Why don't custom roms include AppLock? - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Questions & Answers

Many people use AppLocks to secure certain apps that they wouldn't want others to have access to when they pass over a phone to family or friends. MIUI's inclusion of Applock into it's ROM goes on to prove my point.
Why don't the custom roms then have AppLock implementation directly to the ROM in general? Never seen a custom rom include this feature, although several of them providing a ton of features.
The Applock's implementation directly into the ROM provides better security too (Being part of the system apps) and is a more seamless interface.
I'd be glad if anyone can answer my query.
Also if it's possible do tell me if I can implement Applock into my ROM directly through someway maybe a zip to flash?

thedarkraven said:
Many people use AppLocks to secure certain apps that they wouldn't want others to have access to when they pass over a phone to family or friends. MIUI's inclusion of Applock into it's ROM goes on to prove my point.
Why don't the custom roms then have AppLock implementation directly to the ROM in general? Never seen a custom rom include this feature, although several of them providing a ton of features.
The Applock's implementation directly into the ROM provides better security too (Being part of the system apps) and is a more seamless interface.
I'd be glad if anyone can answer my query.
Also if it's possible do tell me if I can implement Applock into my ROM directly through someway maybe a zip to flash?
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LineageOS 14.1 has this feature

Noter2017 said:
LineageOS 14.1 has this feature
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Yeah but then LineageOS 15 again removed it. Why was that? Does that cause problems or affects performance?

thedarkraven said:
Yeah but then LineageOS 15 again removed it. Why was that? Does that cause problems or affects performance?
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Click to collapse
Changing from 14.1 to 15.0 they removed many features and are bringing them back one by one. They currently focus on stability.
Even a simple feature like center clock was added 3 only weeks ago. So it can take a while till App Lock is back

Related

[Q] CM7 settings question

I have been looking for a good CM 7.1 based ROM and am having a hard time deciding on one. The main thing I am looking for is the advanced lock screen delay and timeout settings. I cannot tell if this is a difference between CM 7.1 and 7.0.3 or if it is just a setting that some ROMs have and some do not.
Can someone shed some light on this for me? Is there a way to add this functionality? (I care because work enforced a security lock on my phone for email access, but I don't want to have to type i tin EVERY time the screen goes off. iPhones and WinMobile don't. It seems to be a flaw in Android's ActiveSync).
Thanks in advance.
This feature is new in CM 7.1. However, other users have reported success using Delayed Lock + WidgetLocker apps from the market to effect the same functionality, though I am uncertain how well they play with the Exchange server's demands.
Alternately, if you really don't want this security lock feature at all then you can find versions of Email.apk that will just lie to the Exchange server about the phone's configuration. Then you can configure your lock settings however you like. Ah, the classic fallacy of a security model that trusts the client...
I actually like the security of the password. I just wish it behaved like ActiveSyns on every other type of device (Win Mobile, iphone, etc) and let you set a delay (defined by the system administrator) for when the device security locks, not every time the screen goes off.
I wish we had a good CM7.1 ROM. Oh Z, wherefore art thou?
Yeah, running a nightly (or a ROM that pulls from nightly) is currently the only practicable choice to get the feature.
I backported the feature's code to the CM 7.0.3 codebase and built a custom ROM for my own device. I wanted the feature but didn't want to run the unstable nightly on my primary phone. Well, "backport" isn't the correct term, because the feature was developed against 7.0.3 and was rebased to 7.1 for submission to the source repo. But you know what I mean (haha).
organophosphate said:
Yeah, running a nightly (or a ROM that pulls from nightly) is currently the only practicable choice to get the feature.
I backported the feature's code to the CM 7.0.3 codebase and built a custom ROM for my own device. I wanted the feature but didn't want to run the unstable nightly on my primary phone. Well, "backport" isn't the correct term, because the feature was developed against 7.0.3 and was rebased to 7.1 for submission to the source repo. But you know what I mean (haha).
Click to expand...
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Care to share?
rearview said:
Care to share?
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You know, I realized after posting that I probably look like a jerk for not offering. I apologize. There are issues that seem to preclude this, however.
The target of the relatively minor code changes necessarily included one of the fundamental framework jars.
When I was developing the feature, I only compiled CM for the Droid Incredible. Didn't make sense to compile for platforms I can't use/test, especially given the next point.
It takes my machine 90+ minutes to compile a ROM for a platform.
I believe that if I gave you a flashable update.zip to replace the affected jars it would have a high probability of cacking your ROM and would result in bootloops. Not absolutely certain, but fairly concerned about the possibility. I believe you would have better luck running a nightly that people report as "relatively stable" in the forums (some nightlies are better than others).
When the feature was merged, I really thought CM 7.1 would be out soon. RC1 dropped a month *before* the new feature was merged. That sounds odd in retrospect, because most projects freeze feature additions before entering the RC phase of a release (ie. they accept bugfixes only).
I just assumed it was for an X10 since we were in the X10 forums. Since this phone isn't officially CM supported I'm at the mercy of ROM developers to make a nice CM7.1. There are a couple out there, and they all have issues. One is close, but the dev seems to have gone missing. I hope he returns soon.
Is modifying one jar file all that it would take? Which file? If I knew that I could possibly take the jar file from one of the CM7.1 ROMs for my device (which has issues) and put it into a 7.0.3 that works smoothly and be happy.
rearview said:
Is modifying one jar file all that it would take? Which file? If I knew that I could possibly take the jar file from one of the CM7.1 ROMs for my device (which has issues) and put it into a 7.0.3 that works smoothly and be happy.
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I like your train of thought. Unfortunately, even if that were to work you would be unable to configure the feature, because the UI is in the CM Settings apk (ie. the apk that makes "CyanogenMod Settings" menu option appear in your Android settings). If you were to also grab the CM 7.1 settings APK and install it, then that would replace the old version. The CM 7.1 version has all sorts of changes, controls for other new features, and so forth; therefore, that would break much of your other functionality.
How conversant are you in software development? You may be able to join one of those CM 7-derived ROM projects for your platform. It should be relatively easy for someone with a CM dev environment configured for your platform to grab these patches via git cherry-pick and build a 7.0.3 "Gold Edition" with this feature added. Because it should be easy, you might be able to persuade one of those custom ROM developers to grab this feature and include it.
If you are interested, here are the links to my patchsets that were merged to implement the feature:
Framework Implementation
CM Settings UI
I believe the patches will merge "nearly cleanly" into a CM 7.0.3 derived branch. That is to say, if there are merge conflicts they will not be substantive and will merely involve wholesale cut/paste reordering of methods within the given class files rather than requiring a rewrite of any part of the actual implementation.
I know that this simple reordering is all I changed between my 7.0.3 development version and the 7.1-derived submission. Seems Steve Kondik did a little further rearrangement to accommodate other patches that had been accepted/merged while mine was pending. Same deal there: still should be relatively simple.
I'm not much of a developer, though I'm an IT guy with some unix background. I'll look at it.

Android 7.1 Restricted Accounts

I am looking to move to an android phone and I need one that has the ability to have restricted accounts, similar to what was introduced on tablets with 4.2 or what iphones have, where you have a password protected way of enabling or disabling different applications. I have seen a program called applock on Android that attempted this, but it had a severe flaw that made it easy to bypass. Is anyone aware of a custom rom that enables this, or perhaps a modification to build.prop that would enable it?
webbwbb said:
I am looking to move to an android phone and I need one that has the ability to have restricted accounts, similar to what was introduced on tablets with 4.2 or what iphones have, where you have a password protected way of enabling or disabling different applications. I have seen a program called applock on Android that attempted this, but it had a severe flaw that made it easy to bypass. Is anyone aware of a custom rom that enables this, or perhaps a modification to build.prop that would enable it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try MIUI ROM.
randomx1 said:
Try MIUI ROM.
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Does it allow you to disable things like the play store and system browser? I am trying to get a good, child proofed phone.

Android debloat suffucient or custom ROM (Lineage) neccessary?

Hey,
Will rooting and extensive debloating Android be sufficient to stay away from google and tracking or is it neccessary to use a custom Rom (Lineage?).
Unfortunately there is no custom Rom for Samsung Xcover 4s yet.
I'm aware, that stock Lineage also will not be sufficient, but I ask myself if I get the manufaturers ROM almost as reticent as Lineage.
Maybe someone asked himself this question before and can give me a hint.
Thx
If your aim is to stay away from Google tracking, then you would have to remove Google play services completely. Make sure you know the cons of that - many apps depend on Play Services and would no longer function on your phone. If you are okay with that, debloating should be sufficient.
In future, if you decide to install a custom ROM, it is always better to go for official builds.
Wrichik Basu said:
If your aim is to stay away from Google tracking, then you would have to remove Google play services completely. Make sure you know the cons of that - many apps depend on Play Services and would no longer function on your phone. If you are okay with that, debloating should be sufficient.
In future, if you decide to install a custom ROM, it is always better to go for official builds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx. That sounds promising, I expected Google and other Bloatware to be as deep in Android system that there would be no way to stay on stock rom.
I'd prefer custom Rom, but waterproof and removable battery are rare features today in combination I guess. Xcover 4s would satisfy my hardware needs, but hoping for custom Rom on Samsung with Exynos probably is hopless, right?
Oh man, I hate to trade-off. And my actual phone (Xperia ZR) is dying slowly and annoying with more and more problems

Looking for a privacy friendly ROM for Mi A3

As the title suggests, I'm looking for a privacy oriented ROM.
LineageOS isn't official and nobody posts there anymore.
Any ideas?
Crdroid is the rom for you then. It has signature spoofing for microG
Jemec26 said:
Crdroid is the rom for you then. It has signature spoofing for microG
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Nice.
I tried searching some comparisons betwen LineageOS and this, mainly for differences, especially depending privacy, but I didn't find any.
Any info?
Well, CRDroid for mi a3 is based on lineage, mainly differences besides that, are the amount of features that CRDroid has compared to lineage. And you have a big plus with OTA updates.
For your concern, privacy is very strict between both of them at the same level, as of now, CRDroid has already April patch which lineage doesn't.
Yeah I read it's a fork of LineageOS and has more features.
My concern is not security (which is what patches address) but privacy, it has to do with google telemetry hard coded in the kernel, and other stuff like network scanning, wifi triangulation etc.
if you're really really concerned about privacy and will go overboard my advice is just flash any aosp rom without gapps. Just find alternative apps for youtube (this was my main concern) like newpipe.
I've been researching a whole lot of privacy focused apps and started replacing them one by one.
But ROM should be first.
Does aosp ROMs or CrDroid contains Google services?
Voliminal_8 said:
I've been researching a whole lot of privacy focused apps and started replacing them one by one.
But ROM should be first.
Does aosp ROMs or CrDroid contains Google services?
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Crdroid contains signature spoofing if you want to install microg.
Probably the best rom at the moment when it comes to privacy and going gappsless
garylawwd said:
Crdroid contains signature spoofing if you want to install microg.
Probably the best rom at the moment when it comes to privacy and going gappsless
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What exactly is signature spoofing?
And microG?
Voliminal_8 said:
What exactly is signature spoofing?
And microG?
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Click to collapse
If you are so focused on privacy then ditching all Google apps and researching microg would be the first thing you should do. Replacing apps now is useless as Google will still pull your data from every app on your device so long as play services are installed (or any Google app for that matter)
Read here
And here for more information
Paranoid Android 10 is out, someone needs to bring it to this phone.
debido666 said:
Paranoid Android 10 is out, someone needs to bring it to this phone.
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It is. But it comes with gapps. I think there is a build without gapps also though
garylawwd said:
If you are so focused on privacy then ditching all Google apps and researching microg would be the first thing you should do. Replacing apps now is useless as Google will still pull your data from every app on your device so long as play services are installed (or any Google app for that matter)
Read here
And here for more information
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks for the links.
So wait, is microG needed? If I got it right, you only need it if you want to run most of google apps. Right?
If I get CrDroid without Gapps and install very other app replacement like, NewPipe, Singal Messenger, etc. won't it be google free?
Damn I'm confused.
Voliminal_8 said:
Ok thanks for the links.
So wait, is microG needed? If I got it right, you only need it if you want to run most of google apps. Right?
If I get CrDroid without Gapps and install very other app replacement like, NewPipe, Singal Messenger, etc. won't it be google free?
Damn I'm confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Micro G it's kinda confusing first times you read. To answer your questions, yes, you will be Google free. Microg is mostly for apps that depends on Google services to live. It replaces the Google apps but without sending any info to Google anonymously. They just connect to make a login, that it's why signature spoofing is important, without it, microg wouldn't be able to fake gapps for those apps who required then.
Different thing is that you don't use any app who doesn't require Google services. But banking apps, for example, most of them requires it, so that it's the moment when microg plays the fake game.

Best ROM today? Best ROM tomorrow? (no gapps)

I'm wondering what people think is the best ROM (no gapps) for this phone today, and how that's likely to evolve over time.
Do any ROMs stand out in terms of features, performance, or battery life? Are there any ROMs that have significant problems?
Are any ROMs "official", or likely to be? Should that be a concern or factor?
Also I'm looking to set this up no gapps, so micro-g integration is a factor. It seems like the Magisk module should work well enough with most ROMs, but I'm new to this part.
Bump. Anyone…?
"Best" is such a personal thing that I can only tell you that I'm using Resurrection Remix and am extremely pleased; lots of customization, stability, Slim Recents, and no Gapps are what make it perfect for me.
It's the first ROM I tried on this phone, and it works so well for me that I'm not (currently) considering trying something else...although my curiosity and general nature (see my sig) may lead me to trying out a different ROM...eventually, maybe.
- Resurrection Remix has a long history, but who knows for sure about developement for this phone?
- Feels nice and snappy to use, but I have no Gapps and I've only installed a few (5 or 6) apps.
- Battery life is great, for me, I don't use my phone much and go 3-4 days with still 80% left.
- Not interested in Google or microG, so can't speak to that.
TiTiB said:
"Best" is such a personal thing
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Certainly there's allowance for people to describe what they consider best.
TiTiB said:
I'm using Resurrection Remix and am extremely pleased
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So far I'm liking RR, but IIUC there's no plans for that to be official for this phone.
Previously, I loved CR-Droid, but on this phone it's missing a lot. IIUC, there's a plan to make that official, but I haven't seen any progress for a few months.
TiTiB said:
Not interested in Google or microG, so can't speak to that
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I'm curious, how does that work? I'm new to de-Googled phones, and I thought microG was kind of necessary to get most apps working. It certainly seems important for apps that use location, eg weather and mapping.
go vegan said:
Certainly there's allowance for people to describe what they consider best.
So far I'm liking RR, but IIUC there's no plans for that to be official for this phone.
Previously, I loved CR-Droid, but on this phone it's missing a lot. IIUC, there's a plan to make that official, but I haven't seen any progress for a few months.
I'm curious, how does that work? I'm new to de-Googled phones, and I thought microG was kind of necessary to get most apps working. It certainly seems important for apps that use location, eg weather and mapping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do my best to never allow anything to know my location. I use Open Street Maps in offline mode for maps, my weather app uses my zipcode, etc.
I'm totally ungoogled on my phone. F-droid apps only.
EDIIT: Preemptive correction. Not true about F-droid apps only, or even FOSS only. Obviously Brave Browser, for instance, is neither.
TiTiB said:
I do my best to never allow anything to know my location. I use Open Street Maps in offline mode for maps, my weather app uses my zipcode, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using this - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.tobykurien.webapps/
If I want a "web app" to have access to my location, I can permit that on an as-needed basis.
I'm also migrating towards weather apps from F-Droid - https://search.f-droid.org/?q=weather&lang=en
TiTiB said:
I'm totally ungoogled on my phone. F-droid apps only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not there yet, but I think I'm on my way. Location (via microG/NLP) is handy for lots of things, especially when I have control over it.
I'm new to de-Googled phones. Can you point me to resources about the pros and cons of microG? I was under the impression that it's kind of necessary for notifications and location services…? But maybe if you don't need/want notifications and location services, then there's no need for it?
go vegan said:
I've been using this - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.tobykurien.webapps/
If I want a "web app" to have access to my location, I can permit that on an as-needed basis.
I'm also migrating towards weather apps from F-Droid - https://search.f-droid.org/?q=weather&lang=en
I'm not there yet, but I think I'm on my way. Location (via microG/NLP) is handy for lots of things, especially when I have control over it.
I'm new to de-Googled phones. Can you point me to resources about the pros and cons of microG? I was under the impression that it's kind of necessary for notifications and location services…? But maybe if you don't need/want notifications and location services, then there's no need for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't had interest in microG in years, and don't have any info about what is or is not required for location or notifications. I have no need for either. I use my phone for calls, texts, and, very rarely, web access via Brave, Bromite, or Fennec—that's it. If need to look at a map, I have it already downloaded is OSM.
TiTiB said:
I use my phone for calls, texts, and, very rarely, web access via Brave, Bromite, or Fennec—that's it. If need to look at a map, I have it already downloaded is OSM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a dumb-phone for calls and texts. I use a smart-phone as a pocket-size portable computer.
Which custom rom did you end up trying? Im also on the same boat as you in terms of wanting to degoogle. I just successfully unlocked the bootloader and rooted the device via magisk. Now I'm trying to figure out the next step in getting rid of gapps and having microG in place of play services. The user fulalas created a debloat magisk module, and if that removes core gapps I'm wondering if implementing that and then installing microG will be the solution for me

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