• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

N10 emergency

Rgarner

Android Expert
I don't know how it happened, but my friend's phone is useless. It's not bricked, at least in the usual sense. Googoo's nasty "assistant" has somehow taken over and is demanding that he set up some kind of code to "defend" it. I tried rebooting and it's still there. This is about the last straw for him. He already hates it, but he can't afford another right now. What do we do?
 
https://ismartgate.com/bwl-advanced-faq/google-code/


What is Google Assistant code?


Google Assistant Service

js, Go, C++, Java for all platforms that support gRPC. Reference code is provided in Python for audio capture, audio playback, and conversation state management



How do I get Google Assistant code?


You can create your own commands for your Google Assistant with IFTTT.
...
Step 1: Create a phrase
  1. On your computer, go to IFTTT.com.
  2. At the top right, click your username New Applet. If This.
  3. Search for "Google Assistant v2".
  4. Click Google Assistant v2 .
  5. Choose a trigger.
  6. Complete the trigger fields.
  7. Click Create trigger.

What is the 6 digit verification code for Google?


Google Authenticator is a software-based authentication token developed by Google. The token provides an authenticator, which is a six digit number users must enter as the second factor of authentication. You need to install the Google Authenticator app on your smart phone or tablet devices.



How do I reset my Google Assistant?


Note: This action will clear your data from the device and can't be undone. On the back of your device, press and hold the microphone mute button for about 15 seconds. Your Google Home will let you know that it's resetting.
 
All we're trying to do is get rid of this stupid thing. There is a black screen with a fake keyboard and he's supposed to choose a password to protect the phone. He doesn't want to do that. He never lets anybody else use it except me and only if he wants it fixed.
 
All we're trying to do is get rid of this stupid thing. There is a black screen with a fake keyboard and he's supposed to choose a password to protect the phone. He doesn't want to do that. He never lets anybody else use it except me and only if he wants it fixed.

just hard rest the device. you will loose your data. however.
 
If it's actually asking you to set up a password rather than enter an existing one a simpler solution might be to choose one, get into the phone and then turn whatever it is off. You can always reset if you don't like the result, but that might give him a way of getting rid of this without losing data.

That said, I've never heard of anything like this. What else is on the screen apart from a keyboard? You say tat Assistant is behind this so I assume there's something on the screen that tells you that. A full description might help someone work out what's happening.
 
Ya know? These issues would never be a problem if some OEM out there perhaps made an AOSP phone that's Google-free that sells super cheap. Like a GrapheneOS phone out the gate or something. Not sure why or how Google suddenly became Apple and has such an iron grip over Android. Android is Open Source. It's NOT Google's property. It wasn't even created by Google.

Now that my rant is over, I'm guessing the phone is either in the out of box setup (where it sets the Assistant up and asks for a PIN or password for a screen lock) or it's in Factory Reset Protection/Remote Lock mode, where it asks for the last known password for the last Google account it had on it, or it's accessing the Assistant from the lockscreen and the command it took is asking for the screen lock PIN/password/pattern to unlock the phone and continue.
 
I couldn't agree more. What is AOSP? Why can't we just buy phones that are already rooted and not have to deal with PayPal or anything that way? I guess it's mostly ok now except that he might not have yucktube (small loss there). It might be trying to force him to do a password for Files(?!).
 
Android Open Source Project, i.e. the base Android OS without manufacturer or Google additions.

As for why nobody is selling a pre-rooted AOSP phone cheaply, a few thoughts:

* phone manufacturer is a low-margin business for most. Insist on "cheap" and you need to sell a lot of devices to break even.

* AOSP means no Play Store, no Google services (so Maps etc won't work). You may see that as a positive, but the general phone-buying public won't so you just reduced your market dramatically. And Google don't let manufacturers pick and choose what they install, there's a bundle that comes all together.

* And you don't pay extra for the Google stuff being on the phone, because Google make their money from you using it. Hence not having it does not make a phone cheaper.

* But it's rooted, so you can just add gapps yourself? Sure, but the fraction of people who will put up with that hassle is tiny (and your shoestring company is going to get a lot of support calls from those who fail).

* So it's not for the general public, fine. It's also not for those who do online banking or phone payments (your market keeps shrinking). And if it's pre-rooted, so the service provider knows that any phone of that model is rooted, are controlling outfits like VZW going to allow it on their network?

The bottom line is that such a phone is a niche product which requires more than average support. That's either going to be expensive or follow the Chinese fake business model (older components, poor manufacture and no support). Or fail before getting onto the market, as some attempts have done.

If you want a phone without any of that stuff your best bet is still to find something that can be rooted and has decent ROM support and do it yourself.
 
The closest I got was a ZTE Cymbal--it's a $60 flip phone that runs AOSP 5.1.1 Lollipop. It has zero Google apps, zero data plan, and not even a package manager to install APKs. I only need a phone today to do three things well: Phone calls, SMS, and playing MP3s. That's it. If I need more, I got a 'galaxy' of ancient Samsung tablets lying around for stuff like reading books, playing YouTube videos, and the like without being forced to 'update' anything. I am an oddball, though, and I like being in control. That's why I am so fond of Android.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world is far happier with Android copying all of Apple's bad moves. Where are all those Nexus fans today who insisted on 'stock Android'?? They used to drive the market but now have either vanished or acquiesced to Google's iron grip. Ever since the Nexus became Pixel (and it looked exactly like an iPhone then) I have been disappointed in the direction Android has been going, and it's only getting worse unless you go for stuff like my ZTE or the Unihertz phones (they're the only OEM making keyboard slider phones today, and ones with smaller than 4" displays)

Carriers don't care if a phone is rooted or not. The only issue today with using an unlocked phone has more to do with their crappy 'whitelist' that AT&T has been pushing that basically locks out any phone that's not branded "AT&T" on it, which they cite 'lacking VoLTE' even though most of us know that's not the truth. Many phones that worked and supported VoLTE but were unlocked got IMEI zapped because they're not on their approved whitelist of 'phones supported after 2022'. There's ongoing arguments all over the 'net on it still.

Anyone else frustrated with AT&T whitelisting phones? : ATT (reddit.com)

What's going on with AT&T and "the whitelist"? : OutOfTheLoop (reddit.com)

In my experience, VZW is the angel here. They're the only carrier who doesn't give a darn what phone you want to use--they got a SIM for anything, so long as it's got a SIM slot and supports their LTE bands, you're good to go.
 
Last edited:
Here's to all of us oddball control enthusiasts. I only wish there were more of us. Maybe we should band together, go to makerspaces, and demand that they help us build exactly the phones we want.
 
It's doing it again. He can't use his phone and when he went to the store to get it fixed, it was closed. I am posting a couple photos of the screen.
20221219_132917.jpg
20221219_132919.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom