https://gist.github.com/Akianonymus/create_multiple_profiles.md seems like a fairly straightforward system modification to enable not just multiple user profiles, but multiple work profiles specifically. This could combine the many advantages of having multiple user profiles with the convenience of launching them side-by-side with the Owner Profile, without having to switch/log-into different full profiles.

The linked gist contains instructions that are 1) intended for root users insecurely editing their /data/system directory, and 2) assuming that Island is the work profile manager app, but both of those are tangential to the modifications themselves. This could easily be adapted to automatically use whatever work profile mgmt app is installed. Then all we need to add is a GUI way for users to create or delete these profiles (probably could be added to the existing Settings > Multiple Profiles).

Are the GOS devs interested in putting this on the roadmap?
Should I take this to the Matrix room or GH issues instead?

  • de0u replied to this.

    hemlockiv I see a couple of issues.

    First, does it work? I didn't see details about which version(s) of Android it has been tested on, also which vendor variant(s). And one commenter reported that it did not work, maybe because XML on that device was formatted differently(?). The original poster then disclaimed the ability to provide support, so it's not clear who would (again, if it works reliably enough to be supported).

    Second, I have read that Android 15 may include a modification to user profiles called "Private Spaces". If so, this might not be a good time for the GrapheneOS developers to work on a user-profile feature that might need to be re-done or abandoned after A15 ships.

      de0u all good points. I don't know if it works personally, I think one would need a debug build of GOS to be able to modify the system in the way described. I also didn't know anything about A15, so that's a while other thing to consider

      • de0u replied to this.

        hemlockiv I also didn't know anything about A15, so that's a while other thing to consider.

        Search for "Private space" here: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2024/05/the-second-beta-of-android-15.html

        Also see: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/15/behavior-changes-all#private-space-changes

        As long as Google's user-profile system is in flux (which it may be for some time), I wouldn't expect the GrapheneOS developers to make changes to a moving target.

          de0u Ok wow private spaces actually looks like the exact same thing, pretty much. Apps installed in separate user profiles but still accessible from within the Owner profile. And it looks like it will be easier to share files and data from between them. Might not need to use a work profile at all in the future!

          a month later

          Well unfortunately, it looks like Private SPACE, singular, isn't going to be much more than a password-protected Work Profile / Secure Folder clone.

          In light of that news, let's bring this thread back on the table. Multiple work profiles side by side, with pretty easy to implement code.

          I haven't looked at the AOSP code behind Private Space, but the code in the original shared gist may even be possible to tweak to create multiple Private Spaces. Thoughts?

            hemlockiv I haven't looked at the AOSP code behind Private Space, but the code in the original shared gist may even be possible to tweak to create multiple Private Spaces. Thoughts?

            Wirhout having looked at any code, yes likely it will be similar. GrapheneOS developers primary concern seem to be usable security, ie that the UI is clearly distinguishing the separate private spaces as well as the separate work profiles, so the user does not risk mixing them up and the profiles cannot fool the user. And since both work profiles and private spaces are designed to just have one single running, this may require quite a bit of redesign and reimplementation.

              ryrona Wirhout having looked at any code, yes likely it will be similar. ... this may require quite a bit of redesign and reimplementation.

              That's a lot of conjecture for someone who has never looked at the code. Relax, it's not as complicated as you're worrying about.

                hemlockiv I feel like your response here is a little out of line. Here you say that you also didn't look at the code:

                hemlockiv I haven't looked at the AOSP code behind Private Space, but the code in the original shared gist may even be possible to tweak to create multiple Private Spaces. Thoughts?

                So if both you and ryrona haven't looked at the code, either one of you could be right, or the difficulty in implementing multiple private spaces would be something in the middle, or a medium difficulty thing. Regardless, it doesn't seem appropriate to disagree with someone's guess so forcefully when you're also guessing.

                As you mentioned, the gist that you shared works with Island. You can try yourself to see if it works with private spaces (hopefully) next week after Android 15 is released and report back here. I kind of doubt it'll work the same way, but it might work. I don't know if the developers will decide to take the time to figure out how to support multiple private spaces, but if some community members figure it out and make it easier for the developers, then I'd say the chances could be higher they add something to GrapheneOS (though don't take me saying that as a guarantee, I'm just a moderator, not a decision maker, so I'm just guessing myself here).

                You're right, I hadn't looked specifically at the differences between Private Space and Work Profile code, but I do know it definitely works with any Work Profile implementation, which is the same thing as PS. nly difference is whether the profile is managed thru Android Settings versus an additional app.