Notifications for Proton mail. No google play services needed

JackBauer117117

This is a post for people who want Proton Bridge running on their android device AND for people who want notifications without having google play services installed (GRAPHENEOS for example).

It's beyond disgraceful that the android app doesn't get notifications without google play services like Tuta and Signal can..... But whatever aha

This is a relatively simple and quick process...

What you'll need...

Termux
Termux:Boot
Email client (Thunderbird, K9 etc)

What I've discovered is that you can run Proton Bridge on android by using Termux.... And the Termux:Boot app is used to automatically start Proton Bridge when your device boots so it ends up a "set and forget" system AS IT SHOULD BE, PEOPLE AT PROTON -.-

Steps...

In the phone settings, go to apps and find Termux... Give it unrestricted battery usage

Start Termux, then run this command to install Proton Bridge...
pkg install pass proton-bridge -y

Then after it's installed, run this command to open the Bridge...
proton-bridge --cli

Once it has finished doing its thing, type "login" and hit enter... Then enter your details to login to the Bridge

And that's how you get Proton Bridge running on your phone

If you type the command "help", you get a short list of things that you can do in the app.

So, to be able to use a 3red party client like Thunderbird/K9 etc, you need some details...

In Termux, type "info" and you will get your IMAP, SMTP login and server details that you need for your 3rd party email client.

Go to your email client and enter the details in the relevant settings option.

And that's it, you now have Proton Bridge running on your android device AND the ability to use any 3rd party email client to FINALLY GET NOTIFICATIONS!!!!!! -.-

I know that it doesn't fix the Proton Mail app, but the Proton Bridge keeps your E2EE functioning AND notifications on a device without google play services.

So what happens when you reboot your phone? Or get a flat battery?

Once your phone turns back on, the Proton Bridge is closed...

So what to do? You may ask...

We use the Termux:Boot app to automatically start Proton Bridge when your device boots up

Steps...

Install Termux:Boot
Set the app to unrestricted battery usage in your devices settings just like you did with Termux
Open app once to initialise it (you do nothing except literally just open the app, then close it)

Now go back to Termux.

We need to create a folder that contains scripts to run when the device is booted...

The actual commands work as follows...
1 - go to the Termux folder
2 - make a boot folder
3 - open the boot folder
4 - install a text editing programming called VIM
5 - use VIM to create and open a text file that we will call "proton.bridge"

These are the ACTUAL commands...
cd ~/.termux
mkdir boot
cd boot
pkg install vim -y
vi proton.bridge

Press the letter 'i'... This enters editing mode

Paste these 3 lines...

!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/sh
termux-wake-lock
proton-bridge --cli

Now press the escape button "ESC"

On your keyboard, type :wq then hit enter

You won't see anything actually typed on the screen.... Its a command ':wq' that means (W)rite, then (Q)uit

It essentially is a script that finds the Termux app at boot, wakes it up, then starts the Proton Bridge server

And that's everything done.

Proton Bridge will now ALWAYS automatically start on boot and there is nothing for you to do.

There are only 2 cases that will rarely need your help...
1 - its perfectly fine to swipe Termux out of your recent apps, BUT, if you go to the app info and hit the 'force close' button, you'll need to restart Proton Bridge
2 - if for some strange reason that Termux crashes from a random bug or something, you'll need to manually restart Proton Bridge

So to fix these 2 rare hiccups, simply go to Termux and enter the same command that you used at the start...

proton-bridge --cli

And if you're wondering, "how will I know if Termux has crashed or Proton Bridge has stopped?"

Your 3rd party email client will tell you...

I use Thunderbird and the quickest that it can check for new emails is once every 15 minutes..... So when the 15 minutes are up, it will try to check for new emails, but if Proton Bridge has stopped, it will fail and give you a notification along the lines of "can't connect to server"

So to sum up...

1 - Proton Bridge running on your android device

2 - Use of 3rd party email clients

3 - The ability to use 3rd party email clients finally brings you notifications for people that don't have google play services like GrapheneOS

If I've made any spelling mistakes or you feel that I can clear something up, pop it in the comments and I'll edit the post as needed, cheers

JackBauer117117

I should have also specified....

When you run the "proton-bridge --cli", its permenently running in that specific Termux session

So to then setup the boot script, create a second session and run the commands from there

spl4tt

Do you give up batterylife for this? I think running this in the background all the time will cost quite a bit?

JackBauer117117

spl4tt

I thought this also, that it would maybe knock off like 5-10% per day.....

I just woke up and was curious, so I checked my battery usage since 12am (its now 7) and Termux only used ₀.3% over the last 7 hours......

Maybe it could be different per device, but if that's how low it is for me, I dare say that its worth at least giving it a go for one day :)

You can always delete both Termux apps and the boot script if it doesn't work out

job_shredder69

Nice! However, the setup is more involved and possible battery drainage. This app, https://github.com/LeanderBB/you-have-mail, has been working flawlessly for me for the past year. It also helped kicked my email addiction since it would only notify me every 12 hours. Sure, there are "what about this/that", but my emails are now mostly receipts and newsletters.

JackBauer117117

job_shredder69

I tried to write it as if someone was sitting there with you, talking you through it...... So yeah, it seems more complicated than it is aha

Here is a simplified version.....

Install Termux and Termux:Boot
Give them unrestricted battery usage
Give Termux network usage
Open Termux:Boot once, then close it

TERMUX COMMANDS

pkg install pass proton-bridge -y
proton-bridge --cli
login
info (IMAP/SMTP info for email client)

Start a 2nd Termux session

cd ~/.termux
mkdir boot
cd boot
pkg install vim -y
vi proton.bridge
i

Paste these 3 lines........
!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/sh
termux-wake-lock
proton-bridge --cli

Press the escape button

:wq (on the keyboard, type ':wq')

So Termux used about 0.3% battery over the last 7 hours for me..... Results may vary though but I believe its worth a try

You absolutely should not be using 'You Have Mail'...... You're giving up your login details..... Whether now or in the future, by the creator or a hacker, this app could be used for a massive ransomeware attack or outright delete people's accounts.

Plus, most people that use GrapheneOS and/or Proton apps value security and privacy too much to give a random github app their email login...... I'm sure the creator has good intentions but that is WAY too risky

JackBauer117117

A simplified set of instructions can be found here...

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/26228-notifications-for-proton-mail-no-google-play-services-needed-part-2