Purpose of Telephony Provider

Question

Some background information:

I have a certain yet to be released tablet and sadly the people who designed it seemed to have removed TelephonyProvider.apk

Here's how I've reached that conclusion :

1. When I go to More... in WIRELESS & NETWORKS there are no options to change APN, VPN or access Mobile networks. (Please note that the table has no facility to lodge a SIM card) However, on my Karbonn ST10 (Android 4.1.1) all these options are found. The certain tablet is currently on Android 4.2.2

2. When I used an app called APN shortcuts I was able to launch the APN configuration screen, however every time I changed the MCC or MNC number, the APN could not be saved and was deleted.

3. When I tried to read the contents of content://telephony/carriers I received a NullPointerException.

Questions:

1. What is the purpose of TelephonyProvider.apk?

2. Will it be possible to install it without root access? If so, how? (I'm pretty sure this can't be done, but if someone else knows a magical method please enlighten the world)

3. Can 3G data connections via dongles be established on this device which seems to be missing TelephonyProvider? Or will the ROM have to be edited and TelephonyProvider be installed.

I'm pretty sure this is a programming question, but if it belongs on Android Enthusiasts, please move it.

Answer 1

It's just an apk... you should be able to sideload it with adb without root with adb sideload <your apk>. It would just be removable since its not it /system/app, ie built in with the ROM. If the makers of your device disabled certain features on the device, which would explain possibly why those menus do not display in the Settings app, then TelephonyProvider may not be all that you need to get the connections you want to establish working.

Hope this helps.

Update: These features are probably disabled on the device you are using. based on what you described. From the PackageManager documentation.

FEATURE_TELEPHONY Feature for getSystemAvailableFeatures() and hasSystemFeature(String): The device has a telephony radio with data communication support.

FEATURE_WIFI Feature for getSystemAvailableFeatures() and hasSystemFeature(String): The device supports WiFi (802.11) networking.