Database Users

[Q] How to change the initial, 'primary' account?

My son got my first HD2. What I did not know when I installed it the first time before he got it, was the fixation of the phone to the gmail-account I used at that time and only for that purpose. Intuition has its flip side too.
My son has his own gmail account, which I was not aware of, and obviously he wants to have his HD2 running his affairs on his own account (communicate with friends etc.)
Now, he has used the HD2 extensively, installed lots of apps, also some paid ones. Purging my old (installation-) account will reset the whole device to its initial state, all accounts and licences will be lost, if he understands that warning correctly.
Is there a way to change the 'ownership' with as little damage to the contents as possible, like save all contents as a backup, start with a new account identity, and restore all contents? Or will that also inevitably overwrite the new account with the old one too?
One could call the task also a migration of an android installation to a different account. BTW, it's equipped with a 16 GB card which has lots of free space left right now (looking at the backup space needs).
I am sure this has been discussed here before, but I seem to not find the right search words. Any hints, links, advice?
Would a total backup using Titanium be advisable? Or will that restore the present status including the unwanted account again?
Thanks for your help in advance. It doesn't make things simpler that my son and his HD2 are some 1.000 miles from here, studying there. but we have skype and other paths on PCs...
Cheers,
the longkeeler.

You can always use Titanium Backup to back up the apps (the paid ones, too), make a factory reset and let him set his own account and then restore the backup.
But you can never transfer the ownership of app(s) from one account to another. (For example, by using TB backup, he can use the paid apps, but he won't be able to update them, he'd need to buy them from his own account)
I'm sorry, but that is the way Android works. (which is lame)

follow-up
Clearing the primary gmail-account and thus resetting the device did not remove just that account, which kind of surprises me. Well, I don't have the HD2 in my hands, and I just hope that my son will have made the backup I advised hin to make and store it where he can reconstruct from.
Cheers,
the longkeeler.

But at least, he would have back what was there before. The nature of the paid apps is static, there are no backups to be expected. And it was not an amount of money that would kill anyone - just throwing it away should be avoided. Now, as posted a few minutes before, he was not successful to remove the undesired account. Are there any protections built in, that follow the great old MS tradition , it's not a bug, it's a feature, if not even industry standard?

it is however possible - to some extent - to "merge" google accounts.
if you do not use your gmail acc (as i understood from your first post) you can transfer quite a bit of contacts/features and stuff to your sons account and the other way round. this way he might be able to keep the paid apps (and updates) and also communicate with his friend on the dame account.
if thats any help...

Is the phone running froyo or gingerbread? If it is on Ginger then try deleting the account from sync and accounts... that's all for froyo u will need root explorer to delete a file located in the data folder.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App

From accounts and sync remove the account.. I believe this only works for Ginger ..
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App

You can also do it by deleting this file With root explorer . Hope this helped.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App

Just use your sons email and then go to accounts and sync.turn sync off. That's basically your only hope.
Sent from my HD2 using xda premium

First: Thanks to all for your replies!
Afaik, it's the gingerbread flavor.
I have the same type of HD2 here for myself but don't want to mess that up too much - I just saw under acc and synch that my account appears there once under mail and then under google.
If I remove either of those - does it only purge the link from my device to gmail resp. all other google-accounts, or does it remove the account as a whole from google's servers? (if so, probably only from the visible surface, but that's a different story...)
I am not sure if my son sees the same image and what he did there.
So again: Does "removing" the account on the smartphone just "divorce" it from google, or does it kill it?
Thanks again for your help!
Cheers,
The Longkeeler

Nieve, thank you so much. I am not sure yet if it will work but it sounds plausible. surprising how close to the surface such an essential database is located - like the rock that merged with the Costa Concordia... So, everybody just can hope that it will become easier in future to change the primary account rights.
A different side-question: What tool did you use to add the hints to the screen shots?

Extended thought, not necessarily useful for my son's problem, but: Would it be possible to cultivate different versions of the accounts.db, renaming them according to the desired application spectrum (like, say, change the "personality" of the phone from business to leisure)?

Reset device completely
With a clean device when the touch android screen comes up...
he signs in with his account. Establishes his acct as primary
then logs in with your acct secondly or later on in order to get access to the paid apps on your account
Only way to xhange primary is a wipe of data. The primary is simply the very first acccount entered after a device reset.
Your a great mom!
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

nieves53 said:
You can also do it by deleting this file With root explorer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nieve, thanks. After getting root explorer 2.15 I can see into the innards now too - on my phone here, there is the accounts.db of course, and two more entries, one called accounts.db-wal and the other accounts.db-shm. Look more like folders. What about those?

androidcues said:
Your a great mom!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Always try to do my best, and I'll ask my wife for her opinion on this . Well, I'm just only the dad...
But your proposal sounds very reasonable and based on practice. If nieve's and your advice can be combined (purging the data base, tnen installing accs from scratch), it would be great.

accounts removed now, but no re-installation yet.
nieves53 said:
You can also do it by deleting this file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(\data\system\accounts.db) deleted - et voilà, after rebooting, no more accounts. So, step one done successfully. So, again, thanks for that!
Now came the next one, re-installing his own gmail account as a primary one. He could open the dialogue - but his entry was refused, 'sorry, username and pw don't match.' Bummer. He tried it several times, took care that the account was not opened anywhere else - no avail so far. The error message could well be misleading.
There must be a missing resp. hidden link.
Update: re-installing the prior "false" primary account worked immediately. So, the error message IS misleading. I guess there will be no other way than to completely re-initiate the whole system and then start with the other identiy. Unfortunately, the HD2 has to travel 2.000 miles for that, but it is the safest way then. My son has neither the experience nor the tools to do that himself there.
If somebody has yet another idea - please don't hesitate to let us know!

The application is call picsin, you can find it in the android market...about his account ask him to make sure his email and password are correct. I have change my accounts many times doing that process. He can maybe try login to his account thru the browser, just to make sure the email and password are right.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App

SOLVED
longkeeler said:
Update: re-installing the prior "false" primary account worked immediately. So, the error message IS misleading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some times, the solution comes as a surprise. Just before my son had started his trial to rearrange the accounts yesterday, he had applied for a new login scheme with google - some double-password story. This, he had not mentioned until today, an hour ago, when he received a mail from google, giving him directions on how to handle logins in a transitional phase.
You guess it: All is well now, he has his own account as the primary one, and sounds much more relaxed than before.
Oh well...
But nevertheless: Your help was absolutely substantial in achieving this, and I hope that the bitdust will settle soon... So thanks again, I can recommend you
Cheers, and a happy rest of this weekend!
The Longkeeler, now also a bit more in weekend mood/mode.

That's good to hear! And a pleasure to help.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA Premium App

[Q] 4.2 shared apps?

Is it possible to share apps / games from one account to another.
I created a guest account thinking that they'd be able to play all the games I have installed on my main account.
Perhaps it can and I just can't find the setting?

FunkyELF said:
Is it possible to share apps / games from one account to another.
I created a guest account thinking that they'd be able to play all the games I have installed on my main account.
Perhaps it can and I just can't find the setting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to Play Store, select app and "install" it. Then it appears in guest account
Of course you need to have on both user accounts same google account.

kkubinho said:
Go to Play Store, select app and "install" it. Then it appears in guest account
Of course you need to have on both user accounts same google account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not understand your last sentence. My guest account does not have a Google account. I'd like for the guest account to have games though. Can I do this?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

FunkyELF said:
I do not understand your last sentence. My guest account does not have a Google account. I'd like for the guest account to have games though. Can I do this?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to actually have a google account on your guest account to have anything from the market in it.

Topic is getting muddied here.
When you add a second user to your Nexus 7, that user has to have a Google account. Can be empty - just make a Google ID.
On the second user, open Google Play. It will show all the apps that user has (none).
In Google Play, click Options, then Add Account.
Add your master Google account - the one that owns your apps. Don't synch anything.
Now your second user can see all of your apps in Google Play.
"Install" all the ones you want your guest to have access to. They don't really download - only a pointer is set up to them.
Now you can delete your account from the second user play store if you like.
As far as your guest user is concerned, it looks like they have their own copy of your apps. They have all their own customization,
high scores, etc. And they can't touch yours.
This is a really good multi-user implementation, regardless of what else you might read on XDA.

Thanks a lot rm200.
Since i upgraded to 4.2 I searched for a way to share my apps with my other account without installing twice and could not find. Even on xda there is a topic where guys comment about having to pay twice for each account. I just wish google would explain better its newest features.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

i just start a web server,and download my apks using a browser in guest user.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

You will have two copies of the apk that way. Not good.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

This is possible if you are rooted. The steps are as follows:
1. Using a root explorer (in your main profile), navigate to /data/system/users/##/. ## is probably 10. 0 is your main profile. You may have 20 or even 30 if you have more than two profiles.
2. In the ~/##/ folder there is a file called package-restrictions.xml open this in a text editor.
3. With the file open you will see app package names ex. <pkg name="com.quoord.tapatalkpro.activity" inst="false"/>. <- this is obviously tapatalk. If you want this app to display in your second profile simply delete the line in this file.
4. Save, exit, restart, done.
*NOTE if you restored all of your apps via titanium backup (and i suspect any other back up app) when you modify the package-restrictions.xml and restart you will have to sign in again and ALL apps from your main profile will be available to the second user.

can multi users share apps

I got my son another nexus.
I want to download my apps for him to use but I want to keep him on his own user account.
I read that multi users have separate apps, but is there any way to share the apps on one device across users similar to windows?

Drop box?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

A.VOID said:
I got my son another nexus.
I want to download my apps for him to use but I want to keep him on his own user account.
I read that multi users have separate apps, but is there any way to share the apps on one device across users similar to windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the way multiuser on 4.2 works, as long as you are talking about two users on the same device.
If you each have your own Nexus - that is a place I do not want to go.

We each have a device, but I loaded some of my apps on his device. I want him to sign in to his own user acct on the Nexus and have access to all the apps I installed on that device under my user acct. Is that not possible?

A.VOID said:
We each have a device, but I loaded some of my apps on his device. I want him to sign in to his own user acct on the Nexus and have access to all the apps I installed on that device under my user acct. Is that not possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The play store app has an Options button.
Click it and select Add Account, and give yours.
Important: Uncheck all the Synch options you are presented with.
Now he can see and install all the apps from your account.
Remove your account from that user when done.
Only guaranteed to work if both users are on same device. Never tried it any other way.

I'm quite sure this violates TOS.
You can have 2 user accounts on one login on one nexus. Meaning one user can have apps from multiple accounts.
But on 2 nexus you can't just 'send' him the app. That's called piracy.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda app-developers app

Kearkan said:
I'm quite sure this violates TOS.
You can have 2 user accounts on one login on one nexus. Meaning one user can have apps from multiple accounts.
But on 2 nexus you can't just 'send' him the app. That's called piracy.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not. I can install on multiple devices. I own these devices. I just want my other user on my device access to the apps I installed. I'm not sending any apps. I install them on the device through the play store

Sharing apps multiuser 4.2

is there a way to share apps between two accounts? It's no problem for the free ones because I just need to install them from the playstore, but what about the paid ones? I don't want to pay for them again...

alfaomega93 said:
is there a way to share apps between two accounts? It's no problem for the free ones because I just need to install them from the playstore, but what about the paid ones? I don't want to pay for them again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is what I did for my 8 Year Old Daughters Nexus7 :
Set up my Daughter as the main user
Set up myself as a secondary user protected by PIN at lock screen
Install my Apps that my Daughter may like to use under my account
Temporarily add my google user account to the main user account (my Daughters account)
'Download' these Apps (installed on secondary account) to the main user account
Launch each app for DRM check
Remove my google account from the Main account
This seems to work for me, hope that helps.

alfaomega93 said:
is there a way to share apps between two accounts? It's no problem for the free ones because I just need to install them from the playstore, but what about the paid ones? I don't want to pay for them again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try searching the play store, I seem to remember reading about an app that will do this for you on one of the Android blogs.

Mr_Loon said:
Here is what I did for my 8 Year Old Daughters Nexus7 :
Set up my Daughter as the main user
Set up myself as a secondary user protected by PIN at lock screen
Install my Apps that my Daughter may like to use under my account
Temporarily add my google user account to the main user account (my Daughters account)
'Download' these Apps (installed on secondary account) to the main user account
Launch each app for DRM check
Remove my google account from the Main account
This seems to work for me, hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This solution seems great, I will give it a try !!
Merry Christmas!

[Q] Using a Nexus 4 without sending every private piece of info to Google

I got my N4 a couple of days ago. It's my first foray in the Android world.
The requirements that I am hoping to meet are pretty simple:
1) I want to be able to call contacts and send text messages
2) I don't want Google tracking my contact list
3) I don't want Google tracking my location
4) I don't want Google tracking my browsing history
5) I want to be able to use the Play store to download 3rd party apps. I didn't buy an N4 to use it it like a dumbphone. Logically, the Play store shouldn't require constant access to my contacts, location or browsing history.
I am making this post to get help meeting the above requirements. Despite seeming really basic, I'm running into trouble, and I think I will need frequent help. This thread can act as a journal that hopefully other people can follow.
What I did so far is immediately flashed the N4 to AOKP, and applied the OpenPDroid patches (though I've yet to use OPD). From a blank slate start, I declined to create an account, disabled location access, etc, during the startup wizard.
Adding a contact round 1
I was able to create a local, unsynced contact.
Using the Play store
I was forced to sign up for a gmail account, which is normal. I declined to "keep this phone backed up with my Google Account". I then went in Settings > Account and disabled sync for everything, including Contacts. I also disabled background sync in the power controls.
Adding a contact round 2
I am now unable to add a contact without being forced to sync it with my BS gmail account. When I click "Add Contact" in the phone app, a dialog says "Your contact will be synced with [email protected]" and my choices are either "OK", "Add other account", or to cancel out by clicking Back.
So I'm already stuck. Once a Play account is created, I am now unable to do something as basic as adding a contact without sending it to Google. Can someone tell me how to get past this obstacle?

That's how Google makes their money! Your only options are to either start using the amazon app store only or side loading apps if you don't want Google involvement. Good luck.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Why? Like they don't have all your information already? You freely give your information to everyone when you use the internet. Congratulations. You are not that special.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Eurotrash: always in this sort of discussions there's people like you who essentially advocate shutting up and taking it. "That's how things are" is not an acceptable solution to my problem, or I would not have made this post. There IS a way around the creeping, and someone knows it. My last resort is blocking every Google service from accessing the Internet except Play. I'm asking here because I'm hoping there's a less extreme solution that other people can use.
Gotzadroid: I will hold out for a better solution. Amazon appstore will likely be limited. Sideloading is not possible because many devs don't provide APKs

I know you can get an app to block individual permissions of other apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stericson.permissions
It requires root. Not sure about the contacts and other stuff you wanted to block, im assuming you've disabled location services.

Why not try flashing like cm10 and not flashing gapps so no Google apps? Then just manually downloading the apps apks and sideload the ones you need?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Didn't think my post lacked clarity, so hopefully this will be clearer:
My ONLY problem right now (we'll leave the rest for later) is that the Phone app, an essential app if I want to use my phone for making calls, an app that isn't even part of Gapps, doesn't let me add a local contact without sharing it with Google. That's it. Forget everything else in my post.
So my simple question is, how do I add my friend Bob to my contact list, locally in phone memory or on the SIM card or whatever, without telling Google I'm friends with Bob and giving them his phone number?

MachinTrucChose said:
Didn't think my post lacked clarity, so hopefully this will be clearer:
My ONLY problem right now (we'll leave the rest for later) is that the Phone app, an essential app if I want to use my phone for making calls, an app that isn't even part of Gapps, doesn't let me add a local contact without sharing it with Google. That's it. Forget everything else in my post.
So my simple question is, how do I add my friend Bob to my contact list, locally in phone memory or on the SIM card or whatever, without telling Google I'm friends with Bob and giving them his phone number?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As previously mentioned, try flashing a rom without gapps

OK, try this. Make a dummy gmail account for the play store only. Get all the apps you want and then sign out of gmail. Only sign back in when you want another app. That should keep Google from syncing all your info.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Michealtbh said:
As previously mentioned, try flashing a rom without gapps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Phone app is not a part of gapps. It came on the stock ROM before I flashed gapps on it. I didn't try it before adding gapps, are you saying it will change behavior and no longer prompt me to sync when I try to add a contact?
I gotta go to sleep, I'll do more tests tomorrow evening to test this (and wait for your reply to the above question in case you misread my posts).
If the answer to the above question is yes, this would immediately beg another question: how do I install 3rd party apps from Play without flashing gapps?

gotzaDroid said:
OK, try this. Make a dummy gmail account for the play store only. Get all the apps you want and then sign out of gmail. Only sign back in when you want another app. That should keep Google from syncing all your info.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I did in the OP (2nd bolded step). I created a dummy account cause Play requires it. That became my main Google account on this phone (since I declined to set up an account prior to that). That's the account Google tries to sync my contacts to when I try to add a contact.
I looked in the Gmail app, there's no way for me to sign out. All I can do is add more accounts.

A similar thread from the galaxy nexus forums: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1589367
However, I'd also be interested in a deeper insight on why you're trying to do this. Fear of the big brother? Or just proving a point?
We know before buying an android phone that everything is tied to that Gmail address; now you want to cut that tie but maintain full functionality. Well, that probably doesn't work. And if it at the end does, why going through all that trouble? If a different platform offers all that then..

Why you bought an android phone in the first place? Just curious
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

You can try downloading or side loading the app "contacts+" then sign out of your dummy gmail account. You can get a sim to USB hub online and plug your sim into the hub and into PC to add contacts directly to sim. I don't know if there's a way to export contacts to sim anymore unless I'm guessing developers somehow add that feature. So look into CM or another well built ROM and ask some questions.
Good luck
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium

MachinTrucChose said:
The Phone app is not a part of gapps. It came on the stock ROM before I flashed gapps on it. I didn't try it before adding gapps, are you saying it will change behavior and no longer prompt me to sync when I try to add a contact?
I gotta go to sleep, I'll do more tests tomorrow evening to test this (and wait for your reply to the above question in case you misread my posts).
If the answer to the above question is yes, this would immediately beg another question: how do I install 3rd party apps from Play without flashing gapps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock rom comes with gapps already loaded.
Most custom roms come without them and they must be flashed separately. If you choose not to flash them you aren't even given an option to sign into your Google account at first boot, so there will obviously be no option to sync your contacts.
Your phone will be crippled and you'll have to find workarounds for many things. I don't think you'll be able to use Maps for example. To install apps you'll have to download and install the apks or use an alternative app market like SlideMe or Amazon

What's there to hide? They're just contacts
Sent from my Nexus 4

Google doesn't care what your Aunt Bertie's phone number is. All they use the data for is to customize ads for you, and if you're going to be seeing ads anyways they might as well be relevant to you.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

It's disappointing that the thread is taking the direction of Google advocacy rather than finding a technical solution to my problem, hopefully this post answers your questions and we can stop arguing about this.
Drakkula4 said:
You can try downloading or side loading the app "contacts+" then sign out of your dummy gmail account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I sign out of my dummy gmail account?
Vangelis13 said:
A similar thread from the galaxy nexus forums: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1589367
However, I'd also be interested in a deeper insight on why you're trying to do this. Fear of the big brother? Or just proving a point?
We know before buying an android phone that everything is tied to that Gmail address; now you want to cut that tie but maintain full functionality. Well, that probably doesn't work. And if it at the end does, why going through all that trouble? If a different platform offers all that then..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not full functionality. I can avoid using all gapps. The only required Google service is the Play store, which is the primary gateway to non-Google apps. I would use Email over Gmail, Navfree over Maps, etc.
The next paragraph is meant as a reply to the 5 posts essentially saying "tinfoil hat, trust Google!".
This is supposed to be an open phone, allowing the user to do what they want, compared to the big bad iOS. That's why I bought it. Now I find out Google is insisting on taking something extremely private (my social graph) even when I don't want to give it to them. I respect my friends' privacy, and I don't want an intersection of my online and offline lives being made by some 3rd party with intentions I don't trust. The insistence is starting to creep me out. You can provide convenience and still respect basic privacy, look at Mozilla with Firefox Sync: even they don't see the data you sync. I'm not even asking for that much, just respect my wish to draw the line at real-life stuff. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is the company banning people using pseudonyms on Google+.
The most disappointing thing in all this, is that you have 5000 custom ROMs being developed, which mainly differ in pointless GUI BS like scroll animation speed. Not a single one of those projects thought to provide a way to make the phone usable without giving up extremely private data. AFAIK only 3 guys are working on privacy stuff, and even those guys' patches and apps don't protect you from the Eye of Google.
chrisrozon said:
Google doesn't care what your Aunt Bertie's phone number is. All they use the data for is to customize ads for you, and if you're going to be seeing ads anyways they might as well be relevant to you.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if I don't want tailored ads? Or what if I only want tailored ads by tracking the online activity I'm willing to submit to them, and I feel it should be my my right to draw a line? Many people are not comfortable seeing an intersection of online and real life activity. I am one of those people.

MachinTrucChose said:
Didn't think my post lacked clarity, so hopefully this will be clearer:
My ONLY problem right now (we'll leave the rest for later) is that the Phone app, an essential app if I want to use my phone for making calls, an app that isn't even part of Gapps, doesn't let me add a local contact without sharing it with Google. That's it. Forget everything else in my post.
So my simple question is, how do I add my friend Bob to my contact list, locally in phone memory or on the SIM card or whatever, without telling Google I'm friends with Bob and giving them his phone number?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple question deserves simple answer, only thing I can think of, go to settings > accounts > google > tap your account email address > and uncheck the things you don't want synced with google.
Hopefully it works and you will just have a local copy of everything then.

Again just flash like cyanogen mod since you have to flash gapps separate. Then don't flash gapps and your phone will have nothing to do with google.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2