[Q] Device security... - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Questions and Answers

Does the inbuilt device security (powered by Intel) really work on S7 edge? Or is it just a bloatware to deal with the paranoid users?
Is there any ways to test its detecting ability vs other 3rd party antivirus apps?

Bloatware in my opinion, as any other AV or security enforcement SW....
The most efficient AV is to use common sense, like not installing SW from unknown sources or anything crappy from play store

Xatanu said:
Bloatware in my opinion, as any other AV or security enforcement SW....
The most efficient AV is to use common sense, like not installing SW from unknown sources or anything crappy from play store
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Click to collapse
Yep. That's my opinion as well. I have been trying various AV apps but the fact that they utilises 30% of RAM makes me uninstall them after 2-3 days.

Guys, I completely agree with you. I have my S7 Edge for a few days now and decided to try this "device security" option in Smart Manager. It started draining 4% per hour batter compared to 1% before activating it.. It's okay, I understand, it can't be perfect. And that's why I decided to disable it but here my problems begin - there is no visible way to disable it. I do not want hard reset, I am trying to avoid using Package Disabler but I can not find any other way to stop it.
Can you help somehow?

Related

Opinions of the App Optimisation feature

Hi, just wondering what people think of this feature, i only noticed it since one of the latest 5.1.1 updates, it’s in the battery power saving options.
My phone keeps asking me to optimise my apps to save battery, basically i think it stops any processes in the background if they aren’t used for a number of days.
I have turned most on to optimise and disabled it off for apps i know i use a lot, i must admit i do kind of think there’s a bit of a difference in my battery life, unless there isn’t and I’m just wishing there was lol.. it feels like there’s a difference though.
I think it said somewhere that it can interfere with any apps you like to get notifications from.
I thought I would see what anyone else thinks of this feature?
Regards
James
i thought it was alike of doze in android m but its not. cannot optimize the system app such as android system or google service etc. im not impressed cus i can use greenify or power nap.
Many people call this samsung doze, but its more like a greenify without root app. If used correctly can improve batery for sure

Smart doctor-conserve memory setting missing

Hello
After i updated to oreo i did a factory reset then i installed all my apps .I wanted to use the conserve memory in smart doctor (smart doctor->tap memory->tap three dots->conserve memory).This saved a lot of ram and battery.What can i do?
Oreo does already a preaty good job managing the memory. No need for that setting (even in Nougat there is no real reason).
You can use greenify for that, or even Servicely - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.franco.servicely
DJPRMF said:
Oreo does already a preaty good job managing the memory. No need for that setting (even in Nougat there is no real reason).
You can use greenify for that, or even Servicely - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.franco.servicely
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Idk why but It got significantly slower since the update.The big problem is that is slower in the ui.Before the update hearthstone was lagging a lot but now everything with this phone is lagging.I honestly don't know what to do.Maybe the phone is faulty?
Check you backgroud apps... Maybe is one there that is using more resources.
Interesting... as far as I know on Nougat, disabling some crucial system apps (or even using adb to uninstall them without root) was causing this option to disappear. Yesterday I started disabling some bloatware on my Oreo H870 and I was like "hey, does this option already disappeared?" and yes... it was gone... so I proceed to disable more stuff
But you say that it's gone anyway... As DJPRMF mentioned - Oreo does really good job with memory management. You can also disable background activity for some apps so it's better than on Nougat in my opinion.
romcio47 said:
Interesting... as far as I know on Nougat, disabling some crucial system apps (or even using adb to uninstall them without root) was causing this option to disappear. Yesterday I started disabling some bloatware on my Oreo H870 and I was like "hey, does this option already disappeared?" and yes... it was gone... so I proceed to disable more stuff
But you say that it's gone anyway... As DJPRMF mentioned - Oreo does really good job with memory management. You can also disable background activity for some apps so it's better than on Nougat in my opinion.
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Idk but i think that is something wrong with my unit.I mean after the update and factory reset i started to witness freezing and stuttering and not in games because i even deleted them (hearthstone is just so laggy on my phone idk why) my phone froze in the home screen and in youtube. When i checked to see if there is a misbehaving app in the battery usage setting there was nothing everything was normal. I honestly don't know what to do.I can't send it on warranty right now because i need the phone. Any advice?
ThE J0K3r said:
Idk but i think that is something wrong with my unit.I mean after the update and factory reset i started to witness freezing and stuttering and not in games because i even deleted them (hearthstone is just so laggy on my phone idk why) my phone froze in the home screen and in youtube. When i checked to see if there is a misbehaving app in the battery usage setting there was nothing everything was normal. I honestly don't know what to do.I can't send it on warranty right now because i need the phone. Any advice?
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Click to collapse
It's really hard to tell what's the real cause. I also have problems on Oreo but they're not that annoying (practically only related to battery life but NOT standby time which is perfect now). About the stuttering - I also can't say anything, I have absolutely no games installed on my phone.
Try enabling Developer Options (tapping build number 7 times on About Phone) and there is an option to see running services / active services (idk how it's named in English) which is old-style Android task "manager" where you can see RAM usage for currently running and cached-in-memory apps. Maybe you'll find something there?
romcio47 said:
It's really hard to tell what's the real cause. I also have problems on Oreo but they're not that annoying (practically only related to battery life but NOT standby time which is perfect now). About the stuttering - I also can't say anything, I have absolutely no games installed on my phone.
Try enabling Developer Options (tapping build number 7 times on About Phone) and there is an option to see running services / active services (idk how it's named in English) which is old-style Android task "manager" where you can see RAM usage for currently running and cached-in-memory apps. Maybe you'll find something there?
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Click to collapse
I looked in that setting but all was normal.I just saw the apps like google and twitter,facebook and mostly things i know i use. The thing is that when i was scrolling to see the list of apps there the scrolling motion was just so laggy. I forgot to mention the battery life that dropped from 5-6 hours sot to barely 4 hours and it's not that i have stopped using it. Idk why this phone is behaving like this.I don't even have it for a full year(just 7 months).I honestly don't know what to do.I have a friend who owns a honor 7 lite and it runs hearthstone perfectly my g6 just lags in it.

VPN keeps turning off

I've been using NordVPN on all my devices, but have always had an issue with it staying on on my OP6T, especially now that I'm running 9.0.13. I'll establish a connection and let it run in the background. However, after about 2-5 minutes, it seems to automatically disconnect. I've ensured that it's not being battery optimized, I don't have any hibernation apps running, and I'm on stock kernel. I'm rooted with magisk and running sysconfig module, but didn't know if it's supposed to affect VPN apps. Would it be better to run it through a third party VPN app? And if so, is this an issue with OOS or NordVPN's app? Normally, I'd suspect the app, but I've had issues with WearOS on OOS as well, so that's why I'm asking. I like being able to use their CyberSec feature and I didn't think it was available through third party apps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello!
This is caused because OOS is killing the VPN app. It happened to me too with a lot of apps. Maybe with some kernel tweaks or "systemizing" the apps or other tweaks you will minimize the chance to an app to be killed by OOS, but have in mind that soon or later OOS will kill your app. No matter if it's a health app, music player app or anything else. OOS will kill them even if you are using only 3GB of RAM.
For the VPN app, check if NordVPN has config info to allow you setup manually any VPN profile using IPSec XAuth or L2TP/IPSec , and set it to VPN always connected. I know this is a pain because you'll have to manually enter every config for every server you use with your VPN provider. Anyway, from time to time you will notice your connection isn't working and will be because OOS will kill even his own connection.
Welcome to the OnePlus don't kill my app club!
ducted said:
Hello!
This is caused because OOS is killing the VPN app. It happened to me too with a lot of apps. Maybe with some kernel tweaks or "systemizing" the apps or other tweaks you will minimize the chance to an app to be killed by OOS, but have in mind that soon or later OOS will kill your app. No matter if it's a health app, music player app or anything else. OOS will kill them even if you are using only 3GB of RAM.
For the VPN app, check if NordVPN has config info to allow you setup manually any VPN profile using IPSec XAuth or L2TP/IPSec , and set it to VPN always connected. I know this is a pain because you'll have to manually enter every config for every server you use with your VPN provider. Anyway, from time to time you will notice your connection isn't working and will be because OOS will kill even his own connection.
Welcome to the OnePlus don't kill my app club!
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I guess that makes sense. When I was running pixel experience ROM, it seems to not have any of those issues. I just wanted the most polished experience and I figured OOS was always that. But I have noticed that a lot of Chinese oems tends to have pretty aggressive hibernation settings and it isn't far fetched. I just never had this issue on my OP3 back in the day and I loved OOS. But then again, I was running AOSPA a lot too and maybe that's why I didn't have this happen a lot. That kinda blows... I'm typically all about using custom roms, but with the fingerprint scanner on this one, while it is usable on other roms, I still feel like it isn't fully polished. But I'd rather no apps being killed then a perfect fingerprint scanner. I just really like the native call recording and gestures that oneplus offers natively, and I know you can do these things I'm custom roms, I just feel like it isn't executed quite as gracefully lol!
Thanks for the input! It really means a lot!
I run a VPN on my router, and connect my phone to it when I'm out and about town, or at work when I want to connect to my security cameras. I've found after a couple hours the VPN connection is dropped. I'm just using the standard VPN in the phone settings, not a special app. I've never trouble-shot the problem because it's not a big deal for me, but in this case there's no app holding it alive, just a basic phone setting.
Frankenscript said:
I run a VPN on my router, and connect my phone to it when I'm out and about town, or at work when I want to connect to my security cameras. I've found after a couple hours the VPN connection is dropped. I'm just using the standard VPN in the phone settings, not a special app. I've never trouble-shot the problem because it's not a big deal for me, but in this case there's no app holding it alive, just a basic phone setting.
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Yeah I gotcha... I switched to OmniROM because I figured their background task management tends to be a lot better, and it is. Been running my VPN for several hours now, and I haven't had a single issue!
Observation: just now I connected VPN using standard settings feature. Was working fine. Two minutes later a call came in and I took it. After the call was over I noticed VPN was disconnected. Clearly the switch to the call caused the disconnection. Note I never set up VOLTE. I don't use the phone much...
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
That got fixed.
I have the same problem with OP8 Pro, don't get any OnePlus phones if you need VPN.
awdrifter said:
I have the same problem with OP8 Pro, don't get any OnePlus phones if you need VPN.
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That because of battery optimization. If you have problem VPN disconnect of 2mins, try to set battery optimization to "don't optimize".
No, the disconnect is somewhat random. Sometimes it disconnects in a few minutes even when I'm actively using the phone. Sometimes it disconnects after about an hour, or it could be somewhere in between. I have a Samsung S8+ before, that phone has no such issue. The OnePlus phone is killing my VPN app even if I locked the app. I suspect OnePlus left some anti-VPN code that's meant for the Chinese ROM Hydrogen OS on the global ROM Oxygen OS.
I'm using Vpn to access to YouTube Music and I never have any problem.
Note: if Vpn disconnect youtube music will instantly stop.
I'm faced that problem before with Turbo VPN the connection never pass 5 mins due to battery optimization so I turn off battery optimization for specific vpn app. After that the problem never occur anymore.
Developer options>standby apps, all buckets should show as active otherwise power management is active.
When it happens check running apps and cache apps to see it you can spot what's doing it.
With Samsung's old version of Device Care I was able to find a corrupted Android Setup like this. Saved me a factory reset.
Developer options running services/cache apps is less helpful though than the former but may work.
blackhawk said:
Developer options>standby apps, all buckets should show as active otherwise power management is active.
When it happens check running apps and cache apps to see it you can spot what's doing it.
With Samsung's old version of Device Care I was able to find a corrupted Android Setup like this. Saved me a factory reset.
Developer options running services/cache apps is less helpful though than the former but may work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked the Developer options> standby apps, my VPN app is set as "frequent", should I change it to "active"? Thanks.
Seems like some apps can be set to "Exempted", but that's not an option for my VPN app. My phone is fully rooted, is there anything I can edit to force it to be "Exempted"? Even WeChat was set to "Exempted", that's definitely not a system app.
awdrifter said:
I checked the Developer options> standby apps, my VPN app is set as "frequent", should I change it to "active"? Thanks.
Seems like some apps can be set to "Exempted", but that's not an option for my VPN app. My phone is fully rooted, is there anything I can edit to force it to be "Exempted"? Even WeChat was set to "Exempted", that's definitely not a system app.
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Click to collapse
I don't have the "exempted" option on my stock Note 10+. Not sure.
However the fact that you can set the bucket states in standby apps means the power management is active.
It causes nothing but trouble.
I stopped using it over a year ago and dealt with problem apps directly. Power management was contributing to excessive battery consumption as well as causing erratic behaviors.
Forget all those elegant techno explanations of how the bucket states blah, blah, blah... it screws the phone up proper
Android does quit well without it... just more useless bloatware.
Not surprising... Google will ruin anything if they screw with it long enough.
It's their nature
So I set the Battery Optimization to "Don't Optimize", my VPN app is now "Exempted" in standby apps. But it still got killed by the phone. The ROM definitely have some kind of anti-VPN code.
awdrifter said:
So I set the Battery Optimization to "Don't Optimize", my VPN app is now "Exempted" in standby apps. But it still got killed by the phone. The ROM definitely have some kind of anti-VPN code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What VPN app are you using??
awdrifter said:
So I set the Battery Optimization to "Don't Optimize", my VPN app is now "Exempted" in standby apps. But it still got killed by the phone. The ROM definitely have some kind of anti-VPN code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to disable all power management.
That's the problem, I can guarantee you.
When it's fully disabled all buckets will show as active and you won't be able to reset their states.
If you* reset a bucket state then navigate out of Developer options then reenter Standby app again the reset bucket will show as active ie it was unsuccessful.
The reason you can alter the bucket states is a software power management apk is running in the background. Find it and disable it.
It's probably the phone manufacturer apk but it could well be a Google apk (Samsung, in my case, likes to supercede Android/Google apks with their own).
Lol, I played with this a lot about a year ago...
The fact that I remember it so well tells you how much time it wasted and the aggravation it caused It's junk.
Just for giggles the worst power hog on my phone is Google Play Services. Disabling it solved many issues; I enabled as needed for Gmail, Gmaps and Playstore.
*edit, sorry for the missing "you".
SOK seila said:
What VPN app are you using??
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Tunnel Bear
ZTE (another Chinese device) also does the same. It's frustrating as hell. My subscription to Adguard and VPNs suffer the same fate where it turns off.
I know China dislikes VPNs, but this is nuts.
blackhawk said:
You need to disable all power management.
That's the problem, I can guarantee you.
When it's fully disabled all buckets will show as active and you won't be able to reset their states.
If you* reset a bucket state then navigate out of Developer options then reenter Standby app again the reset bucket will show as active ie it was unsuccessful.
The reason you can alter the bucket states is a software power management apk is running in the background. Find it and disable it.
It's probably the phone manufacturer apk but it could well be a Google apk (Samsung, in my case, likes to supercede Android/Google apks with their own).
Lol, I played with this a lot about a year ago...
The fact that I remember it so well tells you how much time it wasted and the aggravation it caused It's junk.
Just for giggles the worst power hog on my phone is Google Play Services. Disabling it solved many issues; I enabled as needed for Gmail, Gmaps and Playstore.
*edit, sorry for the missing "you".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I force disable "buckets"?

To Greenify or not

So I broke my old Note 4 that I used at work. I'm now dusting off my daughter's old S7 Edge to use that, upgraded to latest firmware, used CCSW to disable all what I consider crapware, and now I have a question. Since this is running Oreo the battery and data optimization is not as complex as what we have recently (my "weekend" phone is a Note 10 running Android 11), so should I still use Greenify to control my running apps or is the battery optimization in Oreo is good enough without the need for an "extra" app running in the background to control that. I appreciate everyone's opinion!
Lol, that app and a 3rd party launcher were the prime suspects in 2 back to back boot loops on my N10+ Never again.
Not sure about Oreo but power management always causes issues in Pie including poor battery life.
I simply close app when done with them and Android does fine.
Any apps that don't behave under those terms I deal with on a case by case basis. Some are uninstalled or temporarily/permanently disabled.
Google Framework, Play Services and Playstore are habitual offenders.
Play with it and see what's using the battery, go from there. Maybe it will behave better than you expect.
blackhawk said:
Lol, that app and a 3rd party launcher were the prime suspects in 2 back to back boot loops on my N10+ Never again.
Not sure about Oreo but power management always causes issues in Pie including poor battery life.
I simply close app when done with them and Android does fine.
Any apps that don't behave under those terms I deal with on a case by case basis. Some are uninstalled or temporarily/permanently disabled.
Google Framework, Play Services and Playstore are habitual offenders.
Play with it and see what's using the battery, go from there. Maybe it will behave better than you expect.
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Click to collapse
Thx for the reply. Yes, besides CCSW to disable apps that either I consider crapware or apps that I use rarely, I don't use Greenify or other "battery saving" apps on my Note10. I feel that Pie and above has way better management options for apps that previous Android releases. If I close all my apps on "recents" and reboot my phone and let it sit there overnight I get only a 2-3% drop in my battery. That tells that battery is well managed.
Now for this old S7 on Oreo well I dont have many options in the apps settings besides the battery optimization switch. That's why I'm debating if I should use Greenify or not to have better control of apps that I really dont want running on the background but still want to receive notifications when they arrive.
mrrobc97 said:
Thx for the reply. Yes, besides CCSW to disable apps that either I consider crapware or apps that I use rarely, I don't use Greenify or other "battery saving" apps on my Note10. I feel that Pie and above has way better management options for apps that previous Android releases. If I close all my apps on "recents" and reboot my phone and let it sit there overnight I get only a 2-3% drop in my battery. That tells that battery is well managed.
Now for this old S7 on Oreo well I dont have many options in the apps settings besides the battery optimization switch. That's why I'm debating if I should use Greenify or not to have better control of apps that I really dont want running on the background but still want to receive notifications when they arrive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reboot my 10+ every few days or if it acts up... no reboot in 3-5 days can do that
At night I simply close all open apps although I do that throughout the day as well. I use Device Care to do clean ups every 2-3 days. Other than clearing the system cache that's about as much system maintenance as I do.
I also police the download folder daily and once a month scan with Malwarebytes. A very low maintenance, clean running system.
Greenify worried me as it wasn't seamless or fast and running at boot up means it had the capability to boot loop the device. If I never see another boot loop it won't be missed...
Maybe on an older OS you would see tangible power savings but it didn't do much for me on Pie.
In the end, tracking the power hogs down and dealing with them on a case by case basis did.
I run with Google play Services disabled 98% of the time now. It nets me about 2%@hr better battery life.
mrrobc97 said:
I feel that Pie and above has way better management options for apps that previous Android releases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my N10+ ruunong on Pie, all Device Care power management toggles are turn off except for fast charging.
The power mode is always set to "Optimize".

Hight CPU and battery usage on idle system; restarts don't help

I've got a problem with my S8 which is running latest, official, non-rooted XEO firmware. Specifically, it uses battery like crazy and heats up whilst doing nothing. This smells like a virus / malware infection or just... well, the last update was in December 2021 so it's also possible some system component is wonky OR... <shivers> some rootkit? I'm generally rather careful when installing apps, most of which will be coming in from official sources (Google Store) or at least fairly trusted sources.
Every so often I'll get a warning that a system component is using too much CPU and I should restart the phone - which obviously doesn't help at all. Also the battery drain is reported primarily by Android System and System Core (29 and 15% respectively). Battery usage stats generally don't add up because the listings don't add up to 100%. :/
I know the S8 is an old phone... and I know there are probably steps I should take prior to asking here - like a factory reset. But I'm really sceptical of doing a factory reset simply because I've got so much stuff on the phone that, while not impossible to backup, is certainly annoying (authenticator or banking apps for example - and I don't think the standard backup tools like those available from Google or Samsung backup such apps).
So I'd rather try some solutions or methods of dealing with the damned thing without resetting the phone first. Is there anything I can do?
You need to find the root cause. It may be a 3rd party using one or more of the Samsung system apps running under Android services, lol Legend for there are many... all lumped together.
A firewall with logging can help. Karma Firewall is what I use, uses almost no battery. Being rooted you have more options... use them.
Malware is always a possibility.
3rd party apps can cause hell. I don't allow any social media apps on the phone, ever.
Try in safe mode... if things calm down it's likely a 3rd party app. If so start going through the installed apps.
Clear system cache.
blackhawk said:
You need to find the root cause. It may be a 3rd party using one or more of the Samsung system apps running under Android services, lol Legend for there are many... all lumped together.
A firewall with logging can help. Karma Firewall is what I use, uses almost no battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will try that, thanks!
blackhawk said:
Being rooted you have more options... use them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is NON-rooted.
blackhawk said:
Malware is always a possibility.
3rd party apps can cause hell. I don't allow any social media apps on the phone, ever.
Try in safe mode... if things calm down it's likely a 3rd party app. If so start going through the installed apps.
Clear system cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, safe mode! I'll try that too! Thanks!
Shaamaan said:
Will try that, thanks!
The phone is NON-rooted.
Oh, safe mode! I'll try that too! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about the root thing, my bad.
If you're running on Android 9 or lower Karma Firewall's logging feature is fully active otherwise not. Samsung store>Galaxy Labs> Battery Tracker can be useful.
I use Accubattery's history page to get a quick idea of charge/discharge rates.
I use Device Care>storage>clean as well.
Make sure no cloud apps are running in the background.
Update: in safe mode the phone doesn't heat up and battery usage seems normal. So it's probably some app.
Alas, the firewall wasn't very helpful - it seemed that apps that attempted accessing the internet were your usual suspects - Play Store, One Drive or other sync apps, Vanced.
Any other suggestions on possibly nailing down the culprit?
PS. I've also decided to send Samsung an error report via the Members app - I don't know what their reply times are and I honestly don't expect much from them but who knows? Perhaps they'll come through.
Shaamaan said:
Update: in safe mode the phone doesn't heat up and battery usage seems normal. So it's probably some app.
Alas, the firewall wasn't very helpful - it seemed that apps that attempted accessing the internet were your usual suspects - Play Store, One Drive or other sync apps, Vanced.
Any other suggestions on possibly nailing down the culprit?
PS. I've also decided to send Samsung an error report via the Members app - I don't know what their reply times are and I honestly don't expect much from them but who knows? Perhaps they'll come through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why other than maybe text messages is anything syncing? Take out the trash and go from there.
The ones that are connecting every minute or more when not open are prime suspects.
Some apps like Brave browser need to be closed out when not in use or they eat battery.
You can also try a hard reboot.
Update!
I left the phone in safe mode overnight. I mean, it seemed like things were better, so at least I'd have a stable phone.
Well, in the morning I was greeted with a severely depleted battery (went from 100 to 40 in the span of 6 hours) and I got the "high CPU usage" warning popup. The phone wasn't as hot to the touch tho.
So... Whatever is going on seems to happen also in safe mode, albeit less often? Or perhaps it's less "severe" where it doesn't heat up the phone but the drain is still there? But since safe mode is affected it's probably NOT an app, right?
At this point I'm completely baffled. Any other ideas?
Shaamaan said:
Update!
I left the phone in safe mode overnight. I mean, it seemed like things were better, so at least I'd have a stable phone.
Well, in the morning I was greeted with a severely depleted battery (went from 100 to 40 in the span of 6 hours) and I got the "high CPU usage" warning popup. The phone wasn't as hot to the touch tho.
So... Whatever is going on seems to happen also in safe mode, albeit less often? Or perhaps it's less "severe" where it doesn't heat up the phone but the drain is still there? But since safe mode is affected it's probably NOT an app, right?
At this point I'm completely baffled. Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard reset... hold power button until it powers off.
Try temporarily disabling Google play Services at night, see what that does.
OK, I'm baffled. I feel like I didn't really do anything but the phone is now running fine. Battery drain now might be better than ever!
Warms up on usage, obviously, but when idle it's nice and cool and battery drain seems minimal. I'll... leave it for a few days to see how this develops. It's very difficult to tell what the heck's the case here.
Shaamaan said:
OK, I'm baffled. I feel like I didn't really do anything but the phone is now running fine. Battery drain now might be better than ever!
Warms up on usage, obviously, but when idle it's nice and cool and battery drain seems minimal. I'll... leave it for a few days to see how this develops. It's very difficult to tell what the heck's the case here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Retrace what you did. Reason being you may need to do it again. Really most times all you need to do is just "play" with it a bit (a lot). Almost impossible to crash a stock load, so explore and learn by playing with it. You are what you load and download; be careful with 3rd party apps they are the biggest potential hazards.
Once you have a fast, stable OS that's fulfilling its mission, let it be. Don't update or upgrade it.
Updates can and do break Sammy's. This N10+ is still running on Pie, current load is over 2yo. Rock solid stable and it runs like a bat out of hell with minimal maintenance. Security isn't an issue.
blackhawk said:
Retrace what you did. Reason being you may need to do it again. Really most times all you need to do is just "play" with it a bit (a lot). Almost impossible to crash a stock load, so explore and learn by playing with it. You are what you load and download; be careful with 3rd party apps they are the biggest potential hazards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a suspicion this might have been some Samsung app (my bet's on Bixby) since those are likely still able to run in Safe Mode that got updated and then fixed...? Does that make sense?
blackhawk said:
Once you have a fast, stable OS that's fulfilling its mission, let it be. Don't update or upgrade it.
Updates can and do break Sammy's. This N10+ is still running on Pie, current load is over 2yo. Rock solid stable and it runs like a bat out of hell with minimal maintenance. Security isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm concerned about the last bit. I mean, upgrading to a new Android version is one thing but security updates are common, no?
Shaamaan said:
I have a suspicion this might have been some Samsung app (my bet's on Bixby) since those are likely still able to run in Safe Mode that got updated and then fixed...? Does that make sense?
I'm concerned about the last bit. I mean, upgrading to a new Android version is one thing but security updates are common, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kill wittle bixby... you read it EULA?☠
It's more than one apk though. Takes a while to optimize a Sammy the first time
Well... if it's set up and used right Android 9 will run securely in the real world. No saving dumb bunnies anyway; they'll still get tagged even with the latest version
The proof is in my hand. Loaded over 2+ years ago and this N10+ UI version 1.5 is running clean like a bat out of hell. If I do get malware I can't erraticate in an hour or so, factory reset and change passwords.
My data is redundantly backed* up 4+ times, plus the onboard SD card used as a data drive. I'm ready to reload right now if I have to...
A malware forced reload is still less trouble than constantly updating and having the updates screw things up. That means more troubleshooting, finding new work arounds and still maybe needing a factory reset on top of all that. No.
Not vaxed either... not buying the hype.
*critical data must be redundantly backed up or sooner or latter it will likely be lost. Never encrypt data drives as you are the most likely to be locked out!
blackhawk said:
Kill wittle bixby... you read it EULA?☠
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I'd love that - but it's a system app and removing those without root is kind of... impossible? I can look into disabling it completely however - I never use it anyway. Since it's not a single app - any chance you got a link to the list of apps that need manual disabling?
Anyway, I'm still getting those damned warnings. The phone isn't constantly hot however, which is some improvement.
Shaamaan said:
Oh I'd love that - but it's a system app and removing those without root is kind of... impossible? I can look into disabling it completely however - I never use it anyway. Since it's not a single app - any chance you got a link to the list of apps that need manual disabling?
Anyway, I'm still getting those damned warnings. The phone isn't constantly hot however, which is some improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Package Disabler kills bixby proper.
You can also disable it with an adb edit. That's one of the first things I do.
Bixby is a hot mess best dump along the interstate... like Google Assistant it needs external servers for many of its functions. I may change my mind but it's eula is like eating dry hardtack for breakfast.

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