G
GOS2023

  • 14 days ago
  • Joined Feb 11, 2023
  • I gave my unused Pixel 3a to my old neighbor who lived alone and has no smartphone. She will use it only for phone calls, and taking pictures (She never used internet, does not need data plan)

    I need to buy a SIM for her, and I would like to know if I can go for an eSIM ?
    I understand the latest version running on Pixel 3a is SP2A.220505.006.2022081800
    But I'm not sure if this version can handle eSIM ?

    Thanks for your help.

  • [deleted]
    If it's a question for me, I think I have explained it here : https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/5439-updater-seems-to-try-to-check-updates-before-signing-in-to-a-public-wifi/9

    By the way, the statement you quote from @GrapheneOS is just false when you use a VPN. At least with the (probably) 2 most mentioned VPNs on this forum : Mullvad and Proton.

    As a VPN user, I recommend to :

    • "silence" the network error notifications from "System Updater", "Apps", "Auditor", and forget about the battery wasted by the useless connection attempts.
    • And also completely disable "OS connectivity check" because until a fix is implemented, it adds no value in our situation. It only discloses information about an Android / GrapheneOS user being present on the network (as explained on Android issue tracker : https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/250529027 )
  • I guess I have only 2 options now :

    • completely silence the offending error notification, for each app involved. (But I may miss legit errors)
    • OR, each time I enable/disable airplane mode (for a long time), disable/enable the VPN in GOS settings (too cumbersome for me, I will probably forget to re-enable)
  • [deleted] Thank you for your input .
    I guess you use default VPN settings set by Proton : "Always-on VPN" and "Block connections without VPN" are both "on" ?

    I just installed Proton VPN app on a new profile, activated airplane mode, and I'm waiting for GOS app "Apps" next update. (*) So far apps like Vanadium act exactly like with Mullvad VPN app : they have no clue that connection is down and try to connect until reaching timeout.

    (*) Edit : and it's done : problem reproduced with Proton VPN app. "Apps" app triggered the usual error while trying to update while airplane mode was activated and Proton VPN used.

    The more I dig this subject, the more I think it's an upstream problem, and that "OS connectivity check" is almost useless when using a VPN... because even if it checks connectivity, the information is not handed down to apps, or maybe overruled by apps' own network detection process (which can be shortened as "If VPN present : internet is UP")

    • pappee Thanks, I had indeed the same errors this morning with google connectivity check.
      It would be interesting to see if a Pixel phone with stock OS (without GrapheneOS) has the same errors (with an app like Auditor, which can be installed without GrapheneOS) when a VPN + airplane mode are used.

      I also tried to tweak different OS settings like "Alwyas-On VPN", "Block connections without VPN", and allow "Unrestricted" battery usage for the VPN app, but it does not seem to change anything regarding the errors in airplane mode.

    • GrapheneOS

      Sorry but it seems I (we ?) don't understand your logic.
      You wrote here : https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/1839-disabling-connectivity-checks-on-grapheneos/29
      If the OS isn't performing connectivity checks, it doesn't know which networks are working and doesn't know when internet access is available. [...] If the OS doesn't know when it's available, the jobs will run when any network is available even if there's no internet access through it at the moment. You will get errors from multiple app background jobs instead of a single notice that no network access is available.

      According to this post, I was assuming that :

      • "OS connectivity check" has the job to
        1/ verify if internet is available (internet is not available when airplane mode is trigerred and wifi is not re-activated after (*)),
        2/ if it's not available, postpone jobs like "System Updates"

      • "OS connectivity check" is not disturbed by the presence of a VPN because it bypass the VPN

      (*) Mullvad VPN app and Wireguard app don't re-activate wifi after airplane mode is triggered. I think that many users can confirm this.

      So, why blame the VPN whereas "OS connectivity check" is not supposed to interfere with it ?

    • [deleted] it happens on 2 different pixel phones. I also tried with 2 different setup (3rd party app controlling the VPN or pure wireguard setup)
      In fact, I don't know how I can blame the VPN because the connectivity check doesn't do its job correctly.
      (Reminder : the connectivity check is supposed to bypass the VPN, by design.)
      Besides, the VPN is working perfectly fine, no random dc or timeouts.

      I'll switch to google connectivity check for testing.

      • [deleted] pappee

        You mean that :

        • you have VPN activated at all time,
        • when you activate airplane mode, you don't have ~ 10 hours later any connection errors from "Apps", "Auditor" or "System update" ?
          Interesting point : do you use an european or american timezone ? (Or other ?) Do you use default grapheneOS connectivity check or google one ? (Or none at all ?)

        I understand that AOSP / GOS connectivity check is designed to bypass the VPN. But in my situation, it's like it also bypass the airplane mode. OR, as if the 3 'GOS' apps I quoted don't get information from the connectivity check.

        Because one pic is better to explain (sorry I don't how to embed pic properly, it's not classic BBcode here) :
        https://i.ibb.co/7YWLZCL/IMG-20230807-000009.jpg

        • In my humble opinion, Aurora store (as of version 4.2.3.45) does not need any specific files permissions at all (even storage scope has no added value for this app). Network / Sensors / Notifications permissions are enough.
          You just have to go in Aurora's Settings / Downloads and uncheck "User external storage".
          (Edit : Even if I have no apps that need it for now, I'll follow the advice in previous post about granting access to "Android/obb" folder)

        • In the long line of "less is more", I have noticed an unwanted feature (for me) in GrapheneOS (probably from upstream Android 13, I didnt't have this probleme in GoS / Android 12)
          When I use KeepassDroid, my 2 notifications (1 to copy username, 1 to copy password) are collapsed into a single 'keepasdroid' notification.
          So now, I have to 'un collapse' these 2 notifications each time I use keepassdroid.
          It's no big deal, but it wastes a bit of time everyday, and makes me regret Android 12 (along with 2-button navigation, but that's off topic :)

          Does anyone know how to prevent notifications collapsing ?
          [img]https://i.ibb.co/rpTbfDb/IMG-20230804-135743.jpg[/img]

        • I think there is the same problem if you use a VPN and activate airplane mode. GOS 'thinks' he has still access to internet.
          In fact, since I use a VPN I wake up every morning with these "Failed to check for updates : Unable to resolve host" and "Remote verification failure : unable to resolve host" on my "airplane mode" device.
          (I did not have these errors before using a VPN)

          Is it a bug ? I thought the goal of GOS's "connectivity check" was exactly to avoid this.

          • unwat What does it mean regarding previous statement from AOSP documentation : "Any user can affect the installed apps for all users.". Does it mean this statement is true for AOSP and false for GrapheneOS ? (As far as I have seen : I cannot uninstall from a secondary profile an app installed from Owner profile : it's not visible, as @treequell already explained)

            • [deleted] I have read this on this source, the wording sounds a bit vague (affect ?) :
              Any user can affect the installed apps for all users.

              • treequell Thanks, this wiki looks very interesting. I should also re-read the GOS doc, it expands quite fast.

                • treequell
                  Thanks for your quick reply. So : apps in Owner profile cannot directly get the list of installed apps from all profiles.
                  Where is it stated ? Do you have a link to official AOSP or GOS doc ? Or maybe you are a GOS dev ?
                  Another naive question : can they interact with the "Settings" app to get this list ?

                  • Hi,
                    regarding apps installed in Owner profile, can they get the list of installed apps from all profiles, like the "Settings" app ? ("Settings" app can do it from Owner profile, not from a secondary profile).