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I recently thought I had lost my phone but I had just misplaced it at home. Because I had powered it off I was unable to locate it by making it ring and I thought it had been stolen.
Unfortunately, I hadn't set a lockscreen pin or installed a security app to help locate and control my phone remotely so my phone was totally unprepared for the situation.
I hurridly set about changing sensitive passwords using my laptop then I tried to remotely install a security app called "Android Lost" and when I eventually found my phone the app was automatically installed but did not work because it needs to be run and activated.
So, I have learned my lesson from this experience and I have now set a lockscreen password PIN and installed and registered "Android Lost".
Now if I really lose my phone I am not completely helpless and I will not power it off unless it is on charge.
I hope my experience acts as a warning to others who have not taken phone security precautions.
Yeah that's basically the first thing I did with the Nexus 4, I ended up going with Cerberus which was about $4aud for a account which I can use on my two previous phones and tablet should I decide to take it away since the Nexus doesn't have USB OTG support.
Does basically everything, my most wanted feature was the invalid pin/pattern photo, where if you put the wrong pin/pattern in it'll take a photo & Email it to me.
Thankfully haven't needed to put it into action but I make sure to test it after each ROM upgrade just in case it doesn't work.
I think the app "Plan B" will work in that situation. Never tried before though.
Using "Wheres my droid" myself.
parker09 said:
Yeah that's basically the first thing I did with the Nexus 4, I ended up going with Cerberus which was about $4aud for a account which I can use on my two previous phones and tablet should I decide to take it away since the Nexus doesn't have USB OTG support.
Does basically everything, my most wanted feature was the invalid pin/pattern photo, where if you put the wrong pin/pattern in it'll take a photo & Email it to me.
Thankfully haven't needed to put it into action but I make sure to test it after each ROM upgrade just in case it doesn't work.
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Thanks for your informative reply. I've switched from "Android Lost" to Cerberus which looks better.
Cerebus, Android lost or where's my droid?
I tried Cerberus because of all the positive comments I had seen on xda. I can personally say it is by far the best one out there. I've used seek droid, where's my droid and nearly all of them but Cerberus just seems to do more
Sent from my Nexus 4
ltylty123 said:
I think the app "Plan B" will work in that situation. Never tried before though.
Using "Wheres my droid" myself.
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Plan B doesn't work on 4.0+
I use Cerberus.
parker09 said:
Yeah that's basically the first thing I did with the Nexus 4, I ended up going with Cerberus which was about $4aud for a account which I can use on my two previous phones and tablet should I decide to take it away since the Nexus doesn't have USB OTG support.
Does basically everything, my most wanted feature was the invalid pin/pattern photo, where if you put the wrong pin/pattern in it'll take a photo & Email it to me.
Thankfully haven't needed to put it into action but I make sure to test it after each ROM upgrade just in case it doesn't work.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I use Cerberus as well (got it for free quite some time back when the developer was having a "free for life" weekend special). Also, it's worth mentioning that once bought you can use it on up to 5 devices (which is great if you have multiple phones).
In addition to doing what is quoted above it also lets you do all kinds of things in the web interface. From locking the SIM to tracking the phone's location over a given time period to being able to pull up call and text logs. All of that in addition to the usual features of locating your phone (via GPS) and setting off an alarm (that is insanely, and occasionally scary, loud).
I highly recommend it to my friends and family members. Definitely think you should give it a go. If I hadn't gotten it for free I would gladly have paid for it. Never had to use it (beyond showing off its capabilities to people looking for a security app), but it gives me peace of mind knowing it just works (and does so after ROM flashing).
Also, if you have root and enable it as a device administrator it'll do quite a bit more. From locking your phone to remote wipes to uninstallation protection (of course a complete wipe from recovery will beat that, but there's only so much you can do or not do in that case).
I like the way Cerberus can take a picture of someone trying to crack the lock screen pin and email it. I wonder how difficult it is to get past a screen lock pin?
How big is the impact of Cerberus on battery life guys?
Lexus fan said:
How big is the impact of Cerberus on battery life guys?
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Almost no impact at all
Anyone using avast?
I just got my Nexus 4 and have yet to setup a security app. I used Prey on my last phone and it seemed pretty good. Anyone know how it compares to these other apps?
Lexus fan said:
How big is the impact of Cerberus on battery life guys?
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Click to collapse
No impact at all. Since the app doesn't run until you manually send commands from the web interface. And even then the app doesn't really "run" per se. There's no visibility at all it's even there, minus the icon in the app drawer. (And you can even hide the app and make it so it's only accessible by dialing a certain code from the phone dialer.)
i want to install these 'lost my phone' apps but dont they really drain the battery and you have to turn on gps and location settings on? also if the thief who steals your phone will read up on how to reflash and wipe the phone? it will render these apps useless
I've been using Cerberus for some time now and it's absolutely perfect! Every part of it functions just as it's intended to and the app has practically no impact on battery life. Great stuff!
elbel86 said:
I just got my Nexus 4 and have yet to setup a security app. I used Prey on my last phone and it seemed pretty good. Anyone know how it compares to these other apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using prey, but thanks to this thread I just switched to Cerberus - much better deal, interface, and functionality - plus a couple extra features if rooted. Totally worth the USD4.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
EDIT: The culprit was Cerberus, and its "Wrong Unlock Code Photo" feature (and possibly all of its features that relate to using the camera). See post #8.
What the problem is: after a couple of minutes or hours, your camera suddenly "dies", meaning when you open any camera app (e.g. Snapchat, Camera Zoom FX, stock Camera, Instagram (when taking a picture)), causing "Camera has failed" or "Cannot connect to camera" messages. The only solution to this is rebooting.
Supposed solutions: there are many "solutions" posted that apparently worked for people, such as:
- Flashing back to stock (and sticking with the stock kernel)
- Doing a factory reset / internal storage wipe
- Battery (and MicroSD) pull
- Clearing the data and cache for Camera (and Gallery)
- Removing or replacing the MicroSD card (if any; it may be corrupted)
- Deleting all images/videos (may be corrupted)
- Uninstalling Skype
- Killing the mediaserver process
- Unfreezing the default Email.apk
- Updating the camera firmware (note: must have TouchWiz)
- Physically opening the back, and checking the camera connection
- And some other weird ones, like removing the top left screw.
(disclaimer: do the above "solutions" at your own risk)
What I've done: I did all of the above, except the last two which involve you physically opening up your phone.
Even flashing back to stock (TouchWiz), removing my MicroSD card, unfreezing the default Email.apk, updating the camera firmware to the latest version, I still get the failed camera every now and then. Clearing data/cache for Camera/Gallery doesn't fix it. Only a reboot does.
Possible Cause and Solution: undervolting too much may be the cause.
One common denominator that I recently realized is that I like to undervolt (e.g. lowest frequency set at 800 mV). I usually flash a custom kernel almost immediately after I flash a rom, and then configure it.
Currently I have reset my kernel (KT747) to its default settings, default voltages, and the camera has been working for the past few hours, so let's see how this goes! I will keep everyone updated.
I just wanted to share this thread because I know this is a pretty annoying "bug" and I know how much we XDAers like to tinker with our kernels and voltages.
Of course, another assumption may be that the hardware itself has deteriorated and needs to be replaced, but I keep my phone in an Otterbox and have never dropped it.
If you are reading this and you have no problems with your camera: DO A NANDROID BACKUP NOW. I have no idea why or how this problem started, but that's one piece of advice I would offer to those of you who don't currently have this issue.
Good finding. Hardwarewise it does makes sense if you are doing extreme undervolting. Please post further tests or findings.
Thanks Perseus!
I happened to come across LeanKernel, and the "slow", "nominal", "fast" settings. I never knew about this; apparently this tells you what kind of chip you have and how much undervolting it can handle:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2102369 (see post #2)
I get PVS: 3, which apparently means "Fast"
Hopefully this info is useful.
If anyone else is experiencing this issue, feel free to let me know what you've done to try to fix it I'm going to try out different things (kernels + settings) and report back.
EDIT: FOLLOW UP - 10 hours after (since 10am today), with LeanKernel 8.6 and the recommended settings in this post for my chip type (fast), my camera is still working fine. Now I'm on SlimBean 4.3.1 build 2.2 as well. Let's see how long this goes...
EDIT 2: woke up today, and at 9am I got the camera failed message. So while it's still lingering around, it went nearly a day without failing. I wonder if it has anything to do with my phone being idle (e.g. if it goes into a deep sleep). Just rebooted (11:30am), let's see how long it lasts.
i dont know much about kernel and rooting as a matter a fact i have never rooted this phne but i have the issue does this still apply to me? and can you provide detail instructions and how to fix?
It probably doesn't apply to you since you are not doing anything like what he had mentioned.
Backup your data and then factory reset (will wipe internal sd). This will set you back to pure out of box stock. If you still have problems its probably hardware.
If you have more questions, go ahead and post in the q&a section. That way we dont go too off topic for this thread.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk
So the issue is still there. I came across this today:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/themes-apps/cyanogenmod-camera-bug-solved-connect-t2293287
(here's the original APK by Temasek (Restart_Camera): http://temasek.hopto.org/?dir=Samsung Galaxy S3 - i9300/CM10.1/Misc )
Requires root, and what it basically does is run the kill -9 `pidof mediaserver` command.
Many people have said it helps (temporarily) fix the error for them, but it didn't work for me. They did say they were on vanilla CM, so I may flash that tonight and see. (I'm still on SlimBean)
I checked my running apps, and saw Snapchat was running, so I have frozen it with Titanium to see if this will help (as it is also the only app I use that triggers the camera on start, aside from "camera-only" apps).
Will report back!
Do you still have that Camera has failed issue continuing ? I 'd suggest go back and Odin flash the last Stock firmware you had. After Nandroid of Course.
That way you make sure the camera firmware is correct in the first place.
*please ignore*
Possible. But remember Wind MK5 is 4.3. So you can't just flash prior Root66. That will Brick your phone. I suggest flash MK5 again after doing factory Reset. Then check to see if the camera has stabilized before flashing Custom Roms. Also on several threads here, Doc has posted methods to Check Camera firmwares or flash different Camera Firmwares. You can try that too.
Thanks, so with my latest edit to my last post, I believe I have solved the mystery (in my instance at least).
The culprit is/was most likely Cerberus, and its "Wrong Unlock Code Photo" feature (and possibly all of its features that relate to using the camera). I was able to "crash" my camera after purposely mis-entering my pattern gesture a couple of times in a row. My guess is that Cerberus does not cleanly terminate the camera access when triggered repeatedly. (edit: I found this link that mentions a very similar issue with Cerberus - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cerberus-support-forum/hagX135SmVk)
I have disabled it to see if it was the culprit, and so far, the camera is not dying after purposely mis-entering my pattern gesture a couple of times in a row (I tested both rear and front cameras).
If it still works after 24 hours, I'll unfreeze Snapchat and see if it is another possible culprit.
Thanks everyone for following along, and I really, really hope that this thread is helping/has helped at least one person out there.
That could very well be the case. I had similar experience with a Prior version of ShopKick and QR Code Reader.
This thread just helped me big time. I'm on a 32GB Nexus 5 using Cerebrus to capture a picture when the password is incorrectly entered once.
I'm gonna test a small work around regarding having the camera run less frequently by taking photos after 3 or 4 fails.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
TheLastSidekick said:
This thread just helped me big time. I'm on a 32GB Nexus 5 using Cerebrus to capture a picture when the password is incorrectly entered once.
I'm gonna test a small work around regarding having the camera run less frequently by taking photos after 3 or 4 fails.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy to hear!
Just following up: I haven't had any more camera failures after changing my wrong unlock threshold from 1 to 3 attempts (and also being more careful when entering my code).
@GenericAsianGuy and @TheLastSidekick, you guys should report the issue to the developer of Cerberus. Could be they dont even know about it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
DocHoliday77 said:
@GenericAsianGuy and @TheLastSidekick, you guys should report the issue to the developer of Cerberus. Could be they dont even know about it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I've just emailed them with a link to this thread, I'll keep everyone updated as to what they say
DocHoliday77 said:
@GenericAsianGuy and @TheLastSidekick, you guys should report the issue to the developer of Cerberus. Could be they dont even know about it.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
GenericAsianGuy said:
I've just emailed them with a link to this thread, I'll keep everyone updated as to what they say
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Click to collapse
Changed my feedback on the store to explain the but without changing the 5 star rating. I'll email him when I get on my Linux Mint box.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Luca has replied:
Thanks for the feedback. We received similar reports from other users with the North American version of the S3, unfortunately we haven't been able to identify exactly what is causing the bug, to fix it. We are not able to get the phone to do some tests ourselves, because we are based in Italy.
Perhaps you could tell other people in the thread to try this?
- Reboot the phone
- Send a "Take picture" command from the website, checking "Take picture immediately"
- If that locks the camera, send us a logcat to [email protected] , otherwise issue other "Take picture" commands until the camera locks, and then send us the logcat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So please send logcats to [email protected]
Mates,
I don't know if the Kevo/Kwikset app folks are dumb, lazy or if there is some fee they have to pay to support new phones, but hear my tale of woe, with a happy ending (a minstrel on a mandolin is playing in the background as you read this).
I put Kevo locks everywhere when they first came out with android support. When they work, it is one less key I have to carry, one more thing my everpresent phone can do. They were announced as partners for the Gear S2 which, as we all know, is bull. The tech writers who said it worked were clearly Samsung lapdogs.
The Kevo website says that the app won't work on the Galaxy S7 edge but it did. Right from the start, right out of the gate. Then T-Mobile rolled out a patch last week and it stopped. Nothing. Bupkus. Google Play says the app is not supported by my device.
A little bit of searching led to the actual newest Kevo apk. I downloaded it, deleted the old app, installed it and voila! Back in business. The new version supports remote open and close, which I haven't checked yet- I bought an upgraded lock but it isn't installed.
So, there you have it. I have no idea why Kevo/Kwikset/Unikey didn't test with the newest phones, why they don't know it works or whatever. Their developers are much more interested in supporting iOS and the sheeple that use it, but it will work for us too!
where did you find the latest? i looked for almost 2 hours and the best i could come up with was the 0.99 beta in the google groups. had to sideload an app that lets you change your device to trick Play into letting you install it.
Googled Android kevo apk, found version 1.2.57.2p everywhere. I presumed that was the latest since it has the remote buttons on it.
yeah i saw those results as well, but none of the apk downloaders worked for me. several even said their 'device' was incompatible, which was the same problem i was having.
I'm in the same boat. I have an S7 Edge and while kevo still works with just the proximity and tap lock to open...I've never been able to get the tap to unlock/lock work. Even on my moto360 (gen1) kevo force closes non stop. Another problem I had was my old S5 was on Lollipop and it worked, but then Tmo rolled out the update to MM and now it doesn't even see the lock. I've had multiple emails to Kevo and the only thing I get is that "We're sorry, we have no plans to support MM".
If you got anything to help out with Kevo working on Marshmallow, then I'd appreciate it as well!
I might be a little late on the the subject but I had the Kevo app since the beginning from my Note 4 on KK all the way up to My Note 5 on MM. I rarely use my Moto 360 (1) to open the door but this time I did and the watch went haywire and kept showing a notification indicating that the app is no longer working. So I decided to uninstall the Kevo app and then proceeded to sync the watch and phone, stopping the annoying notification. When I went to the app store to reinstall I found the "phone not compatible"..
Well, decided to sideload to have the Kevo app to look and work the same way I had it before.. after several attempts I figured it out. 1st sideload the Kevo 0.9.58p apk, sign in, then sideload the updated version 1.2.57.2p and it will finally look and feel like the updated one on Lollipop. Sefar is right, why the devs were so lazy in checking for compatibility is beyond me but it works.!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
I received my Pixel XL 128GB on this past Wednesday and I have been having constant crashing issues with my Camera. I first thought it may have been the app itself so I tried using various camera apps from the playstore which didn't seem to help.
I tried to delete the app data as well as the cache
deleted any app that may use the camera such as facebook and instagram
reset the phone back to factory twice, trying both the stock and stock updated camera app
I even tried various ROMS like PureNexus and AOPK with no fix in sight.
The error message I receieve is "Camera Error - Can't connect to the camera" prior to that error message the screen is black utilizing the forward facing and rear camera.
I called up support and of course got an idiot Google Customer support rep who could barely speak english telling me that it may be hardware related and that I would it would needed to be replaced.
Is there any other options at this point short of sending my phone back and having them send me a replacement? They are telling me they want to do an authorization hold of another $900 for them to ship me a replacement phone first which is absolutely laughable.
ohms139 said:
I received my Pixel XL 128GB on this past Wednesday and I have been having constant crashing issues with my Camera. I first thought it may have been the app itself so I tried using various camera apps from the playstore which didn't seem to help.
I tried to delete the app data as well as the cache
deleted any app that may use the camera such as facebook and instagram
reset the phone back to factory twice, trying both the stock and stock updated camera app
I even tried various ROMS like PureNexus and AOPK with no fix in sight.
The error message I receieve is "Camera Error - Can't connect to the camera" prior to that error message the screen is black utilizing the forward facing and rear camera.
I called up support and of course got an idiot Google Customer support rep who could barely speak english telling me that it may be hardware related and that I would it would needed to be replaced.
Is there any other options at this point short of sending my phone back and having them send me a replacement? They are telling me they want to do an authorization hold of another $900 for them to ship me a replacement phone first which is absolutely laughable.
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Click to collapse
never experienced anything like that. I think a replacement is probably your best option given that you're already done a factory reset. The one remaining option I might suggest is flashing a full factory image downloaded from Google.
IMO, its not all that "laughable" that google would ask to put a authorization hold on your account. Its only a pending charge and is never actually processed unless you don't return the old phone.
mlin said:
never experienced anything like that. I think a replacement is probably your best option given that you're already done a factory reset. The one remaining option I might suggest is flashing a full factory image downloaded from Google.
IMO, its not all that "laughable" that google would ask to put a authorization hold on your account. Its only a pending charge and is never actually processed unless you don't return the old phone.
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Click to collapse
I have actually done a full factory flash from Google.
Well when I had financing from Verizon or T-Mobile and I had an issue with the phone they sent a replacement first and I had a time frame in which to send the phone back or I would get charged, they never held funds first.
Financing devices works a little different and each company has their own policies. I haven't had an RMA with Google ever, but with Moto (after it was bought by Lenovo) they required a hold and there have been a few other places that if they sent a device to me before I sent one to them they would put a hold on my credit card. I always considered it a standard procedure. As for the Pixel's camera, while there have been some issues mentioned here and other places about camera issues yours seems unique, almost like the camera component was DOA. I would RMA if it was my device.
Sent from my BTV-W09 using Tapatalk
I found this on Google's forum: Camera issue seems to be solved with beta 2 update, can anyone else confirm?
Jason70
5 days
Jason70
yep, 7.1.2 seems to have worked... fingers crossed.... not got camera to fail and it always failed at my workplace due to low signal, but this morning its running great!
ThomasBHV
5 days
ThomasBHV
7.1.2 (NPG471) Yes currently it work well
The above post has more to do with phones in low signal areas that have the camera freeze up usually with purple lines across some of the photo. That issue has been on going mostly with European variants since release. This does not give the unable to connect error.
Sent from my BTV-W09 using Tapatalk
Thanks for all the responses but I guess Support was correct when they said it was the hardware. My new phone works without any issues.
A few days ago Xfinity Mobile (or Samsung? I'm unsure) started pushing OTA update G965USQU7DTA5 (One UI 2 upgrade with Android 10).
I successfully updated mine SGS-9 but got stuck on wife's SGS-9 Probably, first attempt of download on this phone was interrupted (my wife went to store, and download was paused 'cause of no WiFi). But after that it's always stopped on 25% and saying "Couldn't download update: Unable to update the software. A network or server error occurred. Try later again". It's a bug in buggy Samsung software updater, I'm 100% positive, but how to fix that stuff without resetting the phone?
Phone is NOT rooted or unlocked; I googled for "offline update" instructions for stock, locked phones but can't find good, clear instructions.
Any suggestions, guys?
P.S. I've never done phone reset on SGS-9, how it works? Is it quick and safe enough? My wife's phone don't have sideloaded and/or pirated apps, everything by original, Google- & Samsung way.
Update: I resolved my issue by updating phone from PC, using Samsung's "Smart Switch" application - everything went smooth and easy.
P.S. Big thanks to this guide: https://thedroidguy.com/how-to-fix-...not-update-to-latest-software-version-1097987
Update 2: My question received no answers, even no attention but I still believe in people (generally)
So, after update to Android 10 on SGS9, my wife found what the new camera app is kinda downgrade: she doesn't likes new video mode full screen chooser (instead of "scroller") and some other small things. By the way, I clearly understood her: for example, on her SGS9 (updated via PC) video has, by default, bigger zoom than mine SGS9! It's kinda ridiculous but I understand, some parts of the software was written by Korean guys
My question is: could you provide some tips how to install stock camera app from the previous firmware (Android 9), without flashing back old firmware (I suspect what Sam-damn-sung and X****&nity will not support Android 9 anymore)?
Thank you!
P.S. I know how the google search works; I know even more - how xda-dev search works too but I can't find exact answer to my question, sorry!
sensboston said:
Update 2: My question received no answers, even no attention but I still believe in people (generally)
So, after update to Android 10 on SGS9, my wife found what the new camera app is kinda downgrade: she doesn't likes new video mode full screen chooser (instead of "scroller") and some other small things. By the way, I clearly understood her: for example, on her SGS9 (updated via PC) video has, by default, bigger zoom than mine SGS9! It's kinda ridiculous but I understand, some parts of the software was written by Korean guys
My question is: could you provide some tips how to install stock camera app from the previous firmware (Android 9), without flashing back old firmware (I suspect what Sam-damn-sung and X****&nity will not support Android 9 anymore)?
Thank you!
P.S. I know how the google search works; I know even more - how xda-dev search works too but I can't find exact answer to my question, sorry!
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Click to collapse
I think it's more no one has xfinity. I was one of the few and first to have xfinity when I got my s8. xfinity is a weird setup compared to most phones. I had to ditch em when they charged me like 3 or 4 times in one month, it took me almost 4 months to get a refund.
With root you might be able to get the old camera working possibly. Or gcam I'm no developer so I wouldnt know the exacts. And I still run my xfinity s8 ???