How to restrict tablet booting in safe mode? How to disable the safe mode?

[Pranav Dave]

We would like to stop users going to safe mode on KitKat 4.4. We use Airwatch MDM and users are breaking/uninstalling it by going to safe mode. They just hold the power button for some time which will give them option for switching off the tablets, when they touch and hold the Power off option they got the option to re-start the tablet in safe mode. We would like to restrict this safe mode boot. As once they go to safe mode then they are uninstalling Airwatch Agent as well as all other third party software which we have installed. We want to restrict our users from doing this to ensure the compliance.

If anyone knows how to stop tablet booting in SafeMode then please let me know ASAP.

 

[Rukbat]

Since that's hard-wired into Android, you'd have to rewrite the system. Or maybe install your app as a system app.

 

[Pranav Dave]

Thank you for your reply. That's true. If will have the AW agent as part of OS build then it can not be uninstalled during safe mode as well and that's the long term solution but needs some quick work around if we can stop the option to go to /boot in safe mode by some OS configuration to fix it temparory.

 

[Rukbat]

You'd have to decompile the OS (or get source for it) and comment out the safe mode code. Which would then also be the permanent solution. (You can't just "flip a switch" in a huge chunk of machine code unless you're a VERY skilled systems programmer and are VERY familiar with the system. Or are a genius, like one lady I worked with, who wrote at the system level for the AS-400 - which is like wing-walking on a jetliner at 35,000 feet without oxygen. Hi, Dot.)

 

[Pranav Dave]

Thank you once again. In case if you know someone who can do this and interested in working with us as free-lancer let me know.

 

[Rukbat]

Do you get your money by the truckload or the train car load? That's the kind of work you're talking about here. A $50/hour programmer isn't going to rewrite Android for you. What I gave you was the technically correct answer - the practical answer is "figure out a practical way of doing it - rewriting Android isn't it".