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Hi guys,
I haven't got the phone yet (ogling the Mini Pro, counting my money), but I'm wondering what hints you have for reducing crud on the current batch of Xperia phones, without losing the (full) functionality of Xperia launcher & widgets.
So, assuming you have root and wish to uninstall programs from /system/apps, which ones would you delete?
(I'd like to keep full xperia functionality, since I really like the look of the default launcher and some of the widgets)
once i've got mine rooted im removed that daft pop cap games rubbish! also all the office tools and other things i dont need, i like to have mine as slim as possible with only the things i'll use left on, my x10 mini pro has everything removed that can be
dryhte said:
Hi guys,
I haven't got the phone yet (ogling the Mini Pro, counting my money), but I'm wondering what hints you have for reducing crud on the current batch of Xperia phones, without losing the (full) functionality of Xperia launcher & widgets.
So, assuming you have root and wish to uninstall programs from /system/apps, which ones would you delete?
(I'd like to keep full xperia functionality, since I really like the look of the default launcher and some of the widgets)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before installing CM i was on a rooted stock ROM with plenty stuff removed. I had 80+ MB more RAM available after the cleanup. I didnt have any kind of memory issues before, and while some say that free RAM is wasted RAM, its even more wasted if its been used by apps you dont need.
From what i remember, I've removed: everything related to timescape including all widgets and extensions, extensions for music player, xperia stock launcher, many android and google services (anonymous stats collection, google partner setup and some other google ones, and many others...), popcap and other miscellanous 3rd party apps and so on.
I cant recall all of it, but basically everything that you can recognise by the title and dont need, you can remove. Like stock calculator, launcher, widgets...
If you would need help later on, just post here a list of services and ill try to help.
sulkie said:
Before installing CM i was on a rooted stock ROM with plenty stuff removed. I had 80+ MB more RAM available after the cleanup. I didnt have any kind of memory issues before, and while some say that free RAM is wasted RAM, its even more wasted if its been used by apps you dont need.
From what i remember, I've removed: everything related to timescape including all widgets and extensions, extensions for music player, xperia stock launcher, many android and google services (anonymous stats collection, google partner setup and some other google ones, and many others...), popcap and other miscellanous 3rd party apps and so on.
I cant recall all of it, but basically everything that you can recognise by the title and dont need, you can remove. Like stock calculator, launcher, widgets...
If you would need help later on, just post here a list of services and ill try to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't root as long as it meant I had to unlock the bootloader, but I did it now that the ZergRush method existed
Now I'm trying to remove some software, but I don't manage to do so.
In a (su) terminal on the phone, I went to /system/app and tried to rename/remove some .apk that I was really sure I didn't need (like magicboxinstaller.apk) but it says that the file system is read-only. Can I remount the filesystem from inside the terminal on the phone, or do I need adb?
and what's the syntax to remount?
Another thing:
I'd like to remove the following stuff:
- magicbox
- popcapinstaller
- fun & downloads
- playnow store
- mobistar tv (related to a local provider, you won't know this probably)
Any idea which apk's these map to? (I'm guessing magicboxinstaller.apk = popcap installer, but the others???)
thanks
just install root explorer and delete files. probably easier than terminal, and you can set it to RW
dryhte said:
Can I remount the filesystem from inside the terminal on the phone, or do I need adb?
and what's the syntax to remount?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used adb for it. When rooted open a command prompt, navigate to adb's place, type in:
adb
su
exit
adb remount
adb
And now you can delete everything.
You can roo it. There's a thread about what apps are save to delete. Kinda funny how i have officesuite pro and the trial crapware is still there.
I you have busybox you can do busubox mount -o remount,rw /system I did it to modify some keyboard layout related files.
Good luck with your apps
just install system app remover, its much easier
I would recomend using the ZergRush-method if you care about DRM, warranty or bricking.
What I did on my Xperia Active was to first use ZergRush to get root access using ADB.
Then installed SuperUser and 'su' binary, as well as busybox 1.19.
Then install Titanium Backup (ROOT), and start removing bloat.
The nice thing about using Titanium is that you can backup the different parts you wish to remove, and thus reduce the chance of breaking og loosing desired functionality.
Personally I must say it really makes a difference.
Before I regullarly experienced, when going back to the home screen, a complete redraw as a consequence of memory being flushed.
After it has not happened once.
dryhte said:
I didn't root as long as it meant I had to unlock the bootloader, but I did it now that the ZergRush method existed
Now I'm trying to remove some software, but I don't manage to do so.
In a (su) terminal on the phone, I went to /system/app and tried to rename/remove some .apk that I was really sure I didn't need (like magicboxinstaller.apk) but it says that the file system is read-only. Can I remount the filesystem from inside the terminal on the phone, or do I need adb?
and what's the syntax to remount?
Another thing:
I'd like to remove the following stuff:
- magicbox
- popcapinstaller
- fun & downloads
- playnow store
- mobistar tv (related to a local provider, you won't know this probably)
Any idea which apk's these map to? (I'm guessing magicboxinstaller.apk = popcap installer, but the others???)
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why use geeky method when we have easy option = http://androidflip.com/remove-pre-installed-android-apps/
Root and full functionality
I rooted my last phone (x10 minipro) so I could store apps to sd. I haven't yet rooted my 2011 minipro, partly because I would lose certain functionality. The video player for Android Market movies will not run on a rooted phone, nor will some other apps (like magazine subscriptions), because they require DRM for copyright protection. Just something to consider before rooting your phone.
dave
bigdfmartin said:
I rooted my last phone (x10 minipro) so I could store apps to sd. I haven't yet rooted my 2011 minipro, partly because I would lose certain functionality. The video player for Android Market movies will not run on a rooted phone, nor will some other apps (like magazine subscriptions), because they require DRM for copyright protection. Just something to consider before rooting your phone.
dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the ZergRush method you don't lose anything. (unless you really want to have a recovery)
Rooting in itself works fine without unlocking the bootloader and therefore, without losing any DRM
Hello,
I recently acquired a Sony Z5C, planning on switching to LineageOS sooner or later, but the android tweking world is way more complex than I initially imagined. I am mostly concerned about privacy and control but there is so much to go through I am completely lost. I thought it was all about running either Sony's rom or the lineageos rom but there seems to be a lot more to take into account.
What I am looking for:
getting rid of Sony's annoying bloatware
getting rid of Google Play Services
automatic or semi automatic security updates
fine tuning of application permissions (including ability to deny specific apps access to, say, my location, contact list, camera, internet, sms, without the apps noticing they have been denied access in the first place)
ads and trackers blocking (for instance global or per-application blacklisting of known "evil" domains)
being able to restore everything as it was when I purchased the phone
f-droid begin able to download and install updates without manual intervention
as little side effects as possible resulting from the deletion of the Google Play Services
Icing on the cake:
no loss in camera quality (I read somewhere it is sometimes possible to use image-enhancing algorithms despite having deleted the required DRM keys)
no loss in gps accuracy
same battery life (or better)
encompassing all data traffic of specific apps through tor or another technology preserving distant services from identifying me and my mobile network operator from knowing I access said services
Questions:
What is the difference between opengapps and microg? How does it relate with lineage? At which point in the installation process is it involved?
What are the consequences of rooting the device?
What is the purpose of so called "Magisk"? I read it "changes everything" but I have no idea what "everythin" was. As far as I understand, it is useful to fake a genuine configuration that have not been tempered with in order to use Google Pay or some games. I do not seem to care about that: should I? Is there more to know?
Most important question: in your opinion, considering the above points, the phone I have, current trends and hindsight, and your experience, what would be the best way to go? Should I follow the installation steps on the official lineageos page for the Z5C or do you think another option would suit me better?
To illustrate my technical knowledge: I have been a gnu/linux user for almost a decade but I am completely ignorant of the Android world and feel lost. In particular the concept of "root" and how user and system data is organized on the filesystem(s) (especially on Sony devices) seem different. I am willing to learn and get technical, but there is too much information and I do not know where to start with zero experience.
Thank you very much for your help.
I am in same situation. Did things like that for Moto and Samsung already, but I am new to Sony.
Key is to install TWRP. This is some kind of recovery where you can
- make a backup
- install LOS
- recall backups.
Once this is done:
- install root/su
- tingle the framework (to get microG running)
- install microG
- install afwall (firewall)
- install adaware
only than plugin a SIM and/or enable Wifi.
So: first thing is to install TWRP
unlock Bootloader:
To be able to unlock your Xperia Z5 Compact, prepare it by following these steps:
Go into Settings > About phone and tap seven times on Build number to enable developer options.
From Settings, go into Developer options and enable OEM unlocking.
Warning: Device protection features will not work on this device while this setting is turned on.Please note! It will only be possible to unlock the boot loader for certain releases. You can check if it is possible to unlock the boot loader of your device in the service menu by following the steps below:
In your device, open the dialer and enter *#*#7378423#*#* to access the service menu.
Tap Service info > Configuration > Rooting Status. If Bootloader unlock allowed says Yes, then you can continue with the next step. If it says No, or if the status is missing, your device cannot be unlocked.
TWRP
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z5-compact/development/twrp-twrp-3-2-1-z5-compact-t3748952
A few words to your queston:
opengapps are not open source, they just add normal google apps to Custom Roms. With all pros and cons.
MicroG is offering some kind of api, so that most features can be used (notification, google maps, access to playstore).
They are installed after the custom rom. Some people don't install any of them, use FDroid as a store.
root gives you the chance to change settings, for a few advanced configurations it is required (or makes it easier): firewall, ad remove ...
No experience with magisk. It is another way of "rooting" it, gives more features (hide the root status) which is required for some games. Not needed it til now.
What seems to be missing from previous post is to backup your DRM keys since unlocking your bootloader means losing them FOREVER.
Regards,
Aeny
Aeny said:
What seems to be missing from previous post is to backup your DRM keys since unlocking your bootloader means losing them FOREVER.
Regards,
Aeny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, but didn't you need TWRP to make a backup. And that is on my list, first point. Or is it a special step to do?
Thank you for your help and valuable information which now raises even more questions
If I get things right TWRP is low level stuff that would allow me to backup and restore the system whenever I need to. Say for instance I just installed LOS and configured it as desired so I use TWRP to get a backup and if I later mess things up I can restore this backup without having to go through the whole installation and configuration process? How does the official LineageOS installation guide fit in all this, sould I follow it? Do I need to follow a completely different procedure? I am not planning to tinker anympre once everything has been set up, is TWRP only recommended for people who often experiment and change things or is it recommended for everyone?
The DRM keys are removed when unlocking the bootloader but since TWRP requires an unlocked bootloader they have to be backed up beforehand, am I right? Does it mean I can restore them afterwards once the bootloader has been unlocked without locking it up again? How can I back them up in the first place?
I cannot seem to picture how all the pieces fit together, which is low level stuff, which is high level. When you say "install microg", "install afwall", "install adaware", what are microg, afwall, adaware? Are they regular applications? Regular applications with root access? Low level modules? How is root managed in comparison with a gnu/linux system where I can either directly log as root, change user to root with "su", or get temporary privileges with "sudo"? When you say "install root/su", are we simply talking about installing the equivalent of "su" or "sudo" on a linux distribution? Is there a root password I shall input each time it is required or provide some applications root privileges through a configuration app? Is such an application to be installed separately?
Thank you for the clarification about opengapps/microg. I am interested in microg although I can give a try without in the beginning as long as it is still possible to install microg later.
fetchaspade said:
WRP only recommended for people who often experiment and change things or is it recommended for everyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, highly recommended if not even required. All my LOS setups run via TWRP.
fetchaspade said:
The DRM keys are removed when unlocking the bootloader but since TWRP requires an unlocked bootloader they have to be backed up beforehand, am I right? Does it mean I can restore them afterwards once the bootloader has been unlocked without locking it up again? How can I back them up in the first place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. Don't know where do I need this DRM keys for, as I did't faced off this with other mobiles.
I think you have to make a backup of the TA partition:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/iovyroot-temp-root-tool-t3349597/
fetchaspade said:
I cannot seem to picture how all the pieces fit together, which is low level stuff, which is high level. When you say "install microg", "install afwall", "install adaware", what are microg, afwall, adaware? Are they regular applications? Regular applications with root access? Low level modules? How is root managed in comparison with a gnu/linux system where I can either directly log as root, change user to root with "su", or get temporary privileges with "sudo"? When you say "install root/su", are we simply talking about installing the equivalent of "su" or "sudo" on a linux distribution? Is there a root password I shall input each time it is required or provide some applications root privileges through a configuration app? Is such an application to be installed separately?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
addsu is to flash via TWRP in same manner like LOS itself - as a zip. Others are regualar applications (installed like that) but required root privileges to work. No root password required. Once an app needs it it will ask you, and if you like it remembers you allowed it (so it will ask just once usually). Recommend to try this. You can't do much wrong if you create a backup
fetchaspade said:
Thank you for the clarification about opengapps/microg. I am interested in microg although I can give a try without in the beginning as long as it is still possible to install microg later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MicroG is a bit more fiddling to install than gapps and seems to has limitations. There are separate threads for just this.
Just start, you will get a feeling for that all.
Edit: But
there is already a lineagos with microG built-in:
https://download.lineage.microg.org/suzuran/
Thank you starbright_
To recap, I am to unlock the bootloader, install TWRP, flash addsu via TWRP, flash lineage enhanced with microg, and I'm good to go.
I'm still stuck on the very first step: backing up the TA partition. If I'm not mistaken I need the TA backup tool which requires root access. Root access requires an unlocked bootloader (which would remove the TA partition and the DRM keys) or is achieved for a limited amount of time thanks to exploits. According to both https://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/iovyroot-temp-root-tool-t3349597/ and https://forum.xda-developers.com/z5-compact/general/guide-how-to-root-z5c-painful-using-t3549388, it won't work on recent versions (7.1.1) so I need to downgrade. How can I do that? I imagine I need a tool to flash an old official rom: where am I to find an old official rom? How can I flash it without having an unlocked bootloader?
Backing up the TA partition really seems cumbersome. Is the loss of quality really noticeable on photos and videos? I find photos quite disappointing already and I fear it would get even worse.
On an unrelated topic, do you now of any way to backup SMS conversations as a simple file to import later on the same or different device? All I can find are applications that back up messages on a GMail account (no thanks) or any IMAP server (in what world is it simpler than an xml or simple text file ?).
Maybe you can translate this:
https://reraise.eu/2016/09/05/xperia-z5c-so-sicherst-du-die-ta-partition-teil-1
On an unrelated topic, do you now of any way to backup SMS conversations as a simple file to import later on the same or different device? All I can find are applications that back up messages on a GMail account (no thanks) or any IMAP server (in what world is it simpler than an xml or simple text file ?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using titanium backup for that.
(menu / backup data to xml)
@fetchaspade
Did you start your project? I would appreciate to take notes of your step. That's not only helping others, but also yourself once you have to do the steps again once.
hello,
been having this weird bug/problem with com.miui.security center with every miui 9 release for poco(miui 10/pie security app runs fine but i didnt like miui10!)
the strange thing is that xiaomi is sending updates to all its apps on miui 9 exept security center!!(am talking about the app update not about the antivirus defs update etc).
the question is : can i remove the security app?and how?( am on miui 9.6.14 global stable ....rooted).
Install Titanuim Backup and uninstall from there.
P.S you can run into problems and force close issues along with other unbearable ****. so backup Security App on Titanium Backup and then uninstall it
Don't even think of uninstalling the Security app. I tried it twice and ended up in bootloop. I spoke to a miui dev and he said Security app is an essential part of miui rom and messing with it means messing with the ROM.
Right
Same here
com.miui.securitycenter
Need a mod for this can someone help.
How do i mod this so that all undesirable tracking & spyware components can be removed. It is obvious that this of a tracker agent making it unsafe for the user only makes it safer for XIamoi & its partners.
So I opened up the the app components-
Broadcast receivers activities services etc. And here is what I found .....
In something that supposedly claims to be a for security component for the phone
- Dunno if they will let me stick in a screenshot here . There are adware and spyware components down to the core.
Code:
AdsProcessPriorityService
com.facebook.ads.internal.ipc.AdsProcess
PriorityService
AdsMessengerService
com.facebook.ads.internal.ipc.AdsMessen
gerService
That is to name a few
- any attempt to disable this component is futile because even if you run pm disable the component is force enabled
- the other singers if I am rooted and I am ' magiskcally ' I hide magisk from all these redmi components. ..... even Here it forces need to unhide magisk could you see the extent of spyware organisation down to the core
I would like to continue this thread with an invitation to vah word wants to give me an approach and work with me so that a magisk module that will grab his component from the current phone and mod it -let the original spyware component load during boot time and post boot do a swap with the mod
Is it possible to do this kind of modification & unspy MIUI
Yes it can be. Use lucky patcher and "delete system app". It worked for me without bootloop. I think there wasn't many things changed after that except for no 10s warnings and no sidebar functions
Vipxpert said:
Yes it can be. Use lucky patcher and "delete system app". It worked for me without bootloop. I think there wasn't many things changed after that except for no 10s warnings and no sidebar functions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can confirm this , i on miui 13.0.11 , redmi note 10(mojito) . uninstalled com.miui.securitycenter , rebooted . no bootloop. i will let other know if i encounter some bug later
Edit1: cant open battery setting, manage apps show nothing
Vipxpert said:
Yes it can be. Use lucky patcher and "delete system app". It worked for me without bootloop. I think there wasn't many things changed after that except for no 10s warnings and no sidebar functions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can i delete miui cleaner ?
Apih95 said:
can i delete miui cleaner ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.... Isnt that intergrated into Security Center app as well lol
ron_hyatt said:
hello,
been having this weird bug/problem with com.miui.security center with every miui 9 release for poco(miui 10/pie security app runs fine but i didnt like miui10!)
the strange thing is that xiaomi is sending updates to all its apps on miui 9 exept security center!!(am talking about the app update not about the antivirus defs update etc).
the question is : can i remove the security app?and how?( am on miui 9.6.14 global stable ....rooted).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky patcher (slightly sketchy) and De-Bloater appear to work to remove apps on rooted devices
Obviously
Code:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.securitycenter
will not remove it but if all you need is it to be disabled you can try that
Hello, this probably won't be seen, but to the very few travelers who discover this message on google or something:
As of January 19th 2023, the "Security Center" application on MIUI 13 is extremely sketchy.
I'm planning on trying to decompile it if possible.
Currently (According to the AOSP part of the settings) The app has permissions that are very worrying. Downloading files without permission, proprietary MIUI perms, full network access, etc.
Not only that, the built-in package manager utility (PM), refuses to disable com.miui.securitycenter due to being unable to "disable core miui packages..." and spitting out an exception dump.
This is clearly a protected app, that has too many permissions, for no apparent reasson.
Setting SELinux to permissive dosen't help either.
There are 2 options that people have currently - Either leaving a piece of a PUP (Potentially unwanted program) on their phone, or risking bricking it by uninstalling it.
According to the posts on this thread some people have had success, some got a soft-brick.
Doing so shouldn't result in a hard brick, so if you have backups, a userdata format should solve the issue.
TheMagnificent_Y said:
Hello, this probably won't be seen, but to the very few travelers who discover this message on google or something:
As of January 19th 2023, the "Security Center" application on MIUI 13 is extremely sketchy.
I'm planning on trying to decompile it if possible.
Currently (According to the AOSP part of the settings) The app has permissions that are very worrying. Downloading files without permission, proprietary MIUI perms, full network access, etc.
Not only that, the built-in package manager utility (PM), refuses to disable com.miui.securitycenter due to being unable to "disable core miui packages..." and spitting out an exception dump.
This is clearly a protected app, that has too many permissions, for no apparent reasson.
Setting SELinux to permissive dosen't help either.
There are 2 options that people have currently - Either leaving a piece of a PUP (Potentially unwanted program) on their phone, or risking bricking it by uninstalling it.
According to the posts on this thread some people have had success, some got a soft-brick.
Doing so shouldn't result in a hard brick, so if you have backups, a userdata format should solve the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i recommend lineageos rom instead of miui but make backups
Hi I'm struggling with the same problem trying to stop de SecCenter. Maybe there is a way to stop the app to run. I tried on my Note 10 Pro with MIUI12.0.6 Global (Android 11) and it works.
You need root on the phone. You should change the owner of the folder "/data/user/0/com.miui.securitycenter" to a user the is not System. In my case a run the command "chown -R root:root /data/user/0/com.miui.securitycenter". After that you need to kill the process of the "com.miui.securitycenter". So at the end the process doesn't start anymore. In the next boot you need do the process again because the boot change the permission of the folder to the system again.
I'm trying to create a Magisk Module to do that but i don't know how until now.
Is there anything I can do about this?
Did you try this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/fix-magisk-manager-20-3-ctsprofile-t4080921
- Before starting the steps, uninstall all Magisk modules and reboot.
- If your device is not listed in the Props Config, you can try Google Pixel 2 or 3 and Android 10.
- Don't forget to hide Magisk in the Options and Google Play Services, Google Play Store, Google Pay and all banking/game apps in the Magisk Hide menu.
- You should know that all Samsung services (Pay, Pass, Secure Folder, etc.) related to KNOX will never work after rooting (= KNOX tripped)...
LeGi0NeeR said:
Did you try this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/fix-magisk-manager-20-3-ctsprofile-t4080921
- Before starting the steps, uninstall all Magisk modules and reboot.
- If your device is not listed in the Props Config, you can try Google Pixel 2 or 3 and Android 10.
- Don't forget to hide Magisk in the Options and Google Play Services, Google Play Store, Google Pay and all banking/game apps in the Magisk Hide menu.
- You should know that all Samsung services (Pay, Pass, Secure Folder, etc.) related to KNOX will never work after rooting (= KNOX tripped)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@jhill110 sorry for necroposting this, but does it work out for you?
Arobase40 said:
SafetyNet fix !
Quicker and easier SafetyNet fix :
Erase the cache from Magisk and flash one of these two fixes :
I used the first one and it works so I didn't test the second...
At least Secure Folder is working fine. Knox deployment is behaving weirdly as it is asking a two pass authentication and it is asking a numerical code when I receive an alphanumerical code... ^^
I don't use Samsung Pay (should at least work with Android Pay but I didn't test it) and I don't use Samsung Pass either but I don't think there should be a real problem as it was asking me to set it up but I removed totally from the system...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually for me safety net fix only works for android 11 version rom of this device, and even then secure folder doesnt work correctly (for me?), it doesnt save the password, and keep poping up asking to set a password whenever I tried to enter it. The device itself become unstable and keep hot rebooting after every unlock, eventually get thermal throttled for no reason. Though the safety net solution I used was this one: kdrag0n/safetynet-fix , and prob not the one you listed actually its the same developer, though his repository does not contain a v2 release. I still gona try it though
edit: working now, not hot rebooting (yet), but secure folder still doesnt save password, thus cant still be used yet
Arobase40 said:
So make sure you pass the SafetyNet test in Magisk. When done and passed, uninstall completely and properly Secure folder from your settings, and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the safetynet fix worked on my device when the rom is still on android 10. That is to say, it passed the safetynet test. It was extremely unstable though, hot rebooting after every unlock (unlock, black screen samsung, then back to lock screen) I couldn't get into magisk and disable it, had to delete it through twrp. It was until android 11 that I tried it again. not extremely unstable, just "useable unstable". That was the release file on kdrag0n's repository. Your uploaded v2 file works amazingly. Thanks for sharing:>
Arobase40 said:
I wonder why you mention Android 10 when we're with Android 11 for a long time now...
So is your issue totally fixed with no instability at all anymore and is Secure Folder working also ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just want to share my experience about the same device with (prob) the same safety net fix that works on yours, but not my device.
yes, with your safety net fix my tab runs absolutely stable, and I've just tried uninstall secure folder and reinstall it again. Its working perfectly now
This might not be the right place to ask this question but I have been lurking here for a bit and am hoping someone can help me out.
A quick bit of background. I just recently started using Android Tablets. So far all I do with them is to read ebooks, browse the web in an emergency, and, wirelessly access my Xfinity live TV and Peacock streaming service. I have 3 Onn tablets (7", 8" and 10") one of which is Android 10 and the other two are Android 11.
I have absolutely no interest in anything Google and have disabled pretty much all the pre-installed apps based on guides I found here. The only pre-installed apps I use are Files-by-google and Gboard. I use the Nova7 launcher. I do have a google account and access to the google play store but only use it in the extremely rare case I want a purchased app, otherwise I download APK's from sites like APKMirror and APKPure to my PC, validate them using MetaDefend and VirusTotal and then load to the device via usb.
I also have no interest in any cloud based storage.
In general I have all goggle apps disabled. In the rare case I do use the play store I have to first enable Google Play Services and Google Play Store and then once the specific app is installed I re-disable Google Play Services and Store. Also I only go online to use the Xfinity and Peacock apps, everything else I do offline.
So everything worked as I wanted it until at some point I allowed an Android 11 "security patch" to install on one of my Android 11 devices. Immediately I could no longer install any APK file on that device (see attached). Note that previously I could install apps with the Nova7 launcher, the Files app, the Files-by-google app and Firefox, all of which are enabled to install unknown apps. Now all of these methods result in the same error message (see attached). Still no problem installing on the Android 10 device or the other Android 11 device that I've kept from updating.
So does anyone know how I can get back to being able to install APK's? I've followed the standard recommendations of restarting the device, making sure install unknown apps is enabled and reset app preferences and the only thing that I see to do at this point is a factory reset. A factory reset would cause me a whole lot of pain to set things back up to how they were before and I'm not even sure that a factory reset is guaranteed to fix this.
Can anyone help me?
A factory reset won't undo the update.
If that is the cause and there's no work around you would need to reflash to the version without the update. System upgrades/updates tend to break things...
blackhawk said:
A factory reset won't undo the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I was afraid of.
At this point for $59 I can throw out the old one and buy another but that brings up the question of how to disable system updates.
Would rooting the device solve the problem?
So far I've been able to do everything I wanted to do using adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <package_to_disable>.
But given I'm going to throw the device out if I can't fix this, it seems like the perfect candidate to risk trying to root.
Mumblefratz said:
That's what I was afraid of.
At this point for $59 I can throw out the old one and buy another but that brings up the question of how to disable system updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks something like this. I use Package Disabler to kill this parasite, it's the first apk I disabled... with extreme prejudice
A ADB edit will work too.
blackhawk said:
It looks something like this. I use Package Disabler to kill this parasite, it's the first apk I disabled... with extreme prejudice
A ADB edit will work too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Package Disabler app that you showed in your screenshot looked like a better way to go that what I've been doing which is to use Application Inspector along with ADB but I've had some problems trying to install it.
For one thing they change a couple of things in MI settings and I don't have that category of setting. The bottom line is that I still haven't been able to get PD to work although the set-device-owner command did seem to work and resulted with the following:
C:\ADB>adb shell dumpsys device_policy
Current Device Policy Manager state:
Device Owner:
admin=ComponentInfo{com.pdp.deviceowner/com.pdp.deviceowner.receivers.AdminReceiver}
name=
package=com.pdp.deviceowner
isOrganizationOwnedDevice=true
User ID: 0
Enabled Device Admins (User 0, provisioningState: 3):
com.pdp.deviceowner/.receivers.AdminReceiver:
uid=10156
followed by a whole bunch of other stuff.
At this point it seems best to forget about Package Disabler and just continue with Application Inspector and ADB but I'm worried that the device owner change I made is going to screw me up sooner or later.
My question is do I have to do (yet another) factory reset and reinstall all my stuff or is there an easier way for me to undo this owner setting?
PS. I suddenly got a notification "this device belongs to your organization" This must have something to do with the owner thing.
Mumblefratz said:
The Package Disabler app that you showed in your screenshot looked like a better way to go that what I've been doing which is to use Application Inspector along with ADB but I've had some problems trying to install it.
For one thing they change a couple of things in MI settings and I don't have that category of setting. The bottom line is that I still haven't been able to get PD to work although the set-device-owner command did seem to work and resulted with the following:
C:\ADB>adb shell dumpsys device_policy
Current Device Policy Manager state:
Device Owner:
admin=ComponentInfo{com.pdp.deviceowner/com.pdp.deviceowner.receivers.AdminReceiver}
name=
package=com.pdp.deviceowner
isOrganizationOwnedDevice=true
User ID: 0
Enabled Device Admins (User 0, provisioningState: 3):
com.pdp.deviceowner/.receivers.AdminReceiver:
uid=10156
followed by a whole bunch of other stuff.
At this point it seems best to forget about Package Disabler and just continue with Application Inspector and ADB but I'm worried that the device owner change I made is going to screw me up sooner or later.
My question is do I have to do (yet another) factory reset and reinstall all my stuff or is there an easier way for me to undo this owner setting?
PS. I suddenly got a notification "this device belongs to your organization" This must have something to do with the owner thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure as I never used that approach. I use whatever comes in handy...