testsAndMisc/docs/DOCS-device-owner-research.md

Device Owner provisioning: pre-wipe checklist (Pixel 6a, 23181JEGR08034)

Status: planning only. No wipe has been performed and none is scheduled.

Device Owner is the only unrooted tier that meets the "cannot be shut down from the phone" requirement. dpm set-device-owner refuses to run while any account exists on the device, and this phone has six, so provisioning costs a factory reset. This is what that would take.

The Google Wallet blocker does not apply to this device

The one genuinely unresolved risk was whether tap-to-pay survives self-provisioned Device Owner. Research found no mechanism by which DO alone disables Wallet — the documented failure causes are root, custom ROM, unlocked bootloader and uncertified devices, none of which DO touches — but also no first-hand report from anyone who self-provisioned bare DO on a recent Pixel and then confirmed a successful contactless payment.

Checked on the device instead of arguing about it:

pm list packages -f com.google.android.apps.walletnfcrel   -> not installed
settings get secure nfc_payment_default_component          -> null

Google Wallet is not installed and no NFC payment default is set. There is no tap-to-pay to lose. The blocker is moot here; it would only return if you later start using Wallet, and by then the DO app's release path gives you a no-wipe exit to test with.

What is actually on this phone

The earlier checklist was drafted from phone_focus_mode/config.sh, which describes the rooted phone. Verified against the Pixel by pm list packages, these are absent: Aegis, Microsoft Authenticator, Oracle IDM Authenticator, PKO IKO, Google Wallet.

Present and relevant:

App	Package	Survives Google backup?
KeePassDX	com.kunzisoft.keepass.libre	File-based — you own the .kdbx
Signal	org.thoughtcrime.securesms	No — needs its own backup
mBank	pl.mbank	No — device re-pairing
Revolut	com.revolut.revolut	No — re-login + possible re-verification
mObywatel	pl.nask.mobywatel	No — full re-activation

No dedicated TOTP app is installed, so the usual "authenticator seeds are destroyed by the wipe" trap does not apply.

Checked 2026-08-09, and it does not apply via KeePassDX either: the .kdbx lives in KeePassDX's private storage (not on /sdcard, so phone_backup.sh cannot reach it), but the canonical copy is on the PC. And inFakt — the one account whose loss would have blocked this wipe — is SMS-only 2FA: "Aplikacja weryfikacyjna" is unconfigured, so no seed exists to lose, and Logowanie is not among the 2FA-gated actions. See phone_focus_mode/docs/youtube-block-unrooted.md.

pl.infakt.infakt belongs in the table above: the account is server-side and survives, but its banking pairing does not — re-pair via SMS, same as mBank.

Phase A — break the circular dependency first

Re-verifying a bank typically needs an SMS and a second factor; if the second factor died with the wipe, the loop closes on you. Do these before touching anything.

1. Print Google backup codes for both accounts (321krzychu@gmail.com, krzysztofrudnicki0@gmail.com) — myaccount.google.com → Security → 2-Step Verification → Backup codes. If your only second factor is an on-device prompt or passkey, the wipe locks you out of the accounts that gate everything else.
2. Copy the KeePassDX database off the device, and its keyfile if you use one. This is the highest-value artifact on the phone.

   adb -s 23181JEGR08034 shell 'find /sdcard -iname "*.kdbx" 2>/dev/null'
   adb -s 23181JEGR08034 pull <path> ~/phone-backup/
   

3. Write down on paper: mBank customer ID + password, Revolut passcode, Signal PIN, KeePassDX master password, both Google passwords.
4. Confirm the SIM and number will keep working — nearly every re-activation below sends an SMS.

Phase B — export

5. Signal: Settings → Backups → On-device backups. Record the 30-digit passphrase on paper — it is not your Signal PIN.

   adb -s 23181JEGR08034 pull /sdcard/Signal/Backups/ ~/phone-backup/signal/
   

   Registration Lock: forgetting the PIN locks you out for up to 7 days.
6. Photos and downloads:

   adb -s 23181JEGR08034 pull /sdcard/DCIM/ ~/phone-backup/DCIM/
   adb -s 23181JEGR08034 pull /sdcard/Download/ ~/phone-backup/Download/
   

7. mBank: in the transactional service, note how to remove a paired device. The old phone stays listed as active after a reset and must be detached.
8. VERIFY EVERY EXPORT BEFORE WIPING. Open the .kdbx on the PC. An untested export is not a backup — this is the step people skip and regret.

Phase C — wipe and provision, in this order

9. Factory reset.
10. Provision DO immediately, before signing into anything — the account check is what blocks it:

    adb install -r focus_owner/build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-debug.apk
    adb shell dpm set-device-owner com.kuhy.focus_owner/.FocusDeviceAdminReceiver
    

11. Test the escape hatch before adding a single account. Open Focus Owner, confirm it reports Device owner: yes, press Release device owner, and confirm it flips back to no. Then re-provision. If release does not work, stop — a DO app that cannot let go is a soft-brick waiting to happen, and at this moment you have nothing to lose by wiping again.
12. Add one Google account. Verify banking apps install and log in.
13. Restore KeePassDX, then Signal (the restore prompt appears at install time only — do not skip past it).
14. Banks. mBank: pair via app or transactional service, SMS code, then app PIN and mobile authorisation. Revolut: re-login, SMS/email, possible selfie re-verification.
15. mObywatel last. Re-activation needs Profil Zaufany or a bank login plus SMS — which is why the banks must work first. Activating on the new device automatically deactivates the old one, so there is no rollback. Verify current steps at https://www.gov.pl/web/mobywatel before relying on this.
16. Only then apply enforcement, one restriction at a time, re-testing the release path after each.

Do not set these until the rest is proven

DISALLOW_FACTORY_RESET and DISALLOW_DEBUGGING_FEATURES close your own repair routes as well as your bypass routes. Combined with an always-on VPN lockdown they are the specific combination most likely to leave an unrecoverable device. Add them last, if at all.

Rollback

DevicePolicyBridge.releaseDeviceOwner() (clearDeviceOwnerApp) removes DO with no wipe, but only while the app is installed and working. dpm remove-active-admin does not work on a device owner. If the app is uninstalled without releasing first, the only exit is another factory reset.