CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner

A small cross-platform helper (desktop app + matching console) that makes the App Manager Android app the device owner on a connected device — it picks a device, runs adb shell dpm set-device-owner, and reports whether it took.

Why this exists

App Manager needs to be the device owner to do its job, and dpm set-device-owner only works over adb from a computer. This is the tool that runs that one command. It replaces a much older Windows-only WinForms utility that bundled its own adb.exe; this re-write is .NET 10 / Avalonia, cross-platform, and finds adb the normal way instead of shipping a copy.

What it does

1. Lists the online devices the local adb server sees (adb devices -l), refreshing as you plug them in. If adb isn't installed, it offers to download Google's SDK Platform Tools for you.
2. You pick one.
3. Before running, it checks the device is ready — no blocking accounts, a single user, App Manager installed, no existing device owner — and explains anything you need to fix first (with a Try anyway override). If App Manager is already the device owner, it just tells you so.
4. It runs adb -s <serial> shell dpm set-device-owner com.ccswe.appmanager.deviceowner/com.ccswe.appmanager.receivers.DeviceAdminReceiver.
5. It reports success or failure with actionable guidance — including the cases where dpm exits cleanly but refused (e.g. "there are already some accounts on the device").

That's the whole app. The device-owner component is fixed to App Manager's; this isn't a general dpm runner.

Requirements

• .NET 10 runtime to run it (the SDK to build from source).
• adb — found via the Settings adb-path override, ANDROID_HOME/ANDROID_SDK_ROOT, the platform-default SDK location (e.g. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Android\Sdk), or PATH. If none of those have it, the helper offers to download Google's SDK Platform Tools and uses that copy (no manual SDK setup needed).
• A device with USB debugging enabled and authorized, in a state that allows setting a device owner (typically freshly set up, no added accounts). The helper checks this for you and explains what to fix.

Install & run

Download the latest build for your platform — each archive contains both the desktop app and the console. The builds are framework-dependent, so you'll need the .NET 10 runtime:

• Windows (x64): CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner-win-x64.zip
• Linux (x64): CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner-linux-x64.tar.gz
• macOS (Apple Silicon): CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner-osx-arm64.tar.gz
• macOS (Intel): CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner-osx-x64.tar.gz

(Or browse the Releases page.) Or build from source:

# Build (Release)
dotnet build src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.slnx --configuration Release

# Run the desktop app
dotnet run --project src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Desktop

# Run the console
dotnet run --project src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Console

Using it

Desktop

Launch it, pick a device from the list (it auto-refreshes; Refresh forces it), then Set device owner. If the device isn't ready it explains what to fix first (with a Try anyway override); on success a toast confirms it, and any failure — with the full reason — opens in a dialog.

Console

# Interactive: pick a device, confirm, set the owner
dotnet run --project src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Console

# Non-interactive (scripting): target a serial and skip the confirmation
dotnet run --project src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Console -- --serial <serial> --yes

--help lists the options.

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Development

Tech stack

• .NET 10 / C# (net10.0), SDK pinned to 10.0.0 via global.json (rollForward: latestMinor)
• Avalonia 12 for the cross-platform desktop UI
• MVVM via CommunityToolkit.Mvvm ([ObservableProperty], [RelayCommand])
• .NET Generic Host — the desktop head boots through CCSWE.Avalonia.Hosting; CCSWE.Avalonia.Material supplies the Material 3 theme
• Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection wiring the shared Core services into both front-ends
• Central Package Management — versions live in src/Directory.Packages.props
• Versioning derived from git history via Nerdbank.GitVersioning

Projects

The solution is src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.slnx:

• CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Core — class library with all domain logic (process plumbing, adb location, device listing, the device-owner command and its pre-flight checks, the Platform Tools downloader, settings). No UI dependency.
• CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Desktop — the Avalonia desktop GUI (WinExe), a single window.
• CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Console — the command-line front-end.
• *.UnitTests — NUnit 4 tests (plain NUnit + Moq; UI types sit behind seams, so no Avalonia.Headless).

dotnet test src/CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.slnx

Architecture

All functionality lives in CCSWE.AppManager.DeviceOwner.Core; the desktop GUI and console are thin front-ends that compose a DI service provider (AddDeviceOwnerCore()) and drive the same services. Both are organized feature-first (Adb/, DeviceOwner/, PlatformTools/, Settings/), with Common/ for cross-feature plumbing. View models and services stay UI-free: anything that would touch an Avalonia control goes behind a Common/ abstraction with a UI-side adapter (e.g. INotificationService/INotificationSink), keeping them unit-testable with plain NUnit + Moq.

Releasing

Versioning is Nerdbank.GitVersioning — version.json sets the major.minor; the patch comes from git height. To cut a release, let NBGV derive the tag:

dotnet tool restore
dotnet tool run nbgv tag      # creates v<major>.<minor>.<patch> for HEAD
git push origin <tag>          # e.g. git push origin v0.1.0

Pushing the v* tag triggers .github/workflows/release.yml, which publishes one framework-dependent archive per RID (win-x64/linux-x64/osx-x64/osx-arm64), each containing both the Desktop and Console, and creates a GitHub Release with auto-generated notes. Bump version.json (and commit) when you want a new major/minor.

License

Copyright © 2026 Cory Charlton.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later as published by the Free Software Foundation. It is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See LICENSE for the full text.

The App Manager and CCSWE names, logos, and icons are trademarks of Cory Charlton and are not licensed under the GPL — a fork must use its own distinct name and branding.