Android 4.3 has a hidden feature! It's called "App Ops" and it lets you selectively disable some permissions for your apps. Is some misbehaving app constantly pinging your location and draining your battery in a few hours? You can fix that now.
It's not really ready yet, so Google has hidden it. It seems to work though. You can download App ops Launcher from here, this tool is help to launch the hidden "App Ops" from android, but it only works for android 4.3.
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Tap the icon and you'll see something like this. There's list of all your apps and the permissions they use, categorized into 4 handy tabs. The tabs are broken down into "location," "personal," "messaging," and "device," so it's easy to see what app uses the permissions you're concerned about. On the right is a timestamp for when the app last used a permission.
Once you pick an app, you'll get a screen with easy on/off buttons for each permission. Don't want Facebook to know your location? Just hit the "off" switch. The app will still work, it just won't have any idea where you are. This screen also tells you the last time each individual permission was used.
The one problem I see (and hopefully the reason why this isn't a user-facing feature yet) is that there is no explanation for why your location is broken in Facebook. A system notification that says something like "App Ops is currently limiting this application's permission access" would probably stop some tech support nightmares.
The way this list works is actually highly annoying. Rather than just read the declared permissions in App info (above), App Ops tries to do "detection" for certain permissions.
For some permissions, the app has to make use of them before they will show up in App Ops. For instance, on the left is my permissions list when I first fired up Facebook; in the middle is the list after I told it to import contacts; on the right is the list after I posted a picture from the camera. You have to go and hunt down all the permissions and make the app use them before you are allowed to disable them. That's a lot of work. Is this list complete? Will it ever be complete? There's really no way of knowing.
That's about it for App Ops. Just please, take care when you mess with this, and keep in mind it's not ready yet, so you might run into problems. Also, even when it does work, you are messing with settings the app developer never intended for your to have control over. If you happen to horribly break something, don't blame me!
And if you want to try to launch the "App ops", you can scan this QR to download and start it, enjoy yourself!
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With everyone trying to copy folders from iOS and Android i kind of got bored of it. Either way folders on WP7 will never work cause they don't match the design language.
Making application lists would save clutter and would act as storage folders to store certain app you want to hide out of the full application list.
My concept isn't new. Just different approach to categorising your apps. Which lets face it is pretty brutal in WP7. Jump lists are sort of a pain in the a$$ as well.
By clicking on a thread header (just like in the email threads) you will pop out the application list that you added to that thread.
If you pressed and held onto an app. Instead of the option pin the app and uninstal it to the start screen another option would pop up for making a new application list, as well as extra option to add the app to an existing list or remove it from the list if it is already in it.
Once you click on make a new list, you would be asked to name it.
After making a folder you can click on an app you want to add. Select add to a folder and a pop up would come up which folder do you want to add it to.
I think the start screen takes good care of making sure most apps you need are on it. This would ensure that the must need applications for you that you don't want to pin to the start screen are always there without a long list to scroll through.
Now to find some one to make it?
It's not a bad start (although I completely disagree with the idea that folders "don't match the design language", but that's a topic for a different discussion).
Your idea is a good one, but what I would rather see is a design where "opening" the folder/list would not expand it in place (that would just add more clutter IMO), but open a new pane to the right of the full app list that focuses on just the apps in the custom folder/list. Then, to get back to the full list you only need to swipe back to it, even if your custom folder/list more than fills the screen.
Maybe a people hub like group function can be implement to the app list too?
That could work too. It might not be as seamless as the people hub groups, but it could still be a possibility.
honestly I love the app list and the alphabetical jumplist. Finding apps is no problem. However they could implement "groups" for apps the way they do people. With the app live tile cycling through the app group main tile. So If I have "news" group with USA Today, Fuse, Fox news etc the Group live tile should show me the weather, latest national and tech news.
How I would change the app list is universal search. When you hit the search icon and enter some text say "microosft" it should present several pivots "apps" "emails" "documents" and "web" filtering out the search results in a metro manner. Infact if they could hardwire the bing key to do that I'd be happy.
Well its an idea I dont think a hub for apps would work cause it would mean you have to go into and out of the hub. Where as with a "group" "list" "thread" or a "folder" you can quickly open them and close them
I will never use the Messages app to send a picture (yes, never. I don't have an SMS plan) so I'd like to be able to remove it from the sharing list from the Gallery. Is there any way to choose which apps show up in that sharing list?
Thanks.
zipzoomeroo said:
I will never use the Messages app to send a picture (yes, never. I don't have an SMS plan) so I'd like to be able to remove it from the sharing list from the Gallery. Is there any way to choose which apps show up in that sharing list?
Thanks.
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Only by removing the apps. You could go into the Messaging App Info page, and Disable it. As a warning, though, Messaging is one of the core OS apps, and disabling it could possibly cause instability. I've never had any reason to try it, but just keep it in mind in case you have issues; you can always re-enable it.
copkay said:
Only by removing the apps. You could go into the Messaging App Info page, and Disable it. As a warning, though, Messaging is one of the core OS apps, and disabling it could possibly cause instability. I've never had any reason to try it, but just keep it in mind in case you have issues; you can always re-enable it.
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Any idea if this is the kind of thing a custom ROM could enable: choosing which apps show up in the menu?
zipzoomeroo said:
Any idea if this is the kind of thing a custom ROM could enable: choosing which apps show up in the menu?
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Anything's possible; that could certainly happen. I don't see it as being a very widely anticipated feature, though. Just out of curiosity, I'm not sure if you noticed, but after you've used the sharing menu a few times, it shows only your top 3 apps (technically 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) that you've used for sharing, and then a "See All..." button below it. Also, your foremost sharing app will show up as an icon to the right of the sharing icon. Example below, with imgur, Messaging, Kik, and Gmail.
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Just use Quickpic is is really good. I use it as my main gallery. Also has the option to hide stuff.
Thanks for the ideas.
In ICS, one of the new feature is to disable app you don't want.
For example, I don't use Google+ and I want to disable it.
However, I cannot disable it because it is updated.
The uninstall-updates button replace the disable button, I have to uninstall it to disable the app.
What a stupid design!
Read this issue and star it, urge Google to fix this stupid design.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=25380&colspec=ID Type Status Owner Summary Stars
Such a non issue...
*Facepalm*, just uninstall the updates then disable it. I can't believe you are whining about this.
This really is something that should be changed, but I don't think we should be pulling out the pitch forks and torches as it is a minor annoyance at best.
It had to have taken you longer to post than it did to uninstall updates & disable the app.
Maybe not an ICS issue, but I get perturbed by annoying app update emails. Wish I knew a way of turning that pig off. I always select manual app updates. It seems many apps have no update at all and are just trying to increase their download count/marketing visibility.
OP constructing this thread
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miketoasty said:
*Facepalm*, just uninstall the updates then disable it. I can't believe you are whining about this.
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I just think it is stupid design forcing me to re-update the app when I enable it.
I don't see a problem pointing out a bad interface design.
Booker-T said:
I just think it is stupid design forcing me to re-update the app when I enable it.
I don't see a problem pointing out a bad interface design.
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I am going out on a limb here and guessing that their use cases for "Disable" an app didn't include people disabling and re-enabling apps for periods of time. It's more of a disable bloatware / undesired apps than a use toggle.
For your use case it's not ideal, that is correct. Whether or not it was designed with that use case in mind is another question.
krohnjw said:
I am going out on a limb here and guessing that their use cases for "Disable" an app didn't include people disabling and re-enabling apps for periods of time. It's more of a disable bloatware / undesired apps than a use toggle.
For your use case it's not ideal, that is correct. Whether or not it was designed with that use case in mind is another question.
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Click to collapse
I have to agree with this guy. The assumption is that if you disable an app, you don't want it. If you don't want to use an app for a little bit.... Don't use it. It's not going to hurt your phone being in your app drawer, I promise.
First day on new Samsung Galaxy S21 FE phone. After some hours, I noticed that I don't have a search features in Settings anymore. It was there as expected on Android, but now it simply disappears. Any idea what can change this behavior?
Additional info - I made debloat as instructed in XDA forum for Samsung phones. Maybe there was something which could damage it?
You debloated it Dependencies...
Be very careful what you disable especially with the smaller Samsung system apps. Some are useless bloatware, but many just sit there unless needed.
In Android 10 Samsung added dozens of small system apps that preserve the UI functionality and appearance. Android 9 on the same device didn't have them but both look and behave nearly identically.
The "damage" isn't permanent. Either undo the edit(s) that caused it or a factory reset will purge all the edits and revert it to factory default settings.
Tnx.
I didn't find a solution, so I made a factory reset.
Now it works again (until my next debloat session ).
I use a package disabler and block about 80.
Some of the lists I've seen are way more than I would do. Things like that settings search feature which can be useful at times.
I poked around a bit, this is the app that provides that service.
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Tnx. As I wrote, I have already made factory reset. I will be now more careful
blackhawk said:
I use a package disabler and block about 80.
Some of the lists I've seen are way more than I would do. Things like that settings search feature which can be useful at times.
I poked around a bit, this is the app that provides that service.
View attachment 5581067
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I really appreciate you making this comment even after OP had resolved their issue. It's very helpful for future people who end up searching Google for the same issue, like I just did, haha.
I found my search function missing as well and I figured it had to have been dependent on an app I disabled, but I couldn't imagine what app. Thankfully I landed here and your comment saved me a lot of time I would have spent scouring up and down the apps list.
Funny thing is I don't remember ever even seeing the Settings Suggestions app when I was debloating. I definitely would have figured out what that was for and not disabled it. I used the app "ADB AppControl" on Windows and I did run the "Basic" (lowest level) Debloat wizard, assuming it wouldn't disable anything so essential, but I'm certain that's what must have disabled it. So there's a warning for anyone else, always be careful with one-click solutions! Hopefully this helps anyone else who ends up here on another future Google search.
So one of the things I was excited about when I got this phone is that the Edge Lighting app would not include hole punch camera notifications. But when I reinstalled the app it wouldn't work! Wouldn't even open! I found this especially odd cuz why wouldn't an app developed by Samsung work on a Samsung phone? I ended up uninstalling it since it didn't work. Now I can't even find it in the Galaxy Store. Only 3rd party apps.
Has anyone else had this issue?
It was always a bit twitchy.
Make sure it has all needed permissions, notifications. Global power management may also screw it up ie adaptive battery and such.
Edge Screen is in settings under display if that's what you're referring too. At least on the N10+/Pie variant.
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blackhawk said:
It was always a bit twitchy.
Make sure it has all needed permissions, notifications. Global power management may also screw it up ie adaptive battery and such.
Edge Screen is in settings under display if that's what you're referring too. At least on the N10+/Pie variant.
View attachment 5642111
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On my S9 Plus I had the Edge Lighting + app which gave additional animations. Those look to be standard on this model. So I guess the reason the app didn't work is cuz all those features are included now. I was able to find it. It's moved in settings to Notifications. In the pop up settings you have to select Brief to get the Edge Lighting now & then got into Brief Pop-up Settings to select which effect you want.
I was going to delete this thread but don't see the option. If a mod can delete it please do.
Scorpion34 said:
On my S9 Plus I had the Edge Lighting + app which gave additional animations. Those look to be standard on this model. So I guess the reason the app didn't work is cuz all those features are included now. I was able to find it. It's moved in settings to Notifications. In the pop up settings you have to select Brief to get the Edge Lighting now & then got into Brief Pop-up Settings to select which effect you want.
I was going to delete this thread but don't see the option. If a mod can delete it please do.
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Good thread. If I do a search in settings for "Edge Lighting" I pull up that that page in my previous but also this one.
I can navigate to it through search but not otherwise. It's hiding
It may interacting with Good Lock which is firewall blocked to keep it from updating.