers
I have the same phone too...I put them all in a folder and forgot about them...
after reading this im going to disable them i think
maybe i'll not disable google+ even though i dont use it but i think hangouts needs it
ishaang said:
I have the same phone too...I put them all in a folder and forgot about them...
after reading this im going to disable them i think
maybe i'll not disable google+ even though i dont use it but i think hangouts needs it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use Hangouts so I've not any problem with the lack of G+.
But you should not take your decision over what I wrote, cause mine was only a question because I've not even the answer. You should wait the answer from someone expert.
Nevertheless, if you try before and after disabling please report your impressions.
Not quite sure, but as long as you're not rooted, I don't think you can do anything drastic.
So everything you can disable should be safe and is that program alone.
I personally disabled almost everything I could on my Xperia Z3. You can't disable system apps and so on as long as you're not rooted. Also I think it's only system apps that works "over" each other. What I mean is when not rooted, disable app A does not in any way affect app B.
That would be another case if rooted and disable system app A which could cause system to crash.
Haveing personal security on a device without out root is not easy.
I am being given a lg g tab v522 for a Xmas with 2gb a month data over lte for 2 years.
But sadly from all the research I've done the tablet is not going to be rootable.
So I'm looking for ways to ensure my security without root.
And I will report back here with what I find and how I feel about it.
Please feel free to post any applications I should look at.
Like history wipe,app backup, or ways to reset the Android id and other tracking methods without root.
things I will be looking for
(Preferably with out internet access)
Secure contacts storage
Because using Android contact's is just silly
Secure calendar app
That's right I don't need Google sync
Secure online storage
Possibly ghost commander with a mega plugin
Firewall
Looking at the no root firewall
Bookmarks
There are a few apps that don't need sync
Web browser
Firefox? Pale moon? Other?
Notes
Using mininoteviewer now, have to look at other possible s
Video player
Music player
????? I like folder players over play lists but security will be most important
Forums application.
I use xda labs now.. But have to look at its permissions closely
Gps spoofer
Thank goodness that this can be done without root.
Ok this should be considered dead
After a nightmare of a time dealing with customer service trying to get the tablet shipped as a present to a different address they get it wrong three times
Now it is out of stock..
So they can stuff it.
Which means I will not be getting a non rootable tablet so I have no motivation to risk my information testing with out root.
Happy solstice.
Hello, i have problems with my dad's phone and now i want to restrict usage for him. Problem is he doesnt know technology too much (like even calling people from smart phones), listening music from youtube and tries to download them (not buying them using youtube converters) for that i have downloaded app to his phone but he still cant use it and his phone goes crazy, now i want to restrict his phone usage (like only a few applications and a few websites) but i can't find anything which does that (not blocking websites creating a filter which blocks site if it isn't in list or blocking apps like google play). Isn't it possible ? or if it's possible how to ? phone model is Lg L Fino (d290n) not rooted but i can root it if it's the way.
eLvvNtY said:
Hello, i have problems with my dad's phone and now i want to restrict usage for him. Problem is he doesnt know technology too much (like even calling people from smart phones), listening music from youtube and tries to download them (not buying them using youtube converters) for that i have downloaded app to his phone but he still cant use it and his phone goes crazy, now i want to restrict his phone usage (like only a few applications and a few websites) but i can't find anything which does that (not blocking websites creating a filter which blocks site if it isn't in list or blocking apps like google play). Isn't it possible ? or if it's possible how to ? phone model is Lg L Fino (d290n) not rooted but i can root it if it's the way.
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Greetings and welcome to assist. There are apps on the playstore that limit what the phone can do. There are certainly a few "kids mode" apps that let you select which apps can be used. If the phone was rooted I would recommend tasker (there is an xda forum for it), tasker allows you to totally customise what the phone can do
Good Luck
Sawdoctor
Hi all, I work at a group home and one of the clients recently purchased an Amazon Fire tablet to facebook chat with his dad.
My issue is that thanks to the crapiness of humanity I know that there's a strong potential for the tablet to grow legs.
Without getting into details, the client cannot have the tablet always in their posession, and we can't conveniently lock it down anywhere, and ideally whoever is supporting him needs to have access to the tablet whenever possible.
I'm wondering if there is an app, or even better, a device, which can cause the tablet to alert my manager the moment the device leaves the property? Ideally something not easily accessed or removed.
I know getting a tablet just for facebook chat is overkill, I wasn't the one who purchased it for the client, I'm just trying to make do with what is available.
theseventensplit said:
Hi all, I work at a group home and one of the clients recently purchased an Amazon Fire tablet to facebook chat with his dad.
My issue is that thanks to the crapiness of humanity I know that there's a strong potential for the tablet to grow legs.
Without getting into details, the client cannot have the tablet always in their posession, and we can't conveniently lock it down anywhere, and ideally whoever is supporting him needs to have access to the tablet whenever possible.
I'm wondering if there is an app, or even better, a device, which can cause the tablet to alert my manager the moment the device leaves the property? Ideally something not easily accessed or removed.
I know getting a tablet just for facebook chat is overkill, I wasn't the one who purchased it for the client, I'm just trying to make do with what is available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an Android right?
I had a look at the Amazon store for anti-theft apps but there were none that I recognised from sources I trust (nit that I have researched them, but maybe you can find a reliable review) You have to be certain it's from a trusted source as these type of apps require special permissions eg admin in order to do their job, and could be abused by a malicious app.
I would recommend Cerberus Anti Theft, I used them for years & they have a good reputation, even though Google removed the app form play store. This is because they had to link the Google app to additional downloads in order to maintain the functionality of the app that made it the best, after Google changed what permissions apps could be granted for apps downloaded from Google store.
You can download for Android devices from their website
https://www.cerberusapp.com/
However there is a potential problem with all antitheft apps, ie. Turning off wifi/data means you can't communicate with it(but Cerberus could be activated via SMS), also a factory reset will remove them, so if a knowledgeable person steals a phone/tablet they can remove the antitheft app, so possibly you would have limited time to activate it. Which is why I used to root & install as a system app, which meant only reinstalling the full factory Android operating system to remove it.
There should be the basic "fined my device" on Android built in (I'm not familiar with Amazon variants) but its not very powerful.
I'll look into it, thanks. It does have tracking but unfortunately that wouldn't alert in time to be able to accurately determine who took it.
If Cerberus can do sms then my manager might be able to get immediate notification if it walks away, once it disconnects from wifi
What I don't get is why isn't there a hardware based solution, something that you have connected to your wifi that alerts you if devices in connected to that wifi signal get disconnected. Or even simpler, bluetooth based.
The problem is that tablets don't all have data, and if turned off they lose the anti theft features. So there needs to be something outside of the device itself that can alert the owner. Maybe it's just to specific a problem unfortunately.
theseventensplit said:
What I don't get is why isn't there a hardware based solution, something that you have connected to your wifi that alerts you if devices in connected to that wifi signal get disconnected. Or even simpler, bluetooth based.
The problem is that tablets don't all have data, and if turned off they lose the anti theft features. So there needs to be something outside of the device itself that can alert the owner. Maybe it's just to specific a problem unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PS. You could use Tasker app (or other automation app) on your phone to set up an alert when the tablet losses connection, if you use your phone as a hotspot, I think.