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12 Helpful Tips

.. for Switch users new to Android.





1. Place a battery percentage indicatior in the status bar so you can see the number increase in real time while charging. This is a temporary workaround; the current build doesn't indicate whether the system is charging while charging it.



Head to Settings > Battery > switch on Battery Percentage. I often play while charging, so it's helpful seeing this number go up simply by glancing at the status bar.



2. Use TWRP to create a backup image file of the entire android OS, so you can easily restore to it if an app, magsik or xposd module causes any issues, especially issues that cause bootloops. I also recommend using TWRP's built in file manager to move files back and forth between the 2GB fat32 partition and android's own storage system << this is helpful if you find FTP-ing a bit painful in certain circumstances.



Head to TWRP and tap Backup > Slide to initiate backup. (Tap the words "autogenerate" to rename your backup prior to initiating the backup. Note: none of the files accessible via the file manager will be deleted or backed up. Just the OS itself, instslled apps along with their data and settings (e.g your notes in a notes app). To access the file manager, tap Advanced on TWRPs home screen (you can move, copy and rename files and even delete magisk module folders if a particular magisk module is causing bootloops)



You can move this TWRP backup to a PC and even to another switch and restore it to move all your stuff to a second switch. TWRP backup images are stored on the non fat32 partion (fat32 partition is the 2GB partition that shows up on your PC when plug in this LineageOS SD card). To move this backup to the PC, install any free ftp or WiFi file transfer app and navigate it to /sdcard/TWRP/backups.





3. (optional but tricky) Uninstall System Bloatware

...RAM and other resources are precious. As amazing as this build is, the devs have left in some useless apps aren't needed on the Switch like Microsoft email exchanger, phone , call management and default SMS app, contacts app, LineageOS Updater (useless on unofficial builds), call log etc. I used Titanium Backup to uninstall these system apps. The process is tricky cuz system apps are notoriously difficult to remove unless you use apps like these. Also, uninstalling the wrong system app can bootloop your system so don't do this if you don't know what you're doing. MAKE A TWRP BACKUP BEFORE "DEBLOATING". I've saved over hundreds of MBs of ram and improved battery life by uninstalling bloatware that wastes CPU cycles.. Bloatware reduces performance in apps like dolphin, nom gaming apps and even sucks battery while the screen is off, esp annoying since this build doesn't CURRENTLY support deep sleep). A novice user should ONLY uninstall common sense apps (call log backup and restore, exchange, updater etc). And ALWAYS backup your ROM using TWRP beforehand to recover from bootloops secondary to accidental deletions.



4. Backup your apps AND data

..all thanks to Titanium Backup

..you can also restore app data from a TWRP backup using this app, give you two excellent backup options.



5. Enjoy system wide dark mode and other themes

..all thanks to Substratum

...if you've installed Xposd, download "Force Darkmode Oreo" < download via Xposd or the website.

..you can download tons of free and paid themes for Substrstum, including true black and gray themes, and give your eyes a break. System wide dark mode is coming in Android 10 but just because we're all on 8.1, doesn't mean we need to blind our eyes playing at night.



6. Use AdAway to block ads at the host level. Import more lists from the EasyList site. Tap and hold on the txt link then paste them in the app's sources.



7. Use AFwall+ or other firewalls, to allow only select apps access to the internet



8. Use Nova Launcher and download icon packs. The built in app launcher (called Trebuchet) has no customkzariom features but still uses over 160MB of RAM in this build. RAM is key for many demanding apps (eg depth of field/field of view in android games like PUBG, and even in Dolphin games) so every MB helps. Plus a new lanucher like Nova gives you tons of options to customize things to your liking. After installing a launcher and setting it as default, you can uninstall Trebuchet using a bloatware uninstaller like Titanium Backup.



9. Use AppOps (free or pro) to protect your privacy through fine grained permission control (or use the much more limited but still useful Privacy Guard << built into Lineage, simply search for it in settings). This feature is built into android but because unlike Apple, Google makes money through tracking, they've deliberately buried it by giving it no UI a user can easily control. This app provides that UI and simple switches to block clipboard access, prevent apps from waking up or running in the background, preventing unauthorized apps access to the SD card etc. Google officially gives users only like 20% of the privacy variable switches you can toggle off in this app. HIGHLY recommended.



10. Install XPOSD and an xposd module called Prevent Running, to prevent all your installed apps from randomly waking up in the background and wasting valuable RAM and other resources. (Note: may affect notifications so don't use it on messaging apps etc)



11. See which apps are sucking up your ram by using the built in RUNNING SERVICES setting. Head to Settings > System > About Tablet. Then scroll down & tap on the "build number" SEVEN times until developer options are enabled. Then head to Settings > System > Developer Options > Running Services.



12.Boost android launch time by preventing apps from automatically launching at startup. Once you've enabled Developer Options, head to Settings > System > Developer Options > Memory> scroll down and tap "Apps started on boot". Now you'll see a list of apps that have been configured to start up as soon as Android boots.



Alternatively, you can search in Settings for Privacy Guard > tap the three dots in the top right > then Advanced > now swipe all the way to the right til you see "run in background" and "bootup". You can now slide off each app you don't need as soon as the system boots. You can also prevent apps from running the background. You'll see a huge boost in boot times esp if you have tons of apps installed.



Bonus Tip: Upgrade the web rendering engine "Webview". This build has version 72.xxxx while the latest version from google as of July 29th is v. 76.xxx. Since most apps including the browser use Webview, upgrading will pay off. Not only does it boost browsing speed, but it's also essential to be keep our Switch STADIA -Ready, cuz Stadia will rely on the latest webview APIs found in Chrome. I don't use chrome, so this is helpful for people like me. This may be a noob opinion, but i think Stadia will likely rely on the latest Webview APIs, not necessarily the Chrome app. Even if you don't care about Stadia, upgrading webview will boost the internal web browsers of all your apps.



Install the latest Webview apk from the playstore/apkmirror (arm64 variant) > enable developer options > in develop options, you'll find an option to select Webview versions > switch from v72 to v76. Run browsing benchmarks and enjoy the boost! You can uninstall the older v72 webview using Titanium Backup.



..................................



I'd appreciate it if someone started a thread listing tips and recommended apps/tweaks that could really help switch users. For now, enjoy these tweaks from one noob to another.



Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread to help me and esp to the Switchroot team for their wizardry.