Google has rolled out cross-device instant hotspot and call transfers to Android, but they have to be manually enabled. Here's how you do it.

What's the best way to restrict my Android devices to only use approved apps? I want to manage the whitelist remotely.

Bonus points if I can keep everything in-house, on my home server or similar via my existing VPN.

This is for my kids' future phones. Ages 12 to 16.

My brain or whatever gets accustomed to the same alarm in the mornings and I wont wake up. I currently point my alarm clock to a spotify playlist so that it will play a random some from said playlist. I no longer use spotify and instead store local files or my plex/jellyfin server.

I have tried what seems like tons of alarm clock apps but non of them can do this. Is there one that does this.

I'm looking for a way to dump raw data from an entire phone or at least the sda block to a PC, using a method other than adb pull.

When I run adb pull /dev/block/sda sdaDump.img, it creates a dump file. To find what I need, I have to search through this raw data using a Hex Editor. If the dump comes from a fully functioning phone, I can usually find what I’m looking for because all the data is still intact.

However, I accidentally wiped the metadata partition on my phone, so the decryption keys/files are gone. Now, because of that, some folders appear empty when checked with TWRP's File Manager, even though the actual files are still there.

If I create a dump now, the raw data in the file won't be the same as when the metadata was present, and those folders weren't showing as empty.

Running adb pull /dev/block/sda sdaDump.img now results in a dump where the Hex Editor shows zeroes (no data) where these files should be.

Is there any alternative method to create a raw data dump of the sda block or entire phone storage, that will capture that data as it is (not empty folders, but the data in them), even if it's encrypted?

I don't want to create the raw data dump onto the phone storage and then transfer it to a PC, but something that works like adb pull, in the sense that it pulls the data from the phone directly onto a PC.

Thanks a lot in advance to everyone!

While not seemingly relevant at first glance, turns out they are using Android under the hood Specifically, BlissOS 15 which is Android 12L.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19456945

Google is working on a redesign of Quick Settings that might launch with Android 16.

Hey all,

I want a firewall app for just basically to enforce restrictions on outgoing communication based on service or app. It is mostly to block data harvesting. For reference, if anyone remembers there was one for iPhone called Firewall IP and it was just perfection. That was back when we could jailbreak.

Anyway, so that's all I need. Free is best, of course, but I would pay a bit if it is an exceptionally good product. No problem paying for quality. But I will have no interest in anything that's subscription based, nor anything that I need some kind of backend "approval" or login in order to install and use it. In other words, I want to know that if in a hundred years I happen to have a working phone from today, and the apk file, then I can install it. Obviously that's reductoi ad absurdum but you get my point.

Thanks for any recommendations. P.S. I'm not rooted, if that matters. Although I am still interested in possibly getting a replacement ROM for my device.

It would be good if it had a function to limit brightness by time or by battery level and was Foss (but being Foss is not necessary if app is good and don't want too much permissions). Current screens are too bright for me.

I need to ask a small favor from the good people of Lemmy World Community.

In short, I accidentally wiped the metadata partition on my Poco F3 and now I can't boot into the OS and access my data. I have a lot of pictures, videos and other stuff that I would hate to lose, because of a mistake. But all that is still on the phone, I just can't boot the phone to access it.

Thankfully, there is a way to fix this by creating a full backup of the phone with adb, then using a HEX Editor to manually look through that gigantic file and try to find the files that were in that metadata partition.

A huge thanks to bluet33th, a user from XDA Forums, without whom I would be helpless and couldn't do any of this. It might be a bit complicated and manual process, but it is possible. He explained everything in great detail here, so check it out, especially if you are facing the same problem, this will help you tremendously: https://xdaforums.com/t/how-to-recover-data-if-metadata-partition-was-deleted.4686789/

In order to find these files and put them back where they belong, I need your help, because I have to know their names, exact sizes and at least part of their content, so that I can search for it. Because I'm searching for a specific text in a text file that is 128 GB in size.

I have already tried this on another Xiaomi phone, to make sure this procedure works on Xiaomi phones and it does, but that phone had HyperOS with Android 14 and since every phone and android version is probably different, in order to be sure, I need this information specifically for Poco F3 with Android 13.

It doesn't take long, but if you don't have the time to look inside your metadata partition and tell me which files are inside of that partition and their sizes in bytes, you can just make a backup of the metadata partition and sent it to me, and I'll do the rest of the work.

Here are the steps on how to create a backup:

1. Turn on your phone and boot into TWRP, then connect your phone to a PC, type cmd inside Windows search and run cmd, then position cmd into your platform-tools folder (if you flashed your ROM, you should already have the necessary drivers installed for the next steps to work). For example, if your platform-tools folder on Windows is inside C:\platform-tools, all you need to type into cmd is: cd C:\platform-tools

You can also just go inside your platform-tools folder and type cmd in the address bar and the cmd will start already positioned inside that folder.

2. Then type adb devices and you should see your device, if you do, that means that all the drivers are successfully installed and your phone is detected.

3. Type adb pull /dev/block/by-name/metadata

4. After that, you should see a file named metadata inside C:\platform-tools. That is the file that I'm looking for and as you can see, it takes just a few minutes to get it.

You can skip the next steps (5 and 6), but I'll explain them, just in case someone wants to extract these files for themselves, so that you have them in case something like this happens to you. Of course, you can also proceed to extract the files and tell me their names and sizes.

Here is what you need to do:

5. Extract the content of the metadata file, you can use a software like 7-Zip. Go inside that extracted folder, then into vold > metadata_encryption > key

6. Inside of that key folder, you should see a few files. These are the important files and save them somewhere safe in case you ever need them. Since I don't have them anymore, in order to recreate them, I need to know their exact names and sizes in bytes. You can check the size of every individual file by right clicking on the file and choosing Properties. Then look under Size, not Size on disk, and in parenthesis, you should see the size in bytes.

Please, if you could check the size of every file and write down which file has what size. I would really appreciate it.

I'm specifically looking for someone who has a Poco F3 with Android 13 and MIUI, because I'm not sure if HyperOS changed something, so maybe the number of files or their size is different. But feel free to post the information even if you have HyperOS, but please mention that, so that I am aware of it.

Thanks a lot for your help, it really means a great deal.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19387476 Plus, one of Android's most essential accessibility features is also getting an update with Gemini infusion.

Woke up early today and the first thought through my head was ... Hey, the Pixel 9 Fold Pro is going to be available today. So I jumped on the site and found it... backordered until mid October.

Anyone else able to get one on T-Mo or another service or are they backordered from Google themselves?

I keep getting this notification on my phone (S22, but had it on my S9 aswell). No matter how I address this, it keeps popping up.

Is there a reason for this?

I pre-ordered a Pebblebee and finally received it in June. It's now September and it's just as useless when it's farther away from me than I can throw it as it was back in June.

Are there plans to improve the network? Is it happening anytime soon or will my trackers remain worthless?

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/41310855

F-Droid

The phone app (by Google) has 700 mb of data on the phone. What is that? Call history? Contacts? Then what is in the contacts app? Is it safe to delete?

Stock Pixel 6a

So I was recently talking about a few phones I had bought used, which have FRP lockout. So, the one I was talking about working on at the time is a Galaxy J7 Sky Pro. Well I finally used DroidKit on it, and after a moderately lengthy procedure, it is FREE of the lockout! So the software is not a scam, it actually did work.

I have been having trouble with another phone because when it gets to the stage where it needs to dial *#0*# it supposed to bring up the factory mode to test various components. I’ve seen this on other phones work but this one, a Galaxy A01, it doesn’t bring up that mode. And it can’t continue. Another phone I have is a ZTE and that’s not one of the supported brands in Droidkit.

But one worked! Which means likely it’s fairly reliable. So that’s cool.

I need an Android device for archival purposes, it has several requirements and I would appreciate any suggestions. I've done some research myself, but I would appreciate it maybe you know of something I haven't discovered.

Requirements:

• Must fit inside this Faraday pouch, or a different one that is of a similar price, and is both water and fire proof
• Must support an open OS (Degoogled, rooted Android ROM or Linux - both support touch interfaces, Kiwix, and storing and viewing files)
• at least 256GB internal storage to store the files
• at least 8GB RAM for running local AI models, preferably nearer 16GB
• Good battery life, since it will stay inside the pouch most of the time and I don't want to have to take it out to charge it every day
• As cheap as possible

I have no other requirements, it doesn't even have to have a camera, let alone a good one.

Thanks for all your help!

If anyone knows why I'd be interested too

I've looked for a bit and I cannot find which version stopped support, just that it stopped for seemingly no reason.

I just bought a second-hand surface duo running android for the sole purpose of emulating nintendo ds. I want a stylus to emulate that part of the experience, but all styluses are a lot more expensive than i anticipated. But they seem to include stuff i really dont need such as bluetooth connectivity and such like.

Can i just get any pointy plastic thing to use as a stylus or do i need one of these that connect to the phone?

My context / use case

I got Fire 7 tablets for my kiddos a few years ago and they're dreadfully slow and can't really run many apps at all. With my daughter needing some educational support at home, I was looking for a cheap replacement that actually had enough power to manage recent education apps, and hopefully be future proof for a while.

Alternatives

The cheapest tablet at Costco.ca, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, is $500 CAD, has a weak processor, only 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage.

I'll never touch Apple products for a zillion reasons, but cost was completely prohibitive for a device my child could drop any day. Even used ones are insanely priced. And the app ecosystem for education on iOS is almost entirely paid apps, increasingly using a subscription model. (Or so it seems.)

Newer Amazon Fire "HD" tablets suck, too, but at least they're cheap. And they might be powerful enough to run some things? idk. I wasn't enthused.

Then, I thought to check AliExpress and found an 8GB tablet with 128GB storage, a processor better than the S6, and a 2K (1440p) display. After reading reviews to check if it's legit, I ordered one.

Informal Review

The great:

Price/value for the specs. I paid ~$240CAD for a bundle that includes a nice case, screen protector, charging block and cable, and a child-size Bluetooth keyboard. (It doesn't have a digitizer, so I skipped the stylus.)

The good:

The tablet is snappy. The battery lasts a long time. The screen has plenty enough resolution to render everything crisply on a 10.4" display.

It's a perfect tablet for my kids use as an educational tablet. It's great for PDF ebook reading (mostly picture books and early reader chapter books to date, lol!) and has handled all the education/edutainment apps without any slowdowns.

3.5mm jack. 18W fast charging. Build quality feels solid. Well positioned hardware buttons and 3.5mm jack make it easy to use in either orientation. The included case works as an angled stand. SD card slot for expansion. SIM compatible for phone/data.

The bad:

The viewing angle is pretty terrible. It's completely fine for solo use or for applications where colour accuracy isn't important, but it's very noticeable.

The speakers suck. I'm not a sound geek, so I don't know the correct terms, but the sound is muddy and distorted. They also have a fairly low maximum volume, and become increasingly distorted at higher volume. They work well enough, but it's not enjoyable for music. I would definitely use headphones for music/video/games.

I haven't tried the camera at all, but I've heard it's not great. Can't comment on that.

The purchase

The vendor I ordered from (ALLDOCUBE Direct Store) swapped the EU plug for a US plug at no extra cost. It arrived quickly (3 weeks?) from China.

The package arrived with the retail box crushed, so the included screen protector broke. After using it for a day, I decided to buy a second one for my other child, and asked them to include a replacement. Not only did they include a replacement, but they pre-installed the screen protector on tablet #2 so it couldn't break, without my asking them to.

I would recommend the seller, but ask them to pre-install the screen protector (if you plan to use one) so there's less risk of damage in transit.

Discussion

Anyway, not sure if this is the kind of content people want here, but I thought I'd do my part to add something!

Has anyone else experimented with cheap AliExpress/Chinese Android devices?

Based on my success with these, I'm considering getting a phone for my wife there. I'm a bit more worried about data vulnerabilities and software support longevity on a daily driver phone, but it's really hard to find a small quality phone for a reasonable price. Also, it needs to have a good camera or it's a nonstarter.

Do you have any experience or thoughts on this?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19329972

I love Google Messages, but I think it has room to grow. Here are five features it should steal from Apple and Samsung.