Android Proxy Project

APL 1.0: Android Proxy Library first official stable release is out!

2012-06-15T15:19:00.001+02:00

Sorry for the delay guys, but I've been busy working for you! As I promised in my last post, I spent my last weeks working on the first stable version of APL. It's almost usable now, but if you have further requests, please don't be shy and open a new issue request on the project page.

You can checkout the APL source code and try it. It contains a full working demo application, also released on the Play store.

On the wiki pages you'll find all the informations you need. Here you will find the first resources to getting started and begin to support the proxy settings in your applications.Your users will be grateful!!

Let's be realistic: Android 2.X devices won't ever get an official Wi-Fi Proxy support!

2012-05-24T23:54:00.001+02:00

Dear all.

I never wouldn't write this post, but with some help we have finally come to get the so long requested answers. Unfortunately these are not the answers we were hoping for, but at least now we can move forward and start to think how to make a patch to the errors made in the past (by someone other).

The most important piece of information came from a Google Developer Advocate, and I want to completely quote it here, but you can find the whole discussion on StackOverflow:

I don't think there was any platform-level support for Wi-Fi proxies before Gingerbread or perhaps Honeycomb. Edit: An Android engineer who works on this part of the platform confirms that the system didn't have proxies for different network types (e.g., Wi-Fi) until Honeycomb. So there is no "official" way to get the Wi-Fi proxy for 2.x. [Sparky]

Simple and clear, right?

Before continuing with the full explanation I would like to personally thank Claudio and Sparky for the collaboration and the help offered to this investigation. Thank you guys, it's always a pleasure to talk with people (not only developers) like you!

And now let's go back to the detailed explanation. We can summarize what I discovered since today, with a list of final statements. We can call them the:

3 Android Proxy Project Laws (APPL v.1.0)

FIRST

No "official" way to get the Wi-Fi proxy for 2.x devices.

Yes, as you can imagine, unfortunately it's a bad news. We are in a bad situation. But don't worry, I won't give up on this. New and very important features are coming for Proxy Settings AND I'm still working on APL. We just need some more time to reorder our forces.

SECOND

Newer devices have better Wi-Fi proxy support (but still not perfect).

As we already know, starting from Android 3.1 (aka API version 12), something has changed and a better infrastructure for Wi-Fi proxy has been introduced. The users can specify a proxy setting for each Wi-Fi Access Point, but no authentication is supported by the API: this can be achieved per application basis as Google did for their Android browsers starting from Android 4.0 (aka API version 14).

THIRD

Users need to expect to receive applications with proxy support builtin

It's a user's right to receive a well coded application that works without problems on any network condition. It's the difference of preparing a real professional application or just a kid's work.

For this reason any developer should use the official API. BUT when the official API lacks, the developers should use the best alternative to implement a feature that received so many requests. Yes I'm talking of APL. If your favourite application doesn't support network proxy please write a comment to their developers and tell him that they can easily support proxy in their application (they can find all the instructions on this site).

Everything clear? Perfect! In the next days you will get more news regarding the first stable version of APL, so every developer will be able to support all the networks with proxy in a snap! I just need some more time. I'm finalizing the API and the documentation. It shouldn't take too much. I promise it will be worth the wait!

See you soon guys!

What's the taste of the ice cream on my sandwich? How Android 4.0 ICS improves (not so much) the handling of Wi-Fi proxy

2012-04-19T14:15:00.001+02:00

Hi Guys! I know it's been a long time since my last post. I'm sorry but, while I was waiting to receive some answers on Android Proxy, I decided to spend an entire month exploring alternative ways of seeing the world around me.

Anyway, let's get back to work. Since I'm preparing a big summarizing post regarding the proxy support (be prepared!), I decided to write a more simple post, just to stretch my hands...

Today I want to go back to the users (hey guys, I never forgot you!!), talking about what Android 4.0 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) changed regarding the Wi-Fi proxy handling.

To be honest not so much, just the addition to the default browser (and starting from yesterday also the latest version of Chrome) of the credentials for authenticated proxies, BUT unfortunately no changes on the API. So all the developers that want to handle authenticated proxies have to work with their hands at low level.

Just I did for Honeycomb devices, I'll show with a lot of screenshots, how to configure the Wi-Fi Proxy Settings in a Android 4.0 devices, so you can easily understand how to do it. Only a small change has been introduced since Android 3.1, but It's worth to be explained in full details! Are you ready? OK, let's start then!!

First, open the Wi-Fi settings.

Touch and hold the access point you want to configure the proxy setting:

Select the "Modify Network" option from the "Configuring AP" dialog:

Your device will show the configuration settings for the selected AP:

Check the "Show advanced options" option:

Select "Manual" option from the Proxy settings drop-down list:

The window will now show the proxy settings of the selected AP:

You just need to edit it:

And save it:

And it's done! Easy right? Perfect!

Ready for the new surprise? As I previously said the default Android browser supports also the authenticated proxies, so when you will try to navigate to your favourite site, you will be prompted to enter User and Password..

Et voilà, you can now navigate with the default Android browser behind your authenticated proxy.

The work for the end users is really simple. But please be careful! As you can see from the screenshots, the configuration AP window explicitly says that:

"The HTTP proxy is used by the browser but may not be used by the other apps".

This means that it's the duty of the developers of your favourite apps to support this configuration, reading it, and using it for every HTTP connection. How do they can do it? APL could be a nice option to try out. It's still in an early stage, but I promise to give it a boost in the next weeks, so stay tuned! If your favourite app doesn't support the proxy settings, please write to the developers and point them out to this website! They can follow my instructions and add the proxy support in no time!

By the way, starting from today I can officially announce that this site hosts also a discussion group, so all the users can share their problems, findings, requests, or any other useful information. I'm looking forward to hearing your experiences!

So please don't be shy! I'm waiting for your contribution!

Idiot proofing second try: Proxy Settings App v1.3 for Android is out!

2012-03-13T14:18:00.000+01:00

Hey guys. this post should not have been necessary. The new update for Proxy Settings should not have been necessary . An entire weekend wasted for insert new other idiot proof checks should not have been necessary. But because "fools' mother is always pregnant", the following is what I did in the last days.

Here you are the new updated version of Proxy Settings, and this is more or less the changelog for version 1.3:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lechucksoftware.proxy.proxysettings

Changed the description of the application into the (Android Market) Google Play page, inserting another BIG FAT DISCLAIMER.
Inserted a notification into the status bar for devices with API version < 11 (Android 1.x and 2.x), so all the users will be aware when the global proxy is active or not.
Started the integration with APL. I know it's still in an unstable status (due to some still pending unanswered questions), but it's the easiest way to test is and to integrate it in a real application.

Now please, be patient and let me come out with this thing: this is for all the users that download a tool application, accept a WARNING DISCLAIMER without even reading it, and then give it a bad rating:

Please READ the application description!

Please READ the application disclaimer before accepting it!

It's really not my fault if the other application developers wrote their application without even considering the networks with proxy. So if you want to rate something, rate the applications that doesn't support proxy. My application only wants to allow you to setting it!

Ok.. I'm calm now. I'm sorry but it's really sad to read so many bad ratings from users that clearly didn't read the application description nor the application disclaimer. Do you have some suggestions how to solve this problem? Maybe having a possibility in the Android Market to answer back to the users rating could be useful. Who knows.

Anyway, enjoy the last update! I'll wait for your feedbacks!

Bye!

SP4TH7U3359E

Building the foundations for a fantastic future: Proxy Settings available in more Android markets!

2012-02-25T21:13:00.002+01:00

Hey! Did you already vote for my proxy questions on StackOverflow? Not yet? Do it now! With some more answers we can approach to the final solution to our issue.

But today I'm optimistic, something is changed, some answers are starting to arrive, thank you some Googlers that finally decided to listen to me (thank you again for your patient guys!), so I created a new blog section called: Answered questions. I'll move here all the questions that will receive answers, so we can track the history to the investigation to the final solution.

In the meantime, following the requests received, I can proudly announce you that Proxy Settings is ready and available to donwload in two new repositories:

Amazon Appstore for Android:

GetJar:

Please let me know if you have more online repositories where you would like to see Proxy Settings.

Happy download!

It's time for the truth: Android VS Proxy

2012-02-21T23:26:00.001+01:00

Hi guys, this post could sound a little frustrating, but it's actually my mood in the last days. I have tried to get in contact with some google advocates to get some answers regarding our issue, but no one ever answer back to me. I also tried to post the same questions on StackOverflow or Google Groups, but still nothing.

So I decided that it's time to publicly ask for som transparency. I think that I deserve it... I'm sorry, let me reformulate the sentence: WE deserve it. As a Android users, developers, companies. We chosed Android as a main platform, so we need to understand why these issue is still open and why it seems that Google still continue to ignore the problem. So again, it's time for the truth...

How can we get to the truth? I had 2 ideas (let me know if you have better ones):

1. Questions that need answers. I created this new section on the right where I'll try to link all the answers that need answers. Answers that I'm trying to give to you both users and developers, but sometimes it's better to have some confirmations from someone who have a deep knowledge of the platform, someone who can decide what should be implemented in the next release, someone who have the responsability to chose the path that the development has to follow (hey Googlers, I'm talking with you!). If you share the goals of this project, just give a vote to these questions on StackOverflow, maybe if we get an high number of votes, someone will decide that it's time to give us an answer.

2. Proxy Settings roadmap. Thanks to interstateapp.com, I started to put some informations about what I'm working on regarding the Proxy Settings application. If you have special needs or feature requests, just send me an email at lechuckATandroid-proxyDOTcom, or leave a comment into the blog.

At the end, as always, I need your help to make this project really succesfull. I'm trying to do my best to help all the users that have the proxy issue, so please if you share with me the same needs try to spread the word! Together we can make it!

Peace ✌!

Android Proxy Library (APL): the best fertilizer for a professional Android application!

2012-02-09T21:53:00.001+01:00

Hi guys! Well, maybe it's better to say right from the start of this post: Hi Devs!

[Yes, this post will be more or less only business for developers, but hey, users are always welcome, so you can still propose and ask to your favourite developers what they don't already know.]

As I promised in my last post, here you are a small gift for all the developers!

Something that a developer MUST HAVE in its application. One of the things (obviously is not the only) that a developer can do to obtain a really professional perception of its application. So, after some weeks of hard coding,

I can proudly present to you my latest work. If you really are frequent and focused reader of this blog, you should have seen appear a new link on the right in the last days, under the FUNDAMENTAL LINKS section. I called it:

http://code.google.com/p/android-proxy-library/

So what is it? It'simple, the name says everything. It's a library to interact with the proxy in Android. Basically the Android Proxy Library (APL) gives the possibility to developers to access the proxy settings from their applications and use them easily. You can download it and read some examples in the wiki of the project hosted on Google Code. You can check it out and contribute to the project if you want, just send me an email or write a comment to this post.

The library is still in early stage, and it offers only basic features, but I'll continue to enhance its functionalities so all the developers can benefit and create more professional applications that also support any type of proxied network. If you encounter issues or have suggestions regarding the development of the library write something here.

Please try also the demo application that shows you the possibilities offered by APL. And in the meantime please remember that I'm testing the library on a small set of devices (Nexus One and a Xoom). So if you see some strange behaviours in different devices post it to the issues list. You can benefit from this project, but in exchange I ask you at least some useful feedbacks!

So what's the next step? Simple, tell to every developer that starting from today they can easily support the proxy settings in their applications for Android! I'll ask your help for this, so try the library and spread the word!

UPDATE 03/21/2012: I just received the official comunication that there isn't a standard way for both users and developers to specify the proxy settings into Android devices with API version < 11 (1.x and 2.x), so I'll need to work again on APL before it can be considered a stable release. Please be patient, I know the problem is really a pain, but I'll come back as soon as possible with a solution. Stay tuned.

Proxy Settings v 1.1 for Android: All desserts support and idiots proofed!

2012-01-28T18:12:00.000+01:00

Hi guys, just a flash news!

Following the feedbacks I have received for the Proxy Settings applications, I just released the 1.1 version, that comes with a better platform support (starting from 1.6 to 4.0) and a very BIG disclaimer to warn all the users that don't read the application description before using it.

Another warning is displayed for device with version greater than 3.0, because they should instead use the built in proxy configuration as I already explained.

Hope that you'll enjoy this small update. As always feedbacks are welcome!

I'm sorry for the time taken but at the moment I'm working on a big surprise for all the developers, that I hope to release in the next weeks. Please be patient!

Add a little honey to your life: Androix 3.x proxy support

2012-01-15T22:54:00.001+01:00

Hi Guys! It's been a long time since the last post. I hope you enjoyed my christmas gift!

Today I want to talk to the users, regarding the present and the future. I want to clear the ideas regarding how to set the proxy setting in newer devices. As I already said we should make a different discourse for Honeycomb devices and now also for Ice Cream Sandwich devices. Luckily, starting from the 3.1 version:

"Users can now configure an HTTP proxy for each individual Wi-Fi access point, by touch-hold of the access point in Settings. The browser uses the HTTP proxy when communicating with the network over the access point and other apps may also choose to do so. The platform also provides backup and restore of the user-defined IP and proxy settings."

The easy way to explain someone how to to something is to show it, so I just did a lot of screenshots so you can easily understand how to do it. First of all, open the Wi-Fi settings.

Touch and hold the access point you want to have the proxy setting:

Select the "Modify Network" option from the "Configuring AP" dialog:

Your device will show the configuration settings for the selected AP:

Select "Manual" option from the Proxy settings drop-down list:

The window will now show the proxy settings of the selected AP:

You just need to edit it:

And save it:

And it's done! Easy right?

The work for the end users is really simple. But please be careful! As you can see from the lasts screenshots, the configuration AP window explicitily says that:

"The HTTP proxy is used by the browser but may not be used by the other applications".

This means that it's the duty of the developers of your favourite apps to support this configuration, reading it, and using it for every HTTP connection. How do they can do it? We will discover it in the next post. I said that this post was only for users...

Developers, stay tuned..

Did someone ask for a proxy settings aware Browser in Android? Et voilà, here you are Zirco!

2011-12-12T23:20:00.000+01:00

Hi guys! Ready for your Christmas gift? Thank you to the Open-source philosophy you'll find under you Christmas tree a really useful gift this year. A nice Browser that has built in the system proxy handling.

But let me say a couple of words regarding this fruitful collaboration.

Since the default browser (for 2.x devices) doesn't support proxy settings when connected to Wi-Fi, and I couldn't fix the problem, I started looking for the best Open-source browser for Android. Then I found Zirco Browser. Now you know how Open-source work, I got in contact with the main developer, and asked if I can add the support to the system proxy to his browser. He kindly created for me a branch and I just implemented what Manoj explained in his illuminating post: child's play!

So what do you need to do?

1. You just need to download both Proxy Settings and Zirco Browser from the Market:

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.zirco

2. Open the Proxy Setttings application and configure the system proxy settings:

3. Open Zirco Browser, click on the menu button, and go to Preferences:

4. Scroll down to the Advanced preferences and enable the system proxy support:

Easy right?

For this big achievement I have to say a big thank you to Jérémie, who developed Zirco browser and offered to me the possibility to insert this modification in its application. Thank you again!

So please download Proxy Settings and Zirco Browser and test them! Give us feedbacks!

May the Force be with your Android: use HttpURLConnection Devs!

2011-11-26T10:54:00.000+01:00

Hi Guys. Have you already downloaded Proxy Settings? No? You should! Please stop reading this post if you haven't already done! It's the first step!!

We need to provide the users simple and easy solutions. But I already told you that...

Today I need to update some comments I made regarding how to use the system proxy settings, for the following reason: a couple of months ago (ok, maybe I'm not The Flash), Google Developer Jesse Wilson spoke about the best practices for Android’s HTTP Clients, so I have to refresh the instructions for the developers in order to better handling the proxy settings in their own applications.

So what did Jesse say? I don't want to repeat what he already well explained. Basically the condensed part of his post is that if your target is >= Gingerbread (2.3) you should use HttpURLConnection for your Http Client.

So first I want to point you to the Android API reference:

http://developer.android.com/reference/java/net/HttpURLConnection.html

and second, I need to highlight some important things regarding the use of the Proxy Settings following the update guidelines.

If you open the Android API Reference for HttpURLConnection, you can find a short comment regarding Proxy handling:

Proxies

By default, this class will connect directly to the origin server. It can also connect via an HTTP or SOCKS proxy. To use a proxy, use URL.openConnection(Proxy) when creating the connection.

And here that's all you need to get something through an HTTP request. You can take and use the following example. It's free, and it works easily.

As I already explained here, you just need to get the system settings, build a java.net.Proxy object and pass it to the openConnection method. If the user hasn't customized the settings, you can just continue how you were doing before.

10 Lines of code. You have the power Luke, use it in your application!

A touch of social: Android Proxy Project on Facebook and Google Plus!!

2011-11-14T20:28:00.001+01:00

Just a spicy news for all you geeks. Starting from today this project is more social! I just opened a G+ page. You can find it here.

You will find all the posts of the blog and some other flash news regarding the big project I'm working on. So please subscribe, comment, do something!

UPDATE 17/05/2012:We have also a Facebook page!

One step at a time: the default Proxy Settings Activity for all!

2011-11-11T14:37:00.001+01:00

First of all, this isn't what I promised (but I'm still working on the final solution, don't worry). Take it as a small step on the right path. The beginning of a changing revolution (maybe it's a little too much, ok).

Anyway, let's skip the explanations/justifications and present what I published on the Market. It's called Proxy Settings and it does only one simple thing: it calls the hidden activity created by the Android developers. Stop! End! Finish! Multa! Fine! Geldstrafe!

So please don't expect from it something more. Basically it does what others applications already do, but with this app you can finally access the proxy settings in a snap. You click it, you have it.

Unfortunately this doesn't solve our issue, because we still need the developers to adapt their applications to read and use the system proxy settings, but this is another problem.

So, it is with big pride that today I announce the release of Proxy Settings in the Android Market. (By the way, do you like the feature graphic? It's all my own work..)

Here you can use a couple of link to find the application.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lechucksoftware.proxy.proxysettings

By the way, I neither have a tablet nor a Galaxy Nexus to test it on a 3.X or greater device. Could someone please tell me how it works (or maybe lend me tablet)?

Thank you guys. Enjoy it! And stay tuned for something bigger coming ;)

The Opera solitude: "OS what"?

2011-10-07T18:28:00.002+02:00

Hi Folks! What's up? Are you still thinking about rooting your phone? Well, maybe today we can discuss regarding another option. Did you remember when I asked for the collaboration of all Android developers in order to have all the best applications working without problems with the system HTTP proxy settings?

Fantastic! maybe someone already listened to our problem and tried to solve it in his own way. Who am I talking about? The guys of Opera! Yes, the brilliant norvegian company already famous for its browsers for PCs, old mobile phones (do you remember when we used to browse Internet with our Nokia Symbian 6600?), and now also for the latest generation smartphones and tablets!

I don't want to discuss regarding the browser performances, the application UI or the javascript support (by the way, Opera Mobile seems to work pretty good in comparison with the default Android browser, but who am I to say which is better?) but how and why the developers of Opera chosed to solve the problem of having the HTTP proxy settings in their application.

Let's try to reconstruct the events that leaded the Opera's developers to the decision and the application they made (it's just an aproximate and personal reconstruction. Unfortunately, I wasn't there) :

Developer 1 : Ok guys, let's build another great mobile browser. This time the platform will be Android!

Developer 2: It's a excellent idea, but let's try to do it for both normal and professional users

Developer 3 : What do the users want from the default Android browser that hasn't been yet implemented?

Developer 2 : Easy answer, let's see the issues list! If we want our browser to be downloaded we just need to implements what user requested!

Developer 1 : Hey dudes, I found this issue: it's the number 1273. They say that the default browser doesn't support the proxy settings for Wifi. Do you believe it?

Developer 3 : Great! Let's start from that!

Developer 2 : Wait! It's not so easy. Android doesn't permit the users to set globally the proxy settings for the installed apps.

Developer 1 : What?

Developer 2 : I'm not joking..

Developer 1 : Did they make it their software in the Chocolate Factory?

Developer 2 : Maybe...

[10 minutes later]

Developer 1 : What the *** were they thinking?

[a lot of time later]

Developer 2 : Ok. the solution is simple. If the OS doesn't support what we need, we just have to implement all by ourselves.

Developer 3 : Ok let's start!

This should be more or less how they decided to support the HTTP proxy settings directly into the application, forgetting of what the OS should do but it doesn't, forgetting about the rules that the developers should follow when also the system applications don't. They built their own fortress of solitude using only the basic and more standardized API provided for the developers. Everything else can be configured into the application. Due to the lacks of the OS and the official API they simply chosed an approach "application-centric".

Is this the right solution?

Honestly I don't think so, but at least they make the application working also in the professional environment where an HTTP proxy is a must. If you are interested and want give it a try, you can find a detailed guide here (I'm sorry I don't want to rewrite what is already well written. By the way I just tested it and it works without any problem).

It's not easy, it's not fast, but it works, so if you just need to have a working browser you don't need anymore this blog. If you need a better option, if you want all your applications working with the system settings, maybe we need a better solution. If we can't find it, we'll try to make it one. So please, stay tuned..

Join the Android dark side: Root, I'm your father!

2011-10-01T16:12:00.001+02:00

In the previous post we analyzed how complex can be to have just some applications (we need the developers to wake up!) working with our HTTP proxy server. In this (less technical and more philosophical) post I want to discuss about the other way a user can choose in order to obtain the desired goal to connect to the Internet through his HTTP proxy server via Wifi (and with authentication!) without no more worries: root his phone, become the only master of his device and take its destiny in his own hands.

But, as you know, every success comes at a price. He'll have to take a dark path that can take him to the highest power, but when he'll reach the end of this road, he'll never be the same (or maybe just his phone) and in the worst case he won't know that he chosed that road.

But, let's forget for a moment the responsibilities and let's see the options that a user have. If you search in the market for the keywords: "HTTP", "PROXY" and "WIFI" in various different combinations, you won't get so many results. But after some searches I think that the more suitable applications are the following:

ProxyDroid. It's free, it has 10.000-50.000 downloads on the Market and assuming from the ratings seems to work quite well.
ASProxy. It costs ??? 3,75 and it has been downloaded 1.000-5.000 times. It seems doing the same things of ProxyDroid (judging from the screenshots, maybe with a better UI).

For a more experienced user we also have the TransProxy application from the XDA forum. These three applications seems to do more or less the same things, as they let the users to setup the proxy configuration of their phone and, more important thing, to (eventually install and) setup iptables in order to redirect all the connections that start from the phone to the chosen proxy (adding also the authentication informations whether is required).

Ok, I promised to be more philosophical in this post, and I becoming too much technical. So, let's think about the users that have OUR problem: they want their phone to connect to Internet through their HTTP proxy server in a snap! They want all the applications that they installed on their phone to be able to connect through the proxy server, without setting for each application the proxy settings. They want the application (or the system) to do the job in a transparent way (and they also don't know what transparency means in computer science!!!).

Oh! I was forgetting.. The most obvious thing: they don't want to root their phone!

In fact I would say that more than 75% of the android users still don't know what means rooting a phone.

Let's talk clear now: I'm a developer. Maybe this blog would be read only by developers. Being a developer (an high trained and documented user) doesn't mean that we can forgot the normal user (one of my university professors sometimes called it "the housewife from Voghera"). A normal user doesn't want to root his phone. A normal user want his phone to simply work, in any condition, in any place. A normal user sometimes can claim too much from his phone (I'm sorry it still doesn't prepare your favourite flavour of tea), but as a developers we have to work to provide to a normal user an easy and fast way to do everything with his phone. It's our job. It's what we are paid for. So please, stop asking a normal user to root his phone! They don't want to do it. They don't know how to do it. They don't know what means rooting!

This is of course my personal opinion. What do you think about it?

In the hands of the other developers

2011-09-21T20:55:00.048+02:00

Why do we need to trust so bad the other developers to have a working connection through the proxy on own Android phone (starting from 3.0 we'll have to make a different discourse)?

It's a long story... Let's start from the beginning...

Take one simple application like HTTP Proxy Settings: it basically lets the user to setup the system proxy setting opening a handy dialog that let the user to insert Hostname and Port (so no authentication) of the proxy server that he wants to use.

This dialog is an hidden activity called ProxySelector (shipped into the stock version since the 1.5 version).
HTTP Proxy Settings does in specific what Any Cut let to do more in general with all the available activities in the system, but the result is the same, setting the system setting of http proxy. What does this activity do?
Maybe it's better if you see with your own eyes (you can find the complete code here):

183  boolean saveToDb() {
185      String hostname = mHostnameField.getText().toString().trim();
186      String portStr = mPortField.getText().toString().trim();

[...]

213      ContentResolver res = getContentResolver();

[...]

225      Settings.Secure.putString(res, Settings.Secure.HTTP_PROXY, hostname);
226      sendBroadcast(new Intent(Proxy.PROXY_CHANGE_ACTION));
228      return true;
229  }

It's easy to understand how this activity works. The most important thing is the call to the method putString that put the proxy configuration into the Settings.Secure database.

But why these applications needs to open a system activity? Can't they simply set the proxy setting with their own interface?

The answer is a little twisted: if an application wants to write to this database it needs to request for the following permission in its manifest:

"android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS"

Nice, isn't it? Ok, the applications can ask for this permission but only applications that are part of the firmware will get that (this is hard coded in the system architecture, because secure settings are designed to be secured against modification by third party apps). This means that only system application signed with the OS can have the write access to the database. So everyone that wants to set this setting needs to pass through the ProxySelector activity.

So are we done? End of the problems?

Unfortunately not. You can set the global setting for the entire system, but you can't force the applications to use this setting. Also the default apps like the Browser, Market, Maps and so on don't read (or they read it and don't use it, or in some cases they read it and they use it in the wrong way!!) this information. But as we cannot force the behaviour of hack the applications we use everyday in our Android phone, we can simply ask the developer that wrote them to update them in order to check and use this setting.

So, please, to all the developers, listen to this call. It's a work of 5 minutes, and YOU CAN really make a big difference in how your application is used in the enterprise world (or wherever it's used a proxy).

And specularly to all the users, ASK to your favourite apps developers to implement this feature if you need it! You just have to put a comment and maybe a link to this post. Sometimes the developers ignore this issue and the needs of a professional user.

It's a little step for an application, but a big step for humanity..
(Do you think it's a little too much maybe? ;-) )

Hello World: the issue 1273

2011-09-20T23:04:00.002+02:00

Hi Folks!

This is the first post of this unusual blog and I want to make clear a few points before proceeding:

First of all, I'm a developer, I love coding and I love Android. I love to talk about programming, algorithms, technology and learn new things everyday. I'm not English, and I'm not a great writer. If you are looking for something nice to read, I'm sorry but you are in the wrong blog.

What's the main purpose of this blog? Why did I chose to open it? Simple! An annoying bug.. Can you believe it? Yes, only one single bug that has a sinister and frightening name:

The issue 1273

What does it mean? In few words, with Android you can't setup an HTTP proxy for Wifi networks. Google partially solved this problem starting from the 3.1 version but still hasn't the support for authenticated proxy. Now we're waiting for Ice Cream, but in the meantime this is the current distribution of Android versions on device:

(here you will always find the updated version of the graph: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html)

As you can see more than 98% of devices lacks of native support for HTTP proxy for Wifi networks.

Why is this bug so annoying? Because, as you will discover reading this blog, it could seems so simple to solve it, but no one ever found a simple solution to solve it. A solution that doesn't need to root your new phone, or complicated operations to be executed by a normal user without a background in computer science. If you think that this problem isn't a big deal, here you can find thousands of people that think like me: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1273

At this point one big question can be legitimate, why Google never solve this issue completely? I'll try to involve some developers, talk to some Googlers and also with your help, I hope we can find all together an answer to this question.

I know it can sound a little too much to start a blog only for a single little problem that can annoy a user or maybe only a Pro User, but I don't care.. I wanted to let the people know what I discovered in this months, and maybe we'll have the time to talk also of other interesting things (we'll see..).

After this introduction, you have enough informations to decide if you believe that this blog deserves a place in your favourite RSS reader. In any case you are welcome, so please, enjoy your stay.