Are there any ROMs or Apps designed for use with a phone for kids in the 10-14yo range? I would like for my child to have a phone for emergencies and i was going to pass down my old one, but i can't really find much to lock it down with. All i have really been able to find are "sandbox" apps such as kids mode, kids place, or the like that allow specific apps, but disable all cell/wifi features. These are more designed for letting your toddler play with your personal phone, which isn't what i'm looking for. What i am looking for is to still be able to have cell/wifi, but include: Approved/unlocked apps. Disable the dialer and restrict outbound calls to a predefined, non-editable list. Limited or no marketplace access. Lockout on settings.
There are a lot of tablets that i have seen designed with kids in mind that do this kind of stuff and I've seen similar phones like Kajeet or Firefly, but that would require the purchase of a phone, which i already have and a separate plan. There's stuff like cheap flip phones, but that would still need to be acquired and I figure with all the fun stuff Androids can do they will make sure they carry it around with them.
there was once an app call kytephone.com that did exactly this, but they where only around for like 6 months and then shut down. while the app can still be found in some places and side loaded, its no longer on play store, but it required internet access and a login to launch. since they are shut down, you can't create accounts or login anymore so even a side loaded version is useless.
If it could be done with separate apps to lock down stuff, that would be good too. I know the play store has content filtering and PIN for purchases, there also seem to be plenty of child friendly browsers out there for web filtering, and i could use app lock to lock out settings, but the difficulty i found was with the contact list and dialer.
I would prefer to stay with the stock ROM to keep T-Mobiles wifi calling, but if there's a custom ROM for this, that would work also.
Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions?
Thanks.
Howdy. I realize that this is almost 10 years old but - did you find anything? (fingers crossed).
Thanks!
J
Related
Is anyone aware of a location-aware app to enable and disable the lock screen? I'd actually prefer to trigger it based on WiFi availability, but I'd consider other location schemes.
Via e-mail, I have potentially sensitive business information on my phone.
However, I primarily work from a home office which makes the code-based lock screen a minor hassle. (I don't use the pattern, the finger marks on the screen make it too easy to guess.)
So obviously I'd love it if my lock would kick-in when I head to lunch or need to physically visit the "real" office or whatever -- but not when I'm at home.
Any ideas?
I've no suggestions but I've thought of the exact same thing. I'd love for it pattern lock when I'm anywhere but my home.
I would even pay for that app.
I would recommend looking into Tasker. I haven't personally used it, but I have heard many great things about it. On their website it lists some examples of what you can use it for, one of them is changing phone settings based on location. You can download a free 7 day trial from their website. It costs 3.49 GBP direct from their website or 3.99 GBP in the market.
tasker. dinglisch. net (I can't post links to outside websites, remove the spaces)
Forgot all about Tasker. Good idea.
I've used Setting Profiles to do the same.
When I'm at work the pattern gets set, but when I'm at home, it's not on.
I just downloaded Settings Profiles, but none of the security settings can be adjusted in a profile (at least, not in the Lite version). I'd prefer something more straightforward like that, but none of the profile apps I checked have that setting available.
It appears Tasker can do this with the aid of a plugin:
http://groups.google.com/group/tasker/browse_thread/thread/35f0c3d6dcf4a644/964318b8f77810fc
Haven't tried it yet, though.
Ah. Apparently this is never going to be possible as of 2.2 and higher.
Google blocked programmatic access to the Secure Settings provider as of Froyo.
<sigh>
First we lose GPS control. Now this. Hell, by the time Android 4.0 is out, we'll probably have to check with the Google front desk just to place a call.
(Yes I understand why... but it seems like they could provide some kind of authorization mechanism in case, you know, we pesky old users consciously decided to give access to those settings to a particular application...)
It wouldn't be difficult to add a way for a service or application to communicate
with the lock screen, like Settings can choose which lock screen to display.
the application would at least have to be installed to /system/app but may
have to be signed with the same key as the ROM, if that is the case then
files could be used instead of the system settings db.
this would only protect from a casual attack like some nosy person picking up the phone
and browsing through your stuff, Odin is the ultimate root kit, so a prepared attacker could
probably get what they want in 5-10 min.
Yeah, but vulnerability to ODIN is going to be the case no matter what. I'm a lot more worried about "Some Random Idiot in a Bar" than I am about the several hundred people across the country who can actually use ODIN well enough to go all Wargames on my phone.
I bought a subscription to PIA last night. Seemed like a reputable provider, highly recommended. I'm not really trying to hide anything that needs to be hidden, per se, just like my privacy. I know how to set up a VPN on a computer, Win/Linux, and PIA even has an app for Android that I'm using, but I've still a question or two for those knowledgeable on the subject...
By activating the VPN, is everything secure? As in, everything that users DATA (apps, Facebook, email?) Or just browsers? I don't even see the option, but does each browser have to be configured with the VPN? I mainly use Firefox Aurora. Are there any NONOs that would cause data/dns leaks (like, say, with TOR and pdf/flash?)
I also have a few questions about TOR on Android if anyone has knowledge with that. Like I said, I mainly just Facebook and Google searches, crack flashing, and mod the phone itself. However, with all this NSA/PRISM crap talk, I figured it was just time to protect my data from mining... Because it's mine.
I realize to truly keep some sense anonymity to not login to FB, Email and the like, before anyone starts in on that, but refer to the top about not hiding anything worth really being hidden I searched for a board on VPNs and security, but didn't come across one. SO, if I should have this moved, no problem.
VZW Gnote2 running Moon ROM V4. Boom!
shill1986 said:
I bought a subscription to PIA last night. Seemed like a reputable provider, highly recommended. I'm not really trying to hide anything that needs to be hidden, per se, just like my privacy. I know how to set up a VPN on a computer, Win/Linux, and PIA even has an app for Android that I'm using, but I've still a question or two for those knowledgeable on the subject...
By activating the VPN, is everything secure? As in, everything that users DATA (apps, Facebook, email?) Or just browsers? I don't even see the option, but does each browser have to be configured with the VPN? I mainly use Firefox Aurora. Are there any NONOs that would cause data/dns leaks (like, say, with TOR and pdf/flash?)
I also have a few questions about TOR on Android if anyone has knowledge with that. Like I said, I mainly just Facebook and Google searches, crack flashing, and mod the phone itself. However, with all this NSA/PRISM crap talk, I figured it was just time to protect my data from mining... Because it's mine.
I realize to truly keep some sense anonymity to not login to FB, Email and the like, before anyone starts in on that, but refer to the top about not hiding anything worth really being hidden I searched for a board on VPNs and security, but didn't come across one. SO, if I should have this moved, no problem.
VZW Gnote2 running Moon ROM V4. Boom!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that all your traffic is redirected by the VPN, but I'm not sure. Traceroute your traffic to check, but that doesn't mean that certain apps aren't rerouted through the VPN. I would look deeper into Android VPN before assuming that all traffic is redirected. It is a good question.
Yeah I was hoping the app would have a root mode (it doesn't), like TOR proxies all apps, but TOR is slow. Will do that though, good idea.
VZW Gnote2 running Moon ROM V4. Boom!
Don't forget to check VPNRoot app. It allows you to connect without any security lock on the device.
I'm not interested in limiting the ability of an app to access the internet, there's enough ways to achieve that.
What I'm interested in is finding out if there is anyway to use an "online only" app while offline. Essentially is there a way to set up a fake access point using cached data to simulate being online? I'm looking to use a personal assistant such as google now without needing to blow through my extremely limited data plan that I'm grandfathered in on. Anyone know if such a thing is possible? I've not figured out the best way to phrase this question quite yet so let me know if it doesn't make sense.
Google Now simply won't work that way. I'd suggest you use something like utter! that doesn't actually send every command to Google (which requires internet access) to determine what to do with it.
Yeah I've been trying utter out of and on and I find it really drains my battery. That said its amazing for being in beta. I am actually keeping my fingers crossed for a more developed version of Indigo, I just like setting the cards on Google Now.
OK - I acknowledge there are quite a number of ways in which Google (and other corporations, for that matter) invades my privacy regularly.
That said, I just got back from a trip away, and Android on my phone (Nexus 5) has just pushed a photo album at me - purporting to depict my trip like a travel album.
Not only is this completely unwanted, it makes me feel sick. I know there's not a guy sitting at a computer in California looking through the photos in my Google+ account, but I really don't care. I just don't want this sort of stuff to happen.
So... I am looking at moving to an alternative OS and all alternative software. Does anyone have any thoughts on doing so? Ie - benefits / downsides... And what alternative OS should I move to?
Thanks all for your help!
fearofbirds said:
OK - I acknowledge there are quite a number of ways in which Google (and other corporations, for that matter) invades my privacy regularly.
That said, I just got back from a trip away, and Android on my phone (Nexus 5) has just pushed a photo album at me - purporting to depict my trip like a travel album.
Not only is this completely unwanted, it makes me feel sick. I know there's not a guy sitting at a computer in California looking through the photos in my Google+ account, but I really don't care. I just don't want this sort of stuff to happen.
So... I am looking at moving to an alternative OS and all alternative software. Does anyone have any thoughts on doing so? Ie - benefits / downsides... And what alternative OS should I move to?
Thanks all for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go into google + and turn off sync photos if you don't want privacy invasion.(any place you store things online can be hacked or looked @ in the blink of an eye. (Locks only work for people who are honest)
Sure... Thanks. I've just disabled a bunch of Google apps and i'm sure it will make my phone go haywire.
I'm pretty curious about alternatives to Android though. Anyone? Seems they'll be limited as they won't have many apps and stuff, but i'd love to get out of the Google ecosystem altogether.
Im looking to use an old phone (Nexus 6 or S3) as a camera stream and i found an app that makes that part pretty easy 'IP Webcam'
The part im curious about is how to setup the phone. I dont really want to use my account because it will likely want to pull down other crap. Is it recommended to create a new google account or is there a config setup for using your own?
Rom wise is there anything out there that will help with stuff like the screen (fairly certain it will only work while the screen is on) so i can configure it to always stay on, but is there some way to handle that too?
I found JanOS which looks really interesting but neither phone is support and im concerned that getting the 'IP Webcam' app on there might be tough (finding no mention of the play store/google apps)
Just looking to see if there is anything specific for using an old phone as an IOT device with play store apps.