Database Users

Become a G2 / Android Ninja with these Tips/Tricks

I thought I'd share everything I've learned regarding Android & the T-Mobile G2 over the past 2+ weeks (thanks XDA!). I'm amazed at how many people don't read these forums - they simply blurt out their questions. Well follks, here's what I've picked up by reading reading reading & exploring exploring exploring. Hope this helps n00bs and leets alike.
Android
Press & Hold HOME to see multitasking applications sorted by most recent
Press & Hold SEARCH to activate Google Voice Actions (or VLingo if installed)
Long Press keyboard keys to see alternate characters
Tap Dots near the Dock Bar (bottom set of icons) to shift screens
Assign your Power Button to 'End Calls' via Menu >Settings >Accessibility > Check "Power button ends call"
Add 'Power Control' Widget to easily enable/disable your WiFi/BlueTooth/GPS/Screen/Auto-Sync
Using Volume Control buttons, you can put the phone into Silent or Vibrate modes
You can add Shortcuts to your most used contacts & it will give an icon that lets you access Call/SMS/Email/GTalk/Facebook
Keyboard Tips
Double Press ALT for Num/Symbol Lock
Double Press SHIFT for Capitalization Lock
Hold ALT & Long Press physical keys to see alternative characters
Map Application Shortcuts such as Search + G to launch Gmail. Located under Settings >Applications >Quick Launch
Menu +A(Select All), +C(Copy), +V(Paste), +X(Paste)
Menu +F(Find), +S(Share)
(G2 Only?) Reboot, Press and hold Power + Volume Down + trackpad
(G2 Only?) Use LauncherPro to Assign 'Activities' to the Quick Keys such as Compose SMS or Tweet
(G2 Only?) Press & Hold the Camera Button to activate the Camera
(G2 Only?) While in Camera Mode, gently press the camera button to auto-focus
Miscellaneous
Install a custom launcher like ADW or LauncherPro
- Tip 1: If you get LauncherPro, I encourage you to explore the 'Swipe' feature by Long Pressing any icon in the Dock. Allows for two actions!
- Tip 2: My personal favorite is when you hide the status bar and set the HOME button to display notifications when you press it (Only possible if you make LauncherPro default launcher)
- Tip 3: Long Press an Application & when the Trash Can Appears, Hold over the Trashcan to get an Uninstall Option
Use Tasker to automate things on your phone
TeslaHD will turn your phone's LED into a Flash Light or Strobe Light
AppBrain + Fast Install is excellent for exploring apps from the comfort of a browser (also lets you set backgrounds)
- This App also makes it easy to restore apps if you didn't remember to set your 'backup' as automatic when configuring your phone
VLingo is a great alternative to Voice Actions if you're not on 2.2 OR you want deeper integration with Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare
Google Gestures is a great app to assign to a secondary swipe (see LauncherPro) & is handy when voice doesn't work and you can't easily type
DolphinHD is a great alternative browser that has three great features: Tweet a Page (with Title & Link), Desktop Mode, and Google Mobilizer View
Dial 611 to get to T-Mobile Customer Support (not always clear to new subscribers)
Best Keyboard for two-finger text input is SwiftKey. Swype is good if you practice with one finger.
Other Great Apps to Consider
Evernote (for note storage)
Dropbox (for access to files from your desktop)
Fast Reboot (for a heavy handed, kill all apps when you notice slow performance)
Dato GTasks (simple, easy to use app that integrates with Google Tasks)
NewsRob (elegant RSS reader for Google Reader)
Smooth Calendar (nice calendar widget that shows more than the default Calendar widget)
Xtremelabs Speedtest (helps you test for HSPA+ speeds)
Twicca (better than the standard Twitter App & very beautiful. Easy to map Tweet-Activity to a G2 Quick Key)
Chrome to Phone (possibly my favorite app once I learned how to use it. Great for a variety of needs so I encourage experimentation)
Optimize Your G2
Go to SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > DEVELOPMENT and enable USB DEBUGGING
Search the Market for "Visionary" and Install (advice: Reboot & then run it for the first time) By default, it will run automatically on boot each time.
- Note: If you want to remove ROOT, visit APPLICATIONS > MANAGE APPLICATIONS > VISIONARY and press "Clear Data". Then re-run & turn off Root-on-Boot or just Uninstall.
Search the Market for "ConnectBot" & Install. Run Connectbot & press the down-arrow next to "ssh" to choose "local" & press Enter (no Nickname needed)
- You will be presented with a command line prompt of "$" & yes, it will be VERY TINY on your screen. Simply type "su" (no quotes) to gain super user.
- Read the first post to determine which items you want to permanently disable (essentially remove) from your phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=809231
Visit the market to download "Startup Cleaner 2.0" by Bright Wallace. It will allow you to prevent items from starting up. The software is buggy, but works better than anything else I've encountered.
- Tip: Use the 'Batch Prevent' to prevent all apps from starting, then exit the app. Run the app again & then toggle the apps you want to start by tapping them. Otherwise, the app is very unresponsive when trying to manage apps on an individual basis. You may need to re-run Visionary after you've allowed it to run on boot via Startup Cleaner.
Setup Wifi Tethering
Once you have Root & SuperUser, use your browser to visit http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list & download the most recent version of "Wireless Tether".
- Once downloaded, run it to install. If you have trouble with this, I recommend using Chrome-to-Phone & simply right-click the file link to choose "Chrome-to-Phone"
After successful installation, run the Wireless Tether app. Recommend changing the SSID Name (name that appears).
- Note: Multiple people report issues with WiFi Encryption, so I recommend SETTINGS > ENABLE ACCESS-CONTROL. Your phone will log when something tries to connect to it & then you can "allow" by choosing MENU > ACCESS CONTROL and clicking the checkbox next to the device you want to allow.
{Update} If you're feeling adventurous, check out this article on how to use Tasker
http://androinica.com/2010/08/19/9-ways-to-make-android-automatic-with-tasker/
{Update 2} Long-press App & dragging over trashcan for uninstall is a LauncherPro feature, not android. Thanks to tekkaman_01 for the note!
{Update 3} Removed "When screen is locked but keyboard is open, you only have to press a key to unlock" because it isn't a consistent experience. Not sure what makes it work sometimes.
{Update 4} Added two sections: Optimize Your G2 & Setup WiFi Tethering. Small formatting changes to previous entries.

Long Press an Application & when the Trash Can Appears, Hold over the Trashcan to get an Uninstall Option is a feature of LauncherPro not stock android...

Updated - much thanks!

No problem
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Great job, OP.

Great job, OP. I'm sure many people will appreciate this.

Does this merit a sticky?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Ghostcreamy said:
I'm amazed at how many people don't read these forums - they simply blurt out their questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right....people who don't read the forums and just blurt stuff out are horrible. Oh wait....what's this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=804439
Ghostcreamy said:
[*]When screen is locked but keyboard is open, you only have to press a key to unlock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard this before but this hasn't worked for me on two different G2s.

great, thanks

aedv said:
You're right....people who don't read the forums and just blurt stuff out are horrible. Oh wait....what's this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=804439
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you
<10 chars>

The cheat sheet of all cheet sheets!
Another good one is to:
HOLD Dots near the Dock Bar to see all screens in a mini navigation look.
Thanks!

Snap!
aedv said:
You're right....people who don't read the forums and just blurt stuff out are horrible. Oh wait....what's this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=804439
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SNAP!
I read that thread, but it was fragmented and I already had all of this in Evernote. Regardless, I appreciate the response & I'll continue to monitor that thread for any other tips that I can compile into this one.
Side note: You don't have to be mean to make a point Put a little love in your heart!
GC

Ghostcreamy said:
SNAP!
Side note: You don't have to be mean to make a point Put a little love in your heart!
GC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!! Great post OP!
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Updated original post (OP) with a section on optimizing your G2 & setting up Wifi Tethering. Hope it helps!

awesome tips. i was wondering if theres a good way to allow the home screen and apps screen to auto rotate with gravity(only rotates with keyboard out)? and then on the flip side, to lock the orientation?

Not sure about locking, but LauncherPro or ADW launcher will rotate to landscape.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Here's a tip if you are using Launcher Pro: setup a 2x2 picture frame widget in the middle of a home panel. The frame should have a picture of an icon for things like settings, games, news, people, etc. Then add related app icons around the frame. This way, when you pinch a homescreen and pull up the 7 panel view, you can easily tell at a glance which panel has the apps you want
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using The Force

"+X(Paste)"
Shouldn't that be "+X(Cut)"?

In the gmail and xda apps (the only ones I've tested so far) when you push the space bar after a word/letter, it will add a '.[space]'.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Great post Ghostcreamy. I figured out that you could swipe the home icon of launcher pro, but why it never occured to me that the other icons also have this feature?
Edit:There's your first "Thanks" on the meter...awww.

[ROM] DPRom for MotoACTV (updated 3-January-2013)

This is a version of the stock MotoACTV system ROM 1.7.12N with several modifications that allow you to use many more android apps.
All userdata is erased when you install this from another ROM, I'm not responsible with what you do with your device.
What works, in no particular order:
- This is already rooted, it doesn't matter what version you come from. I receive a lot of questions about this. Really, the state of your motoactv software doesn't matter. Rooted or not rooted, stock or modified, etc.
- All stock apps and functions work as expected, nothing changes from a stock MotoACTV.
- All google apps I've tried, Market, GMail, Maps, Talk, etc
- Live Wallpapers and widgets stay after reboots.
- LED notifications for Gmail, Email, etc.
- Wifi stays on. Icon shows in status bar when connected. New!
- Accelerometer based games and launcher rotation.
- Enabled settings menus:
* Wireless & Network Settings. Where you can turn on/off wifi, add networks, set advanced parameters, etc
* Application Settings. Where you can uninstall apps, turn on/off ADB, see battery usage, etc
* Accounts & sync settings. Manage accounts for autosync, etc.
* Sound Settings. Choose notifications tone, volume, etc
- Calendar widget and application working.
- Music button is "menu", double-press power button for "home" or choose a launcher.
- Battery percentage modded by ClearD. (thanks!)
- Preferences in most apps are shown black text over white background for easier reading on the MotoACTV.
What doesn't work:
- Search, nowhere. force closes every time. This has never worked.
- Audio input for installed apps. This has never worked.
- Some Bluetooth profiles are not implemented.
- Wifi stays on, but but some times doesn't turn off when you deselect it. turn off/on the MotoACTV if you're in this situation.
- MotoCast setup messes up the Accounts and Sync settings, so Motocast needs to be setup after the google account.
Zeam launcher is preinstalled, but it's not really needed, because you can access all installed applications with the "music" button, you can uninstall it if you prefer. Also you can install another launcher if you like, just be sure to move it to the internal flash from Settings, Application Settings, choose the app and tap the button "move to phone". You'll have to do this for other apps that require to be installed internally, like extra widgets.
Instructions
You can use ClearD's excellent image flasher http://www.cleardroidroms.com/download/click.php?id=103 (be sure to use the "wipe" button) or follow these instructions :
* you need "fastboot" to be installed and working on your computer, here are instructions for windows: http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/2153...ows-computer-for-use-with-your-android-phone/
* Your MotoACTV needs to be fully charged.
Download and extract the zip at the end of this post:
- With the MotoACTV turned off, press and hold "volume down" key and "power" key until the display lights up, release both keys.
- Plug the usb cable to the MotoACTV and the computer.
- Open a command line and change directory to where you extracted the zip file.
- Issue the followings commands in order:
Code:
fastboot -w
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash preinstall preinstall.img
fastboot -w
fastboot reboot
If you are starting from a previous version of DPRom, you can try to upgrade with the following commands:
Code:
fastboot erase cache
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash preinstall preinstall.img
fastboot reboot
This is the way to set it up that works for me:
The first boot will take a couple of minutes.
Choose the country, language, press "motoactv setup", choose time zone, set hour, set date, press "next", press "profile setup", set your age, select gender, set height, set weight, set primary activity.
***Don't setup the MotoCast things yet, so press "Later".***
Go to Settings, Wireles & Network Settings, turn on wifi and setup up your network.
Go back to the main screen and press the "Music" button (that's the menu button from now on), choose the TALK application and go trough the google account setup. You'll see your talk contacts appear.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and disable the calendar sync.
Go back to settings, application settings, manage applications, All,
at the bottom choose Zeam Launcher and press "move to phone"
Choose also Flit keyboard and press "move to phone"
find Calendar and delete its data.
find Calendar Storage and delete its data.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and enable the calendar sync. If you don't use the calendar, leave this unselected to avoid a few ForceCloses.
If you want to add your MotoCast ID, go to Settings, Personal Profile, MotoCast ID. The accounts and Sync setting will force close after you setup the MotoCast ID, I'm still working on this.
Remember that double pressing the power button will let you choose the launcher. Some preinstalled programs need a bit of setup to adapt them to the MotoACTV, be sure to use their preferences menu and explore them. Some examples:
- In flit keyboard, select first keyboard as "Small Querty", second keyboard as "small number"
- In Zeam Launcher, preferences, action bindings, select swype up to "Toggle Full Screen" and swype down as "Expand Notifications". Also in Applications grid, set Columns LandScape completely to the left.
- In SuperUser, press the wrench icon to enter preferences, and set "automatic response" to "allow". Otherwise you can have problems to allow apps to use the su function.
- In Settings, Wireles & Network Settings, press the music button (menu) select avanced and setup the turn off policy to "when display goes off", press menu button again to save this setting.
Thanks to everybody reporting issues, keep them coming!
Enjoy!
Downloads:
DPRomBeta4.zip First Release 2nd July 2012
DPRomBeta7.zip Second Release 10 July 2012
* updated to version 1.7.10, updated included android apps to their latest versions. Used Cennis91 anyroot.zip to root the stock ROM. Thanks!
* added ClearD Battery percentage mod.
* changed general theme to "light", now all settings menus are black text over white background, messes with some programs that have hard-coded colors. WIP.
* Undo hack to make wifi stay on. Seems to be more stable with 1.7.10. Report if you have problems.
* Modified SystemUI to make the pull-down notifications menu more usable. Thanks to ClearD.
* Fixed preinstall script, now you can uninstall included apps.
* included modified Clock and CarHome, just for testing.
DPRomBeta8 Third Release 2nd August 2012
* updated android apps to latest versions.
* Better "light" theme applied to app's settings, black text over white background.
* Modified wifi to stay on for 10 minutes.
* fixed su binary.
* added Bluetooth settings. You can now change the name and turn it on from settings. WIP
DPRomBeta8.1 3rd august 2012
* fixed error with Google maps
DPRomBeta9 3rd January 2013. It's better to use Beta 8.1, this version has problems when turning off wifi.
* updated to 1.7.12N
* wifi Icon in status bar. Wifi time out is now 24 hours.

dproldan said:
This is a version of the stock MotoACTV system ROM 1.7.2 with several modifications that allow you to use many more android apps.
All userdata is erased when you install this, I'm not responsible with what you do with your device.
What works, in no particular order:
- This is already rooted, it doesn't matter what version you come from.
- All stock apps and functions work as expected, nothing changes from a stock MotoACTV.
- All google apps I've tried, Market, GMail, Maps, Talk, etc
- Live Wallpapers and widgets stay after reboots.
- LED notifications for Gmail, Email, etc.
- Wifi stays on.
- Accelerometer based games and launcher rotation.
- Enabled settings menus:
* Wireless & Network Settings. Where you can turn on/off wifi, add networks, set advanced parameters, etc
* Application Settings. Where you can uninstall apps, turn on/off ADB, see battery usage, etc
* Accounts & sync settings. Manage accounts for autosync, etc.
* Sound Settings. Choose notifications tone, volume, etc
- Calendar widget and application working.
- Music button is "menu", double-press power button for "home" or choose a launcher.
What doesn't work:
- Search, nowhere. force closes every time. This has never worked.
- Audio input for installed apps. This has never worked.
- Some Bluetooth profiles are not implemented.
- Wifi stays on, but but some times doesn't turn off when you deselect it. turn off/on the MotoACTV if you're in this situation.
- MotoCast setup messes up the Accounts and Sync settings, so Motocast needs to be setup after the google account.
Zeam launcher is preinstalled, but it's not really needed, because you can access all installed applications with the "music" button, you can uninstall it if you prefer. Also you can install another launcher if you like, just be sure to move it to the internal flash from Settings, Application Settings, choose the app and tap the button "move to phone". You'll have to do this for other apps that require to be installed internally, like extra widgets.
Instructions
* you need "fastboot" to be installed and working on your computer, here are instructions for windows: http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/21534/how-to-install-adb-and-fastboot-on-your-windows-computer-for-use-with-your-android-phone/
* Your MotoACTV needs to be fully charged.
Download and extract the zip at the end of this post:
- With the MotoACTV turned off, press and hold "volume down" key and "power" key until the display lights up, release both keys.
- Plug the usb cable the de MotoACTV and the computer.
- Open a command line and change directory to where you extracted the zip file.
- Issue the followings commands in order:
Code:
fastboot -w
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash preinstall preinstall.img
fastboot -w
fastboot reboot
This is the way to set it up that works for me:
The first boot will take a couple of minutes.
Choose the country, language, press "motoactv setup", choose time zone, set hour, set date, press "next", press "profile setup", set your age, select gender, set height, set weight, set primary activity.
***Don't setup the MotoCast things yet, so press "Later".***
Go to Settings, Wireles & Network Settings, turn on wifi and setup up your network.
Go back to the main screen and press the "Music" button (that's the menu button from now on), choose the TALK application and go trough the google account setup. You'll see your talk contacts appear.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and disable the calendar sync.
Go back to settings, application settings, manage applications, All,
at the bottom choose Zeam Launcher and press "move to phone"
find Calendar and delete its data.
find Calendar Storage and delete its data.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and enable the calendar sync.
If you want to add your MotoCast ID, go to Settings, Personal Profile, MotoCast ID. The accounts and Sync setting will force close after you setup the MotoCast ID, I'm still working on this.
Remember that double pressing the power button will let you choose the launcher. Some preinstalled programs need a bit of setup to adapt them to the MotoACTV, be sure to use their preferences menu and explore them.
Enjoy!
Downloads:
DPRomBeta4.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your Beta, but your link has issues. I cannot seem to download your zip file. It reaches 30% and then says it can't read source file on server.
It could be that the zip file is corrupt on google drive.

tansoftware said:
Thank you so much for your Beta, but your link has issues. I cannot seem to download your zip file. It reaches 30% and then says it can't read source file on server.
It could be that the zip file is corrupt on google drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It downloads fine for me and another person. Anybody else can confirm if it works for them?

Does this have to be installed only as per your instructions, or can it be installed by putting the zip file onto the storage area of the motoactv and use clockwork mod as per the wiki instructions?

Mine works too.

delboydell said:
Does this have to be installed only as per your instructions, or can it be installed by putting the zip file onto the storage area of the motoactv and use clockwork mod as per the wiki instructions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can only be flashed with fastboot. This is the easiest way.

For now, works well. Good work!!
Un saludo de un Asturiano!!

Noticed issue with SystemUI.apk
Thank you very much for this long anticipated release
I'm quite impressed with the WIFI stability.
But I have noticed that the status bar shows the "No Service" grey rectangle. This makes viewing the status bar notifications difficult. My old rom had a modified SystemUI.apk that removed this grey rectangle allowing easy viewing of notifications. Any possibility of releasing a patch ?
Also, as a result of setting the SD-Card as the default install location, Google Play is not capable of updating Superuser and suspect many other non sd-card apps will face similar issues.
Once again thank you for your great work.

tansoftware said:
But I have noticed that the status bar shows the "No Service" grey rectangle. This makes viewing the status bar notifications difficult. My old rom had a modified SystemUI.apk that removed this grey rectangle allowing easy viewing of notifications. Any possibility of releasing a patch ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'll ask the person who did this (was it ClearD?) about it and release a patch for that.
tansoftware said:
Also, as a result of setting the SD-Card as the default install location, Google Play is not capable of updating Superuser and suspect many other non sd-card apps will face similar issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I don't know what Motorola changed to do this. At the moment, SuperUser.apk not updating doesn't cause any issue, but I'll keep an eye to see if this becomes a problem.

dproldan said:
Yes, I'll ask the person who did this (was it ClearD?) about it and release a patch for that.
Yes I believe it was ClearD's patched SystemUI.apk
It would be nice if you guys could coordinate to release the patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sorry so late getting back to the scene, I live in Ohio and we've not had internet for like the last 3 days, or cell service. Or power. Or cable. Or land line phones. Or anything of value for that matter lol . As soon as I can get a stock 1.7.2, I can mod things back to usable state, not a problem. Dproldan, I assume the framework has changed also? And the services.jar? If so, I could probably decompile and mod those back as well.

This is really awesome and I love the setup. Having music launch the app drawer makes the phone so much more usable for me than having to use a separate launcher. One issue that I am running into however is I get some FCs. Specifically gapps and system framework FC from time to time, most often when trying to launch an app.
I am also having problems uninstalling some apks. They uninstall just fine but when I reboot they are back. Do you have some script that runs at start and installs these?
I also have a hard time reading some of the menus because the background is black and the font is gray. Is there a way to change that throughout the whole system?
I added in the SpareParts apk from CM7 and it might be helpful for some other users. With it I can change font size and animation speeds among other things. I also added the AccountsAndSync settings apk to control what syncs with my gmail account. The setting menu works great and shows up with all the other MotoActv settings. After I have everything setup and running smoothly I want to flash the beats audio libs to see if I can improve the audio on this thing.
Thanks again for all the hard work everybody is putting into this.

I put this on my device and I have to say I'm very impressed. The install process wiped like you said it would but it did not wipe my "sdcard" if I had known I would have wiped that in cwm.
Did this process remove CWM from my watch?

Glad you like it. Did you find any problem with what you had in the sdcard?
CWM should still be there, you can reboot to it with "adb reboot recovery" or installing "ROM manager"

dproldan said:
Glad you like it. Did you find any problem with what you had in the sdcard?
CWM should still be there, you can reboot to it with "adb reboot recovery" or installing "ROM manager"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No issues with what was left, I've been reinstalling all my apps and cleaning things up as I go. The only issue I have so far is superuser will not update, says I cannot update it in the current location... My guess is it needs to be moved to internal or something? I haven't really looked into the issue itself yet.

Before I attempt this I wanted to ask a question...
Has anyone experienced any issues?
Do I install this ROM with the same method as before?
Should I return to unrooted stock, update the motoactv to latest version then root and install rom? Or should I skip the device update while its in stock version?
Thanks guys and thanks to the devs who put in the work creating this.

dproldan said:
This is a version of the stock MotoACTV system ROM 1.7.2 with several modifications that allow you to use many more android apps.
All userdata is erased when you install this, I'm not responsible with what you do with your device.
What works, in no particular order:
- This is already rooted, it doesn't matter what version you come from.
- All stock apps and functions work as expected, nothing changes from a stock MotoACTV.
- All google apps I've tried, Market, GMail, Maps, Talk, etc
- Live Wallpapers and widgets stay after reboots.
- LED notifications for Gmail, Email, etc.
- Wifi stays on.
- Accelerometer based games and launcher rotation.
- Enabled settings menus:
* Wireless & Network Settings. Where you can turn on/off wifi, add networks, set advanced parameters, etc
* Application Settings. Where you can uninstall apps, turn on/off ADB, see battery usage, etc
* Accounts & sync settings. Manage accounts for autosync, etc.
* Sound Settings. Choose notifications tone, volume, etc
- Calendar widget and application working.
- Music button is "menu", double-press power button for "home" or choose a launcher.
What doesn't work:
- Search, nowhere. force closes every time. This has never worked.
- Audio input for installed apps. This has never worked.
- Some Bluetooth profiles are not implemented.
- Wifi stays on, but but some times doesn't turn off when you deselect it. turn off/on the MotoACTV if you're in this situation.
- MotoCast setup messes up the Accounts and Sync settings, so Motocast needs to be setup after the google account.
Zeam launcher is preinstalled, but it's not really needed, because you can access all installed applications with the "music" button, you can uninstall it if you prefer. Also you can install another launcher if you like, just be sure to move it to the internal flash from Settings, Application Settings, choose the app and tap the button "move to phone". You'll have to do this for other apps that require to be installed internally, like extra widgets.
Instructions
* you need "fastboot" to be installed and working on your computer, here are instructions for windows: http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/21534/how-to-install-adb-and-fastboot-on-your-windows-computer-for-use-with-your-android-phone/
* Your MotoACTV needs to be fully charged.
Download and extract the zip at the end of this post:
- With the MotoACTV turned off, press and hold "volume down" key and "power" key until the display lights up, release both keys.
- Plug the usb cable the de MotoACTV and the computer.
- Open a command line and change directory to where you extracted the zip file.
- Issue the followings commands in order:
Code:
fastboot -w
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash preinstall preinstall.img
fastboot -w
fastboot reboot
This is the way to set it up that works for me:
The first boot will take a couple of minutes.
Choose the country, language, press "motoactv setup", choose time zone, set hour, set date, press "next", press "profile setup", set your age, select gender, set height, set weight, set primary activity.
***Don't setup the MotoCast things yet, so press "Later".***
Go to Settings, Wireles & Network Settings, turn on wifi and setup up your network.
Go back to the main screen and press the "Music" button (that's the menu button from now on), choose the TALK application and go trough the google account setup. You'll see your talk contacts appear.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and disable the calendar sync.
Go back to settings, application settings, manage applications, All,
at the bottom choose Zeam Launcher and press "move to phone"
find Calendar and delete its data.
find Calendar Storage and delete its data.
Go back to settings, Accounts & Sync, Manage accounts, press your account and enable the calendar sync.
If you want to add your MotoCast ID, go to Settings, Personal Profile, MotoCast ID. The accounts and Sync setting will force close after you setup the MotoCast ID, I'm still working on this.
Remember that double pressing the power button will let you choose the launcher. Some preinstalled programs need a bit of setup to adapt them to the MotoACTV, be sure to use their preferences menu and explore them.
Enjoy!
Downloads:
DPRomBeta4.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download does not appear!!!
The link is BROKEN.
Can I flash this ROM with clockwork mod? I do not really get along with command line.
Thanks,
Arie.

i just installed the rom i got motocast and some playstore apps, but how do i activate the mass storage? medialink always pop up a message of netwrok problem in motoactv. The rest is working fine.

You CANNOT flash this in CWM you need to follow the fastboot commands. It's very easy and takes less than a minute each line.
I do have a question for the dev though. Once I launch a launcher, adw ex for example I cannot get back into the motoactv launcher without rebooting. I tried to find a shortcut but have been unable to do so. I tried to clear adw launcher defaults but it is not set as the default launcher. I can use Jay's easy script modder to change the buttons back to what I had before but I do like the setup you have for us. Let me know what way you have been doing it.
Also I am getting some force closes, "gapps" whatever that is and some framework errors. Otherwise it's very stable and runs great.

Prack said:
You CANNOT flash this in CWM you need to follow the fastboot commands. It's very easy and takes less than a minute each line.
I do have a question for the dev though. Once I launch a launcher, adw ex for example I cannot get back into the motoactv launcher without rebooting. I tried to find a shortcut but have been unable to do so. I tried to clear adw launcher defaults but it is not set as the default launcher. I can use Jay's easy script modder to change the buttons back to what I had before but I do like the setup you have for us. Let me know what way you have been doing it.
Also I am getting some force closes, "gapps" whatever that is and some framework errors. Otherwise it's very stable and runs great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You press the power button twice to replicate the home button. It should also work by pressing start.
The gapps and framework fcs occur whenever enabling wifi and first connecting. I think it has something to do with google/gmail sync but I only have anecdotal evidence of this.

Questions regarding N preview

1. Can it be used as a daily driver ?
2. Does the N bootloader and radio work with and can boot existing marshmallow custom Roms and twrp 3
3 Will dirty flashing work ( earse data but leave data/media intact before flashing preview using fastboot)
4 What's wrong with twrp on N, I read some people saying that twrp asks a password or something. So pls tell me about it
Thanks

Here are all the known issues with Android N
Platform Issues
Performance and battery
System and app performance is known to be periodically slow / janky, and device may become occasionally unresponsive. These problems may become more acute with prolonged use.
Battery life may be regressed in this release for screen-on and screen-off use cases.
Dialer
Dialer app does not support Direct boot. This will be addressed later in N Developer Preview.
Voicemail playback does not work.
System UI
Some new or modified strings in the system UI are not translated to all languages.
Overview UI is still in development, and subject to change. For example, we intend to remove the timer that appears when the user switches between apps.
Settings controls and toggles may be slow or appear to be unresponsive.
Visual design of notifications is subject to change.
In the Gmail app, direct archiving of emails included in a notification bundle does not work properly.
Android for Work
Work Security Challenge
After migration to N, or after the user creates work profiles, work profiles can't create keys in the keystore until the user changes their pattern, PIN, or password, or sets up a Work Challenge.
In Direct boot mode, applying the passcode restrictions to the device causes the work profile to be unlocked, even though the device is locked. This makes the work profile accessible even though it should be protected by the device lock screen.
When the user enters a wrong password and pin, the system does not display any informational message; instead, it only clears the input field. This issue does not affect pattern or fingerprint input.
On a tablet, the background displayed with the work challenge is disproportionately small.
The version of Google Apps Device Policy that is bundled with N Developer Preview does not yet support the Work Profile Security Challenge feature. Developers should instead use TestDPC to test this feature.
Always On VPN
If Always On VPN mode is turned on, but VPN is not available, apps not specified as exceptions to the Always On policy connect over the ordinary network. Unless specified as exceptions to Always On VPN policy, apps should be offline if they have no VPN connection available.
When Always On mode is on, a VPN connection is not established after a device reboots into Direct boot mode, even after the user unlocks the secure lock screen.
Improved Contacts
Bluetooth PBAP/MAP devices do not display Caller ID for work contacts. The next release of Preview resolves this issue.
Work Mode
The Google Now Launcher does not display whether Work Mode is on or off. The Launcher also does not show app suspension state.
After the user turns Work Mode off and on, the system no longer shows Work profile app widgets, such as Calendar.
Suspend Packages
Device admins can suspend critical system packages, which may lead to unexpected behavior, such as placing calls despite the Telephone disabled dialog’s being displayed.
Other
The Settings app crashes on launch if DISALLOW_MOUNT_PHYSICAL_MEDIA is set to true when the user inserts physical media such as an SD card.
The DPM.setPackagesSuspended state does not persist when the user uninstalls and then reinstalls an app. Either the app should remain suspended after uninstall/reinstall, or suspended apps should not be uninstallable
The first check-in in a Work Profile takes several minutes to complete. This may cause the device to take longer than normal to be visible in the Play EMM API.
Notifications from Work Profile apps are not visible to notification listeners installed in the personal profile. As a result, the system does not display Notifications as expected.
The version of Google Apps Device Policy that is bundled with N Developer Preview does not yet support the Work Profile Security Challenge feature. Developers should instead use TestDPC to test this feature.
Keyboard
Bluetooth pairing between keyboards and Android devices may be unstable.
Video
Video playback may lag and show interruptions.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi has undergone some refactoring which may change API corner case behavior. Specifically, applications which attempt to connect to specific networks, or attempt to reconnect to networks should retest.
The legacy DHCP client has been removed from the platform. The only DHCP client that the platform supports is the DHCP client introduced in M.
Direct boot
NFC doesn't function until first unlock.
When a phone with Bluetooth enabled is restarted, Bluetooth does not turn on automatically. You must manually re-enable Bluetooth.
Under some circumstances, the default ringtone may not sound for phone calls and messages. This behavior is fixed in the next N Preview release, with one exception (and workaround):
On a device that is not freshly wiped--one that has been booted at least once since being set to direct boot mode--the default notification ringtone does not sound. The user can work around this issue by manually selecting a ringtone from Settings.
Direct boot is not enabled by default on devices running an N Developer Preview build. To enable direct boot for testing and development, go to Developer Options and tap Convert to File Encryption. In this dev preview, this requires a factory reset to repartition and reformat your device for File-based Encryption.
Picture-in-picture for Android TV
The PIP integration in the Recents UI is not finalized, and is subject to change.
The animation of the PIP window is not smooth. Future releases of the Preview will improve this.
Future releases of the Preview will improve upon the visual design and layout alignment of PIP.
Bug reports
Bug reports do not always complete successfully (as a workaround, sometimes they can still be accessed through the bug report document provider in internal storage).
Split-screen Multi-window
Apps may experience crashes and unexpected UI behavior when put into split-screen mode. These are app issues that must be fixed by the app developer.
When an app targets a version of the Android platform earlier than N, the App may not work with split-screen toast may appear multiple times.
Long-pressing the Overview button while using an app with a fixed orientation may produce unexpected app behavior.
Apps may flicker while resizing.
Animations are not yet final.
Input method
Google Keyboard unexpectedly falls back to the generic Google keyboard when Use system language, but Google Keyboard doesn’t support any of the languages selected in the system-language preferences. It should fall back to American English.
You can work around this problem by adding at least one language that Google Keyboard supports.
Accessibility
TalkBack exhibits issues with features including Notifications, Quick Settings Tiles and Multi-window display that may cause system crashing or lack of spoken feedback from TalkBack. Future releases of the preview will address these issues.

N has been pretty stable for me so far. Dark mode took a few taps to get it to turn on and a few slow downs in the camera app one time, but mostly pretty good. Way better than some custom ROMs (or even some stock ROMs on crappy phones) I've run back in the day.
Have a good one!

Any Launcher, No Root (Launcher Hijack V4)

Launcher Hijack V4
Allows a custom launcher on Amazon Kindle Fire's and Fire TV's
An early, insert seasonally appropriate celebration here, present from me. Adds support for Fire TV devices and the new Fire Tablets. Enjoy.
Please find instructions for use here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/blob/master/HELP.md#fire-tvs). Adb required for first time setup on Fire TV's.
Find the latest release here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases). I'm working on Aptoide and F-Droid releases for those that prefer those methods. Hopefully in the next few days.
If you want to look at my rushed and sloppy code then feel free to look here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack)
Please send any issues here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/issues)
Feeling kind and want to donate? Find instructions here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/blob/master/README.md#donations)
Huge thanks to ParrotGeek1, Speeddymon and Urbanman2004.
ParrotGeek1 made V1 and without him I would have never started this project.
Speeddymon donated a 2018 Fire TV allowing me to implement Fire TV support. If you have a Fire TV you should thank him
Urbanman2004 created the lovely logo/app icon. Be sure to thank him too.
Finally I don't really check these forums often anymore so please head over to the github page and post there if you are having any issues. Usually I am pretty quick to respond there.

im not having any luck getting the accessibility function to work. i am on fireos 5.2.4.2
EDIT: I also have a fully updated firestick with the same issue. 5.2.6.7. hijack says accessibility needs to be enabled.
I believe I have a solution. I had to enable and disable some system accessibility settings to get the setting to take effect.

krsmit0 said:
im not having any luck getting the accessibility function to work. i am on fireos 5.2.4.2
EDIT: I also have a fully updated firestick with the same issue. 5.2.6.7. hijack says accessibility needs to be enabled.
I believe I have a solution. I had to enable and disable some system accessibility settings to get the setting to take effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to run an adb command to get it going on the fire tv's. Instructions explain it all.

The adb command alone wasn't enough. I use settings get... To verify it was there. But through several reboots it wouldnt work until I toggled other accessibility settings. This was the case for 2 different sticks.

Can you post what you did?

even with the adb command it still says accessibility needs to be enabled

huffmybrd said:
even with the adb command it still says accessibility needs to be enabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the standard fire TV settings and toggle.on some accessibility options. Then press home and see which launcher pops up.

Do you have the option in the settings? On the firestick 4k, fire tv (3rd gen?) and the cube (all running fire os 6.x) there are no options so you have to set it via adb. If you can do it through the system ui do it there I just thought all fire tv's didn't have the option.
Honestly I only own my fire tv because speeddymon donated it so that I could implement support for it, and I rarely use it as I have a computer hooked up to my tv making it entirely useless. In short I don't really know the in's and out's of the device.
Please do let me know what devices and fireos versions you are all running so I can update the instructions. Also what exact menu's you have to go through to get to the option.
As an aside you probably need to drop "secure" from the adb command to get it working on devices with the menu option but the system UI option is just better. Google changed it's category to stop you setting it without adb when they removed the menu option.

BaronKiko said:
Do you have the option in the settings? On the firestick 4k, fire tv (3rd gen?) and the cube (all running fire os 6.x) there are no options so you have to set it via adb. If you can do it through the system ui do it there I just thought all fire tv's didn't have the option.
Honestly I only own my fire tv because speeddymon donated it so that I could implement support for it, and I rarely use it as I have a computer hooked up to my tv making it entirely useless. In short I don't really know the in's and out's of the device.
Please do let me know what devices and fireos versions you are all running so I can update the instructions. Also what exact menu's you have to go through to get to the option.
As an aside you probably need to drop "secure" from the adb command to get it working on devices with the menu option but the system UI option is just better. Google changed it's category to stop you setting it without adb when they removed the menu option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its not the home button option that needs to be toggled. like you say, its not there. but toggling some of the other options seems to get this to work after you have done the adb command. but doing the adb command alone and rebooting doesnt make this work. the system doesn't think it is enabled. toggling other accessibility options on and off finally made it work for me.

BaronKiko said:
Launcher Hijack V4
Allows a custom launcher on Amazon Kindle Fire's and Fire TV's
An early, insert seasonally appropriate celebration here, present from me. Adds support for Fire TV devices and the new Fire Tablets. Enjoy.
Please find instructions for use here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/blob/master/HELP.md#fire-tvs). Adb required for first time setup on Fire TV's.
Find the latest release here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases). I'm working on Aptoide and F-Droid releases for those that prefer those methods. Hopefully in the next few days.
If you want to look at my rushed and sloppy code then feel free to look here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack)
Please send any issues here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/issues)
Feeling kind and want to donate? Find instructions here (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/blob/master/README.md#donations)
Special thanks to ParrotGeek1 and Speeddymon. ParrotGeek1 made V1 and without him I would have never started this project. Speeddymon donated a 2018 Fire TV allowing me to implement Fire TV support. If you have a Fire TV you should thank him
If somebody with some artistic talent wants to make a logo that would be much appreciated as the little android guy looks out of place in my app drawer.
Finally I don't really check these forums often anymore so please head over to the github page and post there if you are having any issues. Usually I am pretty quick to respond there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome.. Thanks for the update. It seems to be a lot more robust then v3. I just got done doing some quick testing. Will detail what worked in my case on a separate post below.
I do have a request. Is there any chance you can take a look at keeping Launcher Hijack as it's own app. But also can you please take a look to see if you can create a fork of a merger of your Launcher Hijack latest version & the last GitHub release of AppStarter v4.0 (Found @ : https://github.com/sphinx02/AppStarter ). AppStarter is the best launcher for FireTV devices. But it is due for an update/upgrade. Adding your Launcher Hijack code would be great. Also updating the SPMC & Kodi link changes would be great. Also merging other opensource projects like On Boot AppStarter (Found @: https://bitbucket.org/Mirakel/onbootappstarter/src would be another). Another of the major things that will need change/updating is what the Settings button (The 3 lines button to the right of the Home button) does in AppStarter vs Launher Hijack. Since right now trying to open the FireTV long press Settings also opens the AppStarter App FireTV Settings popup. Giving you an extra thing to close after coming back from the long press Settings menu.
I can test & help in anyway you want. Let me know if something you are willing to take on. All the pieces are there. They just need to be merged & upgraded.
krsmit0 said:
im not having any luck getting the accessibility function to work. i am on fireos 5.2.4.2
EDIT: I also have a fully updated firestick with the same issue. 5.2.6.7. hijack says accessibility needs to be enabled.
I believe I have a solution. I had to enable and disable some system accessibility settings to get the setting to take effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You where right. Will get more specific in a separate post below.
BaronKiko said:
You have to run an adb command to get it going on the fire tv's. Instructions explain it all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On FireTV devices below FireOS v6. It seems we need two steps to enable everything needed. Will give more detail of some testing below.
krsmit0 said:
The adb command alone wasn't enough. I use settings get... To verify it was there. But through several reboots it wouldnt work until I toggled other accessibility settings. This was the case for 2 different sticks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bet both FireTV Sticks are on FireOS v5 FW ?
TimmyP said:
Can you post what you did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will get specific below.
huffmybrd said:
even with the adb command it still says accessibility needs to be enabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Info on how to successfully enable everything posted below.
krsmit0 said:
Go into the standard fire TV settings and toggle.on some accessibility options. Then press home and see which launcher pops up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ADB command is still needed first. Then the only accessibility option that needs toggling is "Screen Magnifier". Just toggle the setting like you are going to turn it on. The instructions screen should popup. Then just choose "TURN OFF MAGNIFIER" at the instructions screen. Hitting "TURN OFF MAGNIFIER" will opens up Launcher Hijack v4. There you can choose AppStarter or your chosen launcher. Then you are all set.
BaronKiko said:
Do you have the option in the settings? On the firestick 4k, fire tv (3rd gen?) and the cube (all running fire os 6.x) there are no options so you have to set it via adb. If you can do it through the system ui do it there I just thought all fire tv's didn't have the option.
Honestly I only own my fire tv because speeddymon donated it so that I could implement support for it, and I rarely use it as I have a computer hooked up to my tv making it entirely useless. In short I don't really know the in's and out's of the device.
Please do let me know what devices and fireos versions you are all running so I can update the instructions. Also what exact menu's you have to go through to get to the option.
As an aside you probably need to drop "secure" from the adb command to get it working on devices with the menu option but the system UI option is just better. Google changed it's category to stop you setting it without adb when they removed the menu option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. It seems FireOS v5 devices need a two-step setup. In correct order both the ADB command & a ACCESSIBILITY Menu Toggle (Screen Magnifier ONLY) are needed for it to proper register everything. The good news is that it only needs to be done once. And it survives a FireTV reboot. Bad news is that if you deliberately stop the Launcher Hijack App. Then you have to do do the two step setup again.
I also tried dropping the "secure" from the adb command but got he following results:
Run Code:
Code:
settings put enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
And
settings enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Both gave the following return:
Code:
ty_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ <
Invalid namespace 'enabled_accessibility_services'
usage: settings [--user NUM] get namespace key
settings [--user NUM] put namespace key value
settings [--user NUM] delete namespace key
'namespace' is one of {system, secure, global}, case-insensitive
If '--user NUM' is not given, the operations are performed on the owner user.
[email protected]:/ $
Let me know if I should test anything else regarding this.
Will post specifics of what worked for me on a separate post below.
---------- Post added at 06:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 AM ----------
krsmit0 said:
its not the home button option that needs to be toggled. like you say, its not there. but toggling some of the other options seems to get this to work after you have done the adb command. but doing the adb command alone and rebooting doesnt make this work. the system doesn't think it is enabled. toggling other accessibility options on and off finally made it work for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, thanks to your post I was able to narrow it down to a single Accessibility Toggle. Working on a post that explains everything now.

Y314K said:
Right, thanks to your post I was able to narrow it down to a single Accessibility Toggle. Working on a post that explains everything now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks. I wasn't sure what exactly was working, but i spent sometime on both sticks until it worked. I am on fireos 5 on both sticks. I think the issue i have now is i keep ending up back on the fire tv launcher. i think hijack or my launcher choice (TVLauncher) are getting kicked out of memory. Other then that this feels extremely stable and very consistent.

Guide for FireTV's on FireOS 5 FirmWare v0.5...
Guide for FireTV's on FireOS 5 FirmWare v.05
This guide should work on all FireTV devices on any FireOS 5. Rooted & Non-Rooted
**Will update guide with method to install Launcher Hijack from the FireTV itself.**
Tested on:
- FireTV 1 Box - Rooted with Bootloader fully unlocked.
- On PreRooted Fire OS 5.2.6.6 (617513220)
- Running without SuperSU which means NO Root access except in TWRP.
- Basically it runs like on stock FW with the option to enable root.
- Should be the same for all other FireTV's on FireOS 5 that have the Accessibility option in Settings.
Installation (Based on the Launcher Hijack GitHub Guide):
ADB Code Method
Navigate to this GitHub's downloads page (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases) on your desktop/laptop and download the latest APK.
Install ADB on your desktop/laptop (Google will help you) and ensure a connection to your Fire TV.
Install Launcher Hijack with this command:
adb install <path to downloaded APK>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ensure you have some Launchers installed.
Enable the Accessibility Service using these two commands (exactly in this order):
adb shell
Code:
settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Then...
Code:
settings put secure accessibility_enabled 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is a first/fresh install of LH (Launcher Hijack). LH will open.
Select your desired Launcher from the list provided
If you had previously opened LH & selected a desired Launcher.
Your previously chosen Launcher will open.
Reboot your device (Recommended but not required).
Congratulation, if all is working correctly your home button should now open your chosen launcher
Accessibility Toggle Method
Navigate to this GitHub's downloads page (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases) on your desktop/laptop and download the latest APK.
Install ADB on your desktop/laptop (Google will help you) and ensure a connection to your Fire TV.
Install Launcher Hijack with this command:
adb install <path to downloaded APK>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ensure you have some Launchers installed.
Enable the Accessibility Service using this command:
adb shell
Code:
settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On your FireTV go to & click on [ Settings / Accessibility / Screen Magnifier ]
The Screen Magnifier instructions menu will popup.
Click on [ TURN OFF MAGNIFIER ].
If this is a first/fresh install of LH (Launcher Hijack). LH will open.
Select your desired Launcher from the list provided
If you had previously opened LH & selected your desired Launcher.
Your previously chosen Launcher should open.
Reboot your device
Congratulation, if all is working correctly your home button should now open your chosen launcher
Important, Accessing Settings and the Long Press Menu
Unfortunately for FireTV devices a compromise had to be made. To access the long press menu and with it settings you have to hold menu and home together. You can also get to the default launcher by simply pressing them together.
Troubleshooting
If you are having issues then there are some common issues you can check here:
Ensure you are using an Amazon TV device running Fire OS 5, compatible with all versions as of release (FW 5.2.6.7 = latest).
Ensure you have enabled the accessibility service with the command: adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Ensure you can open your launcher directly i.e. Using any launcher, other than your chosen launcher, open you chosen launcher like any other app, this should open your chosen launcher.
Ensure you have selected your chosen launcher in Launcher Hijack.
Reboot your device after following all previous steps.
After clicking home initially wait 10 seconds and press home again. This happens when your chosen launchers process gets killed in the background and may happen from time to time, especially after a reboot. There are plenty of existing apps that already keep a chosen application in memory so try one of those if this is a reoccurring issue for you.
If all else fails try using one of the following launchers with known compatibility: AppStarter or HALauncher.

now, any working solution to keep the launcher in memory?

Y314K said:
Guide for FireTV's on FireOS 5 FirmWare v.05
This guide should work on all FireTV devices on any FireOS 5. Rooted & Non-Rooted
**Will update guide with method to install Launcher Hijack from the FireTV itself.**
Tested on:
- FireTV 1 Box - Rooted with Bootloader fully unlocked.
- On PreRooted Fire OS 5.2.6.6 (617513220)
- Running without SuperSU which means NO Root access except in TWRP.
- Basically it runs like on stock FW with the option to enable root.
- Should be the same for all other FireTV's on FireOS 5 that have the Accessibility option in Settings.
Installation (Based on the Launcher Hijack GitHub Guide):
Navigate to this GitHub's downloads page (https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases) on your desktop/laptop and download the latest APK.
Install ADB on your desktop/laptop (Google will help you) and ensure a connection to your Fire TV.
Install Launcher Hijack with this command:
Ensure you have some Launchers installed.
Enable the Accessibility Service using this command:
On your FireTV go to & click on [ Settings / Accessibility / Screen Magnifier ]
The Screen Magnifier instructions menu will popup.
Click on [ TURN OFF MAGNIFIER ].
If this is a first/fresh install of LH (Launcher Hijack). LH will open.
Select your desired Launcher from the list provided
If you had previously opened LH & selected your desired Launcher.
Your previously chosen Launcher should open.
Reboot your device
Congratulation, if all is working correctly your home button should now open your chosen launcher
Important, Accessing Settings and the Long Press Menu
Unfortunately for FireTV devices a compromise had to be made. To access the long press menu and with it settings you have to hold menu and home together. You can also get to the default launcher by simply pressing them together.
Troubleshooting
If you are having issues then there are some common issues you can check here:
Ensure you are using an Amazon TV device running Fire OS 5, compatible with all versions as of release (FW 5.2.6.7 = latest).
Ensure you have enabled the accessibility service with the command: adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Ensure you can open your launcher directly i.e. Using any launcher, other than your chosen launcher, open you chosen launcher like any other app, this should open your chosen launcher.
Ensure you have selected your chosen launcher in Launcher Hijack.
Reboot your device after following all previous steps.
After clicking home initially wait 10 seconds and press home again. This happens when your chosen launchers process gets killed in the background and may happen from time to time, especially after a reboot. There are plenty of existing apps that already keep a chosen application in memory so try one of those if this is a reoccurring issue for you.
If all else fails try using one of the following launchers with known compatibility: AppStarter or HALauncher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for the detailed write up.
Can I just confirm that on the latest 4K firestick, there is no way to do the above without running the ADB commands? I recall using the launcher highjack on the 2nd Gen firestick WITHOUT running any ADB commands.
thanks again

Gosh that's a lot to break down.
Y314K said:
I do have a request. Is there any chance you can take a look at keeping Launcher Hijack as it's own app. But also can you please take a look to see if you can create a fork of a merger of your Launcher Hijack latest version & the last GitHub release of AppStarter v4.0 (Found @ : https://github.com/sphinx02/AppStarter ). AppStarter is the best launcher for FireTV devices. But it is due for an update/upgrade. Adding your Launcher Hijack code would be great. Also updating the SPMC & Kodi link changes would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Merging the code into AppStarter would be a lot of work with no real benefit. Simply install them both separately and select AppStarter in Launcher Hijack. Also as I said in a previous post I honestly don't use my Fire TV so I don't really want to maintain AppStarter. I see more use in making the Fire TV a dedicated kodi/plex box with Launcher Hijack anyhow.
Y314K said:
Also merging other opensource projects like On Boot AppStarter (Found @: https://bitbucket.org/Mirakel/onbootappstarter/src would be another).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On Boot AppStarter is just a broadcast receiver which this app already uses to start on boot. Again there would be no benefit to a merge as it's not related to Launcher Hijack.
Y314K said:
Another of the major things that will need change/updating is what the Settings button (The 3 lines button to the right of the Home button) does in AppStarter vs Launher Hijack. Since right now trying to open the FireTV long press Settings also opens the AppStarter App FireTV Settings popup. Giving you an extra thing to close after coming back from the long press Settings menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately this is the best compromise I could make and it effects whatever app you happen to have open. I chose this because generally the menu press is something easy to cancel (as you said you just press back or menu again). I could cache the menu press and activate it with a delay but that could break applications that depend on long press of the menu button (don't know any apps that do that but it's possible) so it's just not worth it. It would also be a whole lot of work when I'm busy trying to get another job as I tend to like eating.
Y314K said:
The ADB command is still needed first. Then the only accessibility option that needs toggling is "Screen Magnifier". Just toggle the setting like you are going to turn it on. The instructions screen should popup. Then just choose "TURN OFF MAGNIFIER" at the instructions screen. Hitting "TURN OFF MAGNIFIER" will opens up Launcher Hijack v4. There you can choose AppStarter or your chosen launcher. Then you are all set.
Right. It seems FireOS v5 devices need a two-step setup. In correct order both the ADB command & a ACCESSIBILITY Menu Toggle (Screen Magnifier ONLY) are needed for it to proper register everything. The good news is that it only needs to be done once. And it survives a FireTV reboot. Bad news is that if you deliberately stop the Launcher Hijack App. Then you have to do do the two step setup again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's totally bizarre, no idea why that would be the case. My assumption is the settings aren't being applied for whatever reason after the command. Would really like a purely adb solution.
Y314K said:
I also tried dropping the "secure" from the adb command but got he following results:
Run Code:
Code:
settings put enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
And
settings enabled_accessibility_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ
Both gave the following return:
Code:
ty_services com.baronkiko.launcherhijack/com.baronkiko.launcherhijack.AccServ <
Invalid namespace 'enabled_accessibility_services'
usage: settings [--user NUM] get namespace key
settings [--user NUM] put namespace key value
settings [--user NUM] delete namespace key
'namespace' is one of {system, secure, global}, case-insensitive
If '--user NUM' is not given, the operations are performed on the owner user.
[email protected]:/ $
Let me know if I should test anything else regarding this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok it's under secure then, I assume you don't get an invalid namespace error for the original command?
Oh boy there's a whole other post I didn't see before getting this far. Wont quote it as it's really long but I'm glad to see you have a reliable way to set it up. I found this command that may help if run first:
Code:
settings put secure accessibility_enabled 1
No idea if it will fix the issue I just saw it mentioned in a post over here: https://autotools.helprace.com/i98-control-accessibility-via-secure-settings It does seem like your trick could set this variable allowing it to work, I just don't know. Regardless I will update the instructions with your findings so others don't have such issues.
krsmit0 said:
Great, thanks. I wasn't sure what exactly was working, but i spent sometime on both sticks until it worked. I am on fireos 5 on both sticks. I think the issue i have now is i keep ending up back on the fire tv launcher. i think hijack or my launcher choice (TVLauncher) are getting kicked out of memory. Other then that this feels extremely stable and very consistent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Launcher Hijack is a service so it shouldn't ever be ousted from system memory. It is possible but if it ever does happen then it calls my close function (there so code can wrap up) and the code simply starts a new instance. If it went down you would have to disable then enable the service via adb or reboot. If you just have to press home again it's the launcher. After some Googling there are "sticky intents" that may help but apparently they are not great to use as they can cause memory issues. It leads to the fundamental issue, is it a smart thing to fix? These devices don't have a lot of memory to begin with and the fact that your launcher is getting killed means the device has run out. In that case I would say the right thing to do is to kill the launcher an it can be started again later and it's better that what you are doing lagging badly.
If I find some time, big if there, I can see if sticky intents are the magic they seem to be, honestly I'm doubtful but, if so I can put it as an option via settings. Right now your best bet is to use a light weight launcher or simply press home again.
Been writing this for an hour now -_-
But finally can one of you with a Fire TV (or stick) running Fire OS 5 check that the settings menu in Launcher Hijack has "Hardware Button Detection", "Broadcast Receiver Detection" and "Disable while menu held" checked by default and the others off. You can load the defaults with the menu if you changed any of the options. Just want to make sure that the defaults are correct for your device.
Yet another post:
Intenti0n said:
Many thanks for the detailed write up.
Can I just confirm that on the latest 4K firestick, there is no way to do the above without running the ADB commands? I recall using the launcher highjack on the 2nd Gen firestick WITHOUT running any ADB commands.
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can enable "Overlay Detection" in the Launcher Hijack settings to get it working like the old Launcher Hijack but it's just not as good and you can't use the long press menu so I don't suggest it.

krsmit0 said:
now, any working solution to keep the launcher in memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have not had experience on this. I still use AppStarter v4.0. Which seem to be pretty good at staying in memory. Specially since I also use [NOROOT] On Boot AppStarter v1.0. For it to load on Boot. I don't remember it ever being closed. Unless I choose to close it.
Intenti0n said:
Many thanks for the detailed write up.
Can I just confirm that on the latest 4K firestick, there is no way to do the above without running the ADB commands? I recall using the launcher highjack on the 2nd Gen firestick WITHOUT running any ADB commands.
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to be a new method found by the developer to work with the changes that Google/Amazon have made between FireOS 5 & FireOS 6 (Google's base Android code usually has the biggest changes). Harder to do when your dealing with two different versions of Android.

Y314K said:
Have not had experience on this. I still use AppStarter v4.0. Which seem to be pretty good at staying in memory. Specially since I also use [NOROOT] On Boot AppStarter v1.0. For it to load on Boot. I don't remember it ever being closed. Unless I choose to close it.
Seems to be a new method found by the developer to work with the changes that Google/Amazon have made between FireOS 5 & FireOS 6 (Google's base Android code usually has the biggest changes). Harder to do when your dealing with two different versions of Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be clear you don't need AppStarter, this app does that on it's own for the selected launcher. Appstarter simply uses very little memory so it rarely gets kicked. It's also super quick to boot so if it does get kicked it can usually start in time.
Also you should have enabled the accessibility service on the old version too, I just use it more now and disabled the old method be default as it causes issues when both methods are running in parallel.

You can enable "Overlay Detection" in the Launcher Hijack settings to get it working like the old Launcher Hijack but it's just not as good and you can't use the long press menu so I don't suggest it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have enabled the "Overlay detection" and rebooted. After rebooted, the HAL launcher starts up automatically.
However, when I press the home key on the remote, it goes back to the default launcher.
is that expected?

Intenti0n said:
I have enabled the "Overlay detection" and rebooted. After rebooted, the HAL launcher starts up automatically.
However, when I press the home key on the remote, it goes back to the default launcher.
is that expected?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It probably shouldn't do that but I'm gonna say that feature just isn't supported on fire TV's. It's for 2017 and earlier fire tablets and you just don't need it on the TV's.

BaronKiko said:
It probably shouldn't do that but I'm gonna say that feature just isn't supported on fire TV's. It's for 2017 and earlier fire tablets and you just don't need it on the TV's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks, I will try the ADB method then

Unlocking Bowflex Velocore

Note that this post is being updated with new information as we figure things out.
This jailbreak should allow you to use the console like a normal Android tablet, install and run any software on it from the Play Store and sideload software as well as run the JRNY app. It does not root the device. We have tested it on Bowflex Velocore, but assume that it will most likely work on other new Bowflex products with an Android tablet that are locked into JRNY. While we believe things are working in general, it has not been extensively tested. We are releasing it early in hopes to get more people interested in improving it.
Follow these instructions at your own risk. Read through all of the instructions before deciding to follow through. Making modification to your device may cause it to stop working. It may also void your warranty.
The instructions were written after we had already jailbroken our bikes, so we didn't really have a way to test that they work exactly as documented on a locked bike. Some experimentation may be needed. Good luck!
Step 1: Reboot.
Step 2: On the Bowflex screen showing the serial number, rapidly tap on upper right corner until a menu appears.
Step 3: Select 'Manufacturing App'.
Step 4: Long press the home button at the back of the screen and wait for Google Assistant to pop up.
Step 5: Type 'settings' to Google assistant and hit enter.
Step 6: In settings, enable ADB debugging from: System - Developer Settings - USB debugging.
Step 7: Look up your ip address from Network settings.
Step 8: Using adb (from Android platform tools) on your Desktop (which needs to be connected to the same network as your Velocore):
adb connect <replace-with-velocore-ip-address-from-step-7>​adb shell​touch /sdcard/Pictures/nautilus​am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService​settings put secure ntls_launcher_preference 0​settings put secure navigationbar_switch 1​settings put secure notification_switch 1​settings put secure statusbar_switch 1​settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1​Step 9: In settings - apps, force-stop NautilusLauncher.
Step 10: In settings - apps, set Quickstep as the default home app. Otherwise NautilusLauncher will take over when you press the home button and undo the jailbreak.
At this point, a reboot should take you to the Android home screen instead of JRNY. For JRNY to be able to connect to the bike, some of the services in NautilusLauncher need to be running. Unfortunately, starting NautilusLauncher will undo the jailbreak. To get around that, use the following to automatically start NautilusLauncher at startup and perform a jailbreak:
Step 11: Install Tasker (costs $3.50)
Step 12: In Tasker, create a new Profile 'Event - System - Device Boot'. Add the following tasks to the profile:
Task 1: App - Launch App - NautilusLauncher
Task 2: Task - Wait, configuration: 30 seconds
Task 3: Code - ADB Wifi, configuration:
Command:
until appMonitor=$(dumpsys activity services AppMonitorService | grep "(nothing)"); do am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService; sleep 1; done;​settings put secure ntls_launcher_preference 0;​settings put secure navigationbar_switch 1;​settings put secure notification_switch 1;​settings put secure statusbar_switch 1;​settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1;​settings put system screen_brightness 255;​
At this point one more problem remains. JRNY app has its own screen saver which turns the screen off after five minutes of inactivity. If you have some other app at the foreground, you'll soon notice that your screen turns black and you seemingly can only get forwards by rebooting. To solve this:
Step 13: In Tasker, create a new Profile 'Event - System - Device Boot'. Add the following tasks to the profile:
Task 1: Task - Wait, configuration: 50 ms
Task 2: Display - Display Brightness: 255
Task 3: Task - Goto, configuration: 1
At this point, a reboot takes you to the Android home screen. After a few seconds, Tasker will launch NautilusLauncher and you will be taken to JRNY. Once the tasker wait has finished, a jailbreak is done. Then, you can swipe off JRNY and NautilusLauncher and should be fully jailbroken.
Note that Bowflex pushes software updates to the bike automatically. It's possible that future updates will stop this jailbreak from working. To try to prevent this, we have uninstalled the nautilus_ota_client app as well as set the 'ota_disable_automatic_update' setting above. We haven't confirmed that these are effective to preventing updates. If you decide to uninstall the app and use the setting, consider the following:
You may not receive new updates to the software of the bike anymore.
In case you later decide that you want to get updates again, make sure to backup the apk before uninstalling!.
----------
Troubleshooting:
If your console takes a long time to boot, the jailbreak may try to execute too early. Try to increase the wait time.
Sometimes the launcher seems to restart itself before the jailbreak is completed. You might still get jailbroken on the second start, but if not, just reboot and try again.
Sometimes when escaping JRNY after the jailbreak, the background might show the Bowflex image. Not sure if it actually effects anything, but just in case, you can just reboot and try again.
Some people seem to have trouble with an automated jailbreak using the device boot Tasker profile (step 12). If you are experiencing this, a more manual approach might work better for you:
Remove the profile from step 12.
Instead, create a profile 'Event - Hardware - Volume Long Press'.
Add task 'Code - ADB Wifi' with the commands from the initial instructions.
Save.
Now, when you reboot, it'll take you to the Android home screen. Then, start the 'NautilusLauncher' app, which will take you to JRNY. Once in JRNY, long press the 'volume up' button behind the screen to manually perform the unlock.
Some people have had problem with step 10 (set Quickstep as default home app). You can try rebooting all the way to JRNY, then doing 'adb shell am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService'. Then swiping up and going to settings, force-stopping NautilusLauncher and then setting Quickstep as the default home launcher app.
If the unlock doesn't work after the Tasker automation, you should still be able to connect using adb and execute the commands on adb shell to perform the unlock manually after which you can then edit your Tasker profile.
To view the bike data (burn rate, resistance) with 3rd party applications (full screen):
Start a JRNY workout with entertainment feature available. Manual workout under programs works well.
Choose any of the entertainment app options (ie Netflix) and start workout.
Swipe entertainment app to the side and open the 3rd party application you'd like to use
Use Peloton app (or other apps (with Zwift, use the workout with Zwift program instead)) while showing cadence, resistance and heart rate (split-screen):
Start JRNY app
Go back to the home screen.
Start Peloton app
Swipe up to the side-by-side app selector.
Long press the Peloton icon and select split-screen. This splits the screen to left and right, with left part running Peloton.
Click JRNY app on the right part of screen.
Adjust the screen divider so that Peloton app takes 2/3rds of the screen.
Select programs - work out with Peloton on JRNY and click start workout.
Select your program in the peloton app.
You can have your heart rate monitor synced either to the Peloton app or the JRNY app via the normal heart rate monitor options of the apps.
To get Zwift working on the bike:
Install xapk manager from https://apkfab.com/xapk-manager/com.apkfab.installer/download
Download zwift from https://m.apkpure.com/zwift/com.zwift.zwiftgame
Install
To run, start JRNY and have the workout with Zwift program running. After that switch to Zwift and it'll see the data from the bike.
It looks like getting the bike to send data to Zwift is a bit trickier than I originally thought. Sometimes it's easy to get the link to work. Other times, not so much. Figuring out how you can use Zwift consistently still needs some more work.
The bike console is a bit underpowered for Zwift graphics, so also experimenting with remote desktop type apps to have Zwift running on a laptop while the screen is shown on the bike console with smoother graphics. So far have had some good results with cast receiver / chrome cast. But it is only one way, so while you can see the screen, you can't control it.
----------
Some random notes for anyone interested in helping and improving the jailbreak:
Before starting to hack around, I strongly recommend that you back up all of the custom nautilus software apks so that you have some way of reinstalling them later if required.
adb via usb
If you open the back of the screen, there is a micro usb slot on the motherboard that can used to connect adb.
As you can connect adb via wifi, not sure if this is really needed for anything.
adb reboot recovery
Reboots, takes you to a screen saying 'erasing' and in the end you end up on a standard android tablet setup screen with all custom software (including the bowflex software) erased.
adb reboot bootloader (my personal experience with this):
Rebooted, got to the 'powered by android' screen, but seemed to be stuck there.
Tried a bunch of key presses at the back of the screen. With some of them pressed, the console playd a sound effect, but wasn't able to get forwards from the screen.
For a while thought that i had bricked the console. Unplugged it for half an hour and when i came back and plugged it back it, it booted again.
factory reset
Unplug the bike.
Hold the top button (which looks like a disk/arrow).
Plug back in.
Release the button once you see a while box blip that says applying golden image.
NOTE: I wasn't able to get this to work after erasing the device with 'adb reboot recovery', which probably means that it only works as long as NautilusLauncher is installed.
serial port
The bike connects to the console via a serial port. The device entry for it is /dev/ttyS4.
Only system/root has access to the device, which is why we need NautilusLauncher running to get JRNY to connect to the bike.
NautilusLauncher has a service called SerialPortService, which basically forwards input and output from and to the serial port to tcp:9999.
JRNY app connects to the serial port via the tcp port.
It might be interesting to make an app that connects to tcp:9999 to listen to the bike, e.g. for a custom HUD.
JRNY
Doesn't require system privileges unlike the other bowflex apps.
You can unpack the apk, make changes to it (such as disabling the screen saver and connecting to a different tcp port to connect to the bike), repack and sign it with our own key and have it successfully installed and ran. While the bike connectivity works after doing this, the app seems to have problems, e.g. if trying to bring up the overlay or start with workout with zwift program. Hoping that these can be fixed over time.
"/sdcard/Pictures/nautilus"
The existance of this file controls if NautilusLauncher disables adb debugging upon startup.
modifying JRNY
unpack: apktool d Bowflex_base.apk
...make changes...
repack: apktool b Bowflex_base -o Bowflex_edited.apk
create your own signing key: keytool -genkey -v -keystore my-apk-hack-key.keystore -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
sign the modified apk: jarsigner -verbose -sigalg MD5withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore my-apk-hack-key.keystore Bowflex_edited.apk mykey
disable JRNY screen saver by modifying JRNY apk:
edit smali/com/nautilus/bowflex/managers/ScreenDimmingManager.smali
change 'getDimmingEnabled' method to:
.method public static final synthetic access$getDimmingEnabled$p(Lcom/nautilus/bowflex/managers/ScreenDimmingManagerZ
.locals 0
const/4 p0, 0x0
return p0
.end method
over-the-air updates
Bowflex pushes new updates to the console. It's possible that one of these future updates will cause this jailbreak to stop working.
To prevent that, we have uninstalled the nautilus_ota_client app, as well use the setting 'settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1'.
We haven't really looked into the updating process, so not completely sure that the above will actually prevent them.
In future, we are hoping to be able to pull the updated apks from somewhere and perform the updates manually. Meanwhile, you can just keep using the current versions of the software.
There is a file that (we assume) contains the credentials for the ota updates. This may be helpful in pulling the updated apks / firmware manually in future: /sdcard/Nautilus/redbend/Credentials.txt
secret menus
In the Bowflex screen showing the serial number
Rapidly click on top right corner to bring up their super secret menu.
Rapidly click on top left corner to bring up the current firmware version number.
Rapidly click on bottom left corner to bring up their secret menu.
In the jrny app login screen:
Rapidly click on top right corner to bring up their advanced features menu.

Updated the instructions with a simple solution to the screen saver / black screen problem.

Updated with instructions on how to use the Peloton app (or other apps) while being able to see cadence, resistance and heart rate on the screen.

Hey, Thanks for the post, I'm very excited to not be locked into JRNY.
I'm not the most familiar with the tools in this process but I got to step 10. When i change to Quickstep the machine restarts, seems to hang a bit at the boot up screen (with the serial number) and just boots back into JRNY. I've tried a few times now with the same result.
in the troubleshooting section it states
If your console takes a long time to boot, the jailbreak may try to execute too early. Try to increase the wait time.
I'm wondering if that's my issue here and was curious how one might "increase the wait time?
Thanks for any clarification you can offer.

magufalo said:
Hey, Thanks for the post, I'm very excited to not be locked into JRNY.
I'm not the most familiar with the tools in this process but I got to step 10. When i change to Quickstep the machine restarts, seems to hang a bit at the boot up screen (with the serial number) and just boots back into JRNY. I've tried a few times now with the same result.
in the troubleshooting section it states
If your console takes a long time to boot, the jailbreak may try to execute too early. Try to increase the wait time.
I'm wondering if that's my issue here and was curious how one might "increase the wait time?
Thanks for any clarification you can offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the most likely cause for that to happen would be if NautilusLauncher was still running.
When you do step 9 (In settings - apps, force-stop NautilusLauncher), does the 'force-stop' button turn gray? If not, see if you have 'Bowflex' application running and force-stop it first and then force-stop NautilusLauncher.

Is there any way to get the Bowflex_base.apk file? Right now I have a $3k android tablet with no NautilusLauncher/Utility/JRNY app. Thank you!

scafs said:
Is there any way to get the Bowflex_base.apk file? Right now I have a $3k android tablet with no NautilusLauncher/Utility/JRNY app. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are links to the ota client and nautiluslauncher in the comments section of the reddit unlocking thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bowflex/comments/mi8wdo
I think they should be enough to get the bike to do a self update and restore all the original software.

xasmx said:
Note that this post is being updated with new information as we figure things out.
This jailbreak should allow you to use the console like a normal Android tablet, install and run any software on it from the Play Store and sideload software as well as run the JRNY app. It does not root the device. We have tested it on Bowflex Velocore, but assume that it will most likely work on other new Bowflex products with an Android tablet that are locked into JRNY. While we believe things are working in general, it has not been extensively tested. We are releasing it early in hopes to get more people interested in improving it.
Follow these instructions at your own risk. Read through all of the instructions before deciding to follow through. Making modification to your device may cause it to stop working. It may also void your warranty.
The instructions were written after we had already jailbroken our bikes, so we didn't really have a way to test that they work exactly as documented on a locked bike. Some experimentation may be needed. Good luck!
Step 1: Reboot.
Step 2: On the Bowflex screen showing the serial number, rapidly tap on upper right corner until a menu appears.
Step 3: Select 'Manufacturing App'.
Step 4: Long press the home button at the back of the screen and wait for Google Assistant to pop up.
Step 5: Type 'settings' to Google assistant and hit enter.
Step 6: In settings, enable ADB debugging from: System - Developer Settings - USB debugging.
Step 7: Look up your ip address from Network settings.
Step 8: Using adb (from Android platform tools) on your Desktop (which needs to be connected to the same network as your Velocore):
adb connect <replace-with-velocore-ip-address-from-step-7>​adb shell​touch /sdcard/Pictures/nautilus​am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService​settings put secure ntls_launcher_preference 0​settings put secure navigationbar_switch 1​settings put secure notification_switch 1​settings put secure statusbar_switch 1​settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1​Step 9: In settings - apps, force-stop NautilusLauncher.
Step 10: In settings - apps, set Quickstep as the default home app. Otherwise NautilusLauncher will take over when you press the home button and undo the jailbreak.
At this point, a reboot should take you to the Android home screen instead of JRNY. For JRNY to be able to connect to the bike, some of the services in NautilusLauncher need to be running. Unfortunately, starting NautilusLauncher will undo the jailbreak. To get around that, use the following to automatically start NautilusLauncher at startup and perform a jailbreak:
Step 11: Install Tasker (costs $3.50)
Step 12: In Tasker, create a new Profile 'Event - System - Device Boot'. Add the following tasks to the profile:
Task 1: App - Launch App - NautilusLauncher
Task 2: Task - Wait, configuration: 30 seconds
Task 3: Code - ADB Wifi, configuration:
Command:
until appMonitor=$(dumpsys activity services AppMonitorService | grep "(nothing)"); do am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService; sleep 1; done;​settings put secure ntls_launcher_preference 0;​settings put secure navigationbar_switch 1;​settings put secure notification_switch 1;​settings put secure statusbar_switch 1;​settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1;​settings put system screen_brightness 255;​
At this point one more problem remains. JRNY app has its own screen saver which turns the screen off after five minutes of inactivity. If you have some other app at the foreground, you'll soon notice that your screen turns black and you seemingly can only get forwards by rebooting. To solve this:
Step 13: In Tasker, create a new Profile 'Event - System - Device Boot'. Add the following tasks to the profile:
Task 1: Task - Wait, configuration: 50 ms
Task 2: Display - Display Brightness: 255
Task 3: Task - Goto, configuration: 1
At this point, a reboot takes you to the Android home screen. After a few seconds, Tasker will launch NautilusLauncher and you will be taken to JRNY. Once the tasker wait has finished, a jailbreak is done. Then, you can swipe off JRNY and NautilusLauncher and should be fully jailbroken.
Note that Bowflex pushes software updates to the bike automatically. It's possible that future updates will stop this jailbreak from working. To try to prevent this, we have uninstalled the nautilus_ota_client app as well as set the 'ota_disable_automatic_update' setting above. We haven't confirmed that these are effective to preventing updates. If you decide to uninstall the app and use the setting, consider the following:
You may not receive new updates to the software of the bike anymore.
In case you later decide that you want to get updates again, make sure to backup the apk before uninstalling!.
----------
Troubleshooting:
If your console takes a long time to boot, the jailbreak may try to execute too early. Try to increase the wait time.
Sometimes the launcher seems to restart itself before the jailbreak is completed. You might still get jailbroken on the second start, but if not, just reboot and try again.
Sometimes when escaping JRNY after the jailbreak, the background might show the Bowflex image. Not sure if it actually effects anything, but just in case, you can just reboot and try again.
Some people seem to have trouble with an automated jailbreak using the device boot Tasker profile (step 12). If you are experiencing this, a more manual approach might work better for you:
Remove the profile from step 12.
Instead, create a profile 'Event - Hardware - Volume Long Press'.
Add task 'Code - ADB Wifi' with the commands from the initial instructions.
Save.
Now, when you reboot, it'll take you to the Android home screen. Then, start the 'NautilusLauncher' app, which will take you to JRNY. Once in JRNY, long press the 'volume up' button behind the screen to manually perform the unlock.
Some people have had problem with step 10 (set Quickstep as default home app). You can try rebooting all the way to JRNY, then doing 'adb shell am stopservice com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher/com.nautilus.nautiluslauncher.thirdparty.appmonitor.AppMonitorService'. Then swiping up and going to settings, force-stopping NautilusLauncher and then setting Quickstep as the default home launcher app.
If the unlock doesn't work after the Tasker automation, you should still be able to connect using adb and execute the commands on adb shell to perform the unlock manually after which you can then edit your Tasker profile.
To view the bike data (burn rate, resistance) with 3rd party applications (full screen):
Start a JRNY workout with entertainment feature available. Manual workout under programs works well.
Choose any of the entertainment app options (ie Netflix) and start workout.
Swipe entertainment app to the side and open the 3rd party application you'd like to use
Use Peloton app (or other apps (with Zwift, use the workout with Zwift program instead)) while showing cadence, resistance and heart rate (split-screen):
Start JRNY app
Go back to the home screen.
Start Peloton app
Swipe up to the side-by-side app selector.
Long press the Peloton icon and select split-screen. This splits the screen to left and right, with left part running Peloton.
Click JRNY app on the right part of screen.
Adjust the screen divider so that Peloton app takes 2/3rds of the screen.
Select programs - work out with Peloton on JRNY and click start workout.
Select your program in the peloton app.
You can have your heart rate monitor synced either to the Peloton app or the JRNY app via the normal heart rate monitor options of the apps.
To get Zwift working on the bike:
Install xapk manager from https://apkfab.com/xapk-manager/com.apkfab.installer/download
Download zwift from https://m.apkpure.com/zwift/com.zwift.zwiftgame
Install
To run, start JRNY and have the workout with Zwift program running. After that switch to Zwift and it'll see the data from the bike.
It looks like getting the bike to send data to Zwift is a bit trickier than I originally thought. Sometimes it's easy to get the link to work. Other times, not so much. Figuring out how you can use Zwift consistently still needs some more work.
The bike console is a bit underpowered for Zwift graphics, so also experimenting with remote desktop type apps to have Zwift running on a laptop while the screen is shown on the bike console with smoother graphics. So far have had some good results with cast receiver / chrome cast. But it is only one way, so while you can see the screen, you can't control it.
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Some random notes for anyone interested in helping and improving the jailbreak:
Before starting to hack around, I strongly recommend that you back up all of the custom nautilus software apks so that you have some way of reinstalling them later if required.
adb via usb
If you open the back of the screen, there is a micro usb slot on the motherboard that can used to connect adb.
As you can connect adb via wifi, not sure if this is really needed for anything.
adb reboot recovery
Reboots, takes you to a screen saying 'erasing' and in the end you end up on a standard android tablet setup screen with all custom software (including the bowflex software) erased.
adb reboot bootloader (my personal experience with this):
Rebooted, got to the 'powered by android' screen, but seemed to be stuck there.
Tried a bunch of key presses at the back of the screen. With some of them pressed, the console playd a sound effect, but wasn't able to get forwards from the screen.
For a while thought that i had bricked the console. Unplugged it for half an hour and when i came back and plugged it back it, it booted again.
factory reset
Unplug the bike.
Hold the top button (which looks like a disk/arrow).
Plug back in.
Release the button once you see a while box blip that says applying golden image.
NOTE: I wasn't able to get this to work after erasing the device with 'adb reboot recovery', which probably means that it only works as long as NautilusLauncher is installed.
serial port
The bike connects to the console via a serial port. The device entry for it is /dev/ttyS4.
Only system/root has access to the device, which is why we need NautilusLauncher running to get JRNY to connect to the bike.
NautilusLauncher has a service called SerialPortService, which basically forwards input and output from and to the serial port to tcp:9999.
JRNY app connects to the serial port via the tcp port.
It might be interesting to make an app that connects to tcp:9999 to listen to the bike, e.g. for a custom HUD.
JRNY
Doesn't require system privileges unlike the other bowflex apps.
You can unpack the apk, make changes to it (such as disabling the screen saver and connecting to a different tcp port to connect to the bike), repack and sign it with our own key and have it successfully installed and ran. While the bike connectivity works after doing this, the app seems to have problems, e.g. if trying to bring up the overlay or start with workout with zwift program. Hoping that these can be fixed over time.
"/sdcard/Pictures/nautilus"
The existance of this file controls if NautilusLauncher disables adb debugging upon startup.
modifying JRNY
unpack: apktool d Bowflex_base.apk
...make changes...
repack: apktool b Bowflex_base -o Bowflex_edited.apk
create your own signing key: keytool -genkey -v -keystore my-apk-hack-key.keystore -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000
sign the modified apk: jarsigner -verbose -sigalg MD5withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore my-apk-hack-key.keystore Bowflex_edited.apk mykey
disable JRNY screen saver by modifying JRNY apk:
edit smali/com/nautilus/bowflex/managers/ScreenDimmingManager.smali
change 'getDimmingEnabled' method to:
.method public static final synthetic access$getDimmingEnabled$p(Lcom/nautilus/bowflex/managers/ScreenDimmingManagerZ
.locals 0
const/4 p0, 0x0
return p0
.end method
over-the-air updates
Bowflex pushes new updates to the console. It's possible that one of these future updates will cause this jailbreak to stop working.
To prevent that, we have uninstalled the nautilus_ota_client app, as well use the setting 'settings put global ota_disable_automatic_update 1'.
We haven't really looked into the updating process, so not completely sure that the above will actually prevent them.
In future, we are hoping to be able to pull the updated apks from somewhere and perform the updates manually. Meanwhile, you can just keep using the current versions of the software.
There is a file that (we assume) contains the credentials for the ota updates. This may be helpful in pulling the updated apks / firmware manually in future: /sdcard/Nautilus/redbend/Credentials.txt
secret menus
In the Bowflex screen showing the serial number
Rapidly click on top right corner to bring up their super secret menu.
Rapidly click on top left corner to bring up the current firmware version number.
Rapidly click on bottom left corner to bring up their secret menu.
In the jrny app login screen:
Rapidly click on top right corner to bring up their advanced features menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm atru

I got it unlocked! But now I'm struggling to reaccess JRNY. The generic app store app cannot find my bike and doesn't have an option for Velocore. Is there a way to have the original JRNY (built for the bike) and Peloton up on the screen?

I added links to backups of the preinstalled apps on Velocore to the Reddit thread.

Laurenann said:
I got it unlocked! But now I'm struggling to reaccess JRNY. The generic app store app cannot find my bike and doesn't have an option for Velocore. Is there a way to have the original JRNY (built for the bike) and Peloton up on the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The generic version of the JRNY doesn't support Velocore. You need the version of JRNY that comes with the bike and to have that version of the JRNY app connect to the bike, you need to follow all the steps in the instructions. You can run the generic Peloton app and it'll show up on the screen. But if you want all the bike sensors to show up at the same time, there are some more specific instuctions for Peloton app later in the document.

Hello again - JRNY updated and I'm trying to re-jailbreak but can't access Google Assistant in any way. I long press the home button and the edge of the screen glows white and the little white bubble pops up on the bottom but that's it. I can't hold or tap it enough to make it show back up. Is there any other way to get to settings to force stop Nautilus?

Hi. I've heard from someone else that the jailbreak doesn't work, as described, after the latest update (5.0.0.292 version of NautilusLauncher). I'm still running with the old version myself (I disabled updated after the jailbreak), so not sure if you can get to the settings somehow.
You can still jailbreak the bike by first downgrading the software to 5.0.0.268 and then performing the jailbreak. To do that, you'll need to do a factory reset and then reinstall the old versions of the software that are linked in the reddit thread. Someone also wrote a bit more detailed instructions on how to do this in the comments section there.

EDIT- i now see the post from rg64ml128, and have located the links in the reddit thread I also missed. Thank you!
My bowflex velocore (my gfs bowflex velocore) has a dead spot in the screen, but I wasn't sure it wasn't just the UI /****ty firmware until I tried to do a factory reset to see if that would help solve the issue. I didn't follow any steps above under the assumption it would reboot to factory version of the pre installed software. Oops...
Turns out i factory reset the whole tablet to android, and now I'm stuck in Android mode with no way to get back to the original factory settings. this would be cool if it wasn't my gfs, who is pissed at me. Any one know of any way to go back to the beginning? So far I've seen no traces of the original software.

I factory reset my bowflex velocore using their secret menu (bottom left) and now I don't have audio, but am on android without all the bowflex preinstalled apps. Does anyone else have this issue?

quackinator said:
I factory reset my bowflex velocore using their secret menu (bottom left) and now I don't have audio, but am on android without all the bowflex preinstalled apps. Does anyone else have this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if I ever tried audio right after a factory reset, but I don't see any reason why it would not work. I've done factory resets and then reinstalled the bowflex apps with a jailbreak and definitely have audio at that point.

Unfortunately the jrny app links on the reddit post are no longer valid. Could anyone please share working links if possible?

Running the latest version 5.0.0.425 step 4 to get to the google assistance settings no longer works. When I gold the home button, google assistance appears for a second and immediately disappears, so I can't access settings to turn on.
What are my options ?

Has anyone tried adding a momentary switch on the unpopulated Boot SEL switch ( sw1 ) I am wondering what it does?
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
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}

Hi.
Any idea if that method is working on Vision Fitness treadmill?
Regards.