yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Fif_:
Indeed. There are some basic hooks in the repo (ProcessBuilder.* and Runtime.*) that only do logging but do not block anything. They would be a good starting point.

Personally, I don't see the need at this time:

- for the apps that want root, but which I don't trust with root, I use Magisk (or SuperSU) deny root.

- for the apps that stop working after seeing that root access is available (eg. banking apps), I use Magisk Hide and a good XPL hook set.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Oswald Boelcke:
Wisely spoken! However, my approach is slightly different:

I certainly don't install any app I don't trust, and especially none that will request root. And if I install a new app, I check the list of requested permissions, embedded services, broadcast receivers, activities and SharedPrefernces, read the reviews at Exodus, check for embedded modules, search for reviews and comments in the internet before I grant any permission, open the firewall or allow anything in XPL. Actually regarding the latter, I launch the app ones and check in the XPL log what the app wanted to do or retrieve and in turn decide case by case. Might sound paranoic but yes, I am...

In my opinion Android devices are as open as big barn door, and I don't refer this to privacy now. Use of banking apps or storage of confidential data on an Android device is an absolute no-go for me. And so far, I haven't experienced any situation that this attitude has handicapped me. If I see what is incorporated into the apps of some financial coorporations or the "health-app" Vivy in Germany (e.g. trackers and not only those) and their security leaks, I'm convinced I've made the right decision.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Namnodorel:
Minor bug: At some times, when firing up the Pro companion, everything below "GLOBAL" will disappear. It's there again when I restart the app. I'm not sure what this is caused by yet, probably some weird state change.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] beeshyams:
A little OT but would appreciate help

I am trying to understand clearly the difference between "security" and "privacy" in the context of Android users. I know they overlap sometimes but am not able to come to grips with how to differentiate

Any explanation /pointers /links would be greatly appreciated

Thanks for your response
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] beeshyams:
Yep. I had seen that but wasn't sure if it applies Android
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
'Privacy' and 'Security' are universal terms.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Next time I look into the pro companion app, I will look into this too.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Rock'n Droid:
Hello Marcel,

after Installing xpl and the pro version, one (test-)changes does not take a effect:

If i restrict the jelly-browser to use the clipboard, the browser wrote "Private" - after i remove the flag the jelly browser still writes "Private" if i try to fill in a value from the clipboard - the only difference is in that case, that the notification appears no more.

OS: Lineage 14.1

Another Question: the Global Values in the Pro-App are emty - this is different from xprivacy (for cm 12.1) there was filled in some (fake) values such as "chrismas island"...

Would you recomed to copy the fake values from Xprivacy to xprivacy lua? - because all users should fake the same ID to make identification more difficult.

What is the meaning of the setting of the flag by "Privacy" in the Pro Compangion App?

What is the meaning of the setting of the flag by "Automatisches Beenden erzwingen" in the xPrivacy Lua App?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Fif_:
The app didn't get killed after changing the setting in XPL, probably because generally the jelly browser is a system app and "Force stop automatically" isn't enabled by default for system apps. You should be able to have "Force stop automatically" enabled for jelly without any bad side effects.

Empty values mean that XPL will return default zero values or other default value that make sense depending on the hook. You can fill in your values if you want to override the default. Note that XPL doesn't support randomization like XPrivacy did.

I wouldn't since using the default means you'll be pooled with the other XPL users (or most likely ignored), whereas if you were to override the values with something else, you would be more unique as far as analytics are concerned.

This is for enabling and disabling hook collections. Unless you install new hooks with XPL Pro, you'll only see "Privacy" there as it's the collection the default hooks belong to.

I assume this means "Force stop automatically". If enabled, the app is killed whenever you change a toggle for it in XPL, making sure that whatever you changed is enforced immediately, as opposed to next time the app restarts or the phone reboots. It can crash your device if enabled on certain system apps, which is why it defaults to enabled for user-installed apps and to disabled for system apps.

Have you read the docs and FAQ?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] amakuramio:
My phone won't boot but I do have a nandroid backup (specia restore titaniumbackup restores my app) is there a way to restore the json backup through other means?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The only way to restore exported settings is by importing them.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Fif_:
If you have a Nandroid backup, you can extract the data partition and copy the /data/system/xlua/xlua.db* files over from the backup to the live system. This may be best done while in recovery or after disabling XPL in the Xposed installer and rebooting.

Be careful to make sure permissions, mode and SELinux contexts have been copied correctly and then re-enable XPL and reboot.

Of course, that is not supported, and if your device melts down you'll only be able to blame yourself, but that should work. :silly:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
That would work, but as I understood it only a valid backup is available as a JSON export file. My best guess a newly set restriction of a system app/component is causing some heat ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] pupsidze:
Had to wipe my phone and tried to re-active Pro, got 'invalid response' and no activation. Do I need to request activation again from M66B?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] pupsidze:
Reset my phone and tried to activate XprivacyLUA Pro again but got 'invalid response'. Any idea how to fix it?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] herowan:
how to activate on virtualxposed?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
In the same way as on Xposed. However, the Play store will likely not work on VirtualXposed.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] herowan:
still can not activate pro version.

have been trying many browser, always " You should open this link on your Android device"
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Did you install/use a browser in VirtualXposed?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] herowan:
how to open activation link without browser app?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Normally the activation link is 'opened' by the pro companion app. If the main activation link and the alternative activation link do not work, VirtualXposed doesn't handle Android intents correctly.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] herowan:
what is the solution?

:(
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Apps in VirtualXposed are completely separated from apps outside VirtualXposed, so the solution is to open the activation link from within VirtualXposed somehow.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] herowan:
any better solution than "somehow" solution?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
If you open the link from an email app, browser, etc, install the email app, browser, etc in VirtualXposed and open the link from there.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] iu1nguoi:
I have a strange experience with XPrivacyLua. I'm on Pixel 2, Oreo 8.1. I install one of the modded Camera app (https://xdaforums.com/apps/google-camera-mods/gcam-google-pixel-1-2-3-t3875663). I enable all the obvious permissions for the app (camera, video, audio, location, storage). When I check both the XprivacyLua and the XprivacyLua Pro log, I see that the app requests no extra permission. However, some of the features do not work properly in the app, such as Panorama, Portrait. Motion. When I enable all permissions for the app in XprivacyLua (so uncheck all the boxes), then these features show and work properly.

My question is, is it possible that Xprivacy blocks an app's permission, by accident, without showing any logs or traces?

-------

Edit: I figured it out. The culprit permission is "Use tracking". Still, I wonder why there is no log of that permission required or needed by the app.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
That is unlikely. However, some restrictions, like Build serial, are not logged because this is not possible.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] iu1nguoi:
I figured it out. The culprit permission is "Use tracking". Still, I wonder why there is no log of that permission required or needed by the app.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I did already explain that ... not everything is logged because that isn't always technically possible.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] iu1nguoi:
I see. I guess I should be more careful now, as I always rely on XprivacyLua Pro log to see the required permissions.

By the way, is there a list of permissions that cannot be logged?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Just for a correct understanding: XPrivacyLua does not work with Android permissions because Android permissions do not cover a lot of privacy sensitive information. XPrivacyLua has restrictions for privacy sensitive data.

All hook definitions with "usage": false have no logging:

https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua/blob/master/app/src/main/assets/hooks.json
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] iu1nguoi:
yes by permission I meant the hook. My flow is, disable all hooks by default, then go check the log and only enable those hooks I think reasonable or make sense.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Developmentmonster:
Link to download?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
See opening post.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.69.

Changelog:

Android 9 Pie compatibility

Switched to AndroidX

Updated libraries

Updated build tools
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] beeshyams:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
About updating: wasn't it before that updates happened within the companion app?

Edit: message came now ... all ok
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The pro companion app will check twice a day for updates when not installed from the Play store.

https://lua.xprivacy.eu/latest/?check
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Message came shortly after I was wondering how to update ☺
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] iu1nguoi:
just got the phone and already a new release right away? you rock!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] holofractal:
Worth paying every penny for. I didn't upgrade to Android 9 until EdXposed was released, and you're already updating this app! Great job, don't let the haters discourage you. I love all your work.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] teatea:
Love your apps. Can Dev share me a few concern before I purchase pro version...

1. Is there any how to manage circulation of changes in every X minutes? What I would like to achieve is, XPrivacy Lua will change all the detail (imei, Android id and so on) within X minutes automatically in background process.

2. Is there possibility to auto generate or import database of define Id we already prepare, but those information are valid (ex. Imei number are tally with it's vendor name)

3. Is there possibility to modify as well other information, such as build fingerprint, fingerprint, model, manufacturer, brand, hardware and so on that related with imei information.

Thanks and great apps.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The pro companion app is designed so that you can see what you are getting before any purchase.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] teatea:
Noted. But, what exactly is the different between Buy this feature and Buy all feature?

And I am still figure out, let say my phone from vendor A, and I want to change it to vendor B, isn't there is information as well regarding Vendor, Manufacturer, Model Name, Build Fingerprint and so on? Are those information automatically being change following the new imei?

And how to perform always change the imei and other every 5 minutes or predefined by user?

Cheers.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Buy this feature: just one pro feature

Buy all features: all pro features

Changing vendor,etc is not supported as this is not related to privacy.

See also this FAQ:

https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua/blob/master/FAQ.md#user-content-faq4
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] teatea:
I see, so if a program check an imei, and vendor information from a phone, they can define the phone as invalid imei, as imei own by vendor A but other information show vendor B. Am I wrong?

Btw, with imei change with xprivacy Lua, does the network operator also see it change or masking only toward apps? Sorry, if I missed reading some information provided.

Cheers.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Please see here:

https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua#notes
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.70.

This version adds randomization of the serial number, Android ID, IMEI/MEID and phone number. You can randomize manually or let the pro companion app randomize on boot.

Note that you need to use the 'Save' button after manual randomizing and after enabling randomization on boot.

I don't think it is a good idea to add randomization of locations. For example the Facebook app is known to check if the location/change is reasonable.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
But location for facebook could be set separately.

Will the randomization of location "override" the set location of a certain app or not?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
There is no randomization of locations and I have no plans to add this because randomly "jumping" over the world is not a good idea.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Ah, sorry, misunderstood your post ☺

And I saw now after update. Thanks for this, think it is nice thing to have.

The serial number has no such "randomize" button. Why not?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The serial number has a randomize button too.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Not for me
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
That's odd, it has for me.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
What can I do?

I have Pocophone F1, which is also Xiaomi.

Can not imagine that one of my settings would prevent that button to be there.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Install version 0.71 ;)

Edit: it worked for the app specific settings, but it shouldn't work globally, at least not randomize on boot.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Oh wow! Fast help!

Now it's there! Thanks a lot!

Last question about this: should there also be a button with e-mail adress (account name)?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
You are welcome.

There should not be a randomize button for account names as these are not suitable for randomization.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Thanks a lot for this really cool update.

The advertising ID that apps can see - is it the same as "android ID"?

If not, would it make sense to also include it for randomization?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The Android ID is not the same as the Advertising ID.

You can set a new Advertising ID in the Android Google settings.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] badabing2003:
Thanks, I can't believe I missed that :(

And thanks for the fix.

BB
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.33, which supports switching the latest version of XPrivacyLua to a dark theme.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] hurray:
Thank you very much for the dark theme! Very useful and much better readable. :)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Play store comments are public, so:

My response:

Who is the real looser here.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] badabing2003:
You have to ignore these losers Marcel don't let them bother you, there are plenty going around.

You've been professional in answering him courteously.

Kudos

BB
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.34 of the pro companion app.

Changelog:

Support for multiple active collections

Small layout improvements
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] glops:
I suppose that Logs have no limit so you have to add the month with this format: dd/MM

can you apply this date format in XPrivacyLua to gain some space for small screens
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] heinhuiz:
Hi Marcel,

I purchased the full Pro set to support your work.

I have cloned XPrivacyLua and Pro to my Work environment using the Island app. XLua works well there, but I cannot access the Pro features. Do I need to buy a separate license for Work, or is there a way to use the existing one?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
Just login with the same Google account to restore the purchase.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I don't think adding the month is worth sacrificing valuable screen space.

Moreover, entries are sorted on time, so it will be clear it was longer ago anyway.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.35 with the layout improvements as suggested by [MENTION=4851555]badabing2003[/MENTION] and another surprise ;)
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] badabing2003:
Thank you :)

I come here to post the request in the correct thread and you've already released a version that has it :)

Awesome work, thank you.

One thing if you could answer.

Is there any easy way to see which restrictions don't have Usage reporting enabled? so that I don't have to go one by one, I'd like to turn them all on, as I still get many apps stopping randomly on me and would like to narrow them down if any restrictions are cause.

Thanks

BB
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] CarvedArt:
Would it be possible to add:

★ An option to get back to the XPrivacyLau app from the Pro (like going from XPL to XPLP)

★ A filter for app hooks in XPL that have been updated and are grey instead of going one-by-one

As always, many thanks!

...I'm digging the updates in 0.35!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] NaveenKumarXDA:
This is now super smooth to go between xpl & pro. Thanks for improvements.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] tbv2005:
You more or less can do this already. Just filter for the category where new hooks have been added. Then put an ! to the search field, to only show apps which already have restrictions for that category and then use the "restrict all" button to apply the new hooks. Way way faster as it was at the beginning to go trough every single app.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Orphee:
The dark theme! I love you.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
You can just go back or isn't that what you mean?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] CarvedArt:
That works if I start in XPL, if I start in XPLP so much.

---------- Post added at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 PM ----------

That mostly works and I guess I haven't totally thought it out. If I edit some hooks for an app allowing a few then the hooks are updated (by Marcel) toggling means I have to remember which ones I've permitted and reset them one-by-one.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Phoost:
I'm using latest pro version 0.35. Love the dark theme.

Theme switch doesn't work when pro App was called via xprivacylua. When I start pro App directly it works.

Doesn't work means I have dark theme even the switch is off. Do I enable switch it changes to white. Going back to xprivacylua and start pro App again (via xprivacylua) its dark and switch is off.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mark_at:
Thanks.

I do not think I need new. XprivacyLua anyway shows only 000000000-0000-0000 .... to the apps that ask.

Would have been funny to fool the apps that want to know with some fake numbers.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] beeshyams:
Thanks :good:

Where is the setting to "enable randomization on boot"?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
In the app specific settings (accessible through the settings wheel in XPrivacyLua).

You cannot randomize global values.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] beeshyams:
So you are saying either randomise globally or randomise per app, correct?

I would prefer to randomise globally using the manual option. After a reboot will these global values be retained? Or get randomise again?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
You can manually randomize both global and app specific values and you can let the pro companion app randomize app specific values on each boot. So, you cannot let the pro companion app randomize global values on each boot.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Danmann:
Why not?

Thanks for the new feature!
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I guess you mean why not randomize global values? The same reason I didn't wanted to add randomization in the first place: risk for crashing apps.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Danmann:
Yep.

Thanks.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have just released version 0.72 0.73 to fix a crash.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] glops:
Hello Marcel,

if possible to add also randomization for custom hook definitions?
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
I have put this on the to do list, but this is not a promise if and when this will be added.

The pro companion app does not know the format of the custom value, so this is not possible.

The custom hook developer can add randomization because Lua supports randomization too.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] glops:
Ok thank you so much :good:
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Oswald Boelcke:
Replying in this thread as the topic is obviously related to the pro companion.

My personal best practise if I were concerned in this way would be to not grant internet access in my firewall. My personal assumption: Everybody who's privacy concerns is using a firewall.
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] mobileanimal:
Woops, thanks for pointing the thread issue out to me as I'm a new companion user.

I do use AFWall+. The problem is that you need to allow Internet access to the companion app for downloading custom hooks. (I'm not quite sure how to easily import / export them from device storage and the repository manually).
[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] M66B:
The update check accesses this address:

https://lua.xprivacy.eu/latest/?check

As you can see the connection is encrypted (https), so nobody can eavesdrop and besides that only a version number is being returned.