1- is there anything that is NOT working about Shelter (with /e/) ?
Are there any apps that don’t work properly in the “work” profile?
2- is it true that the apps that we install in the “work” profile that is
created by Shelter cannot at the present moment be updated?
3- does anybody know if anybody is working to try to fix point #2?
4- shouldn’t /e/ install Shelter by default, and explain in plain terms
to everybody why and how we should create a different “contacts” file
(with fewer contacts and with fewer details about those contacts)
that we can “feed” to some data-hungry apps that we might need
to use even if it would be better to avoid using them, like Whatsapp?
And while I’m at it: How can I export a file with my (active) Whatsapp
contacts and, even more important, my groups from Whatsapp?
5- would it make sense to install other apps with maps (car sharing,
bike sharing, public transport, ride hailing apps etc) and/or trackers
in the “work” profile created by Shelter, or would I be shooting myself
in the foot, giving access to data from these apps to the most pernicious
app of them all, the one I wanted to “isolate” in the first place, i.e. Whatsapp?
What is the best way to do it? Put everything that is safe in one profile
and everything which leaks in the other? Or isolate only the worst app(s)?
6- once we install (“copy”) an app in the “work” profile created by
Shelter, is it possible to uninstall the original copy of that app or not?
I’m not sure if Shelter still easy enough to be pre-installed. I guess, the Privacy Guard from LineageOS, basic internet-access blocking, and privacy-related improvements in the Android 10 would be enough for the average person.
I think, all the functions that can be implemented with ethical and open-sourced apps should be performed this way without Shelter.
Also, if the application with trackers can be used without the Internet — isolate it from the network in the main profile without Shelter. (I’m no expert, but I guess that should be enough.)
Use Shelter only in the most desperate situations, when you really can’t do without some app that contains trackers and should have network access.
If for no other reason I have to say I love this project cause you guys are teaching me about apps I had no idea existed. Playing around with Shelter now. Seems like a great idea! Now maybe I will install some apps on my ePhone that I want isolated and OFF most of the time.
Nice question all the apps I am using in shelter (or work profile) have clones on the main profile, and both get updated simultaneously.
So I don’t have an experience with what you are asking about, although I can suggest trying to clone the Apps store itself to shelter and see if you can manage updates for the “Sheltered apps” separately.
More likely, it was a rhetorical question, since updating sheltered apps, as well as the correct using of AFwall+ with the work profile are impossible without cloning apps in both profiles (as far as I know).
Something I discovered about Shelter just last night. It was my assumption that if I’m using a VPN under my normal profile it’s also applicable to the Shelter profile. WRONG! You have run the VPN in each separate profile.
I wonder whether Shelter is actually doing what I hope it would do. So, I have put all apps that have too many trackers or that I fear might be “spying” on me in the Shelter. Probably the most pernicious one would be Facebook Messenger, for example. Anyhow, at first I would freeze all apps in there when not using Shelter(ed) apps, but that became too cumbersome. But I think the apps in Shelter are still keeping an “eye” on me and my activity within the Shelter at all times to extent and abilities they have. So, am I really accomplishing anything by using Shelter? I get that they are isolated from the apps in my main profile.
There is no necessity to always use an official client apps and containers for them. Often you can get a fine unofficial open-source client, which may be quite enough.