h1. Usage Notes

General-purpose usage notes and tips

h2. Enabling root access

To allow root access, open the *Developer options* in the settings. There, press *Root access*. In the pop-up menu, select either *Apps only*, *ADB only* or *Apps and ADB*, depending on how you want to restrict root access. See [[ADB]] for more information about root access with ADB.

h2. Device Encryption

* Do not set the default keyboard (LatinIME) as a non-system app if you use encryption: it will prevent you from entering the password to open the encrypted storage.

h2. Camera app

* If the front camera on your device [[ReplicantStatus|requires a non-free firmware]], selecting the front camera will crash the app and you will not be able to use the app unless you delete the data of the app: 

  # In the settings under *Personal*, select *Apps* 
  # There will be two apps named *Camera*. Select the second one that has a camera as icon. 
  # Press *Storage*
  # Select *Clear Data* and confirm the dialog

  You should now be able to use the camera again. 

* If the camera app freezes when you take a picture, press the shutter button a second time. This should restart the camera in the background and take the picture.

h2. Barcode scanning

The mostly used barcode scanner app "ZXing":https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=zxing&fdid=com.google.zxing.client.android has a slow preview. The "privacy-friendly QR Scanner":https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=qr+code&fdid=com.secuso.privacyFriendlyCodeScanner has a faster preview.

h2. Video playback

Viewing videos in the gallery or in the browser is not possible. See #1539 for background information.

Only the VLC app is known to be able to play videos on Replicant. Make sure to disable hardware acceleration in the settings to prevent crashes.

VLC is currently disabled in the F-Droid repository because only outdated versions are available. You need to enable the archive repository in the repository settings to be able to install VLC from F-Droid.