Enable multi user / guest account feature on Lollipop - Xperia Z3v General

The multi user and guest account feature is not available on either of the two recent releases of Lollipop for the Z3v. I did some research and it appears this is the case, not only on other Verizon handsets like the Droid Turbo and the Galaxy S5 / S6, but a few other non-VZW devices as well. I'm not sure why it was removed but apparently it's just hidden. It can be enabled and I followed the instructions for doing this for the various other devices and can report that it works for our Z3v (see attached screenshots).
I've kind of cleaned up the instructions and put them below. Usual disclaimer - I'm not responsible for anything that may happen to you or your cat if you choose to do the following. You DO need root access to edit and write to the system file.
** To be safe, please make a backup of your phone and/or a copy of the build.prop file that you are going to edit.
Get ES File Explorer. Run it and enable Root Explorer setting. (You may be able to use any file explorer and editor with root access but this is used most in the instructions and works.)
With ES File Explorer, go to device/system/ and find the file: build.prop
Choose to edit it with ES Note Editor.
Scroll to the end of the file and type in the following:
fw.max_users=5
fw.show_multiuserui=1
Save the file.
I'm not sure if the next step is required but it was in half the instructions I saw, and I did it myself: Click and hold the file, go to Properties, and then change the permissions to Read, Write & Execute. [all three]
Reboot your phone.
When you're up and running, access multi user mode by pulling down your notification shade and then clicking on your user icon at the top right corner.
Notes so far:
A guest user does not have access to the original user's files on the internal drive - the guest user has their own file directory. The guest CAN access the External SD Card, though.
Therefore, an app such as Movie Creator can and will create a "highlight" movie that is composed from photos that are saved on the external SD Card. Just keep this in mind as far as privacy.
There is a per user option that lets you decide whether or not the additional users can use the phone and access the text messages. If you disable this ability, while they cannot open the phone app to make a call, the CAN receive an incoming call.
You can find out more about the nuances of additional users with your Google Fu.
Enjoy!

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Wow! Great work!

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AddictedToGlass said:
Wow! Great work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I really wanted this feature and it seemed like not many people care too much about it. It's my way of circumventing the awful permissions control we currently have in Android. That is, there are apps I want to use but refuse to install because of their overreaching permission requirements (contacts, etc) and so I can now create a second user with a new "dummy" Gmail account that has no sensitive information and install these apps without worrying.
By the way, something neat I figured out about this. Additional user accounts are not allowed to side load apps (the toggle to install from unknown sources is grayed out). I figured out that if the main user / owner restores an app through Titanium Backup, any other currently existing user will have it installed for some reason. I don't know why this happens but it's a neat glitch that gets you around that restriction.

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Well I think most people simply don't let others touch their phones and so don't have a use for multiple user accounts. I find that my phone, as big as the screen is, is becoming more and more of a computer / tablet replacement. I like the idea of a multiuser functionality, but mostly to hide my own stuff. I'll silk never let anyone else touch my phone!

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The use for multi-user that I've seen that makes the most sense is people with children. They will create a user profile for the child so they can't get into any of the parent's stuff or settings. That or the guest profile which will let them do whatever the heck they want without screwing up the phone.
Aside from that I have read that devs find the feature very useful for testing. Heck, that's not a bad idea to install and test apps, in general.

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uh oh.
Well something didnt work. Maybe a certain build I have to be on or what. I followed the instructions to a t. Now stuck on endless boot loop. Only bad part is I'm on as hotel room working out of town without a laptop Or pc to fix it. I used a one click root just today and didn't install a proper recovery. Any thoughts

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rpelljr said:
Well something didnt work. Maybe a certain build I have to be on or what. I followed the instructions to a t. Now stuck on endless boot loop. Only bad part is I'm on as hotel room working out of town without a laptop Or pc to fix it. I used a one click root just today and didn't install a proper recovery. Any thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a problem with this also twice cause I'm always doing stupid things to my phone my guess is you didn't change the system to r/w but modified it anyway or you used a editor that would let you input the correct values I used s manager I think. As far as getting your phone working you could try safe mode or maybe a factory reset if you can hold power and the volume button down and enter recovery.

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Tigerhoods said:
I had a problem with this also twice cause I'm always doing stupid things to my phone my guess is you didn't change the system to r/w but modified it anyway or you used a editor that would let you input the correct values I used s manager I think. As far as getting your phone working you could try safe mode or maybe a factory reset if you can hold power and the volume button down and enter recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the mistake was made when i changed the permissions per instructions. I finially got to my house and im using adb to freeze the loop then going to push a script over to fix the permissions. I will update when i get it done and I will post my fix. Also I used ES file explorer, which i have already used it for years now. Never had anything like this happen before. it just baffles me. I have never got any instructions off of XDA that led to any malfuntion of my phone. But oh well, sh!+ happens.

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rpelljr said:
I believe the mistake was made when i changed the permissions per instructions. I finially got to my house and im using adb to freeze the loop then going to push a script over to fix the permissions. I will update when i get it done and I will post my fix. Also I used ES file explorer, which i have already used it for years now. Never had anything like this happen before. it just baffles me. I have never got any instructions off of XDA that led to any malfuntion of my phone. But oh well, sh!+ happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! I'm so sorry! I got a couple of new phones (Droid Maxx 2 and LG G4) and have been using those phones so I haven't been checking these forums like I was when I just had the Z3v. Really sorry to hear that you ran into that kind of trouble . Thing is, the instructions above are culled from 4 or 5 different sets of instructions for various devices that I found across the web. I performed them step by step myself while cross referencing them to each other and combined them all to the instruction set above as I did it. Did you ever fix it with the method you mentioned? I'm curious if it was the permissions thing (odd, because it worked for me).

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Jurassic Pork Fried Rice said:
Hey! I'm so sorry! I got a couple of new phones (Droid Maxx 2 and LG G4) and have been using those phones so I haven't been checking these forums like I was when I just had the Z3v. Really sorry to hear that you ran into that kind of trouble . Thing is, the instructions above are culled from 4 or 5 different sets of instructions for various devices that I found across the web. I performed them step by step myself while cross referencing them to each other and combined them all to the instruction set above as I did it. Did you ever fix it with the method you mentioned? I'm curious if it was the permissions thing (odd, because it worked for me).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is guys if done right your system needs to be switched to r/w then go back to r/o after modifying the build prop if you modify in r/o you will get bootloop to a hard brick it depends.

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Jurassic Pork Fried Rice said:
Hey! I'm so sorry! I got a couple of new phones (Droid Maxx 2 and LG G4) and have been using those phones so I haven't been checking these forums like I was when I just had the Z3v. Really sorry to hear that you ran into that kind of trouble . Thing is, the instructions above are culled from 4 or 5 different sets of instructions for various devices that I found across the web. I performed them step by step myself while cross referencing them to each other and combined them all to the instruction set above as I did it. Did you ever fix it with the method you mentioned? I'm curious if it was the permissions thing (odd, because it worked for me).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I kinda fixed it. I went and bought a HTC M9. Lol but not yet, I'm still working on it. I have found scripts to run, even a specific build.prop fix to push, but I have windows 10 and couldn't get adb to find the device. Plus I'm a little rusty. So I broke out my old windows 7 laptop I have used just for rooting an modding phones and tablets. I did get adb and fastboot to find it once. Then some reason lost it. I didn't have it ready to go. But I'm almost 100 percent sure I can get it. Just need to play around with it a little bit more. Having trouble with drivers etc. I will let you know when I have it.
And didn't really hurt my feelings getting the phone I truly want. I never had problems with HTC since I was flashing roms on my old window phones. I just want my pictures I cannot replace.

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"Run it and enable Root Explorer setting. (You may be able to use any file explorer and editor with root access but this is used most in the instructions and works.)"
Alas- I am not rooted, and therefore can not enable "Root Explorer" option. Unless someone has some other suggestions- I think I can't do this unless I'm rooted.

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Well this is probably what I did to brick my first z3v.
I don't suggest anyone do this at all. There does seem to be an issue with the permission setting on the build.prop file. If it's not reset correctly after editing, you'll get stuck in a loop or worse. I'm stuck in bootloop, but can get into recovery. I made a backup hoping to learn how to edit the build.prop (delete it and rename the copied original to set it back as it was). But I can't even run the original zip that GigaSPX made up for us. (I don't have a backup like I hought I did.)
Anytime I try to install the flashable prerooted zip it tells me it's done after 2 seconds and says;
set_perm: some changes failed
I'm typing this on my z2 tablet, which has the multi user feature enabled. I'm going to see if RootExplorer will give me some clues as to why this doesn't work.
In the mean time I'm hoping someone can help me out?
If love to get this feature to work, but it has to be safe.
Just checked the build.prop on my tablet and got no clue.

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AddictedToGlass said:
Well this is probably what I did to brick my first z3v.
I don't suggest anyone do this at all. There does seem to be an issue with the permission setting on the build.prop file. If it's not reset correctly after editing, you'll get stuck in a loop or worse. I'm stuck in bootloop, but can get into recovery. I made a backup hoping to learn how to edit the build.prop (delete it and rename the copied original to set it back as it was). But I can't even run the original zip that GigaSPX made up for us. (I don't have a backup like I hought I did.)
Anytime I try to install the flashable prerooted zip it tells me it's done after 2 seconds and says;
set_perm: some changes failed
I'm typing this on my z2 tablet, which has the multi user feature enabled. I'm going to see if RootExplorer will give me some clues as to why this doesn't work.
In the mean time I'm hoping someone can help me out?
If love to get this feature to work, but it has to be safe.
Just checked the build.prop on my tablet and got no clue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a backup usually means going into your twrp and hit the back up button and make a copy of your system including data and all that. This is mandatory before messing with the build prop. If you want Pm me your build prop and I will send it back to you. With multi user enabled.

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Yup, I know what a back-up is and how to do it, and I know it's a must before messing with the build.prop. I just really thought I had done it recently...
-and I had! But I forgot that a few days ago I bought myself a Christmas present; a 200 Gb micro SD, and copied most of the contents to the new card from my old one. I chose not to copy the backup because I had planned to make some changes and create a more recent backup. Never happened though because I got side tracked loading music and such. Lol!
So I'm all back together, but would still like to play with this feature. So I'm going to give it another shot.

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A guest user does not have access to the original user's files on the internal drive - the guest user has their own file directory. The guest CAN access the External SD Card, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps the wrong thread but: enabled multi user on a Cube T8 only to find that guest and other user can access INTERNAL sd but not external sd. I'd rather have it the other way round. So the kids (other users) can use the whole of 32 GB sd card rather than me having to share the small internal sd with them.
Any ideas how to fix this? Phablet is not rooted btw.

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got bootloop..... but i'm safe as i've backup.... through recovery..

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I've inserted two lines and fell in bootloop

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Thanks bro.. working....!!!! but second step is not needed...