Hi,

I would like to change the owner of a directory on the sdcard /sdcard/aDirectory

I have a terminal installed on my Android 10 (LineageOS 17) com.android.terminal

sudo is not present so I use su and it works.

su
#Terminal was granted Superuser rights

cd /sdcard
chown 10:10 aDirectory
#I don't get any error message.

stat aDirectory
#Uid (0/root)

So the owner stay root no matter what I'm doing, any ideas ?

Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 redesigns the Settings app with some Material You tweaks and better organization.

After coming to Advanced subscribers a month ago, Gemini Live is now rolling out to free users on Android.

I have an unrooted GrapheneOS phone. I was surprised that it doesn’t offer a native option to limit battery charging to a specific upper limit (e.g., 80%) to preserve battery health and prolong the battery's life.

To work around this, I decided to implement a charging limit feature using automation software and a Wi-Fi-controllable plug. After some research, I bought a Shelly Plug S for this purpose. I'm trying to keep things open-source, so I avoid Google Play apps when possible. The closest Tasker alternative I found on F-Droid is Easer. Unfortunately, Easer seems to lack some crucial features that would make this process easier, such as switching Wi-Fi networks or starting external apps.

Here’s my plan so far:

• My phone’s charger is plugged into the Shelly Plug S, which is connected to my Wi-Fi network.
• I want to use Easer to automate the process: It would turn on the plug when the charger is connected, monitor the battery level, and, once it reaches 80%, turn off the Shelly Plug S by making an HTTP call to its local web interface (or an API call).
• I prefer to block the Shelly Plug from accessing the Internet entirely (to avoid leaking data to the cloud) by setting up firewall rules that restrict its access to only my local network.

However, Easer seems to have some limitations that make this more challenging than expected:

• Easer cannot switch Wi-Fi networks: I was hoping to use the Shelly Plug’s local access point (AP mode) for a more portable solution, but since Easer doesn’t have permission to switch networks, I'm restricted to my home network.
• Easer cannot start external apps: It also can’t trigger external apps that might help with network switching or more advanced controls.

At the moment, I’m stuck with these limitations and was wondering if anyone has experience with similar setups or has already written code to implement something like this. Specifically:

Has anyone written or seen code to automate switching off a Shelly Plug once a certain battery level is reached? Are there any workarounds for Easer’s limitations, or should I consider switching to a different automation tool that fits my FOSS preference?

I would greatly appreciate any tips, code snippets, or discussions around best practices for this type of setup. Ideally, I'd love to make this work while keeping the setup local and portable, but I’m open to suggestions!

Thanks in advance for your help!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19727402

Google is updating Safety Check in Chrome, with a big focus on getting rid of unwanted website notifications through one-tap unsubscribe.

Google is experimenting with changing which icons Android uses to show notifications in the status bar and always-on display.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19650358

Through an updated Google API, Android app developers can now effectively block sideloading and force downloads from the Play Store.

Is there is any app that combine all the reddit alternatives inton one feed the same way Openvibe combine Mastodon, Nostr and Bluesky or the same way that Grayjay combine all the YouTube alternatives into one feed.

Does it exist?

I recently bought a Wireless Android Auto box for my car which only had Wired Android Auto before. It works perfectly when I'm driving. That part I'm very happy about, coupled with a wireless charger/holder it's easy and convenient.

What's not so good is that whenever my car wakes up to charge the 12V battery (my car is an EV) the Wireless Auto box wakes as well and my phone tries to connect to it. Last night I was talking to my mother on the phone in my living room and suddenly the call was transferred to my car outside.

I'm recently moved from IOS to Android, so I'm unsure what the best way to remedy this is. I've thought about a few possible solutions:

• Use Tasker to shut off Android Auto when I'm at home with geofencing or Wifi network (Don't know if this is possible)
• Unplug the Wireless Auto box when I park at home (Not ideal)
• Make a physical switch that connects/disconnect the Wireless Auto box depending on whether someone is sitting in the front seat (Seems like a loot of work)
• Ask here to get an instant reply with the one setting on my phone I need to toggle to fix this (I do hope this is the one :) )

Have any of you had the same problem, and if so, how did you fix it?

Technical details: Pixel 8 Pro running GrapheneOS. Car is a Hyundai Kona 2020.

Android updates are undergoing a revolution as we speak. Is it a positive thing, though? We will see. Google’s focus on N+3 for everyone might make it more common for OEMs to provide 2 or 3 platform updates, but on the other hand, in the cases where they want to provide more updates than it’s expected of them it gets way more complicated than before. It might also cause a feature stagnation, stripping users of useful improvements.Where is Google leading us? I don’t know, but I think we will find out very soon.

I was doing some research on putting a custom GSI ROM on an older device and stumbled on this article. It's from 2022, but should still be accurate.

If you've ever wondered about how Android updates work and why some devices seemingly have arbitrary cutoff points for updates, this article explains why.

I won't spoil the read, but things are actually better than they used to be with one glaring regression in the form of GRF (Google Requirement Freeze)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19576153

I don’t need it to be with zero effort, but most of the instructions I find these days on XDA forums are extremely ambiguous and assume the reader is someone who does this every day and therefore knows most of the steps and what the terminology means.

Years ago when I used to do stuff like this more, directions were written meticulously and without abridgment of any elements. Seems today it’s not common for someone to go to the effort.

I’m extremely proficient, that’s not the issue. It’s just most instructions say stuff like “Step 1: root the phone. Step 2…” I’m like “whoa excuse me… how do I root this phone?”

Anyway, so all I’m asking is are there just comprehensive directions for any of these.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19594581

Here's a video preview of how the upcoming Files by Google ZIP creation tool will operate once the feature's available.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19576371

Google is changing up the look of the account switcher on its apps. We have now managed to activate this new UI.

I have degoogled but I find myself missing Google Wallet/Pay despite it being the worst spyware there is. I would like to have both my bus pass and card available on my phone in case I ever get stranded with out either. I've found this app but when trying to emulate a MiFare Classic, it emulated a MiFare Plus and when attempting to emulate a Visa or MasterCard, it just errors out and says to please insert the card.

I presume I need some sort of sniffer hardware like a Proxmark3 to get as much data off the cards as possible, though I'm not really sure how to get the data from there to an emulator on my phone with the intention of out and about.

Please only reply with genuine answers. Any shit about ToS or poor security etc. will be ignored.

Firefox, something Firefox based or something entirely other?

Google has rolled out cross-device instant hotspot and call transfers to Android, but they have to be manually enabled. Here's how you do it.

What's the best way to restrict my Android devices to only use approved apps? I want to manage the whitelist remotely.

Bonus points if I can keep everything in-house, on my home server or similar via my existing VPN.

This is for my kids' future phones. Ages 12 to 16.

I'm looking for a way to dump raw data from an entire phone or at least the sda block to a PC, using a method other than adb pull.

When I run adb pull /dev/block/sda sdaDump.img, it creates a dump file. To find what I need, I have to search through this raw data using a Hex Editor. If the dump comes from a fully functioning phone, I can usually find what I’m looking for because all the data is still intact.

However, I accidentally wiped the metadata partition on my phone, so the decryption keys/files are gone. Now, because of that, some folders appear empty when checked with TWRP's File Manager, even though the actual files are still there.

If I create a dump now, the raw data in the file won't be the same as when the metadata was present, and those folders weren't showing as empty.

Running adb pull /dev/block/sda sdaDump.img now results in a dump where the Hex Editor shows zeroes (no data) where these files should be.

Is there any alternative method to create a raw data dump of the sda block or entire phone storage, that will capture that data as it is (not empty folders, but the data in them), even if it's encrypted?

I don't want to create the raw data dump onto the phone storage and then transfer it to a PC, but something that works like adb pull, in the sense that it pulls the data from the phone directly onto a PC.

Thanks a lot in advance to everyone!

My brain or whatever gets accustomed to the same alarm in the mornings and I wont wake up. I currently point my alarm clock to a spotify playlist so that it will play a random some from said playlist. I no longer use spotify and instead store local files or my plex/jellyfin server.

I have tried what seems like tons of alarm clock apps but non of them can do this. Is there one that does this.

While not seemingly relevant at first glance, turns out they are using Android under the hood Specifically, BlissOS 15 which is Android 12L.