Known Issues on Android 5.0/5.1

[Martin]

Hi,

This post contains known issues with Android 5.0/5.1.

Known Issues:

• Condition App Process Running does not work properly on the latest builds of Android 5.1.1 (Build LMY48I) since Google requires a new permission to get the running processes on the system for privacy reasons. The new permission can not be acquired by regular third party apps like Automagic. A workaround attempt will be available in the latest EAP of 1.29. However this workaround will not provide all variables like lru, importance and process_state and uses unofficial methods so it might not be working on all devices.
• Action Set Mobile Datanetwork State only works with root since Android requires a new permission that can not be granted to regular apps like Automagic. There's no known workaround except by using action Control UI to semi-automatically toggle the setting. Due to some internal changes of Android 5.1 the action does not work anymore on Android 5.1 even with root (fixed in 1.28).
• [should be fixed in Android 5.1.1] Actions Take Screenshot/Start Recording Screen lead to a crash of the System UI on Android 5.1 when the check box Don't show again was selected in the screen capture confirmation dialog. This issue has been reported to Google. I recommend to not select Don't show again until this issue is resolved by Google. Automatically clicking the Start Now button with action Control UI could be a possible workaround in the meantime: create an action Control UI that's executed at the same time like the action Take Screenshot/Start Recording Screen and use script sleep(1000);click("Start now");.
• [should be fixed in Android 5.1] Action Set Lock PIN/Password does not properly set the lock screen to PIN/Password/None. This is an internal Android Lollipop bug. The bug has been reported to Google.
• Action Set Keyguard State: Off can lead to a black screen or non-functional home key when the action is executed and the device is currently locked. You can workaround this issue by disabling the keyguard after the device has been unlocked. For example with a flow that triggers on User Present. WiFi Unlock Example (edit the SSID and enable both WiFi flows but not the keyguard remover).
• Action Set Ringer Mode: Silent: The final Lollipop builds exhibit some strange behavior which is probably caused by some more internal Android bugs in the final Lollipop builds. Setting the ringer mode turns on 'zen mode' (aka Do not disturb, aka Priority interruptions only) but does not activate 'silent mode' properly. Invoking the action a second time sets the ringer mode to silent but the volume keys can not be used anymore to leave silent mode but one has to select the 'All' (allow interruptions) to leave this mode. I'm not going to implement workarounds for this since I highly assume that Google will fix this in 5.0.1 (or another minor update) and the workaround could introduce other strange problems. Btw. priority interruptions still allow non-priority interruptions to come through. Star this issue or this one (but don't comment) if you want to get updates about this issue from Google.
  A workaround for some of the issues might be to use the newly introduced action Set Interruptions Mode to switch between NONE/PRIORITY/ALL.
• [should be fixed in Android 5.1] Action Control UI: Some functions like click() don't work on some list items on Android 5 due to an internal bug of Android. The bug has been reported to Google and was recently marked as fixed in a future version (I hope they don't mean Android 6). Currently there's no known workaround except to use action Execute Root Command: input tap x y to simulate a touch on the coordinates on screen.
• Action Answer Ringing Call requires root on Lollipop, non-root Method 2 is not supported anymore. As a workaround you could simulate invoking the Answer-button of the notification with action Perform Action on Notification on Statusbar: Example flow. This workaround is language dependent so it's required to adjust the filter text in the condition that fetches the notification and the name of the button to click (the name of the action is case sensitive, use condition Debug Dialog to check how the name is written exactly. I will make action Perform Action on Notification on Statusbar case insensitive in the next version of Automagic).
• Actions Set Microphone Mute and Set Speakerphone State are not properly reflected in the UI of the phone app. Using action Control UI to click the buttons might be a possible workaround.
• [workaround in 1.26] Action Init Variables Network Traffic often returns zero for mobile data traffic. The issue has been reported to Google. A workaround will be available in the next update of Automagic.
• [extension implemented in 1.25] Commands used in action Execute Root Command might need to be changed/extended to switch to the correct SE context otherwise the device might crash/reboot or the command might fail. New option to set the SE context was added. SuperSU v1.97+ required (tested only on v2.20)
• [workaround in 1.24] Trigger App Task Started/Ended, Activity Started/Ended don't work anymore.
• [workaround in 1.25] Condition App Task Running does not work anymore due to the decision of Google to cripple the API for security/privacy reasons.
• [should be fixed in 1.24] The device crashes/reboots when root functions are enabled in the preferences of Automagic.
• [fixed in 1.24 for older Android L builds, should be fixed in EAP 1.25 for build LXP13D] Some root actions don't work anymore: Reboot, Shutdown, Set Airplane Mode, Set Mobile Datanetwork State
• [workaround in 1.25] Trigger Login Attempt: Failed crashes Automagic due to an internal error of Android L and the final Lollipop build. The bug has been reported to Google.
• [seems to be fixed in final Lollipop builds] Action Set Ringer Mode: Silent/Vibrate activates Priority interruption mode but does not deactivate when ringer mode is set to Normal again. This is an internal Android L bug. The bug has been reported to Google. The next EAP of Automagic contains a new root-action to change the interruptions mode to mitigate the problem.
• [should be fixed in 1.25] Action Silence Ringer does not work anymore.
• [should be fixed in 1.25] Action Remove Notification Missed Calls does not work anymore.
• [should be fixed in 1.25] Trigger WiFi Connected/Disconnected don't work when SSID is specified.

I will update the list whenever I find new issues or fixes/workarounds become available.
Let me know if you find other issues.

Please also verify if it might be an issues/bug within Android L itself (there are known to be several issues in general user interface components, date/time pickers, notifications, lock screens. bluetooth seems to have some issues too):
https://code.google.com/p/android-devel ... ssues/list

Often problems are also reported to the regular android bug tracker:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list

Regards,
Martin

[lailoken]

Related to:

- The device crashes/reboots when root functions are enabled in the preferences of Automagic.

This just happened to me, and either my device is taking a loooong time to reboot, or it's stuck. Is there a way I can break this loop somehow?

Perhaps something via adb?

[Martin]

Depending on the reason for the boot-loop, you might be able to clear the data of Automagic using adb shell pm clear ch.gridvision.ppam.androidautomagic. You can also unsintall/reinstall Automagic using pm or as a last resort factory reset.
I recommend to let root functions disabled at least until I publish the next EAP version of Automagic which should fix some of the issues. Please note that Android L is a moving target and currently has many issues on its own, so it might break/boot-loop again when Google releases updates to Android L.

The bug tracker of Android L might also contain interesting information about boot-loops and other bugs regarding notifications, lockscreens etc.:
https://code.google.com/p/android-devel ... iew/issues

[mathieson]

Sound Level detection.

Hello, it seems that sound level detection turns the screen on whenever it is executed. I know its "experimental" but I thought I would report it. I use it to measure background noise and adjust volume accordingly. Is this an Android L thing or an Automatic thing?

Thanks!

[Martin]

I think this is just a regular bug. This trigger also wakes the screen on older versions of Android. This should be fixed in the next update.
Thanks for reporting!

Regards,
Martin

[mathieson]

Martin,

I am using a WiFi SSID to Set/Clear the PIN number for the lock screen. As stated on the online help I have set the lockscreen to "None". However it seems as if Trust Agents is interfering with this. Could you confirm please? It seems as if it has a mind of its own and seems to sometimes require PIN, sometimes not. I cant even really tell if there is a pattern to it at all.

Note: I have a couple of bluetooth devices set as Trust Agents for Smart Unlock.

Note 2: Could Automagic become a Trust Agent in Android L? That way you would not even need SET/CLEAR PIN I believe?

[Martin]

Hi,

I can confirm that the behavior of Set Lock PIN/Password acts quite strange on L (Build LPX13D). Setting a new PIN seems to somewhat work from a functional point of view but the lock screen setting remains at 'None'. Clearing the PIN does not work but still requires the PIN to unlock the device (lock screen still at 'None' ). There have been quite a few changes to the lock screen functions in L so I assume that it might be bugged in the developer preview.

I did not see an API that allows Automagic to act as a trust agent but there have been many changes so I might have missed it. There's only a new way for a device-admin to disable the trust agent functions completely.

It seems like the action Set Keyguard State works a little bit better on L, perhaps this might be a viable workaround.

Regards,
Martin

[unlink]

I'm on Lollipop and I'm not able to send pushes via Pushbullet plugin (I get "..returned -1 (Undefined)" in the logs).

Thanks!

[Martin]

Hi,

Sending notifications with Pushbullet works for me. Could you please try to configure the plugin again and ensure that network connectivity is available and Pushbullet is properly configured on the receiving device.
Did you manually enable Synchronous with timeout in the plugin action? Pushbullet does not support synchronous execution so you can uncheck the setting. Checking the setting should cause no problem but will log the 'Plugin returned -1 (Undefined)' in the log.

Regards,
Martin

[thephiloospher]

Hi Martin,

I installed a rom based on Lollipop.

I get used the action Set Mobile Datanetwork State to save battery, but as you have shown in the post, in Lollipop returns an error.

In the next version of Automagic fix the problem?