[Android Apps and Games] AndroidDeveloperLB:
WARNING: This app requires a rooted device. It's recommended to backup your contacts before using it. I personally recommend backup to Google account, as it offers to undo changes easily, and I think it backup even photos quite well.

Background

Seeing that the only app that allows to sync your contacts photos is SyncMe, yet it can't sync with WhatsApp (and there is a good reason for this), I've decided to create this app.

What this app does

Its purpose is to sync your contacts photos on the address book with those on WhatsApp.

Download

APK mirror:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/androiddeveloperlb/contacts-sync-requires-root/

ApkPure:

https://apkpure.com/contacts-sync-requires-root/com.lb.contacts_sync

Requirements and permissions explanation

WhatsApp app being installed and working well. Tested on version 2.16.306 (build 451445).

A rooted device/emulator. It is needed for getting the HQ contacts images, for auto-granting the other permissions, and for the automation of the entire process.

Internet connection - allows WhatsApp to download the photos. Don't have any app to download stuff in the background. Otherwise it might fail to get the images in one way or another.

Contacts permissions - the app needs to modify your contacts...

Phone and usage-access permissions, so that the app could monitor WhatsApp Internet activity.

Draw on top permission- for allowing to halt the process, and for staying on portrait mode during the process.

Do not mess with the app's behavior and its Crashlytics/Analytics capabilities, using Magisk modules, VPN, DNS, etc... This can cause crashes and other weird issues and I will not be able to fix them just for these cases.

Isn't there a non-rooted version?

It is highly possible that I can make one. I started by using accessibility service to handle the automation, and I made it work for a single contact that has a photo.

It will take a long time till I can finish it, but it was a step in the right direction.

However, sadly, Google has recently warned all apps that use accessibility service for purposes that are not for disabled users (many articles about it, including here, here and here) , so for now this work is on hold, till I find out what is really going on.

They might remove the app or even my own Google account, according to these articles. I do not want to take this risk, after so much time working on it.

That being said, I might put here on XDA the app some day. Will take some time though. I may have made progress, but I didn't handle everything that needs to be handled.

In any case, this app is only for rooted devices. If I have non-rooted solution, I might need to make a new app for it.

EDIT: later Google added a form and a policy team to handle accessibility, but it's so messy that it might mean the whole work on such a thing would go away. You can read about my experience of this here. Very frustrating, but I still wish to try it out some day.

Recommended

A good Internet connection

Have all contacts saved into Google.

How it works

It currently only has 3 simple steps:

- grant permissions (needed only once).

- fetch photos by first checking which are new and then go over each of them.

- sync the photos.

All phases are easy to go by (just press a single button) , and are all automatic and based on things any power user can do anyway, given enough time and patience.

The last step can even be done in the background if you wish.

Do note that as it highly depends on how WhatsApp works, it is possible that one day a new version of WhatsApp will change too much, that it won't work.

If you've found any bug, please let me know.

Why no fully automatic background sync?

This is a bit problematic because :

it works in the foreground, and not the background

if you have a lock screen, the app will need to bypass it, which might be an issue.

it emulates touch operations, so if you are not aware of what's going on, it might have some risks in using it in the background

That being said, you can enable the scheduler feature that will schedule a check if it seems there are new updates that you can sync.

This operation is so efficient that it doesn't require Internet connection and you can safely set it to run every day without worrying about the battery. Just remember to let the app have root access and contacts permission.

Would it work with modded WhatsApp ?

Maybe, as long as the package name of it is the same as the official one (meaning "com.whatsapp"). Last time I checked the GBWhatsapp app (available here, called "GBWAPlus"), it worked fine with it.

Might not work in the future or on other mods.

Why not support more chatting apps? Telegram? Messenger? Viber? Skype? ...

I've spent an entire week finding what can be done with each of the top chatting apps, and failed to find a way to work with them.

Even Telegram, which is supposed to be open sourced, was found too complex to work with, and even if I did manage to work with it, its terms are that my app should be a chatting app too, with all of the basic features of a chatting app.

This will all take so much more time that I can afford for a spare time app, and it's out of the scope for the app to be a chatting app, just to sync photos.

The app says I don't have contacts. How come?

You probably didn't let it to sync with your address book yet. Let it have the permission it needs (mainly Contacts permission), and then run it, then run my app.

If all fail, uninstall and re-install both apps, and grant the needed permission to both, and then run my app.

The app used to work before I've switched to a new ROM, and now it doesn't. How come?

Some ROMs mess with how Android handles contacts on the address book. I have no idea why and I have no idea in which way, so sadly I have nothing to do about it other than recommend using better ROMs... :)

The app fails to sync contacts or crashes even before. How come?

There are some issues related to address book that are out of this app's scope and responsibility.

Here are some possible workarounds:

1. Try to clear data of WhatsApp, of Contacts Storage , of Contacts, restart device, open your Contacts app, let it sync with the address book for some time. Then Try my app again.

2. One user wrote this:

3. Another solution someone wrote is that clearing the data of "com.android.providers.contacts" package name and restart of the OS fixed it.

4. Some users say the app doesn't sync their contacts. I'm still investigating this issue, but for now, you can try to convert all your contacts to be on Google account. Some users said it helped, and some said that moving to another rom helped. Sorry if the app doesn't work for you even after those actions. Hope to find the reason for this.

One user said this helped: backup contacts to vcf file. delete all contacts. Import vcf file in web browser into Google account. Let it sync on device. Use the app.

I have "parallel apps" feature (AKA "cloning" of apps) on my phone , allowing multiple instances of apps. Why can't this app work well when it's turned on?

This feature that some devices have is not native Android feature and can cause real issues and break things. Sadly I couldn't find a way to overcome it (wrote about this here). It even doesn't work well in general, not allowing you to put widgets of the second one. Same goes for sharing. Please disable it before syncing using my app. Instead of this cloning feature, you could just use both WhatsApp and WhasAppBusiness.

Tested devices and Android versions

Nexus 5X with Android 6.0.1 , Android 7.0 and Android 7.1.1.

HTC One M8 with stock Android 5.0.2

Nexus 6P Android 7.1.1 DP1

asus zenfone 2 lazer (ze550kl) 6.0.1 stock

Moto G3 with 7.0

Nexus 5 with CM13 (Android 6.0.1).

and more...

App translation

Crowdin

accounts.crowdin.com

Beta testing

Links for the beta testing group:

- https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.lb.contacts_sync

Articles

https://www.androidrank.org/application/contacts_sync_requires_root_/com.lb.contacts_sync?hl=en

Privacy policy ?

Written on this post.

XDA:DevDB Information

Contacts Sync, App for the Apps & Games

Contributors

AndroidDeveloperLB

Version Information

Status: Testing

Created 2016-11-27

Last Updated 2017-01-04