The World of Mobiles

It’s been a very long time since I wrote my last blog.

These days I’m into mobile app automations, where I mainly use Appium along with Image Recognition Technology to aid both of iOS and Android Test Automations at work.

Appium is a great choice for doing both iOS and Android automations.

Since the introduction of iOS 10, Appium has replaced the old UIAutomation, and started supporting XCUITest-based automation.  While for Android, UIAutomator2 has becoming more mainstream.

To be honest, UIAutomation was a lot easier to work with then XCUITests using Appium, but UIAutomator2 seems to be much better than the first version, where it supports parallel testing.

Hi everyone, hope you all having Happy Holidays and have fun and safe times.

The next release of the Cookie Jar and Pebble Jar will be delayed as I'm currently travelling overseas.  It was developed about a week ago, but it got stuck in test phase.  I want to make sure it will be a worthy update as protecting users' info is very important to me.

The next upgrade will definitely be big and should make my apps even better then before. 

Please stay tune and thanks for your continuing supports.

Welcome!  Thank you for your interest in this app, Pebble Jar Password Storage & Management Android App.  Hope you will find this tutorial useful.  Remembering passwords for every sites you use can be quite a real headache, having this app in your hands (ok it's on your mobile device) will give you the edge of remembering just one password than many other passwords (actually, you can set it up in a way so that you don’t even have to type that password to access the app all the time).

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Firstly, once this app is download from the Google Play Store, it will first ask you to setup a master passcode.  This is the code to access the app itself.  This screen should only appear once and then if you ever need to change it, you can change it from the menu once you have logged in.  Later on you can then use your Pebble watch as a token for authentication.

Once the initial passcode has been set, you will then see the following screen:

Now enter your passcode and you will gain entry to a list of locally stored website credentials.

ADDING A NEW ENTRY

If you logged in for the first time, the list should be emptied.  Then you can start adding new entry by clicking on the “new key” icon on the top right.

The “Add Entry” looks like this:

Fill in all the mandatory fields and then click Save.  This will then save the entry into the password list.  If Cancel is clicked, everything that has been typed will be discarded.

USING THE PASSWORD LIST

When you build up a password list over time, it should look something like this:

If the list grows long enough, you can also use the quick scroll bar.  So if you want to find “pebble watch”, just slide the fast scroll until you see “PE”.

OTHER WAYS OF FINDING A PARTICULAR ENTRY

There are two other ways to find a particular entry or entries efficiently.  Using the example above, say you would like to retrieve the username/password pair for the Pebble Watch site, then just use the search field from the top of the page.

As the placeholder suggested, you can search the title, username or note field for a particular keyword.  So type in “pebble” would yield a result that returns all the records containing the word "Pebble" in either the title, username, or under note.

The other way is also just as efficient.  If you are sure that the entry starts with a particular alphabet, say looking for the password of the VPN that connects work, simply do a tap 'W' on the alphabet indexer on the right hand side of the page, will return a set of entries starting with 'W' and just look for the entry "Work VPN" if there is such an entry.

TWO WAYS OF AUTHENTICATION

As mentioned earlier, if you decided one day to change the passcode for this app, there is a function under the menu which allows you to update the system passcode.  Find the menu item “Authentication” will bring up the following screen:

The first part allows the use of a Pebble Watch as an authentication token, and the second part allows the user to update the system passcode.

Worth mentioning, if there is a desire to use another Bluetooth device as an authentication token rather than using a Pebble Watch, consider getting my other app Cookie Jar Password Storage that sold separately in the Google Play store.

To use this unique feature, just tap on “Click here to select…” to select your paired devices (Note, a paired Bluetooth device is one that has already been registered at least once with your mobile device.  It does not necessary equivalent to a connected Bluetooth device.  You can have a paired Bluetooth device on your phone but not yet connected.  A connected Bluetooth device has always been paired already.)

If Bluetooth connectivity has not been switched on, it will prompted you to do so:

Simply allow your Android mobile or Android tablet to switch Bluetooth on, and try login again.  Going back to the same menu should now allow you to set up one of your already paired Pebble watch as an authentication token, whenever this registered “token” is connected to your mobile device.  Remember to make sure the “Use My Pebble Watch” checkbox is selected and then save your authentication preference.

Now the screen should show that you have been logged out.  If you press the Home button and go and connect the mobile device with the registered Pebble watch, every time you go back and need access to the app, it should automatically login, without the need to type the password.  Very handy huh? :)

There is a limitation though, if both device has not been used for some time, or has turned on the Airport mode on either your Pebble watch or mobile device, it may get disconnected and then you will need to reconnect both devices again.  More details in the Pebble Watch section listed below.

OTHER GREAT FEATURES THAT THIS APP OFFERS

This app also supports importing and exporting password lists.  If you ever need to use another phone, you can choose the Export feature under the menu.  It’s a one step operation, and it will tell you if it has been successfully exported the password list to your phone.  If successful, it will display the location and the name of your exported file.  You will then need a directory management tool like ASTRO or Airdroid to retrieve the exported password list.  PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP IT SAFE!  Once it has been exported, you can copy it to another device and use the Import feature to import all the entries back into the new Pebble Jar on your other mobile device.

Import feature allows you to select your Pebble Jar Import File from a list of directory,  Navigate to the directory of where you have put the file, and tap it once.  It is listed in the format of YYYYMMDD_HHmmss of the time the file is exported, so you can then choose which file you would like to import without difficulties.  The Import function will take several seconds to up to a couple of minutes, so be patient and wait for it to finish importing.

DELETING ALL ENTRIES

There is one more feature under the menu which is the Delete All Entries function.  As the name suggested, selecting this option will give you the ability to delete every single records entered in the app!  So make sure you know what you are doing, either you have already made a backup of all the entries, or you simply need to remove them all.

QUICK ENTRY MODE

You may have been wondering what if there is a need to save up something quickly but logging into the app and create an entry takes too long?  Well this app also has the ability to let the user to add a quick entry without needing to first authenticate.  Simply tap on the New Key icon below the passcode entry field to access the quick entry mode.  Note if you have already set to authenticate by the Pebble watch, this feature will not be available, as you will automatically be logged in.

Notice this quick entry already pre-filled the Title field for you, along with the date and time for your reference.  Also the required password is only needed to type once, rather than twice, to shorten the time of completing an entry, make sure you type it correctly or else even this app can’t help you to confirm whether you have made a valid entry! :(

Once done tap on the Save icon and your new entry will be stored in the app.  To retrieve it later, simply login and search for the quick entry, or just look under ‘Q’ using the Alphabet Indexer on the right hand side of the page.

MULTILINGUAL SUPPORT

 Saving in languages other than English works! Give it a try!

PEBBLE WATCH SUPPORT

What’s so great about this app is that it utilises the exclusive use of a Pebble watch.  There are a few things you can do with the watch.

1) Use it as an authentication token -> see Authentication

2) Greets you whenever you logged in -> see also Authentication

3) Display username, password and the URL of a particular entry at your request

To use the 3) function, you must first have Pebble Watch as your authentication token, and then pick a record from the list of entries and use then tap on the button “Send to Pebble”.  

This will immediately check to see if the registered Pebble watch is indeed connected to the mobile device.  If so, the username, password and the URL stored on the current displaying Cookie will be sent to the watch display:

This is very useful to the Pebble Watch users and in many occasions you will find yourself entering or recalling the credentials more easily when they are showing on your wrist, without the need to switch between screens on the mobile device.

AVAILABILITY

Pebble Jar is available in the Google Play Store.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coffeebeams.android.pebblejarse

A free version will also be available that allows users to try it out first and able to create up to 10 entries in the app.  Once you have purchase the full version, the existing records can be transferred by exporting the entries and then import them back to the full version app.

FUTURE DIRECTION AND IMPROVEMENTS

Further Pebble watch support will be looked at.  Stay tuned!

FAQs

Q: Is my data safe to keep?

A: AFAIK, this app stores the data in the private section, which only this app is allowed to access the data.  However, if your device is rooted, that maybe a different story.

Q: Will I lose my data?

A: Like any other electronic devices, there is always a risk of hardware failure or a high chance of being lost or stolen.  However, there are ways to minimise this risk.  One such way is perhaps regularly export your Cookies List and move the file to a different or secure location, and use the Import feature to store them back to a different device when needed.  This app does not help you to save things in your Cloud Server or Network, as I don’t consider them a very safe and reliable place at this time.

Q: What if I lost my pebble, can I use other ways to log in?

A: You can still use the passcode to log in when the registered Pebble watch cannot be detected.

Q: What if I forgot my passcode, can I use other ways to log in?

A: Well, this app is already trying to help users to reduce the number of credentials they need to remember from MANY MANY down to 1.  Good luck and hope you will at least make an effort to remember one passcode :)

Welcome!  Thank you for your interest in this app, CookieJar Standard Edition.  Hope you will find this tutorial useful.  Remembering passwords for every sites you use can be quite a real headache, having this app in your hands (ok it's on your mobile device) will give you the edge of remembering just one password than many other passwords (actually, you can set it up in a way so that you don’t even have to type that password to access the app all the time).

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Firstly, once this app is download from the Google Play Store, it will give you a brief intro of what the app is about.  Once this has gone through, it will ask you to setup a master passcode.  This is the code for you to access the app itself.  This screen should only appear once and then if you ever need to change it, you can change it from the menu once you have logged in.

Once the initial passcode has been set, you will then see the following screen:

Now enter your passcode and you will gain entry to the what I called “cookies” that are stored in the app.  Don’t be confused with the actual cookies that are stored on your web browsers from various websites.  I call each entry a “cookie” purely because I love to imagine a cat hiding all its cookies in a jar and then retrieve them later.

ADDING A NEW ENTRY

If you logged in for the first time, the list should be emptied.  Then you can start adding new entry by clicking on the “new key” icon on the top right.

The “Add Entry” looks like this:

Fill in all the mandatory fields and then click Save.  This will then save the entry into the password list.  If Cancel is clicked, everything that has been typed will be discarded.

USING THE PASSWORD LIST

When you build up a password list over time, it should look something like this:

If the list grows long enough, you can also use the quick scroll bar, which appears when you start scrolling the list, similar to the one showing below:

In the above example, the letters “LE” actually indicates the top entry on that particular screen, which is “Lego”.  So if you want to find “pebble watch”, just slide the fast scroll under you see “PE”.

OTHER WAYS OF FINDING A PARTICULAR ENTRY

There are two other ways to find a particular entry or entries efficiently.  Using the example above, say you would like to retrieve the username/password pair for the Pebble Watch site (BTW, this app has a special feature to support Pebble Watch users, see section Pebble Watch Support for more info).  The first way is to use is pretty straight forward.  Just use the search field from the top of the page:

As the placeholder suggested, you can search the title, username or note field for a particular keyword.  So type in “pebble” or “pebble watch” would yield a result.

The other way is also just as efficient.  If you are sure that the entry starts with a particular alphabet, say looking for the password of the VPN that connects work, simply do a tap on the alphabet indexer on the right hand side of the page, will return a set of entries like the example below which all begins with the letter ‘W’:

Then just select the entry “work VPN”.  Easy.

OTHER WAYS OF AUTHENTICATION

As mentioned earlier, if you decided one day to change the passcode for this app, there is a function under the menu which allows you to update the system passcode.  Find the menu item “Authentication” will bring up the following screen:

The first part allows the use of a Bluetooth device as an authentication token, and the second part allows the user to update the system passcode.

Worth mentioning is that any Bluetooth device that can establish and sustain a connection to the device should be able to use for authentication.  Such a device would be a Bluetooth Keyboard, a Bluetooth Headset, and of course, a Pebble Watch!

To use this unique feature, just tap on “Click here to select…” to select your paired devices (Note, a paired Bluetooth device is one that has already been registered at least once with your mobile device.  It does not necessary equivalent to a connected Bluetooth device.  You can have a paired Bluetooth device on your phone but not yet connected.  A connected Bluetooth device has always been paired already.)

If Bluetooth connectivity has not been switched on, it will prompted you to do so:

Simply allow your Android mobile or Android tablet to switch Bluetooth on, and try login again.  Going back to the same menu should now allow you to set up one of your paired Bluetooth device as an authentication token, whenever this registered “token” is connected to your mobile device.  Remember to make sure the “Use Bluetooth Device” checkbox is selected and then save your authentication preference.

Now the screen should show that you have been logged out.  If you press the Home button and go and connect the mobile device with the registered Bluetooth device, every time you go back and need access to the app, it should automatically login, without the need to type the password.  Very handy huh? :)

There is a limitation though, if both device has not been used for some time, it may get disconnected and then you will need to reconnect both devices again.  If you have a Pebble Watch, check out the Pebble Watch Support section to see the extra bits you will get as a Pebble Watch User.

OTHER GREAT FEATURES THAT THIS APP OFFERS

This app also supports Import and Export Password Lists.  If you ever need to use another phone, you can choose the Export feature under the menu.  It’s a one step operation, and it will tell you if it has been successfully exported the password list to your phone.  If successful, it will display the location and the name of your exported file.  You will then need a directory management tool like ASTRO or Airdroid to retrieve the exported password list.  PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP IT SAFE!  Once it has been exported, you can copy it to another device and use the Import feature to import all the “Cookies” back into the new CookieJar on your other mobile device.

Import feature allows you to select your Cookies file from a list of directory, similar to the following:

Navigate to the directory of where you have put the Cookies file, and tap it once.  It is listed in the format of YYYYMMDD_HHmmss of the time the file is exported, so you can then choose which file you would like to import without difficulties.  The Import function will take several seconds to up to a couple of minutes, so be patient and wait for it to finish importing.

DELETE ALL COOKIES

There is one more feature under the menu which is the Delete All Entries function.  As the name suggested, selecting this option will give you the ability to delete every single Cookie entries in the app!  So make sure you know what you are doing, either you have already made a backup of the Cookies, or you simply need to clear them all.

QUICK ENTRY MODE

You may have been wondering what if there is a need to save up something quickly but logging into the app and create an entry takes too long?  Well this app also has the ability to let the user to add a quick entry without needing to first authenticate.  Simply tap on the New Key icon below the passcode entry field to access the quick entry mode:

Notice this quick entry already pre-filled the Title field for you, along with the date and time for your reference.  Also the required password is only needed to type once, rather than twice, to shorten the time of completing an entry, make sure you type it correctly or else even this app can’t help you! :(

Once done tap on the Save icon and your new entry will be stored in the app.  To retrieve it later, simply login and search for the quick entry, or just look under ‘Q’.

MULTILINGUAL SUPPORT

 Saving Cookies in languages other than English works! :D

PEBBLE WATCH SUPPORT

What’s so great about this CookieJar is that it utilises the use of a Pebble Watch.  There are a few things you can do with the watch.

1) Use it as an authentication token -> see Authentication

2) Greets you whenever you logged in -> see Authentication

3) Display username, password and the URL of a particular Cookie at your request

See Section “Authentication using your Bluetooth Device” and you ail discover the Authentication page allows you to set up option 1) and 2)

To use the 3) function, you must first have Pebble Watch as your authentication token, and then pick your Cookie from the list of entries and use then tap on the button “Send to Pebble”.  This will immediately check to see if the registered Pebble Watch is indeed connected to the mobile device.  If so, the username, password and the URL stored on the current displaying Cookie will be sent to the watch display.  This is a cool addition to the Pebble Watch users and at many occasions you will yourself entering or recalling the credentials more easily when they are showing on your wrist.

AVAILABILITY

CookieJar Standard Edition should be available in the Google Play Store towards the end of October, 2013.

FUTURE DIRECTION AND IMPROVEMENTS

NFC authentication will be considered.  Kickstart Projects such as the NFC Ring will make an interesting companion to CookieJar.

FAQs

Q: Is my data safe to keep?

A: AFAIK, this app stores the data in the private section, which only this app is allowed to access the data.  However, if your device is rooted, that maybe a different story.

Q: Will I lose my data?

A: Like any other electronic devices, there is always a risk of hardware failure or a high chance of being lost or stolen.  However, there are ways to minimise this risk.  One such way is perhaps regularly export your Cookies List and move the file to a different or secure location, and use the Import feature to store them back to a different device when needed.  This app does not help you to save things in your Cloud Server or Network, as I don’t consider them a very safe and reliable place at this time.

Q: What if I lost my authentication token, can I use other ways to log in?

A: You can still use the passcode to log in.

Q: What if I forgot my passcode, can I use other ways to log in?

There are floating news around that within hours the iOS7 release, the screen lock was able to be by-passed.

After I understood the method,  I was able to do at least two more things than what was being mentioned in one of the news article.   I was able to gain details of the contacts for each individual as well as the ability to browse and listen to all the songs on the device.

This is my first post, but I wanted to make a post about how strange the latest stock browser of Android behaves.

My intention was to type a website URL in Australia so that I can go to it directly.  However, since there is only an entry field that doubles as both a search bar, as soon as I start typing the URL, it gives me some other funny suggestions that I don't need at all.