SonimLab App (XP3800)

Phones Sonim
1

SonimLab — XP3800 Utility Project (v0.1-alpha)

I’ve been working on a small utility project for the Sonim XP3800 called SonimLab.

GitHub:
repo link

The phone I’m using for development is:

  • Sonim XP3800 (XP3)

  • Non-camera model

  • Verizon firmware

  • Visible network

The app is currently in a very early stage (v0.1-alpha) and only has a few features, but I wanted to share it in case anyone is interested in testing, contributing ideas, or comparing behavior on other XP3800 variants.

Other carrier variants may behave differently, so AT&T / Sprint / other XP3 reports would be especially useful.

Goal

SonimLab is intended to be a “Swiss Army Knife” style utility for the XP3800.

The goal is to expose hidden functionality, document workflows, add practical shortcuts, and make the phone more useful while still respecting its rugged dumbphone design.

The goal is not to turn the XP3800 into a modern smartphone.

Current Features (non-root)

Battery Stats

Displays Android battery information:

  • Battery level

  • Temperature

  • Voltage

  • Battery Chemistry

Bluetooth Contact Import Shortcut

Quick access to the built-in Bluetooth contact import feature - especially useful when using alternative launchers.

Warranty Notification Shortcut

Provides a non-root method to access the notification settings page and disable persistent Sonim warranty registration notifications.

Future Plans / Research Areas

Up to this point development has been focused on non-root improvements.

Root functionality will be treated separately so users can choose how far they want to modify their devices.

Some areas being researched:

  • Hotspot entitlement issues

  • Visual Voicemail behavior

  • Busy signal audio bug

  • Spam number blocking for text messages

  • Quick Settings access when using alternative launchers

  • Battery charge limiting

  • Dialer / recent call search improvements

  • Carrier apps and MDM behavior

  • Status bar cleanup

This is still early and experimental, but feedback, testing, and ideas are welcome.

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Love the idea. Wish I could help out but I never really use this device anymore. I got passed hotspot issues with root but it wasn’t as easy as I thought and I forgot how :joy:.

Remind me tomorrow or Monday add I’ll try to test on my Sprint version

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I have the hotspot issue solved. It will be the next feature after I get rooted. Thanks for the encouragement and offer, though.

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Does it fix the “Verizon hotspot subscription check” on visible? I haven’t been able to get hotspot to work on visible cause of it

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Yes, testing has successfully fixed this issue it will be added to the app soon. I’m working right at this moment on getting a complete debug map of Vzw MDM but I might be able to help you with that if the feature isn’t added to the app before hand.

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I’ll test it soon on the xp5800
But does it need root?

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to clarify, root is needed for this fix. There are currently notification side effects but phone remains fully functional. I’m investigating. And the feature doesn’t exist in the current SonimLab release. Coming soon.

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The fun was good while it lasted…

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I might set up a rooting package with all tools and a guide on github. Right now I have a heavy workload so it might be a minute. hang in there. For anyone else who is rooted and reading this - the basic steps are below. Keep in mind that the SonimLab app is striving toward applying these functions in a way that is clean and doesn’t leave anything else broken or orphaned.

make sure phone is activated on network first - backup/full dump

disable com.borqs.carrier for user 0

disable com.borqs.verizon.activationui for user 0 to get rid of SIM notification

still testing, use at your own discretion, backup first, for Verizon xp3800.

my phone is fully functional after implementing hotspot fix.

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Does hotspot usage get tracked separately by Verizon, and can they detect if hotspot is enabled even after bypassing the entitlement check?
I’d like to understand if it’s safe to do without paying for mobile hotspot add-on.

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Its not a add-on, it’s comes as part of the plan. Can they track it and detect a bypass? Yes. Do they always do something? Depends but not always yes

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This is not a TTL mangler or hotspot throttling bypass. This is just getting the service that is provided by the carrier working again on these phones. However, if one were to pair the two functions, there’s no telling what would happen. I would never condone of such behavior.