bug: Clone Apps profile disables the "Always" option in the Open with resolver

[Epikaigle]

Issue type

Feature not working as intended

Device

Redmi Note 10 Pro/Max (sweet)

crDroid version

crDroid 12 / Android 16

Exact version / Build date

ro.crdroid.display.version: v12.10-20260525

ro.crdroid.build.version: 12.10

ro.build.version.security_patch: 2026-05-01

Build date from device: Mon May 25 22:17:58 EEST 2026

Bug description

After using the built-in Clone Apps feature, Android creates a clone profile. While that profile exists, the system resolver shown by "Open with" disables the Always button for regular file types such as images, PDFs, APKs, etc. The only selectable option is Just once, so default apps for file types can no longer be saved.

This makes the Clone Apps feature conflict with a core Android workflow: users who rely on cloned apps have to choose the app manually every time they open common files.

This appears to be caused by upstream ResolverActivity behavior when a clone profile exists, but it becomes user-visible because crDroid exposes Clone Apps as a ROM feature.

Steps to reproduce

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Cloned Apps.
2. Clone any app so that Android creates a clone profile.
3. Open a file from a file manager/downloads app where multiple apps can handle it, for example image/jpeg or application/pdf.
4. Select any app in the resolver.
5. Observe that Always is greyed out/disabled and only Just once can be used.

Actual behavior

Always is disabled in the resolver whenever the clone profile exists, even for normal personal-profile file opening.

Expected behavior

Users should still be able to save default app choices for personal-profile file handling, or crDroid should provide a workaround/setting/warning explaining that enabling Clone Apps disables default app association from the resolver.

Ideally, Always should only be disabled when there is a real cross-profile ambiguity, not globally for every regular file type opened from the personal profile.

Relevant log / evidence

The device has an active clone profile:

UserInfo{10:cloneUser:1010} serialNo=11 isPrimary=false parentId=0
Type: android.os.usertype.profile.CLONE
State: RUNNING_UNLOCKED

Resolver output for file types still goes through the resolver instead of a stored default:

$ cmd package resolve-activity --brief -a android.intent.action.VIEW -c android.intent.category.DEFAULT -t image/jpeg
priority=0 preferredOrder=0 match=0x0 specificIndex=-1 isDefault=false
android/com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity

$ cmd package resolve-activity --brief -a android.intent.action.VIEW -c android.intent.category.DEFAULT -t application/pdf
priority=0 preferredOrder=0 match=0x0 specificIndex=-1 isDefault=false
android/com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity

AOSP currently disables the Always button when a clone profile is present. Relevant upstream code:

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base.git/+/master/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverActivity.java

The relevant block in setAlwaysButtonEnabled() says:

// In case of clonedProfile being active, we do not allow the 'Always' option in the
// disambiguation dialog of Personal Profile as the package manager cannot distinguish
// between cross-profile preferred activities.
if (hasCloneProfile() && !mMultiProfilePagerAdapter
        .getCurrentUserHandle().equals(mWorkProfileUserHandle)) {
    mAlwaysButton.setEnabled(false);
    return;
}

Proposed solution

Please consider one of these options:

1. Patch the resolver/default-app flow so Always remains available for personal-profile-only resolutions where the selected target is not a cloned-profile/cross-profile target.
2. Add a crDroid setting or toggle to allow default-app association while Clone Apps is enabled, if safe.
3. If the upstream limitation cannot be solved safely, show a clear warning in the Clone Apps UI that enabling cloned apps disables the Always option in the Open with dialog, and expose an easy way to remove the clone profile.

Related older reports:

• "Always" button greyed out when choosing which app to open a file with #498 reported the symptom but was closed as invalid before the clone-profile cause was identified.
• bug: Issues post App Cloning: Apps not able to access External Dtorage Directory #746 mentions "Can't select Always to open files with particular apps" as part of broader Clone Apps issues.

Screenshots or videos

No response

Additional context

crDroid's Clone Apps support is very useful, but this side effect is surprising because it affects unrelated file opening throughout the personal profile. The requested change is primarily UX/feature behavior rather than a device-specific bug.

Acknowledgements

• I have searched the existing issues and this is not a duplicate of an open focused issue.
• I have written a short but informative title.
• I filled out all of the requested information in this issue properly and understand that not doing so may result in closing of the ticket.

[Epikaigle]

I prepared a minimal patch proposal for the "hide cloned apps from regular Open with" approach.

Intent:

• Do not include cloned-profile targets in the regular ResolverActivity / Open with app list.
• Keep clone targets available for non-intent-picker flows such as chooser/share and for resolver sessions launched from the clone profile itself.
• Only keep the Always button disabled when clone targets are actually queried/displayed.
• Do not remove Clone Apps support globally.

Note: I intentionally leave the existing filterLastUsed behavior unchanged when a clone profile exists. Even if clone targets are hidden from the visible list, the stored "last chosen" record can still be ambiguous across profiles, so keeping that conservative behavior is safer.

diff --git a/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverActivity.java b/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverActivity.java
index 000000000000..000000000000 100644
--- a/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverActivity.java
+++ b/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverActivity.java
@@ -752,6 +752,13 @@ public class ResolverActivity extends Activity implements
         return getCloneProfileUserHandle() != null;
     }
 
+    protected boolean shouldQueryCloneProfileTargets() {
+        // Keep cloned app targets out of the regular "Open with" resolver so defaults can
+        // be stored safely for the personal profile. Chooser/share flows still include them.
+        return !mIsIntentPicker || isLaunchedAsCloneProfile();
+    }
+
     protected final boolean isLaunchedAsCloneProfile() {
         return hasCloneProfile()
                 && (UserHandle.myUserId() == getCloneProfileUserHandle().getIdentifier());
@@ -1077,10 +1084,11 @@ public class ResolverActivity extends Activity implements
             return;
         }
-        // In case of clonedProfile being active, we do not allow the 'Always' option in the
-        // disambiguation dialog of Personal Profile as the package manager cannot distinguish
-        // between cross-profile preferred activities.
-        if (hasCloneProfile() && !mMultiProfilePagerAdapter
+        // In case clonedProfile targets are present, do not allow the 'Always' option in
+        // the personal profile disambiguation dialog because the package manager cannot
+        // distinguish between cross-profile preferred activities.
+        if (hasCloneProfile() && shouldQueryCloneProfileTargets()
+                && !mMultiProfilePagerAdapter
                 .getCurrentUserHandle().equals(mWorkProfileUserHandle)) {
             mAlwaysButton.setEnabled(false);
             return;
@@ -2315,7 +2323,8 @@ public class ResolverActivity extends Activity implements
                 mLaunchedFromUid,
                 userHandle,
                 resolverComparator,
-                queryIntentsUser);
+                queryIntentsUser,
+                shouldQueryCloneProfileTargets());
     }
 
     /**
@@ -2659,7 +2668,8 @@ public class ResolverActivity extends Activity implements
         // Add clonedProfileUserHandle to the list only if we are:
         // a. Building the Personal Tab.
         // b. CloneProfile exists on the device.
-        if (userHandle.equals(getPersonalProfileUserHandle())
+        if (shouldQueryCloneProfileTargets()
+                && userHandle.equals(getPersonalProfileUserHandle())
                 && getCloneProfileUserHandle() != null) {
             userList.add(getCloneProfileUserHandle());
         }
diff --git a/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverListController.java b/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverListController.java
index 000000000000..000000000000 100644
--- a/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverListController.java
+++ b/core/java/com/android/internal/app/ResolverListController.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public class ResolverListController {
     private AbstractResolverComparator mResolverComparator;
     private boolean isComputed = false;
     private final UserHandle mQueryIntentsAsUser;
+    private final boolean mIncludeCloneProfileTargets;
 
     public ResolverListController(
             Context context,
@@ -75,7 +76,8 @@ public class ResolverListController {
                             null,
                             null,
                             userHandle),
-                queryIntentsAsUser);
+                queryIntentsAsUser,
+                /* includeCloneProfileTargets= */ true);
     }
 
     public ResolverListController(
@@ -87,6 +89,21 @@ public class ResolverListController {
             UserHandle userHandle,
             AbstractResolverComparator resolverComparator,
             UserHandle queryIntentsAsUser) {
+        this(context, pm, targetIntent, referrerPackage, launchedFromUid, userHandle,
+                resolverComparator, queryIntentsAsUser,
+                /* includeCloneProfileTargets= */ true);
+    }
+
+    public ResolverListController(
+            Context context,
+            PackageManager pm,
+            Intent targetIntent,
+            String referrerPackage,
+            int launchedFromUid,
+            UserHandle userHandle,
+            AbstractResolverComparator resolverComparator,
+            UserHandle queryIntentsAsUser,
+            boolean includeCloneProfileTargets) {
         mContext = context;
         mpm = pm;
         mLaunchedFromUid = launchedFromUid;
@@ -96,6 +113,7 @@ public class ResolverListController {
         mUserHandle = userHandle;
         mResolverComparator = resolverComparator;
         mQueryIntentsAsUser = queryIntentsAsUser;
+        mIncludeCloneProfileTargets = includeCloneProfileTargets;
     }
 
     @VisibleForTesting
@@ -126,8 +144,10 @@ public class ResolverListController {
                 | PackageManager.MATCH_DIRECT_BOOT_AWARE
                 | PackageManager.MATCH_DIRECT_BOOT_UNAWARE
                 | (shouldGetResolvedFilter ? PackageManager.GET_RESOLVED_FILTER : 0)
-                | (shouldGetActivityMetadata ? PackageManager.GET_META_DATA : 0)
-                | PackageManager.MATCH_CLONE_PROFILE;
+                | (shouldGetActivityMetadata ? PackageManager.GET_META_DATA : 0);
+        if (mIncludeCloneProfileTargets) {
+            baseFlags |= PackageManager.MATCH_CLONE_PROFILE;
+        }
         return getResolversForIntentAsUserInternal(intents, userHandle, baseFlags);
     }

Suggested commit message:

Resolver: hide clone targets from regular Open with

Clone profile targets make the resolver disable the Always button because
PackageManager cannot safely store cross-profile preferred activities.
Avoid querying clone targets for the regular intent picker so personal
profile defaults can still be saved, while preserving clone targets for
chooser/share flows and resolver sessions launched from the clone profile.

Fixes crdroidandroid/issue_tracker#1012