PhoneAccount Abuse Detector

linuxct

About this app

PhoneAccount Abuse Detector is a simple application to enumerate and detect any application that (ab)uses adding an indefinite amount of PhoneAccount(s) to Android's TelecomManager.

This application exists because malicious or just improperly programmed applications can, intentionally or not, block your device from the ability to call emergency numbers. If you are in such a situation, this app helps you to find the culprit – which you then can uninstall (or disable).

About permissions:
This application requires two call management permissions, Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE and Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_NUMBERS.

READ_PHONE_STATE is used in all supported Android versions, whereas READ_PHONE_NUMBERS is requested on Android 12 and onwards exclusively. This is because on Android, in order to read which applications are adding PhoneAccounts to Android's TelecomManager, these permissions are necessary.

No permission is (ab)used to log, collect or process any personally identifiable user information.

How to use the application:
The application is very simple, and contains 2 components;

- A message at the top of the device, explaining if the application detected a possible abuse of this functionality which may cause issues while attempting to call Emergency Services.
- A list of the applications that have registered a Phone Account in your device, usually including your own SIM Cards, Google Duo, Teams, among others. Alongside each app, the number of accounts is displayed to facilitate the identification of the malfunctioning/hijacking application.

If you have doubts, check the YouTube video at the top!

Source code:
This application and all its components are Open-Source software, licensed under the AGPL-3.0 license. If you would like to check its source code, please refer to https://github.com/linuxct/PhoneAccountDetector

Ratings and reviews

Thank you. I read about Teams vs. 911 calling on ars technica today, so finding this tool linked at the bottom of the article was very helpful and reassuring. Was surprised not to see a PhoneAccount for Google Voice. I guess it works differently? Oh, I think I found the Easter egg :-) Reminiscent of developer mode..

A very easy app to use. I'm good to go. Thanks for putting me at ease in case of an emergency. Now to wait for the Google Pixel 6 patch later this month. Thank you so much for the effort for creating this app! As a fellow developer, I understand.

No frills and just straight to the point. Just nice that this app is helping detect a bug and kudos to the dev not taking advantage by putting ads, but making this AGPL.

What’s new

functional: Added "Force check" button for devices with a January 2022 SPL or newer
design: Added a ProgressBar view, which is displayed while the application requests permissions or is rechecking for applications abusing the bug
chore: Improved code readability
chore: Application now targets the latest SDK
chore: Upgraded dependencies