Can I optimize my phone without rooting? I tried these 10 apps

We cannot easily obtain root permissions on every device. There are various reasons behind this: device manufacturers do not allow bootloader unlocking at all (such as Huawei), unlocking requires irreversible functional loss (such as Sony and Samsung), unlocking will void the warranty, etc.

Seeking stability is not a bad thing. After all, choosing Android does not mean you have to choose to "trouble". But without root permissions, is it still possible to do something to suppress the tumor and protect privacy?

The answer is of course yes.

Classification and typical use cases of adb activation

Many Android users have more or less come into contact with adb (Android Debug Bridge). As a relatively advanced development and debugging tool, we can use adb to perform some hidden operations that are usually difficult to access, and also achieve the purpose of suppressing tumors and protecting privacy. Most of the optimization tools that originally required root permissions to use are also developed on this basis, providing a non-root mode based on adb.

Tips: For information about adb, you can view this official document. You can also view this tutorial to install adb on Windows.

There are many ways to use adb to perform hidden operations to achieve the purpose that the system cannot achieve. For the sake of convenience, I will simply divide them into the following three categories:

• Category A: Use adb to launch a .sh script to elevate privileges, thereby obtaining extremely high privileges and having the power of life and death over the app. This category is relatively common because it is less difficult and can achieve more comprehensive functions. The disadvantage is that the adb privilege escalation operation needs to be performed again after restarting.
• Category B: Appoint an app as a "Device Administrator" through adb, which manages device permissions for you and has relatively high permissions. It will not become invalid after a reboot, but the appointment steps are cumbersome and there are compatibility issues on some domestic ROMs.
• Category C: Grant the app some sensitive permissions through adb. The permissions are low and the capabilities obtained are extremely limited. But the good thing is that the steps are not cumbersome and the restart will not invalidate it.

Compared with the root mode, which is "direct authorization and can be used", these three types of implementation methods all require the use of adb for some operations, which is more cumbersome, but also less risky. Although they each have some advantages and disadvantages, we can't help but use them together and complement each other. Friends who are not satisfied with the system's built-in app management can try more of the following solutions and get what they need.

PS: The functions listed in the figure can be roughly arranged from small to large in terms of strength. Additional functions and prices can be found in this Google Sheets.

Category A: Take Shizuku Manager as an example

When it comes to Class A activation methods, in addition to the notorious Black Threshold, the most familiar one may be Shizuku Manager from the popular developer Rikka. Similar to the idea of ​​the Riru series, Shizuku Manager is also a model of "providing API allocation authorization after occupying the pit." If you need to use multiple Class A authorized apps, such as Refrigerator, App Ops, etc., then activating Shizuku Manager first and then authorizing other apps through it will be a more worry-free solution.

Method: Connect the phone to the computer and enter the corresponding command adb shell sh /sdcard/Android/data/moe.shizuku.privileged.api/files/start.sh. The activation instructions for other apps are different, but they usually end with .sh and will be given on the boot interface.

Note: Do not change the default USB options of your phone, do not turn off developer options or adb debugging, as these will cause the authorization to become invalid.

Fancy ways to play: There are many gadgets like "Black Threshold Activator" on the market. I bought one just to try it out. If you want to use it without a computer, you need a USB-A power supply and a data cable like A2C in addition to the activator, which is quite cumbersome to use. In addition, some Class A authorized applications can "execute commands" instead of the terminal on the computer to authorize other Class A, Class B, and Class C applications after the privilege escalation is completed. For example, after Black Threshold has completed the privilege escalation, it can activate Shizuku Manager, or even simply enter reboot to restart.

Category B: Taking the small dark room as an example

Both Refrigerator and Black Room are the best in the freezing optimization apps. I have paid to try them out for a while. Compared to Refrigerator, which is a long-standing brand, I want to talk about Black Room, which is innovative. Black Room supports both Class A and Class B activation, as well as activation using Refrigerator, Shizuku Manager, etc. After paying, you can also add practical functions such as silent installation.

Method: Enter the phone's settings - account, delete all accounts, and turn off multi-user, dual-app, guest mode and other functions. Connect the phone to the computer and enter the corresponding command adb shell dpm set-device-owner web1n.stopapp/.receiver.AdminReceiver. After successful restart, you will see "The phone is managed by the black room" (customizable).

Note: Domestic manufacturers and Samsung may have modified many of Android's underlying mechanisms, making this risky to use. Please check the documentation of the black room and the refrigerator first.

Fancy gameplay: Black Room's Class B activation can be achieved through root, eliminating the trouble of deleting the account and then rejoining. It is suitable for players who have the ability to obtain temporary root permissions but do not hold permissions for a long time for reasons such as maintaining OTA. Black Room's derivative product Permission Dog also focuses on controlling App Ops. In addition to relying on Shizuku Manager to activate, Permission Dog can also be activated through Black Room, which has become a device administrator. In this way, the function of controlling permissions will not be invalid even if it is restarted.

Category C: Taking Green Guardian as an example

I think there is no player who has not heard of Green Guardian. Even in non-root mode, Green Guardian can play a certain auxiliary optimization role. Among them, I personally think the most outstanding one is the doze mode, which forces the phone to enter Doze after turning off the screen, which can significantly save power.

Similar functions also come from Franco, a well-known foreign kernel and application developer, Naptime. BBS is the abbreviation of BetterBatteryStats, which is mainly used to detect the CPU's Deep Sleep duration, Alarms and Wakelock wake-up locks, helping players catch the wake-up murderer behind the scenes, which can be said to be a detective.

Method: Generally speaking, you still copy and paste adb commands, but these commands are not used to activate scripts or appoint device administrators, but to grant sensitive permissions to an app.

Take Green Guardian as an example.

After connecting your phone to your computer, enter the following in the terminal:

 adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS  
 adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.DUMP  
 adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.READ_LOGS  
 adb -d shell pm grant com.oasisfeng.greenify android.permission.GET_APP_OPS_STATS

After that, you can forcibly stop Green Guard and run it again to ensure that the permissions take effect.

The authorization process of Naptime and BBS is similar, and the corresponding adb commands are also attached to the app's boot interface.

Fancy play: Class C activation is more durable and still effective after restart, and can still play some auxiliary optimization role after Class A activation fails. BBS needs to be paid in the Play Store, but it can be obtained for free in the XDA forum.

Example demonstration, taking Samsung Health wake-up as an example

In the previous article, I mentioned that I switched the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active from iPhone to Pixel 2. While getting more functions, I also had some troubles: Pixel was tied to the watch, and 4 Samsung apps were installed, and I obviously felt that the standby power consumption of the phone increased. In order to find out, I first sent the aforementioned detective to track down the murderer - BBS. After connecting Pixel to the computer and entering the three adb commands on the boot interface, I successfully activated BBS.

After using Pixel for a while, I opened the BBS with a little curiosity. In two hours of standby, I consumed 4% of the power. This result is not very bad, but it is not in line with the usual level of Pixel. First, check the important indicator Deep Sleep. If the proportion of Deep Sleep in the screen-off state is not high enough or even non-existent without charging, then the standby battery life of the phone must be not good. BBS also gives another indicator, which is the screen-off wake-up time. Secondly, check the second important indicator Partial Wakelocks, which will show the number and duration of wake-up locks of the currently installed app. Obviously, the duration of Samsung Health's PedometerLib is a bit too long. It seems that Samsung Health will use the phone's sensors to count steps (which I don't need) to supplement the step data. *** Check the third important indicator Alarms, and you will see that Samsung Health has woken up 242 times in the past two hours.

After careful consideration: Samsung Health does not sync directly with the watch, but is only responsible for importing data synced to the Watch Active Plugin; Samsung Health does not need to measure steps all the time; I do not use the social functions of Samsung Health. Therefore, Samsung Health does not need to be in my background all the time, and I need to suppress it. The first thing I thought of was the background restriction that comes with Android Pie (it didn't work, I had already turned it on), and then used Green Guardian to force stop it. But the forced stop will soon be woken up by another Samsung app. The solutions that are most suitable for me are the aggressive mode of Black Threshold and the freezing/disabling of various companies.

Samsung Health is just a simple example. It is not excessive, but its power consumption is too much from my point of view. But when more and more tumors are crawling all over your Android phone, and the system's built-in management function is still "guarding against gentlemen but not villains", how do you choose? Faced with the dilemma of "laughing out loud and going out, the phone runs out of power halfway", will you be a Buddhist and charge it more, or sit up in the pile of tumors and use it smoothly for another year?