Find my device - a possible solution

de0u

Matthai When my telephone is not active (it is powered on, but I leave it on the table and the screen is locked), FMD is not sending data to my server. And server also can not sent queries (for location or camera, etc.) to phone.

What battery-usage options are set for the app?

Matthai

OK, I found the problem. UP-FCM Distributor is not working good. However, installing ntfy solved his problem, so do not repeat my mistake. :)

But also do not forget to set battery usage for ntfy without restrictions.

Final thoughts

App looks really nice, and it is not eating too much battery (about 1%).

Option to get data through SMS is quite cool to, because if phone does not have data connection, you can still track it via old 2G network. But of course, this option could be quite dangerous, because an attacker could fake SMS caller ID field and then intercept the response. But then, you can change fmd command to something else...

Anyway, nice app, but I would really like to see something like that in GrapheneOS natively. :)

Matthai

[deleted]

Well, I really do not understand is this serious question or not.

Of course you can not track the device if it is turned off or has SIM card removed! In that case some kind of "airtag" would help, but then the question is - what if airtag is removed? :)

This software definitively does not cover all the scenarios. But it covers some. For instance, when you loose your phone or forget is somewhere. And in some cases could also help if your phone is stolen. But not in all cases, of course.

So if some solution does not cover all possible uses cases, it is bad?

[deleted]

Matthai it makes sense in case it is lost, not when stolen. When it is lost or misplaced, there are other simpler ways of locating it, for instance by activating the ringer or if location services are active, by periodically or on demand sharing location to the cloud or another device.

Matthai

[deleted]
Yes, but can you activate the ringer with "clean" installation of GOS? If phone is in silent mode?

This app can do this.

[deleted]

Matthai I apologize for my comment, if I can come up with anything helpful regarding locating your device when it is in AFU, I will chime in.

Termina

Could you add some color around how to configure the ntfy app to work with FMD? Not finding any docs on that bit.

mrtoo

I have used FMD for a few years now. Recently I needed to reinstall the app. All works well with the exception of granting SMS access. Maybe that is related to the updated security with Android 15, I don't know. Is there a way to enable SMS access for FMD?

de0u

mrtoo Is there a way to enable SMS access for FMD?

Try this: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-15-restricted-settings-sideloading-3481098/

Lama

Sorry for the silly questions, but :
Using this line (in fmd-docker-compose.yml) :
ports:
- 127.0.0.1:8090:8090
I can't access the server, even with http and from my local network.
It works if I replace with :
ports:
- 8090:8090

But then I can't get the HTTPS digital certificate:

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: nginx). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:
Domain: no-ip.url
Type: connection
Detail: MY-IP: Fetching http://no-ip.url/.well-known/acme-challenge/somethingsomething: Timeout during connect (likely firewall problem)

Hint: The Certificate Authority failed to verify the temporary nginx configuration changes made by Certbot. Ensure the listed domains point to this nginx server and that it is accessible from the internet.

Some challenges have failed.

I can access my server remotely using http.

Ugs

Matthai Thank you for the post. I am also looking for an app to locate the phone in case it is lost. Have you considered Prey Anti Thef? Any thoughts about it?

NetRunner88

Ugs
PlayStore says it is not compatible with my device. I am pretty sure it enforce play integrity ..

Matthai

Forget about Play Store. FMD could be installed through F-Droid (or directly), works, and has now very strong development. Developers are active, adding new features and cleaning bugs. For me it works just great.

And for push notifications I use ntfy.envs.net (official NTFY server is not good), so no Google and their monopolistic crap at all.

20220h

Matthai is fmd server is safe to use from nuilde ? https://fmd.nulide.de

Matthai

I think yes. Since everything is encrypted anyway.

Also, FMD is getting funding from NLNet: https://nlnet.nl/project/FMD/

BB9

I’m new to FMD and so far, it’s been awesome. However, I’ve run into an issue. Everything works perfectly when I use the GOS Messaging app as my default SMS app. But when I switch to Google Messages, nothing works—even though all the permissions are set up identically. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance for any insights!

pled

Thank you for that great post, it helped me a lot to set up my own FMD server, and configure the Android client.
I haven't dared to activate the “delete” option though, being afraid of making a mistake on the web interface ! ;-)

FMD Server misses an option to delete pictures IMO. Request has been raised here and could be implemented later :
https://gitlab.com/fmd-foss/fmd-android/-/issues/250

As of today "only the last n locations and pictures are stored. n depends what the server operator has configured". See below parameter to add to compose.yaml file :

How many location points or pictures FMD Server should save per account
MaxSavedLoc: 1000
MaxSavedPic: 10

Matthai

Yes, but they got the NLNet grant and are going to implement many new features, including picture and location management. Also I think they are working on improvements on cryptography.

pled

Yes, forgot to mention I had to install Android client v0.11 because I am using self-signed certificates (letsencrypt).
I was getting that error when trying to connect :
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found.
Issue was already raised here : https://gitlab.com/fmd-foss/fmd-android/-/issues/362