[Q] Restrict users - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
I've been looking for this but no success. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
I'll explain the system for the complete picture:
We've built a system for a healthcare organization which uses a SMS server, if a person pushes a button on an (wifi) alarm unit in his/her room a SMS is sent to a Samsung Xcover2 phone, a specially written app 'catches' this special SMS before the stock android SMS app will get it, diplays the room that made the alarm and from there the user of the Samsung Xcover can make a one-touch operation to make a direct connection to this room so you can speak to that person in the room. From the phone the call can be closed and the alarm unit in the room will be reset.
So far so good. We deployed a pilot project and it works really well.
Except for the Samsung Xcover. We used them straight out of the box, set the settings (no google account, wifi is not used) but from there the user is able to change ANYTHING.....and they do; different sounds, fonts, backgrounds, they make pictures......basically they make a mess of it.
And since we use a Private GSM system with nano cells there's no internal number displayed on the screen so we use a personalised wallpaper with our company's logo and the internal number (they are also used as normal internal phones for in- an outbound communication). They keep changing the wallpaper so phones get 'lost' since they can't see the number anymore.
What I'm looking for is something that basically lets us control what the user can or can't do. Preferably with the stock ROM, rooting and loading a custom ROM is an option but time consuming.
Anyone with a suggestion??

Related

Barcode data transfer idea

Hello XDA-Developers!
I had an idea this morning.
Current Transfer Tech:
Bluetooth - Requires the user of both devices to enable their bluetooth devices, then they have to go about pairing the devices to allow file tansfer (this is not always the case though). then the, shall we call him "sender" has to select a file and attempt to bluetooth the file to the, shall we say "reciever", who in turn has to accept the data and then the transfer starts.
Wifi - not used very often but files can be transferred through an app or through an ftp server etc from one device to another. this however requires a little, if not more, skill to complete and can be fustrating looking for ip addresses etc.
NFC - this is an emerging technology that is being implemented in more and more devices such as the Galaxy Nexus. This is a very efficient and fast way to transfer data from one NFC enabled device to another NFC enabled device, however like most of the android community, my phone does not have this capability.
My Idea:
This is just an idea and you may say what you like about it but i thought i would write it down here, the first place that came into my mind where i thought that someone could take this idea further.
Now my friend uses a blackberry, and i know that that word is almost taboo on this forum but hear me out. He uses his blackberry for a service called BBM (Blackberry Messenger), i am sure you are all familiar, and to add a friend of his so that he can contact them using the service, he simply uses his blackberrys camera to scan a 2D Barcode on his friends device and all his BBM Pin and other data is transfered through the phones camera so that they can communicate on the service.
I though that this could be used more on android devices. This could be used to transfer small files from one device to another such as contact information, websites (already a reality), even larger files such as word documents and other reletavely small documents. Now i know that these files cannot be displayed on a single 2D barcode but maybe they can be send using not one barode but a series, the barcodes could be in an animation on the device screen, showing one barcode after another all and the "reciever" could simply hold his device's camera over the animation and it could read the series of barcodes and then compile all of the data to create a single document.
Now i realise that this could be a silly idea as the ammount of data that can be transferred through a 2D barcode is not huge, al lot of barcodes would be needed to transfer a larger file than someones contact details.
Let me know what you think, and you are free to do what you want with my idea, i wont hold it against you
hazzahex
Hello
I know it's a little late (only 3 years lol), but I just wanted you to know that I've implemented a system similar to the one you describe
It was my college's final project
hazzahex said:
Hello XDA-Developers!
I had an idea this morning.
Current Transfer Tech:
Bluetooth - Requires the user of both devices to enable their bluetooth devices, then they have to go about pairing the devices to allow file tansfer (this is not always the case though). then the, shall we call him "sender" has to select a file and attempt to bluetooth the file to the, shall we say "reciever", who in turn has to accept the data and then the transfer starts.
Wifi - not used very often but files can be transferred through an app or through an ftp server etc from one device to another. this however requires a little, if not more, skill to complete and can be fustrating looking for ip addresses etc.
NFC - this is an emerging technology that is being implemented in more and more devices such as the Galaxy Nexus. This is a very efficient and fast way to transfer data from one NFC enabled device to another NFC enabled device, however like most of the android community, my phone does not have this capability.
My Idea:
This is just an idea and you may say what you like about it but i thought i would write it down here, the first place that came into my mind where i thought that someone could take this idea further.
Now my friend uses a blackberry, and i know that that word is almost taboo on this forum but hear me out. He uses his blackberry for a service called BBM (Blackberry Messenger), i am sure you are all familiar, and to add a friend of his so that he can contact them using the service, he simply uses his blackberrys camera to scan a 2D Barcode on his friends device and all his BBM Pin and other data is transfered through the phones camera so that they can communicate on the service.
I though that this could be used more on android devices. This could be used to transfer small files from one device to another such as contact information, websites (already a reality), even larger files such as word documents and other reletavely small documents. Now i know that these files cannot be displayed on a single 2D barcode but maybe they can be send using not one barode but a series, the barcodes could be in an animation on the device screen, showing one barcode after another all and the "reciever" could simply hold his device's camera over the animation and it could read the series of barcodes and then compile all of the data to create a single document.
Now i realise that this could be a silly idea as the ammount of data that can be transferred through a 2D barcode is not huge, al lot of barcodes would be needed to transfer a larger file than someones contact details.
Let me know what you think, and you are free to do what you want with my idea, i wont hold it against you
hazzahex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Sync SMS between multiple phones & tablets?

I'm using multiple android devices, all of them under one phone number (only one plan that includes five separate sim cards). All of the services are available under any individual device, BUT! Text messages (SMS) ONLY arrive at the devices that holds the "primary" or "master" sim card.
What I'd like to have, is the ability to somehow send any arriving messages from the primary device via something (email? im?) that doesn't require them to be in close vicinity (so no wlan/bluetooth). So that it wouldn't matter which device I hold, I'd always receive any incoming text messages and they would be available on all devices. Best would be, if also SENT messages would sync between devices.
Also of note is that the sync should be (almost) instantaneous (as fast as can be achieved via push-gmail or instant messaging). So no scheduled syncs or anything that requires an interval.
Each one of the devices are capable of sending/receiving sms on their own, so no technical barriers exist on that front.
By syncing, I mean that the messages would be available at each device's own "messaging system", NOT just backed up in email or something. (so SMS2Mail of backupsms -style apps are out of the question.)
The devices are running Android 2.2, 2.3, 3.1 and come next year, android 4.0.
I'm going to use:
* Samsung Galaxy Note
* Samsung Galaxy Tab
* Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
* Samsung Galaxy Gio
* Motorola Defy
I've looked into TotalSMS Control, DeskSMS, Phone Control and various other apps, but they all lack some part of what I need. (DeskSMS looked the most promising, but apparently doesn't work on Honeycomb, at least market doesn't show DeskSMS for my Tab 8.9).
If this exists, please tell me. If it doesn't, I'm willing to pay some.
Note: monthly/yearly fees are not out of the question. The services need not be free, just working
Did you ever find an app that worked for you? I'm in a similar situation and would be interested to hear what you settled on.
No, unfortunately I didn't. I'm currently using Phone Control. I needed to change my primary device from Tab 8.9 to Note to get PC to work (since it required telephony). It is hands down the fastest of what I have tested. Unfortunately it only sends the arriving sms as email to the other devices, there is no way to actually 'sync' anything between the devices.
AnttiV said:
If this exists, please tell me. If it doesn't, I'm willing to pay some.
Note: monthly/yearly fees are not out of the question. The services need not be free, just working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bump.
AnttiV said:
I'm using multiple android devices, all of them under one phone number (only one plan that includes five separate sim cards). All of the services are available under any individual device, BUT! Text messages (SMS) ONLY arrive at the devices that holds the "primary" or "master" sim card.
What I'd like to have, is the ability to somehow send any arriving messages from the primary device via something (email? im?) that doesn't require them to be in close vicinity (so no wlan/bluetooth). So that it wouldn't matter which device I hold, I'd always receive any incoming text messages and they would be available on all devices. Best would be, if also SENT messages would sync between devices.
Also of note is that the sync should be (almost) instantaneous (as fast as can be achieved via push-gmail or instant messaging). So no scheduled syncs or anything that requires an interval.
Each one of the devices are capable of sending/receiving sms on their own, so no technical barriers exist on that front.
By syncing, I mean that the messages would be available at each device's own "messaging system", NOT just backed up in email or something. (so SMS2Mail of backupsms -style apps are out of the question.)
The devices are running Android 2.2, 2.3, 3.1 and come next year, android 4.0.
I'm going to use:
* Samsung Galaxy Note
* Samsung Galaxy Tab
* Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
* Samsung Galaxy Gio
* Motorola Defy
I've looked into TotalSMS Control, DeskSMS, Phone Control and various other apps, but they all lack some part of what I need. (DeskSMS looked the most promising, but apparently doesn't work on Honeycomb, at least market doesn't show DeskSMS for my Tab 8.9).
If this exists, please tell me. If it doesn't, I'm willing to pay some.
Note: monthly/yearly fees are not out of the question. The services need not be free, just working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello AnttiV,
I have already posted my setup (somewhat applicable to your case) in this Thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1368228).
To make best use of the app that I use in my setup (mysms) I would slightly modify it. You can install mysms on you main device (which has the SIM card that is marked as primary). Then you can access and write messages from all other smartphones via the mysms mirror app (search for 'mysms mirror' in the play store).
I used the free Web app to text from my iPad until I decided to purchase the app from the App store.
Hope this helps you.
@eileenfj0713:
that's not even remotely usable in this scenario? That's only SMS transfer, not a simultaneous receiving.
However, I've now been using MySMS for about year, and that seems to be the best solution (it's even cross platform! Works from iOS also) available. I heartily recommend MySMS to anyone looking for a solution to this kind of a problem.

[Q] How can I prove that my Android Device (SGS2) has been used by someone else?

Back Story:
My phone was left in my house (shared with other people) yesterday while I was at work. When I got home I was checking missed calls, voicemail etc and I noticed that some text messages were missing. I looked a bit more and it seems that 2 seperate sms message threads had been deleted and a number of contacts had been deleted too. Now, this has happened before to another housemate but we couldn't prove that it had been done. We are pretty sure we know who did it but I need concrete evidence that the phone was accessed.
Phone Specs: Samsung Galaxy S2, rooted, running CM7 latest nightly. I also have Cerebrus installed if that helps.
So my questions are as follows:
1) Is it possible to see what activity was happening on my phone yesterday? I don't have any "logging" software running.
2) Is it possible to retrieve the deleted SMS messages?
I work in IT so am pretty tech savvy, just not in the workings of the Android OS!
All help greatly appreciated.
P.S. I have already been able to restore the contacts that were deleted using the restore functionality in gmail.
The short answer is no. It is, at least in theory, possible to "undelete" stuff, but it isn't usually practical. Even if you did, you wouldn't have "proof" in the legal sense.
That said, I have been involved in a similar situation. Here's the approach we used. It is reasonable to assume that this behavior will continue. Therefore, get some logging software installed. Do NOT talk about it. Do nothing out of the ordinary. Just quietly install some software that will let you see what is going on with your phone. I know there are apps which will email an alert when accessed, snap a pic from the front-facing camera, log SMS to email, remotely lock the phone, etc etc. Based on what you need to accomplish, get these set up and then BE PATIENT. wait a few days (unless you normally leave your phone at home) and leave it again when the person in question might be around.
A pic would be sufficient proof I would think for confronting a roomie. If nothing else log your sms's. I use integrated Google Voice so I'd get an alert on my PC even if I didn't have the phone (very handy, that), but that may not be an option for you.
I also use SeekDroid for remote locking, and I -think- there's a remote camera provision, but it's at a higher paid level than I am subscribed to. At any rate that's my suggestions.
Or, the simple solution: Put a better lock code on your phone.
-JB
A lock code would help prevent the behavior in the future. For catching the vandal red-handed, I believe an app like Gotcha! may do what you need.

[Q] clone one to many - Atrix 2

Hi guys, I’m new to the forum and fairly new to Android devices in general. I’ve googled a good bit before posting, and searched this forum for some keywords, but haven’t come up with a solution to what I need to do.
I have what seems like a fairly simple need: Set up an android device the way I want it, and then clone this image to multiple other devices.
I work with an organization that conducts a lot of epidemiology surveillance in foreign countries. The surveys are done on android based devices with a collection of off-the-shelf apps, plus one we had custom built for our purpose. Data is sent to us via whatever mobile networks happen to be available in the country being surveyed (we buy our phones unlocked, and get the SIM cards in-country).
As we continue to expand, installing all those apps and getting all of the settings just right becomes a very tedious, repetitive task, when you consider doing 100+ phones a month. .
Ideally I would like to stick with the factory rom, just add/remove some apps and configure settings. The cloning process needs to be fairly straight-forward, and not require a bunch of apps to be installed on the target phones first, because that kind of defeats the purpose.
For the time being, we’re using Motorola Atrix and Atrix 2. We also have some XT720s but we’re phasing those out.
Not sure if this is relevant, but below is roughly what provisioning currently looks like:
1. We receive a batch of phones, say 100 at a time
2. First, do a factory reset, and go through the initial setup
3. Remove as many of the factory installed apps as possible
4. Set up WiFi
5. Log into Google Play account and install the 6 apps we actually use
6. Make LauncherPro the default desktop, set it to only use 1 dock and 1 desktop, set a plain boring background, hide all except the app drawer icon, and have and icon for our app, and an airplane mode widget on the desktop.
7. Finally, enter the server connection settings in our survey app (this part we’ve gotten to a point where all we do is drop a config file to the SD Card, and it picks up the settings for this particular app)
8. Turn off the phone, and do it all again on the other 99 devices…
Any thoughts on how to automate this?

[Q] Need advice on Lollipop native / apps please

Hi All.
I've taken the plunge and ordered my S6 Edge 128gb in Emerald Green.
I'm sure everything will be just fine, but I was hoping for some pointers from the Android users for certain apps and features I use on the BlackBerry.
I've been using BlackBerry for a few years now (Z30 and a Passport) but I'm wanting a change and LOVED the look of the Edge. Just wondering if you fab people could give some assistance in either clarifying what Lollipop does natively or suggesting apps I could use to achieve a similar effect.
1. One of the things I think I will miss quite a bit is the notification light on the BlackBerry. Hence why I ultimately went with the Edge. I know the edge can have notification lights for the top 5 contacts (thats enough for me) showing when placed face down.. however. just two questions connected to this:
* Does the notification light continue to flash if you miss the call / message? i.e. continue until you pick the phone up and look
* I'm sure the notification doesn't work with the phone facing upwards or stood on a stand, but do you think this is something that a rom flash could fix? or even, maybe an app..
2. BlackBerry Hub really is very good. You have all your communications in one location, save opening text apps, Social media, then mail apps etc. How does Lollipop 5 handle messaging? Does it have a similar type of hub?
3. I run an app called Hubb++ on my Passport. Here I can tell notifications to switch off and on during certain time periods. Ideal after a long hard day in the office, get home and my phone automatically goes into silent from 8.30pm until 7am. (except for contacts I've highlighted as important and to break the silence). Again, does Android lollipop have anything like this or is there an app that does similar?
4. Bluetooth connection to the car. I have to be honest and say the BlackBerry really does nothing special in the arena for me. It's a basic rSAP connection type which allows contacts etc to be sent to my car (Audi A7). How is Bluetooth within Android Lollipop? Last time I used Android, rSAP was not working and I had to root the phone and install all sorts to get it going. To be honest, my days of rooting and messing are over (I know, that's part of the fun of Android) I'm too busy these days to spend the time learning and testing etc. I just want the connection to work. Any input please.
That's basically it. Any input and recommendations would be received with thanks.
1. There's notification light blinking on the top left of the phone for miss call, message /SMS or social app/ voicemail, email etc... You can get a short vibration when you pick up your phone and you have miss call or SMS message as well /not sure for other notifications/
2. I'm sure there's some apps you can find for the most messaging services on Google play, buy better give it a try on few and see what's best for you
3. There's apps to switch your profiles according to time settings, but I thing S6 has option to do that as well with detecting your GPS location /home, work, etc.../
4. The bluetooth should be just fine. I have no problem with Audi A5
pacho_bs said:
1. There's notification light blinking on the top left of the phone for miss call, message /SMS or social app/ voicemail, email etc... You can get a short vibration when you pick up your phone and you have miss call or SMS message as well /not sure for other notifications/
2. I'm sure there's some apps you can find for the most messaging services on Google play, buy better give it a try on few and see what's best for you
3. There's apps to switch your profiles according to time settings, but I thing S6 has option to do that as well with detecting your GPS location /home, work, etc.../
4. The bluetooth should be just fine. I have no problem with Audi A5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to answer.
Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk

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