Memory Up NOT malware... - G1 Apps and Games

according to this http://www.googleandblog.com/ there is nothing malicious about the Memory Up app, it just simply doesn't work.
so are literally hundreds of people liars, did they all jump on the bandwagon when someone's phone ****ed up, or was everyone just really unlucky?
"Google then investigated and declared their results, “We have investigated and determined that MemoryUp is not malware. In the versions we tested, MemoryUp cannot perform any of the malicious things it is reported to have done."
or is this article lying? Oo

What the press fails to realize is that Android Market comment posters are simply dumb. These are the same people that claimed Mono made their phone faster, and the ones randomly rating apps one star asking for Cupcake and Flash.
If it was malware, then there would be a serious problem with Android's security mechanism. Google would be scurrying to release a patch to fix the vulnerability it exploited. Thing is, the program doesn't even have the privileges to do the things it is said to do.

Related

Are the current Fire 7 Tablets being sold still rootable? [11-24-2017]

I've been reading threads and am seeing some conflicting information.
Some people say you have to downgrade first.
Some people say you can't root it at all.
Not sure what to believe? Really would like to buy one now that they are on sale.
Thank you so much.
CircularApex said:
I've been reading threads and am seeing some conflicting information.
Some people say you have to downgrade first.
Some people say you can't root it at all.
Not sure what to believe? Really would like to buy one now that they are on sale.
Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no root for 7th gen fire(s) on any firmware version
sd_shadow said:
no root for 7th gen fire(s) on any firmware version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
Well, dang! Hope someone finds a way soon
miztrniceguy said:
Well, dang! Hope someone finds a way soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't hold your breath. Recent FireOS builds benefit from an effort to clean up sloppy (Android) code by Google and others following several high profile security lapses.
sadly, in my brief search about installing stock android on a Fire 7 didn't reveal that the results were talking about older versions, not the current version I got delivered today for $30.
---------- Post added at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------
Currently perusing thread by Savvytechwinner about bloatware removal tool to see if compatible
miztrniceguy said:
sadly, in my brief search about installing stock android on a Fire 7 didn't reveal that the results were talking about older versions, not the current version I got delivered today for $30.
---------- Post added at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------
Currently perusing thread by Savvytechwinner about bloatware removal tool to see if compatible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlikely unless your device arrived with FireOS 5.4.0.1 or lower. Keep in mind Amazon's generous return policy while considering alternatives. You'll be able to install Google's Play Store which is something if you can live with FireOS and a heavy suite of preinstalled apps.
For the statistics:
I bought a Fire Gen 5 from Amazon.de Warehouse that came with 5.3.3.0
Davey126 said:
Unlikely unless your device arrived with FireOS 5.4.0.1 or lower. Keep in mind Amazon's generous return policy while considering alternatives. You'll be able to install Google's Play Store which is something if you can live with FireOS and a heavy suite of preinstalled apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure what it had at first, but as soon as I connected to wifi during setup it updated to 5.4.0.0
I tried several times to interrupt the process but could not. It briefly flashes a "not now" right after you put in wifi password, but doesn't work. 3 times I powered down during the downloading process, booted to recovery, factory restore, and started over. i didn't try pulling power to wifi, but I might at a future date to see what happens. In the mean time I was able to install Google Play.
What version did you receive?
bought a blue one on friday that has 5.4.0.0 preinstalled ??
I turned off the WiFi at the router while it was downloading the update (eg right after it started the process) and it popped up a dialog that said that my connection was slow and it would continue downloading in the background. I still had to turn the WiFi on to complete the setup process after I got that far, but I kept turning it off between steps (and in particular right after it finished the whole thing about getting account details and all.) It never updated the system. So mine is still at the 5.4.0.0 it arrived running. It wants to update, but can't seem to if I'm keeping it busy. Hopefully it won't sneak and do it later. So I guess this method at least works to get you started.
It seems there is a firmware binary for downgrading via adb sideload on the recovery. I'm not sure how safe this is (and mine is still on 5.4.0.0, so I have no reason to flash 5.4.0.0 to it.) KingRoot says a root is available, but it sticks at 1% so I guess it's not working. I'm trying the "updated tools" posted in this forum here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/help/fire-7-2017-7th-gen-downgrade-debloat-t3699937 and so far everything is saying "success." It doesn't include a root option though. It does say it blocks the OTA updates? It uses adb uninstall from the user level, so I'm not sure how effective that is. Guess it can't hurt anything anyway. Isn't 5.4.0.0 rootable? EDIT: KingRoot now no longer shows a root option. With OTA updater removed I can't get to the system section that shows the current OS version (since they don't have a proper "about" page with actual details.) Maybe it did manage to sneak that update through. (I think it was 5.4.0.1 that it was trying to do first.) EDIT2: Kept retrying KingRoot and suddenly the root option appears again. I think maybe the method it uses is unreliable or something. This time around it didn't freeze at 1% but still did take a long time there. In fact, it's very slow the whole way through (I haven't the slightest clue what it's doing. Normally rooting doesn't take very long on any device, but I guess it depends on the exploit used. It seemed to me more like this was downloading a significant amount of data rather than trying exploits though.) Didn't work though. I saw someone else say it can't be rooted from anything past 5.3.3 something? I guess you can't downgrade to that though or people would already be doing it.
(To be clear, I'm not a fan of KingRoot -- I consider it bloatware and potentially dangerous -- but it seems a lot of Amazon Fire users are using it, so I have to presume it at least is somewhat reliable for them.)
Anyway, at least with all this it has the Play Store, an optional debloat that removes Amazon apps (I may put the app store back just in case, but most of it is a bit excessive IMO,) it removes the ads, and it offers a means of changing the default launcher (sort of. It hijacks anyway. The end result is close enough if a bit messy I guess.)
BTW, as a tip from someone who's used to seeking out lower firmware systems in general, don't buy straight from the source or a "fast" place that goes through stock quickly and doesn't keep a lot at a time (since everything is so automated) like Amazon. Go to a brick and mortar store like Walmart, Target, etc etc. Even online they are more likely to have backstock that has been sitting on a shelf for an unknown length of time. There are never any guarantees, but this does increase your chances of getting something older.
Nazo said:
I turned off the WiFi at the router while it was downloading the update (eg right after it started the process) and it popped up a dialog that said that my connection was slow and it would continue downloading in the background. I still had to turn the WiFi on to complete the setup process after I got that far, but I kept turning it off between steps (and in particular right after it finished the whole thing about getting account details and all.) It never updated the system. So mine is still at the 5.4.0.0 it arrived running. It wants to update, but can't seem to if I'm keeping it busy. Hopefully it won't sneak and do it later. So I guess this method at least works to get you started.
It seems there is a firmware binary for downgrading via adb sideload on the recovery. I'm not sure how safe this is (and mine is still on 5.4.0.0, so I have no reason to flash 5.4.0.0 to it.) KingRoot says a root is available, but it sticks at 1% so I guess it's not working. I'm trying the "updated tools" posted in this forum here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/help/fire-7-2017-7th-gen-downgrade-debloat-t3699937 and so far everything is saying "success." It doesn't include a root option though. It does say it blocks the OTA updates? It uses adb uninstall from the user level, so I'm not sure how effective that is. Guess it can't hurt anything anyway. Isn't 5.4.0.0 rootable? EDIT: KingRoot now no longer shows a root option. With OTA updater removed I can't get to the system section that shows the current OS version (since they don't have a proper "about" page with actual details.) Maybe it did manage to sneak that update through. (I think it was 5.4.0.1 that it was trying to do first.) EDIT2: Kept retrying KingRoot and suddenly the root option appears again. I think maybe the method it uses is unreliable or something. This time around it didn't freeze at 1% but still did take a long time there. In fact, it's very slow the whole way through (I haven't the slightest clue what it's doing. Normally rooting doesn't take very long on any device, but I guess it depends on the exploit used. It seemed to me more like this was downloading a significant amount of data rather than trying exploits though.) Didn't work though. I saw someone else say it can't be rooted from anything past 5.3.3 something? I guess you can't downgrade to that though or people would already be doing it.
(To be clear, I'm not a fan of KingRoot -- I consider it bloatware and potentially dangerous -- but it seems a lot of Amazon Fire users are using it, so I have to presume it at least is somewhat reliable for them.)
Anyway, at least with all this it has the Play Store, an optional debloat that removes Amazon apps (I may put the app store back just in case, but most of it is a bit excessive IMO,) it removes the ads, and it offers a means of changing the default launcher (sort of. It hijacks anyway. The end result is close enough if a bit messy I guess.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- no root exploit is available above FireOS 5.3.1
- FireOS 5.3.2.1 and above cannot be rolled back to a rootable build
- KingRoot is a POS that has no idea it is running on FireOS; the algorithm that tests for various vulnerabilities is unreliable at best; runs the entire gambit of suspected Android 5.1.1 exploits many of which are irrelevant
- you will need to perform a 'factory reset' from stock recovery or sideload FireOS 5.4.0.0 to restore any of the apps/functionality the debloat script killed; you'll loose the OTA block and have to go through the same WiFi toggle hoops documented above; you can also block access to access to Amazon's OTA update servers if you scare up the current URL/IPV4/IPV6 list (always changing)
Nazo said:
BTW, as a tip from someone who's used to seeking out lower firmware systems in general, don't buy straight from the source or a "fast" place that goes through stock quickly and doesn't keep a lot at a time (since everything is so automated) like Amazon. Go to a brick and mortar store like Walmart, Target, etc etc. Even online they are more likely to have backstock that has been sitting on a shelf for an unknown length of time. There are never any guarantees, but this does increase your chances of getting something older.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep - purposely snagged a handful early build 5th gen Fire's at a flagging B&M 6 months after they were released. All were rocking FireOS 5.0.1 which supports booting TWRP. First boot was to a custom ROM; never saw FireOS.
Davey126 said:
- no root exploit is available above FireOS 5.3.1
- FireOS 5.3.2.1 and above cannot be rolled back to a rootable build
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought I had confirmed elsewhere, but I really hoped I was wrong.
- KingRoot is a POS that has no idea it is running on FireOS; the algorithm that tests for various vulnerabilities is unreliable at best; runs the entire gambit of suspected Android 5.1.1 exploits many of which are irrelevant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I always avoid it if I can, but thought if anything out there would have it it would be that. Presumably once root is established (assuming it's a true root) it's no longer needed. Well, since it doesn't work it's not needed either. Already uninstalled, lol. I trust it about as much as I'd trust a snake oil salesman who says he also is running a new bank system with my money.
- you will need to perform a 'factory reset' from stock recovery or sideload FireOS 5.4.0.0 to restore any of the apps/functionality the debloat script killed; you'll loose the OTA block and have to go through the same WiFi toggle hoops documented above; you can also block access to access to Amazon's OTA update servers if you scare up the current URL/IPV4/IPV6 list (always changing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, blocking it isn't as easy as you think. Many routers (sadly, mine included) do not have any options to block stuff like this. That would, of course, be too easy. Naturally you could block DNS addresses with root on Android, but that... needs root... But the OTA update tool is more harm than good regardless. The only single thing it does that isn't actually harmful is just showing the current system version. All the rest is just harmful. At least from the perspective of someone who doesn't want a super locked-down device.
I don't think I'd ever want to, but given that those apps are still technically present (hence the reason a factory reset restores them) I do wonder if you can't just access them directly from the ROM itself? I suppose if you could get to the actual APK files you could install those. But stuff like the Amazon AppStore has an official downloadable APK, so there's no real problem there.
Yep - purposely snagged a handful early build 5th gen Fire's at a flagging B&M 6 months after they were released. All were rocking FireOS 5.0.1 which supports booting TWRP. First boot was to a custom ROM; never saw FireOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind of depressing that we'll probably never see an unlocked bootloader, much less a true custom ROM.
Nazo said:
I don't think I'd ever want to, but given that those apps are still technically present (hence the reason a factory reset restores them) I do wonder if you can't just access them directly from the ROM itself? I suppose if you could get to the actual APK files you could install those. But stuff like the Amazon AppStore has an official downloadable APK, so there's no real problem there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem arises during installation as ROM sees a variant is already installed but does not have permission to update/replace it. Same for read/execute access. Relevant permissions are associated with Android user profiles which are inaccessible with the level of access permitted on a locked down device.
The batch script uses uninstall. Would it be better to simply disable? I don't like the idea that something might let the OTA updater run though. In my experience some apps -- particularly certain system apps -- can still background run after disabling them. (For example, on a device that didn't support NFC I was disabling the NFC service because, well, why do I need a NFC service on something with no NFC? Yet even with it disabled it was always running every time I ever checked.) I don't relish the idea of starting over, but it would be better now before I've seriously started rather than later.
Nazo said:
The batch script uses uninstall. Would it be better to simply disable? I don't like the idea that something might let the OTA updater run though. In my experience some apps -- particularly certain system apps -- can still background run after disabling them. (For example, on a device that didn't support NFC I was disabling the NFC service because, well, why do I need a NFC service on something with no NFC? Yet even with it disabled it was always running every time I ever checked.) I don't relish the idea of starting over, but it would be better now before I've seriously started rather than later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't disable most 'system' apps on a Lollipop era unrooted ROM. And - as you observed Android has full permission to reenable any app. Uninstall is the best workaround for a device with limited user permissions. For obvious reasons Amazon blocked the behavior/command in FireOS 5.4.0.1 and above. It is unlikely their engineers will look back to older releases with an eye toward reversing OTA blocks on a minuscule community of devices.
I guess the best thing to do is to edit that batch file to not completely remove a few basics like the Amazon app store itself. I didn't really understand why it removed everything Amazon entirely, not just the actual bloaty stuff. EDIT: I guess this is worth the effort anyway because it's removing stuff like the standard Android contacts even. Not sure why they'd do that. BTW, if anyone else decides to do this it seems "Venezia" is the package for the Amazon app store.
EDIT2: Waugh! I got a bit tap happy there after a factory reset. I tried to hit the "continue" button more than once because it was so slow to load the next page I thought I mistapped. When it got to the wifi selection screen there was at least momentarily the "not now" button available and because I had tapped that extra time in that exact spot it actually went through to the "not now" button and let me skip the setup... So now it doesn't even have a configured WiFi and still let me get to the home screen and everything. This is sort of a better way to anyone who can manage it.
Maybe this method actually requires an initial setup -- maybe it sets some bit somewhere that doesn't clear with a factory reset. Since you can factory reset from the recovery menu, I imagine you could try this if it manages to download the update and reboots to apply it. (Well, I guess the question is if it applies before or after the reboot, but I'd have to assume after since it must surely modify things that are in use.)
PS. After this factory reset I see that it definitely never let an OTA update through. It's still on 5.4.0.0. Well, I suspected as much but couldn't verify before. Since it has no wifi even configured this time around it doesn't even know there is an update waiting just yet. I'll fix that soon enough.
EDIT3: I made a modified version of that batch file where I tried to identify things a bit more and be slightly less extreme in my removals. I used pm hide on a few where it's slightly more questionable since it's not as hard to fix as an uninstall (though, as discussed it's questionable whether they'll actually STAY disabled.
I read that "hide" is a bit more thorough in many ways though and the ones I used hide on I think are slightly less likely to bypass the disabling.) I don't see why the original creator removed some very basic Android apps like the e-mail and clock apps. There are alternatives, but these are as small and minimal as it gets, so it seems pretty weird and extreme to remove them. (I would definitely say it would be better to disable even if you don't want them.) While I was at it I did a hide only version since that's "safer" overall, though a lot of stuff may still bypass it obviously. (It may be best to actually remove the updates rather than hiding them.) I didn't feel like making a more thorough one that actually asks on each or something. (Going for minimal work here, lol.) The hide version seems to not work though atm and I have no idea why. (It only shows the status for a few things and most of the icons are still there despite a lack of any errors.)
Input is welcome since I just modified their batch file as simply as I could and was very unsure about a lot of things.
@Nazo - a couple quick comments regarding your previous post:
- in recent FireOS builds queued OTA updates get applied early in the boot process before UI is presented
- pm hide is not durable and easily reversed; I believe Amazon crippled the command in FireOS 5.3.x.x and above (possibly a rev or two earlier)
Davey126 said:
- in recent FireOS builds queued OTA updates get applied early in the boot process before UI is presented
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That wouldn't be before recovery though surely. (Actually, if I were to guess I'd assume it's a recovery automatic update type thing? I don't know if holding the button for the recovery menu would beat this or not, but I would assume so since otherwise you could have a permanent brick if a boot loop occurred in a broken update or something.)
- pm hide is not durable and easily reversed; I believe Amazon crippled the command in FireOS 5.3.x.x and above (possibly a rev or two earlier)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems so. It looks like pm hide basically doesn't work at all to put it simply. A couple of apps were disabled and that's it. In the end only uninstall has any sort of reliability whatsoever. Too bad it's such a messy solution. I really wish someone would figure out a way to root this thing.

Getting Greenify to work with the Fire 7

So I didn't expect it to have the greatest battery life in the world. I'm coming from a Nexus 7 2013 edition (just wanted something cheap to carry around -- I'd be very upset if my Nexus 7 was dropped and broken or stolen in public whereas this $30 tablet won't exactly cause me to lose any sleep if it does, but I need to be able to read and otherwise pass breaktime at work) so I'm used to it lasting almost a week on a full charge since all I do is simple stuff like reading with a relatively low backlight even. I noticed my new Fire 7 is going down so much faster that it will surely be a problem (I guess 20-30% a day?) Now, of course, the Nexus 7 has a significantly larger battery. However, its ~5-7% compared to this thing's ~20-30% is not to scale. One big difference though is the Nexus 7 gets to run a clean LineageOS setup with a rooted Greenify (actually I have Xposed, but lately the module doesn't work without explanation. That's an issue for another time though.) The battery is purportedly a 2980mAh versus the 3950mAh in the Nexus 7, so at 75% the capacity I wouldn't expect it to get 1/4th the run time. I'm hoping Greenify can help. Unfortunately, Greenify is not working at all.
Firstly it seems you must manually grant a bunch of permissions for certain things. During initial setup it tells you to grant one and sends you to the settings, but it doesn't send you to whichever part of the settings it actually means for you to change. (I'm guessing something that isn't present on this thing's modified non-standard system settings app.) Now, they give you instructions on how to manually grant certain permissions via adb, but it doesn't mention that particular permission. It seems also that the accessibility service that it uses for hibernating isn't actually working because it pops up a message. However, that could be related to the more serious problem at hand: it doesn't work at all. When I press the hibernate button, it does nothing. Literally nothing. (Which makes me wonder if it's just saying that because of its failure when it tries to automatically hibernate.) Without root access obviously it is much more limited in what it can do, but it should still do something. The guide only has you grant DUMP, READ_LOGS, and WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS. These are intended for features like accurate app state detection rather than basic operation though. I have no idea what it wants on initial setup since it's not specific at all.
Actually, I think it's not actually granting the permissions at all in the first place. I manually grant those three via adb as it says and pm doesn't say anything back. Regardless, Greenify is unable to do anything at all -- it never hibernates any apps even when run manually. I'm not sure how effective it will be without root, but I'd still like to get it working if at all possible. Still, it officially supports rootless systems, so I don't really understand why it's unable to do anything at all. Even the most basic functionality should work at least (though if it only acts as a task killer it may do more harm than good. Hard to say since I can't even get it to do that much even.)
Any idea what I'm missing?
Nazo said:
So I didn't expect it to have the greatest battery life in the world. I'm coming from a Nexus 7 2013 edition (just wanted something cheap to carry around -- I'd be very upset if my Nexus 7 was dropped and broken or stolen in public whereas this $30 tablet won't exactly cause me to lose any sleep if it does, but I need to be able to read and otherwise pass breaktime at work) so I'm used to it lasting almost a week on a full charge since all I do is simple stuff like reading with a relatively low backlight even. I noticed my new Fire 7 is going down so much faster that it will surely be a problem (I guess 20-30% a day?) Now, of course, the Nexus 7 has a significantly larger battery. However, its ~5-7% compared to this thing's ~20-30% is not to scale. One big difference though is the Nexus 7 gets to run a clean LineageOS setup with a rooted Greenify (actually I have Xposed, but lately the module doesn't work without explanation. That's an issue for another time though.) The battery is purportedly a 2980mAh versus the 3950mAh in the Nexus 7, so at 75% the capacity I wouldn't expect it to get 1/4th the run time. I'm hoping Greenify can help. Unfortunately, Greenify is not working at all.
Firstly it seems you must manually grant a bunch of permissions for certain things. During initial setup it tells you to grant one and sends you to the settings, but it doesn't send you to whichever part of the settings it actually means for you to change. (I'm guessing something that isn't present on this thing's modified non-standard system settings app.) Now, they give you instructions on how to manually grant certain permissions via adb, but it doesn't mention that particular permission. It seems also that the accessibility service that it uses for hibernating isn't actually working because it pops up a message. However, that could be related to the more serious problem at hand: it doesn't work at all. When I press the hibernate button, it does nothing. Literally nothing. (Which makes me wonder if it's just saying that because of its failure when it tries to automatically hibernate.) Without root access obviously it is much more limited in what it can do, but it should still do something. The guide only has you grant DUMP, READ_LOGS, and WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS. These are intended for features like accurate app state detection rather than basic operation though. I have no idea what it wants on initial setup since it's not specific at all.
Actually, I think it's not actually granting the permissions at all in the first place. I manually grant those three via adb as it says and pm doesn't say anything back. Regardless, Greenify is unable to do anything at all -- it never hibernates any apps even when run manually. I'm not sure how effective it will be without root, but I'd still like to get it working if at all possible. Still, it officially supports rootless systems, so I don't really understand why it's unable to do anything at all. Even the most basic functionality should work at least (though if it only acts as a task killer it may do more harm than good. Hard to say since I can't even get it to do that much even.)
Any idea what I'm missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my experience, Greenify doesn't work too well with these tablets. If you are on 5.4.0.1 or later, I would try Brevent.
I'm on 5.4.0.0. Given how much more restrictive 5.4.0.1+ is I've removed the OTA update apps so it won't go up.
Nazo said:
I'm on 5.4.0.0. Given how much more restrictive 5.4.0.1+ is I've removed the OTA update apps so it won't go up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a note: on the 7 tablets, you can downgrade from 5.4.0.1 back to 5.4.0.0.
I know that. So?

M21 says it is up-to-date when it isn't

Hello,
My M21 says it is up-to-date, but it isn't and I can't figure out why. I've even gone so far as to do a full factory reset, and still it won't update. The factory reset was the last option I knew.
Alot of google-searches resulted in the feeling that this is an isolated case.
Samsung Switch on PC also says the phone is up to date.
All my colleagues (it is a company phone) have the same model, and they have all received the updates long ago.
I've added screenshots of the software-information it is showing.
If anyone knows a solution to this, please let me know.
Thanks for any replies or clues anybody might give.
Lol, if I was you I would disable OTA updates!
If the OS is fast, stable and fulfilling its mission... let it be! Upgrades can and do break things.
No rollback from 11 as it upgrades the bootloader version too. Let that soak in; it's a one way ticket once punched Mr Wick... consequences.
Android 9/10 best, Android 11* so-so, Android 12* is a mess... in my opinion.
With Pie and higher you are protected from the worst rootkits. Unless you do something stupid security and malware won't be an issue.
*do you really want cpu cycle sucking scoped storage fully active? Some apps like the old free version of WPS Office will most likely not load.
I was actually hoping that the update would fix some of the inconveniences I've noticed since I started using it.
Things like:
Random restarts while the phone is doing nothing, needing me to enter the PIN for both SIM's. Like in the middle of the night. The alarm still goes off in the morning, however it goes of at max volume... Or in the middle of a run (i use the phone for sports tracking), causing me to lose the workout data.
Random disconnects from bluetooth devices
Sometimes slowdowns for no apparant reason
Incredibly slow camera
This is a company phone, and before this I had a personal Nokia 8.1. Transitioning to the M21 just feels like a step back. It's slower and has more buggy behavior. I was hoping the updates would fix it, because rooting is against company policy.
And this is apart from the security updates that haven't come through since october 2020, while all colleagues with the same phone did get those updates.
And I'm also just curious why this one says it has the most recent updates, while it clearly doesn't. Whether I choose to install those updates is another matter. It just doesn't give me the choise.
NCC369 said:
I was actually hoping that the update would fix some of the inconveniences I've noticed since I started using it.
Things like:
Random restarts while the phone is doing nothing, needing me to enter the PIN for both SIM's. Like in the middle of the night. The alarm still goes off in the morning, however it goes of at max volume... Or in the middle of a run (i use the phone for sports tracking), causing me to lose the workout data.
Random disconnects from bluetooth devices
Sometimes slowdowns for no apparant reason
Incredibly slow camera
This is a company phone, and before this I had a personal Nokia 8.1. Transitioning to the M21 just feels like a step back. It's slower and has more buggy behavior. I was hoping the updates would fix it, because rooting is against company policy.
And this is apart from the security updates that haven't come through since october 2020, while all colleagues with the same phone did get those updates.
And I'm also just curious why this one says it has the most recent updates, while it clearly doesn't. Whether I choose to install those updates is another matter. It just doesn't give me the choise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a stable load. I don't blame you for wanting to ditch it if that's the best it can do.
I never get random reboots or the rare crashes I see seldom require a reboot.
Make sure global power management is disable and that a 3rd party app isn't the cause.
It's possible that the firmware is corrupted; a reflash to the same rom might be a safer option.
Or you could try flashing the next OS version up... avoid 12 though. Lots of reported issues across the board with it, and lots of people doing rollbacks to ditch it.
This will probably get time intensive.

Question Issue since updating - whatsapp & android auto

Just updated my s21ultra last week. Android 13
Since updating im having the following issue.
Usually if ive just taken a photo or downloaded a image online. When in the process of sending it to a contact in whatsapp 'pressing the camera symbol in a chat' ..the image ive just downloaded use to appear first.
For some reason this is no longer the case...how can this be resolved???
Check permissions. Try clearing the cache or data. Clear system cache on the boot menu.
It might be on WhatsApp end, not up to speed.
It's never a good idea to load any social media apps on the device. Access them through browser login only. WhatsApp, FB, Tiktok are some of the worst. Invasive at best, outright malware at worst.
Always a ongoing security risk.
Thanks this resolved the issue..
I also have another issue..
Android auto - when plugging into my ford via usb, its stating usb not responding/detected on my ford screen. It was working fine prior to updating.
Some sort of setting blocking me out?
Jayar10 said:
Thanks this resolved the issue..
I also have another issue..
Android auto - when plugging into my ford via usb, its stating usb not responding/detected on my ford screen. It was working fine prior to updating.
Some sort of setting blocking me out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What resolved it?
No idea but again it's likely a setting or another needed future update. Trust me there'll be more.
Was it worth all this trouble? Although 12 is no gem either.
This one reason I run N10+'s and don't go higher than Android 10; both Samsung and Google been putting out subpar products now for at least 3 design cycles. Google continues to use scare tactics about security to the point where they are crippling the devices and usability. I see no end to this hype rather than performance driven marketing from both these corporations.
blackhawk said:
What resolved it?
No idea but again it's likely a setting or another needed future update. Trust me there'll be more.
Was it worth all this trouble? Although 12 is no gem either.
This one reason I run N10+'s and don't go higher than Android 10; both Samsung and Google been putting out subpar products now for at least 3 design cycles. Google continues to use scare tactics about security to the point where they are crippling the devices and usability. I see no end to this hype rather than performance driven marketing from both these corporations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Photos permissions was blocked for whatsapp...
No idea why my android auto isnt working!??
Jayar10 said:
Photos permissions was blocked for whatsapp...
No idea why my android auto isnt working!??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afraid not. I never used that app. If it really irritates you and you can't work it out, you can probably roll it back to 12. Try some Google searches include older OS versions and models too. Many issues go back years. Start pouring over the new OS settings; you'll need to anyway.
It helps to have a backup phone.
I got a twin mostly for if this one is down for repairs but also because I committed to using the N10+for another 2-3+ years. I can't depend on either Samsung or Google to be reliable with their product releases anymore so I took control. No more bs.

Question Sometimes apps close as soon as I open them

I bought a Samsung S23+ a week ago. I'm really like it. It's a significant improvement over my old S10.
However, sometimes when I open an app, it immediately closes. It just goes away. No error message, it just disappears. However, tapping on it again brings it up. It isn't consistent which app suddenly closes; it just does. And sometimes it's a major feature of Android, such as Messages. A few times I've tapped on Messages, it starts to come up, then closes immediately. But why does it do that? Is there anything I can do to stop it?
You do a clean load or use SmartSwitch?
Clear system cache.
blackhawk said:
You do a clean load or use SmartSwitch?
Clear system cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, I don't follow you. What do you mean by "clean load" and what's a "SmartSwitch"? What I have done is tried to open an app, like Messages, to have the app initially open, but the immediately close. Not always and not the same app.
And how do I clear the system cache?
Rod F said:
I'm sorry, I don't follow you. What do you mean by "clean load" and what's a "SmartSwitch"? What I have done is tried to open an app, like Messages, to have the app initially open, but the immediately close. Not always and not the same app.
And how do I clear the system cache?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think by "clean load" he means booting up the phone and not restoring any previous backup from google or from the samsung account. Smartswitch is a samsung app that allows you to copy the data from one phone to another. It tends to cause some issues, or carry on issues from the previous smartphones.
I recently traded my N20U for a S23 and used smart switch for i didn't have all my stuff backed up. the phone was overheating and the battery was draining hella fast. I did a clean load and everything is fine; except for this problem of apps closing all of the sudden. Clean loading didn't fixed it for me.
To clear the system cache you have to enter the recovery mode by shutting down your phone and pressing power + volume up until it boots and goes into the recovery mode. From there you can delete the cache. I will try it later and report back.
Today i have received the prompt for the february update, but i am still on january patch.
guile50 said:
I think by "clean load" he means booting up the phone and not restoring any previous backup from google or from the samsung account. Smartswitch is a samsung app that allows you to copy the data from one phone to another. It tends to cause some issues, or carry on issues from the previous smartphones.
I recently traded my N20U for a S23 and used smart switch for i didn't have all my stuff backed up. the phone was overheating and the battery was draining hella fast. I did a clean load and everything is fine; except for this problem of apps closing all of the sudden. Clean loading didn't fixed it for me.
To clear the system cache you have to enter the recovery mode by shutting down your phone and pressing power + volume up until it boots and goes into the recovery mode. From there you can delete the cache. I will try it later and report back.
Today i have received the prompt for the february update, but i am still on january patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly.
Which apps are acting up?
blackhawk said:
Exactly.
Which apps are acting up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Telegram, GBwhatsapp and twitter are very frequent. Once and a while a random app crashes, but happens twice a day at most. IK GB is a modded app but it and none of the other apps displayed this behaviour on my previous phones.
guile50 said:
Telegram, GBwhatsapp and twitter are very frequent. Once and a while a random app crashes, but happens twice a day at most. IK GB is a modded app but it and none of the other apps displayed this behaviour on my previous phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditch them; no social media or sales apps should ever be installed. Multi vector security risks and resource hogs. If you must use them login through a secure browser like Brave only. They simply aren't worth all the trouble they will cause.
Instead of Telegram try the Samsung messaging app. The Samsung app runs well for me, no issues. Not the solution you probably wanted but time to take out the trash... it's stinking up the place.
blackhawk said:
Ditch them; no social media or sales apps should ever be installed. Multi vector security risks and resource hogs. If you must use them login through a secure browser like Brave only. They simply aren't worth all the trouble they will cause.
Instead of Telegram try the Samsung messaging app. The Samsung app runs well for me, no issues. Not the solution you probably wanted but time to take out the trash... it's stinking up the place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While i do understand and agree on the resource and security aspect, and shoulda' coulda' woulda' stopped using them, as i have done in the past and still do to this day with some of them, for a few reasons i need to be using some socials nowadays, and have done so for a few years without much hassle until this phone came in. If i could have ditched them, I wouldn't have come to a forum to figure out a way to fix the issue.
But I'll check how functional the web version of some of my socials work on mobile, for it's been a while i haven't used them and they used to lack functions.
guile50 said:
While i do understand and agree on the resource and security aspect, and shoulda' coulda' woulda' stopped using them, as i have done in the past and still do to this day with some of them, for a few reasons i need to be using some socials nowadays, and have done so for a few years without much hassle until this phone came in. If i could have ditched them, I wouldn't have come to a forum to figure out a way to fix the issue.
But I'll check how functional the web version of some of my socials work on mobile, for it's been a while i haven't used them and they used to lack functions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They tend to be a mess. They probably aren't up to date with the latest Android version or Samsung has some glitches with their new firmware. One reason I don't upgrade firmware or update apps is because the phone is running well. In your case perhaps it's going the be a game of upgrade/update roulette.
Is power management active? Any disabled apps or services? Setting changes to system apps? Is a firewall installed? In Accessibility are there any services installed for those apps? For Android 11 and higher there maybe more settings... Samsung's notorious for burying them.
blackhawk said:
They tend to be a mess. They probably aren't up to date with the latest Android version or Samsung has some glitches with their new firmware. One reason I don't upgrade firmware or update apps is because the phone is running well. In your case perhaps it's going the be a game of upgrade/update roulette.
Is power management active? Any disabled apps or services? Setting changes to system apps? Is a firewall installed? In Accessibility are there any services installed for those apps? For Android 11 and higher there maybe more settings... Samsung's notorious for burying them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gave a shot at updating the firmware; it boosted the performance a little bit, the battery is lasting way longer and the apps are closing less.
I ran a bugreport of a full day of use through battery historian and i found something strange, all app crashes are attributed to com.google.android.providers.media.module (which a quick google told me it's the MediaProvider Module from AOSP). Is there something i can do about it?
idk about power management but i have adaptive battery on, and i put discord to sleep; disabled google, meets and chrome; no settings changed; no firewall installed; all accessivility settings are off and no apps are using those permissions. I ****ed around a lil bit and toggled some of the samsung stuff off, but there might still be something buried, yes.
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Adaptive battery is global power management. To verify it's on: Developer options>standby apps, the app bucket states will be varied if it on ie active, frequently, rarely etc.
When off they will always show as active and you can not change the bucket state (it seems to take but after a refresh it hasn't).
This lame feature never worked and uses much more battery than if the the device is hand optimized. It can cause erratic behaviors.
If you deal with the power hog correctly the results are apparent within hours not days or weeks. Lol, Gookill tends to get more stupid over time, not smarter That said hand optimizing takes time but the results are much better and yield a substantial increase in SOT, standby time as well as a snappier, cooler running device.
Optimizing is somewhat trial and error at first and a bit tricky. It eventually becomes almost second nature. This N10+ was a stuttering hot running power hog before it was optimized, now it runs like a bat out of hell. Try temporarily disabling Google play Services and see what that does. Gmail, Playstore and Google backup Transport are dependencies, simply turn on if needed. Kill the notifications for too so it doesn't nag you constantly. See if that helps your issues.
Use Device Care>memory>optimize. Install SD Maid Pro to do more clean up, it's a very useful app. A logging firewall can be very useful for tracking down issues, lets you see what's being busy in the background using data and resources.
com.google.android.providers.media.module, interesting. Apparently it's caused trouble going back to 2011 from time to time. It's a needed service. Go through all the Google account settings. It's good to explore all setting options anyway. Maybe try clearing the Media Storage app cache and check the settings.
I'm more clueless than you why this happening.
Maybe someone here knows why it's puking on you. Otherwise play with it, eventually you'll track the cause down but it may take a while.
If you're in the US you could go to a Samsung Experience center at best buy; they allegedly can run advanced diagnostic tests on it.
blackhawk said:
Adaptive battery is global power management. To verify it's on: Developer options>standby apps, the app bucket states will be varied if it on ie active, frequently, rarely etc.
When off they will always show as active and you can not change the bucket state (it seems to take but after a refresh it hasn't).
This lame feature never worked and uses much more battery than if the the device is hand optimized. It can cause erratic behaviors.
If you deal with the power hog correctly the results are apparent within hours not days or weeks. Lol, Gookill tends to get more stupid over time, not smarter That said hand optimizing takes time but the results are much better and yield a substantial increase in SOT, standby time as well as a snappier, cooler running device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All my apps are active and i cannot flick the switch so i guess it's off. i turned adaptive battery off on battery and device care > battery > more battery settings.
blackhawk said:
Optimizing is somewhat trial and error at first and a bit tricky. It eventually becomes almost second nature. This N10+ was a stuttering hot running power hog before it was optimized, now it runs like a bat out of hell. Try temporarily disabling Google play Services and see what that does. Gmail, Playstore and Google backup Transport are dependencies, simply turn on if needed. Kill the notifications for too so it doesn't nag you constantly. See if that helps your issues.
Use Device Care>memory>optimize. Install SD Maid Pro to do more clean up, it's a very useful app. A logging firewall can be very useful for tracking down issues, lets you see what's being busy in the background using data and resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While i'm aware of some optimization techniques, it's been so long since I actually felt the need to tweak something it's actually surreal. My two previous phones were a Mi A2 and a N20U (for almost three years), and I didn't mess around for basically nothing. they ran absolutely fine, I thought my XDA days were gone
But anyways, I did the following: After updating the firmware, I disabled and cleaned the media provider app cache and cleaned the system cache. The phone got immediately snappier, but some of the crashes were still happening. I ruled the Whatsapp crashes to a faulty backup, since I noticed it happened when I open certain chats. idk how to fix this so I just deleted the chat; the com.google.android.providers.media.module crash count went down from 10 to 4 on my two last battery cycles. Something is still crashing, but possibly in the background. I'll keep monitoring it.
Is there any other thread that shows the ropes of optimizing samsung devices aside from this one?
guile50 said:
All my apps are active and i cannot flick the switch so i guess it's off. i turned adaptive battery off on battery and device care > battery > more battery settings.
While i'm aware of some optimization techniques, it's been so long since I actually felt the need to tweak something it's actually surreal. My two previous phones were a Mi A2 and a N20U (for almost three years), and I didn't mess around for basically nothing. they ran absolutely fine, I thought my XDA days were gone
But anyways, I did the following: After updating the firmware, I disabled and cleaned the media provider app cache and cleaned the system cache. The phone got immediately snappier, but some of the crashes were still happening. I ruled the Whatsapp crashes to a faulty backup, since I noticed it happened when I open certain chats. idk how to fix this so I just deleted the chat; the com.google.android.providers.media.module crash count went down from 10 to 4 on my two last battery cycles. Something is still crashing, but possibly in the background. I'll keep monitoring it.
Is there any other thread that shows the ropes of optimizing samsung devices aside from this one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WhatsApp... ditch the trashware. An unstable OS can end up turning into a boot loop very quickly.
Any app that's misbehaving and can't be sorted out gets uninstalled or package disabled.
Find and correct the root cause(s).
All I ever played with are Samsung's and all needed to be optimized. There are numerous posts I've made of it but you see my post count; even I be hard pressed to ferret them all out.
I've thought about starting a thread but I run 9 and 10, plus I have mine configured to my device and needs. So what works well for me may be useless to others. It's a steep learning curve that works best if you learn the what's and why's rather than blindly implementing someone else's list. Eventually you get a feel for it by playing with it. That comes in handy when
Other than Package Disabler I deal with everything through the UI settings, and with 3rd party add ons; no adb edits. The result is a very stable stock Samsung that runs well and a very long lived load. I block upgrades and updates; these can and do break Samsung's so I have learned and waste my time trying to fix the mess they make.
blackhawk said:
WhatsApp... ditch the trashware. An unstable OS can end up turning into a boot loop very quickly.
Any app that's misbehaving and can't be sorted out gets uninstalled or package disabled.
Find and correct the root cause(s).
All I ever played with are Samsung's and all needed to be optimized. There are numerous posts I've made of it but you see my post count; even I be hard pressed to ferret them all out.
I've thought about starting a thread but I run 9 and 10, plus I have mine configured to my device and needs. So what works well for me may be useless to others. It's a steep learning curve that works best if you learn the what's and why's rather than blindly implementing someone else's list. Eventually you get a feel for it by playing with it. That comes in handy when
Other than Package Disabler I deal with everything through the UI settings, and with 3rd party add ons; no adb edits. The result is a very stable stock Samsung that runs well and a very long lived load. I block upgrades and updates; these can and do break Samsung's so I have learned and waste my time trying to fix the mess they make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jesus, do you have any apps on your phone? Shouldn't you just get a nokia 3310 at this point?
You bash every feature of a smartphone that makes it smart.
No apps, no software update, no features, no fun. Try living in the woods completely off the grid. Seems more up your alley.
Me Gusta said:
You bash every feature of a smartphone that makes it smart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you pay more attention, this statement will read as follows:
"You bash every 'feature' of a smartphone that makes it a better spyware."
@Rod F
OneUI has a bug. I used to see app crashing pop-ups quite frequently during the initial period on my S22U. The same build and version of apps ran absolutely fine on my other devices, which too were running on the same Android version as my S22U.
Over time, due to optimisations and updates from Samsung, the number of such pop-ups have reduced to almost none now.
TheMystic said:
If you pay more attention, this statement will read as follows:
"You bash every 'feature' of a smartphone that makes it a better spyware."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said. You should get a Nokia 3310.
Me Gusta said:
Like I said. You should get a Nokia 3310.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GDPR happened because someone raised the issue and created awareness. Although it is only a first step, but that too wouldn't have happened if he had just decided to get the Nokia 3310.
Me Gusta said:
Jesus, do you have any apps on your phone? Shouldn't you just get a nokia 3310 at this point?
You bash every feature of a smartphone that makes it smart.
No apps, no software update, no features, no fun. Try living in the woods completely off the grid. Seems more up your alley.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You failed to counterpoint my specific suggestions with your off topic retorts. You got possible solutions for the OP or just hot air for me?

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