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Security from physical theft/abuse of the WiFi Only Transformer Pad Infinity TF700

(Prospective TF700 buyer here.)
So since the device is WiFi only for most of us, no apps that provide post-theft security via receiving an SMS message are applicable.
I can't think of any way to get the tablet back or find its location post-theft. It would be nice if there was a security app that could act of receiving a specific e-mail instead of SMS.
Aside from post-theft action, before theft I know we can use a password to secure the contents of the tablet. But is the built in screen lock via password the best means to secure it?
I just wanted to foster some discussion and ideas around this topic. Since it's much harder than with a phone. Feel free to chime in with whatever is on your mind related to this subject.

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
(Prospective TF700 buyer here.)
So since the device is WiFi only for most of us, no apps that provide post-theft security via receiving an SMS message are applicable.
I can't think of any way to get the tablet back or find its location post-theft. It would be nice if there was a security app that could act of receiving a specific e-mail instead of SMS.
Aside from post-theft action, before theft I know we can use a password to secure the contents of the tablet. But is the built in screen lock via password the best means to secure it?
I just wanted to foster some discussion and ideas around this topic. Since it's much harder than with a phone. Feel free to chime in with whatever is on your mind related to this subject.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a valuable way for this kind of thinks and imo it's better than any app.But also keep in mind that even so if you lost your device it will not be easy to get it back,but atleast you could destroy your personal data.Oh,and even if it was a 3G model,the first thing a thief will do is shutting down the device and throw out the SIM.

Pretoriano80 said:
This is a valuable way for this kind of thinks and imo it's better than any app.But also keep in mind that even so if you lost your device it will not be easy to get it back,but atleast you could destroy your personal data.Oh,and even if it was a 3G model,the first thing a thief will do is shutting down the device and throw out the SIM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Far as what the thief will do depends on their intelligence . The one who took my wife's phone kept the SIM in to use our plan as their own.

There are several antivirus apps available that provide remote wiping (abd/or locking) functionality and such, although I do not know if they can turn on WiFi and report the device's location in the process.

I guess Asus Device Tracker will have to do for me.
I do share some of the concerns of the OP in that other thread, but for me it beats nothing.

Device encryption. Takes awhile to do but the device will be useless without the pin. I have been meaning to turn it on, I just never have my charger handy when I think of doing it. Maybe tonight...

Unfortunately Android device encryption slows down the device (which isn't the fastest anyway in our case) and drains battery faster. It cannot be undone without the full wipe, too. It is nothing like TrueCrypt in these respects.
Edit: It seems it can give you some problems with rooting, ROMs and others, too, which makes it a wildcard, although I'd love to use it. Apart from that, it's far from perfect security, as enabling debugging mode will still allow adb access without PIN verification if the device is powered and after the pre-boot PIN verification (which it probably will be when stolen).
WhisperCore looks interesting, but it says Temporarily Unavailable where the download link should be present.

MartyHulskemper said:
There are several antivirus apps available that provide remote wiping (abd/or locking) functionality and such, although I do not know if they can turn on WiFi and report the device's location in the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most work via SMS.

You might be interested in another aspect of Device Tracker: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30305551&postcount=21

d14b0ll0s said:
You might be interested in another aspect of Device Tracker: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30305551&postcount=21
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So nevermind using Asus Device Tracker given that news .
And device encryption just has too many negative side effects for me personally.
So there's no decent 3rd party app and we can't trust Asus any further than we can throw one of their techs.
It seems the only security for me at this time is encrypting the most sensitive data via an app just for those pieces of data and general physical security.

d14b0ll0s said:
Unfortunately Android device encryption slows down the device (which isn't the fastest anyway in our case) and drains battery faster. It cannot be undone without the full wipe, too. It is nothing like TrueCrypt in these respects.
Edit: It seems it can give you some problems with rooting, ROMs and others, too, which makes it a wildcard, although I'd love to use it. Apart from that, it's far from perfect security, as enabling debugging mode will still allow adb access without PIN verification if the device is powered and after the pre-boot PIN verification (which it probably will be when stolen).
WhisperCore looks interesting, but it says Temporarily Unavailable where the download link should be present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be weary of device encryption if you plan on doing anything to the tablet other than keeping it fully stock. I'm not even sure how OTA updates are handled. Granted the situation is a bit different (and totally my fault) but I encrypted my HD on my laptop (TrueCrypt) which was awesome at first. I didn't see a noticeable depreciation in speed and felt a lot more comfortable . I decided to try a dev build of Win8 one day, so I partitioned my drive and installed through the Win8 setup process. Short version is that my encrypted partition fot trashed and I lost all of my data that wasn't backed up yet.
So yea, be careful when you encrypt.

[OT] Actually, according to TrueCrypt, Windows installer should only change your bootloader and rescue boot from a removable memory should do the trick with recovering TrueCrypt MBA. Did it wipe your data or just the boot record?
---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 PM ----------
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
So nevermind using Asus Device Tracker given that news .
And device encryption just has too many negative side effects for me personally.
So there's no decent 3rd party app and we can't trust Asus any further than we can throw one of their techs.
It seems the only security for me at this time is encrypting the most sensitive data via an app just for those pieces of data and general physical security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think partial encryption is fine, but of course can be compromised easier when not everything is encrypted.
As to third-party apps, I believe there's a lot of these, but after this ASUS example I'm not sure I want to use any of them.
In case you still want sth like that, just have a look at Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=anti+theft&c=apps

I'm not sure what it actually did at the end of the day (can't remember). I THINK it would only boot to the Win8 partition and while the other partition was there I couldn't access it from anything (I vaguely recall the partition showing up saying that it was 0% full). I tried to restore the MBR and I ran a few different analysis tools to see if I could recover files.
After a few days I decided that it wasn't worth it. It as almost a year ago and most of my stuff was backed up, I really only lost some music and some pictures. I decided to cut my losses, reformat everything, and reinstall Windows7.

d14b0ll0s said:
...
As to third-party apps, I believe there's a lot of these, but after this ASUS example I'm not sure I want to use any of them.
In case you still want sth like that, just have a look at Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=anti+theft&c=apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of these actually look pretty good to me . It would be nice if they made them to work with your own personal machine and not their servers, but they obviously need to use a model that makes them money :laugh: .
Unlike Asus, 3rd party app makers don't hold the device warranty in their hands. They survive off me willing to use and trust their services.

When you're rooted then I recommend Cerberus I use on both my phone and the tablet. I had luckily never the chance to use it in a real situation but from my testing I can tell that it works really good.
It has a trial version so you can test it before buying.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

avast! is the answer
Seems as if avast! Mobile Security can do everything the Asus Device Tracker can do. And even more, since it also has a virus scanner, firewall, network meter, SMS/call blocker and more other features than I care to remember. And it's FREE. All that and no worries of losing warranty.
avast! can lock the device tight via a web site, wipe it and more. And it can be configured to not be easily removed. So it's the answer to me.

Android Should Let Users Choose Notification Privileges.

First of all, I know if I say something bad about Android, I get negative replies and maybe the thread is closed. That was what I got when I posted some criticism about Android's application uninstall interface. I am not a troll, I have 3 Android devices, it is just I want it to get better. I also use Apple products, and recently I bought a Logitech mouse and couldn't get the back/forward button on my Macbook, so I searched Apple user forum, and I found some user had asked/complained about it. I was shocked at that the other user's response was something like 'why use forward/backward button, how difficult is it to press the back button on the screen'. Apparently for some people, when they are in love with something, they just cannot find anything bad about it.
Anyways, back to the main story, we all admire Android for its freedom. But it seems to me, that the freedom of developer is much larger than that of users. I often receive junk notifications from apps I have installed. One app sent a notification at 2 or 3 AM. You may say, "uninstall it then", but what if I have bought it and I need to use it?
iOS solves this problem by letting users disable notifications per application. I don't know if I can do similar thing by adding custom modification or using a custom ROM, but think about 'normal' people, they don't know how to do such things and they have not much time to spend their weekends doing that kind of things.
Freedom is a good thing, but there should be a mechanism to prevent its misuse, like laws in real life. And I think the user should have an easy access to such mechanisms. I mean 'easy', not installing custom ROM or through rooting.

That's only possible in Android 4.1 Jellybean. If you have a way to update your device, do it

RoberGalarga said:
That's only possible in Android 4.1 Jellybean. If you have a way to update your device, do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^This
Unfortunately most of us are stuck running something older. Personally I think unwanted notifications from apps is a bad idea, and I will usually uninstall an app that does this just because I don't support devs that do this. Check to see if the app can have the notifications disabled in its settings.

Ok....i give...need some solid information.

I have googled and searched my fingertips to the bone. Whenever i ask a technical question, i get answers from the clueless and the blind. I am beginning to hate this game.
So here we go. Stock android 4.4.2 ....rooted. How do you control which apps autostart and load in the background? Right now I have been trying to kill the Music app. Nothing works. It always restarts. So that means there is a sticky setting in some file somewhere in the system that needs to be edited that more than likely can not properrly be controlled from the childish controls android offers. In windows this is controlled in the registry and the startup process. Where is this in android? Why does no one share this information?
Yes i know it's dangerous. Yes i know not to putts around in the operating system. But if youre rooted, give us the data to control things.
So i await a learned response that probaly only one of the "developers" can answer. Because it sure as s€£%t ain't out there to be found.
Signed, royally frustrated

I'm reminded of that saying "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Not sure why your posts are so charged but many seasoned developers and posters aren't going to engage in conversation with someone who uses condesending and self righteous tones.
I've never seen detailed posting of how it works, nor do I care to know, but by installing Greenify you can effectively control what you wish to control. Greenify allows you to hibernate applications keeping them asleep until manually called.
Some applications have associated services that are used by other parts of the system or other applications and therefore stay loaded to provide that service. If you also install Xposed Framework it will allow Greenify to inject itself further to keep applications that you choose to hibernate from being called upon by other applications (facebook for example has services that often get called upon by other applications for various reasons and so it can be hard to keep hibernated).
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

muzzy996 said:
I'm reminded of that saying "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Not sure why your posts are so charged but many seasoned developers and posters aren't going to engage in conversation with someone who uses condesending and self righteous tones.
I've never seen detailed posting of how it works, nor do I care to know, but by installing Greenify you can effectively control what you wish to control. Greenify allows you to hibernate applications keeping them asleep until manually called.
Some applications have associated services that are used by other parts of the system or other applications and therefore stay loaded to provide that service. If you also install Xposed Framework it will allow Greenify to inject itself further to keep applications that you choose to hibernate from being called upon by other applications (facebook for example has services that often get called upon by other applications for various reasons and so it can be hard to keep hibernated).
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry. I did not intentionally want to come off as charged or spraying vinegar. Quite the opposite. But I have found, after reading tons of post, that we are living in the land of the blind and hardly anyone with sight is actually participating or for that matter even providing a modicum of usefull data. Beginning to think that I don't blame them.
It seems, after deep searching and research that children are actually in charge. What other explanation can you give for an operating system that is struggling with "basic" features found in DOS or windows 3.1 from 20 years ago. Similar to the slow evolution of linux, itself which only now, barely, is win xp like in its features after decades as a skeletal nightmare to load and setup.
You may not have caught the news a few months ago, but Samsung was floating the idea of abandoning android for a flavored and skinned version of linux for future devices, both phones and tablets.p, starting with the China market.
Tell me that Microsoft did not head that off by providing reciprocal licensing to Samsung for windows 10 to abandoning linux. Would not be suprised if we start seeing win10 handsets in the near future here.
Once android looses support from major manufacturers, then it is DEAD.
Read every other post and you will see the lament about the quality of google store apps.
So when I ask a specific, technical question requiring a precise answer.....which requires actual proframming skill.....which has yet to appear...you can see how the lack of response to that colors the situation.
If I offended anyone, I apologize. I get excited sometimes. Repeatedly slamming ones head against the wall, figuratively tends to make you anxious.
At this rate, my raw participation on these boards may be curtailed if I continue with this sense of useless effort.
Sorry to make anyone upset. You can let the kids back in the room. I think there is ice cream.

Have you considered freezing the processes you want to prevent from running with Titanium Backup?

ShadowLea said:
Have you considered freezing the processes you want to prevent from running with Titanium Backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup would work. The other option since you are rooted is to just remove the offending music app. I don't mind the samsung music app, but I don't find it absolutely necessary either. You could also uninstall the updates and force stop the app. That should also keep it from starting.
Another option that I haven't looked at completely but might work is the app "tasker" that lets you assign certain apps to start only when you want them too. So you could have the music app start only when you tap on media files. But I haven't tried this myself.
The problem currently with asking technical questions about the note pro is that it's a low selling device from 2014 so it just doesn't get much action on the forums anymore. It's a bummer for such a great device but that's how it is.

mjkurke said:
Titanium backup would work. The other option since you are rooted is to just remove the offending music app. I don't mind the samsung music app, but I don't find it absolutely necessary either. You could also uninstall the updates and force stop the app. That should also keep it from starting.
Another option that I haven't looked at completely but might work is the app "tasker" that lets you assign certain apps to start only when you want them too. So you could have the music app start only when you tap on media files. But I haven't tried this myself.
The problem currently with asking technical questions about the note pro is that it's a low selling device from 2014 so it just doesn't get much action on the forums anymore. It's a bummer for such a great device but that's how it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Low selling are not the words. More like abandoned. Samsung has moved away. My questions where android specific. "Freezing" apps, using a convoluted set of more apps to control unwanted apps, ridiculous. It is all ridiculous. Either root gives control or it does not.
I want full control, what runs, what doesn't, what runs in the background. Is that not why we root? So a comprehensive list of whats what WOULD RREEEAAAALLLLYYY HELP.
I am alone in the wilderness screaming at the trees demanding to know why it rains.
Do you understand?

Options like freezing in Titanium or using Greenify have already been addressed. Tasker is good for starting things but not so good at keeping things killed, not the proper tool to use for the job of keeping apps from loading.
My strategy:
1) Freeze anything that's safe to freeze that I know I'll never use in Titanium first. That way they never pre-cache into memory.
2) Greenify applications that I rarely use so that they don't pre-cache, taking care not to greenify applications that need to stay loaded to operate properly (like email clients, weather apps or messaging apps).
In the end on a clean boot my application/precache list is full of my commonly used apps. I worry not about how much free RAM I have, as long as the list of apps in RAM/cache is populated with the stuff that I commonly use.
NOW, all of that said if you're looking for something that works like windows startup manager then installing Xposed Framework and then BootManager is the way to go. I've done this in the past but find that employing freezing and greenify is good enough for my own needs so I've stopped.

globalsearch said:
Low selling are not the words. More like abandoned. Samsung has moved away. My questions where android specific. "Freezing" apps, using a convoluted set of more apps to control unwanted apps, ridiculous. It is all ridiculous. Either root gives control or it does not.
I want full control, what runs, what doesn't, what runs in the background. Is that not why we root? So a comprehensive list of whats what WOULD RREEEAAAALLLLYYY HELP.
I am alone in the wilderness screaming at the trees demanding to know why it rains.
Do you understand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am starting to suspect you have greatly misunderstood the meaning of root access. From what it sounds like, you seem to think it miraculously gives you access to settings and functions that non-rooted users can't see. Which is why you can't seem to get the answers you seek.
There is no such thing as a root-menu. Android does not have that functionality build into its GUI.
Root access simply means administrator access to the system's root directories. Hence the word Root.
You will always need additional apps and software to root access to change functionality. Titanium Backup, Xposed, SuperUser/SuperSU, etcetera.
If you want those options in the system, you'll need a customROM.

ShadowLea said:
Root access simply means administrator access to the system's root directories. Hence the word Root.
You will always need additional apps and software to root access to change functionality. Titanium Backup, Xposed, SuperUser/SuperSU, etcetera.
If you want those options in the system, you'll need a customROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right and even with a custom ROM you can't run away from using 3rd party utilities to make the tweaks. Custom is usually a good start though as they are typically debloated. Civato's is good for lightly modified stock with xposed baked in.
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

Now we are getting somewhere. So what you have all told me is that stock android, even when rooted, is still a sandbox with all kinds of limitations to customization. Even with apps to tweak some of it.
This is the nail in the coffin for me and android then. Im not in the least interested in all those custom roms where there is always some shortcoming or lack of support for a feature that does not work properly.
Thanks all. I am done.

globalsearch said:
Now we are getting somewhere. So what you have all told me is that stock android, even when rooted, is still a sandbox with all kinds of limitations to customization. Even with apps to tweak some of it.
This is the nail in the coffin for me and android then. Im not in the least interested in all those custom roms where there is always some shortcoming or lack of support for a feature that does not work properly.
Thanks all. I am done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for what its worth I do have your answer, better late than never right?
anyways android is built on a linux kernal and normally access to the linux command line does not come pre-installed to keep normal people from messing up their system.
so you will need to download a terminal emulator app if you don't already have one if you plan to do this from android. (Alternatively you can do it from the android debug bridge while connected to a computer if preferred)
First you will want to get the package name for the app you want to disable.
you can do this with a root file browser app by going to system / Data / App and then finding the package you want to disable.
however since it sounds like you want to do this manually we will go over the terminal process:
open a terminal window.
type: su
Hit: enter
the terminal will ask you for root access, go ahead and grant it.
to list the android packages type: pm list packages
hit: enter
This will show a list of the installed packages (Apps)
find the ones you want to disable.
now type: pm disable insertpackagename
hit: enter
for example to disable youtube type: pm disable com.google.android.youtube
Hit: Enter
that's it.
you will likely want to restart your launcher or even just restart the tablet afterwards as most launchers don't constantly poll for disabled apps so it will need a refresh.
also you probably already realise this so I apologise if its redundant but make sure you know what you are disabling
as with any linux environment disabling system packages and packages that another application is dependant on can cause trouble.

firefly6240 said:
for what its worth I do have your answer, better late than never right?
anyways android is built on a linux kernal and normally access to the linux command line does not come pre-installed to keep normal people from messing up their system.
so you will need to download a terminal emulator app if you don't already have one if you plan to do this from android. (Alternatively you can do it from the android debug bridge while connected to a computer if preferred)
First you will want to get the package name for the app you want to disable.
you can do this with a root file browser app by going to system / Data / App and then finding the package you want to disable.
however since it sounds like you want to do this manually we will go over the terminal process:
open a terminal window.
type: su
Hit: enter
the terminal will ask you for root access, go ahead and grant it.
to list the android packages type: pm list packages
hit: enter
This will show a list of the installed packages (Apps)
find the ones you want to disable.
now type: pm disable insertpackagename
hit: enter
for example to disable youtube type: pm disable com.google.android.youtube
Hit: Enter
that's it.
you will likely want to restart your launcher or even just restart the tablet afterwards as most launchers don't constantly poll for disabled apps so it will need a refresh.
also you probably already realise this so I apologise if its redundant but make sure you know what you are disabling
as with any linux environment disabling system packages and packages that another application is dependant on can cause trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

globalsearch said:
Low selling are not the words. More like abandoned. Samsung has moved away. My questions where android specific. "Freezing" apps, using a convoluted set of more apps to control unwanted apps, ridiculous. It is all ridiculous. Either root gives control or it does not.
I want full control, what runs, what doesn't, what runs in the background. Is that not why we root? So a comprehensive list of whats what WOULD RREEEAAAALLLLYYY HELP.
I am alone in the wilderness screaming at the trees demanding to know why it rains.
Do you understand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just thought I would clarify a bit here, I know how confusing it can be coming from windows, I made the switch myself not so many years ago and had a lot of the same questions.
to explain root, the closest comparison I have imperfect as it may be is that root access is similar to windows admin access.
the noticeable difference in a lot of cases is what comes pre-installed.
for example in windows if you have an admin account it automatically unlocks access to the command prompt which was already pre-installed.
in android root access gives you the option to use a terminal but often one is not pre-installed, in fact even a file manager is often not included.
this is actually not a limitation of android so much as a limitation put in place by the specific device manufacturer as to what comes pre-installed.
for example a lot of cheap android tablets running google AOSP (Android open source Project) code actually do come with terminal apps and in some cases even come pre-loaded with root access.
in comparison a lot of more well known devices do not come with this pre-loaded to prevent people from breaking things. (For a windows comparison, its hard to delete the system32 folder without admin access, a file browser and command prompt right?)
As far as samsung abandonment, its a bit trickier there.
Basically what you would normally be used to is the Microsoft scenario.
1. Microsoft - Microsoft makes the OS but it runs on hardware made by others.
a. hardware issues go to the hardware manufacturer for as long as they support it.
b. OS updates are handled by Microsoft, they have more or less full control of the OS as it is closed source.
2. the Samsung Scenario - The hardware is made by the manufacturer, the bootloaders are locked, the OS is made by Google and then tweaked by the manufacturer.
a. all official updates come through the manufacturer (In this case Samsung) after google releases the open source code, samsung then alters it as they like and then they release an update.
b. Samsung is the sole support for the hardware and software as google no longer supports the software for the most part after its been altered.
c. it takes a lot of time and work for samsung to develop an update and push it out and then deal with all of the issues that come with updating the OS.
d. its often easier to leave a device that comparatively very few people bought on an OS that they knew was usable rather than spend all the time and money updating it and dealing with all of the related issues.
With that in mind this tablet has been out for about 2 years now which is a huge amount of time for this type of hardware.
All that being said Samsung very recently released the update to android 5.1.1 for this tablet
so it is definitely not abandoned yet, in fact its had more attention than even other devices by the same manufacturer but I suspect 5.1.1 will be the last official update we see.
if you have one of the note variants with an unlockable bootloader as well as a bit of time on your hands I would very much recommend trying a custom rom if you are worried about samsung abandonment.
you may have to try several different ones though, as you'll find a mix of roms that may seem almost half baked, more alpha release style but are cutting edge (I like those ones myself) to roms that are even more stable than the original.
My apologies if some of this is redundant information, I just thought I would throw in my two cents in case it helps

Two points . . for what its worth . . 1) the use of package manager's disable command effectively does the same thing that freezing in Titanium does, the main difference being that you're using a GUI to do it (there can be differences in how the apps are flagged though and using the pm command means not having to rely on yet another app); 2) disabling/freezing means you'll be unable to ever launch said application unless you enable the app again manually (using the package manager PM commands or Titanium).
Main reason in my initial response I didn't go straight to freezing/disabling apps is because that approach isn't exactly the same thing as managing startup in the context of the example given about managing what apps start up on boot in Windows (i.e. msconfig command and unchecking startup options). When someone takes an app out of startup in Windows the software isn't permanently disabled (unavailable) it is merely prevented from preloading when the system is started. So . . in reference to the music app referred to in the original post, if the goal is to be able to use the stock music app but just not have it load itself into memory on its own then the solution isnt disabling it or freezing it, its to hibernate it with something like Greenify or prevent it from starting using something like Boot Manager and Xposed Framework.

Firefly6240 got exactly what I was asking for. Freezing and hybernating, et al, is not total control. When i kill an app and i want it gone. I want it gone. Example, the google music, google books and google films. I gave stopped, killed even "uninstalled" in Purify and in Kingroot. On random reboot, the buggers are back. Fireflys solution is ceasars thumbs down. Wonderful. He understood the TOTAL control I was looking for.
Also, i loaded android terminal to run the commands.
By the way, Knox and EML are next on my list.
Thanks again firefly6420

globalsearch said:
Firefly6240 got exactly what I was asking for. Freezing and hybernating, et al, is not total control. When i kill an app and i want it gone. I want it gone. Example, the google music, google books and google films. I gave stopped, killed even "uninstalled" in Purify and in Kingroot. On random reboot, the buggers are back. Fireflys solution is ceasars thumbs down. Wonderful. He understood the TOTAL control I was looking for.
Also, i loaded android terminal to run the commands.
By the way, Knox and EML are next on my list.
Thanks again firefly6420
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK good, then I misunderstood the question. Hibernation has its place, it's just not what you wanted, you wanted complete uninstallation basically.
Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

like it or not, OEMs, even Google cannot just give the public ready-made controls to such things because the way a lot of (non-essential but) pre-installed apps are designed they depends on other apps being present and/or running.
AppOps was a classic example cuz once ppl found it and made public how to take advantage, a lot of dependant apps and services were affected and people called in to their OEMs complaining of broken phones when it was simply tinkered permissions.
there is no mobile OS more robust than android. all have their forms of depth, appeal, features and restrictions but none embrace admin access & leaving open the ability to do it more than android (just need the carrier and sometimes OEM to leave the bootloader the hell alone lol)
if you want a smartphone with admin privileges out-of-the-box and full control of all system services etc, I would recommend an Ubuntu phone. they're about a year into commercial availability which is still kinda fringe but stable and will lack certain major perks of owning either iOS (yuck!) or Android. there is a couple Ubuntu/android dual boot phones out there too, and that comes with the issue of storage space after holding 2 OS's
in another year or 2 Ubuntu phones should be more plentiful and bring over some popular apps and active development but I don't anticipate seeing it take off quite like other mobile OS's cuz when it comes to feeding the masses, more options and less restrictions can have the same effect as asking an 80 year old to put in an address on your navigation in the car while you're on the highway. it's a learning curve simple to some that seems too simple not to understand but can be bad for business.
I think android and iOS beat this problem initially because when they started, there weren't any other well-established alternatives. BlackBerry and some fringe PDAs were about it...

Note pro 12.2
I was/am dealing with the Note Pro 12.2 specifically. Not other handsets. This device is coming up on two years and support has been waning. When I bought it all was well. Less than a few months later the damned KitKat update came and suddenly I found myself without proper access to the external sd card, that had worked perfectly when i purchased the unit. I was furious. Especially when we where being told that it was for our own good and google was pushing internal memory over external. Damn them. I bought samsung BECAUSE it had the sd slot. And when Samsung did not provide the fix to the platform.xml file I was livid. 5.01 came out and Samsung destoyed support for most external blue tooth keyboards. And so it goes, one stupid blunder after another. Their updates destroyed my workflow.
So yes, damned right I want full control of my device, because they have shown they have NO regard for our needs and DO NOT ADDRESS our concerns. Just buy our stuff and shut up. Well in this case, i was sold a product that they later incapacitated.
I can not abide with that. I tried so hard not to root, for a year and a half. I shut off automatic updates on EVERYTHING because even updates from google play would sometimes destroy a goid priducy. I started saving apks from versions of apps that worked. I stayed stock 4.4.2 because everything worked but the sd write. How many threads do we have here where people upgraded to marshmellow and then begged to get back to kitkat? Last week after reading thread after thread of problems and convoluted fixes and a gazillion rom versions each of which has its own imperfections and then reading that the new samsung tablet was released windows 10. I knew it was over.
At that moment the decision was inevitable. I rooted and IMMEDIATELY fixed the sd write issue. And i unrooted. Two days of random reboots and i roited again, this time to take the bull by the hirns and control this thing. I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of displayed technical knowledge here at xda and the tons pf advice from also clueless posters. I tried everything. Even got scolded by an admin who has been here less time than me. (Follow the rules, follow the rules...don't you dare to ask the important questions)
Not till the reply from firefly6240. Now he knows something. And he shared a little with me. Which i greatly appreciated. I have a direction now. And the tweaks I have done have increased my battery tije, the screen reojse time and overall improvement of the environment. All on 4.4.2.
I still have some minor issues, but google and android code monkeys WILL NO LONGER CONTROL MY DEVICE, MY PROPERTY.
It is time people take control of the ELECTRONIC items which we purchase with OUR hard earned money and stop letting manufacturers turn those devices into nothing more than sales portals to make more money and deny us control or the ability to JUST SAY NO.

Similar IPhone Tweaks on S7 Edge

Hey guys,
I just placed an order on Amazon for the International S7 Edge version. I was looking on the xda forum and the Playstore for certain tweaks that will help with the transition from an iPhone 6 Plus to S7. I will admit it's this is overwhelming for me, it's like learning a whole new language.
These are the apps and tweaks that I mostly use on my iPhone. Can you tell me if there is anything similar to these.
- Cydia - All in one app for mods, tweaks, torrent client, etc.
- Protecti+ - Allows me to only show you want I want to show you when someone uses my phone. I can choose to hide apps, pictures, text messages, etc. I can use an command to bring everything back like hitting my home button three times.
- GV Mobile+ - I use this app if I am selling something on Craigslist and I don't want to give out my real phone number. I am able to use a different phone number for texting and calling by using my real number but it's masked with my fake number.
- AppCake - it's a pirated site for crack apps. Just an FYI, I do purchase all of my apps and tweaks through Cydia but I have learned my lesson to try it out before buying.
- TorrentBox - Just an app I use to download torrents.

For torrent Client - flud has no rival.
For torrent search - Use torrent search app from the playstore
For cydia - there are a lot of applets outlet on Android. Do your search when you get your phone.
Protecti+ - Use guest mode on Android or use security apps to hide whatever secret you've got. Your best bet here will be to use the guest mode.
To hide/mask a number, there are a lot of apps that do similar things on Android. You might want to root and discover new ways of doing that. Google search and you'll find virtually all the steps needed to do whatever you want to do to your phone. Make google your friend.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info. If I root my phone will I still be able to use the finger print login? I hear mix reviews about Samsung pay not and is working with international phones.

JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks for the info. If I root my phone will I still be able to use the finger print login? I hear mix reviews about Samsung pay not and is working with international phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about Pay, but fingerprint will definitely work. Moreover, there is a private mode by default which hides gallery, music, voice recorder and files. If this isn't enough, you can easily find new apps on the play store. Most of them have free versions, so you don't have to buy (at least at first).
If you do root your device, you can install xposed and get almost all the network & location spoofing done. I haven't personally needed an app like GV Mobile+, so I'm not sure about it.

thedisturbedone said:
I'm not sure about Pay, but fingerprint will definitely work. Moreover, there is a private mode by default which hides gallery, music, voice recorder and files. If this isn't enough, you can easily find new apps on the play store. Most of them have free versions, so you don't have to buy (at least at first).
If you do root your device, you can install xposed and get almost all the network & location spoofing done. I haven't personally needed an app like GV Mobile+, so I'm not sure about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.

For Cydia equivalent, use Xposed, it works almost the same but you don't need to add source like cydia does.
I don't think we have any AppCake equivalent source/module, but most of the Xposed module came free with a complete feature.
for Torrent, uTorrent on the playstore would do the trick, no need to root, just install it.

pitopika13 said:
For Cydia equivalent, use Xposed, it works almost the same but you don't need to add source like cydia does.
I don't think we have any AppCake equivalent source/module, but most of the Xposed module came free with a complete feature.
for Torrent, uTorrent on the playstore would do the trick, no need to root, just install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, so xposed is not a location spoofing app but more like a Cydia, gotcha. I am familiar with uTorrent on my PC so that would work.
I don't think I need to root my phone. I am not trying to change the color my my keyboard or make changes to my layout. I just like certain tweaks like different multi-tasking options, hiding apps, location spoofing for apps and much more.

Xposed is what you want. Root using the guide on xda id stick to stock rom for now and flash the xposed files
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app

Ausboy 2011 said:
Xposed is what you want. Root using the guide on xda id stick to stock rom for now and flash the xposed files
Sent from my SM-G935F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks,
Do you need to root your phone to load xposed and use tweaks?

Having used appcake I don't think xposed is really equivalent at all. Xposed will give you more control over our os and installing mods. You'd probably want something like blackmart or apptoid which are more similar to appcake. You can find these apks by doing a Google search. Once you download an apk it installs like a normal app. Doing this is called side loading and you have to go into your security settings and check allow from unknown sources.
---------- Post added at 08:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------
JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks,
Do you need to root your phone to load xposed and use tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you need root. You will want to unlock your boot loader and install a custom recovery first thing. They're some great guides on here on how to do that.

Keep in mind, once you root, you'll never get to use Samsung pay, which does work on international devices. Where are you located?
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Looks like you've learnt a lot already! And yes, in iPhone terms, xposed is like Cydia
Keyboard, I'll either suggest the Google Keyboard or Switkey. Both are free, so you can try them. Swiftkey has a special mode for the edge screen which is kinda helpful for me, so keys don't overflow to the edges of the screen. And it learns your typing patterns damn well including where you press for each key.
As for multi-tasking, its quite epic with the 4GB of ram. You should be able to do all your work. No reboots at all here!
I hope you have the International variant! Because it has a lot more support and is easily unlockable / rootable. If you do root though, you trip a security switch called Knox. This will harm your validity, which is why Samsung Pay would mostly likely not work (people might find a way around it). But in normal day usage, rooting has no effect whatsoever.
If your banking apps can see that you've rooted and refuse to work, there are modules in Xposed that can help you hide it. So its a negligible.
Anything else?

Thanks guys,
I will mess with the phone this weekend and see what I can come up with. I know it's going to be a learning curve for me but I am sure in the end it will be worth it. If not then I always have my jailbroken iPhone I can use.

Appcake on iOs, Blackmarket on Android. I can get any latest version apps(from the other country) when it still not available for my country. On Appcake you cant update your apps, need to reinstall it (cmiiw)

JoeFromSFO said:
I will admit it's this is overwhelming for me, it's like learning a whole new language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then a handful of people in here goes on to tell you to root and install Xposed. Right. I would NOT root or do any heavy modifications to the device at first. You're coming from an iPhone and Android is completely new to you, so I would recommend you to get to know Android first, and then after a month or so when you've learned how to properly use the thing, then start looking for alternative apps, services, mods etc. Don't look at a product you haven't touched yet and ask your self "how can I improve this?", when you don't know what to even improve.
People around here will, of course, tell you to root, tweak the battery and launch it on a rocket to mars. Don't listen to them. You are however interested in some alternative apps to the one's you used on your iPhone.
- Cydia = Xposed, but the latter is much more powerful, and thus much more dangerous. It's a fun app to use, but it requires root, which will void your warranty, and Samsung Pay will be long gone. It'll trigger KNOX, and your phone will forever be marked as modified. You won't be able to make it completely stock again. Ever. So I would hold off with root and Xposed for now.
- Protecti+ = Private Mode, which you can find in the drop down notification center. You can toggle it on and off there, and you can set photo albums, files etc. to private, and the files will only be visible when you tap the Private Mode-toggle, access it with your fingerprint, and then all the files will be visible in the Gallery, file explorer and so on. When you want to hide it again, just exit Private Mode by tapping the Private Mode-toogle again.
- GV Mobile+ = No idea, but it's a Google Voice number, so I guess there's a solution out there. I don't use it myself, so I don't really have an overview over what's going on in that area.
- AppCake = Piracy is something that is really easy to do on Android, and it's a serious problem for the devs, so please don't do it. The Google Play Store has a refund function, which means that if you buy an app and you're not happy with it, then just tap "Refund". Voila. That's it. You can use the refund-button for about 2 hours after you've bought the app (or more), but you can easily get a refund after a month to if you really want to. The point here is that there's no reason to pirate any app. Pirating an app is also risky, since the APK can be modified with malware and so on. This is literally how malware spreads on Android. Cheap people who can't spend a buck.
- TorrentBox = Flud. Simple as that. It looks great, and it works great.
Again, just use your S7 Edge! Just use it and get used to Android. Are you bothered by something? Alright, it can probably be tweaked. Don't like the default messaging app? Okay, so just install a different one. Don't like the browser? Install a different one. Don't like the look of things? Download a theme or two from the Theme Store. You have no reason to root right now. At all. If you do, I'm sure we'll read a Q&A thread from you soon where something has gone horribly wrong, and you have no idea what to do, since you have no idea how things work

J.biden is 100% right get used to s7 edge before you start playing with tweaks and root.
Once you root you can never go back to complete original firmware as out of the box and you will void warranty. To some including myself that doesn't matter but many it does especially those new to android.
Don't rush it just tske your time.

J.Biden said:
And then a handful of people in here goes on to tell you to root and install Xposed. Right. I would NOT root or do any heavy modifications to the device at first. You're coming from an iPhone and Android is completely new to you, so I would recommend you to get to know Android first, and then after a month or so when you've learned how to properly use the thing, then start looking for alternative apps, services, mods etc. Don't look at a product you haven't touched yet and ask your self "how can I improve this?", when you don't know what to even improve.
People around here will, of course, tell you to root, tweak the battery and launch it on a rocket to mars. Don't listen to them. You are however interested in some alternative apps to the one's you used on your iPhone.
- Cydia = Xposed, but the latter is much more powerful, and thus much more dangerous. It's a fun app to use, but it requires root, which will void your warranty, and Samsung Pay will be long gone. It'll trigger KNOX, and your phone will forever be marked as modified. You won't be able to make it completely stock again. Ever. So I would hold off with root and Xposed for now.
- Protecti+ = Private Mode, which you can find in the drop down notification center. You can toggle it on and off there, and you can set photo albums, files etc. to private, and the files will only be visible when you tap the Private Mode-toggle, access it with your fingerprint, and then all the files will be visible in the Gallery, file explorer and so on. When you want to hide it again, just exit Private Mode by tapping the Private Mode-toogle again.
- GV Mobile+ = No idea, but it's a Google Voice number, so I guess there's a solution out there. I don't use it myself, so I don't really have an overview over what's going on in that area.
- AppCake = Piracy is something that is really easy to do on Android, and it's a serious problem for the devs, so please don't do it. The Google Play Store has a refund function, which means that if you buy an app and you're not happy with it, then just tap "Refund". Voila. That's it. You can use the refund-button for about 2 hours after you've bought the app (or more), but you can easily get a refund after a month to if you really want to. The point here is that there's no reason to pirate any app. Pirating an app is also risky, since the APK can be modified with malware and so on. This is literally how malware spreads on Android. Cheap people who can't spend a buck.
- TorrentBox = Flud. Simple as that. It looks great, and it works great.
Again, just use your S7 Edge! Just use it and get used to Android. Are you bothered by something? Alright, it can probably be tweaked. Don't like the default messaging app? Okay, so just install a different one. Don't like the browser? Install a different one. Don't like the look of things? Download a theme or two from the Theme Store. You have no reason to root right now. At all. If you do, I'm sure we'll read a Q&A thread from you soon where something has gone horribly wrong, and you have no idea what to do, since you have no idea how things work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well put JBiden??
I wasn't planing on rooting the phone at first. I need to learn how to switch between apps, learn the settings and learn how to use other functions.
With my iPhone I don't even use custom themes. I just like Protecti+, Intube, Flex2, and TypeStatus.
I only use AppCake to try out paid apps and if it's something I like and does what they claim then I will delete the app and pay for it. But honestly I don't buy that many apps at the App Store because everything I need is free but I do but a bunch of tweaks and apps from Cydia. I just hate it when developers don't update their tweaks.
Can I download custom app switchers / Multi-Tasking tweaks?

Is there Visual voicemail on the International S7 Edge?

JoeFromSFO said:
Thanks, I'll check out xposed for location spoofing.
Google Voice is great if you don't want to give out your real phone number. You can make calls using a Google number which will call you to your real phone number then once you pick up it will then call the number your trying to call so it only shows that Google phone number not your real number.
I'll checkout Guess Mode. I only hide personal apps like my back account, settings, shopping apps or anything someone can go in and make changes.
Just going through these post on here is crazy. So much to learn. I just hope the auto correct and multi tasking is great on the Samsung. Right now my phone reboots 8 times a day when I
Multitask with my iPhone 6 Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One biggest thing that I am still trying to find a good resolution to is group mms messaging and with pictures video mail. Imessage was great and reliable and didn't compress images and videos.
U should shut off imessage and FaceTime on your iPhone a few days prior to porting that number over to Android.
I also had an issue that if people sent me a text to a thread that was when I had imessage enabled, it didn't go through. I needed to have my family erase and start brand new text messages to me in order to receive them.
I am not sure if any of the 3rd party SMS apps out there work better with group messages, picture mail and videos. I think either one u use, your carrier will compress the file.
Hangouts and whatsapp is only good if everyone installs.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ----------
JoeFromSFO said:
Well put JBiden??
I wasn't planing on rooting the phone at first. I need to learn how to switch between apps, learn the settings and learn how to use other functions.
With my iPhone I don't even use custom themes. I just like Protecti+, Intube, Flex2, and TypeStatus.
I only use AppCake to try out paid apps and if it's something I like and does what they claim then I will delete the app and pay for it. But honestly I don't buy that many apps at the App Store because everything I need is free but I do but a bunch of tweaks and apps from Cydia. I just hate it when developers don't update their tweaks.
Can I download custom app switchers / Multi-Tasking tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typestutus was cool tweak but not something available off imessage platform.
There is also an ad blocker for Samsung browser on playstore that works pretty good.
I miss youtube+ on iPhone as that blocked ads and allowed u to fast forward or rewind ten seconds with a push of a button.
I haven't found a good YouTube replacement on my s7 edge yet that.
I would suggest fooling around with default apps prior to installing 3rd party ones. I used android allot in 2012 and I had a replacement app for all default ones. Coming back to Android especially with Samsung there r big improvements.
I am.currently using the default keyboard and touchwiz. U have all those themes u can download to theme keyboard as well as touchwiz. Touchwiz has many options but.if u still feel that's not enough nova launcher is all I hear about when reading.
I used to love the tweak on iph
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 AM ----------
Iphone where u could slide cursor by sliding on keyboard. There is an option with the default keyboard to do that which was surprising.
Amazed how many options default KB has.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge

iTouch24 said:
One biggest thing that I am still trying to find a good resolution to is group mms messaging and with pictures video mail. Imessage was great and reliable and didn't compress images and videos.
U should shut off imessage and FaceTime on your iPhone a few days prior to porting that number over to Android.
I also had an issue that if people sent me a text to a thread that was when I had imessage enabled, it didn't go through. I needed to have my family erase and start brand new text messages to me in order to receive them.
I am not sure if any of the 3rd party SMS apps out there work better with group messages, picture mail and videos. I think either one u use, your carrier will compress the file.
Hangouts and whatsapp is only good if everyone installs.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ----------
Typestutus was cool tweak but not something available off imessage platform.
There is also an ad blocker for Samsung browser on playstore that works pretty good.
I miss youtube+ on iPhone as that blocked ads and allowed u to fast forward or rewind ten seconds with a push of a button.
I haven't found a good YouTube replacement on my s7 edge yet that.
I would suggest fooling around with default apps prior to installing 3rd party ones. I used android allot in 2012 and I had a replacement app for all default ones. Coming back to Android especially with Samsung there r big improvements.
I am.currently using the default keyboard and touchwiz. U have all those themes u can download to theme keyboard as well as touchwiz. Touchwiz has many options but.if u still feel that's not enough nova launcher is all I hear about when reading.
I used to love the tweak on iph
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 AM ----------
Iphone where u could slide cursor by sliding on keyboard. There is an option with the default keyboard to do that which was surprising.
Amazed how many options default KB has.
AnThOnY- S7 Edge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I was trying to figure out how to move my curser using the keys on the keyboard. This helps out a lot.
The only thing I am struggling with is finding a way to hide selected apps with a gesture. I have been looking at a bunch of guest mode and privacy apps at the App Store but I don't like them. I also can't find a activator to enable and disable an app.
How can I hide apps and where can o get an activator?
Thanks.

Question New Samsung S21+ 5G hacked by elite hackers, help?

Permissions on brand new phone are super weird. QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES almost on every app. Default and system apps. Plus many many more strange permissions that allow texts to be deleted or not sent without notifying the owner. Someone has there hooks in me. They've taken over my home router too.
Also galaxy.finder.permission.ACCESS_INFO_PROVIDER
tons of other shady ****
In special access... Wifi Control for every single App is set to ALLOW AND DENY is grayed out.. my Bluetooth turns on randomly.. I'm pretty sure it's a local group terrorizing my family. Sterling our devices, but then they return them.. in a mailbox, or on our back porch.. like some sort of power trip. So my guess is they used adbd, jailbroke the phones and also got the serials off our router... and broadcast our cell and location so they always know where we are.
Anyway I can post a log and someone might be able to help me free our phones. This samsung phone is a brand new phone. Less than a month old.
They've locked me out of half my phone and I'm constantly using 4.1 out 8.0 in ram.
And some apps run at 100%

This is just some of the stuff

How do they "Sterling" stealing(?) your phones?
Anyone trying to do that to me be DOA...

t0ink8 said:
Permissions on brand new phone are super weird. QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES almost on every app. Default and system apps. Plus many many more strange permissions that allow texts to be deleted or not sent without notifying the owner. Someone has there hooks in me. They've taken over my home router too.
Also galaxy.finder.permission.ACCESS_INFO_PROVIDER
tons of other shady ****
In special access... Wifi Control for every single App is set to ALLOW AND DENY is grayed out.. my Bluetooth turns on randomly.. I'm pretty sure it's a local group terrorizing my family. Sterling our devices, but then they return them.. in a mailbox, or on our back porch.. like some sort of power trip. So my guess is they used adbd, jailbroke the phones and also got the serials off our router... and broadcast our cell and location so they always know where we are.
Anyway I can post a log and someone might be able to help me free our phones. This samsung phone is a brand new phone. Less than a month old.
They've locked me out of half my phone and I'm constantly using 4.1 out 8.0 in ram.
And some apps run at 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same happen to me with my new Samsung had to replace 4 brand new thousand dollar phones and home wifi.

t0ink8 said:
Permissions on brand new phone are super weird. QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES almost on every app. Default and system apps. Plus many many more strange permissions that allow texts to be deleted or not sent without notifying the owner. Someone has there hooks in me. They've taken over my home router too.
Also galaxy.finder.permission.ACCESS_INFO_PROVIDER
tons of other shady ****
In special access... Wifi Control for every single App is set to ALLOW AND DENY is grayed out.. my Bluetooth turns on randomly.. I'm pretty sure it's a local group terrorizing my family. Sterling our devices, but then they return them.. in a mailbox, or on our back porch.. like some sort of power trip. So my guess is they used adbd, jailbroke the phones and also got the serials off our router... and broadcast our cell and location so they always know where we are.
Anyway I can post a log and someone might be able to help me free our phones. This samsung phone is a brand new phone. Less than a month old.
They've locked me out of half my phone and I'm constantly using 4.1 out 8.0 in ram.
And some apps run at 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not trying to sound rude but it sounds like you might be paranoid. I have a new samsung galaxy s21+ 5g and my phone is the same way as yours all the permissions are the same and you and I have the same certificates your phone looks just fine as well as my phone is usually running around 4.7 Gb out of 8 Gigs so you dont have anything to worry about. they cant get into your phone cause everything is encrypted so they cant see any system or personal data without unlocking your phone first

All of this is normal for SM-G996U/U1.
You can "decrease" a lot of the network traffic by setting up an Unbound Pi-Hole DNS Server, or use an Upstream Provider if you don't want to put in the extra effort configuring Unbound. Install WireGuard as well to use in unison with Pi-Hole. Look up a guide on the subject or go with a 3rd party you can trust to simplify the process of DNS blocking.
You can use ADB to uninstall apps that bug you, but I'd stick close to an S21/S21+/Ultra debloat guide if you don't have an understanding of the app's purpose, or if any other app dependcies exist within the current app you're uninstalling.
If you can't find an S21 guide, use an S20 guide instead.
There have been minor changes as to what's safe to uninstall user side, but nothing device-bricking or irreversible, so following an S20 guide should be safe.
Use `adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 <com.package.here>` without `` to uninstall a system app for the current user. You can use the option `pm uninstall -k --user 0` to keep the app's data, but it doesn't really matter because `adb shell cmd install-existing <com.package.here>` will reinstall it whether you used `-k` or not.
If you go crazy and uninstall something like Android System, you will soft-brick your phone until Factory reset so stick to the guide.
Alternatively, you can just disable the app using `adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <com.package.here>`. If you're still bothered about it, learn to flash stock firmware using Odin or Heimdall.
If you're worried about someone stealing your phone and putting it in your mailbox, common sense should tell you to change your locks and secure your home before bringing this to a forum.
You're better off with a flip phone if you're going to explore your device specifically looking for hackers without a better understanding of the Android or Linux environment beforehand. Chances are you'll misunderstand the system's back-end code and it'll exacerbate your worries, (been there, done that). Not a fun obsession to have, although it'll certainly put some urgency in learning the environment as fast as possible.