In the “settings > security > encryption” menu there’s a “encrypt phone” option (my phone is not in english, i translated, but that may not be the exact name) which is enabled.
However, when booting the phone, before I even enter any password or PIN, I can already see the wallpaper. So that means this part is not encrypted at all. What else is not encrypted? And what is encrypted?
android 12, e os 3.7.1-somethingtoolongtotype, samsung s9
Copy / Paste feature is your friend …
By deduction, it should be latest build from the /e/ “official” branch :
the /e/ “official” android 12 (SnowCone) branch is still safelly “maintained”
when in “community” branch, android 12 was dropped since july 2025 with :
since October 2024, /e/ “community” branch is based on latest Lineage “official” branch, Current version is android 13 based :
the case of the (starlte) is particular because there is nomore Lineage “offical” support
so to upgrade /e/, the device and kernel trees have to be patched by the e.foundation, thanks to a big contribution of the Murena team inspired from others unofficial lineage forks.
This should give quite a good idea of encryption in force on your device https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/encryption.
Something like this in a forum with an Ignore user feature? Ok.
Copy / Paste feature is your friend …
only possible if i’m posting to this thread from the device, which is not my case
would the community version produce a different encryption type?
No, it should be the same
https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/encryption is interesting but then:
Do what you call a mode is : File-based encryption / Full-disk encryption ?
This is an oddly good example. What do we expect from encrypted? We read from the AOSP link
Once a device is encrypted, all user-created data is automatically encrypted …
Now say your lock screen wallpaper was one of your photos. Your data … it is encrypted. You would find this true if you tried to extract it from the device.
But then you put it on the lock screen. It is out of the “vault” due to your action.
But then you put it on the lock screen. It is out of the “vault” due to your action.
ok, but then what else is out of the vault? The android docs link doesn’t tell about the lock screen. However, it mention alarms, so they must be in clear text. Are app data too, so i could get notifications even if phone has just booted?
Do what you call a mode is : File-based encryption / Full-disk encryption ?
yes
Then, in your case, as you mentioned, android 12, so Full-disk encryption is not possible.
It must be File-based encryption.
There is no toggle in the settings, you won’t find anything about this " mode " because it’s a fixed policy.
When you enter your credentials you see your data and exactly what you are doing. The device does not intend to hide your work from you.
automatically encrypted before committing it to disk
So it is only password protected, you (or someone else) enters your password can see what is on the device. Allow the phone to lock; the material stays encrypted until unlocked.
