Quick relook at H96 Max Android TV box

Readers may want to see: List of my posts related to H96Max (H96 Max) Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/list-of-my-posts-related-to-h96max-h96.html , 26th Jun. 2024

Summary

H96 Max worked as expected in recent tests. It can be used as a decent speed but unsafe for private or sensitive data, Android based Internet browsing device run on voltage stabilizer, with its core OS functionality not being impacted by sudden power loss. For package updates, UPS may be necessary to ensure normal shutdown if mains power is cut. But UPS will not be needed for using H96 Max with currently installed versions of its software packages.

The big issue with H96 Max is it being a rooted Android device and so being vulnerable to various malware including keylogging software. A keylogger could help malicious agents to crack some userid password typed in the device. That’s the big risk, I think. And so one should not use any of one's regular ids on H96 Max.

Accessing some sites and web apps. on Chrome gives some certificate errors. I have not been able to resolve or get a workaround for this issue.

It performs quite well as a media player and Internet TV channel viewer.

Typing in data on local files is fast though local data may be lost/corrupted on sudden powercut unless there is UPS protection.

Detailed Notes

22 to 26 June 2024

Trying out typing in Gmail app. Its quite good! H96 Max is doing a great job in this regard.

Google Docs app. was not working. I updated it through Google Play store after which it is working well.

Typed in without on screen keyboard hassle by using mouse right-click to close on screen keyboard.

I think Google Docs app. operation from H96 Max is very good.

The question is how safe it is to share data between rooted Android device like H96 Max and PC or laptop or even other non-rooted Android devices like my Samsung M21 phone.

H96 Max also does a good job as an Internet browsing device. Perhaps it is better than Micro 5 in some aspects in this role. Videos play much faster though the quality is decent but not as good as desktop PC.

The fascinating thing is that typing in apps like Text Editor and Simple Note is convenient and fast. A minor issue is that pressing Enter on the keyboard results in a character being typed in if that character has focus in the on-screen keyboard that seems to appear by default when one is on a field where one can key in text.

…

Chrome had to be updated. I chose APK Pure as the app for the update as that was the default. But after download it said it will install factory version of Google Chrome and my data will be lost! I canceled out and updated through Google Play Store which went through smoothly. In a previous post about H96 Max, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2021/12/short-review-of-h96max-android-tv-box.html , I had written, “If it has Chrome installed on it, then it must be rooted I guess as I don't think Chrome is available on Google Play Store for Android TV.” I think that implies that at that time I was using APK Pure to update Chrome and that I could not do that from Google Play Store. But I am not sure.

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Read through some articles on dangers of using rooted Android … The big danger is of malicious code easily getting installed on the rooted Android device due to the device allowing anything to be done on it. Note that on my H96 Max, a simple su without any password being specified is enough to get into root mode in terminal. So any app. would probably be able to easily get into root mode and do whatever it wants on the device.

Installing an anti virus app is recommended by some articles. But even with that, I think the risks of malicious code quietly slipping in, are high. So I should not use any of my regular logins on H96 Max. What I think may be safe to do is to type in non-sensitive stuff on H96 Max, say on Gmail or its Google Docs in a special Gmail id for H96 Max (or similar rooted devices), and then mail it to my regular gmail id(s). I think that action will not introduce any dangers for my regular Gmail ids or the devices in which I use them, as I think Gmail will ensure that no viruses get into my regular devices though it, with just text typed in it or copy-pasted into it. Note that I am not talking of attachments in Gmail as that would have some risk perhaps, especially if Gmail cannot scan it for some reason.

Best free antivirus for Android, https://cybernews.com/best-antivirus-software/free-antivirus-for-android/ , April 2024 lists some antivirus software.

…

Installed TotalAV but it gave a warning about not being defended properly and the option was to purchase something to remove the warning. Uninstalled it.

Then I installed bitdefender. … It provides a 14 day free subscription. Then one may have to pay. Bitdefender did a scan and reported, ‘You are safe’. That was good to know.

But the issue is that unrooted device may allow a keylogger to get setup and either the AV program I am using may not detect it or it may not be active due to paid subscription being needed. A keylogger could help malicious agents to crack some userid password I type in the device. That’s the big risk, I think. And so I simply should not use any of my regular ids on the unrooted H96 Max.

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H96 Max has one of my microSD 64GB cards. It has music and videos on it. I could play them without any issue during my recent tests.

I powered off H96 Max by directly switching off the power and then switching power on again. It did not impact restart of the device in any way. I did it twice with same result of no impact.  So I think for normal usage, H96 Max could also be used without UPS. But when installing an app or saving data on local storage then a sudden powercut may be an issue.

For both Micro 5 and H96 Max when being used without a UPS, it will make sense to save data on Internet storage rather than on local storage. So Google docs and Gmail would be the appropriate data storage mechanism.

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For H96 Max UPS possibility, see 5V 2A Mini UPS possibility for Thinvent Micro 5 Linux mini PC and H96 Max Android TV box, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2024/06/5v-2a-mini-ups-possibility-for-thinvent.html .