edit: I believe scrcpy fits what I looking for right now, although it views black screen for some materials (during navigation) it does give me a good view of the pdf. I doubt if I would be able to download the pdf unfortunately, but hey, this is the next best thing. Since I would need to login first, I might use Shizuka as suggested by the first commenter (not mentioned username incase they decide to delete acc someday).
I am willing to provide any information one could need to help me with this, so when I was getting my admit, the people concerned with this app told me I would be getting Pdfs of notes prepared by the faculty and videos too. Honestly, I know how to pirate those videos so that I can use them at any time, but since I don’t have a phone, I can’t view the content which is not available on website [pdf notes] and only available for view on android and it’s view protected and the freaking phone is small and I can’t hope to read from my phone [and they know that].
So, I was thinking if it was possible to break the protection which can allow me to view the notes on my linux laptop using some app. Or better yet, pirate the bloody pdf so I can take their print outs and read it in physical form. Please ask me any further info you might need.
Maybe an android emulator for your computer could help?
You could set it up as a tablet if the app supports tablet sizes. That would make it more readable and you could screenshot stuff you wanted to save.I had tried android emulators before, but they were terrible. Especially anbox and since I am using MX Linux, I can’t install Anbox anyway. Do you have an emulator in mind for Linux which you know just works?
I haven’t used MX, but as far as i know Anbox still works for it.
I don’t have a specific emulator in mind, but there’s plenty of options. I even think there’s an emulator running in a chrome browser.
I’m just providing the way i would try to attack the problem. :)
I don’t know the end answer, but I believe your starting point is a rooted Android, and if this isn’t possible, use the root replacement that works on most devices, the SnapEnhance works without root and even gives free SnapChat Plus as an added bonus. Shizuka is a root replacement and a Magisk replacement. Magisk modules for DRM or protected view or screenshot protect may guide you in the proper direction, godspeed sir!
Unfortunately I don’t think this would be a great idea. I mean, I don’t want to root that old thing, it hardly works as it is :"(
I wanted a pure Linux solution if possible. Anyways, I think this is a good advice because when I buy a new phone, I will do this.
Shizuka doesn’t require a rooted phone to run, it has to be re-enabled each reboot.
I don’t believe what you’re asking for exists, but I hope we can find a solution for you nonetheless!
Maybe try a virtual machine with an Android image and see what you can do from there instead. You can run pure Android disc images (.iso) from virtual machine emulator software. This way, you can edit and even root the Android installation all from the comfort and safety of your virtual machine and it can be easily deleted at any time. This will help you bake in anti-DRM or screen protection, or at least use root to disable the protection itself. I know there is a Magisk module already available for taking screenshots in protected apps.
Apple Music on Android has this same implementation, where if you screenshot a music video the screenshot comes out completely black and blanked.
I don’t believe what you’re asking for exists, but I hope we can find a solution for you nonetheless!
Thank you for your willingness to help. btw, how do I install shizuka (the sentence is quite funny to me :')
Maybe try a virtual machine with an Android image and see what you can do from there instead. You can run pure Android disc images (.iso) from virtual machine emulator software. This way, you can edit and even root the Android installation all from the comfort and safety of your virtual machine and it can be easily deleted at any time. This will help you bake in anti-DRM or screen protection, or at least use root to disable the protection itself. I know there is a Magisk module already available for taking screenshots in protected apps.
This is better I think, I waste a lot of time on my laptop, I heard there is a bootable android emulator, maybe I can just download and burn it onto my pendrive and try something there. Meanwhile, I will take it as a second option, how can I use shizuka, an article would be greatly helpful.
No problem, head here :
https://www.xda-developers.com/shizuku/#installshizuku
CTRL + F or search for keyword “without root access” no quotes
Once configured, head to Google and search up Magisk modules, or append whatever you’re looking for + Magisk module you may find some out dated ones, but if it’s a shell modification, it will work without root, even if the modification is outdated it’s very much still worth a try. If you use Snapchat you can use SnapEnhance to try it, it was the first app I used to verify Shizuku actually was initially configured correctly, there are others I’m sure but this is actually how I learned about Shizuku initially.
Edit : any system filed cannot be edited, nor can the kernel be accessed, root is still superior. Shizuku (no root) mode is strictly shell based.
thank you very much! I actually discovered that these pdfs are uploaded through google drive and set to view only, so Imma try to break that, I can take screenshots now. I don’t need this anymore, but I am gonna try it anyway. Thank you again!
No problem! Have you tried JDownloader2 to download the Google Drive link directly? I am 98% sure there’s a way to download the file even on view mode.
Also, can probably use JavaScript to download PDFs as well.
Who are you, why are you so wise in the ways of science?
Haha, I actually knew about the script but it’s somewhat not clear and you get images instead of text, which is good, but I wish I could download it with text so I can search math topics I want to study in the search bar and get it.
Unfortunately, JDownloader2 (which I installed after reading your comment) didn’t work for me(image) You reckon I should create a post anyway?
Waydroid is a great tool which works like anbox in an lxc container. https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=75714
If you’ve got Google drive links, you can try loading the page with the browser debugger open on the network tab and try to figure out when it downloads the PDF and pull the data from there.
