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I'm planning to deploy an app on my android smartphone which is supposed to be used by multiple other persons. Now of course I do not want them to do things with the device they are not supposed to do so I informed myself about several different ways to make it as safe as possible (Lock-down apps, Kiosk mode, Mobile-device-management, Code-tweaks and so on).

I found some solutions that look really promising but they all share the same problem that a user could just restart the device and boot it in safe-mode where those helpful apps won't be started. However, there is one exception: I've installed a MDM app called maas360 which somehow manages to apply the restrictions that I defined even in safe-mode, for example by blocking access to the menu settings. How is that even possible? The thing is just that this is not a free app and it offers a huge variety of functions - overall it seems to be a bit excessive for my goals.

So my general question would be: is it somehow possible to restrict access to the safe-mode somehow? Maybe like a password? From what I understand it is not even possible to set a system password for Android devices that you'd have to enter once it boots (except if you set up a password for unlocking the screen first which would then be the same one... very redundant).

FlyingM
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  • Never heard of a safe-mode on Android. Are you sure that isn't something vendor specific? Second of course there is a system password - just enable the data encryption. – Robert Jan 31 '14 at 12:57
  • I'm using a Galaxy S3. If you boot it up and hold down the menu button, it will run in safe mode where no user installed apps will work. Also, the data encryption is kind of redundant as I said because you can not specify a different password. It would be the same password that is required for unlocking the screen. Since the people that are supposed to work with the phone should be able to do at least that, this is not an option. – FlyingM Jan 31 '14 at 13:04

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Disabling physical switch of volume down (in case of samsung devices) will stop access to safe mode on device. I dont find any other way to do so.

aniruddh
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