Is it really necessary? - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I was sitting here while the rain slams my house like a freight train and debating on looking into relocking the bootloader a bit more in-depth. However, over the past several months, HTC has been AWESOME about sending users with unlocked phones new (or refurrbed) phones due to hardware issues (ie dust under screens and broken power buttons)
So what are your thoughts? Is this something we should start a "think tank" on or shall we just leave it be?

I say ye's. Better safe then sorry.

Well, all I can see is the Security feature needs to be shut off for the bootloader to be re-locked. (According to the message output from using the ADB command).
But how to do that, I have no idea.
Might take some data usage from one of the few that are actually able to lock/unlock it. (Like the Holiday N1's or the ones handed out)

Related

Root or Not to Root?

I have recently purchased a Nexus One and i must say it is an amazing phone, but also very expensive! I just spent £370 on buying this brand new phone. Which brings me onto my main point, should i risk rooting or not?
I am confident with the rooting proccess and have rooted my hero etc etc, but i was happy to do so because i could also reinstall an official RUU incase something went wrong. However as we know with the N1 its not that simple. I want to be able to use features such as trackball to wake, and using the lights for notifications, being able to install market enabler and apps like autokiller and also being able to theme my nexus - but to do small things like this i still need to root my phone and void my warrenty.
So ive decided to ask you guys on wether you think it is worth my rooting my nexus one, and voiding my warrenty, or making do with no true customisational potential?
(Also silently hopeing someone finds a way to lock the bootloader :'( )
thanks
Just root it already. No regrets. I asked the same question.
But
But what if anything goes wrong with the phone over the next year? Just seems unecassary that i have to loose my warrenty to be able to make small customisations to the phone
I didn't root my phone in the first 5-6 weeks or so then once I had seen there were no obvious hardware faults I rooted it. It might be safe to take a similar approach.
Is totally up to you.. 2 things:
If you are affraid of bricking your phone due to flashing, don't be. Rule of thumb is always do Nandroid. And flash all you want. The exceptions are Radio's which pose higer risks of bricking.
That leaves hardware issues. If your screen cracks, battery explodes or button cease to function, HTC might switch your phone regardless if you have unlocked boot-loader or not. But im not sure how HTC customer service are in UK. People have done it in US and HTC didn't even raised an eyebrow to this.
edit:
like nDrg says, is to roadtest your phone for some weeks, see if no dust crops up under the screen, or other things starts to defect. Errors on new phones usually reveal themselves in the first weeks.
rooted just after 1 day i receive it lol and Froyo inside my nexus one since Yesterday Yes From France ^^
Hmm
Ok thanks for your feedback. I was having a think and i decided to wait untill froyo comes officially to UK, and if thats not good enough to keep me happy then i will root. Thanks

[Q] May it be too 'late' to purchase a Nexus One

As the title states, is it too late to purchase a Nexus One as a result of growing technology and the availability of new mobile smartphones such as the G2x, or the Sensation or Galaxy SII?
The main reason I would like to purchase the Nexus One is because of its active Android development, and because I would not like to spend too much money buying a off-contract phone.
On a side note, I am aware of some issues the phone may have, and my question would be whether they can be resolved using any software modifications.
You can no longer by any N1s from google. Hit up ebay/craigslist/kijiji/the forums here or some other message boards you trust that sell electronics and see if you can pick one up. There are still plenty around. Just make sure you get the one with the right bands for your carrier.
There are 2 main issues with the N1.
1) Is the screen's digitzier...it sucks ass..... the phone's touchscreen basically goes out of sync and will think you're pressing something half an inch or so to the side/top/bottom. No real way around this unfortunately. If this happens, cycling the screen on/off will fix it. (No need to restart the phone, just put it to sleep and bring it back).
2) The second issue is the power button. This is a design flaw that became apparent overtime. The N1s power button will wear out and get stuck/seize to function over time. Some people say early N1s are more prone to this but its a design flaw with all models and will eventually happen. You can get around this with a custom rom. Most roms like the Cyanogen mods offer alternative wake options (ie: trackball or volume wake) and you can use a widget to shut the screen off/shut the phone down.
All in all still a great phone. I <3 my N1 and to me it's still the perfect phone. I don't plan on upgrading till it either kicks the bucket completely or something DRASTICALLY better comes out. (maybe another generation or 2 and I'll upgrade to the next Nexus device).
Hope this helped.
Thank you for your response.
if you are looking for a active dev phone with still good amount of activity going on, and a cheaper phone to buy unlocked, the nexus one is basically an excellent option. pick one up for 200 bucks and you got yourself a stellar device for such a good price.
The N1 is a Developer device, great for flashing & fun, and it's still rocken...
Its not too late.
I just checked and you can still register as a developer ($25) and then get the phone (for $479)
http://android.brightstarcorp.com/index_adp3.htm
Used is a better way to go imo if you need a n1.
If youre really into flashing well it doesn't mean you can't do on others but this is a great phone to do such thing s.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
how common is that screen issue
100 Percent common.
TMO only for 3g as ATT is no longer supported with 3g (edge or 2g only) on the N1 from the dev buy.
dannyry1 said:
how common is that screen issue
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Click to collapse
I see it happen more frequently when the phone is really warm due to charging... but to be honest, I haven't had an issue with the screen in a very long time. As was mentioned, simply turning the screen off and on again clears it so it's a bit of a pain but not too bad.

Why should verizon/moto unlock our bootloaders?

It appears that there is a guy who is interning at Motorola that wants to get ahold of some bigwigs and help voice our frustration. Here is a link if you have any ideas, please share them!
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/xty65/i_am_interning_at_a_major_fortune_500_company_who/
Why wouldn't they? They'll only lose the majority of the tech-geek community to other brands
DoubleYouPee said:
Why wouldn't they? They'll only lose the majority of the tech-geek community to other brands
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Click to collapse
Some speculate that they hold a special contract with Verizon. This contract basically says: keep your bootloaders unlocked and you will be our flagship phone company. You will be in all our ads.
I just hope someone could post a convincing argument for that intern to use to further our cause.
jesusishere said:
Some speculate that they hold a special contract with Verizon. This contract basically says: keep your bootloaders unlocked and you will be our flagship phone company. You will be in all our ads.
I just hope someone could post a convincing argument for that intern to use to further our cause.
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Click to collapse
Why would they need to have a locked bootloader to have that contract?
VZW always said it ws for the "health" of the network. That rooted devices would cause it harm.
Well, one, the Nexus is unlocked so where is the concern there? and 2. I haven't heard of any gnex causing harm to the network.
I'm guessing its because when we all found wifi tether on the OG, the network suffered. lol
Here is the reason boot loaders are locked...
...and are likely to remain locked. It's because they don't want you messing with it. Read throughout the various Android forums and you will find over and over again people talking about how they screwed up their phone and got the carrier to replace it for them. I've seen some practically bragging about how they've screwed Verizon and got them to replace the phone 3 and 4 and more times. As long as this keeps happening, they will resist allowing unlocked boot loaders.
About the only way it will ever happen is if they went to a scheme like Asus has with it's transformer series tablets. Basically they lock it. But they also provide an unlocking tool. This unlocking tool basically has warnings all over it that say that if you do it, your warranty and any claim to support are void...and we do not want to hear from you. But even then on the Transformer Prime forum on XDA you hear people complaining about problems with their unlocked device and seeking advice on how to re-lock it so they can screw the company into taking it back (Asus also made unlocking an irreversible process).
For the manufacturers and carriers there is just no incentive to unlock them. By locking them they cede the enthusiast market to a large extent but that market is a drop in the bucket compared to the market as a whole.
vbhokiefan said:
VZW always said it ws for the "health" of the network. That rooted devices would cause it harm.
Well, one, the Nexus is unlocked so where is the concern there? and 2. I haven't heard of any gnex causing harm to the network.
I'm guessing its because when we all found wifi tether on the OG, the network suffered. lol
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Well nowadays all data plans are being metered anyways. If I buy 2GB per month why does Verizon care if its used on my laptop instead of my phone for example. There was a recent FCC lawsuit against Verizon for separate tethering charges because it went against some agreement they had when they bought the 4G spectrum.
ratman6161 said:
...and are likely to remain locked. It's because they don't want you messing with it. Read throughout the various Android forums and you will find over and over again people talking about how they screwed up their phone and got the carrier to replace it for them. I've seen some practically bragging about how they've screwed Verizon and got them to replace the phone 3 and 4 and more times. As long as this keeps happening, they will resist allowing unlocked boot loaders.
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Click to collapse
Simple, unlocking your bootloader voids the warranty and the user would agree to this before running the factory bootloader unlock program. There would also have to be an easy way to tell if the bootloader had been unlocked on a bricked phone.
spunker88 said:
Simple, unlocking your bootloader voids the warranty and the user would agree to this before running the factory bootloader unlock program. There would also have to be an easy way to tell if the bootloader had been unlocked on a bricked phone.
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Click to collapse
From a Verizon point of view, this remains problematic. The issue is that a user with a hardware problem that lost warranty support is likely to still be angry at Verizon for not supporting the phone; even somebody with a software issue who gets no help could express anger at Verizon and decide to leave the network for another carrier (where the cycle start again, probably.) It's a matter of control - it's hard enough supporting a ton of phones, it makes it even harder when you cannot even predict what's on the phone. And from Verizon's point of view, their brand is strong enough that they feel that they can exert this control without angering enough users to matter.
(Still, the reasons I listed above are easily solved if the OEMs provide all of the tools required to bring a phone back to stock...)
doogald said:
From a Verizon point of view, this remains problematic. The issue is that a user with a hardware problem that lost warranty support is likely to still be angry at Verizon for not supporting the phone; even somebody with a software issue who gets no help could express anger at Verizon and decide to leave the network for another carrier (where the cycle start again, probably.) It's a matter of control - it's hard enough supporting a ton of phones, it makes it even harder when you cannot even predict what's on the phone. And from Verizon's point of view, their brand is strong enough that they feel that they can exert this control without angering enough users to matter.
(Still, the reasons I listed above are easily solved if the OEMs provide all of the tools required to bring a phone back to stock...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
ratman6161 said:
...and are likely to remain locked. It's because they don't want you messing with it. Read throughout the various Android forums and you will find over and over again people talking about how they screwed up their phone and got the carrier to replace it for them. I've seen some practically bragging about how they've screwed Verizon and got them to replace the phone 3 and 4 and more times. As long as this keeps happening, they will resist allowing unlocked boot loaders.
About the only way it will ever happen is if they went to a scheme like Asus has with it's transformer series tablets. Basically they lock it. But they also provide an unlocking tool. This unlocking tool basically has warnings all over it that say that if you do it, your warranty and any claim to support are void...and we do not want to hear from you. But even then on the Transformer Prime forum on XDA you hear people complaining about problems with their unlocked device and seeking advice on how to re-lock it so they can screw the company into taking it back (Asus also made unlocking an irreversible process).
For the manufacturers and carriers there is just no incentive to unlock them. By locking them they cede the enthusiast market to a large extent but that market is a drop in the bucket compared to the market as a whole.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really like this argument though, because most of those bricks are CAUSED by the locked bootloaders and other "security" put into place. These phones are just computers with radios inside. I've never bricked my (desktop or laptop) computer, and neither have most people, because computers have been designed such that the process that brings the computer up (the BIOS) is simple, reliable, and will load anything you tell it to, negating the need to mess with it.
The OG Droid was borderline software unbrickable, because you could leave the stock bootloader in place, and the stock bootloader was able to get you back home (SBF) by itself. If all phones were built like this today, and manufacturer's had a utility to restore the phone back to stock available on their website, the people returning devices due to softbricking would probably go way down, because a softbrick would be no big deal.

[Q] Marks on screen in low light

I got my GSM Dev Edition last week and in the last few days I've noticed dark, asymmetrical streaks that almost look like scratches or claw marks in the bottom left quarter of the screen. These only show up on dark blue/gray backgrounds (such as the dialer and settings screens) and in low light - such as in the dark - I noticed it when i play around with it in watching TV in bed. I cleaned the display thoroughly to rule out dirt and oil, and I also noticed the marks don't show up in screenshots. My wife has a Verizon Moto X, and she doesn't have the streaks, but I did notice a few dark dots/spots that appear in similar situations.
I called Motorola, and even though I unlocked the bootloader, they will give me an RMA and evaluate the phone, but I'd have to ship it and then wait 7-10 business days to get it back. I was hoping they might say they'd just exchange it so it'd be a quicker process.
Is anyone else noticing something like this, or notice it now that I've pointed it out (sorry!)? Since I dropped close to $700 on this phone, it should be perfect, so it's hard to "unsee" it now even if it is borderline (or flat-out) nitpicking. But it doesn't affect functionality or even viewing in normal lighting, it doesn't show up on any other colored screens, and I really don't want to have to send my phone away and be without it for probably 3 weeks minimum. I've never had an issue with any phones or devices before where I've had to send them back for warranty repair or evaluation. Anyone have any advice or thoughts on this? Is it worth my time? Thanks!
mohlsen8 said:
I got my GSM Dev Edition last week and in the last few days I've noticed dark, asymmetrical streaks that almost look like scratches or claw marks in the bottom left quarter of the screen. These only show up on dark blue/gray backgrounds (such as the dialer and settings screens) and in low light - such as in the dark - I noticed it when i play around with it in watching TV in bed. I cleaned the display thoroughly to rule out dirt and oil, and I also noticed the marks don't show up in screenshots. My wife has a Verizon Moto X, and she doesn't have the streaks, but I did notice a few dark dots/spots that appear in similar situations.
I called Motorola, and even though I unlocked the bootloader, they will give me an RMA and evaluate the phone, but I'd have to ship it and then wait 7-10 business days to get it back. I was hoping they might say they'd just exchange it so it'd be a quicker process.
Is anyone else noticing something like this, or notice it now that I've pointed it out (sorry!)? Since I dropped close to $700 on this phone, it should be perfect, so it's hard to "unsee" it now even if it is borderline (or flat-out) nitpicking. But it doesn't affect functionality or even viewing in normal lighting, it doesn't show up on any other colored screens, and I really don't want to have to send my phone away and be without it for probably 3 weeks minimum. I've never had an issue with any phones or devices before where I've had to send them back for warranty repair or evaluation. Anyone have any advice or thoughts on this? Is it worth my time? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In case anyone cares, after talking with them again, Motorola is letting me straight-up return the phone (even with unlocked bootloader). Then I'm just going to turn around and buy another new one - or perhaps even save a few hundos and get a gently used AT&T or T-mobile version (I like this phone so much as-is that I feel like I don't even need the unlockable bootloader). Why it can't just be an outright exchange where I send them this phone and then they ship me out another, I have no idea. At least the marks will be gone after going through this trouble..
mohlsen8 said:
In case anyone cares, after talking with them again, Motorola is letting me straight-up return the phone (even with unlocked bootloader). Then I'm just going to turn around and buy another new one - or perhaps even save a few hundos and get a gently used AT&T or T-mobile version (I like this phone so much as-is that I feel like I don't even need the unlockable bootloader). Why it can't just be an outright exchange where I send them this phone and then they ship me out another, I have no idea. At least the marks will be gone after going through this trouble..
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Click to collapse
Yes! I have them as well. I didn't even know how to describe them until I saw your post. White AT&T model. I filed a warranty claim through AT&T and they are sending me out a replacement. I thought about just letting it go since they are basically not visible unless it's a gray type background but just knowing they are there erks me to no end.
capathy21 said:
Yes! I have them as well. I didn't even know how to describe them until I saw your post. White AT&T model. I filed a warranty claim through AT&T and they are sending me out a replacement. I thought about just letting it go since they are basically not visible unless it's a gray type background but just knowing they are there erks me to no end.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah seriously, I couldn't stand seeing them anymore, and this morning was prepared to ship my phone away for 3 weeks to have it repaired. I'm glad they're just letting me return it. It feels tainted to me and I want a perfect one, especially for full retail price. Glad to know I'm not alone.
If anyone else is looking for them (again, sorry in advance), they're easily visible in the background of Titanium Backup and "Notification Toggles" app by j4velin. Also can see them in between stuff on the dialer and anywhere in the settings.
mohlsen8 said:
Yeah seriously, I couldn't stand seeing them anymore, and this morning was prepared to ship my phone away for 3 weeks to have it repaired. I'm glad they're just letting me return it. It feels tainted to me and I want a perfect one, especially for full retail price. Glad to know I'm not alone.
If anyone else is looking for them (again, sorry in advance), they're easily visible in the background of Titanium Backup and "Notification Toggles" app by j4velin. Also can see them in between stuff on the dialer and anywhere in the settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh for sure, Basically 700 bucks for a phone with tax it better be perfect. I don't blame you at all. Just curious, did you try a factory restore? I am almost certain it's a hardware defect but I thought about trying that.
Thanks
capathy21 said:
Oh for sure, Basically 700 bucks for a phone with tax it better be perfect. I don't blame you at all. Just curious, did you try a factory restore? I am almost certain it's a hardware defect but I thought about trying that.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I ruled that out too. Flashed back to stock everything using the images in the FXZ but the marks are still there. It almost looks like the glass itself is stained or something where these "streaks" appear. No idea.

Screen Died (and I'm unlocked) - Suggestions?

I'm on Cromi-X and last night the screen just died. No warning or other issues were noted. My wife was in the middle of a game of PVZ2 and it stopped working, She assumed that the battery had just hit 0%. I have been on Cromi-X for about 5 weeks and had zero problems - the tablet was running just fine. It's still running fine, with an HDMI cable and dock, the tablet is perfectly useable. So now for suggestions.
1) Is there any point in going through the effort of returning the tablet to stock and sending it back to Asus (hoping that they will honor the warranty)? Obviously unlocking and rooting aren't going to cause a hardware failure like this, but their language is pretty clear that unlocking voids the warranty regardless of whether or not this has anything to do with the failure.
2) In a sad coincidence, my second TF701T was damaged yesterday in a car accident (yes, I actually lost two tablets the same day). In this case, the problem seems to be just the digitizer as the display looks perfect below the cracked glass, but I know that replacements for qty=1 aren't really an option. That one wasn't unlocked by the way (too bad they weren't reversed). This one may get covered by insurance since the other driver ran a red light and smashed into the car. However, I might end up with a functional LCD available to use on the other one (I'm guessing that the digitizer is probably fine). I realize that this is a tricky repair.
3) Are there any known problems anyone has heard of about screens going dead like this? Is there a connector that could have worked its way loose or anything like that?
What do you folks think I should try? If #1 is a 0% chance of getting Asus to fix under warranty, then I'd rather not waste the time and money on round-trip freight. On the other hand, if there is a chance, I'd be screwing myself by opening the tablet to look for something loose or fixable on the connection to the screen which definitely would void the warranty.
Thanks in advance.
derekk1 said:
I'm on Cromi-X and last night the screen just died. No warning or other issues were noted. My wife was in the middle of a game of PVZ2 and it stopped working, She assumed that the battery had just hit 0%. I have been on Cromi-X for about 5 weeks and had zero problems - the tablet was running just fine. It's still running fine, with an HDMI cable and dock, the tablet is perfectly useable. So now for suggestions.
1) Is there any point in going through the effort of returning the tablet to stock and sending it back to Asus (hoping that they will honor the warranty)? Obviously unlocking and rooting aren't going to cause a hardware failure like this, but their language is pretty clear that unlocking voids the warranty regardless of whether or not this has anything to do with the failure.
2) In a sad coincidence, my second TF701T was damaged yesterday in a car accident (yes, I actually lost two tablets the same day). In this case, the problem seems to be just the digitizer as the display looks perfect below the cracked glass, but I know that replacements for qty=1 aren't really an option. That one wasn't unlocked by the way (too bad they weren't reversed). This one may get covered by insurance since the other driver ran a red light and smashed into the car. However, I might end up with a functional LCD available to use on the other one (I'm guessing that the digitizer is probably fine). I realize that this is a tricky repair.
3) Are there any known problems anyone has heard of about screens going dead like this? Is there a connector that could have worked its way loose or anything like that?
What do you folks think I should try? If #1 is a 0% chance of getting Asus to fix under warranty, then I'd rather not waste the time and money on round-trip freight. On the other hand, if there is a chance, I'd be screwing myself by opening the tablet to look for something loose or fixable on the connection to the screen which definitely would void the warranty.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have something I have just discovered 2 days ago.... When I was playing real racing 3, my tablet turned off as the battery got discharged. I connected the charger and turned the tablet on, then all I could see was gliches on the screen. The colors were hazy.And the touchscreen was not usable. I think it is a hardware issue because it did not affect only android but also the asus logo that appears before loading the os. I tried to reboot several times in vain. Fortunatlely, I found out how to get rid of those glistches. Very simple: when the os boots, I lock the screen then unlocked it. Yeah very weird!!! the problem was reproduced as well as the solution... However, I dont know if it happens only when the tablet goes off while gaming or does it happen every time the tablet gets discharged. Other than that, everything works flawlessly!!!
You unlocked it which means no you no longer have a warranty. ASUS are quite clear on this. You can send it back to Asus and they will charge you to fix it.
Or you could open the back and check the ribbon hasn't come lose? Same with the other one, get a screen from eBay and fix it yourself. Probably some vids you can use on you tube.
Aren't you in Japan? Enjoy your vacation and stop helping all of us.
derekk1 said:
Aren't you in Japan? Enjoy your vacation and stop helping all of us.
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Click to collapse
I have a feeling he loves it... Win for us!
Sent from my K00C using Tapatalk
So, I opened the tablet. Angry Dinosaur was right, it really is easy. Unfortunately, the cables connecting the display to the board look fine. I haven't seen any spare TF701T screens on Ebay, but I will keep looking. If anyone knows of a place, please let me know. Thanks.
derekk1 said:
Aren't you in Japan? Enjoy your vacation and stop helping all of us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm bored A week speaking Japanese and nothing but Japanese TV and crappy BG WiFi modem I need some normality. That's you guys with your broken gadgets.
I normally don't do this, but based on what just happened, I added the Amazon 2-yr drops, spills, and hardware failure protection for $45. This one DOESN'T say anything about unlocking voiding a warranty (an that might be hard to prove in the event of a drop anyway). Anyone have any experience with this? For $45 it seems like a decent alternative to the loss of Asus warranty when I root. I can't not do it either, since I noticed such a big improvement on Cromi-X.
SBDAGS, if you are bored for a minute I had another question for you. I know that you love the stock browser and I agree that it's faster than Chrome. I want the extra screen space and so am using the quick controls. The one problem for me is that I like to scroll with my left thumb and pull out the menu with my right. I end up accidentally pulling up the quick controls and jumping to another page when I'm trying to scroll. This happens about every 5th scroll attempt. Do you have any idea how hard it would be to modify the labs setting to allow quick controls to function off left, right, both - maybe check boxes? I searched but couldn't find anything already done. I could create another donation fund for you if you think it's not a huge amount of work.
derekk1 said:
I normally don't do this, but based on what just happened, I added the Amazon 2-yr drops, spills, and hardware failure protection for $45. This one DOESN'T say anything about unlocking voiding a warranty (an that might be hard to prove in the event of a drop anyway). Anyone have any experience with this? For $45 it seems like a decent alternative to the loss of Asus warranty when I root. I can't not do it either, since I noticed such a big improvement on Cromi-X.
SBDAGS, if you are bored for a minute I had another question for you. I know that you love the stock browser and I agree that it's faster than Chrome. I want the extra screen space and so am using the quick controls. The one problem for me is that I like to scroll with my left thumb and pull out the menu with my right. I end up accidentally pulling up the quick controls and jumping to another page when I'm trying to scroll. This happens about every 5th scroll attempt. Do you have any idea how hard it would be to modify the labs setting to allow quick controls to function off left, right, both - maybe check boxes? I searched but couldn't find anything already done. I could create another donation fund for you if you think it's not a huge amount of work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll be in the smali code probably. A good question for someone like @elesbb who loves these challenges. it's not a question of being bored for this one, I don't have the tools with me to decompile the apk.

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