Help Locked out of my phone due to the Gboard / How can I sideload Gboard apk on the Recovery Mode?

[PhilipX20]

Hi.

I don't really want to factory reset it because aside Gboard's bug, the rest all works perfectly fine and I've saved info in the phone and hadn't made a backup of it elsewhere.

Moreover, as on the title, is it possible to install the Gboard apk updated via the Recovery Mode?

P.S. I have tried the Safe Mode, but the issue is from Google themselves so the problem remains as is on the normal mode.

Thanks.

 

[Hadron]

Can you tell us what the actual issue is? How has GBoard resulted in you being locked out?

To answer your last question, if you have a custom recovery you can enable USB debugging and use adb install to sideload it. If you have the stock recovery then no, you can't install an app from there: it will only allow you to install a manufacturer-signed firmware package.

 

[MoodyBlues]

aside Gboard's bug, the rest all works perfectly fine

What, exactly, is "Gboard's bug," and how has it caused you to be locked out?

I've saved info in the phone and hadn't made a backup of it elsewhere.

Tsk tsk tsk... *SMH*

Assuming you get this sorted out and you're able to get back in, I hope backing up important data is your first priority.

Let your apps do the work for you, where possible; many have online backups as an option.

If you're using Google products, they've got you covered! If you let them. Everything from photos to contacts can be backed up regularly, and automatically, to your Google Drive.

It's also simple to save files on computers, external drives, cloud services (I use Dropbox), etc. If the files are irreplaceable, back them up!

 

[ocnbrze]

i think the op is referring to "recovery mode" vs a custom recovery. so to answer that.....no you can't install the gboard apk via stock recovery ("recovery mode").

like everyone is asking: what does gboard have to do with you being locked out of your phone? gboard is just google's keyboard app.

also it would help to know what phone you have as well.

 

[PhilipX20]

Can you tell us what the actual issue is? How has GBoard resulted in you being locked out?

To answer your last question, if you have a custom recovery you can enable USB debugging and use adb install to sideload it. If you have the stock recovery then no, you can't install an app from there: it will only allow you to install a manufacturer-signed firmware package.

The Gboard simply doesn't appear at all, so I can't type the password.

 

[Hadron]

Hmm, so we can't tell whether the problem is the keyboard, the phone or (most likely) the integration between the two. So even if there was a way of pushing an install we don't know whether it would help.

Unfortunately I don't have a chance to investigate anything today. You could try installing another keyboard remotely from the Play Store website and see whether that shakes anything loose? That just a random suggestion, unlikely to work but harmless if it doesn't.

 

[PhilipX20]

Hmm, so we can't tell whether the problem is the keyboard, the phone or (most likely) the integration between the two. So even if there was a way of pushing an install we don't know whether it would help.

Unfortunately I don't have a chance to investigate anything today. You could try installing another keyboard remotely from the Play Store website and see whether that shakes anything loose? That just a random suggestion, unlikely to work but harmless if it doesn't.

If you're not aware, Gboard had a huge bug that made it unusable and there were articles made about it and users on the Play Store are giving it a 1 star review because they're too locked out of their phones.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin

There is a way to install an apk via the Recovery Mode / Fastboot, but for some reason my phone isn't showing up on the ADB Fastboot device list. Alternatively, I'll just make a backup of my data and then factory reset the phone, despite that it's Google's fault.

Good thing my tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab S2) has OTG functionality in the event it came to the same problem, thankfully it didn't although Gboard kept showing "app has stopped" or something along those lines.

Anyway, it's "resolved".

 

[MoodyBlues]

Gboard had a huge bug that made it unusable and there were articles made about it and users on the Play Store are giving it a 1 star review because they're too locked out of their phones.

Google addressed this last week; it apparently only affected some Android 7.1 [and below] users.

Just FYI, if you're interested in trying a really nice keyboard, give Hacker's Keyboard a whirl. It's the first thing I install on any new device.

Its goal is to replicate a full keyboard, like you'd have on a computer. It has many settings, so you can customize its look and feel. Here's my current look:

and: