Android Lollipop Trusted Device + NFC Ring = perfect
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For me on my note3 it works fine for about an hour after I configure it then seems to stop. If I go through the process and re-add the same already trusted device it will work for another hour or so - hopefully new shiny rings will have more luck.
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I've tested the stock unlock with my new 2015 ring on my Nexsus 6P and it works fine. takes a bit for the nfc to be activated after the power button is pressed but then it reads the ring and unlocks the phone perfectly.
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For the record, there seems to be a bug on Android that causes Smart Lock to simply stop reacting to trusted NFC tags after a while: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79928
I have been using native Smart Lock to unlock my Nexus 5 for a few months now (at first with a tag on the band of my watch, and recently with a 2016 NFC Ring). I've always had this issue since Lollipop. Still happening after factory resets and even after flashing a full stock Marshmallow 6.0.1. image.
Once unlocked by hand, the device can read NFC tags; however, it will refuse to unlock with any NFC tag, until the user navigates to Settings, toggles NFC (and/or the Google Trust Agent) off and back on, or restarts the device.
At that point NFC Smart Lock will start working again, but only for a random amount of time. In my case it happens every day a few times.
Is anyone else having this issue?
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@Nephiel said:
Is anyone else having this issue?
Yes I get this issue too. I find if I click on the lock item on the lock screen to manually lock the phone, then manually unlock it, it works again after that for a few days.
Its an android issue and there is little we can do about it until google come up with a fix.
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Starring https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=79928 will help. @Nephiel thanks for flagging this up
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@johnyma22 I left a message on that forum, hopefully others will too :)
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@johnyma22 Also have this issue, I thought it was my phone specifically that messed up but apparently not.. Have left a comment.
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I too have this problem. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Which inevitably makes me just not even try, and just type my 4 digit pin in.
So... since the entire reason I bought this ring was to unlock my phone, I'm extremely frustrated by this. I funded a kickstarter, waited, was so excited! and then... bam immediate disappointment.
Google has not responded to that bug thread, and it's classified priority "small" ... So I have little faith it will be addressed soon. I'm not upset at the NFCRing folks, I really like the ring, it looks good, feels good, etc...
I wore my ring for one day. Now it lives in a drawer.
sigh
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As we're seeing more and more people affected by this I have forwarded this thread onto our contact in Google to see if we can get more traction :)
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Does anyone know of a custom rom that addresses this issue? I also posted this in the google bug thread. I'm guessing not, but doesn't hurt to ask. I SOO want to be able to use my ring... :(
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I have this issue as well. Is there any benefit to us posting to issue 79928 to say "me too"
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@wlraider70 said:
I have this issue as well. Is there any benefit to us posting to issue 79928 to say "me too"
OF course, the more people that google can see that have the issue, across the most variety of devices will prove to google that its a big problem and its their code, nothing that another vendor has done.
Please report your "Me Too" and hopefully we will get a more prompt fix.
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@johnyma22 - any response from your contact in google? The google code bug post is still listed as priority "small" and still doesn't have any kind of response from google. I kind of feel like we will be here a year from now still posting "hey any update?" and still unable to use the ring.
Also, lol @ the title of this thread. "perfect" is not normally a word I use for "completely broken feature"
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@jarmer I can't say officially what the response from Google is as the response is not coming from Google's PR team or some such and I don't want to break my relationship or disrespect anyone..
Basically Google's engineers need consistent steps to replicate the bug for them to elevate the priority of the issue. So let's try help them get that so we can get this sorted!
J
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@johnyma22 said:
@jarmer I can't say officially what the response from Google is as the response is not coming from Google's PR team or some such and I don't want to break my relationship or disrespect anyone..
Basically Google's engineers need consistent steps to replicate the bug for them to elevate the priority of the issue. So let's try help them get that so we can get this sorted!
J
That's a tough one, although it happens regularly. It doesn't happen "every single time"
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As a temporary workaround, I modified the NFCLockScreenOff Xposed module to work on Marshmallow. I have it set up to enable NFC polling when the screen is on but locked.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64611507&postcount=667
It also lets you silence NFC sounds.
I have been using this for over 3 weeks now and I haven't reproduced the bug in all this time. The downside is that it needs root and Xposed Framework.
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@jasok2 said:
@johnyma22 said:
@jarmer I can't say officially what the response from Google is as the response is not coming from Google's PR team or some such and I don't want to break my relationship or disrespect anyone..
Basically Google's engineers need consistent steps to replicate the bug for them to elevate the priority of the issue. So let's try help them get that so we can get this sorted!
J
That's a tough one, although it happens regularly. It doesn't happen "every single time"
In that post there are error logs posted, exact steps duplicated, and even a video posted by a user showing exactly what's happening. I'm not sure how much more detailed we can even get. This just seems to be completely ignored by google. There are lots of "hey google, what's up?" with no response.
@Nephiel hmmm that's awesome! Thanks very much for posting. I do have root, but, I really don't want to disrupt the normal battery features of Marshmallow, so I will hold off for now and just hope for the best with an official patch.
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If by "disrupt normal battery features" you mean consuming more battery, that is in fact is one of the reasons I removed the option to enable NFC on when the screen is off. As it is now, the module can only enable NFC when the screen turns on, which is what the Smart Lock feature should be doing anyway.
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I recently bought a nfc ring because of lollipops native support for nfc in the smart lock function.
I stumbled across this thread and read the bug post on google. According to the link posted in the bug file, it seems to be a wanted feature to switch off the lock functionality. Take a look at this: http://forums.androidcentral.com/android-5-0-lollipop/532617-smart-lock-phone-locked-after-4-hours-inactivity.html. Seems to be as intended to deactivate this feature after 4 hours.
I'll see if the can be 'workarounded' with the xposed module, too. Nephiel only mentioned the marshmellow behaviour.
Would it differ if one uses the nfc ring app? Is the nfc ring app less secure than the native android smart unlock feature?
Thanx in advance. -
No, the 4-hour timeout is a different behaviour (and intended, it seems). That is, the Smart Lock feature disabling itself after 4 hours of inactivity. I think it takes longer than that.
On the other hand, the bug seems to cause the NFC radio to stop polling for tags after locking. So even though Smart Lock is enabled, it can't read them.
I've had the bug multiple times in less than an hour so it is definitely not the same as the stated timeout.
In any case, the Xposed module does nothing about the timeout. I still have to draw the pattern once every morning. But not during the day after that. Sometimes, it takes a bit longer to read the ring and the screen turns off before unlocking, but then it usually reads right away after turning on again, so it works for me. YMMV.
