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Hello,
Our school district is looking into getting some Android Powered Tablets for us, the techs to use. We need to be able to lock them down (school policy and if the teachers eventually get them), from app installs to wifi usage. We have iPads restricted using the iPhone configuration tool.
anyways, I found online the Device_Admin code/api but I have no idea how to implement it or get it to work. In Android 2.2 there's the option under Settings/Location and Security to set the Admin but nothing is in there.
I have no idea how to code and neither does the other guy I'm working with on this. Is there an easy way to get this setup and configured so we can manage Android Devices on our Network?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Do you mean this API: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/admin/device-admin.html ?
As far as I understand it allows to manage password strength, lock timeout, immediate lock and device wipe only. So no restrictions for "app installs, wifi usage" etc. Maybe I'm wrong.
IF that's all it does then maybe that's not what we want.
Is there software/API..etc... that we can use to "lock" the devices down?
Interesting question, could you specify exactly all features you need?
We're thinking to develop some kind of parent control app for Android, so your request for app is looking very similar.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't locking down an android device pretty much impossible?
You can lock down the ROM (probably) but that wont stop someone flashing a custom recovery image, backing up the data, then flashing a new ROM (provided the tablet can be rooted).
To fully lock it down wouldn't you have to lock the bootloader and recovery image so that they need a password to be used? I'm not sure that's possible.
We're not so much looking to completely lock down the device. Honestly if the Teachers get these I doubt they'll try and mod the Bootloader or load ROM's. But we are looking to, if the teachers get them and even other techs get them to use we want to lock them down in a way that prevents them from install unapproved apps, restrict purchasing apps and accessing Wifi/Marker.
We have 10 or so iPads in our district, they are locked down by a policy we push to the pad when WE set them up. It restricts the App Store, removes Safari Browser and doesn't allow app install. It also uses our LightSpeed browser settings so that they can't get to "naughty" or other such sites.
After quick research it seems that you need custom ROM or at least rooted phone where standard browser, market etc are removed and some configuration parameters are hard coded. Also keep in mind that there's no lightspeed guide browser app for android, only for ipad, iphone. I would say there's a lot of work.
Hi,
I have been doing some research and I just hit a wall and can't go any further.
I work for a software company that builds it's own products and has a lot of clients.
I've always liked the idea of webtop but never got around to even look at it as a laptop replacement till now upto an extent.
I installed Debian on webtop and tried to get vpn to work and failed miserably. Not to mention I haven't touched linux in 10 years.
What I need to keep webtop/lapdock:
Clean/Lightweight environment with fully functional browser.
Ability to remote desktop.
Ability to connect to vpn on clients' side and remote into servers to fix small issues.
Ability to mess with the portal we have to update quick changes for clients.
I know you can't do it all out of the box.
I installed Debian but got stuck on installing Cisco Anyconnect.
Installed openconnect but can't connect as it says no tun/tap driver found.
gnome-panel doesn't work but I can live with webtop panels but my OCD kills me having firefox and iceweasel both.
Iceweasel can't have flash and plugins as I could not find any plugins for armel.
All plugins are for i386 or amd64.
My simple question is:
Can I do all this from this webtop or I should just keep carrying laptop.
Can I carry lapdock when I go for vacation and stuff to not worry about a $1500 laptop and just carry $200 lapdock so I can still do something if sh*t hits the fan.
I think I wrote a long enough story to give you guys a basic understanding.
Any help/input would be greatly appreciated.
If lapdock can't replace laptop for basic needs of a software developer then I might as well just sell it and move to Droid 2 Global.
:flameSuitOn: just in case
Thank you in advance for your time and effort.
I just don't think the webtop idea is quite there yet. Im personally in the IT industry and tried to use the atrix as my primary device while being on the road and simply failed. I was able to get gnome-panel working amongst other things but its far too sluggish. Try logmein and see what happens lol. The concept is truely amazing but that's as far as it goes.
Now if all you need to do is vpn, log into routers/switches etc it will do the job. Its much easier then pulling out a laptop and waiting for windows to boot. But anything extensive, Java or Flash based is impossible.
Just my. 02 cents.
It's a little difficult to try to use the lapdock as your primary device. I personally use it as my laptop at college (i have a desktop in my room) I can rdp into my desktop just fine, and access all programs from there, but the experience is definitely a bit laggy. You can try to get it a bit faster if you overclock, but that's a whole other can of worms. Firefox 6 runs, and can use most add-ons...
Personally, I might look into something like the ASUS Transformer Prime, once the dev scene there gets into gear. I think if they could get a full ubuntu (or any linux distro) running, it would be a far better experience on Tegra 3. But then you wouldn't have a smartphone...
Why don't you try it out? See how well it works if you try and use it as your daily work computer for a couple of weeks. I know other's have installed pretty much every ARM compiled program for ubuntu, including gnome panel, so it wouldn't hurt to try.
Faux updated his kernal to use zram this is supposed to help speed up webtop once activated
Just thought I'd add that in
sent from my Atrix via XDA premium
Sorry to hear all of you failing with the Lapdock...
In my case it's been a great and convenient alternative. I work as a Network Administrator.
All I need is a browser, internet access (3G or wifi) and LogMeIn account (the free one works great).
I remote into my corporate computers and servers to do most if not all of my work. No need to vpn as before since all resources are available once I get on my corporate computer via LogMeIn. Just install LogMeIn on your main computer, secure it and you are done!
There's actually no need to mod webtop or add any other feature.
Rayan said:
Sorry to hear all of you failing with the Lapdock...
In my case it's been a great and convenient alternative. I work as a Network Administrator.
All I need is a browser, internet access (3G or wifi) and LogMeIn account (the free one works great).
I remote into my corporate computers and servers to do most if not all of my work. No need to vpn as before since all resources are available once I get on my corporate computer via LogMeIn. Just install LogMeIn on your main computer, secure it and you are done!
There's actually no need to mod webtop or add any other feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you on this. I am a server/desktop engineer and do some of the same tasks you speak of. it works great for a little bit I need. I am running the debian mod and the LXTerm is epic for what I need. I also use Citrix from my phone fullscreen and this also works really well if I am in a pinch and need access to our proprietary junk. I think if the CM webtop ever gets setup, it will be more of a linux box than a slim halfbaked ubuntu that moto uses(im hoping). All in all though, it works for what I need with my other tools. I also found I can use app "VPN Widget" over the 4G connection and I hook straight in to our network no citrix needed. It wont work for the wifi, but that is a limitation of the app. I agree, at times its slow for some flash based things, but really flash is a RAM whore anyhow. I also noticed a quirk with java not being installed, but I may try to tackle that this afternoon
Thansk Rayan, I thought about Logmein but I just think it's kind of slow if you want to do something quick and get out, you know?
LXTerm? What does that do?
I tried installing Cisco Anyconnect VPN and it killed webtop, started again and wondering what other vpn would work like cisco anyconnect client.
I'm a sysadmin, and I have completely replaced my laptop with the ATRIX and its webtop. But we run Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop at work, so I mainly use webtop or the android receiver to connect to my hosted apps and desktops. For that purpose the ATRIX really is the nirvana phone.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
I have a Shield TV arriving later today. On my previous Android box I setup a VPN with a kill switch via AFWall+. This involved the installation of the OpenVPN connect application with my VPN provider details, then I used AFWall+ to prevent any data that didn't originate via a VPN connection, effectively making this a kill switch. This involved allowing both the OpenVPN application and Android's VPN api full access. It's the latter I'm enquiring about, does this api exist on the Shield TV? I've heard that native VPN isn't possible as the normal VPN settings aren't present. But does that include the vpn service api itself?
No one?
Beefheart said:
I have a Shield TV arriving later today. On my previous Android box I setup a VPN with a kill switch via AFWall+. This involved the installation of the OpenVPN connect application with my VPN provider details, then I used AFWall+ to prevent any data that didn't originate via a VPN connection, effectively making this a kill switch. This involved allowing both the OpenVPN application and Android's VPN api full access. It's the latter I'm enquiring about, does this api exist on the Shield TV? I've heard that native VPN isn't possible as the normal VPN settings aren't present. But does that include the vpn service api itself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the exact same setup on all my devices, including shield tv, although ive only had to allow the openvpn app, wifi/data/vpn access for things to work, ive never had to allow androids vpn ........is their a specific reason you grant android vpn access?does it not work otherwise?
I use the other openvpn app, by the way
I originally set it up on the tutorial in the link below, which mentions that the VPN Networking service needs to have full access. Is that service present on the Shield?
https://www.privateinternetaccess.c...otection-on-android-with-afwall-requires-root
Beefheart said:
I originally set it up on the tutorial in the link below, which mentions that the VPN Networking service needs to have full access. Is that service present on the Shield?
https://www.privateinternetaccess.c...otection-on-android-with-afwall-requires-root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just checked for you, and yes, its there, mind you, im using zulu's full rom, not sure about stock rom but as with all my devices, i havent needed to allow this for vpn to work.
Unless theres a specific reason to do so, try without on your current devices, i suspect, vpn networking may only apply if you use androids inbuilt vpn found in settings
Edit
By the way, i dont know how far you wanna take it, but afwall has tasker plugin support, which i use to apply an afwall profile, i named "secure", that denies everything when screen turns off......aswell as other things in the same vain
Edit
I do it a little differently then what youre link suggests, i only allow the bare minimum of apps, those that i actually need internet for.......if an app has internet capability, but i have no need for that side of it, its denied, i dont whitelist ALL apps for vpn as your link suggests
I also suspect that guide was written for privateinternets method of using vpn on android, so maybe vpn networking applies if using private internet, but as for my openvpn app, its not needed.......neither is "GPS"
Cheers. Everything set up and working perfectly in stock, no DNS leaks. A combination of AFWall+, VPN and Xprivacy has the device locked down pretty well.
And what a device, the speed is in another league compared to other similar boxes and worth the extra money. I'm glad I returned my newly purchased Minix Neo U1, this thing is so much faster and not as restricted as I was lead to believe. With a bit of work the Shield TV, even on stock, can do as much as any other Android based TV box, even one based on vanilla.
Beefheart said:
Cheers. Everything set up and working perfectly in stock, no DNS leaks. A combination of AFWall+, VPN and Xprivacy has the device locked down pretty well.
And what a device, the speed is in another league compared to other similar boxes and worth the extra money. I'm glad I returned my newly purchased Minix Neo U1, this thing is so much faster and not as restricted as I was lead to believe. With a bit of work the Shield TV, even on stock, can do as much as any other Android based TV box, even one based on vanilla.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, ive said it before and ill say it again, the shields an impressive piece of kit for sure
Xprivacy.........snap
We seem to have a very similar setup........believe me, if you wanna take it further at some point in the future.......tasker.........although, fair warning, theres a learning curve
Just some of the more basic things i automate with tasker with plugins like afwalls
When screen goes off, tasker......
Turns off wifi/3g
Turns of bluetooth
Afwall secure profile
Greenify all preselected apps
turn off "unknown sources" for extra measure, as tasker turns this off after it detects an apk install anyway
Turn of "debugging", incase i turn it on one day out of need and forget to turn off
Media volume set to 4 edit:this ones a bit out of place
Aplly afwall profiles depending on what app you happen to be using
Many possibilities with tasker, VERY usefull for many things
Non security related....kinda......... could potentially be used for such if modified
I have a small bluetooth media remote which has the numbers 1 to ten, with tasker and xposed additions module, i fooled around with it, pressing 1 connects the shields bluetooth to the bedroom speakers, long pressing 1 connects to the living room speakers..........i can imagine my self doing some neat stuff with these combination of apps and future accesories
Also, i use it to turn the shields light led to dim to let me now at a glance if the shields on or asleep, without having to change the channel
food for thought for those with similar setups
Edit
By the way, you mention dns leak, i assume you used a test site to check for the leak, any chance of a link? Incase its something very new
This ones the one i use,
https://ipleak.net/
Detects webrtc leaks on the specific browser you happen to be using at the time
Edit
For those interested
More on webrtc here
https://www.privateinternetaccess.c...ome-and-mozilla-firefox-while-using-private-i
If you use firefox or chrome, you can disable manually following this guide
https://www.purevpn.com/blog/disable-webrtc-in-chrome-and-firefox-to-protect-anonymity/
I think there are addons aswell
Edit
"and not as restricted as I was lead to believe"
Yep, i had the same thoughts, just my own assumption really, that android tv was completely different, internally, to "standard" android , pleasantly surprised, no incompatibilities so far............................good to know that stock is like that too :good:
Cheers, I'll read into all that.
One issue I'm finding at the moment is that, on a reboot, AFWall+ doesn't apply as default on the Shield and has to be done manually. This doesn't happen on my Note 3 running Lollipop. I'm sure there is a simple explanation, I'll look into it a bit more.
That website is the one I user to check leaks but there are numerous others too.
Beefheart said:
Cheers, I'll read into all that.
One issue I'm finding at the moment is that, on a reboot, AFWall+ doesn't apply as default on the Shield and has to be done manually. This doesn't happen on my Note 3 running Lollipop. I'm sure there is a simple explanation, I'll look into it a bit more.
That website is the one I user to check leaks but there are numerous others too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not sure i understand fully, afwall is not enabled? Or, afwall IS enabled, but your prefered profile is not "applied"?
On full android at least, afwall is enabled upon reboot i havent had any issues in that regard, (saw your other post) i dont need init.d script (usefull to have though, if/when possible)
Have you tried reverting all afwalls settings to default, to rule out that likely suspect
Another likely suspect, xprivacy, but that depends if you restrict everything like i do, including system apps , if so, have you checked xprivacies usage data for afwall and global apps?
Another suspect, could be stock firmware, but i have my doubts about that one
Assuming im understanding the issue correctly
Edit
I dont have "fix startup data leak" checked(as we dont have init.d), nor ipv6 support checked as your link described
Any recommending kind of remote GUI desktop server for Android instead not using CLI (Command Line Interface) using adb shell.
Anyone using the openvpn on Nvidia Shield and Do I need rooted to use openvpn?
I wanted to use torrent client via remote desktop access my Nvidia Shield from my PC Windows 7 while not interrupt my daughter watching the show Netflix on the Nvidia Shield etc.
I would recommend using a seedbox!
Roger that, I noticed Reddit mentioned best way to get seedbox somewhere outside of U.S. Anyways thanks, I guess i'll go get Whitebox or Feral seedbox.
Has anyone set up a VPN application on the Shield? How well does it work? Any recommendations?
TeamViewer doesn't give remote control, just file-level stuff.
I used OpenVPN on my Nvidia Shield Pro, It worked fine as long as the VPN Provider give you the key and config file and however sometime the VPN disconnected then reconnect few times in an hour alone. Not very stable. I gave up because I don't want risk leaking E.g. DNS leak and IP address leak coming from torrent. Like @n1gh7mar3 said seedbox is best and safe. I will just wait whosoever make better ROM or UbuntuOS under MultiROM support for Nvidia Shield that something will provide a very stable and easy use VPN.
Where I live and my ISP spying my traffic. so this is the reason I asked and took @n1gh7mar3 advice.
I am asking myself - specifically for the G5 Plus, but probably in a more general sense - where the huge advantages and disadvantages of rooting are, considering that the G5 plus comes with a relativly clean Android 7.XXX and a not an old overloaded android version, which didn't use to have many of the capabilities that Android 7 offers. I know that my questions might particularily overlap with questions in other topics, but for sure not every question, especially specific G5 Plus questions.
Overall I am interested in the topics security and product-experience, if you want to call it like that. I ask myself: Is root still worth losing warranty or is it not? Keywords or keyquestions that cross my mind are:
OTA updates: I guess those won't be possible anymore?
Encryption: Will it still work and increase security if the phone is lost?
Backup functionality, especially in combination with cloud services: Is there something like -backup my whole phone down to the very core on some google server (best proteced with a password and some AES256 encryption)- so that I can restore it some day in an easy manner? How would you backup your phone and settings, etc. with and without root?
Safety: What could happen if I lose my (bootloader unlocked and) rooted phone: Will someone be able to read my passwords (e.g. google...) and other sensitive information directly from the phone, even if it was locked, in the moment I lost it? What is the worst thing that could happen?
Root Functionality: How does the root access / superuser specificly work, e.g. if I'd accidentally install an app or similar, which might contain a virus: Is an app like this instantly capable of messing my whole system or will I be able to manually confirm specific security related changes, especially system changes, that an app might try to do? With other words: Does root mean that the system will be wasted by even the tiniest mistake or is there some security buffer?
Unlock Bootloader only: Is it an option (or make any sense to you) to just unlock the bootloader and install a the G5 Plus TWRP recovery without rooting the phone and does this give any advantages or is this just a totally nonsensical option, which is maybe not even possible? If I got it right, rooting does not necessarily need to reset the phone in any way, while unlocking the bootloader enforces to do a reset, right? In this context I was also asking myself if unlocking the bootloader (now that I don't have wasted precious time on customizing my phone, yet) right now is a useful option (without any disadvantage besides losing the warranty) and if I ever experience the necessity to root, I will only need like 2 commands and it is done - without having to reset my phone again?
Root Must Have: Is there any specific functionality or reason - you would say - one should definitly root the phone for, as it is a must have functionality, which would be locked without root?: I only have virtual examples, e.g. if Nougat would prevent me from changing the volume to a level higher than 50 % and the absolute exclusive possibility to change this was to get root access. Another example , although really not that critical one, could be: I noticed that I am only allowed to install 5 different finger prints... root could give me the possibility to install infinite finger prints?
Feature Loss: Does one lose some other neat features or functionality that is usually provided by Google or Motorola if the phone is not rooted but not possible anymore if it is rooted?
Third Party Trust: How can you people trust the TWRP Backup or custom ROMs? Don't you fear that there might be a virus or trojan horse within?
Best regards and thanks in advance for your patience with a newbie
No response?
172 view, no answers :-/. Guys tell me: Is it due to the length of the text? Is it something else? I could split it up in several questions, but I though that this would be unwanted.
And I will be thankful for every help on either of the bold buzzwords, it is not like you need to comment on everything
Must have for me: correct timestamps when moving or copying files using TC. Only possible with root.
Unlock only: yes makes sense. Unlock is the part where you lose all data, and then you can use fastboot boot to make backup. Rooting itself should not lose any data, so it is advantageous to unlock early. Root has time.
Lost functionality: on most devices using Magisk 12 you can pass SafetyNet, which means you can use Android pay, play Pokemon go etc, but the apps trying to detect root/unlocked devices get changed and may not work anymore at some time. Probably you will have lost this possibility when starting with unlocked bootloader and need to install Magisk to get green SafetyNet. Magisk hides the unlocked bootloader.
OTA: do a backup of boot partition before rooting, do no modifications on other partitions than data, cache and boot and you should be fine restoring boot partition to do OTA. It's easy to overlook some app using root to write system, logo, recovery, something, but backup should help. Or install complete firmware, then OTA is possible again.
Note: I do not have the device, just saw the questions which have the same answers for all current Motorola Android devices - you may search in general forums or forums for similar devices for answers
OTA updates: if you are rooted you have tempered with the system partition and therefore ota are not easily installed
Encryption:it is possible to wipe the phone and use if you are unlocked
Backup functionality Google already does backup some settings natively. you can still do an adb backup even without root
Safety: if they are techies they know how to access files via twrp etc. but worst thing is they just wipe it and use the phone
Root Functionality: root gives some apps access to the system partition which is not possible normaly. if you installe some dubious app which wants access to root to mess with your system you are lost.
Unlock Bootloader only: you need to unlock the phone to root it. by unlocking your phone is wiped clean. than you can root it. the advantage of installing twrp are the "easy backups" and installing custom roms or even root. there are no real advantages or disadvantages anymore. earlier you had to unlock/root/install custom rom to have some extra functionalities but android did mature and has most functions built in
Root Must Have: there may be some system limits which you can bypass with root like headphne volume limit, reading wifi passwords or/and having systemwide adblock. I personally do not see a benefit anymore. I used to root for having system-wide adblock but I can achieve it with rootless apps like adguard.
Feature Loss: you will lose android pay. you can not use some apps like mario run or pokemon go. you will lose OTA feature.
Third Party Trust: actually I dont know. with the custom rom base growing I only trust official lineageOS as it is review by many people before building. therefore the chance is reduced to have some spyware feature in it
I too would like to know, has the source code to ANY custom ROMs been reviewed by third party to verify no malicious code?
Although I worry that some ROMs could violate my data privacy, root is something that I simply cannot willingly go without - if I don't have root access, it's simply not *MY* phone, it's a phone that is configured to someone else's [some company's] desires and priorities.
I'm disappointed that the built in tethering does an "entitlement" check - AFAIK it's actually illegal (or, at least against contracts the companies signed with the FCC) for the cell phone provider to attempt to control what a user does with their allotted amount of cell data. Yes, the cell provider company can decide how MUCH data you are allowed based on what plan you pay for, but they are not supposed to restrict HOW you use YOUR data. Therefore, I demand unrestricted "tethering" from any smart phone that I use.
There are other apps I like to use that require root access: Root file explorers, Titanium Backup, Smarter WiFi Manager, Greenify/Servicely etc., but most of all, I CANNOT STAND the intrusive obnoxious awful ads which seem to be prevalent these days! A good ad blocker is an absolute must! The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the websites which allow such awful advertisements such as "pop behind" windows and particularly, ads which cause the web page scroll to constantly keep jumping away from what you are trying to read making the site basically unusable. There is also lately a prevalence of "click bait" ads/links which brings you to malicious/obnoxious websites which popup dialogs trying to stop you from closing the web page or navigate away - they put up big flashing red letters and say things like "We have detected a virus on your computer do not close this window or your passwords will be stolen and your data lost" and when you try to close the page it keeps popping up a dialog making it difficult. Sorry, but, such ads simply can't be tolerated - even this [xda] website sometimes has unpleasant ads, or at least there were times when I really regretted turning off my ad blocker when visiting this site in the past, that is for sure!
I usually use a "custom ROM", I miss exposed very much, but, I suspect there are too many malwares in the xposed repository these days? (I'm not sure of this, just suspicious).
I like to be able to change the color of my status bar clock to green and position it in the center as that is easier for me to use (see it quickly when I want). However, the standard launcher is far too limited in how customizable it is, so I use a combination of Nova Prime (requires root for some features) and Chronos Weather/Clock/Calendar widget which puts a larger clock right in the upper middle of my desktop so I turn off the status bar clock (Nova Prime feature, one that requires root).
Oh, and I like to use a custom "System Font", I'm not sure if we can do that without root? It really makes the phone feel like MY phone and look (and operate) how I want it to.
critofur said:
[...]
I'm disappointed that the built in tethering does an "entitlement" check - AFAIK it's actually illegal (or, at least against contracts the companies signed with the FCC) for the cell phone provider to attempt to control what a user does with their allotted amount of cell data. Yes, the cell provider company can decide how MUCH data you are allowed based on what plan you pay for, but they are not supposed to restrict HOW you use YOUR data. Therefore, I demand unrestricted "tethering" from any smart phone that I use.
There are other apps I like to use that require root access: Root file explorers, Titanium Backup, Smarter WiFi Manager, Greenify/Servicely etc., but most of all, I CANNOT STAND the intrusive obnoxious awful ads which seem to be prevalent these days! A good ad blocker is an absolute must! [...]
[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you explain the entitlement check a little further? Does it mean that with the current Android version and an unrooted/locked G5 plus it is impossible to use the Smartphone Mobile data connection, e.g. on a notebook via wifi tethering? This would be a real argument to root.
Did you try adguard, as ckret suggested? Is there a huge difference between an adblocker with root or an adblocker like adguard without root on the phone? I basically assume that with nougat it is possible to grant apps access to almost anything (except for root) - including to block features other apps use, e.g. advertisements. But I am actually not sure.
Maybe ckret knows more on this aspect, as he seems to know both adblock concepts - the rooted and the unrooted one with adguard?
Comparing DNS66 (local DNS server without root) with adaway (root):
+ You can select blocking per app with DNS66, adaway modifies hosts file which always is valid for all apps and system services
- You can not use another VPN while DNS66 is active
- You need to disable VPN under Nougat while using Download Manager (bug in Nougat, for all VPN services)
Personally I have root, but use DNS66. I don't need adblock when connecting to my computer at home (that's when I need to use another VPN) and am using Marshmallow ATM, but probably would continue using DNS66 when on Nougat. For PlayStore there is a workaround implemented, and if some download fails I'd know I need to disable VPN.
This is why I only said Total Commander copying timestamp is my only real killer app (besides Titanium Backup) which makes me need root. Android O is supposed to change the behavior implementing SDCardFS which shall allow setting timestamp without root.
sky-head said:
Could you explain the entitlement check a little further? Does it mean that with the current Android version and an unrooted/locked G5 plus it is impossible to use the Smartphone Mobile data connection, e.g. on a notebook via wifi tethering? This would be a real argument to root.
Did you try adguard, as ckret suggested? Is there a huge difference between an adblocker with root or an adblocker like adguard without root on the phone? I basically assume that with nougat it is possible to grant apps access to almost anything (except for root) - including to block features other apps use, e.g. advertisements. But I am actually not sure.
Maybe ckret knows more on this aspect, as he seems to know both adblock concepts - the rooted and the unrooted one with adguard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adaway:
adaway replaces the hosts file in your system with a custom hosts file which redirects some requests to 127.0.0.1 which results in ads not being shown
since it is deeplevel change of the hosts file the app requires root to change the file
pro:
* ads are blocked when resources are requested
* it is system-wide and everything is checked on demand
con:
* system slows down with big hosts file as every request must be checked everytime a site/app is opened
* if a wrong request is blocked your app/site might not show/work at all since it is a system-wide check
adguard:
this app has two different ways of blocking ads
vpn: a local vpn server is created on the system and all requests are rerouted through it. works the same way as adaway but without a root access.
pro:
* rootless method
* you can create a bypass for different sites/apps
con:
* you can not use a 2nd vpn connection while the app is active
* it may use a bit more battery as it creates a server but this should be negligible
proxy: this is nearly the same as vpn just you should be able to use a vpn connection
so big pro and con for me is that i do not have to reroute all apps through the adblock check
important apps (banking e.g.) are free to use the connection without being rerouted.
I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection?
Does this also mean things like tethering or a WLAN access like eduroam - or is this something different?
I am actually not sure if I ever needed VPN on my smartphone
sky-head said:
I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection?
Does this also mean things like tethering or a WLAN access like eduroam - or is this something different?
I am actually not sure if I ever needed VPN on my smartphone
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you need a vpn connection if you want to access the intranet without being physically there
e.g. intranet of a company to access emails or if you are a student and got some special tool/e.g. which can only be accessed through the university connection
most times you will only use vpn on a notebook or pc but I hardly doubt most people will use it on their phones
ckret said:
you need a vpn connection if you want to access the intranet without being physically there
e.g. intranet of a company to access emails or if you are a student and got some special tool/e.g. which can only be accessed through the university connection
most times you will only use vpn on a notebook or pc but I hardly doubt most people will use it on their phones
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... exactly what I was thinking about it. I've never been needing a VPN on my phone. On the notebook I need it on a regular basis, thats true.
I should have been asking "I know it might seem like a stupid question, but how often (and for which reason) do you use/need a(nother) VPN connection on your smartphone?", to state my question more precisely.
Using AVM Fritzbox as router makes it possible to use the standard phone via SIP. This only does work when you're in your intranet, directly or via VPN. Also I need to access my documents on my computer, my media library at home, to configure the router and more and therefore I use VPN on a regular basis. Yes, I do these things using the smartphone. But when using VPN, I do not need adblock.