On 21 Nov 2021 20:13:24 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:

> There's no need for *us* to be paranoid about it and
> always wondering "Is it him?".

Frank,
Long ago, I used to respect you but you're just proving to be a moron.
I post hundreds of photos of the _same_ phone for Christs' sake!
<https://i.postimg.cc/fRkkvRJH/intent01.jpg>

And you think you're a genius for figuring out that I don't hide who I am in
the body (only in the headers)?

Only Chris understood.
None of you worthless pieces of shit, Frank, understands what privacy is.

Worse, not a single one of you common trolls added any on-topic value.
Not you Frank.

How stupid are you Frank?
Seriously.

a. You don't own the cognitive skills to even understand the topic, Frank.
b. Certainly you've proven incapable of adding any on-topic value, Frank.
c. You consider anyone who wants privacy to be a troll, Frank.

And yet, with all that proof that you are nothing but a common troll, Frank,
you still consider yourself a genius for figuring out what isn't hidden?
<https://i.postimg.cc/HsXKj7WK/updateallapps01.jpg>
--
I shake my head in dismay as in decades of working in startups, I have never
met people as fantastically stupid as Frank proved to be in this thread.

Despite the common trolls infesting this thread (none of whom even
comprehended the topic since none of them added any on topic value
whatsoever)... I'm still hoping to edify people as to what are the great
FOSS apps out there that I've found in my experience.

Just now I used another fantastic FOSS app to help Carlos (since I'm a good
person, unlike the despicable trolls) which is called "App Manager".

While a lot of apps have "App Manager" in the name, the app I'm talking
about was discussed moments ago while I was helping Carlos, so I'll just
save time by appending that post below (which contains the needed URL).

On Tue, 23 Nov 2021 00:08:25 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> This is what I get. I can only "stop" or "report", which is greyed out.
> Nothing else in the screen responds to taps.
>
> https://susepaste.org/48327850
>
> Nothing similar two what you post. Unless you are using some special
> took that you do not say.

Hi Carlos,

Thanks for posting that screenshot as there is often more detail in
screenshots (which is why I often supply them myself, to be helpful).
<https://i.postimg.cc/3xxyCJYB/updateallapps04.jpg>

One important factor is the unique name of the "Play Store" app, which, for
you, appears to be the same as it is for me (com.android.vending).
<https://i.postimg.cc/02xKj04h/updateallapps03.jpg>

Mine is stock for my phone (Samsung Galaxy A325G) currently at app version
27.9.15-21 (which I don't think matters as I keep mine at the stock version
because I don't update anything unless I use it and know the update is
useful). <https://i.postimg.cc/4djB69pr/updateallapps02.jpg>

The fantastic FOSS app I used that tells me pages and pages and pages about
any given app is App Manager (which is by far the best app manager extent).
<https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>

My Google Play (it's called "Play Store" in the icon) isn't any different
than any other stock Google Play Store App (afaik) so it should work the
same for you (unless your tablet is vastly different than stock Android).
<https://i.postimg.cc/HsXKj7WK/updateallapps01.jpg>

About the only thing I do differently is you'll notice for privacy reasons
I've denied that Google Play App any permission for location (why would it
need my location?) but otherwise, ever since yesterday I have had it not
disabled so I can test it for you.

What happens for me when I click on the Google Play homescreen icon is that
first screen comes up, which then allows me to press the update button
(without having any login to Google whatsoever) as long as I'm on a network.

I'm sure almost everyone sees the same GUI as I do, so we can ask them too.
Anyone who is a good person will step in to test it for you like I did.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 11:54:46 -0800, sms wrote:

> He can evade a kill-file for at least a day or two.

What shocks me is how stupid you always prove to be, Steve.
If you actually think that, you're a moron as you have no idea what you
don't know (and I do know tons about that statement you don't know).

So please Steve... stop proving you're an utter idiot.
Even Alan Baker said the same thing - you're both on the same level Steve.

If you only knew what I know about headers - you'd see why your statement
proves you are clearly an idiot. (Ask Frank Slootweg, for example, about
headers as Frank ran a Usenet server and Frank knows exactly what headers
can be spoofed for privacy reasons.)

Anyway, since I'm not a despicable person like Steve clearly is, I am still
adding on-topic technical value to this thread, which I must remind all you
idiot trolls is about useful FOSS apps for Android.

Again, I just advised Carlos & Andy & Piet as to some useful traits of
Google Play where I added another rather useful FOSS app to the mix.

To save my valuable time, particularly given nobody on this thread even
understood the topic, I'll just paste what I wrote to KenW which contains
yet another fantastic FOSS app (many of which are privacy replacements for
Google apps).

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 16:59:13 -0700, KenW wrote:

> Google knows everything about you.

Not really.
Especially if you don't have a Google account on your phone.
And in terms of Google Play, if you never log into it (mine is disabled).

The Google Play app enumeration only catches these 14 apps on my phone.
1. Google Maps
2. Google Duo
3. Google
4. Android Auto
5. Speech Services by Google
6. Android System WebView
7. YouTube
8. Google Play Services for AR
9. Your Phone Companion
10. Microsoft OneDrive
11. Samsung My Files
12. Samsung Internet Browser
13. Samsung Push Service
14. T-Mobile
15. Google Play Services (accidentally updated 2 days ago)

My initial suspicion is these are all stock apps since I don't use _any_ of
them directly. And certainly I have _hundreds_ of apps which mostly came
from the Google repo, and certainly I don't habitually update them.

Logic tells me Google Play only updates a subset of apps on my phone.
However, on most phones, that subset is likely to be more substantial.

> You know Chrome spies why not their apps ?

I'm a logical person so I agree with you on Google spying.
But that's why I use the best FOSS replacements for all Google apps.

The FOSS app I use most for my Chrome replacement is Ungoogled Chromium.
Do you have any evidence that it spys on us?
<https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium-android>

The FOSS app I use most for my Google Play replacement is Aurora.
Do you have any evidence that it spys on us?
<https://auroraoss.com/>

On Sun, 21 Nov 2021 22:25:17 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> You are not protecting your privacy by changing your name, as anybody
> that tracks you knows your sixty names and archives your every post, and
> can trace you back to your very house if they have that intention and
> the resources.

Carlos,

Everything you believe in, is easily shown to be dead wrong, Carlos.

Do you have any idea how many _thousands_ of articles I write on the net?
How many of my XDA-Developer forum tutorials have you seen of mine, Carlos?

Everything you write reeks of the fact you lack adult cognitive skills.

In all my years in colleges and in Silicon Valley startups, I've never even
once met a human being, in the flesh, as incredibly ignorant as you are.

I'm helpful, intelligent, resourceful, and above all things, caring.
You're none of that.

You're a despicable piece of human shit, Carlos.

> You shift names, thus you are a troll, by definition.

A person has to rob a bank to be called a bank robber, where you'd call them
a bank robber simply because they wear a mask in the bank.

That you think everyone who wears a mask is a bank robber shows how
fantastically stupid you are Carlos. You don't own adult cognitive skills.

Only an utter moron would think the way you think Carlos (or a racist).

On Sun, 21 Nov 2021 14:22:19 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:

> I'll see how it works.

Ken Blake,

Please infest some other newsgroup with your off topic trolls.

You've never added any on-topic value to any thread in your entire life.

Why must you troll this thread fifteen times just to prove that fact?

On Sun, 21 Nov 2021 16:00:20 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:

> Sorry if I wasn't clear, but what I meant was that nymshifting is
> useless to the troll, despite how often they do it.

A person has to rob a bank to be called a bank robber, where you'd call them
a bank robber simply because they wear a mask in the bank.

That you think everyone who wears a mask is a bank robber shows how
fantastically stupid you are Ken Blake.

You don't own adult cognitive skills.
Only an utter moron would think the way you think Ken (or a racist).

On Fri, 19 Nov 2021 11:19:45 -0000 (UTC), Andy Burnelli wrote:

> What handful of free open source apps do you use most?

Given the FOSS google app clients are often far better than the original
Google client apps, a tangentially related thread was opened just now.

*Are there any downsides to supplementing the Google Play client with the Aurora Store client?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/zGYFITEjemc>

Personally, I can't think of a single functionality that the original
google play client does that the FOSS google play client doesn't do better.

Can you?

To add further on-topic technical value to this thread...

Today someone posted a thread where the OP seemed particularly keen on
minimizing cellular data, where the suggestions below using FOSS apps are
useful to anyone who wishes to restrict the amount of cellular (or Wi-Fi)
data any given app uses.

On Fri, 26 Nov 2021 10:35:14 -0900, Bill Bradshaw wrote:

> I was using a flip Tracfone but I needed to upgrade to 4G. So I purchased a
> Tracfone Samsung A12 and this is my very first smart phone which I mainly
> carry for emergencies. I have some questions.

That 8-core A12 looks decent, at ~$100, Android 10/11, & 4/6 GB RAM, etc.
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a12-10604.php

> What activities use Data?

To be purposefully helpful, and to opine advice which is directly contrary
to what Carlos suggested, I'd say almost nothing "uses data" if you're smart
about it. For example, what I do is turn off data for _all_ apps first, and
then, when any one app "needs" data, I turn it on.

You can easily do that with the FOSS software firewall named "NetGuard".
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.netguard>

It's interesting almost zero apps need to "use data" in my experience.
Certainly each app can easily be restricted to use zero cellular data.

> Also would connecting through an ethernet port save on the Data useage?

There are two kinds of "data", one of which is Wi-Fi and the other cellular.
With NetGuard, you can restrict any or all apps to use only Wi-Fi data.
> This phone is normally powered off. I am noticing in my router log all
> kinds of new ip addresses trying to make contact and I am assuming this is
> really people trying to contact the phone. Is this normal?

I don't think I understand that question.
If the phone is powered off, I can't imagine _anything_ in the router logs.
You may need to clarify by snapshotting your router logs for us, especially
as most routers have a history which can span hours, days, or even months.

> It is kind interesting disabling google play services has lead to issues and
> a beeping notification running across the top of the screen to turn it on.
> Can I stop this?

In my humble experience, I can easily disable _some_ google packages, but
not others. For example, I can disable these without much ramification
"com.google.android.gms.location.history"
"com.google.android.apps.photos"
"com.google.android.videos"
"com.google.android.gm"
"com.google.android.youtube"
"com.google.vending"
etc.

But when I disable this, I get too many warnings to make it feasible
"com.google.android.gms"

> I am going to install AuroraStore on the phone from an APK file using a
> Samsung program called cool-android-assistant which is installed on my
> Laptop. Can most of the android programs be found as an APK file?

I would use the official Aurora Store APK from AuroraOSS itself.
<https://auroraoss.com/>

Bear in mind the Aurora Store is the FOSS google play client replacement.
The Aurora Droid app is the FOSS F-Droid client replacement.

With the Aurora Store alone, you can get any and every APK on Google Play.
The only (minor) caveat being that APKs are deprecated by Google Play for
apps which are new as of August 2021 (but for now, that doesn't matter).
> I am trying to figure out how many people want to access my phone when it is
> turned on. I bought this phone but I really wonder if I own it.

I don't know how exactly to determine for sure who is accessing your phone.
I would suggest you start with the FOSS NetGuard firewall which keeps a log.

We should likely have an entire thread on how to determine, for sure, who is
accessing our phones over time (as the data learned would be interesting).

Notwithstanding the obvious fact that nobody else on this newsgroup has the
intelligence & knowledge to add value to the technical topic, today
MajorLanGod asked a question which naturally resolves with FOSS apps.

Here's what I wrote to be purposefully helpful for his query today...

On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 03:10:29 GMT, MajorLanGod wrote:

> How do I find out what is taking all the space on my phone's internal
> storage?

A lot of people recommend "Storage Analyzer & Disk Usage" by Anton
Patapovich but personally I don't recommend any apps that have ads.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobile_infographics_tools.mydrive>

While any idiot can find the best app that has ads, it takes intelligence to
find the best FOSS apps that don't stoop to that level of unwanted
intrusiveness.

One of the better FOSS storage analyzers is "DiskUsage" by Ivan Volosyuk
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.diskusage>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.google.android.diskusage/>

Not far behind in utility is the free ad-free "Diskinfo", by Kuder Apps
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.kuder.diskinfo>

Or try Storage Truth, by Scary Alien if you want to know what space is only
available to your apps for their storage and data storage use.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sa.storagetruth>

And, if you wish to live dangerously, you can have something like the "SD
Maid" by darken actually do the cleanup of your partitions for you.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.thedarken.sdm>

Each of the free, ad-free, gsf-free, google-free apps above does something
different to help you identify (and perhaps clean) out storage wastage.

> I will probably step up to at least
> Android 10, if not 11. Any opinions on that decision?

I've had them all. IMHO, they're essentially the same.
As you move up from Android 9 you don't lose much, you don't gain much.

Today there was a discussion whose tangential offshoots dived into clock
apps, where the following purposefully helpful suggestions also lend
themselves to the listing of FOSS clock apps to replace the stock app.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 15:16:59 -0000 (UTC), Joe Beanfish wrote:

> There are numerous full screen clocks in the play store. Not sure how
> that translates to apkpure that you can use. I use Night Clock by Ned
> Fox as a nightstand clock.

Thanks for that hint of "Night Clock", which I wanted to test myself.

That ad free gsf free google free "Night Clock" by Ned Fox looks good
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neddashfox.nightclock>

Searching for similar or better, I found a higher rated "Night Clock" by
Benjamin Laws which seems upon initial inspection to be of similar use.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.program_co.nightclockfree>

There is also the free ad free gsf free "Night Clock" by Black Gray Studio
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackgraybgs.nightclock>

And also this "Night Clock" by sid (seems to be a rather common name it is).
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.sid.night_clock>

Then there's the free ad free gsf free "Big Night Clock", by Digital Dreams
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digital_and_dreams.android.night_clock>

(The list of free, ad free, google free, gsf free "night clocks" went on and
on and on and on, so I'll switch to the FOSS apps below which add a bit more
functionality than do the analog/digital standalone night clocks above).

These are the canonical FOSS ad free gsf free google free clock apps that I
use to replace the stock clock app that comes with any new Android phone.

"Simple Alarm Clock", by Yuriy Kulikov
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.better.alarm>

"Simple Clock: Alarm, Stopwatch", by SimpleMobileTools
<https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Clock>
<https://f-droid.org/packages/com.simplemobiletools.clock/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.clock>

In keeping with adding value to the technical topic of this thread...

This is a potentially useful minimalist FOSS dialer, named "koler"
<https://github.com/Chooloo/koler/releases>

It's a swipe-based FOSS dialer by Chooloo.
<https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.chooloo.www.koler>

It doesn't have all the bells & whistles; but it does the job, even when
it's not the default dialer (which makes it useful as a secondary dialer).

In keeping with the thread topic, which nobody actually understood but me,
if you like to encrypt your photos on your phone, this is a FOSS privacy
based app that does that for you for free, sans ads.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.leonlatsch.photok>

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> if you like to encrypt your photos on your phone, this is a FOSS privacy
> based app that does that for you for free, sans ads.
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.leonlatsch.photok>

If you use android full disk encryption, with a lock screen, do most people need
this?

On Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:47:47 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

>> if you like to encrypt your photos on your phone, this is a FOSS privacy
>> based app that does that for you for free, sans ads.
>> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.leonlatsch.photok>
>
> If you use android full disk encryption, with a lock screen, do most people need
> this?

Hi Andy,

Thanks for adding value to the topic of this thread, and in particular to
the topic of whether or not Android FOSS file-based encryption is necessary.

That's a great question, which we could also ask of the truecrypt/veracrypt
containers and maybe even keepass2android encrypted password file managers.
<https://www.ghacks.net/2014/04/25/manage-truecrypt-containers-android-device/>
<https://proprivacy.com/password-manager/review/keepass2android>

Basically, the question devolves to personal preference on "file-base"
encryption versus "disk-based" encryption, I believe, does it not?
<https://source.android.com/security/encryption/>

My preferences, always, would be based on the _functional_ differences.

When I googled the status of Android encryption, I found that file based
encryption is already mandatory, so we already have that for some files.
<https://www.tinymdm.net/android-encryption-mdm/>

I'm not an encryption expert by any means, and, in fact, I've not performed
full-disk Android encryption (particularly ever since CentOS screwed me over
with full-disk encryption by corrupting the entire disk about a decade ago).

Given full disk encryption was dangerously flaky then, I've been burned
badly, and now I'm shy of risking the entire disk to crappy software again.

However, that's probably not a reasonable fear given the progress of
encryption, and, in particular, the progress of Android encryption.
<https://www.cloudwards.net/how-to-encrypt-android/>
<https://source.android.com/security/encryption/full-disk>
<https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/understanding-disk-encryption-android-ios/>

Hence may I ask you what the status is in full-disk Android encryption?
a. Is it fast enough yet?
b. Is it stable/reliable enough yet?
c. Is it secure enough yet?

Basically, what I'd like to know (and I'm sure other intelligent people
would also like to know) from someone who actually uses full-disk
encryption, is whether it's "usable" yet.

Is it?

InVizible Pro is a FOSS app expressly for privacy
https://invizible.net/en/

It adds DNSCrypt, Tor and Purple I2P to your phone.

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Hence may I ask you what the status is in full-disk Android encryption?
> a. Is it fast enough yet?
> b. Is it stable/reliable enough yet?
> c. Is it secure enough yet?

I think I tried it quite early on a nexus7 and that struggled, but it had slow
flash anyway.

My pixel3 (now deemed obsolete by google at 3 years old) has been encrypted
since day one, no problems.

I don't know if the device and/or google [a la apple/fbi] would be robust
against a skilled adversary, but I don't have one of those, and I doubt anyone
here does either, so if someone finding my phone has to remove the flash chips
and extract a key from the secure element to see my photos, I think I'm good.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2021 17:05:56 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

> I think I tried it quite early on a nexus7 and that struggled, but it had slow
> flash anyway.

Thanks for letting me know, as I've known about full disk encryption ever
since, oh, maybe when nospam claimed that "only Apple had it" or something
like that (where Android has had it for a long time - but it might not have
been usable due to speed issues in software versus hardware encryption).

> My pixel3 (now deemed obsolete by google at 3 years old) has been encrypted
> since day one, no problems.

Ah. That's GREAT to know as we trust your advice. (You can trust my advice
on many things, but on the FOSS apps, I haven't tested them all, so the FOSS
aps I'd recommend are on a short list of only about a half dozen or so).
1. NewPipe <https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe>
2. NetGuard <https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/releases>
3. Aurora Store/Aurora Droid <https://auroraoss.com/>
4. Pedometer <https://github.com/SecUSo/privacy-friendly-pedometer>
5. Ungoogled Chromium <https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-binaries/>
6. App Manager <https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>

I think it was you who may have turned me and sms on to NetGuard, which is
my second favorite FOSS app (after NewPipe). The Aurora Store is my third
favorite app, and the rest are just decent apps that happen to be FOSS apps.

BTW, what I "should" do is write FOSS & KISS software reviews, for hire.
That way I could help a lot more people choose the best apps.

But I want you to know I have not tested all the FOSS apps I listed.
If you want to know if I've tested an app, just ask, and I'll let you know.

For example, I'm currently testing the InviZible Pro FOSS app as we speak.

> I don't know if the device and/or google [a la apple/fbi] would be robust
> against a skilled adversary, but I don't have one of those, and I doubt anyone
> here does either, so if someone finding my phone has to remove the flash chips
> and extract a key from the secure element to see my photos, I think I'm good.

I'm ecstatic that you've said what you said above, which is 100% my feelings
also. If I were Osama bin Laden, then I'd shun all computers (and flash
drives, and couriers, and expensive buildings in Pakistan with tall privacy
patios without Internet access or garbage pickup), etc.

My adversary is not my wife and kids, who have daily access to my phone.
I don't even lock my house at night, nor my car (I leave the keys on the
front seat even when I park it outside the garage), so I'm not worried, like
the Apple Fan Boys seem to be, about someone "snatching" my phone out of my
hands.

I don't keep anything I care about (save for photos of the kids & grandkids)
on the phone and hence I don't even use a PIN for a lockscreen.

I do keep an encrypted container (EDS Lite) but I don't put much in it save
for text files of reminders that may have sensitive medical information in
them), and I do have Keepass2Android for web site login/password details.

But that's about it as my adversary is the general hacker on the Internet.
Basically, my adversary is the robotic hacker, and not the focused hacker.

Given my latest Android phone was free, I still have my previous phone,
which I might think of adding full-disk encrpytion to it just to check it
out. Thanks for letting me know it works well on the Pixel 3.

My older phone is a Moto-G7, on, oh, I think Android 10.

On 11/30/2021 9:05 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
> Andy Burnelli wrote:
>
>> Hence may I ask you what the status is in full-disk Android encryption?
>> a. Is it fast enough yet?
>> b. Is it stable/reliable enough yet?
>> c. Is it secure enough yet?
>
> I think I tried it quite early on a nexus7 and that struggled, but it
> had slow flash anyway.

<snip>

I remember turning on encryption on my old LG Stylo 3 Plus. It was a
disaster. It worked, but the lag times were way too high. The processor
was far too slow. But that was a low-end phone.

On mid-range to high-end phones the processor is fast enough that you
don't notice any speed hit caused by full encryption, even though there
likely is some speed hit.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:51:29 -0800, sms wrote:

> On mid-range to high-end phones the processor is fast enough that you
> don't notice any speed hit caused by full encryption, even though there
> likely is some speed hit.

This is good information if it's correct that on decent phones there isn't a
discernible hit from full disk encryption, where the phone I would try it on
would be my old $100 Moto G7 and not my current free Samsung Galaxy A32 5G.

Personally, I don't really see the value in the full disk encryption as we
have to assess how much of an adversary our wives and kids are, and, even if
the phone was lost (it's likely never going to be stolen, realistically),
how much data do we store on a _mobile device_ that we shouldn't store there
(if we're that worried about our data getting into someone else's hands)?

The risk, realistically, at least to me, seems to be the random hacker, who
would most likely be coming in from the Internet somehow, and, of course,
the risk of the data collectors/sellers (who invade our privacy daily).

Hence, the protection that I think matters most is that of the encryption
and proxies in our web browsers and the protection of our ad blockers and
that of our DNS connections to the Internet, and even the protections we
insert into our nav routing & media files, etc.

Some FOSS apps that help with that which I'm testing, for example, are those
FOSS apps which scramble our EXIF data whenever we send an image to others
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jarsilio.android.scrambledeggsif>

Another FOSS app I'm testing for location privacy is Private Location
<https://github.com/wesaphzt/privatelocation>
(but I kind of like my old location spoofer in terms of functionality)

To continue to add on-topic technical value to this thread, yet another FOSS
location tracker I'm testing out is the privacy aware Trail Sense app
<https://github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-Sense>
But again, I kind of like functionality in my old GPS/compass/sun-moon app)

Because I'm a kind-hearted good person, for this recent thread today
*December Android Update?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/styWUWOxyX0>

Given I already have set one-tap shortcuts to useful hidden settings.
*Opening Android intents & activities, working syntax & beginner examples*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/dj1OYyp6FOI/m/tY0STSUIBgAJ>

I was looking up how all the _others_ could access hidden update settings
*Here's how to Access Hidden Settings on your Phone*
<https://www.xda-developers.com/heres-how-to-access-hidden-settings-on-your-phone/>

If you need to access _hidden_ Android settings (such as update settings),
this FOSS app is recommended in that XDA-Developers' explanation above.
*Activity Launcher* by Adam Szalkowski
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.szalkowski.activitylauncher>

While there are _many_ similar apps found in searches, most have ads or are
otherwise obnoxious, where out of the goodness of my heart, I've listed
below the key activity apps I use (I'm not sure if they're all FOSS though).

(These are helpfully listed in the order I use them based on my use model.)

Icon named "Shortcut Widgets" [aka com.cemique.shortcutwidgets]
*Shortcut Widgets (+ Inspector)* by Hamed Nikbakht
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cemique.shortcutwidgets>

Icon named "Activitie" [aka com.cunnj.activitylauncher]
*Activities* by J. Cunningham
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cunnj.activitylauncher>

Icon named "X Shortcut Creator" [aka com.oldmen.shortcutcreator]
*X Shortcut Creator* by oldmen
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oldmen.shortcutcreator>

Icon named "Activity Launcher" [aka de.szalkowski.activitylauncher]
*Activity Launcher* by Adam Szalkowski
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.szalkowski.activitylauncher>

Icon named "Shortcut Maker" [aka rk.android.app.shortcutmaker]
*Shortcut Maker* by Rushikesh Kamewar
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=rk.android.app.shortcutmaker>

Icon named "Create Shortcut" [aka com.alextern.shortcuthelper]
*Shortcut Creator* by AlexTernHome
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alextern.shortcuthelper>
ShortcutExecutors [aka com.alextern.shortcutexecutors]
*Shortcut Executors* by AlexTernHome
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alextern.shortcutexecutors>

Icon named "QuickShortcutMaker" [aka com.sika524.android.quickshortcut]
*QuickShortcutMaker* by sika524
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut>

Icon named "Instant Intent" [aka com.trianguloy.instantintent]
*Instant Intent [Experiment]* by TrianguloY
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trianguloy.instantintent>

Icon named "Intents" [aka krow.dev.scheme]
*Intent* by krow
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=krow.dev.scheme>

Icon named "CurrentActivity" [aka com.willme.topactivity]
*Current Activity* by WillLi
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.willme.topactivity>

Each of the apps above does something useful that the others don't do.
--
What matters isn't the wrapping paper but the worth of the gift inside.
Those with a good heart are the ones who continually add value to Usenet.

Since every post should add to thread value, this post today in another
thread brings up a potentially useful FOSS privacy keyboard found today.

On Thu, 10 Feb 2022 06:56:31 -0500, nospam wrote:

>> The only leak of information I have detected was years ago, and I traced
>> it back to the google keyboard, not to whatsapp.
>
> what about the leaks you didn't detect?

Both nospam and Carlos and nospam bring up good points
a. Keyboards "can" leak privacy (so they should be chosen wisely)
b. There are plenty of leaks (a new one every day!) we don't even know about

Carlos brings up a good point that keyboards _can_ transmit information to
the mothership (particularly if they use voice to text features).

I don't know if iOS has privacy keyboards, but there are some Android
keyboards that expressly 'claim' they don't hand off your keystrokes.

Searching the Google Play repo with the typical Aurora persistent filters
(i,e., free, ad-free, gsf-free, google free, rated 4+, 100K+ d/l, etc.)
comes up with a some apps befitting those strict requirements, such as...

*OpenBoard*, by dslul "a FOSS keyboard that doesn't spy on you"

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dslul.openboard.inputmethod.latin>

*Hacker's Keyboard*, by Klaus Weidner

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard>

And some privacy based apps come with their own encrypted keyboards
(AFAICR):
*Keepass2Android Password Safe* by Philipp Crocoll (Croco Apps)

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=keepass2android.keepass2android>
<https://philipp.crocoll.net/keepass2android/index.php>
<https://github.com/PhilippC/keepass2android>
--
I didn't search Apple 'cuz their search engine is as crippled as Google's.

Tutorial: How to set up single-tap homescreen folder icon toggle shortcut
to any pre-defined commonly used Wi-Fi access point

Every day I test out useful apps where today I tested this FOSS app.
<https://opengait.github.io/>

It's on Amazon and Google Play also:
*Wifi Shortcuts+* by OpenGait.NET, 3.8, 10K+ downloads, free, ad free, etc.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.opengait.wifishortcuts>

It doesn't do anything you can't do a different way, but what it does is
wonderful in that it saves you steps (I try to make all actions 1 step).

It's _also_ especially useful to me for deeper-level privacy reasons.
1. I have _lots_ of access points that I often connect to at home.
<https://i.postimg.cc/XJChDCPr/spare-access-points.jpg>
2. I hide my SSID broadcast to prevent upload to Google/Mozilla servers
3. Therefore, I have my phone Wi-Fi set to never try to reconnect
(There are too many details as to why this works for this thread.)

But even if you don't employ privacy measures, if you frequently connect to
more than one access point, you can benefit from an easier connect switch.

Here's how I did it (in tutorial format so that you can follow along):
1. Install and set up the app for one "widget icon" per Access Point
(Note: These are the first widgets I've ever seen that are identical
in function to regular icons that go inside homescreen folders!)
(That's important to me because I maintain a well organized sysystem
with _everything_ in folders, all on only one homescreen page!).
2. For each access point create a "widget icon" and set it up.
3. Then put all those "widget icons" into your network access point folder!
Voila!

a. Customize the icon & name & the colors for each access point widget icon.
b. I set mine to _only_ connect but you can set them to also disconnect.
c. It also can be used to schedule wifi and to toggle wi-fi settings.

For me this is a keeper because it reduces multiple steps to a single step
for when I want to reconnect to one of my many access points, or when my
phone drops an access point as my phone is set to never automatically
reconnect to any known access point (for reasons of privacy).

As always, please test and let me know what you've learned, as Usenet is a
team sport where we all help each other become more powerful on Android.
--
I write these tutorials out of the goodness of my heart to help others.