Update WebView on NSPanel Pro and Tuya Smart Home Panels

Update WebView on NSPanel Pro, T6E, S6E and S8E based multi-functional control panels running on Android 8.1 to enable running newest apps such as Fully Kiosk Browser, Wallpanel, Home Assistant Companion and more

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This guide applies to touch control panels such as:

• discontinued and replaced with an “Alexa” version that has completely different hardware

They’re based on the same PCB hardware and firmware from Smatek. That firmware is based on Android 8.1 with an ancient version of WebView which prevents most of smart home dashboard applications from working such as Fully Kiosk Browser.

With gracious help from tilaksidduram I’ve compiled information on how to update WebView to the newest version and run any app.

Install ADB

Download the Android platform-tools and unzip the contents to a folder. Open a Command Prompt and navigate to that folder. In my case it is located at D:\adb

Open a command prompt and navigate to the folder.

ADB Access to Panel

Wireless

Some panels might have ADB over TCP set up already (like NSPanel Pro) which saves you from disassembling it.

Find out the IP address of your panel and try connecting to it with this command

adb connect [panel_ip]

If it responds with connected to [panel_ip]:5555 you’ve connected to the panel and you’re ready to proceed.

USB

If wireless fails you have to disassemble the panel to gain access to the USB port labelled OTG

Remove the panel from the base. Unscrew the two screws on the back then carefully pry away the back plate starting at this point.

Now unscrew the tiny screws holding the PCB to the screen. Disconnect the touch panel connector to lift up the PCB enough to plug in a data USB cable.

Connect the data USB cable from your computer to the OTG port. If your device isn’t recognised as adb, download ADB drivers and install them.

S8E

S8E panel has access to the USB port at the bottom and doesn’t require disassembly.

Get ADB Access

This command will list all the connected devices with extra information.

adb devices -l

D:\adb>adb devices -l
List of devices attached
F061512302021100016    device product:px30_evb model:px30_evb device:px30_evb transport_id:3

Run command adb tcpip 5555 to set the panel to listen for a TCP/IP connection on port 5555

D:\adb>adb tcpip 5555
restarting in TCP mode port: 5555

Now you can connect to the panel wirelessly. If you don’t know the IP address run adb shell ip -o a to find out.

Try it out while still wired to make sure everything is working.

D:\adb>adb connect 10.1.1.144
connected to 10.1.1.144:5555

Tuya Specific

On Tuya versions of the panel (T6E, S6E and S8E) ADB over TCP does not persist after a reboot. To make it permanent run:

adb shell setprop persist.adb.tcp.port 5555

Install a Launcher

To make working with your panel easier you need to install a standard launcher. I’ve found the smallest launcher possible (only 7kb), which doesn’t take up a lot of precious device memory.

Download the Ultra Small Launcher to the ADB folder and install it with:

adb install ultra-small-launcher.apk

Simulate a Home key press.

adb shell input keyevent 3

You will be offered a selection of launchers, set Launcher as default.

Install Xposed

Download Xposed Installer and install it:

adb install de.robv.android.xposed.installer_3.1.5-43_minAPI15(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk

Download Xposed Framework.

Copy .tar file to ADB folder then upload it to the panel filesystem

adb push xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3.tar /sdcard/Download/

Open shell in ADB

adb shell

Switch to root

su

Make filesystem writeable

mount -o rw,remount /system

Navigate to the directory where you uploaded Xposed framework

cd /sdcard/Download/

Extract the xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3.tar file

tar -xvf xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3.tar

Change into the new directory

cd /sdcard/Download/xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3/

Make the installer script executable

chmod a+x /sdcard/Download/xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh

Run Xposed framework installer script

sh /sdcard/Download/xposed-v90-sdk27-arm64-beta3/META-INF/com/google/android/flash-script.sh

Xposed Framework is now installed, but not activated. Reboot your device. It will take longer than usual to boot this time.

Once the panel has rebooted use adb shell input keyevent 3 to open the launcher again, then open the Xposed app, gloss over the warning and make sure it is activated.

If it’s orange and says it’s not activated, another reboot might solve it.

Install AnyWebView

Download AnyWebView and install with

adb install AnyWebView.apk

Open Xposed again, open Modules from the left menu and activate AnyWebView.

Reboot your device.

Update WebView

Now you need to install an updated WebView component. You can install Android System WebView, Bromite WebView or other compatible webview.

Download an arm64 version in .apk form NOT Bundle or .xapk.

Install WebView (change filename with your .apk)

adb install "Android System WebView_v105.0.5195.136_apkpure.com.apk"

Wait a while because it’s a large install.

Go to Settings -> System -> About tablet -> Build Number and tap the “Build Number” option 7 times to enable developer options.

In Developer options, navigate to WebView Implementation and choose your WebView instead of the outdated “Android System WebView 61.x”

Finished

Now you can use Fully Kiosk, Home Assistant Companion, Wallpanel and other apps that depend on a newer version of WebView.