Database Users

[Q] Galaxy S4 battery drain

Hi,
I have an i9505 which is currently running NF1/1854187. CSC is btu and this was a recent clean install (and I've done the same preiviously)
I did run rooted for about a year. titanium backup to shut off a lot of bloatware with fine grained control, the xposed framework to tweak, and of course root access to use tools like better battery stats, and on occasion a custom kernel. The end result was good stability and power usage. Very happy.
However more apps are blocking root, and some manage to even detect root when using various root blockers, temporary unrooting or EVEN permanent unrooting (supersu). In particular the worst is "skygo" which I like to use to catch some content like f1 when out and about. My corporate software also detects root and wipes all enterprise data the instant it's detected.. plus add in a banking app and comms app, and keeping root was getting tricky.
On to my issue. Quite frequently the phone batter drops far too quicly. Today's example?
- In one hour battery drop is 10% (100->90)
- "Android OS is taking 30 mins of CPU, and 30 mins keep awake
- GSAM confirms 90%+ of the power usage is kernel/android os
- pretty much every user-disable-able app is disabled
- android OS contains loads of processes, making it tricky to track cause
- full wakelock data is not avaulable when not rooted
- user wakelocks total is down in terms of a few minutes only
This doesn't always happen.. sometimes the phone will be well behaved. the drop was around 3%/hour, and then I tried battery guru to limit auto-sync, and it did seem to help when well behaved, dropping usage to say 1.8% , but the core issue occurs with/without
I'm aware of many of the hints/tips of saving power, though I've done many of these.
I've previously seen mediaserver go awol and spin cpu, and deleted my spotify cache. Since then that process has seemed ok
Very frustrating that these silly "can't be root" situations (after all I'm "root" on all my linux boxes and admin on my windows boxes!) actually result in a LESS USABLE handset.
Is anyone else currently going through a similar situation?
I've just again checked settings and disabled airview/sensor related stuff. Next step if that doesn't help is to remove all my corporate sw stack and see how thing go - a frustrating process of elimination. As above I've already gone through a full reset with no help

try rerooting the phone then install SuperSU and choose FULL UNROOT. if you need to have a phone that will work with Sky Go etc. I've done this hundreds of times on the phone and it works guaranteed to get SkyGo working, so long as you have STOCK KERNEL. I am yet to find a custom kernel that does NOT autoroot, or mess up SkyGo in some other way. So be sure to be on stock kernel then FULL UNROOT.
As for the battery drain, have you updated to the latest version of SkyGo? Most of the old versions had some SEVERE wakelock issues where the app would be constantly running in the background and draining battery like mad. If you update to the latest version I've had very good results with it. Failing that you can drag the apps icon to the top of the screen where it says "app info" and from there you can "force stop" the app. I bet that this is the app which is killing your battery at present.

try rerooting the phone then install SuperSU and choose FULL UNROOT. if you need to have a phone that will work with Sky Go etc. I've done this hundreds of times on the phone and it works guaranteed to get SkyGo working, so long as you have STOCK KERNEL. I am yet to find a custom kernel that does NOT autoroot, or mess up SkyGo in some other way. So be sure to be on stock kernel then FULL UNROOT.
[/QUOTE[
Many thanks for that very clear, specific information. I had applied a custom kernel, and unrooted that - a classic error, changing two things at once. That did not work, with sky complaining about root - though the other apps were ok (sky are smart....)
With that information it gives me much more confidence I can indeed root/unroot the stock kernel, so I'm going to try that - at least it will let me tweak what packages are enabled - ie disable some of the samsung stuff I don't want/need that isn't user-disable-able. Any other thoughts welcome
Gloris said:
As for the battery drain, have you updated to the latest version of SkyGo? Most of the old versions had some SEVERE wakelock issues where the app would be constantly running in the background and draining battery like mad. If you update to the latest version I've had very good results with it. Failing that you can drag the apps icon to the top of the screen where it says "app info" and from there you can "force stop" the app. I bet that this is the app which is killing your battery at present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes I'm bang up to date - my issue seemed more with one of the ootb packages rather than skygo. I have had the sky go issue in the past, but only when it's previously been run. I'm very used to wakelocks, and the user app wakelocks were well under control. That being said it's still annoying you can't get the app level breakdown unless rooted.
Anyway thanks again, that info about sky go/stock kernel/rooting was so helpful
Nigel.

Just to confirm root, unroot worked fine...
I disabled more apps with titanium backup. I didn't quite get as far as installing the xposed framework again, this stint was purely to prune down the apps somewhat. If that works/is stable I can tweak further
A little shame it requires hooking up to the pc to root again, but it's better than nothing!
SkyGo is still working, and corporate email threw a wobbly (by design) but is working again after the reroot

you don't need a pc to reroot though......store the towelroot apk on your phones mem card and just reinstall it from the phone (go to file managed, mem card, select the apk and install). then download supersu from play store, update, reboot, update.reboot. done. that's the good thing about using this method to root/unroot, you can do it all from the phone directly, no need to use a pc at all
::EDIT::
1 - root with towelroot
2 - install SuperSU from PlayStore and attempt to open and update binary (it may fail)
3 - reboot and open SuperSU again, if it again asks to update binary it will work this time, reboot once more).
4 - set up your options in SuperSU (e.g. no notification, trust system user etc).
5 - do whatever you need to do with root
6 - to UNROOT just choose "Full Unroot" option within SuperSU app, THEN also uninstall towelroot.
7 - Reboot and you'll be UN rooted and apps like SkyGo etc will work perfectly.
8 - If you need to re-root, repeat the process from step 1.

Thanks again. I'd been using cf auto root for a few years. Hadn't tried towel root. Thanks for the tips. Very helpful

Thinking it's time to upgrade to Nougat but...

So, with the realization that Xposed, etc. are likely dying a slow death I'm coming to the realization more and more that it's time to just get used to using a phone without that stuff and go ahead an upgrade to Nougat. I've been holding off because of the lack of xposed.
My question is...is there anything out there (on the Play Store or downloadable APKs) that will do the same things as these modules and is a legit app and not some junk?
1) Greenify (I know this will work without xposed but some features won't work - is there anything better?)
2) XInsta (download Instagram photos and videos)
3) SnapPrefs (I primarily only use this for typing more text in Snapchat and sharing 20 second videos which are longer than stock, I don't need the other features)
Anyone know of anything that I can download to replace those?
Also, as far as rooting 7.1.1 it's just a matter of applying the latest SuperSU I already am using (I updated my N6P regularly) after flashing the 7.1.1 stock images?
Any pointers will be appreciated.

IlyaKol said:
So, with the realization that Xposed, etc. are likely dying a slow death I'm coming to the realization more and more that it's time to just get used to using a phone without that stuff and go ahead an upgrade to Nougat. I've been holding off because of the lack of xposed.
My question is...is there anything out there (on the Play Store or downloadable APKs) that will do the same things as these modules and is a legit app and not some junk?
1) Greenify (I know this will work without xposed but some features won't work - is there anything better?)
2) XInsta (download Instagram photos and videos)
3) SnapPrefs (I primarily only use this for typing more text in Snapchat and sharing 20 second videos which are longer than stock, I don't need the other features)
Anyone know of anything that I can download to replace those?
Also, as far as rooting 7.1.1 it's just a matter of applying the latest SuperSU I already am using (I updated my N6P regularly) after flashing the 7.1.1 stock images?
Any pointers will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi... I can't answer all your questions, only 2...
About greenify. I used to have it on my N6 running marshmallow. When I upgraded to the N6P, I thought I'd try without, just to see how battery performs. With stock 7.1.1 or PureNexus, the battery drain is negligible. Also, you can install a custom kernels and use custom profiles which tends to help with battery consumption (this is more for screen on usage though).
If you still want to save more juice... There's Franco's naptimes app that forces doze as soon as the screen goes off. I don't use it, so you may try to find more infos by yourself.
I don't use Xinsta, nor SnapPrefs, so i'll pass on this.
For root, flash your stock firmware, flash TWRP with fastboot, reboot to TWRP, then flash SU of your choice. Latest SuperSU is SuperSU 2.79 SR3. Don't reboot to system before the SU install or TWRP will be overwritten by stock recovery and you'll have to reflash it, etc... Starting with 7.x firmware it has to be done this way...
Good luck...

5.1 said:
Hi... I can't answer all your questions, only 2...
About greenify. I used to have it on my N6 running marshmallow. When I upgraded to the N6P, I thought I'd try without, just to see how battery performs. With stock 7.1.1 or PureNexus, the battery drain is negligible. Also, you can install a custom kernels and use custom profiles which tends to help with battery consumption (this is more for screen on usage though).
If you still want to save more juice... There's Franco's naptimes app that forces doze as soon as the screen goes off. I don't use it, so you may try to find more infos by yourself.
I don't use Xinsta, nor SnapPrefs, so i'll pass on this.
For root, flash your stock firmware, flash TWRP with fastboot, reboot to TWRP, then flash SU of your choice. Latest SuperSU is SuperSU 2.79 SR3. Don't reboot to system before the SU install or TWRP will be overwritten by stock recovery and you'll have to reflash it, etc... Starting with 7.x firmware it has to be done this way...
Good luck...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Yeah, I used Elemental right now on my N6P with 6.0.1. So I'm already tweaking that, and I did read about Naptimes just like 5 minutes ago as I was doing further research. Can also run Greenify in basic mode to get some of those benefits back as it doesn't require Xposed for all features.
Really curious about the other two, if anyone knows of any other apps.
Thanks again!

IlyaKol said:
Thanks!
Yeah, I used Elemental right now on my N6P with 6.0.1. So I'm already tweaking that, and I did read about Naptimes just like 5 minutes ago as I was doing further research. Can also run Greenify in basic mode to get some of those benefits back as it doesn't require Xposed for all features.
Really curious about the other two, if anyone knows of any other apps.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey... I don't see any issue as far as I remember that could prevent from using greenify. I don't know how much apps you have installed that could stay running in the background. Doze has been pretty well improved on 7.x compared to marshmallow. Give it a try, you can still install it afterward.
Good luck...

OGinstagram+ can download pictures and videos, it's here on XDA. It's not updated regularly (doesn't get bumped up for each little play store update to Instagram) but it works just fine. No idea about anything for Snapchat or greenify.

On newer versions of Snapchat you can type unlimited captions without Snapprefs. Videos are still stuck at 10 seconds, though.

Face_Plant said:
On newer versions of Snapchat you can type unlimited captions without Snapprefs. Videos are still stuck at 10 seconds, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh! Didn't know that! I can probably deal with the video limit. Good to know, thank you!

RoyJ said:
OGinstagram+ can download pictures and videos, it's here on XDA. It's not updated regularly (doesn't get bumped up for each little play store update to Instagram) but it works just fine. No idea about anything for Snapchat or greenify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that suggestion. :good:

Well, I think I have enough to ditch XPosed and go to Nougat...gonna back the phone up first and get to work flashing.

Barclays Mobile on Unrooted Custom ROM - Experimentation

I have a OnePlus 2. Still in great condition but stock ROM not performing great so I updated to Pixel Experience (unrooted), and its breathed new life into the device, so very pleased. However the one problem with using a custom ROM is of course banking apps can be particularly finicky about it and I really need Barclays Mobile app to work.
Ive endlessly read a lot of other threads about this but they are all about getting it to work on rooted devices. Magisk etc and other solutions that will constantly be patched by Barclays are just not good solutions. So running the device unrooted should eliminate most of the issues.
I still cant get it to run though but since Im not rooted this should be achievable if we can figure out what checks the app is making.
Here what Ive done so far:
I have TWRP recovery (obv to install new ROM)
PixelExperience ROM,
Ive relocked the bootloader
SafetyNet Check PASS
RootCheck - NOT ROOTED
Play Store - Device Certified
Changed build.props entry ro.build.tags=release-keys
Tried changing android_id.
Interestingly I have LLoyds, Santander and Nationwide banking apps all working.
But Barclays still says device is rooted. Just before this there's briefly a message that pops up saying "T0017 Not Authorised".
What other things can I try?

Bypass google safetynet?

Im hoping someone can help me or possibly direct me to a youtube video to achieve what im looking to achieve
I struggled with, but finally managed to upgrade my device to stock 7.0, but rooted with magisk. When i tried to install xposed it forced a bootloop, so i restored a backup i had just made prior, and all has been well. I had wanted to install and use "Root cloak" as, at least so far thats been working on my 8.0 device (also Samsung, also stock but rooted but with SU method in that case, i couldnt get SU alone to work on my 7.0, for whatever reason)
I left it alone, but I'm noticing more and more that apps Id like to use come up saying "device is incompatible", which at first i thought it was weird as the play store itself allowed the install... but then upon some basic looking around, it seems that the apps have a way of detecting root, even through "magisk hide" - the feature directly included in magisk manager.
currently when i try to test for safetynet directly in the magisk manager, it doesnt actually properly test at all, no pass or fail, it just said unable
the rather peculiar part is that some of these apps arent all even banking apps, theyre for games. I cant figure out why gaming apps have issues with root access, especially when these apps themselves dont have root access, but thats kind of an aside
Any simplified help anyone can offer would be great! i am slightly familiar with editing the build prop, but i wouldnt know which values to change or even if that method is still effective. i used to use that on a quite older device (captivate glide) to spoof which version of android i was on in order to download app updates (which did work just fine, so why my older version wasnt supported is beyond me, lol)
thank you in advance for any help you can offer!

State of Custom Roms

hey there,
i was using custom roms back in the day with my oppo find 7, so android 7ish. Back than maintaining custom roms was a major pain in .... because, at least for me, i needed to full flash every time there was an update and most roms were kind of buggy as well.
Since my 9t is being annoying lately (EU 12.0.5) with shutting down apps way to often/fast, forgetting logins, making backups everywhere, switching back to light mode, no idea how to do a proper cleanup without deleting half my app settings etc. I was wondering what the state of the custom rom is nowadays.
I was thinking about getting something smaller, but since the pixel 5 is out of sale, the zenfone 8 missing wireless charge and no real alternative and all of them are more than 600 bucks, so i dont want to get a new phone tbh, prices are out of this world imho. Also iam quit pleased with the device itself, i.e. battery, performance, everyday stuff
so basically here is what i want to know:
How are updates handled in Pixelexperience or lineage?
how hard/easy is installation?
is google pay working?
is there a relyable way to make a full backup of my phone to go back to as is now?
did anybody experience the mentioned issues and maybe has a solution?
bonus qquestions
is there any major improvement in upcomming MIUI Versions(12.1, 12.5) and a roadmap of rollout?
what does SOT mean?
thanks in advance

for updates you may have to re flash the newer rom.
2. installation is easy given you know how to do it.
3. google pay is working fine.
4. twrp is the way, but believe me you won't aspire to go back.
5. I am running pixel experience rom on MI A2 device, the device is working great.
*/learn from youtube properly how to flash recovery, install rom for your device */
best of luck

I'm on Xiaomi.eu Stable (did use Weeklies for 6 months) - daily driver / business phone
If you like MIUI, you have A11, MIUI 12.5, debloated, all stable
You only flash ROM from TWRP (of course, first time, when switching to, Format Data is mandatory).
Later they have like OTA mechanism (Updater downloads ROM in zip, reboots to TWRP and upgrades)

not sure if i really like miui or not, thats why i was eyeing pixel/zenfone, i was pretty happy with my Mi A1 before the 9t
wouldnt a twrp backup break my safety net? if i remember correctly i need to unlock/root
suraj123 said:
2. installation is easy given you know how to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i knew it, but it has been ages

Abudinka said:
not sure if i really like miui or not, thats why i was eyeing pixel/zenfone, i was pretty happy with my Mi A1 before the 9t
wouldnt a twrp backup break my safety net? if i remember correctly i need to unlock/root
well i knew it, but it has been ages
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For flashing any other ROM you need to unlock Bootloader - and that breaks Safety Net, not TWRP folder or so
However, Xiaomi.eu has built-in patch to pass SafetyNet with no need for Magisk, any Magisk module, anything
I.e., you switch to Xiaomi.eu (with Bootloader unlocked), no need to install Magisk and any of the modules like USNF, MHPC, etc) and you have SafetyNet, Device Certified in Google Play.
Also Widevine L1 and Netflix really plays in FullHD, HDR-10
And if you need Magisk for something else, you just enable MagiskHide and you still have SafetyNet etc.
No troubles here with SafetyNet

how much free space do i need for a twrp backup? most likely half of the internal space i guess.
so basically for every other rom besides xiami.eu i need to worry about safety net with magisk or similar?

I have TWRP Nandroid backup of 15 GB, but most of that is Data.
You don't need the backup for installing/updating the ROM.
That's only for your comfort
But I put it to PC and delete from the phone (if really needed, TWRP can also connect to PC and you can copy it back to phone before restoring)
I never needed to restore

And one more but very important thing
TWRP (backup) has NOTHING with SafetyNet. SafetyNet DOES NOT look do you have TWRP folder, or do you have Magisk app/mngr (I'm not talking about thevMagisk core/service but apk)
Unfortunately, there are too many unknowledgeable people writing that and similar nonsense elswhere
Problem is (and that's the reason why it might look 'similar' from the end user's point of view) that various banking apps, ganes and so, use VARIOUS methods and in some cases even speculative GUESSES trying to find if your device is SAFE for their apps and businesses (whatever that means for somebody), or is your phone 'rooted' (also in the very loose sense)
Those methods and guesses may include:
- Testing SafetyNet (framework provided by Google, partly in Google Play Services and partly on Google servers).
Fornally, when Bootloader is unlocked and/or with custom ROM (not certified with Google) or rooted (stock) ROM , you *should* fail SafetyNet - but there are methods to trick Google and still to pass SafetyNet.
Actually, to flash any such nod (custom ROM or recovery, or root, you first need to unlock Bootloader - and that's the first thing that SafetyNet looks for, but on some phones and ROMs it is possible to fool even the Google's SafetyNet)
That's the reason why thosre apps combine various other methods trying to find (or just to guess) if your phone is 'safe' or not
Some use sofisticated methods looking for su in the path or modified init.rc, or bypass Magisk Hide acting as isolated processes - that way finding the gllitches in MagiskHide making them possible to detect Magisk
But some use very PRIMITIVE guesses:
- If they find TWRP folder, they 'conclude' you 'must' be having TWRP, hence your Bootloader 'must' have been unlocked and you might have been flashed the root or custom ROM, hence they simply declare your phone as 'unsafe' or "rooted'.
But you could take 100% stock and not-modded phone and just create there a folder named TWRP on Internal memory - and your phone will fail their 'safety' pass (but not the Google's SafetyNet)
- Similarly, some just look if they find that the com.topjohbwu.magisk package installed (being Magisk apk, but that is not Magisk as core/service).
Again, you can take 100% stock, not-modded phone and just install there the Magisk apk (maybe, because you wantef to use its built-in SafetyNet checker), and those apps will declare your phone was 'rooted' - which is again total nonsense
On the other side, that is all about statistics. There will be let's say 0.001% of people who do have TWRP folder but not custom TWRP recovery and similarly 0.005% people who do have Magisk app but no Magisk
On the other side, 90% of people who do have custom Recovery will also have TWRP folder and 60% of people with Magisk service/core will also have Magisk app (formerly mngr) - the rest 40% of Magisk users will have hided/obfuscated/repackaged Magisk app (therefore, it cannot be found under the com.tophohnwu.magisk package name)
Hence those apps (and their developers, or better to say those who paid those developers to implemen that GUESSES) can take them rights to declare the phones with TWRP foldersor Magisk app installed as 'unsafe'
Those 1-5 users out of 100000, who by incidence do have TWRP folder (but no custom recovery) or Magisk app (but no Magisk) - bad luck, who cares about them
On the other side, that guesses (since they didn't come up with anything more sofisticated) will make them possible to catch 500 users with TWRP or Magisk, who tricked the Google's SafetyNet (but didn't even think about that primitive possibilities to 'catch' them)

thanks for the explanation, i most likely have a look this evening. Still, most app data will be lost when switching to pixel experience i assume

Abudinka said:
thanks for the explanation, i most likely have a look this evening. Still, most app data will be lost when switching to pixel experience i assume
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please find and read instructions for switching to the (custom) ROM - they can be found elswhere
An important and a MUST step is Formatting Data (that also formats Internal memory). Hence not 'most' but ALL user spps, their settings, your data like photos, contacts, Wifi passwords and everything will be wiped
Read and learn about what and how can be backed up. Good luck

im fully aware, that switching to another rom needs a full wipe and therefore loss of all data if not backup'ed.
I was more hoping one could provid a link and/or recommend something convienent.

And one more point. You must first unlock Bootloader - find where/how, apply for and you will need to wait 7 days
Unlocking bootloader performs Factory reset. However, at that time you are still on MIUI and you can use Xiaomi Cloud to backup and restore upon Factory resetting
(Once you unlock Bootloader, you can make Nandroid backups in TWRP but you cannot restore to custom ROM what you backed-up from MIUI, or vice versa
Once you switch to your custom ROM (and potentially root), you can use some apps for backing up and restore - but avoid the old and outdated Titanium
Hence I don't really see a point in TWRP backups, only just-in-case, for restoring the last working point in case of (soft) brick cases

zgfg said:
(Once you unlock Bootloader, you can make Nandroid backups in TWRP but you cannot restore to custom ROM what you backed-up from MIUI, or vice versa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks alot again for the detailed explanation. This was the detail i was looking for. so basically its impossible to avoid losing app settings which are not saved in cloud and assigned to an app account.
The hint about miui backup/xiaomi cloud comes in handy as well. Also regarding the delayed bootload unlock, if it really takes up to 30 days (as stated on the pixelexperience install guide), maybe the Sony event on 26th brought something interessting

Abudinka said:
Thanks alot again for the detailed explanation. This was the detail i was looking for. so basically its impossible to avoid losing app settings which are not saved in cloud and assigned to an app account.
The hint about miui backup/xiaomi cloud comes in handy as well. Also regarding the delayed bootload unlock, if it really takes up to 30 days (as stated on the pixelexperience install guide), maybe the Sony event on 26th brought something interessting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It usually takes (and not from recently) exactly 168 hours = 7 days, no more or less.
There are also threads here on XDA about
Unless Xiaomi just recently changed the policy, but that could also depend on models

SOT = screen on time