Replicant

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

Tips for encrypting the device

h3. Setting a device encryption password separate from the lockscreen password

By default on Android, the encryption password is the same as the lockscreen password. As users tend to use a simple PIN, password or pattern for the lockscreen, the encryption can be easily circumvented with a "brute-force attack":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute-force_attack.

Replicant allows to set an encryption password that is not tied to the lockscreen:

# Encrypt your device (In the settings: *Security* -> *Encrypt phone*)

# After the phone has rebooted and the encryption is set up, select *Change encryption password* in the *Security* menu of the settings

# Choose a strong passphrase. You will only have to enter this passphrase once when the device boots

# Reboot the device and verify that the encryption works properly by entering the previously chosen passphrase

If a separate encryption password is in place and a PIN or password is set for the lockscreen, another security measure is active: After five unsuccessful attempts to unlock the screen, the device is rebooted and the attacker is faced with the much stronger encryption passphrase. This makes brute-force attacks on the lockscreen much harder.

h3. Other tips

* 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.

* If your device [[ReplicantStatus|needs a non-free firmware]] for hardware media encoding/decoding, video recording will not work.

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.