Prompting User to Enable GPS - android

Correct me if I am wrong:
1) You cannot programatically turn GPS On/Off on all versions of Android. Maybe some previous versions, and some hacks, but not on all devices. It simply is not allowed.
This leaves only two options:
1) Use new Google Play Services to prompt user to change these settings.
One issue with this is what if you just want to allow user to turn on GPS,
but not WIFI? The resolver will give them options to turn on both. How
can you just turn on one but not the other?
2) Send user to the settings application by firing off an Intent.
Now with 1) User must have current google play services installed.
If not they can be prompted to install it via standard GPS dialog.
Ok, now for 2) Sending user to settings application. I have the following problem:
When I fire off this intent, they not only get to change the Location/GPS Settings but they can also hit the little back button within Settings app, and adjust all settings. Is there any way to prevent this? Anyway to bring up the Location/GPS Settings without the inner back button? Thanks.

You cannot programatically turn GPS On/Off on all versions of Android. Maybe some previous versions, and some hacks, but not on all devices. It simply is not allowed.
Correct, for obvious privacy reasons.
When I fire off this intent, they not only get to change the GPS Settings but they can also hit the little back button within Settings app, and adjust all settings. Is there any way to prevent this?
No.

Related

Default Device assistance app Android

Sadly, now we can no more map our apps to Long press home button Event. But, There is a settings page where it is possible to change the default device assistance app:
Default Device Assistance app on Samsung
Is it anyway possible to change the default device assistance app programmatically or even launch the settings page (via intent) to make the user change the setting?
Is it anyway possible to change the default device assistance app programmatically
Fortunately, no, for blindingly obvious privacy and security reasons.
even launch the settings page (via intent) to make the user change the setting?
Ideally, there would be an action in Settings for this, but I do not see one that looks like it is specific to the assistant.

How to change the GPS settings in Android programmatically?

I want to change the GPS settings of an app by clicking the Accept button. But I can't find any reference on how to do that? I tried but security exception occurred. Is it possible?
startActivity(new Intent(android.provider.Settings.ACTION_LOCATION_SOURCE_SETTINGS));You can use this
Android Guidelines have changed above version 4.0. You cannot change GPS off on programmatically for versions above 4.0.
Apps cannot enable or disable GPS programmatically, except perhaps on rooted devices. Please allow the user to do that.
I suggest you to use dialog for asking user to turn off and on the gps, and redirect to settings on ok button press.that is even better and user friendly.
Finally i got the solution, using GoogleApiClient we can enable the GPS by providing priority programmatically with out moving user to the settings page.

mark the particular setting from my App in android

I am getting problem in my app .where i need to mark the particular Settings I have used the following code:
startActivity(new Intent(android.provider.Settings.ACTION_WIRELESS_SETTINGS));
Its open the setting page but it does not mark the particular Entities.How could i get the automark option Could anybody help me out!!#Thanks
this is not possible, unless you have the rights and access the setting directly (not with an intent, but with the Settings class), and even though, I'm not sure you can.
What you can do is what google maps does. When your app starts, check if the gps is enabled, if it is not, display an alert notifying the user, with a button to quit the app, and a button to go to the settings screen. When the user comes back from Settings screen, test again.
If the action that you are trying to do was allowed then users would be very mad if some application would turn on their wireless connection or even worse the GPS sensor.
This change is available to change only by the user him self. So as mentioned the most you can do in case you need Internet connection or GPS sensor available is to present a user with the relevant message and fire an intent that will take them to the settings screen to change this setting them self.

Retrieving GPS coordinates when location services are not enabled

Assuming the device's "Use Wireless networks" and "Use GPS satellites" settings under Location is not enabled, is it possible to still retrieve the location coordinates.
Currently, the best is to redirect the user to the settings page is not enabled. I find this disruptive as needs to navigate away from the app.
If i am not mistaken, you can enable the settings programmatically (Am I correct?).
I don't need the exact coordinates, is it possible to get the cell tower ID without the settings enabled?
No. If the user doesn't want to give you his location, There is no way you can get his location.
This is a security measure and it exists for good reasons. If you try to subvert this, your app will be considered malicious.
Redirecting the user to the settings page is the best option.
Agreed - in earlier versions of android, you could programatically turn on the GPS - but more recent versions do not allow this to happen.
As Anup states - the common acceptable practice now is to redirect the user to the options page and allow the user to select the type and nature of GPS that the application is allowed to use.
Dont forget , you dont need to "leave the app" to get the user to turn on GPS, you can send them to the settings yourself:
startActivityForResult(new Intent(android.provider.Settings.ACTION_LOCATION_SOURCE_SETTINGS), 0);
This will then come back to your app where it left off - giveing the use a seamless experience, and one which they will be familiar with from other android apps.
Setting anything programatically without asking the user first is bad practice.
What you could do is, in case you can't get a location, ask the user to turn GPS on or tell him your app won't be able to work and will close.
switching on Location settings programmatically without the users consent is impossible let alone bad practice. You can prompt the user and direct him to switch on location settings or if you program tracks the progress of the device user, you can have the program send an alert of some sort telling them that the Location setting is off.
Deep dive into location has a set of best practices for Android's LocationManager. You do not need the GPS to be activated -- in many cases, the mobile network itself gives a pretty good approximation of the location without taking up extra battery.

Disabling "Force Stop" Button in Android

Okay, I'm pretty sure that this is not possible but a client had asked me to do so in one of our Android application we developed for her.
What she had wanted is that if our application is running, and user navigate to:
Settings > Manage Application > [Our Application]
, the button for "Force Stop" is disabled.
Is this possible? If it is possible, could someone point me out which way I should walk, or if it is not possible, how, using a valid argument based on facts, should I break the news to her.
Update:
She just sent me a screenshot that, in her opinion, validates her request that there's an Android application that disables "Force Stop" button. How am I supposed to explain this to her?
How to disable the "Force Stop" button
Short answer: Use the Device Administration API.
How to explain this to my client?
Show this to your client. It is a nice slideshow providing an easy-to-understand overview of the Device Administration API and its uses.
How do I demonstrate that it works?
Yes, back to your job. Use the API link provided above and the Api Demos included in Google's sample
collection to figure out how to integrate this into your app.
Build the demo and run it on your device.
Choose API Demos->App->Device Admin->General->Enable admin.
Choose Activate once the Device Administration API prompts you with its enabling screen.
Exit the app and attempt to manage the app via your device's settings menu (specifics for this step varies by device).
When viewing the Api Demo's "app info" screen, you should see both Force Stop and Uninstall are disabled.
How do I do this in my own app?
Review DeviceAdminSample.java in the Api Demos app for inspiration. You will need the following:
The following code is what brings up the activation screen:
// Launch the activity to have the user enable our admin.
Intent intent = new Intent(DevicePolicyManager.ACTION_ADD_DEVICE_ADMIN);
intent.putExtra(DevicePolicyManager.EXTRA_DEVICE_ADMIN, mDeviceAdminSample);
intent.putExtra(DevicePolicyManager.EXTRA_ADD_EXPLANATION,
mActivity.getString(R.string.add_admin_extra_app_text));
startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE_ENABLE_ADMIN);
However, there are a few other pieces you will need to get this to work:
A broadcast receiver that derives from DeviceAdminReceiver.
Entries in your manifest file that refer to the above broadcast receiver.
Permissions in your manifest for using the Device Administrator API.
An xml file stating what policies your app can access.
All of this can be found in the above links. Good luck with your client!
This is not remotely possible, for great reason.
You should tell her that making this possible would be a huge security disaster. Imagine what would happen if you could create apps which just ate at your processor time by holding a wake lock, and you couldn't kill them. This would be horrible.
In general, if you're wondering if you can modify the "extra-app" behavior of the device, the answer is usually *no*. You should take the viewpoint that nothing on the device is yours to control besides your app and (to a limited extent) the resources to which you're granted access.
No other app has this kind of control, so it's not reasonable to expect that your client's would either. However, the fact that she's asking for this control usually implies something else: that they are worried the user will stop the app and then something bad will happen (the locations will stop being synced, data will stop being sent out to the net, etc...). This would imply that you should look into improving the resilience of the app to different situations. Remember, your app can even be killed off at any time by Android (for example, in the case of low memory).
I think the device screen shot has confused us. Even I can show my application that is installed on the device and the "Force Stop" button is disabled. Where as I have not done any thing specific to that.
The reason of the "Force Stop" button being disabled is, that particular application is NOT running currently. Hence there is not meaning in having the button enabled.
#Rhama you can ask your client to start the application once, press the home button of the device, and goto the settings and see. Surely the "Force Stop" button will be enabled this time.
Regards,
Rajan
From ICS, disabling Force stop is possible. If your app has an active device admin then the framework will not allow user to kill the process
Hey I think it is quite possible to disable the "Force Stop" button...check Kaspersky
Parental Control from the market it is doing the same.
Its service is running in the background then also the force stop button is disabled.
The application service is running in background
you can disable the forcestop when the app has admin rights. but soon as those admin rights are revoked then it is back to normal. however in android 4, an application called applock (domobile) was able to prevent that by asking a password when you tried to change admin rights. It could only be done by installing an extra program that applock asked you to. And I guess this might even be seen as a security flaw, infact it no longer works in Android 5.

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