Database Develop

Rooted, now what?

I got a new wifi S2, installed the permissive kernel and rooted it. I installed TWRP and made a backup. Now I've got an uninstall app and I've removed a few things; primarily Knox and the security logger so that it quits whining at me. I have a strong desire to never ever use the cloud, create a Samsung account, or a Google account. I really just want to load some books onto it and DLNA some music and videos.
So I want to get rid of all the stuff that I'll never be able to use but it's not clear to me how to identify all that. I'm a long time Unix guy but not at all an android guy. If something prompts me to create an account I know I want to uninstall it, but damned if I can figure out how to identify what to uninstall from what icon I touched.
I've found bloatware lists but they're all somewhat old and not for the S2, so it's not clear to me if I should trust them. I'd like to avoid trial and error "uninstall and reinstall if something doesn't work" or the even more dreaded "uninstall and find out six months later that something doesn't work". Can anyone point me at a good list of what I can remove, or where I can figure out how to determine that for myself? Thanks.

Better start freezen apps instead of uninstalling them. I use titanium backup for that, but you can use whatever you like. Just be carefull freezing or uninstalling OS related apps, you can end in a bootloop, but you always have the odin flash method to reflash your system back to normal. Just don't play around with partitions or /dev .
Right now I using my tablet unrooted and untouched, so I can't be more specific which apps you can freeze without problems.

He doesn't need odin as he has a twrp backup.
I take it you are using System App Remover (root) to uninstall system apps? If so you are pretty safe as they are backed up and can be restored any time if something goes wrong.
Also are you aware without a Google account you will lose part of the functionality of an Android device?
Samsungs account you can do without. All that stuff related to it can be deleted, but don't advise removing any of the Google core services from the stock rom.
If you really want a GAPPless rom then you're better off with a non stock custom rom like CM or AOSP.
Not much in that area of development at the moment, but there are a couple of members working on it.

ashyx said:
He doesn't need odin as he has a twrp backup.
I take it you are using System App Remover (root) to uninstall system apps? If so you are pretty safe as they are backed up and can be restored any time if something goes wrong.
Also are you aware without a Google account you will lose part of the functionality of an Android device?
Samsungs account you can do without. All that stuff related to it can be deleted, but don't advise removing any of the Google core services from the stock rom.
If you really want a GAPPless rom then you're better off with a non stock custom rom like CM or AOSP.
Not much in that area of development at the moment, but there are a couple of members working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thanks. If I lose functionality to avoid Google watching over my shoulder I'm all for it. I'm old and probably overprotective of what's my business and not theirs. In truth, I bought the S2 because I have a collection of chess book pdf's and djvu's that I want to be able to read while I'm sitting at my chess board. I got the 9.7 inch S2 because the old eyes aren't what they used to be. Anything I can do beyond that is icing on the cake.
I do have the app remover, and I've removed the stuff that was obvious to me (like the Microsoft Office stubs). But there are still lots of things that bring up a prompt for an account when I run them and it's not clear to me how to figure out what app to remove to get rid of that particular thing. On Linux I could use rpm -q to figure out what rpm contained a file I want to remove and I'd be good to go. I've tried googling some of the app names but the "descriptions" I end up finding are particularly unenlightening. And since this is definitely not my area of expertise I don't really want to operate in "let's remove this and see what happens" even if I can reinstall the app from its backup. I've been doing software development and sysadmin for more than 35 years now and that just doesn't seem like the way to approach this.
I was looking at CM, which seems like it might be what I'm looking for, but it's still in alpha and my skill level is probably not up to coping with that so I'm back with the problem of how to decide what to get rid of.

New to Android. Just looking for some pointers.

Hey all. Long time Blackberry user here. I have a couple questions about my note 5 I just picked up.
- Can I root the device (I'm on verizon)? I've done a bunch of googling and so far it seems like verizon has done a good job at making it impossible?
- The main reason I want to root is to just to rid my phone of all the JUNK apps I don't want. If rooting my phone isn't possible, what's the best way to prevent the apps from taking up space and using up data? With no sdcard slot, space will be a premium, and I'd like to free up as much as possible.
-RYknow

-RYknow said:
Hey all. Long time Blackberry user here. I have a couple questions about my note 5 I just picked up.
- Can I root the device (I'm on verizon)? I've done a bunch of googling and so far it seems like verizon has done a good job at making it impossible?
- The main reason I want to root is to just to rid my phone of all the JUNK apps I don't want. If rooting my phone isn't possible, what's the best way to prevent the apps from taking up space and using up data? With no sdcard slot, space will be a premium, and I'd like to free up as much as possible.
-RYknow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now without root access on our Verizon Galaxy Note 5s there's no way to get rid of the apps to free up space. However there is a way to disable the apps by using Package Disabler but you have to make sure that you don't disable anything if you don't know what it does because you can end up causing the phone not to work or not boot in which case you'll have to do a restore and lose everything. I actually made the mistake and disabled some things that I shouldn't have and it caused the phone to get stuck at the Verizon logo so just be careful what you do with it! Also if you disable certain things that the system needs it can actually become detrimental to the battery life and make it run out faster. Personally I'd say to just leave it alone unless it's actually doing something because on mine I noticed that if I don't use them or tap into them they won't run anyway.

-RYknow said:
Hey all. Long time Blackberry user here. I have a couple questions about my note 5 I just picked up.
- Can I root the device (I'm on verizon)? I've done a bunch of googling and so far it seems like verizon has done a good job at making it impossible?
- The main reason I want to root is to just to rid my phone of all the JUNK apps I don't want. If rooting my phone isn't possible, what's the best way to prevent the apps from taking up space and using up data? With no sdcard slot, space will be a premium, and I'd like to free up as much as possible.
-RYknow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi,
Here's a few pointers, what i do (managing free space)
Firstly, i am also on a branded version. No root, stock Rom.
I found that i could uninstall most of my carriers bloatware,
( see... Device /Settings /App Manager)
Other system bloat apps, i just disabled in App Manager.
Check system apps like...
Eg S Voice.. Briefing.. S HEALTH ?, (if you can disable.)
Secondly your stock Smart Manager, /App Powersaving, the apps i hardly use, i set to always... optimizing.
I used to store movies on my ext Sd card, (but as
we have no Ext Sd card) , i keep my movies on
a mini OTG SanDisk. If i want to watch,i plug /attach, OTG and watch.( Saves a lot of space)
Eventually, you just "adapt" to the limited space.
Good luck
Post note,
Root, is not always the answer.!
Sometimes you just create, more problems /issues
for yourself.
All my other devices Note 2/3/4 is rooted.
My Note5 is not rooted and i am overall very happy with device.
I only have 2 x small system bugs, nothing to stress about /root (Found a roundabout way to fix these.)
Otherwise.......
(Battery life is good , Device runs very smooth, optimized good)

willcor said:
hi,
Here's a few pointers, what i do (managing free space)
Firstly, i am also on a branded version. No root, stock Rom.
I found that i could uninstall most of my carriers bloatware,
( see... Device /Settings /App Manager)
Other system bloat apps, i just disabled in App Manager.
Check system apps like...
Eg S Voice.. Briefing.. S HEALTH ?, (if you can disable.)
Secondly your stock Smart Manager, /App Powersaving, the apps i hardly use, i set to always... optimizing.
I used to store movies on my ext Sd card, (but as
we have no Ext Sd card) , i keep my movies on
a mini OTG SanDisk. If i want to watch,i plug /attach, OTG and watch.( Saves a lot of space)
Eventually, you just "adapt" to the limited space.
Good luck
Post note,
Root, is not always the answer.!
Sometimes you just create, more problems /issues
for yourself.
All my other devices Note 2/3/4 is rooted.
My Note5 is not rooted and i am overall very happy with device.
I only have 2 x small system bugs, nothing to stress about /root (Found a roundabout way to fix these.)
Otherwise.......
(Battery life is good , Device runs very smooth, optimized good)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I've gone through and just disabled all the verizon apps that I could, as well as a few of the samsung apps I feel pretty confident I won't be using. Seems like rooting is more of a headache then I really want to get into right now with a new device, and a brand new platform (I've literally been using an android for 2 days now).
Thanks again!
-RYknow

-RYknow said:
Thanks for the response. I've gone through and just disabled all the verizon apps that I could, as well as a few of the samsung apps I feel pretty confident I won't be using. Seems like rooting is more of a headache then I really want to get into right now with a new device, and a brand new platform (I've literally been using an android for 2 days now).
Thanks again!
-RYknow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah , dont root it. It voids your warranty, and also few features will not work. Like private mode, Samsung Pay etc

Move Apps to External Storage

did we lose this capability in the Note 8? still haven't found a setting and my aqua mail isn't letting me select my extSD for storage of attacments. anyone find it or is it gone? any workarounds other than root?

I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.

PsiPhiDan said:
I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. wtg Sammy. take away the functions we use most. why allow large external sd cards if you can't store anything there. zero permissions to access it for important apps and no way to move hoggy apps there. nice. definitely rooting again. so tired of paying for fewer and fewer really usable features. dumbed down devices are not my thing.

toenail_flicker said:
did we lose this capability in the Note 8? still haven't found a setting and my aqua mail isn't letting me select my extSD for storage of attacments. anyone find it or is it gone? any workarounds other than root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haven't tested it yet, but found an option under Developer Options. hope it works.
Settings>Build (enable dev options)>Developer Options>Force Allow Apps on External

PsiPhiDan said:
I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it was . Google removed that ability in kitkat.

Some applications have option to move to SD, but not all: settings/apps click on application, then storage. If you don't see "storage used - change" then that app is not movable. However SD card is not as reliable and fast as internal store, so I wouldn't move important apps even if I could.

toenail_flicker said:
haven't tested it yet, but found an option under Developer Options. hope it works.
Settings>Build (enable dev options)>Developer Options>Force Allow Apps on External
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried this and it shows that it was "moved" to my SD card. The storage being taken up increased but on the internal storage it reflects the same. So probably didn't work.
Edit: Okay so it does work but not for all of the Apps/Games I tried. I'd say about 10% of the apps I tried didn't actually go over to the SD Card but the rest of them did.

GallardosEggrollShop said:
Just tried this and it shows that it was "moved" to my SD card. The storage being taken up increased but on the internal storage it reflects the same. So probably didn't work.
Edit: Okay so it does work but not for all of the Apps/Games I tried. I'd say about 10% of the apps I tried didn't actually go over to the SD Card but the rest of them did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some clarification for me...
so even though inside the "apps info" tab on a particular app, if it says "external storage" it may still live on internal? or will it show "internal"?

marctronixx said:
some clarification for me...
so even though inside the "apps info" tab on a particular app, if it says "external storage" it may still live on internal? or will it show "internal"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, at least from what I'm currently experiencing. For example I had 18.2GBs before I moved GTA San Andreas which is roughly 2.8GBs. From what I can tell it didn't increase my space on the internal as I still have the same 18.2GBs but it also took up more space on my external SD card. So I don't know if it is some false positive but I've restarted a few times and installed other apps. The storage still hasn't changed. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this phenomenon?

GallardosEggrollShop said:
Exactly, at least from what I'm currently experiencing. For example I had 18.2GBs before I moved GTA San Andreas which is roughly 2.8GBs. From what I can tell it didn't increase my space on the internal as I still have the same 18.2GBs but it also took up more space on my external SD card. So I don't know if it is some false positive but I've restarted a few times and installed other apps. The storage still hasn't changed. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this phenomenon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the follow up.
I moved some things over to SD card (i have a 400gb SSD card) like WhatsApp, philips hue, instagram.. things like that. Nothing serious like any CPU intensive apps. I "see" SOME more internal storage open up but i need to look into it further myself.
Still thanks for starting this discussion. I miss the old days of moving apps to SD (there used to be a program , apps2sd, that would do this in the early days of android) and 64gb is not a lot of storage for apps today. Most of us have over 100+ apps (on a power user device like this device, I would have expected more).
If understand its safer to keep apps internally so as to now cause issues, but having their ability to Mose simple apps like WhatsApp and such, can help.
I don't plan to root so being able to do this and KNOW it will work is intriguing.

allmine1976 said:
Yes it was . Google removed that ability in kitkat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have kitkat on my N4 and I still have that ability. I am rooted of course.

pete4k said:
Some applications have option to move to SD, but not all: settings/apps click on application, then storage. If you don't see "storage used - change" then that app is not movable. However SD card is not as reliable and fast as internal store, so I wouldn't move important apps even if I could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.

marctronixx said:
Still thanks for starting this discussion. I miss the old days of moving apps to SD (there used to be a program , apps2sd, that would do this in the early days of android) and 64gb is not a lot of storage for apps today. Most of us have over 100+ apps (on a power user device like this device, I would have expected more).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're welcome. did a search and was surprised someone hadn't already brought it up. I haven't seen anything that I can move, and it appears as if it's not working at all for me on Sprint. I'll check again later. got tired of things that didn't work and started to play.

toenail_flicker said:
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has been screwing with SD card access since Kitkat, if I remember correctly. They don't use it on their phones and messing with permission and all kinds of nonsense to make people move away from SD card to use and pay for their stupid cloud. At least now the permissions are set properly. Anyway, root could be difficult on Snapdragon, S8 just got root few weeks ago, around 6 months after release, so don't hold your breath. But I'm finding that a lot of stuff requiring root can be accomplished with ADB, I just wish somebody made a comprehensive list of ADB tricks. In the past I used root mostly for disabling bloatware and adding functionality, like adding AC3 codec, but there are workarounds for some of those things, just hard to find sometimes. Knox doesn't bother me too much, I may be using it's secure folder for sensitive data, like banking, credit cards, I just hope it's as secure as they say it is, because I have my doubts.

pete4k said:
...I'm finding that a lot of stuff requiring root can be accomplished with ADB, I just wish somebody made a comprehensive list of ADB tricks. In the past I used root mostly for disabling bloatware and adding functionality, like adding AC3 codec, but there are workarounds for some of those things, just hard to find sometimes. Knox doesn't bother me too much, I may be using it's secure folder for sensitive data, like banking, credit cards, I just hope it's as secure as they say it is, because I have my doubts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good info about adb. I'm out of practice with it and, yes, a comprehensive list of working adb commands would be great. I'm not in a hurry for root. I know it takes a while. and if we don't get it (I would be surprised) I can deal.

toenail_flicker said:
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not one to root but the main reason i want SOME apps on SD is their folders they store their data in, like whatsapp for example. Conversations in WhatsApp span many years and gigs of videos and photos in a few of those conversations. Having that on an SSD card would be choice.
P.s. Lol love your screen name bro... :good:

Go into developer options and you can turn it on. You can put majority of your apps on your card. No system apps.

marctronixx said:
I'm not one to root but the main reason i want SOME apps on SD is their folders they store their data in, like whatsapp for example. Conversations in WhatsApp span many years and gigs of videos and photos in a few of those conversations. Having that on an SSD card would be choice.
P.s. Lol love your screen name bro... :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks.
and exactly what you said. some apps like whatsapp... and others. it's just necessary. for the moment I just want the permissions fixed and that's going to take disabling knox and/or applying a fix to do both like for the N4. not sure that type of thing is even doable anymore.

Ill keep an eye out on this thread. If you found more tips/updates on this please post.
I just moved a LOT of stuff over to SD. Evertying i could. Some things, google maps for example, didn't have the option of moving over, so maybe some of these will stick..
I was one danergously low on internal storage, but if i can move things over, I will.

jason504 said:
Go into developer options and you can turn it on. You can put majority of your apps on your card. No system apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found it on another screen instead of where I thought it would be. nice. it's working.

Backup the phone

Hi,
I like to know if there's a way to back up the phone without root, if something went wrong, like errors and so. By backup I mean back up all the settings, wallpapers, themes, like the backup we can make with recovery.
Thank you for the help.

soilentgreen said:
Hi,
I like to know if there's a way to back up the phone without root, if something went wrong, like errors and so. By backup I mean back up all the settings, wallpapers, themes, like the backup we can make with recovery.
Thank you for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah comes with samsung backup.

Nick216ohio said:
Yeah comes with samsung backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this is the only way?

soilentgreen said:
And this is the only way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is but this seems like the best so far. This is coming from a person who was die hard titanium backup fan. Actually surprised how well it works.

Nick216ohio said:
There is but this seems like the best so far. This is coming from a person who was die hard titanium backup fan. Actually surprised how well it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share the second best backup?
Thank you.

Also, what is the best order to use Google restore and / or Samsung restore? I used the Samsung cloud Backup for a restore and was rather disappointed ?
So, what is best practice to prepare for a hard reset and restore? I do it this way:
- make backups in all apps that support it, like nova launcher prime, nine email and so on
- do a Samsung Backup
After hard reset, I follow the process and restore when offered, Google and Samsung. However, afaics, no app data is coming back.
Am I holding it wrong? ?

soilentgreen said:
Can you share the second best backup?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 2nd options being other apps from play store. I haven't tried those on this phone. If you're rooted definitely titanium backup.
corwin_amber said:
Also, what is the best order to use Google restore and / or Samsung restore? I used the Samsung cloud Backup for a restore and was rather disappointed ?
So, what is best practice to prepare for a hard reset and restore? I do it this way:
- make backups in all apps that support it, like nova launcher prime, nine email and so on
- do a Samsung Backup
After hard reset, I follow the process and restore when offered, Google and Samsung. However, afaics, no app data is coming back.
Am I holding it wrong? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What disappointed you? No app data coming back is normal. Just like when you do a titanium backup restore. It's adviced to restore with no app data. Because when you do tend to get a lot of issues. Your just getting apps back.

Nick216ohio said:
The 2nd options being other apps from play store. I haven't tried those on this phone. If you're rooted definitely titanium backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not rooted and looking apps from play store.
I would appreciate it if someone could recommend good apps.

Good topic .
For some reason my restoring process is always messed up when I use the Samsung smart switch. Since it restores via smartswitch and then Google restores also.
Moving forward should one have Google back restore enabled and also use smartswitch as well or is it safe to assume smartswitch on its own is adequate?
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

@Nick216ohio Ok, I see. I am just comparing to iOS and even Windows phone / mobile restore. iOS / iCloud restore is brilliant, WP / WM restore depended on App support.
What is the situation like with Android, can apps support app data restore via Google restore?
This whole topic is a little unclear to me, is there a resource where it is explained?
Thanks ?

corwin_amber said:
@Nick216ohio Ok, I see. I am just comparing to iOS and even Windows phone / mobile restore. iOS / iCloud restore is brilliant, WP / WM restore depended on App support.
What is the situation like with Android, can apps support app data restore via Google restore?
This whole topic is a little unclear to me, is there a resource where it is explained?
Thanks ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can restore data, but like I said before causes issues. Like force closes, apps not working right, etc. Wish we could restore data without issues. Just google and you will get clear answer. I am to lazy to explain. Apple does some things better and same with android. They both got +/- overall.
But here's some good news for all of us>
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/1...ow-restore-backed-data-initial-setup-process/

corwin_amber said:
@Nick216ohio Ok, I see. I am just comparing to iOS and even Windows phone / mobile restore. iOS / iCloud restore is brilliant, WP / WM restore depended on App support.
What is the situation like with Android, can apps support app data restore via Google restore?
This whole topic is a little unclear to me, is there a resource where it is explained?
Thanks [emoji847]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple backup and restore is eons ahead of Android backup and restore.
I'm an Android fanboi BTW.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

I rooted last week and so tried to prepare as much as I could for the factory reset step. I don't use Google or Samsung backup for apps, I prefer things local to me (I am too used to TiBu coming from a rooted Note 3).
I backed up the apps that allow an export of setting/content as previously mentioned in this thread (so like Nine email, Signal Messenger etc), I also used Helium backup which stated it backed up most of my apps & data and then I copied all of internal SD to an external one.
I was disappointed with Helium, it restored all apps and data "successfully" however it didn't actually appear to have done anything. After some googling I manually installed the apps it backed up and then proceeded to restore the data...this actually works for some of the apps but I was left with quite a lot that it did not. I ended up cutting my losses and starting fresh with those apps.
I am now rooted and back onto TiBu which is fine until I need to change to a phone that isn't rooted. I have limited experience with anything Apple but from the sounds of it they do a pretty good job at restoring apps and data but I wouldn't be able to cope with how tight the control is on their devices (which is one element that I expect helps with having a more reliable backup solution).

kaos_king said:
I rooted last week and so tried to prepare as much as I could for the factory reset step. I don't use Google or Samsung backup for apps, I prefer things local to me (I am too used to TiBu coming from a rooted Note 3).
I backed up the apps that allow an export of setting/content as previously mentioned in this thread (so like Nine email, Signal Messenger etc), I also used Helium backup which stated it backed up most of my apps & data and then I copied all of internal SD to an external one.
I was disappointed with Helium, it restored all apps and data "successfully" however it didn't actually appear to have done anything. After some googling I manually installed the apps it backed up and then proceeded to restore the data...this actually works for some of the apps but I was left with quite a lot that it did not. I ended up cutting my losses and starting fresh with those apps.
I am now rooted and back onto TiBu which is fine until I need to change to a phone that isn't rooted. I have limited experience with anything Apple but from the sounds of it they do a pretty good job at restoring apps and data but I wouldn't be able to cope with how tight the control is on their devices (which is one element that I expect helps with having a more reliable backup solution).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This story reminds me a bit of my own.
I'm an Apple AND Android user and just recently got a lot more into using both for the given areas where they excel...
Well, fun fact is that I'm considering going with a Note 9 when it launches and I want to try my luck in staying unrooted there, certainly staying on stock ROM (because I would like to use the SPen to its full extent and many things that Samsung does incorporate into their ROM attract me... Please don't shoot. )
Either way, upon researching backing up Android rooted or not rooted I found out it's an absolute crap shoot on this side of the fence and it'd be incredibly hilarious if it wasn't so sad.
I also doubt Google has any big incentive to fix it, they'd much rather fix cloud backups gluing you to their ecosystem. Pulling a good old Apple. :silly:
The fact is, as far as I found out, please correct me if I'm wrong, the issue is mostly that app developers must flag their apps as allowing to be backed up/not flag it's disallowed. (I read that not setting the flag is treated like a default no, but that's up to the version of the ROM/base Android, this may differ. I do not know)
Apparently, plenty enough apps use that liberty and whilst there is such a flag in iOS as well it's limited to stuff like login credentials afaik.
The general problem here I think is that the history of personal computers and smartphones is not only diagonally aligned chronologically, but also many technologies in smartphones matured as they had become a mass medium for practically the - excuse the blunt wording - dumbest of users. That and the general philosophy of SMART phones (read: it does a lot, but it's easy, it does things for you) and the approachability aspect.
My personal opinion is that this whole mess complicated backups needlessly and could be solved, but I don't want to get overly technical right now at 10pm.

Glassed Silver said:
This story reminds me a bit of my own.
I'm an Apple AND Android user and just recently got a lot more into using both for the given areas where they excel...
Well, fun fact is that I'm considering going with a Note 9 when it launches and I want to try my luck in staying unrooted there, certainly staying on stock ROM (because I would like to use the SPen to its full extent and many things that Samsung does incorporate into their ROM attract me... Please don't shoot. )
Either way, upon researching backing up Android rooted or not rooted I found out it's an absolute crap shoot on this side of the fence and it'd be incredibly hilarious if it wasn't so sad.
I also doubt Google has any big incentive to fix it, they'd much rather fix cloud backups gluing you to their ecosystem. Pulling a good old Apple. :silly:
The fact is, as far as I found out, please correct me if I'm wrong, the issue is mostly that app developers must flag their apps as allowing to be backed up/not flag it's disallowed. (I read that not setting the flag is treated like a default no, but that's up to the version of the ROM/base Android, this may differ. I do not know)
Apparently, plenty enough apps use that liberty and whilst there is such a flag in iOS as well it's limited to stuff like login credentials afaik.
The general problem here I think is that the history of personal computers and smartphones is not only diagonally aligned chronologically, but also many technologies in smartphones matured as they had become a mass medium for practically the - excuse the blunt wording - dumbest of users. That and the general philosophy of SMART phones (read: it does a lot, but it's easy, it does things for you) and the approachability aspect.
My personal opinion is that this whole mess complicated backups needlessly and could be solved, but I don't want to get overly technical right now at 22pm.
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Click to collapse
Yep , just thank God for smartswitch. Before that it was even worse!
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

there could be possibly another way, try the cloning apps, like App Cloner, they modify apps before cloning them, and one option is to make the app store its data outside the system directories, in the internal storage, thus your able to save the apps data easily, but i have not fully tired and there are other limitations and enabling too many clone options = random crashes and bugs.
it depends on how important app data backup is for you.
limitations are, every time app updates versions, you must reclone if you need the updates, apps may not work properly.
there are heaps of cool tweaks you can do and i always clone apps that i know I won't need to update much.

Limeybastard said:
Yep , just thank God for smartswitch. Before that it was even worse!
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worse? Didn't Kies backup apps at all?
Also, is Smart Switch at least better than any other solution that isn't Titanium Backup? I guess another way to wird this question is:
How is Smart Switch different than other solutions? (also, does it use adb or is it proprietary Samsung technology because Samsung customized the ROM to begin with)
COULD it become better?
I'm really interested in getting the next Note phone, but damn having to root just to get proper backups irks me.
Afaik Samsung doesn't like to service rooted devices, pulling an Apple here, but that may be wrong or outdated info?
Also you apparently lose Knox/Secure Folder?
Does rooting on Samsung's flagships require a custom kernel like you need with Sony's Xperia (currently rocking an Xperia X and the rooting procedure is a joke)
sonhy said:
there could be possibly another way, try the cloning apps, like App Cloner, they modify apps before cloning them, and one option is to make the app store its data outside the system directories, in the internal storage, thus your able to save the apps data easily, but i have not fully tired and there are other limitations and enabling too many clone options = random crashes and bugs.
it depends on how important app data backup is for you.
limitations are, every time app updates versions, you must reclone if you need the updates, apps may not work properly.
there are heaps of cool tweaks you can do and i always clone apps that i know I won't need to update much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Way too much fussing about.
Guess the ball is in Samsung's court, but they seem to agree with the stance that a developer should be able to disallow me to rule against my freedom to do with my personal data as I please. Boo...

Maze Alpha X shipped with adware?

Accidentally I stumbled upon the folder gangyun and pref_storekeytool inside.
I scanned the Maze with an antivirus scanner and beautysnap.apk was reported as adware.
I guess beautysnap.apk is part of the system camera?
Unfortunately no app can beautify me, so I would like to delete this app. Is it safe to do it?
TIA

bestunameever said:
Accidentally I stumbled upon the folder gangyun and pref_storekeytool inside.
I scanned the Maze with an antivirus scanner and beautysnap.apk was reported as adware.
I guess beautysnap.apk is part of the system camera?
Unfortunately no app can beautify me, so I would like to delete this app. Is it safe to do it?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What virus scanner did you use? I've just received my Maze Alpha X. There are some bad things about this phone, I'm a bit disappointed. The worst in my case is that the front camera doesn't work. It's like there's no camera at all.

Yeah unfortunately this phone is loaded with precarious apps, adupsfota for instance disguised as the ota wireless update is full of dodgy adware/spyware and if you look at the permissions your see just how worrying it is, it has permission to access banking apps, android pay, key-logger, microphone, camera the list goes on, I've disabled it several times but it manages to re-enable itself. Beautysnap is also a bad one which I have managed to disable for good, LocationEM2 is another suspect app, Fotaprovider which is also adups related. Basically this phone really needs an alternative kernel/custom rom before it can be safely used but as far as I'm aware there isn't one as yet.
The CPU usage is always very high too which is not a great sign, not good at all, I'm surprised Amazon can sell phones in this state tbh.

McSwifty said:
Yeah unfortunately this phone is loaded with precarious apps, adupsfota for instance disguised as the ota wireless update is full of dodgy adware/spyware and if you look at the permissions your see just how worrying it is, it has permission to access banking apps, android pay, key-logger, microphone, camera the list goes on, I've disabled it several times but it manages to re-enable itself. Beautysnap is also a bad one which I have managed to disable for good, LocationEM2 is another suspect app, Fotaprovider which is also adups related. Basically this phone really needs an alternative kernel/custom rom before it can be safely used but as far as I'm aware there isn't one as yet.
The CPU usage is always very high too which is not a great sign, not good at all, I'm surprised Amazon can sell phones in this state tbh.
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Could you please say what scanner did you use?

dangerous666 said:
Could you please say what scanner did you use?
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Click to collapse
Ive used a few but the adware/malware/spyware that the phone has installed as standard on the kernal/rom it's shipped with are installed as system apps with the exception of beautysnap so you need to go through them manually. I used an app called SystemPanel2, it's a great app that gives you a really complete overview of whats running on your phone and what not, it can record system processes, memory, battery and cpu usage over a period of time as well as network stats.

McSwifty said:
Ive used a few but the adware/malware/spyware that the phone has installed as standard on the kernal/rom it's shipped with are installed as system apps with the exception of beautysnap so you need to go through them manually. I used an app called SystemPanel2, it's a great app that gives you a really complete overview of whats running on your phone and what not, it can record system processes, memory, battery and cpu usage over a period of time as well as network stats.
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Click to collapse
I couldn't be able to find those suspicious apps. I've run a bunch of virus/malwares scanner, nothing reported. I've installed SystemPanel2 and I didn't find the processes you list. I believe our phones run different firmwares. I've got mine from Gear Best.

dangerous666 said:
I couldn't be able to find those suspicious apps. I've run a bunch of virus/malwares scanner, nothing reported. I've installed SystemPanel2 and I didn't find the processes you list. I believe our phones run different firmwares. I've got mine from Gear Best.
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Click to collapse
Under your Wireless Update system app what does it say? On mine for instance is says "com.adups.fota". If your firmware is good/clean then that's a good sign that if I put a fresh stock rom on here it should be fine, I was thinking maybe all the maze alpha firmware's were affected.

My com.adups.fota "seems" to be clean.
For hibernating apps on my rooted Alpha X I use SD Maid Pro.
Under app control you set several things
A) Hibernate the app
B) Disallow start on boot
C) Look up where all the files of the app are located
D) Remove app completely
E) etc

bestunameever said:
My com.adups.fota "seems" to be clean.
For hibernating apps on my rooted Alpha X I use SD Maid Pro.
Under app control you set several things
A) Hibernate the app
B) Disallow start on boot
C) Look up where all the files of the app are located
D) Remove app completely
E) etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such thing as clean addups I'm afraid dude.
A newly discovered malicious app is found on China-made mobile devices running the Android OS. This is a baked-in system app used to update the device’s firmware but is found to also steal personal information, among other things. A blog is recently published about this malware by Kryptowire.
Already we have had inquiries on whether we detect Adups or not. The answer to that is I believe we do. You see, the app in question, which goes by the package name of com.adups.fota, has a couple of variants. There is an older version seen around 2014 and a newer version that emerged mid-2016. This older version we detect and have done so since 2014. I can verify that this older version was indeed pre-installed on various Chinese mobile devices bought cheaply on online stores, mainly Amazon. I know this because ever since we started detecting this older version of com.adups.fota, we have received support tickets periodically about why we are detecting a system app that cannot be uninstall—I’ll get to how to address this later.
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https://blog.malwarebytes.com/cybercrime/2016/11/mobile-menace-monday-adups-old-and-new/
I want to know if theirs a firmware for the Maze Alpha and the Alpha X without addups baked in, I hope so because it's a great phone otherwise.