Android files and folder is showing wrong time and date I've noticed that the files of my Android phone are showing the wrong time and date.
I have made a folder "New folder" and the folder was created on 3/13/21, 12:23 PM.

I renamed the folder to "New renamed folder" and the folder is showing that it was created on 3/13/21, 12:23 PM. But it should be 3/13/21, 12:32 PM.

It said it was last modified on 3/13/21, 12:23 PM. But it should be last modified on 3/13/21, 12:32 PM.

Anyone can help me to solve this problem?

This is pretty much by design. The last modified isn't meant to change simply from renaming it. The folder modified timestamp only changes if the contents is modified such as adding, removing or renaming items within the folder.
The same goes for files. The modified timestamp shouldn't change simply from renaming or moving it. It should only change when its content is modified.


how do I restrict my android phone to just my home and work wifi? My android phone keeps connecting to random public wifi's that don't work very well. So I turned off wifi completely. Is there a way to say: use wifi if either my home wifi or work wifi is available, otherwise never use wifi?

Android won't connect to a wifi access point without you specifying that you want to and saving it.

Under settings, wifi, long-press on the names of any access points you don't want to connect to and choose "Forget Network".


Are the original cyanogen downloads for old devices still available? I have 13 old galaxy tablets running android 3.0 that i would like to run cyanogen on.  All google links are dead.  they are SCH-i800 and i wouldn't bother but something has happened to play store so that it's not loading on all but one of the tablets.  It gives a weird redirect to a web browser page.  Also i was considering using them as wall remotes for home automation but the app i want to use requires at least android 4.2.

From the source listed below, there were backups made at archive.com of snapshots and nightly builds of CyanogenMod. There are many models, but I am not sure about yours.

Snapshots: https://archive.org/details/cmarchive_snapshots OR https://archive.org/download/cmarchive_nighlies
Nightlies: https://archive.org/details/cmarchive_nighlies OR https://archive.org/download/cmarchive_nighlies

Source: Complete CM Snapshots and Nightlies archive (xpost from /r/android)


Nexus 4 won't charge through laptop on low power When my Nexus 4's battery is less than 5%, it won't charge while connected to my PC, but I can charge by plugging my Nexus 4 the wall adapter.

I believe it is a hardware problem. Can you help me?

Your computer’s USB port have lower energy output than your wall charger. There is nothing you can do about this other than getting a new computer with higher power USB power output.

Do note that your phone is actually charging even when it says it is not. It is just slower. If you keep the screen off and the device idle, it should be fully charged after some hours. This will be much slower than using a higher power output source.


Unpack initramfs.cpio.gz (boot.img) from MTK6589 phone? I can't find a proper tool to unpack boot.img from GravityMod2.

both unmkbootimg and split_bootimg.pl are able to extract same fileset (kernel, 4280320 bytes and ramdisk, 633284 bytes). I think the files are damaged (taken from wrong offsets?) - can't even find gzip/cpio signatures in ramdisk image!

Is there another specific tool to unpack Android 4.2.x boot.img, or MTK-specific tool maybe?

I also had problem extracting initramfs.cpio.gz , until I opened this file in editor and seen first 3 ascii letters  (the header) in my case it was "LZO" , so I found proper soft to decompress
"lzop -x " you can find it probably in every linux, for example knoppix has it

maybe you will notice other header in your file , so you will need to google it or have a good guess

good luck


Can Google Docs for Android work Offline? I am intending to get probably the Asus Eee Pad Transformer soon. I am looking at the apps I need. I am thinking of getting just the non 3G version and wonder if the lack of 3G/Internet connectivity will affect my use of applications like Google Docs. Perhaps I need to look at a non-cloud based app?

Google Docs on Android has no offline cache at the moment. Source

The Browser version has this functionality. I hope the Android App get's offline docs too, that would be awesome. :)


Bootloader unlock HTC Desire 12+ I am trying to unlock the bootloader of my HTC Desire 12+. I tried several tutorials but they all failed.

Here is what I did so far:

I boot the phone into recovery mode
Start the bootloader
After the phone started the bootloeader I try to find it with fastboot devices form my desktop computer (connected to the phone via USB)

  PS C:\ADB> fastboot devices 5)
  d126ce6c        fastboot

I try to get the OEM identifier token

  C:\ADB> fastboot oem get_identifier_token
  FAILED (remote: unknown command) Finished. Total time: 0.000s

Here I am stuck.
I read online that for some HTC devices I need to enter the recovery/download mode. However, I do not even find my HTC device (via fastboot devices) in recovery mode nor do I know what the "download mode" is.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks!

I had the wrong fasstboot.exe file. It worked when I choose the one provided in the section "All Other Supported Models" on https://www.htcdev.com/


HTC Desire C screen on while charging My new HTC Desire C screen does not turn off while charging. It is running ICS (Android version 4.0.3, HTC Sense version 4.0). I have went into Settings > Developer Tools > Stay Awake (OFF). It doesn't work. Screen timeout is set to 30 seconds.

I also downloaded and installed Extended Controls, but when I try to add the widget to the homescreen it tells me "Please reconnect your SD card first" (which is non-existent at the moment).

p.s. I downgraded from a Xperia Arc S in hopes of a simpler phone, and my god this Desire C is BAD.

I also see this behaviour with my Desire C model.  When I reported it as a bug to HTC they responded that it is intentional behaviour as the Desire C lacks a charging LED.  Personally I think you should still be able to have the screen turn off and it doesn't make sense to have an option in the settings menu that doesn't do anything.

If enough people request the change HTC may put in the ability to turn off the screen while charging in a future software update.


Outlook keeps asking for login credentials during setup I'm trying to switch from a windows mobile to android. My main problem is moving contacts which are saved on windows mobile in an outlook account.

Therefore i tried to download and configure outlook on Android, but have no luck on entering the user credentials.

The following happens:

I enter the email (which does NOT end in '@outlook.com', i used a normal mail address to sign in at outlook which works with outlook on windows 10, windows mobile and web).
I enter the password.
After entering the password the outlook app authenticates on android and gives a message, that the server configuration is updated, and i need to re-enter password.
I reenter the password.
I'm asked if the application is allowed to access outlook and answer yes.
Password question step 2 appears. From this moment step 2-5 are endless loops.

What i've tried so far:

Delete the app cache
Delete the app, reinstall it from play store

Both did not work, same behaviour as before occurred.

I have tried to enter another outlook account ending with outlook.com - only one time password was needed and everything works - but as this is not the account with contacts it is not so useful.

So how can i enter my main outlook address to outlook? Or is there another way to get windows phone contacts to android?

Answer:

there seems to be a bug if you use outlook accounts which are not ending on outlook.com.

If you go to https:\login.live.com you can login with other credentials.
There is a menü "Your Informations" where you can edit the email or telefon alias.
In this menü you can create an outlook.com alias.

With this outlook.com alias login from Outlook on outlook mobile to Outlook.com works and contacts can be retrieved.


Is this android vulnerability bug #8219321 fixed? In 2013, Bluebox Security announced that they had found a bug in Android that could be used to modify the contents of any application package (including ones distributed as part of the system software) without affecting the attached cryptographic signatures; details to be disclosed at Black Hat USA 2013. I don't want to explain in detail as this site explain it well: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2483525/security0/android-flaw-lets-attackers-modify-apps-without-breaking-signatures.html

However there was no news if it has been fixed. I find that there is really an app "Xmodgames" which is exactly doing the same thing.After granting it root permissions It modifies game files without breaking its signature.
You can't update that app automatically from play store once its signature get broken right? I assumed the same thing but even if xmodgames applies the mod on a game you can still update that game from play store. It means that it keeps the signature intact. Has it not really  been fixed till yet?

Yes it was fixed (sourced from MasterKeyDualFix) on Wed Jul 03rd 2013. Generally vulnerabilities like this are reported to Google a long time prior to it being publicly announced. In this case it was reported to Google in Feb 2013 and the fix had already been passed to OEMs to include in their releases. (Note, the date it was committed to AOSP (the first link) is not the date it was available to Google and the OEMs)

As for the second part of your question I believe XMOD works by modifying the files after the app has been installed which bypasses the signature checks. Although I am not that familiar with XMOD I'm pretty sure that it is not using this vulnerability.


Retrieving contacts from Android phone (Sony Xperia Z) My Xperia Z recently suffered from a broken screen and is now not functional at all. YOu can see the screen, but the touch facility has completely gone. I can't even turn the thing off.

I have a really cheap alternate phone that I would like to use temporarily but I could do with getting the contacts from the Xperia, on to my SIM card, then in to this cheap phone.

This alternate phone I have has no functionality which will allow it to connect to a PC, so I need to get the contacts on to the SIM via other methods.

A couple of methods I have been thinking about, but don't know if they are possible or not are:

Connect the Xperia to my PC and some how manually move the contacts from the phone to the SIM (I am not even going to be able to enable USB Debugging so I doubt there will be a lot I can do with the phone connected to the PC except explore the files).
Move the contacts from the phone on to the PC, then some how store the contacts on to my friend's phone (Samsung S3 Mini), and copy them to the original SIM from there? (I have no idea of how contacts are formatted so unsure whether or not they could just be moved from Sony to a Samsung so simply).

They are the 2 main thought processes I have - any feed back on whether these are possible would be greatly appreciated as there are some very important numbers on this Xperia that I need for work!

Thanks in advance (Apologies if this is in the wrong section, or doesn't necessarily class as an Android issue!)

UPDATE: Seems I can't use adb Shell due to USB debugging being disabled and Screencast is a no go due to the phone not being rooted.

I can see files within the Internal Storage such as .anchor, Alarms, Albums), is there a particular file within these subfolders which may contain the contacts which coul potentially be read? Even if I had to manually enter the numbers in to another phone, that wouldn't be so bad!

I had a similar problem on my Android Tablet, not sure if my solution will work for you.

I had a Chinese Android Tablet where you can see the screen but the touch was not working. I used a USB mouse by connecting it to my tablet using a cheap USB Female - Micro USB Male connector. That allowed me to use the mouse as an alternate input.

If this is possible on you phone, you can export your Contacts to a SIM or SD card.


What are the differences between android 2.1 and android 2.2 Possible Duplicate:
  What advantages or new things have you found when upgrading from Android 2.1 to 2.2 ?

I am going to buy an android phone now i have two choices either to buy a eclair(2.1) version or go for froyo(2.2) version, So i want to know what are the main new features that froyo have so i reject the eclair version phones?

This article explains the differences nicely, and this one claims an incredible increase in speed. If you're a visual learner, youtube is always your best bet. But the general consensus is mainly centered around speed. Other perks include tethering, installation of apps to the SD card, and updated flash.


Images and videos not readable from SD first time here and I'm in sort of despair!

I recently purchased a 32GB (class 10) memory card for my Samsung Galaxy S2. All went fine, the card was recognized, I could write and read from it, both, on the computer and the phone so I set it as the default storage for my camera.
The problems start here.
Last week, after shooting some videos, I wanted to check them at home but realized that the videos and some of the photos are not shown, the videos cannot be played by the phone or dropbox player or VLC on computer, jpg's are corrupted too.

I tried formatting the card, but the problem still persists. I'm pretty stumped right now and don't have any ideas on how to fix this.

Any help appreciated, thanks!

This might be some compatibility issue -- despite the fact that it seemed to work fine initially.

It's not the first time I read such in connection with a class-10 card. I'd recommend to get yourself a class-6 (good enough and fast enough -- only in rare cases you would really note any difference), maybe preferably from a different brand than the current class-10, and give that a try.

Chances are very good your trouble will disappear this way.


How to show the complete title of an app? Some apps with a longer title show up on the launcher screen (trebuchet) with a shortened title. E.g. an application with the title "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" will be titled "abcdefghi..".
The same applies to videos linked with a shortcut to the screeen (I used the app "media shortcut" for this).

Is there a way to show the whole title before opening the app or the video? I have a lot of videos that I would like to distinguish before opening them.

Sorry, there is not way to do this.

I believe that some launchers may wrap titles, but I can't think of any that do.

As per dymutaos' comment:

  ADW wraps the titles of apps. They wrap it to a second line, and they make the second line smaller in order to fit within a certain space. Though if the name is really long and doesn't fit within 2 lines, it still gets truncated.


Digital magazines on google play/android Market: does it work like Apple newsstand? I apologize if I may seem a bit confused but actually I need some direction to make up my mind about digital magazines publication on google play /android markets.

I'm comparing to the Apple store/ Apple newsstand just because I already know the general work flow on iOS devices.

I'm from Italy and I see the google play magazines has been enabled lately in for my country. Last week it wasn't  available.

So questions are:
If i have a Android device where am I supposed to search for digital publications?
(I ask the above since I can't find the same famous publications I find on Apple Store)
Is there a counterpart of newsstand?

I've never used the Apple Store, so I can't help you with comparing them, but to answer the parts that I can.

On a PC you can look through the website for the Magazines section of the Google Play Store to find magazines. You should be able to find areas for Top Magazines, Staff Favourites and various other Categories.

On your phone or tablet you can use the Google Play Magazines app or the Play Store app. Either open the Magazines app and press the overflow button at the top left and select Shop, or open the Play Store app and select the Magazines category from the top of the first screen.

If Magazines have only just become available in your country then it is very likely that Google haven't set up deals with all of the magazine publishers in your country yet, so there may be a smaller selection of magazines than you're expecting. I know that when Magazines became available in the UK it seemed to take about 3 months before some of my favourite magazines started showing up.


Cannot turn Nexus 7 on after locking the screen My Nexus 7 had been performing without any issues, however, I locked the screen by pressing the power button as usual and then tried to turn it on several hours later but it was unresponsive.

How can I fix this?

I've managed to deal with this problem by performing a "soft reset".

Hold down the power button for around 30 seconds, the device should start a soft reset (i.e. you don't lose any data/settings etc.) and reboot.

--
Why it blocked and prevented me from performing a screen unlock remains to be explained.


Camera on Galaxy Note 3 is sideways! I don't know what happens but the camera is sideways. No matter the way I hold the phone, it will always show the image and the resulting photo sideways. If I point to the computer screen right now for example, it will show me the basis of the screen pointed to the direction where the wall actually is

I had problems on my Samsung Note 2. Photos were being taken where I had to go into gallery and rotate right or left for image too be correct.

Just messed around with settings and fixed it by re-calibrating horizontal and vertical (I think). Hope this works for some of you.


CyanogenMod for Samsung Galaxy S Advance. Which version? Which version of CyanogenMod should I use for Samsung Galaxy S Advance and where should I download it from? I'm interested in CyanogenMod 11 but maybe there is a better choice? I wouldn't like to download wrong version so I'll be grateful for exact link. Thank you.

The Galaxy S Advance is not officially supported by CyanogenMod. They provide links to several unofficial ports on their wiki, however:

CyanogenMod 10
CyanogenMod 10.1
CyanogenMod 11

Since these are not officially provided by the CM team, they may not contain all of the features/changes in a supported build, and you would need to contact the developer of the build directly if you experience issues.


How do I start saving on SD card My phone kept saying device out of space  so I bought an SD card and inserted it into the phone but my phone is still saying the same thing. How do I start using SD card please, thank you.

The storage is still calculated separately (internal VS. external), so internal is still low on space, hence the alert.

At this moment, use a file explorer to go through your internal storage and see what's hogging space (music? video? installation files you forgot to delete?), and move anything necessary to the SD card. For some phones you can also go to Settings-Apps to move some installed apps to the card.

If the problem persists, please post screenshots of your storage details both in Settings-Storage and under Settings-Apps.


Is it possible to write video directly to external device while recording I have a Nexus 5 that I'd like to use for some video recording. The meetings I'd like to record are likely to run long enough that they might cause my phone to run out of space mid-recording. I am wondering whether it is possible to connect my phone to my Macbook (or some other device) such that the file is written directly to my Macbook SSD while recording; in other words, to use the phone as a peripheral. Is this possible?

As I mentioned in the comments, you can use IP webcam apps on Play Store and then turn your mobile easily into a webcam and record your computer's screen using a video recording software. This way you can rely on your computer's memory instead of your mobile's storage(which is limited in most cases). Now you can use your phone as a webcam peripheral device and recording videos directly in your Macbook's SSD storage. Some apps provide functions to add a server and upload the videos to cloud.

Note: Most app requires an USB cable connection or that you have your mobile and computer connected to the same network which is why it named IP webcam since it is accessed using the IP address generated from the connected network.


How to sync my iCloud email acct using the stock email app? I am using cyanogenmod11 on both my phone and tablet which comes with AOSP email app. I've also tried the latest stock email app that Google released recently on the playstore.

No matter what I do, I can't get my email. The server settings (both imap and smtp) validates fine but nothing happens.

I've looked at various guides available in the net. They are very much the same. The settings used are the same.

I have tried K-9 mail app using the same settings and that works fine retrieving my data. So I believe I'm using the correct settings.

Any ideas what I could set in the stock email app?

Thanks :)

This should solve your problem

http://www.androidcentral.com/how-set-your-icloud-email-account-android

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4864


Picasa photos in gallery don't show up in photos app or google+ photos I have some photos that show up in gallery>picasa, but not in the photos app. I know these photos were downloaded pictures from a previous phone, off a received email I believe. I may or may not have deleted them before on the google+ photos list on the web. After switching to a new phone with the same SD card, they are still there, unable to delete in gallery because they supposedly come from picasa web. Please help.

Look here, they are all the photos  uploaded into your account. you can also check this. If they are on either site, they must also be visible in google photos app (if you are connected to the internet). Don't forget to turn on sync all photos in the google photo app, aftewards they will show up or they do not exist.


Exporting GPS data from app-internal database I am trying to create a height profile from the GPS positions I recorded last week while hiking. I used the App GPS Logger (now called GPS Offline Logger) on Android 2.3.5/Samsung  GT-S5570 and managed to have it create .kml-Files, and from the second day on, also .gpx-Files. Now, the .gpx-Files contain a lot more information (like accuracy and height) than the .kml-Files (Which are just a <linestring> with a list of coodinates).

Is there any way to have the app create the .gpx File for the missing day or can I (maybe using ADB via Ubuntu) directly access the application's internal database and get the data from there? (If I click "show logs" and then long-click, "show details" twice, all needed information is displayed.)

Ok, so the program still produces a logfile called location_log.txt with all of the important data. I wrote a script in python to export it:

#!/bin/python
#
import codecs, os
__author__ = 'lukas'
path = "/path/to/the/folder/"
ins = codecs.open(path + "location_log.txt", "r", 'iso-8859-15')
array = []
for line in ins:
    linenew = ""
    count = 0
    for char in line:
        linenew += char
        count += 1
    array.append(linenew)
ins.close()

print """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<gpx   xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" creator="GPSbgLogger" version="1.1"  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"  xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd" >  <trk>
    <name> GPSbgLogger DATE </name>
    <desc> GPX export file </desc>     <trkseg>"""

for line in array:
    if "20140228" in line: #OR ANY OTHER DATE YOURE INTERESTED IN
        if "   gps " in line:
            info = line
            otherstuff = info.split("   gps")[0]
            latlonheight = info.split("gps  ")[1]
            datetime = otherstuff.split(": ")[1]
            latlonheight = latlonheight.split(",")
            date = datetime.split(" ")[0]
            time = datetime.split(" ")[1]
            print "<trkpt  lat=\"%s\" lon=\"%s\" >"%(latlonheight[0], latlonheight[1])
            print "<ele>%s</ele>"%(latlonheight[2][:-1])
            print "<time>%sT%sZ</time>"%(date[:4] + '-' + date[4:6] + '-' + date[6:], time)
            print "<src>gps</src>\n</trkpt>"

print """
</trkseg>
  </trk>
</gpx>
"""


How can I prevent my music apps from launching and playing on their own? When plugging headphones into my Droid X, I can listen to music for a little while. The issue will start if the headphones rotate while in place. This somehow triggers an event and my Droid X will start to play the default player, sometimes it will play Songbird...sometimes both. Sometimes when it does this it just keeps playing and pausing music. It seems really messed up on the hardware level. I intend to keep the device, as the only real issue is the default players launching.

My question is this: How can I prevent the default player(s) from launching and playing music ever?

After doing some more research, I found a thread with a lot of users having the same exact problem:

Their solution is to use either Headset Blocker or Disable Autoplay apps. This seems to have sort of worked. Just make sure that taskkiller isn't disable either of these.

I am still experimenting on how to fix this issue...

Edit1: I still see the same issue even though both suggested apps are running. I believe the taskkiller app may be causing this issue. I am going to try disable it and seeing if this gets anywhere.

Edit2: Still no luck. I am going to try rooting my phone and installing the Autostarts app


remove or undo rating google playstore review due to privacy reasons - How do I remove a rating I put from the Android app in the Google play store?  I just realized people can see more of info and do not want that.  I can't find where to undo my rating.  I just clicked on the stars, did not write a review.

You can delete your review/rating from both the Play store app page and also via the Play store on your device.

Web Play Store

Simply visit the page for the app for which you want to remove your review. Scroll down and you should see your review and also two buttons, 'delete' and 'edit'. Clicking the delete will remove your review.

Play Store app
Visit the app for which you want to remove your review. Just beneath the app screenshots you should see your star 'review'. On the right there is an 'edit' button. Click this and you will then see a 'delete' button. Click this to delete your review.


Tasker double WiFi activation with 'or' statement I have a Tasker app on my tablet, I want to make a profile which will trigger silent mode when 2 conditions are met: Connection with WiFi Network A is lost and either network B or C is connected. I want this profile to be turned off when network A is connected again. I assume that some sort of variable has to be used for the 'B or C' function.

How can I do this? Also can please walk me through how to assign variables if any.

You can specify quite a bit of logic in just the contexts. Having a profile with multiple contexts would be the easiest way to accomplish this. Remember that all contexts have to be met sequentially before the task(s) will fire. Also, the Wifi Connected context will accept multiple SSIDs by using pattern matching. In this case a / equals logical OR. Try the following:

Profile:

Context: [Wifi Connected] SSID="NetworkA", Invert=Yes
Context: [Wifi Connected] SSID="NetworkB/NetworkC"
Task(s): Ringtone silence settings of your choice

This means that the task(s) will fire if Network A is not connected AND Network B OR Network C are connected. As soon either condition is lost the task will exit.


Using wlan1 instead of wlan0 in Android Nexus 6 I am trying to use a WiFi dongle with Android Nexus 6 with custom ROM and kernel. I have installed drivers of USB WiFi dongle on Android phone that appears at wlan1 network interface in adb shell. Whereas, the default WiFi appears at wlan0. However, I am unable to access or even ping the devices available on wlan1.

I have connected the USB dongle to it's WiFi and assigned an IP address:

iw dev wlan1 connect -w WiFi-XC
ip addr add 172.16.0.120/16 broadcast 172.16.255.255 dev wlan1

The dmesg show that the association to the WiFi AP is successful:

[  242.667204] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
[  245.599269] wlan1: authenticate with 70:b3:d5:95:94:6e
[  245.599934] wlan1: send auth to 70:b3:d5:95:94:6e (try 1/3)
[  245.603278] wlan1: authenticated
[  245.604767] wlan1: associate with 70:b3:d5:95:94:6e (try 1/3)
[  245.606292] wlan1: RX AssocResp from 70:b3:d5:95:94:6e (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=2)
[  245.609720] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan1: link becomes ready
[  245.616657] wlan1: associated

The routing table looks like:

10.10.0.0/16 dev wlan0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.10.10.108
172.16.0.0/16 dev wlan1  proto kernel  scope link  src 172.16.0.120

Whereas, the output of ifconfig looks like:

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 44:80:eb:30:e5:03
          inet addr:10.10.10.108  Bcast:10.10.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::4680:ebff:fe30:e503/64 Scope: Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3670 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4500 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:854154 TX bytes:1080264
wlan1     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 70:b3:d5:95:85:f1  Driver wifidongle
          inet addr:172.16.0.120  Bcast:172.16.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::72b3:d5ff:fe95:85f1/64 Scope: Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:487 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:29 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:30055 TX bytes:6051

When I try to ping the router at 172.16.0.10, or ping the device from router, the ping doesn't succeed. However, when I try to run nmap -sn 172.16.0.0/24 on the router to see the devices it can see, surprisingly it shows that it can see the device:

Starting Nmap 7.60 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2019-07-11 12:56 UTC
Nmap scan report for 172.16.0.120
Host is up (0.0017s latency).

I have a suspicion that both wlan0 and wlan1 cannot work at the same time. If this is the case, how can I take down wlan0. If this is not the case and both wlan0 and wlan1 can work at the same time, can someone suggest a solution?

As indicated in the comments, there are multiple routing tables that Android uses. The routing table that is shown by ip route show is the main routing table, which is not added to ip rule list by default in android. Do add the main routing table to ip rule, you need to execute command ip rule add from all lookup main pref 1.


How to update Huawei P20 to Android 9 I have recently bought a Huawei P20, but it cannot be updated to Android 9.

However, my old P10 has already been updated to Android 9 many months ago.

So how can the P20 be updated?

Problem solved: It was necessary to insert a SIM card. (I had tried it only with WLAN without SIM).


"Share" an item to my web service I am looking for a way to submit content from my Android device via HTTP POST to a web service.

Basically, when I click the Share button on my phone, I would like an option (an icon in the list of share targets) to share that item with my web service.... e.g. https://myserver.com/mywebservice

The web service would handle the data as it needed to (e.g. if the shared item was a URL, or a picture, or... whatever).

Is there some way to do this without having to build an Android app just for this purpose? Maybe there is a customizable sharing app that I have not been able to uncover.

Backstory: I use an iGrill thermometer & Android app for long barbecue sessions. At the end of the session, the app allows me to export the temperature data over the duration of the session (for graphing etc). I presently share the exported file to my gmail, but then I have to download the file from gmail, and upload it manually to my web server. I'd prefer to go right from the iGrill app to the web server.

I found an app that provides this capability (among other useful sharing features. It's called AutoShare, and its working great- I had to tweak a line or two in my web service, but now the iGrill data is being shared directly to my web server!


Huawei Nova CAN -Lxx? I am asked to buy the Huawei Nova CAN-L12...it has to be above CAN-L12C635B140......

But merchants of the Huawei Nova do not specify if it is CAN-L12, or L02, or L(other)..What is the CAN-xxxx coding? -> is it a software version that I don't really have to worry about and can be achieved through updates?

Thank you for your help!

The sub-model (CAN-Lxx) indicates the network band it supports and therefore the region it best suits. A specs listing of CAN-L02 can be seen on PDAdb (you could search for other sub-models, too - just search "Huawei Nova CAN").

Inspect the "Supported Cellular Network" section and see how it matches up to your local carrier. It's unlikely that you won't be able to use the phone at all if you buy the wrong model (that doesn't match), but it's likely you'll lose LTE support if you do - all you get will be GSM/WCDMA/HSDPA.

The long trailing digits are the software revision for this particular sub-model, and can be updated to the latest one once you get your hands on the device.


How to delete a single (SSL root) certificate? There is only a way to purge the whole certificate store (for SSL root certificates like those used for 802.1x).

Is there an app, setting or (as a last resort) command line to remove a single certificate?

(Android 2.2)

To be honest I had never removed a cert before but I've added my own and it looks like it's the same process.

It's basically:

use Linux (or a vm of Linux)
install bouncycastle (java SSL library)
download the cacerts.bks files from the device
use keytool -delete command to remove the cert from cacerts.bks
verify that it worked with keytool
push the cacerts.bks file back up to the device

Bouncy Castle: http://www.bouncycastle.org/latest_releases.html
Detailed instructions on how to use keytool: http://wiki.cacert.org/ImportRootCert#Android_Phones

In ubuntu it's a little easier to download through apt just so you can get the PATH stuff right. "apt-cache search bouncycastle" should help.


change root location to /system/xbin android i have a root android device, but su is located on /
So, i wanna change my su to /system/xbin or /system/bin. but i can't change su while i'm using it.

I also need to change 2 files that are located in / and /sbin
However, every time I change them android returns the previous files after reboot.

I am also facing the same problem.

I got a workaround that changes the installation scripts not to save the su image to / data, but to / system, and by modifying the su startup script to mount su into / system as well. However this method only works by installing su via recovery (using TWRP_3.0.2).

I am still looking for an alternative to do within the system

I changed the scripts from SuperSU-v2.82 tool

https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu


Phone won't shut up even in Vibrate/Silent mode If I set my phone to Vibrate or Silent modes, it's still making audible notifications for GMail, Hangouts, Waze, and maybe other things.

It has worked as expected for years, and then started doing this in the last few weeks.  I don't see any other setting anywhere that adjusts this.

All 3 of the main volume controls are at zero.  Is there somewhere else I should look?

The loudness of the notifications matches the loudness of the notification slider when it's not muted.  Like if I set it to high level and then go to silent mode, the notifications are still high level.  If I set it to the lowest level and then go to silent mode, the notifications are at the lowest level.

CM11, Android 4.4.4, Samsung Galaxy S Relay

It is a fact that there are elements of the audio on devices that escape the Vibrate/Silent mode you are dealing with. I was disturbed at the difficulties of closing all audio channels, too. Years ago I found an app that made all the manipulation of the sounds on my devices clear and simple: Volume Ace. It makes it clear which systems still allow audio when in Vibrate mode, or when directed to be Silent. It allows you to control the outliers right from within a single screen, rather than through multiple menus or other activities. It allows for audio profiles for time of day, etc. It allows your settings to be saved, and recalled in case of unintentional disruption. I haven't needed to play with most aspects of audio in some time.

DISCLAIMER: I am not the developer, just a long-time satisfied user. I hope you find it as useful.


htc one message notification problem Yesterday I bought the HTC One which was a huge step up from the iPhone 4s which I had owned. I have one problem with the phone: I cant find a way to view a contacts notification for a text without it displaying the message in the form of a preview. Is there any way I can change the settings so that the ls will show the sender but not the message preview. Im looking for something similar to ios where it would display the contacts name and it would say "text message"

No, you cannot disable text preview completely. You can adjust how many lines you'd like to see (1-3), but like iOS native Messages.app you will be presented with a message preview.

That being said, on Android platform you can replace most default applications with the ones you like more. Perhaps you will be able to find SMS/MMS app that offers this sort of customizability.


No Service on Galaxy SL GT I9003 I have a Samsung Galaxy SL running Android 2.3.6.

I bought a new battery and it was working perfectly until I put on recharge. Immidiately after I put it for recharge, it started showing "No Service". It does not receive any network coverage.

Everything else is working fine.

I can't comment due to limited experience.

Where is your question?
Try to insert the old battery and see if it improves the network coverage?
A Izzy stated, try to turn it off, remove the battery and turn it on again.
You can also try to turn on airplane mode for 1min, turn it off and check whether your network coverage gets back to normal. That's what I used when my 3G connection seems lost, it is faster than rebooting.
Try with another (a friend's) SIM card,
Change location where coverage might be better. The subway has no coverage, you know :-)


Lock and erase options not appearing in Android Device manager My FairPhone appears in the Android Device Manager, its location is picked up, and I can ring it:

As you can see the separate Lock and Erase options do not appear as illustrated in the help:

If I click the Setup lock and erase the website says it sent a setup notification. I do not see anything arriving on the phone.

On the phone I have turned on both Remotely locate this device and Allow remote lock and erase options as described here.

In the play store, my device is set as 'Visible in menus'.

FWIW, I'm not signed in to Google+.

What am I missing?

Device: Android 4.2.2 'JellyBean MR2' / FairPhone 1.1 'Caju'. Not rooted.

It is now the morning after the evening I wrote this question. My Lock and Erase settings are now automagically present in Android Device Manager.

I have not changed any settings or powered off the phone, it was just 'sleeping' last night.

So it looks like the Google servers needed some time to enable the settings.


Android Browser Privacy Settings: "Clear cookies" and "clear cache" I have a couple of questions about privacy and Android phones, though it probably relates to the windows phone as well and welcome the thoughts of any developers.

Do the 'clear cookies' and or 'clear cache' functions actually remove hidden tracking cookies that use either Flash based cookies or the client side storage area inside the web browser?

If not, how do you delete them without resetting the entire phone?

To reset the Flash based data storage (technically like cookies), you have to wipe the data for the Flash Plugin. Home => Settings => Applications => Manage Applications => Adobe Flash Player => Clear Data.  I would do the same procedure for your browser application, too, if have nothing valuable saved in the browser settings/passwords.

I wish Adobe had provided some form of privacy configuration application as they started to include with latest Flash Plugin for desktops.


Does installing CyanogenMod lock device's network? today after almost one year using the stock Android version on my Xperia Mini (ST15i, I was on Gingerbread) I decided to flash an official CyanogenMod ROM (CM7).

So I first unlocked the bootloader of the phone following the procedure detailed by Sony and then flashed the ROM following the default procedure explained in the CyanogenMod wiki page of the Xperia Mini.

Everything went alright but now when I turn my phone on after I input the SIM password I'm asked for a network lock, when I wasn't before.

I tried reverting back to the stock Gingerbread and things worked properly again. Trying a different version (CM9, also official) got me the same problem.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is there any step not documented in that wiki page I should know about?

Thanks for everything in advance.

No you are not doing anything wrong. Also it is not cyanogen's mod fault. The problem is, I think that you bought your phone on a contract witch usually have a network lock aka you can only use it on the network from where you got your contract from.
The problem is that when you change your ROM, you are installing something different then what your operator's rom had on it and the phone doesn't know that rom and he think you want to use it in different networks so he will only give access if you unlock it.

May by you can find some tutorials to unlock your phone or you can go to your contract provider(if the contract expired) to give you the network key to unlock the phone.


does ATT ZTE Z831 Android disable the internal storage option My son just got the  ATT ZTE Z831 Android and I am putting in a 32GB sd card. I was wondering if this phone has an internal storage option.

not by design. see SuperThomasLab's answer here (sm partition disk...) to trick it. "mixed 50" corrupted my card (YMMV), but assigning the whole card to internal seems to have worked for me. open the card when you're done and tap "migrate data." card will no longer work as a portable (unless you reformat it as such).


How to reset "wm size" changes from recovery or unlock android phone with graphic key via keyboard/mouse? After entering wm size 1920x1080 in terminal I was unable to reset this setting.
Now I have TWRP running and no information about how wm store its parameters in memory. Using adb is not possible (for adb shell wm size reset) as I cannot unlock phone (nor with usb keyboard nor with usb mouse)
So the quiestion is: how to reset changes of wm command or unlock a phone with usb keyboard or mouse (graphical key)?

I found a solution. Type in console:

wm size reset


How can I save photos that I take with my Android's camera in a lossless format? How can I save the images captured with my Android's camera in RAW or TIFF format?  Are there any apps, ROM/kernel Modifications or other methods that will allow me to accomplish this?

Technically I need to be able to save the RAW data or at least save them as TIFFs however I am also open saving them as PNGs if RAW and TIFF are out of the question.  Converting the natively saved jpegs to TIFF or PNG is not a suitable option for me.

I have seen this question that states that RAW is not possible, however it is over a year old and I'm hoping something may have changed.  I'm also broadening the scope to include other "lossless" options.

I'm currently using a vzw version of the GS3 that is rooted and running a custom ROM.  I regularly use the built in camera, Camera Zoom FX and Camera 360 and none of these seem to be capable of saving lossless images.

UPDATE:  I just found out that PNG does not save EXIF information so it is no longer a suitable option.

The camera api within android is not written to be able to capture RAW. The camera firmware is at the kernel level and would require a custom kernel that is written with RAW in mind. Some of the post processing is being handled on the phone at the camera firmware level making it nearly impossible to find a way to actually capture RAW images.


Why Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i shows only a battery icon instead of booting? I've got a used Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i smartphone - it had basically no issues, but when I attempted to turn on (it was charged almost all night), what appeared is only a battery icon with no boot.

It has already happened some times before, but in those cases, taking out battery and putting back always solved the case.

This time, it didn't. What's the possible reason and how can I fix it?

(if that matters, the mini-USB end of the cable I use for the charger also has some issues, with only making proper contact in some certain positions)

Either your battery has failed (internal connection failure or shorted cell), or the battery contacts in the phone are no longer making contact with the battery terminals.  Most smart phones (including Samsung models, in my experience) will refuse to boot until the battery has a certain level of charge (around 15%); and if the battery won't accept a charge for some reason, the phone will never start up.

If you can, see if the phone will work with a different battery; if so, replacing the battery will solve the problem.  Otherwise, it may be possible to rebend the contact springs, clean the contact surfaces, or otherwise restore good contact to resolve the issue.


Nexus 7 is not being detected on Mac Nexus 7 is only charging if it is connected to my mac. It is not being detected in Android Studio nor Android file transfer and there isn't anything popping up or showing a USB symbol on the Nexus. I enabled the "USB debugging" option in the Developer menu.
The connection mode was set by default to MTP.

Is there a problem with the cable, port or OS?

Download the Android File System application.

Install the Android File System app by opening the DMG file, and then dragging the App into your Applications folder.

Once installed, connect your Nexus 7 to your Mac via the USB cable.  Open up the Android File System app.  It should recognize your tablet and then open up a Finder type window.

You can drag and drop files and media into the window. Additionally, you can create new folders and delete files. Be sure you know what files your deleting as you can break the OS by deleting or altering essential system files.

If you get a “No Device Found” message, be sure your Nexus 7 is in Media device (MTP) transfer mode. You can do this by swiping down to open the notification tray and then tapping on the Connected As… message.

Source


Can you extract files from a Google Drive Whatsapp backup? I have accidentally deleted hundreds of pictures from my Whatsapp files in my phone, but I can't restore the backup, since Whatsapp is a system app and I can't uninstall it.

Answering your main question - no, you can't.
As for having Whatsapp in a phone firmware, I think reseting an app through deleting its data in Android settings could do the trick, but it may also delete local backup files - so "backup the backups" first (sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases).
Sources:
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6305834?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/android/20887921


Setting up revolut with Google Pay I am trying to set up my Revolut card with google pay but I keep getting the following error

"This card can't be set up to pay in stores. This feature isn't supported by your bank yet. You can try another card for in store use".

Why is this?

Revolut cards of Cyprus are not eligible for Google Pay per Revolut FAQ and that's the reason for the message.

  During the beta release, Google Pay will only be available to selected users from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Singapore. We’ll roll out Google Pay to everyone soon

(Cyprus missing)

Revolut cards of Cyprus are also not eligible for Google Pay contact less payment per Google Pay FAQ
There is a virtual card workaround if you wish to try (see spider 623 post) .
Interestingly, they are eligible for Apple Pay


How does rooting work? Or, how do I root my device without a rooter?

Rooting instructions for Android devices that I have seen are typically of the following form:

Download Gingerbreak.apk
Run Gingerbreak, click “root device”
Observe that Superuser.apk has been magically installed, possibly along with busybox and other things, and enjoy your rooty goodness.

What I am wanting to know is this: how does the rooting actually happen? What does Gingerbreak do?

I understand the end result of rooting:

su is present and working
Superuser.apk is installed and controls access to su
Various utilities are present, provided by BusyBox (optional?)

I also think I understand the basic idea of how Gingerbreak gets started — it exploits some local privilege escalation vulnerability and uses its new-found powers to deploy Superuser and whatever else is necessary.

So, unless I am wrong in some of the understanding I laid out above, the core of thing I want to know is what the root installer does to deploy and activate Superuser. It seems that just putting Superuser.apk in the right place wouldn't be enough — how does it get allowed root access? How does it get hooked up to moderate that access for other applications?

What does Gingerbreak do post-exploit to enable and secure root access?

What the APK and exploit do (usually) is as follows:

The APK puts the right files in the right place to run the exploit
The APK runs the exploit
The exploit attempts to attain root access
If it succeeds, the exploit remounts /system as read-write and runs the installer script
The installer script attempts to install the su binary and superuser APK, and reboots

As an example, this page details how the rageagainstthecage exploit attempts to gain elevated privileges.


Search a PDF for a specific phrase Is there a way to search the text of PDFs? For example I want to be taken to the page with the word "dog" and have it highlighted? I can't find a way with Amazon Kindle or ezPDF reader. Initially I made this question app specific but at this point I don't care; I will use any app that can search PDFs.

The PDF can be searched on my desktop computer.

I think it depends on the PDF, if it is searchable or not, for ezPDF does have a search function that highlight the searched text, as you can see in the image below:

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

And there are many other applications that can highlight a searched text in PDF, like Adobe Reader, MoonReader+, Quickoffice, etc.


Is it possible to use an Android phone as network disk, so I can browse it on my TV? Is it possible to connect an Android phone to my TV with a USB cable, and then browse a network disk instead of the SD card?

To answer comment questions: HTC Desire HD, TV is able to browse USB storage devices. At the moment I go to my PC, connect to my phone with the USB cable, and put a video file on the SD card. Then I walk to my TV and plug the phone into the usb port. Then I browse the SDcard to find the video file, and open it. Every once in a while I connect my phone to the TV, and then find out that I need to go upstairs to my PC again, because there are no video files left to watch. And then I think "If I only could use a network file explorer (like ES) and use it to browse it on my tv"...

The TV supports none of the protocols since it has no network connection (no cable/WiFi). It has a USB port to browse usb storage devices.

It should be possible. You would certainly need root.

If you could mount your network share onto your phone, you could mount it under /mnt/sdcard/network_share. Then your tv would simply browse that folder. To your TV, it would simply look like another folder on your SD card.

This post shows how to mount nfs on your phone. You may need a special version of busybox.

busybox mount -o nolock,ro,hard,intr,vers=3 -t nfs 192.xxx.xxx.x.x:/your/nfs/share /mnt/sdcard/network_share


How can I get edits done in aCalendar to sync? Any changes I make within aCalendar (e.g. adding an event, changing the calendar for an event, adding or deleting a calendar) aren't reflected within the local Google Calendar app or from the Google Calendar website. The changes may be reflected in other calendar apps on the same device (e.g. Business Calendar). Moreover, opening one of these other calendar apps may cause the changes to propagate to the local Google Calendar app and the Google Calendar website. Within aCalendar's "Manage calendars" screen, the Google Calendar account has "io-error" next to it.

The phone is connected to WiFi and the cell network. Account sync is turned on for the Google account, and synchronization is enabled for Google Calendar. Data saver and battery saver are enabled.

How can I get aCalendar to synchronize its changes?

System info:
LG V20
Android Oreo 8.0.0
Google Calendar 6.0.56
aCalendar 2.2.7

aCalendar's help docs ("General Sync Issues / Sync of two devices" and "Problems with Google Calendar Synchronization") list a number of settings to check, including:

background data
energy/battery/power saver

In particular, if the phone's energy saver mode is turned on, background apps are restricted. aCalendar relies on Google Calendar running in the background for synchronization, so energysaver mode thus interferes with calendar synchronization.

To get calendar sync to work, go into the energy saver settings and exclude/exempt Google Calendar. It should not be necessary to exclude aCalendar or other calendar-related apps (e.g. Calendar Storage).


Can I modify a Google Document document table from Android or on the Web? I have an Android 4.4.2 KitKat device with the Google Drive and Google Docs apps installed. With these I am able to open a Google Drive document but I would then like to insert a row or a column in a table, and cannot find the functionality to do this from within the Drive or Docs apps.

Is it possible to insert table rows or columns from Drive or Docs apps?
Otherwise, do I need to download the file first, and if so, then what app should I use to do the modification?
Or should I use the Chrome web browser on my device to insert the table rows or columns, and how is this operation carried out?
Or should I just give these three options up, download to my PC, open with MS Word or LibreOffice, then upload back (at the cost of having to sit at my PC's table to do this)?

Thanks.

EDIT:

What OS are you running @LieRyan? I don't have the ellipsis which appears in your menu. I ended up using an application called OfficeSuite, which despite being a bit pricy at about 15$ a year, can edit Google Docs apps and manipulate tables contained therein without having to download the document to the device and then upload it again.

OK, here is the screenshot from Google Drive on my device. As you can see the ellipses allowing the table to be edited are missing:

Yes you can do this within Google Drive/Docs app. Enter the edit mode of the document that you want to edit; tap on the cell you want to add row/column on, a hover menu will appear; then tap on the overflow menu (circled red):

A list of actions you can do on the cell will appear, scroll through the list of actions to find the ones for inserting row/columns:


Can I use Jio SIM in the second slot of my Redmi 3s Prime phone? Can I use Jio SIM in the second slot of my Redmi 3s Prime phone? The second SIM slot is a nano type SIM slot. Please clear my doubt as soon as you can.

Not all dual SIM phones have 4G + 4G support.
It is mostly 4G + 2G(or sometimes 3G).

It is not predetermined which SIM slot will be able to use the 4G bands and which won't.

Usually when a dual SIM phone is booted for the first time with two SIM cards, on the setup screen it asks the user to select which SIM card would be used for mobile data. Whichever is selected becomes the primary data SIM slot and is subsequently used for 4G LTE or 3G whichever the phone supports. The second slot in most phones either cannot use data or even if it does, cannot use the 4G or 3G bands- whichever the phone supports and the first SIM slot can use.
In case of hybrid dual SIM phones with single SIM does not arise as there is only one SIM card in use, and the device will automatically use whichever SIM slot is occupied as it's primary data SIM and will switch to 4G if available.
There is no official confirmation of Redmi 3S Prime being a 4G + 4G phone. Seeing how it is a budget phone, it is most likely 4G + 3G/2G.
If you are booting the device for the first time after inserting both the SIM cards (doesn't matter if Jio SIM is in second SIM slot, you can select the Jio SIM when prompted to select which SIM you want to use for data and it'll work.
If you inserted the Jio SIM in the second slot after having already booted the device, it probably won't work. What you have to do in this case is reset the phone, and when you see the setup screen, select the slot in which you have put the Jio SIM, and you'll be good to go.


Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos: Odin flashed the custom Recovery but device boots into stock Recovery I am new to rooting Android. I tried using Odin 3.10 to root my Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos. I successfully flashed CWM (Odin displayed pass message). However when I restart phone in Recovery mode, it shows Android with an error symbol, and then loads the stock Recovery.

I am trying to flash CM12. What's the issue, and how do I fix it because I want to root my phone.

Before you flash the recovery, untick the Auto Reboot option in ODIN. Then flash the recovery. After flashing in done, reboot your device directly to recovery mode from download mode bu pressing Vol up + Power + Home button together. Now you will see the CWM recovery is booted in your device. Now you can reboot normally and your CWM will be installed.


Exclude folders from LG G6 stock gallery app I'm really enjoying the stock gallery app on my LG G6, but I can't find away to exclude folders (or "albums") from the default view.

This is really annoying, since it's showing album art and basically adds every music folder with album art in it to that view:

Does anyone know how I can hide those?

If it doesn't have option to exclude you can make it do that. Just use any file manager that can create file, and create file named ".nomedia" (without quotes) inside folder where are those images. However I think this will have side effects so music player may be unable to locate music in that folder if there is any also video too, but I'm not completely sure about it.


security implications of participating in app beta testing? I am an IT professional (but not in app development). Two days ago  someone contacted me about a blog post I made and invited me to participate in beta testing for a messaging app which was related to my blog post. I have never before considered participating in beta testing for a mobile app before. For the android app, they are using Closed beta with Google+ community or Google Group.

At first, I was enthusiastic, but then I thought --- whoa! I don't know this person (or this company) from Adam. Although the developer's website looks legitimate, this person contacted ME, so this could all be a setup.

The instructions to download the beta app seem straightforward and seem similar to how legitimate apps do beta testing. And frankly, I doubt that this app has any malicious purpose. On the other hand, I have no reason to trust this app.

In fact, when I begin the steps for downloading the app and seei what privileges I am granting, I literally have no idea what the implications are.

So let me ask:

Are beta apps basically operating in a safe sandbox? Are there
significant differences in security risks between android and ios?
Generally is it easy to uninstall them?
When evaluating whether to install a beta app, is there an access
level which I should be careful not to grant?
Is there any sort of community rating system that might reassure me
that an app is more likely to be safe? I see all kinds of websites
which list apps for beta testers. Is there any reason to believe
that apps listed on these kinds of sites are vetted or determined to
be safe (or do not pose security risks)?
Are  certain kinds of apps  riskier to install as beta apps than others?
I assume that I should monitor performance (such as memory and storage use) when the app is running. Is there any metric I should be monitoring to ensure that the beta app is not dragging down overall performance?

Thanks for your help. Hopefully your answers can help other clueless potential beta testers like myself. I would love to participate in more beta-testing if I could be convinced that it would not pose a significant risk for me.

I have worked in software development before and even done a bit of testing on desktop apps  but I had VMs and understand the security model for Windows and Linux fairly well. But I only have one phone and 2 tablets (ios and android), and don't want to mess things up (though I regularly test ebook design on multiple platforms and displays).

There is no real difference between a beta test application and a regular application for security purposes. You can remove any beta test application the same way you would a regular application. Android is setup so that applications do not normally have access to the data for other applications.

If a beta test is closed, then the Google+ or Google group is the access control for the beta test. This has no effect on the application on the phone.

If an application is in the Play Store, you have general assurances that it has been virus scanned. The Play Store is much safer than installing applications from generic websites. The Play Store will not, however, tell you anything about how the application works.

The permissions requested by the application determine how risky it is to use it. Permissions include things like:

camera
contacts
location coarse/fine
network access
read call log
read contacts
microphone

The general trouble is that applications ask for many permissions, and it is not possible to tell what an application is doing with those permissions. But if an application that turns your flash on and off is requesting access to your microphone or contacts, then you should get suspicious. If an application has access to your contacts and the network, then it is capable of sending all your contacts' information to a server on the Internet.


Making Calls with Google Voice on Nexus 5 I'm wondering how(if possible) I can use the Google voice technology on my Nexus 5. I have it downloaded it on my laptop and it works great, but I'm unable to download it on my nexus 5 (the app is incompatible which is strange considering its the flagship model) is there anyway for me to get Google voice on my phone?

You should already have it pre-installed and enabled on your phone. Try saying "OK, Google" from the home screen. The steps here should give you an idea of how to enable it if it doesn't work.


constantly consuming high CPU i want to use software to monitor my network, the monitor process is consuming 20% CPU times, is it any impact to my device except battery life?

If a program constantly consume high CPU, will it create a lot of heat and ruin the device ?

Constant battery use will generate more heat over a short period of time, yes.  Ordinarily, this will not damage the device.  However, heat can greatly impact the longevity of your battery.  I would suggest shutting off the monitor when you don't need it; if you really need to constantly monitor the network, the task is probably better suited to a PC.


How should I charge my phone ( avoid fast charging)? I've recently got a new Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) running Android 6. It's great, but I'm not sure how to charge it properly.

By using the charger that came with the phone I get a notification saying "Fast Charging" and the phone heats up like crazy so it can shorten the life of the battery (although it does actually charge really quickly).

Alternatively I can use 3rd party chargers (none of which obviously suport fast charging), but many websites say it can harm the battery because they can be of really bad quality, so I don't like that option.

The best option I see is to charge it using my PC, but I can't have my PC everywhere I go and leaving it on overnight seems like an energy waste (no, my PC can't charge when it's off).

Disabling Fast Charging seems like a good idea, but since the Marshmalow update, the option is not in the settings anymore.

The text on the stock charger says:
Input: 100-240V 50-60 Hz 0.50 A
Output: 9V DC 1.67A or 5V DC 2.0A

With all that in mind, what is the best way to charge my phone and do minimal damage to the battery in the long run?

I would recommend getting a Samsung travel adapter which outputs at only 5v.


Multiple force closes I have intermittent issues with multiple apps forcing closing. This has happened on both my current ROM (Miui) and every version of Cyanogenmod I've tried.

Usually this problem crops up again a few months after a fresh ROM install or factory reset. I'll switch from 3G to Wifi, or vise versa, and then everything on my phone that uses background data will start force closing. The most usual suspects are Google Services Framework (com.google.process.gapps) and Facebook (com.facebook.katana), but almost any app seems to force close including ScoreCenter, Docs, and Smooth Calendar.

In addition to the force closes, the other big symptom is that I can't turn off or on airplane mode, mobile network data (3G), wifi, or background data syncing - but usually not all at the same time. Sometimes I'll be able to turn on Wifi but not airplane mode, or other times I'll be able to turn 3G off but Wifi won't turn off. Sometimes I'll be able to turn a service off or on after a reboot, other times not. Sometimes when I reboot a service that I turned off before will be back on again, other times not. Incredibly, utterly frustrating.

Neither rebooting, fixing permissions, nor wiping dalvik cache seem to help. I've only ever gotten my phone to work again by fiddling around with the radio settings and pulling the battery for hours before something magically starts working again. This most recent time I've even removed my Google account from the phone but that hasn't helped either. I know a factory reset would make this problem go away (for a little while, at least) but it always returns - I want to find the root cause and change whatever is making it happen in the first place (especially if it's something I'm doing!).

I know that this issue involves the interaction between app syncing and the wifi/3G radios but I have no idea what or why. I've uploaded a logcat here - I hope you all can make heads or tails of it. I saw E/ACRA    ( 1296): java.io.IOException: No space left on device and presumed it might be a partition storage space issue but all the partitions I could see (including those that require root) still have space.

Thanks in advance, I'm super frustrated with this one.

After investigating further and looking at the partitions again, it turns out that I did have a totally full /data/data (as described in a previous question).
For posterity, here's what I did:
Because DiskUsage, the app I normally use to investigate partition usage, had locked up as well I fired up Terminal Emulator (luckily it was still working) and followed this advice I found in an XDA thread:

You can check [the partition utilization] by running this command as root:
df /data/data
If you see % used = 100 then this is your problem.

It was, in fact, 100% full. As soon as I moved some apps to my SD card my phone immediately started working again. I must've misread the free space of the partition when I first looked into it (doh!). The radio issues I was sure were involved ended up being a red herring.


Huawei mobile File Transfer to my computer doesnot work I used to transfer files but now I can't. The USB cable transfers from another Huawei, but from my Huawei mobile it doesn't. I turned debug on. Still my computer does not identify it.

Did you try to install the drivers?

If you didn't do this you should install Samsung Adb drivers, it might say Samsung, but it's for all devices. First install it from this link:

(Samsung) Adb drivers

After that:

Reboot your PC.
After the reboot press  + R and type devmgmt.msc.
Find the phone, do right click on it →  Properties →  Update drivers.
Select Browse my computer for drivers.
Select Let me pick a driver from a list of installed drivers.
Select "Adb drivers" (it might be called something different).
Select Samsung Android Adb interface.
Select Yes to continue (if you get a warning)

You're all set to copy.


How is bootloader state protected against physical tampering in Google Pixel A week ago my professor's Pixel 4 XL was stolen from his desk when he left it there for charging. The phone has been shut down. It had few minutes of battery left when it was plugged in charging. Though I believe that the attacker has powered it off immediately and also turned off mobile data or turned on airplane mode which are unfortunately allowed in Pixel devices without unlocking the screen. I must say that this is a weak physical security design and helps the attacker more than environment safety*. Although location cannot be turned off at locked screen but it will be useless unless the device automatically reconnects to the nearby open wifi in campus to which the device was connected earlier.
I assured him that the data cannot be compromised because it is protected by file based encryption (FBE) which is bound to the user's lock screen password and lock screen password is verified by Titan M chip (TEE) to unlock the device. The attacker can still reset the device which is then prompted by factory reset protection when setting up the device. This is yet another weak physical security design because unauthorised factory reset can be prevented by adopting biometric authentication for bootloader and recovery mode by TEE which wakes up before the android bootloader is awaken.
In Pixel, bootloader can be unlocked by enabling OEM unlocking from developer tools and then executing fastboot flashing unlock in bootloader mode. As the attacker cannot reach developer settings without unlocking the screen, my professor asked if by using a hardware tool like UFS flash storage reader & writer, can the attacker directly tamper with OEM unlocking byte and bootloader state (locked & unlocked) bytes which are stored somewhere for persistence across reboots and flashing custom ROMs?

*Environment safety: Some security trade-offs were made by android security team by allowing to shut down, to turn on airplane mode and to turn off mobile data from locked screen so that devices in case of emergency like overheating of the device while in plane and radio interference, these features can be remain functional from locked screen.

Pixel refuses fastboot flashing unlock (and unlock_critical) command unless OEM unlocking is enabled. OEM unlocking byte is stored by TEE as implemented in android source.

libese
provides a minimal transport wrapper for communicating with embedded secure elements. Embedded secure elements typically adhere to smart card standards.

TEE is tamper-resistant by design. So it's not possible to physically modify OEM unlocking byte in Pixel. VerifiedBootState is also stored in TEE. This ensures that stolen Pixel device cannot be reused by unlocking the bootloader and reflashing the images.
When bootloader unlock command is executed, bootloader queries TEE to get unlock ability set by OEM unlocking. When VerifiedBootState is set to unlocked, TEE flushes file based encryption (FBE) keys and bootloader resets the device. Verified boot state and unlock ability remains persistent in TEE across reboots, flashing custom ROMs and factory reset. This is why the user still has to relock the bootloader even if all partitions are reflashed with stock images.
Verified boot state in TEE is now also used in SafetyNet's hardware-backed attestation. Tamper-protection by TEE makes it impossible to fake verified boot state. As a result, it leaves no way to pass SafetyNet's device-integrity test even if you have root access.
In other devices, OEM unlocking byte is stored in FRP partition which is a bad security design because OEM unlocking byte can be physically modified if it's stored outside of TEE. In such devices, OEMs sends unlock.bin signature file to the user which is used as an additional argument with unlock command so there is some sort of verification in place to verify the device owner. In Mi devices, OEM unlocking requires registration with Mi account which ensures that only the account owner can unlock bootloader from Mi unlock tool even if OEM unlocking is enabled.
Earlier Mi devices are found to be storing bootloader state in /devinfo partition which is totally insecure because by simply modifying the byte, the attacker could unlock the bootloader. As more and more devices will be mandated to enforce SafetyNet's hardware-backed attestation, VerifiedBootState will be stored in TEE.


How to access Samsung Galaxy S2 storage while phone is off My Galaxy S2 recently froze while browsing facebook using Firefox (the loading animation kept playing though), then shut down after a minute. I haven't been able to turn it back on since then. I tried turning it on while charging, using someone else's battery (working with their phone), USB connection to computer, SIM in or out, just the power button and volume up/down + home + power buttons; but no luck. The hardware seems to be fine, as the phone starts heating up around the camere when I leave the battery in (which I interpret to mean that the processor is doing something, just not the right thing - maybe stuck in an endless loop).

The advisor on O2 chat has suggested to send it back for repair, which I am happy to do; except that I'd like to save the app settings, photos, contacts and calendar entries which weren't backed up.

So now I'm looking if there's any way to access the storage without the phone having to turn on. Is this possible hardware-wise? Does anyone know how?

The OS is the O2 (UK) Android 4.1.2 if it helps at all.

what I would suggest is that you flash your device with Odin, your files such as mp3, pictures and videos would be untouched, basically every file on the internal SD memory would be untouched, if you have your contacts synced with Google you should be able to get it back.

but this would void your warranty

sorry I assumed you could boot into recovery or had hit a boot loop, this might not work but is worth a try, you could try clean the terminals on the phone and the battery (I have had instances where my s2 just wouldn't boot and this helped)


ADB Push not keeping file permissions, specifically execute permission I "inadvertently" wiped system on my tablet with adb. No critique needed. I've already called myself all the names. What I need now is a way to put at least the "sh" program back on using adb or other program with “x” permission so that I can adb shell once again. Currently, adb removes the “x” permission when using the push option. I examined the adb source code and found one line in the sync section that seems to change permissions to 644. This is a project/challenge to recover this brick. I already have a replacement. Any solutions are welcome. Motherhood comments are not necessary please. Thanks.

P.S. The recovery mode is not working on this tablet (i.e. pwr/vol+/vol-, fastboot, etc.).

You can try to install Busybox, SSHelper and Android Terminal Emulator (ATE). Then try to SSH into your device, if adb shell doesn't work. Google for SSH options how to specify the shell to run with remote SSH login. Probably something like ssh user@ip /system/bin/sh or try with ... /system/xbin/ash. Or in ATE you can specify under settings, the shell to use.


Why is multitasking not behaving properly on my HTC One S? I have recently purchased the new HTC One S, and I am starting to get disappointed with Android and ICS. Multitasking only seems to exist for small apps like SMS, mail, and others. Every time I have a big game running - like Shadowgun, for example - and I press the home button or lock the screen, the game stops running. If I then go to the most recent apps and pick the game, it starts over from the beginning, it doesn't continue where I left it. I am used to a HTC HD2 with its old Windows Mobile, and I was always able to leave a game in its position and come back to it later, without any problems. Why isn't Android doing that for me? Is it a behavior only for ICS, or HTC, or is it the general behavior of any android mobile?

The general android behavior is to pause the application when you switch to some other app. It shouldn't cause data loss. In case the app is closed/killed by the OS while in background, it gives the app the option to save data in it's APIs.

If an app is using this proper/recommended way, then it can resume altogether without any data loss, i.e. you can start the game where you left it. But some games may have so much data that it can't be saved easily, that's why you are having issues with multi-tasking.

I haven't tried Shadowgun, so I can't comment on that, but in a game like Plants vs. Zombies it's properly implemented, and your game is properly paused and resumed. When you press Home on the device, it goes to a paused state automatically.

So in the end, it all comes down to App's own mechanics, not on HTC or Android.


Having Strangers' Names in Caller ID Display Tired of not being able to tell who's calling me at all, I ended up putting out the additional monthly cost and getting caller ID display in my phone plan. And since I took it, I... still cannot tell who's calling me most of the time.

Let me explain. When you have a home phone and have caller ID display in your plan, it displays the number of the person calling you as well as the name associated to that number in the phonebook. But that doesn't happen on my mobile phone. Unless it's a contact of mine, it's Unknown / No name that comes with the number.

But the absence of such information makes the feature half as useful as home phone caller ID display (for the same price >_>).

I realise this is more of a network / carrier issue, and that there's probably no way for me, myself, to change it (or is there? :D), but I'm wondering if there's a workaround.

For example, a way for me to create my own phonebook with some names. Of course, I could just add them to my contacts, but adding people who aren't actually contacts would clutter my contacts list a ton. And categories don't really work on my phone. you can't manage them on the phone at all. You need to create contacts at the root of the contacts, and then log in to the Google website with your computer and sort them.

So... Yeah. Is there any remotely convenient way for me to "fix" caller ID display, so I know who is that non-contact who's calling?

Edit: I forgot to say. I did ask my provider about it. They said the system is different for mobile and home phones and they can't do anything about it.

My phone:

Samsung Galaxy Q (SGH-T589W)
Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread
Processor: 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227
Internal storage: 152 MB
RAM: 279 MB
SD card: 2 GB
Carrier: Videotron

I use Current Caller ID and it seems to work ok, better if you let it connect with Facebook. It is not perfect but it will help out.

I also use Reverse Lookup. It is after the fact, but it does a good job. it will google the number and quickly add it to your phone book if you want.

Neither are going to get you coverage all the time but it is the best I have found.


Magisk issue :Device rooted but Magisk not installed Device: OnePlus7, Android 10
What happened

Device was rooted with October security patch updated, custom kernel installed and Magisk Manager hidden (to prevent root detection by an app). All working fine. No problem.

Updated Magisk Manager to 8.0.3 successfully but it shows Magisk not installed

But device is properly rooted and all rooted apps work fine.

I can see the hidden Magisk Manager in app drawer but tapping it doesn't help. Nothing happens. It tries to open, shows Magisk logo and disappears.

I can't access the Manager menu to see if I can fix something from there.

What I tried

Flashed Magisk again from laptop. No use.

Restored stock kernel from backup made by kernel manager app. No use.

As suggested by Didgeridoohan's guide  tried these

Cleared data of Manager. Uninstalled and installed Magisk Manager. No luck.

Uninstalled manager, installed canary manager and set channel to update to canary hoping that may help. Doesn't help.

Device still properly rooted

Saw this Github issue, Not applicable.

Things to try

Flash Magisk uninstall zip and root again.

Try manual patching of boot image and flash

Dirty flash stock ROM - not possible because device is rooted and would result in boot loop.

Any other simpler option?

install 3rd party app like Link2SD or DevTools

get the pkgname for hidden Magisk Manager

uninstall hidden Magisk Manager from cmd line
adb shell cmd package uninstall <pkgname>

reinstall Magisk Manager


Connect to local network with OpenVPN . Problem: Local IP address unset but adding route? The goal

I do want to connect to some services (e.g. file server, IP camera etc) in my home network from my mobile phone by using VPN. I use Tomato Version 1.28 (shibby) on my Netgear WNR3500L v2 Router and I set up an OpenVPN server following the instructions here.

The Problem

I then try to connect my OPO with Cyanogenmod 11.0 based on Android 4.4.4 by using the OpenVPN client. The handshake seems to work okay but then I receive the following error message on my phone in the OpenVPM app:

[...]
2014-09-25 21:09:07 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'needok 'ROUTE' ok'
2014-09-25 21:09:07 Local IP address unset but adding route?! This broken! Please contact author with log
2014-09-25 21:09:07 Open tun network interface:
2014-09-25 21:09:07 Refusing to open tun device without IP information
2014-09-25 21:09:07 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'needok 'OPENTUN' cancel'
2014-09-25 21:09:07 MANAGEMENT: Client disconnected
2014-09-25 21:09:07 ERROR: Cannot open TUN

The server log says:

Sep 25 21:28:29 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 TLS: new session incoming connection from [AF_INET]11.22.33.44:7066
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 VERIFY OK: depth=1, C=AU, ST=ACity, L=ACity, O=Private, OU=changeme, CN=ACity.mooo.com, name=changeme, emailAddress=admin@example.org
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 VERIFY OK: depth=0, C=AU, ST=ACity, L=ACity, O=Private, OU=changeme, CN=carl, name=carl, emailAddress=admin@example.org
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 TLS: move_session: dest=TM_ACTIVE src=TM_UNTRUSTED reinit_src=1
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 TLS: tls_multi_process: untrusted session promoted to semi-trusted
Sep 25 21:28:30 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sep 25 21:28:32 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 PUSH: Received control message: 'PUSH_REQUEST'
Sep 25 21:28:32 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sep 25 21:28:32 unknown daemon.notice openvpn[3842]: carl/11.22.33.44:7066 SENT CONTROL [carl]: 'PUSH_REPLY,dhcp-option DNS 192.168.0.1,route-gateway 192.168.0.1,redirect-gateway def1,route-gateway dhcp,ping 15,ping-restart 60' (status=1)

Question

What does this error message mean

Local IP address unset but adding route?!

What setting am i missing? Why can't I connect to my home network via VPN?

I managed to resolve what I think was the same issue as you (I am also using Shibby firmware for OpenVPN and using an Android client).

I believe it comes down to how the routes are pushed to the client and the Android app not liking it (the refusal to open tun interface is an error message belonging to the app).

I'm not sure why the routes aren't pushed successfully, but if you set up your client profile under IP and DNS, disable Pull Settings and set the IPv4 address to be the same network/cidr as whatever bridge your TAP OpenVPN interface is (default is br0 and 192.168.1.0/24).

This also even gives me internet access over the router.

Note I'm using the latest versions of the Android app and Shibby firmware as of writing.


How to root HP Pro Slate 12 tablet? Is there any working rooting method for HP Pro Slate 12 tablet (Android 5.1.1)?

I tried Kingo Root (both Windows and Android versions), Kingroot, Ding Dong root and none of them worked.

update 31-10-2015:

Still no solution. I'm still looking for an easy method of rooting this device. The suggested solutions were rather too complicated or contained fake links to virus apks. I need a step-by-step tutorial especially for ROOTING (not for something else, such as modifying booting or removing system files). A simple working rooting apk would be the best.

Even if there isn't a working root method for Android 5.1.1 devices yet, I found a working solution! The app is called Helium. (https://www.clockworkmod.com/carbon) There is a free version of the program too. It has an Android and a Windows version too. You need to use both of them together. With this app combo you can backup any android apks (with all the settings and their data, not just the apk itself!) even on unrooted devices! Data can backed up to sdcard or cloud too. I have two lollipop devices, both of them unrooted and this program combo works on both of them! So I don't even want to root them anymore. I just wanted to root them to back up my settings and program data.


Share mouse and keyboard between multiple androids I'm new to android but I have an application in mind that I'm willing to work long for: setting up three or four android tablets upright, as if I were looking at a four-monitor desktop pc, and use one bluetooth mouse and keyboard between the four of them.

Where should I start. I'm sure that some combination of android packages must allow me to do this... :)

AFAIK it isnt possible, because Bluetooth protocol currently allows just one-to-one connection. You have to create "master" device which next share keyboard and mouse throw diffrent protocol, eg. WiFi.
But I still do not see any use for this :)


What should I store on my external SD card? I have a 64G SD card to install (my first). I'd like to get a good chunk of my music collection there. What type of content make sense (efficiency) to move...or what things should I NOT move?

As long as it's a good quality, fast card (class 4, 6, or 10), you can store everything on it from your apps to music, pictures, and video files, and even record HD video and take high MP pictures directly on to it. You should notice a significant increase in read/write speeds depending on the class of the card.


What is the browser engine on Android devices? Different vendors send non-Chrome browsers by default. Can I assume all of them to be Chromimum based?

No.

The default browser on stock Android is Google Chrome. This uses the Blink layout engine. For AOSP installations without the Google Apps, the default browser is the old "Browser" app that uses Webkit.

However, other browsers are available. Firefox uses Gecko, Opera uses Blink, Dolphin uses Webkit, and there are probably others. Additionally, I am informed in the comments that Samsung and HTC install different (non-Chrome) browsers on their phones. I do not know what they are, or what engine they use.

Summary: Android does not have a single browser or layout engine.


Transferring continuous Android camera feed to PC through USB (in a background app/service) I want to find a way in which I can continuously send the Android camera feed to my PC via USB. The reason for specifying USB, is because of performance requirements, I want it to be as fast as possible, hence preferring USB over Wifi. I need the app to be running in the background (will be a service I believe).

I tried some existing apps, but they do not meet my requirements.

Is there any way I can do this?

IP Webcam(see revisions) does allow the access on USB but it will not show you the option to access in its help section. All you've to do is activate USB-tethering on your device, start server on the said app,and access the server by entering 192.168.42.129:8080 in a browser on PC.

I tested this app on my device running Android 4.2.1.


Google's backup service: what is it for? I don't understand the goal of Google's backup for Android devices.

I always thought that the automated backup was used to make sure that if anything happens with my device, I won't lose my data. In other words, if the device is stolen or lost or simply stops working, I can purchase a new one (eventually identical to the old one), tell Google to restore everything from the old device, and lose only a few hours/days of data, depending on the frequency of the backups.

Recently, I purchased a tablet with Android Lollipop. Since it had a few hardware defects, I sent it back for an exchange, after checking that “Back up my data” was checked in “Backup & reset”. There was no important data on the device, but I spent an hour installing and configuring different apps, and would have preferred avoiding doing it again.

To my surprise, when I received a new tablet, there was no options to restore the backup, neither from the old tablet (same model, same version of Android Lollipop), nor from my Android phone (that was expected, especially since the Android version is different as well).

The questions of people being in similar situations seem to indicate that Google's backup doesn't cover this sort of cases. Similarly, a Google search seems to indicate that a third-party backup tool should be used for those situations.

So:

If the device is stolen or lost or stops working, one cannot restore the backups to another device.
If the user messes with the device so much that he should reset it, restoring the backup will mess the device once again.
If the user wants to restore the device to a previous state (say a week ago), there is no such thing in Google's backup/restore: only the latest state can be restored.

Therefore, what is it for? What could be the actual case where the Google's backup would be of any use?

Additionally, for those who are interested in doing nearly-full backups of their non-rooted device on a PC, the answer to “Full Backup of non-rooted devices” may be helpful.

I think you misunderstand what Google backup is and does, and it varies by Android version and app... I know this can be confusing but prior to Lollipop the only information backed up was system info (wallpaper, WiFi passcodes, etc) and Google info like contacts, calendar, notes, and stuff. Beginning with Lollipop, the installed apps (not their data) are backed up and can be restored from a list on a compatible Android install. In Marshmallow, application configs (not data) that are designed for MM are backed up. Many vendors/carriers have their own backup tools as well.


How can I get word completion with physical keyboard? Is there any app or method that provides word completion when using a physical keyboard?

I believe Better Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Pro offer suggestions even with the use of the hardware keyboard. This is a user configurable feature available in the app settings.


Is it possible to assign new function to "left swipe" on MIUI11 I failed to find the option in settings which will assign different (custom) functionality when I "swipe left" on the homescreen. I want to get rid off news feed and leave just google search if possible. I am using MIUI 11 on the top of Android 10. Maybe this is basic question but I am new to android and I could not find an answer.

If you want to get rid off the news feed and have only google search enter in application google then in the settings of the application ( click on more that is in the bottom right corner then settings ) enter general and turn off discover.
If you want to remove the function of left swipe enter in settings then in the home screen then turn off google discover.
There is no option to change google app from function left swipe.


Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card (Xperia Arc version) I have almost this question:

Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card

  I have a Motorla Droid running CM6 (essentially Android 2.2). I'm
  connecting to Windows 7 machines via USB. Every time I plug in my
  phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card as external storage.

Except I have a Xperia Arc with version 2.3.4, and have neither Winamp or DoubleTwist installed (given as culprits in the other question).

This behaviour started when I updated to 2.3.4 (I don't know exactly what version I had before).

How can I stop it?

Edit:
I've no "Connect to PC" section in the settings, nor can I find this setting in other sections such as "Storage"

Go to Settings->Sony Ericsson->Connectivity and un-check Auto connect in MSC.


Is a factory reset from recovery different from one started in the OS? Galaxy S4 I9505 on 5.1 Stock

Handset has stability issues and I can't find a clear answer if a factory reset started in the OS runs the same process as one started via recovery?

There is only one difference — on Lollipop and higher, a factory reset from Settings will remove Factory Reset Protection from your device.  It will ask you to enter your device and/or Google Account password in order to verify that you are the owner of the device.  Resets from Recovery do not remove FRP since they can be initiated by anyone, such as a phone thief.


Can I make a full backup of my phone with Odin and without root? As a follow up to this question, is it possible to use Odin (or Heimdall) to save a complete image of my phone without root?

Odin already allows me to completely overwrite pretty much everything on my phone without root.  Can Odin be used to read the entire contents of the phone over USB without root?  Ideally, I'd expect the output of such a read to be something I can write in the future with Odin.

While this question is somewhat general, I'm guessing that by asking about Odin and Heimdall I'm limiting it to Samsung phones (though I may be wrong).

Odin is Samsung-only, you're right.  (And as far as I know it isn't for all Samsung phones either, though I could be wrong on that.)  Since Heimdall is, as far as I know, just an unofficial port of Odin I would assume it's the same, but I've never used it.

Odin3 has a "Dump" function that I had never used.  It seems to be disabled in v1.8x and v1.7, but not in v1.52.

I just tried it in v1.52 and it didn't work.  You hit the Dump checkmark under Option, select an output file via the Dump button under File [Dump], then hit Start.  Odin will say "OneNAND Dump Start" or similar as it backs up the device.  It only backed up 1 KB of something before halting, though.  Odin just sat there without giving an error message.

You might have different results with a different device (I have a Vibrant).  I'm also wondering whether my Ext4 lagfix might be affecting this.  Perhaps later I'll flash to stock 2.1 and try again.  Edit: No change on stock 2.1 JFD.


Audio line-in feature Does anyone know if any of the latest smartphones provide a audio line-in support? Am aware that this question has been addressed earlier as well but it has been a while since the last query on this and also the smartphones has evolved so much.

For the sake of completion, I will answer my own query. After googling for few days, I conclude that none of the existing Android phones in the market provide line-in support. This is more of a hardware restriction.


Nexus 6 vibrates 3 times quickly Sometimes my Nexus 6 vibrates 3 times quickly, but there is no indication why in the Notification bar. Does anyone know why? I'm using Project Fi, so it could be related to that.

I believe I've come up with an answer to my own question. Project Fi devices vibrate quickly 3 times every time the cellular radio connects to a wireless carrier.


Does Verizon Prepaid Mobile Broadband work on Android PHONES? According to this page:

  Prepaid Mobile Broadband usage is not
  available on any PC cards. Only
  available on Express-Cards, USB
  modems, Intelligent Mobile Hotspots
  and Mobile Broadband Built-In on
  select notebooks/netbooks.

Note how cell phones are missing from that list. Does this mean that Android phones are excluded from Verizon's Prepaid Mobile Broadband?

No, mobile broadband is called such specifically to distinguish it from a cell phone data plan.  You might be able to trick them by claiming your phone is one of the tablets they support, but only if you can get all its info (IMEI etc.) beforehand and they accept it, rather than requiring you to bring in the device.

However I believe they are able to detect this sort of trickery on a network level, even if you're not an existing customer and they know that your device is a phone.  I would not expect it to work for long.  I did a similar thing on T-Mobile and my service was cut after 2 days.