[Fire HD 8 and HD 10 Android Development] Datastream33:
What's going on, guys?

I hope everyone is having a great day, and an even better week!

I'm excited to announce the next big release for all you lovely Windows folks! Today, Fire Toolbox V33.0 has officially launched! So without further ado... let's take a detailed look into what's changed!

Advancing the Already Advanced App Management​

Recently, I learned how to create controls at runtime, so I thought it would be a fun idea to revamp the Advanced tool's app list as sort of a test. While going over the code, I immensely wanted to improve it, so I decided to rewrite the whole thing. So while the previous version just showed all system apps instead of preset ones (like the Simple subtool), I decided to make this version of the tool a lot more complexed and offer more helpful tools. This lead to adding in feature after feature and I got to say... I like the way it turned out.

Like the previous version, it shows a list (consisting of the app's label and package name) of all system apps. The app's description is in a panel below the list, and below that theres a panel containing a legend of what the app's label color in the description panel means. To select an app, you can either click the checkbox directly, or click the application label. Then to disable/hide the app you can click the "Disable/Hide Selected" button at the top right. Same as before. There's also tabs for user apps, and disabled/hidden apps as well.

Now, let's take a deeper look at the new subtools features (refer to the image below):

Extract APK - Pull the app's base APK file.

App Info - View information about the app, such as version info, Min and Target SDK, storage and cache size, total time on battery, and data transmitted in the background. Extra operations can also be performed, such as restricting/unrestricting background battery usage/optimization, allow/disallow background data usage, and clearing an app's storage.

Permissions - Manage/view app permissions, and appops operations. Not every permission can be toggled, but the ones that can will be placed first in the permissions list.

Force Stop - Kill the app's processes.

Spoiler content hidden.

Because this tool can be extremely powerful, a new notification has been added that recommends and provides the option to create a Package State system backup. That way, in the event of a softlock (occurring from disabling a package the system requires to run properly), the backup can be used to restore the package necessary to revert the softlock. In addition, more app labels and descriptions have been added since the last release. Of course not every app has a description yet... but more and more descriptions should be added in future updates.

A Better User Management​

Inspired by the redesign in the Linux port, the UI for the User Management tool has been completely revamped.

First off, the "User Creation", "Remove User", and "Switch User" tabs were removed and the contents of each tab were merged into the window itself. The first thing that will present in the new layout will be the "Create User" panel. As before, you'll be able to specify the username here.

In addition, in the panel, you'll also have the option of selecting which type of user you'd like to create. These options are as follows:

Managed - Standard user that is created for the purposes of containing data/apps related to one's work.

Restricted - Standard user that mirrors the parent profile. The parent profile is able to control which apps can be installed, and what operations may be performed.

Ephemeral - Standard user that is deleted when the user is stopped, switched away from, or the device is rebooted.

Guest - Temporary standard user that can be removed at any time. Only 1 guest user can be active at one time.

As a side thought, due to the habit of newly created profiles being deleted by the system, I think it's safe to assume that FireOS only allows the creation of Ephemeral user types.

Anyway, the next panel is the "Manage Users" panel. Instead of presenting a drop-down to select the user you want to manage, the users are now placed within a list, showing clickable icons that do different things. These icons perform the following operations:

(Not clickable) Shows what user is currently in the foreground.

Delete user.

Switch to user.

Settings Database Modifier Modified​

Looking to modify or delete a specific key in the Settings Database? Well, V33.0 makes that process a little bit easier due to there finally being a search function! Just type into the search field what you're looking for, and the tool will filter the list and return only the values that match. It's like magic... lol.

As an added plus, it's now possible to edit the database on old gen devices! Previously, I thought it was impossible due to ADB not being able to list the database directly... but then I came across Content Providers and realized we could query the entire settings database through the Settings provider! Hooray!

Forgot to Back Up The System Backup's UI​

Nah, that title is just a joke. Much like the User Management tool... System Backup's UI has also been revamped.

The "Delete Backup" tab was removed, as it wasn't all that great to begin with. Instead, the ability to delete a backup has been moved to the "Manage Backups" tab. Now speaking of the Manage Backups tab, it's also been overhauled to be more useful. Much like the User Management tool, the backups for your device will be shown in a scrollable list, showing clickable icons that do different things. These icons perform the following operations:

(not clickable) Backup is locked to the device, and cannot be restored on another tablet.

Restore the backup.

Delete the backup.

The "Save Backup Location" option has also been removed due to it not making much. Realized that it kind of doesn't make any sense... why would you save your backup to the tablet? Don't know how this even came into existence in the first place?

Also, as stated in the Settings Data Modifer section, it's now possible to read the settings database on old gen so it can now be included in System Backups! Yay!!!

Servicing Google Services​

As I'm sure you're aware, most of the Fire tablet models aren't known to have a lot of RAM, and as a result it's important to keep background services, and installed apps at a minimal to prevent slowdowns. Now, when it comes to Google Services, it's a double-edged sword... by installing it we're trading device performance for a bigger app selection and access to our paid apps. If only there was a middleman that used less RAM, provided that same app selection, and granted access to our paid content... oh wait... there is one! It goes by the name of Aurora Store! The ability to install this service instead of Play Services was included in V30.1 but was never really recommended... so in V33.0, you may see a new recommendation message for Aurora if your tablet has 1GB of RAM. Of course, you can also ignore it and just install Play Services instead... that's up to you!

I've also taken the liberty of completely rewriting the download and installation functions of the tool to improve downloads, installation, and storage of services for reuse. I'm also excited to announce that Contact Sync and Calendar Sync are no longer hosted on Google Drive, so the links will no longer be rate limited, and the initialization of the downloads will now be faster. Speaking of Contact sync and Calendar sync... if they weren't installed during the installation of play services, and you'd like to install them afterwords, then you can finally do so through the "Install Additional Services" subtool (Aurora Store is also included) in the Google Services (Manage) tool.

Requested to Modify System Settings​

As requested by the community, it's now possible to disable the Data Saver in the Networking tab, or remove the Data Saver icon from the Status Bar (can be found in the System UI) if you just want to remove the icon while keeping the Data Saver active. Along with the Data Saver option, In addition, new options have been added to the DNS Resolver (Networking tab) subtool: ControlD, and Mullvad AdBlock. Both of these options provide ads/tracker blocking, malicious threat blocking, adult content blocking, etc.

Reimporting the Already Imported​

Because the Toolbox doesn't have direct communication with Automate, it's difficult to tell when a flow is missing and needs to be reimported. The method we've been using isn't ideal... but it's the best I could come up with on the spot. Essentially, the method uses setting database values to keep track of what flow is imported and which ones are not. So by checking if a flow is within this key is how we can determine what flow has been imported. So, this check is now performed where flows are required, and if the check isn't null (meaning the flow has never been imported before) then a new checkbox option will appear, and when checked, will force the Toolbox to reimport the required flow. The following tools now have this option:

Custom Launcher - Launcher Invoker, and Shorcut Launcher

Quicksettings Modifer - Custom Quicksetting Tiles

Changelog​

Scam Sites and Ensuring Your Download is Legit​

It has come to my attention that there are some scam sites out there claiming to be the "official" website for Fire Toolbox. Please do NOT download anything from these sites! They could be distributing malware, or bundling it with the Toolbox. I do NOT run any other websites (besides the two WordPress websites - Datastream33, aftb), and I do NOT post Toolbox updates or builds anywhere else except right here on XDA. Once you've downloaded either the Installer or Portable build, I'd strongly suggest checking the SHA256 checksum and ensuring the file's checksum matches the checksum posted here before installing.

If you're comfortable with the command line you can use CertUtil (certutil -hashfile filepath SHA256) or PowerShell (Get-FileHash filepath), or if you prefer a GUI you can try my new Sha256Checker tool.

Downloads​

Name	Installer (.exe)	Portable (.zip)
Fire Toolbox V33.0	Download	Download

SHA256 Hashes​

Filename	SHA256 Hash
FTB_V33.0_Installer.exe	7be74ea1cf3c25666f6ffe77ec63af3769550fdfb9887d9ce63fd0c2532afe40
FTB_V33.0_Portable.zip	76fd353f1d4eaccfa599f3734db3638b21597dc38982a0ff58706656dc8e042a

Wrapping Things Up​

First off, THANK YOU all so much for taking the time to read this long post. I really appreciate it!

As always guys, you folks are just amazing and I just want to take the time to thank you for being so caring, so nice, and so hopeful to each other and me. I really do appreciate the support, donations, and kindness you guys continue to give/show and I'm so lucky to have the chance to meet/interact with you all when i can! Thanks for EVERYTHING guys! It really does mean the world! :D

Huge shoutout also goes out to my good friends @blaacksheep, @Jumbo100, and @DB126 for being so kind, supportive, helpful, and just all around great people. You guys are AMAZING, and it's hard to say where this project would be without you guys! THANK YOU!

Man, this year has just flown by... and it's crazy to think that Christmas is on Monday! So, I know this is a little early... but hey what the heck... MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! 🎄 (to those of you who celebrate it) I sincerly hope everyone has a fantastic holiday, and is able to spend it with their loved ones and friends!

Well, that's all I've got for now! Until next time guys... Peace!