21
Koolstr
7y

Google, why the fuck did you make the Android default USB connection type be "charging," and NOT "MTP"?! And leave no way to EVER set default to MTP!!!

EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME I plug my phone into my pc to transfer files, I have to open my notifications shade, scroll to the bottom to the fixed notifications, and change the mode to MTP, at which point the phone has to re-establish its connection to the pc!

This has been an issue from Android M and onwards. Nonetheless, Google still left in the settings app under developer options on rooted devices, the setting to choose which default USB connection mode you want to use. Even though it doesn't stay on what you choose!! It's like they left that there to purposely toy with us and get a good fucking laugh from our needless suffering.

Google, I love so much of what you do and your approaches, but honestly, some of the things you do, like this and for disabling Chrome extensions on Chrome internal pages, makes me want to strangle you and then throw you in a river of molten lava.

Comments
  • 7
    That's odd. On my phone MTP is the default mode.
  • 0
    @Plastikmensch Really? What phone do you have and what version of Android are you running?

    I've done tons of research and my problem seems to be the de facto standard... If there is indeed a solution to this, and I couldn't find it after all this time, then my Google-fu is much shittier than I thought... :/
  • 0
    @Koolstr Wiko Lenny Android 4.4.2. It's a real shitty phone.
  • 1
    @Plastikmensch Yeah wtf, I never even heard of that lol. So you're running KitKat, which had the default selection feature working back then. The default used to be MTP, until Android M. So I'm still not wrong with my OP XD
  • 0
    @Koolstr Huh, I didn't know that.
  • 8
    Yeah, even I find that annoying. However, we can't overlook the security reason, anyone would transfer files easily just by connecting if MTP were to he default. So, we have to unlock our phone every single time to set MTP, so annoying though, yet useful...
  • 0
    Samba share or sending files via wireless ADB is a solution to annoying USB MTP connections btw
  • 2
    @kabhishek Safety features like this should have a dedicated way of disabling them. There are plenty of us who would rather take our chances than inconvenience ourselves. Hence why I have no antivirus on my pc. Yet I've been fine and dandy for, well, always. (All it takes is some common sense lol)
  • 0
    @kabhishek Samba, an app? It's true I may have to resort to other solutions from now on. But some things still rely on the old approach, like syncing with my MusicBee library...
  • 0
  • 0
    @3141 Why are you showing me a screenshot of the selector?
  • 1
    @Koolstr Look at the top. I'm showing you a setting in the developer tools. This should change the default.
  • 1
    @Koolstr Nevermind, I overlooked that part of your rant. Sorry.
    I was under the impression that this setting would be persistent. Weird.
  • 0
    @3141 Lol it's ok, at least you had good intentions, and learned something in the process, without me having to tell you what you missed XD
  • 1
  • 0
    Very important security feature ever since the news about charging stations that steal data.
  • 0
    First world problems
  • 1
    ADB over wifi is a solution. But I use file sharing in Windows (using smb), and use a local web server in Linux. Unfortunately, smb based file sharing does not work well in Mac so I plan to use a local web server in it.

    I use Windows more for file transfer because it really is a breeze to use. All I need to do is share a directory in Windows with RW access, and then in my phone I use solid file explorer to set up the smb connection, and that's it.
  • 0
    # Not a Rant

    Silly question.
    I'm just trying to have fun by setting

    git alias to I have girl friend.

    I tried

    alias git="shift $# && echo 'i have a gf'"

    But it's showing
    I have a gf push.

    How do I prevent it from echo'ng. ?
  • 1
    @Gowtham95india simple fix:
    alias git="shift $# && echo i have a gf || echo"

    Wrong place?
  • 0
    @xsacha @xsacha

    Working super awesome. Thanks. Yea wrong place to ask.

    I don't like to bug ppl with this silly doubt. But my devops admin don't know.

    Can't ask that in so. So...

    Sorry guys.
  • 0
    You can drop the shift $# too.
  • 0
    Lol, sorry.

    I thought I posted as rant. I didn't see it is a comment.

    Sorry to rant author. And commenters.
  • 0
    @-c-- Not yet. Stock Android on the Nexus 5X. I used Cyanogenmod on my old Nexus 5.
    I will switch back to Lineage once Google's support for the 5X ends.
  • 0
    Mtp by default is a security problem. Just like the USB throwing attacks
  • 1
    @krlooss @xsacha @StefanH
    I understand that it is a security vulnerabiltiy. That does not excuse them from preventing users from willingly choosing to default to MTP. At the very least, default should still be able to be set, and they could give a popup warning indicating the hazards involved with changing the default. That will deter all but those who truly want it changed despite the risks.

    Honestly, I've never used a public charging spot in my life. I always carry portable battery chargers with me. So this danger is much less relevant to me. I still want my MTP default lol
  • 0
    @kabhishek Yep, no clue about Samba, I'm a Windows user. Obviously viruses wouldn't be self-evident, but I am confident in my security. I use a sandbox when dealing with questionable files too. Once in a blue moon I'll run some scanners like Malwarebytes and proudly see it come up empty :)
    Of course the only way to be guaranteed safe is to run all genuine software without internet. But that's not gonna happen lol.
    I'd love to try out Linux one day. But that's quite the investment time-wise, so... soon hopefully :S
  • 1
    @Koolstr it's true, you're right. Just let them hide the feature under dev tools so no everyone will use it... At the end the open OS it started being has become somehow closed when every phone comes with an added layer of manufacturer closed code which you can't access, change and re-install easily. That said, you may try implementing this on one of the public "distros"
  • 0
    @krlooss example of a public distro?

    Yes this is the exact problem Android is having with OEM ROMs
  • 0
    @Koolstr I used to use xianogenmod. Not really sure of its opennnesssesesss but i think it is
  • 0
    My god this rant speaks to my soul. WTFingF, Google!?!?!
  • 0
    Well I _think_ I found a working solution: (I'm on Android 8.0.1 / aquaris BQ)

    When connected on to USB, select to share your internet connection:

    "How do I change USB charging mode?
    To change the connect mode selection try Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> USB Connection. You can shoose to Charging, Mass Storage, Tethered, and ask on connection.
    Source: h__p slash slash colon ostoday.org/windows/how-do-i-change-my-default-usb-action-on-android.html"

    Nothing will change. Then disconnect USB and reconnect. Then suddenly USB internet sharing will shorting flip back on, then off and the phone will go back into default charging and you will get the popup to ask you to choose an option and if you want to remember it back. Tadaaaa. I was unable to change the default setting after having set it accidentally. Changing the USB tethering setting seems to have cleared the default USB connection option. :)))
  • 0
    Thank you for this post! This also annoyed me for a long time! You took the words out of my mouth!

    When reaching the bottom of the notifications and scrolling one more time, it also closes the notification menu. This means one has to open it and start scrolling all over again. Yuck!

    This is also why the notification menu should have a scroll bar. One that can be dragged. Something that pretty much all desktop computer user interfaces have since the 1990s.
  • 0
    @Plastikmensch The behaviour was changed in Android 6.0. It is nice to have these options, but it would have been better to also be able to set a default.

    Until Android 5, one couln't turn off MTP or PTP at all on some vendors like Samsung. Unticking the check box in the selection menu between MTP and PTP made it be ticked again right away. But on stock Android 4.4.2, as far as I can remmeber, it could be unticked.
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