How to go into recovery mode? Intex Cloud Cube v08 I rooted Intex Cloud Cube v08 and installed an xposed module. After restarting the device it says

  "unfortunately system UI has stopped"

and after tapping on ok it again shows the same. It is still the same after restarting.

I tried key combinations

volume down + power key
-: It is going into safe mode but not recovery mode

volume up + power key
-: Just restarting normally

I don't have custom recovery

How to solve this problem and go into the stock recovery mode?

The problem is solved now. Thanks to a comment suggesting this link (Use volume buttons to move and power button to select any option)

  Method 1

  Power off your Intex Mobile, by holding the power button.
  Hold down the Volume Up + Power Button.
  After that, Release both Buttons when you see Intex Logo or Android Logo appears.
  Now you can see Android Recovery Mode.

  Method 2

  Power off your Intex Mobile, by holding the power button.
  Hold down the Volume Down + Power Button.
  After that, Release both Buttons when you see Intex Logo or Android Logo appears.
  Now you can see Android Recovery Mode.

  Method 3

  Power off your Intex Mobile, by holding the power button.
  Hold down the Volume Up + Home + Power Button.
  After that, Release both Buttons when you see Android exclamation mark appears.
  Now you can see Android Recovery Mode, if not (While holding down the Power button press and release Volume Up Button).

  Method 4

  Power off your Intex Mobile, by holding the power button.
  Hold down the Volume Up + Power Button.
  After that, Release both Buttons when you see Android exclamation mark appears.
  Next, While holding down the Power button press and release Volume Up Button.
  Now you can see Android Recovery Mode.

I tried the 4th method in the link.
But since volume up + power  was restarting the device normally, I held down the power  and was pressing and releasing the volume up
 button.
The device didn't go in recovery mode but it rebooted and started working without the popup "unfortunately system UI has stopped".


How does Google Maps Navigation know you are in a tunnel when it switches to night mode? I suppose this isn't exactly a new feature but it is new to me since I don't travel through tunnels very often.  What exactly is the software using when it decides to switch over to night mode when in a tunnel?  GPS Location? A light sensor? A combination of both?

Hard to say without knowing which device and firmware version we're talking about, so what follows is my speculation.

I have a Garmin Nuvi which continues navigating in a tunnel, turns and all, despite losing its satellite reception.  Mine doesn't switch to night mode, but it clearly knows it is in a tunnel from the map data. Since loss of reception is a given in a tunnel, the device must be dead-reckoning while it's in there. (Re-broadcasting is out because it would affect the signal timing which is key to calculating a fix).  In fact, I have tested this by entering a tunnel fast and decelerating once inside it.  The device alerted that it had lost reception and continued to display my entry speed, "passing" turnouts and the tunnel exit before I did.

From that, I inferred that the firmware was using map information, possibly cross-checked with loss of satellite lock, to know when I've entered a tunnel.


Insufficient Storage - SD Card used as Internal Storage I've formatted my SD card to be used as the internal storage on my LineageOS phone (Android 7.1 - HUAWEI Y5).

When I attempt to install anything from the play store I am unable to. Accessing the files through any file manager shows the SD card and Internal Storage merged as one (36GB total).

What can I do? Is there any application, Xposed module or Magisk module for this situation?

PS:Typed on my phone, hasn't been checked for grammar or spelling mistakes.

What error does Google Play Store give. Insufficient storage? Or any other. And could 36GB be insufficient? Please note that application package rests on /data/app which is obviously internal, then all it's data is got in the sd. That means you may encounter that error if internal storage is below 15% of it's original size no matter how massive is your external sd. If that isn't still the issue, I think that's a bug in the Lineage OS you're running. I'm running lineage too. That feature works perfect like on any AOSP


Why Do I Need to Wipe Dalvik Cache? When I'm updating a custom ROM, there's always an instruction to wipe the Dalvik cache. I don't see a reason why this is necessarily.

Watching the logcat while the system is booting I can clearly see that if an app changed, its dex file is invalidated and then regenerated. Yet still when I mention this anywhere I'm met with silence. As if not even some ROM developers are aware of this and they're only doing this because everyone else does.

So the questions:

Was there an Android version where Dalvik files were not invalidated during boot?
Is there any advantage in doing this yourself, instead of letting the system do the work it's supposed to do?

An ideal answer would include references to the relevant code, so I would have a reference the next time this comes up.

To answer your questions:

Am not aware of any Android version where the Dalvik was not invalidated on boot. Maybe the initial version 1.0 had that, I really do not know, have gone through Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich. You need to look into the source tree and rebase it back to CupCake or Donut (1.5 and 1.6 respectively)
The detailed reason :)

The reason the Wipe Cache must be used is because all apks, including system apks, have a dex file attached to it, when the ROM is booted up for the first time, Android's Dalvik goes through each and every one of those apks, and extract the dex file from it and place it in the cache /data/dalvik-cache thereby speeding up the execution of the app itself.

Most ROMs have apks that are odex 'ed, the cache is bundled into the apk itself as an external file.

A lot of custom ROM modders would have those apks deodex 'd, meaning the dex file is replaced and repackaged to make it easier to theme/modify an apk.

When you flash a custom ROM, and did not wipe the cache, the newer custom ROM's apk's will have a different dex file attached to it, and when the Dalvik goes through them, it sees the existing cached dex file found in the directory, and skips it, then when you run the app, you're guaranteed a force close or ANR (Application Not Responding).

You are not losing data per se, if using ClockWorkMod Recovery, and Wipe Data is selected, then yes, all the settings relating to the apps are wiped cleanly - look in /data/app.

So you can Wipe Cache but not Wipe Data, what is done effectively, is slotted in the newer apks in place, in which it has the settings retained. This was quite a common scenario with CyanogenMod nightlies where a unstable/testing ROM build is flashed, and the settings retained with cache wipe. The mileage will vary depending on what apps downloaded from the market (settings would have changed by version bump quite likely).

For best results it would be wise to perform both Wipe Data and Wipe Cache to ensure integrity and no program errors within the app itself.

Yes that would mean the boot time would be slower but its initial once off moment. After that it would be booting quicker. Really in a nutshell, explicitly wiping the cache itself via CWM actually helps speed it up and ensure no residue from the previous version in place which could get munged in (Now at this stage, am realizing your question so in all fairness, have not actually seen Android not performing the invalidating of the cache itself upon boot when flashing a new ROM..)

Use the source Luke seriously! :D

frameworks/base/core/java/com/android/internal/os/ZygoteInit.java is the bootup code for each apk runtime. It interacts with the native C code found in the dalvik directory tree which contains specific chipset instructions to interpret the bytecode within the apk to native CPU instruction set. ARMv6 is pretty much a hacked version of ARMv5 (which was the original chipset in the older Android versions prior to Eclair), so you will not see ARMv6 in the AOSP source from google. CyanogenMod will have that ARMv6 in their source.


How do I get to Alarms? I know I can get to alarm setup through the Clock app, but I swear this used to be a separate app. How do you get directly to the Alarms app?

Quick look around shows that the Alarm function is most definitely part of the Clock app.


How can I shutdown my Android phone using an adb command? How do I halt an android phone using adb command? I can reboot, but I don't know how to halt.

I tried shutdown -k wait command, but it did not work.

Try adb shell reboot -p to shutdown the phone.


Notifications barely appearing (Nexus 6P) I have been having this problem in which some apps (examples would be Business Calendar 2 and Telegram) don't show notification properly. The do appear, but only for a split second and then immidiately disappear, without even making a sound. It's a problem with these apps because the way I use them notifications are pretty important to me.

I've been reading a bit and managed to figure out that it might be either an issue with the android version (which I don't believe it is, since it's the latest version and I haven't heard the same problem from any of my friends), or a specific app that prevents other apps from showing notifications. Is there any known app that does that? Or is there another possible cause for the symptoms?

Any ideas for a fix would be great, thanks

I figured up the "problem" - Clean Master had the notification cleaner turned on. I just had to turn it off, and everything is back to normal now.


what is reason behind android update application What things responsible for android update. . Means if i have a android phone which will not upgrade my os version .
In this scenario , why it is not upgradable ?.. what factor make it .?
Any hardware problem or
any other ?

One of those reasons:

Manufacturer of your phone is too lazy to issue updated compatible ROM with your phone.
Your phone has old hardware that may not work with new android versions, or it's very hard to modify it to become compatible.
You played with your original ROM, that is some companies checks if you are rooted, or if you reflashed new ROMs on your phone, and consider it as you don't deserve to update your phone :D


uninstall "not installed" apps I have Android 5 on my HTC One M8. Only have a guest user and my own user. still there are apps - partly restored by titanium backup - listed in my app manager. They're marked as "not installed". They stay there even when I uninstall them. any idea? br Tom

Try to uninstall them with adb from your computer:

adb uninstall <package_name>

Make sure you have USB debugging enabled:-)


com.google.android.trichromelibrary causes many Android apps to crash Recently, apps that are fine an hour ago now crash when I open them. The crash report message seems to be caused by a null pointer exception (NPE) in com.google.android.trichromelibrary.
Apps affected for me:

Gmail
Dashlane

Is it just me, or is there actually something wrong with the library? How can I fix these affected apps?
Crash report:
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Build fingerprint: 'Xiaomi/polaris/polaris:10/QKQ1.190828.002/20.9.4:user/release-keys'
Revision: '0'
ABI: 'arm64'
Timestamp: ...
pid: ..., tid: ..., name: com.dashlane >>> com.dashlane <<<
uid: ...
signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0x0
Cause: null pointer dereference

    ...

backtrace:
    #00 pc 00000000038621f0 /data/app/
com.google.android.trichromelibrary 438909034-YaxP9ttrIDcQBfleP5vm7Q==/base.apk!
libmonochrome_64.so (offset 0x646000) (BuildId: ... )

(click here for the screenshot of the bug report)

It was a WebView issue and it has been fixed as mentioned here:
https://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=issue&sid=1&iid=aa75515d184a2423be444d676b7ebf45

Updating Android System WebView and Google Chrome via Google Play
should now resolve the issue for all users.

Navigate to Play Store app
Search for Android System WebView (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.webview)
Select the "Update" option
Repeat these steps for Google Chrome (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome)

For more information about updating Android apps please see:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/113412


How to avoid too much running apps? Meanwhile I have many running apps in my phone and I found that a lot of apps keep running because they "trick". They register as a boot receiver so they start with the phone, then register as a "new app installed" receiver and so on. The do everything to keep running. If you kill them, some of them start again because the creat a service which checks if they are running.
I guess these apps do that because they want to transmit information about the user or phone.

What can I do against those apps when the phone is not rooted? The task killers that I checked do not work. I think they are fake.

(With a rooted phone the Autorun manager seems to work good)

Perhaps you may want to look into hibernating the applications as opposed to killing them with a task-killer.

The former is advantageous, since it takes care of all background services of the given app and prevent them from waking up, until such a time when the user executes them.

One candidate in mind perhaps the popular one is Greenify. One XDA user(lioux)  has been generous enough to provide a detailed mechanism of Greenify;

  It (Greenify) is a GUI (graphical interface) that lets you select applications
  that you don't want running on the background, starting automatically
  when the phone boots or responding to intents.

  It provides useful data
  about running applications so that you may make an informed decision.
  It uses the android command am to stop an application. It will no
  longer start during phone boot, respond to registered intents or be
  triggered by alarms from the system:

 am force-stop package.name
 am start package.name

  Everything it does is temporary. The am command does not touch the
  installed files or any configuration information. It merely tells the
  system to "forget" about the application.

  The system re-learns some of the intents again the next time the
  application is executed: launched by the user or launched by another
  application.

  If the application does not behave as expected after being awakened,
  remove it from Greenify then reboot your phone.

  Some applications do
  not re-register events when executed. Sometimes, they only do it at
  boot. Furthermore, applications might have specific "relationships"
  that might be disturbed when one is stopped (location service for
  instance).

Up to date, Greenify has been constantly updated, to include handy features even for non-rooted device (although the functionality is limited compared to using it on rooted device and even much better when integrated with the Xposed module)

  Most of the basic features of Greenify work out of the box on
  non-root devices, still some useful additional features require a
  one-time privilege escalation procedure different than normal
  permissions, which is enforced by Android system, using adb

For that see: How to grant permissions required by some features on non-root device?

Note: Some users have observed some certain functions are still limited despite granting permission through adb (may possibly be a bug in experimental releases)

Acknowledgements

Greenify
How to grant permissions required by some features on non-root device?
Greenify with ADB permissions?


What could break an app download from the Play Store? I cannot pinpoint exactly when it started, but I'm starting to get a lot of users complaining that they cannot download my app from the Play Store, the download always stops at 89%.
Users can download other apps, even bigger ones.

I tried to reproduce but to no avail. Could some antivirus prevent the complete download?

App bundle size is approximately 50 mb, the issue appears on a variety of devices and different Android Versions. Available storage space does not seem relevant.

I am aware that it is common for Android users to not be able to download apps for various reasons (lack of space, wrong configuration on user device), but here the issue seems to be that they cannot complete the download of this app in particular, it always fails at 89%, and it started recently (but I cannot be sure that it is linked to a specific release). This app has more than a million downloads and all my other apps are unaffected.

Update: an user told me it worked when he tried to download the app again

If you use a bundle format then your app is decomposed into several chunks for different languages and screen resolutions. Maybe one of these chunks cannot be downloaded or it is broken.


My screen lock problem Respected sir,
With due respect & humble submission I like to inform you that my Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos S6802 phone is lock due to many time drawing wrong screen pattern.

So, sir I request to you please solve my problem as early as possible

Solution 1 (if you have your Google Account)

Keep Drawing the pattern number of times
Then at one time it will recognize that you forgot your pattern
Then it will ask for your E Mail ID and password
Type them then you can log in

Solution 2 (If you forget your Google Account)

Power Off
Press Volume Up + Home Key + Power Button
It will start in recovery mode
Select Factory Reset option using Power key.

Hope it works.


Install Google Play Services without Google Play Store Recently, I rooted my phone for the first time, and wanted to get rid of most Google apps including the Play Store. However, after seeing multiple apps didn't work correctly because of a dependency on the Google API, I decided I had to install Google Play Services again.
After installing the latest version from apkmirror, and checking I had the Google Framework installed, apps still crashed and displayed <app_name> won't run without Google Play services which are not supported by your device. This seems odd as I have Android 9 installed on a OnePlus 6. Is this issue caused by not having the Google Play Store installed? If so, is there any way to circumvent it using another app?
EDIT:
Would I be able to flash GApps on a stock ROM? Also, for some reason, the last time I tried to remove the Play Store I couldn't find its package in the /system folder.
When I tried to flash GApps, it displayed that I already had Google Apps installed. Also, it output Error 70: insufficient memory in system partition.
Also, is there any risk of crashing my OS because OpenGapps would overwrite some of the current stock Google apps?

After installing the latest version from apkmirror, and checking I had the Google Framework installed, apps still crashed

You can't simply get Play Services work by installing .apk file(s). Google Play Services (GMS) and Services Framework (GSF) need some extra privileges which normal apps don't have. That's why we flash GApps through custom recovery which modifies some files in /system partition. Other than the .apk files placed under /system/app and /system/priv-app, here is a minimal set of files under /system which are added or replaced. You can see the contents of configuration files to know more about what elevated privileges Google apps have over normal apps.

etc/default-permissions/default-permissions.xml
etc/default-permissions/opengapps-permissions.xml
etc/g.prop
etc/permissions/com.google.android.dialer.support.xml
etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml
etc/permissions/com.google.android.media.effects.xml
etc/permissions/privapp-permissions-google.xml
etc/preferred-apps/google.xml
etc/sysconfig/dialer_experience.xml
etc/sysconfig/google-hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml
etc/sysconfig/google.xml
etc/sysconfig/google_build.xml
etc/sysconfig/google_exclusives_enable.xml
framework/com.google.android.dialer.support.jar
framework/com.google.android.maps.jar
framework/com.google.android.media.effects.jar
lib64/libjni_latinimegoogle.so

  Is this issue caused by not having the Google Play Store installed?

No. Play Services should work fine even without Play Store. Play Store is a Google's privileged app that won't work without Play Services. On first boot after flashing GApps, you can uninstall Play Store. But some apps which are dependent on Play Store can break, such as which make use of License Verification or In-app Billing or possibly other things (I'm not a developer).

  Would I be able to flash GApps on a stock ROM?

Theoretically you can flash GApps to any ROM, unless the ROM is deliberately customized not to work with Google's APIs.

  the last time I tried to remove the Play Store I couldn't find its package in the /system folder.

Play Store's package name is com.android.vending and app name is usually Phonesky, installed under /system/priv-app. If GApps are uninstalled, Play Store can be re-installed or uninstalled anytime as a user app.

  When I tried to flash GApps, it displayed that I already had Google Apps installed

OpenGApps' installer script looks for some files /system/priv-app/GoogleServicesFramework/GoogleServicesFramework.apk and /system/etc/g.prop etc. to figure out if GApps are already installed on device. You can rarely expect a stock ROM from OEM without Google Mobile Services (GMS).

  it output Error 70: insufficient memory in system partition

It's also one of installer script's pre-installation check. Check your /system partition what fills it, may be It's stock ROM taking all space. It's possible because they are usually full of bloatware. Remove some unnecessary system apps or move them to /data as user app before flashing GApps. OpenGApps Pico Package will hardly take 200-300 MBs, you can check yourself. Also consider limiting installation size using gapps-config.

  is there any risk of crashing my OS

Risk of OS crashing is raised to much higher level when you unlock your bootloader and start playing with the things you are not supposed to. But usually following proper guides, you won't get harmed. Related: Why Android devices are more brickable than PCs?

PS:

Android is a look but don't touch kind of Open Source project. They have very cleverly integrated their proprietary closed-source apps and services in AOSP by tying up OEM's in Compatibility Test Suite (CTS), after all it's one of their biggest revenue source (1, 2). Even on a custom ROM, user has to Register the device with Google in order to use GApps, as @Robert has mentioned in comment. They have left no escape way; what one would do with an Android device without Google Play services location APIs (for High Accuracy) and online Contacts backup, just to name a few.

There are a number of Google API's including Analytics, Ads, Authentication, Location, SafetyNet, CloudMessaging and many more. All core GApps (including Play Store) work in collaboration to provide access to these APIs when an app needs to. Many Google and non-Google apps are dependent on these APIs. So if you want to ensure availability of these API's on your device, but are concerned about privacy and want to get rid of Google's closed-source services, consider using microG, a FOSS project but with some limitations. There are also safe ways to access Play Store, Aurora Store is one of them.

RELATED:

What is the exact functionality of Google Play Services & Services Framework?
OpenGApps


How to open read notifications? I got a notification which was shown in my notification bar on my Google Nexus 5. As soon as I clicked on the notification an app opened and the notification has been removed from my toolbar. With the trick described here I am able to see that passed notification but I cannot open it (see screenshot).

Is there a way to open that notification again so that the app leads me again to the content belonging to it?

Screenshot (click for larger image)

Assuming I'm understanding your question correctly, you want a "pinned" notification, meaning a notification that stays in the notification bar after you tap it and open the app in question.

If I am correct, you might want to look into apps that let you create your own notifications, like the app Custom Notification.

This could clutter your app drawer a little bit though; I know referencing Tasker without a specific task is poor form, but you might check into the Tasker subreddit, and tell them exactly what you are looking for. Someone might be able to recommend a profile that pins a notification to the status bar until you are done with it.


What's the purpose of Strobe frequency adjustment in Torch? I have the Torch app by default in Cyanogenmod.

I was wondering what's the purpose of Strobe frequency adjustment?

I tried to play around with it and I couldn't tell what difference does it make.

Strobe light is a kind of light which goes on and off a given number of times. The inverse of the number of times it goes on and off in a second is called its frequency. Strobe lights are used to see rotating objects to give an illumination that the rotating object is stationary.

By adjusting the strobe frequency the speed of the rotating object is matched to get the desired illusion effect.

There are many uses of strobe light from testing and instrumentation to dancing!


`Wipe Cache` option missing in Google Pixel 2! (A/B device) I am not finding the option Wipe Cache in the recovery mode of Google Pixel 2.

can anyone tell how could i enable it if it is disabled by default and is it there in this device or not?

Your device doesn't have /cache partition
Reasons

/Cache partition is not required to be as big  on devices which have A/B partition catering to seamless updates since it doesn't need to store OTA updates which are done seamlessly

The cache partition is no longer used to store OTA update packages, so there is no need to ensure that the cache partition is large enough for future updates

As further explained in Implementing A/B updates

A/B devices do not need a recovery partition or cache partition because Android no longer uses these partitions.
For non-A/B updates, the cache partition was used to store downloaded OTA packages and to stash blocks temporarily while applying updates. There was never a good way to size the cache partition: how large it needed to be depended on what updates you wanted to apply. The worst case would be a cache partition as large as the system image.

Pixel 2 like my device MiA1 follow this system and they probably decided to do away with the entire partition instead of keeping it small

/Cache is also used by Google Play downloads as explained here What is the /cache partition?. I am assuming that is handled by /data/cache

Edit: Thanks to BoLawson, who pointed out that app cache is on B partition. See APK Caching|AOSP. Note that this is only applicable for popular apps / apps on the device out of the box.


Chinese character input is translated to emoji in WhatsApp When inputting a Chinese character "" on WhatsApp for Android version 2.20.47, it is rendered as the emoji  instead.

My first guess is the Unicode of the Chinese character and the emoji are the same? Is there any reason behind this?

FYI: The character is typed with ChangJie, and the input code is 竹人戈一弓 or HOIMN.

This is because WhatsApp uses Apple's emoji set, which essentially uses SoftBank mapping for backward compatibility in a Private Use Area (PUA), long before emoji was standardized in the Unicode.
The character "" (U+E409) is in the Basic Multilingual Plane's (U+E000 - U+F8FF) PUA. Since it is in the PUA, there is no standard definition for the character. While the character is supposedly rendered as , SoftBank (and Apple subsequently) apparently uses the PUA for their emoji, and U+E409 "coincidentally" renders .
Some other characters in the PUA that are rendered as emoji on WhatsApp (U+E400 - U+E40F):



Note that this is entirely WhatsApp's doing. This also affects WhatsApp Web and also WhatsApp on PC. However, other apps/OSes may render the character differently or otherwise, fails to render.


GT-I9001 (galaxy S plus) not recognized in Windows 8.1 I installed the ClockworkMod Recovery v6.0.1.4 and tried to install a cyanogen mod on my Galaxy S plus (GT-I9001), but now my phone is stuck in a reboot-loop where the OS doesn't start and I just come back to the ClockworkMod screen.

I tried putting it into "download mode" and linking it via usb to my Win8.1 laptop (I was going to use Odin to install a new bootloader) but Windows says "USB Samsung Composite device - failed to load" and won't show in Odin. One weird things is that if I use another version of Odin (Odin3 v3.09) and I leave the phone usb connected in the CWM screen, Odin3 detects it, although afterwards is uncapable of carrying out the re-flash.

I'm a newbie with phone rooting and mod installing and I wanted some help on how to get my phone out of the reboot-lock into CWM

Make sure you're using the latest Samsung drivers. Uninstall all previous Samsung drivers, and try to use a lower windows version like W7. W8.1 is still full of weirdness, especially when mixing 32bit and 64bit software.


Not getting any internet on my phone even though it says I'm connected to wifi My internet works fine on every other device in my house, and it connects correctly on my phone(Samsung galaxy S2), however when I try to load up any page on the browser, it says I'm not connected.

Can anyone suggest what may be the problem and what I can do to counter it.

It might be due to the network connection of your house's wifi not completely connected yet.

Do ensure that your phone display Connected to (name of your house's wifi) before you continue to surf the net.

Do take a look at the up and down arrow of the wifi connections that its moving as well. Else, try to on and off your wifi and try again till you are completely connected to your house wifi.

If not, you can try to on and off your modem of your house and try to on wifi on your device again.

Hope it helps!


Transfer paid apps from iPhone to Android Account Let's say I have a paid app on my iPhone called "App" that costs $6.99, and I want to download that same app onto my new Android Account (because recently, you are able to download Android apps on Chromebook, right?).

Is there a way to do this easily? Maybe with a redemption code?

The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store are two different stores.
It is in their best interest to make it impossible/not allow anyone to transfer an app from one store to another.

It's like how you can't buy a phone from Samsung and then claim on the warranty with Apple.
It's often possible to transfer progress in games across platforms but you have to buy the app a second time, sadly.

You can transfer almost anything from iOS to Android but not apps.


Method to block calls on dual SIM and block notifications from some apps (scheduled) I recently got a Motorola G5S Smartphone with Android 7.1.1 with Dual SIM. One SIM is work-related, the other private. Also, every App on my phone is either work-related or private.

I'm searching for an app (or integrated function) which can do the following:

block all calls & messages coming into the work-SIM at night & on weekends
block notifications of the work-related apps at night & on weekends

The tricky thing here is that I do want to use the mobile data from the work-SIM, so disabling it completely is not an option.

I checked out Tasker but the description doesn't say anything about blocking calls coming in to one of the numbers/SIMs. On the other hand, the "Do not disturb"-option also cannot to block only calls to one SIM (at least on my phone).

Is there any other app or even built-in feature that I'm missing? Rooting the device would not be a problem, I guess.

Caveats

OP is willing to reject unknown numbers in weekends
They have their office contacts and private labeled in their address book
Only office people call on office SIM , they are not aware of private SIM number and vice versa for private contacts
They can continue to use data from Office SIM
Not tested on dual SIM but should work

I don't think it is possible using SIM based approach, alternative non root automation approach using macrodroid which is simple and easy free up to five macros ( App link )

Blocking calls in off times

Create a macro and name, save it  (Add Triggers,  actions and constraints by pressing +)

Triggers

Call Incoming → Select Groups →  Office (office numbers stored in contacts and grouped by this name)
Call Incoming → Select Contacts → Non Contact (additionally select Unknown caller if required)

Actions

Call Reject

Constraints

Day of the week → Saturday & Sunday

add constraint of  AND /OR /XOR/ NOT → OR (ensure the little inverted triangle shows OR)

add constraint Time of day → set start and end time for example 2000 to 0800

what it does is that on weekends OR during specified times calls made by non contacts  / unknown numbers and office folks are rejected

Test it by changing triggers and constraints . Use the 3 buttons menu → Test Macro

Blocking Office app notifications

Trigger

Notification → Notification Received → select apps → choose office apps from drop down → Text content → Any

Actions

Volume change → Notification → Set slider to zero
Clear Notifications → select apps → choose office apps from drop down → Text content → Any
Volume change → Notification → Set slider to the level desired

Constraints As in above macro ( Hint: from 3 dot menu use clone macro to get a copy of macro to save repetitive selection)

What it does

Action 1 mutes the notification volume to zero ( you don't need to hear the ding when you don't want to be notified)
Clear notifications during the time / day chosen in constraints
Action 3 restores desired volume level so that you can hear other other notifications that you  want to


Why does Android use fuse for internal SD card mount? The android ICS or later version(JB) use /data/media directory for internal SD card, and use fuse for mounting the emulator internal sd card device (/dev/fuse).

As we know if we use fuse, the files access have to communicate with userspace with low effect, why android do not use a stackable passthru filesystem such as wrapfs(wrapfs.filesystems.org) to mount the /data/media direct to internal sd card path(/storage/scard0)?

Especially, we have the MTP option access internal sdcard and external sdcard for PC(windows)

MTP is using the FUSE filesystem to access the sdcard while the OS is using the sdcard as well. The FUSE filesystem also manages permissions for the files stored in the /data/media folder.


How to turn off offering to turn on Google Assistant? I know how to turn off google assistant. But many times when I make some move at the bottom of phone screen it show me the dialog to turn on Google Assistant. I do not want to turn in Google assistant. Never ever. I do not want to see that screen asking me if I want to turn on Google assistant on my phone. Is there a way how to stop that?

In Settings, select Apps and notifications. Click Google Assistant, then click Disable.


Windows claims that my device has malfunctioned? The issue (summarized)

My phone will not be recognized by ANY computer, regardless of OS, with or without drivers. Kies is not installed, nor Android Transfer (in the case of my iMac), and I am at my wits end. What can I do, if anything?

TL;DR

I have a bit of a problem I am completely lost with...

Bit of a backstory. Three months ago I was given a Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Avant with a one month warranty. It worked perfectly; computers recognized it and allowed me transfer files, Odin saw it (though I didn't do anything with it. I still had the warranty to wait out first), everything. Now skip forward two months.

My warranty is finally over. I got excited (all the bloatware on the thing was beginning to drive me nuts) and plugged in my phone to load it on Odin. But then Windows gave me an error: Your device is not recognized or has malfunctioned. (yadadada. Don't want to write the whole thing.). Confused, I did what every good techie does: I googled my problem. The results all said the same thing: try a new port, try a different cord, do you have drivers installed? etc.

I tried everything. I restarted my phone, restarted my phone in the stock recovery and cleared the cache, tried changing dialer settings to adm or mtp or both, I restarted my computer, I tried all my USB ports, I tried all my usb cords, tested my usb cord and ports by plugging in another phone (which it recognized properly without any difficulty.), I uninstalled and reinstalled drivers. I even went as far was factory resetting my phone and reinstalling Windows 10 (which was annoying, but I needed to anyways), to not avail. Getting desperate, I tried booting into my Ubuntu installation. Ubuntu didn't recognize it. I tried my other PC I have (running Windows 7), got the Malfunctioned error again. I even tried my late 2013 iMac (which is a completely different post I could rant about). Nothing is recognizing my phone, and I am at my wits end with what to do, if anything.

I tried taking it back to where it was purchased from, but they told me they can't do anything about it. It was two months past warranty and it charges just fine. Computers just won't recognize it or the internal SD card.

What I have tried:

different USB cord / cables (including the cable I used a few nights before for flashing another device)
different USB port
tested both ports and cords by plugging in a different Samsung device, which it recognized and opened properly (so I'm 99% sure it isn't drivers)
went to dialer settings (*#0808#) and changed to mtp+adm.
went to stock recovery and cleared cache
factory reset phone
reinstalled Windows 10 (really wasn't that desperate. Needed to reinstall anyways)
uninstalled and reinstalled drivers
tried different computers
tried different OSes (including Windows 10, Windows 7, Ubuntu 14.04, and El Capitan) of which none will open or recognize my phone
removing and putting back sim card (weird trick some claim it works)
turning on/off developer mode/debugging in settings
Even one or two highly recommended rooting apps were tried.
I have literally almost tried everything.

Any help whatsoever will be helpful and sorry for all the information! I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything... Thank you! <3

if you ask why I am so desperate for root on an otherwise perfectly working phone: I dislike KitKat (give me lollipop, marshmallow, or even jellybean any day of the week), and all these built in bloatware is driving me crazy and I want to get rid of them

Okay, so really late reply, but I thought I might as well update. Apparently my phone has a faulty USB port and I don't have any way to fix it. Using Kingoroot, I managed to root my phone then promptly changed it to SuperSU. I then used System App Remover (Root) to get rid of those bloatware apps I hated so much. Finally, using Flashify, I flashed TWRP.

Searching XDA I did find a ROM for it, but it is a bit outdated. However, it still works, and it is what I am using right now until I can get around developing my own, when and if that may be.

Thank you guys for your support and ideas anyways!! <3


ASUS_T00J zenfone 5 recovery mode shows no command I have an Asus Zenfone 5 (ASUS_T00J). When I go to recovery mode from droidboot it only shows no command. What might be the problem?

If this is the same as on Nexus (and I'm not entirely sure that it is but Nexus devices do do this when booting into recovery) then do the following (from the DigitalTrends article here).

"Press and hold the Power key and the Volume up key for around three seconds and then let go of the Volume up key, but keep pressing Power."

After doing this, the recovery options should appear.


How to check if an android device has a wireless card that supports promiscuous or monitor mode? How can I check to see if my (rooted) android device has a wireless card that supports either monitor mode or promiscuous mode?

Unfortunately you need root to be able to do that, despite you saying it, but thought it would be useful to leave that in here for others :)

All modern wireless cards chipsets would may have that feature to be able to sniff/monitor, but as Matthew Read pointed out in the comments below, its a grey area in terms of driver support.

When you issue the binary command ifconfig there's a 'promisc' switch to tell it to go into promiscuous mode to enable monitoring/sniffing.


Samsung S8 messenger saved images I cannot find my saved facebook messenger images on my Samsung Galaxy S8 photos, i looked everywhere, in all my albums, pictures, downloads files etc.tried looking everywhere for my messenger photos, no luck what should i do.  help

In case of FB Messenger you have to 'Save' image.

Click on the image in the Messenger app.
Click 'more' in the lower left corner of the screen.
Tap 'Save'.

Now the image is saved to your device and it can be seen in Gallery.

Dedicated folder:
   Internal Storage/Pictures/Messenger


How to stop SMS spam from mobile operator? I keep getting SMS spam from Three mobile and I'm looking for a way to block it. The problem is that the SMSes don't come from a regular number, it just says "From Three" but there's no associated phone number.

According to Ofcom I should be able to reply "STOP" but there's no reply option for this type of special SMSes.

Is there any way to block this type of spam?

(I'm on Android 6.0.1, Xperia Z5)

I stopped this sort of spam from Three by forwarding every text I received from them to their own spam reporting number, 37726.

You will get an automated reply asking for the number that sent you the text.  As you don't get a number from the spam, just use Three's own marketing number, 0800 033 8002.

It didn't work immediately but they did take the hint after a couple of weeks.


Cannot unpair YouTube app on my smartphone from LGTV (SmartTV) I cannot unpair my Android smartphone YouTube app from my LGTV.

On LGTV: I went on YouTube app and log-off my account. I also disconnected all mobile devices from it, what should (?) suffice in case my cell phone is stolen or something else happens, but...

On Phone: I cleared all app data and cache for YouTube app. But still, after starting the YouTube app, my LGTV is still registered and I can make YouTube videos play on LGTV.

On YouTube account: I removed the LGTV from YouTube configuration, but still any account on the phone can make videos play on the LGTV.

There is something that is being left on my smartphone that still allows it to control the LGTV.

The next step (that I am holding) is: completely reset my phone and research some way to completely reset my LGTV (if it makes any difference).

I don't have a TV paired with my YouTube account, so this is really just another setting to look at.

Go to your YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/account
Click on the Connected TVs option at the bottom of the left hand menu.
If available, disconnect the TV from here.


How to backup an Android device? Can anyone recommend a good way to backup Android devices?
Ideally I would like to do this wirelessly and, not only backup my data, but also my user settings. Is it possible to backup an image of an Android device - so that one doesn't even need to reinstall apps?
It would be particularly useful to hear from users that have restored backups, as to how easy, and complete, their processes were.
Thanks

The requirement being that you must be ROOTED, you could get Titanium Backup and back up your phone using that.

The reason for using Titanium Backup is so that you can selectively restore parts of your data if you were to install a different version and/or build of Android. NANDROID backup is good for having a safe image to fall back on but it isn't good for restoring data on top of a new OS installation (there are side effects sometimes).


How to synchronize Google Play after a ROM change After flashing a new ROM I recovered some of my installed application from a backup (it was also an opportunity to clean up).
Unfortunately the view Google Play has is the one from the old ROM (all apps installed before the flash).

Is there a way to synchronize (one way) the view so that what is visible in "My Apps" on Google Play corresponds to what is actually currently installed in my phone?

Titanium Backup has an option to re-link apps to the Play Store.


Samsung Galaxy Ace wont charge Hello  my wife has the galaxy ace gt s5830 but for some reason it wont charge either off the original charger, or blackberry charger, neither off the usb in the laptop will it charge, if i take the battery out and my mate charges it in his, put it back in the phone, the phone will work fine, its not an old phone about 3mths, but draw a blank when i get intouch with the internet company i purchased from so cant return it.
Cheers Brian

Sounds like the USB port is broken, though it should be fixable with soldering or something.  Take a look outside to see if the pins were snapped off or anything, and inside if not.


Schedule power off/on in 8.1.10 Oreo I just got a new 'phone running Android 8.10 Oreo, and I can't find the schedule power off/on anywhere.

Has the feature been removed? If not, where can I find it; I realize that this might vary by device, but there can only be afew places to look ... ?

This hasn't been a stock Android feature. Some sources including this Missing "Scheduled Power On/Off" option in Android 5.0.2 on Swipe Elite Plus phone talk of it being on Lollipop but I jumped that version so can't comment

For sure, it's not a stock feature from 6.0 to 8.1. You can use some automation app to schedule power off not power on


How can I make Android remember default apps after upgrades? After choosing a default program for an action, every time an app gets updated that relates to that action, the OS unnecessarily asks which program to use.  I can't be the only one to be aggravated by this defect.

It's especially irritating for apps that get updated frequently and serve multiple intents.

Here is the scenario:

User installs app (for instance, a new web browser-Dolphin)
User performs intent (for instance clicking a hyperlink from an email)
Android OS asks user which app to use.
User selects Dolphin browser, checks check box at the bottom of the popup window with the label "Use As Default" and selects new web browser app.
Android Market installs new update for Dolphin.
User performs same intent as #2 (clicking a hyperlink from an email)
Android OS forgets "use as default" setting and Android OS asks user which app to use.  [Steps 3-7 repeat ad infinitum]

The bug occurs at step 7.

I submitted a bug report for this issue.  In the meantime, is there an app that works around it?

No, you can't work around it unless you make changes to the android sources and compile a custom ROM. The Installer Service is a core part of the system and cannot be replaced or overridden like other apps can.

This is by design. It will only ask you again if one of the apps that was updated is one that has other apps that can perform the same task.

The same thing happens if you install a new application that can perform the task of another app. This is because updating an application is actually just like installing a "new" application. There is no difference in what happens when you install a new application on your device or if you update an existing application. So if there was a way to have it "always remember" this option, then when you installed a completely new application that you want to use, you would never get presented with the option to use it.

Lets use the launcher as an example. You use GO Launcher for a long time and you have it set as the default. Then you decide you want to use the new Foo Launcher, so you install it. Now when you go to the launcher you are asked what launcher you want to use. If you set it to "always remember", you would not be presented with the option and you (or maybe other users) would consider this a poor experience because now they have to figure out how to change the launcher to the one they just installed.


Multiple Android Market Accounts on a Single Device? Is it possible to have multiple Android Market accounts on a Single phone?

If so, how do I do that?

(I have been able to add a second Gmail account, but I couldn't find any option to add a second Android Market account)

Nope, at least not as of now.  You can factory reset your device to remove the first account you set up (on some devices, you can just remove all the accounts without the reset) and then add the other one first, if you would like to use it instead. But if you actively want to use both, you're stuck.


How can I get exchange email subfolders on my Samsung Galaxy S3? Does anyone know how I can access exchange email subfolders on my Samsung Galaxy S3?

I have set my Samsung Galaxy S3 up with my corporate exchange 2010 server and it syncs all the inbox emails, calender appointments, and contacts without problem but I cant access any of my email subfolders.

This device is running Android 4.0.4.

It's there all along!

Open up the email app and press the menu button.

Go to View>Folders

You now need to tap the folder icon next to Inbox and it will 'expand' and display all the subfolders under it.

This MUST be the icon and not the text. It wont work if you press the text so you must press the icon.

I have to say this is pretty poor UI design, as it is not obvious to end users.

I'll try and add a screenshot when I next get the s3.


Can devices be incapable of conference calls? I recently got a ZTE 919D having Android v4.1 Jelly Bean, from eBay.in - http://www.ebay.in/itm/ZTE-N919D-P865G04-CDMA-GSM-Dual-SIM-5-Inch-Quad-Core-Smartphone-8MP-Camera-/271766961121

On a CDMA network (which has conferencing enabled), conference calls don't seem to work. I make a call, and then add another number. After the 2nd call is connected, the Merge options is supposed to have both the numbers connected, but the first stays on hold.

I have used a Galaxy Ace Duos having Android v2.3 Gingerbread, and the same procedure worked fine for conferencing using the same CDMA SIM. So what can be done to know the issue?

EDIT: I even upgraded to 4.1.2 after downloading the package from ZTE's website, but still it won't work.

I do not think the device as such is unable to merge. In my experience, Android v.4.1 can be a bit of a challenge. I would try updating to v.4.2 or 4.2.2 but remember to backup everything before you do that - preferably to an SD not needed by the device or to PC.


In-call speaker volume fixed too "low" while smartwatch connected via Bluetooth When my smartwatch (a cheap noname MTK 6260A device probably running Nucleus (most likely a clone of the ZGPax S29), and controlled by the BTNotification app on my Android device) is connected to my LG P880 (running CyanogenMod Kitkat 4.4.4), and I receive or make a call, volume is quite low – I hardly can hear the other side. Volume rockers seem to have no effect (maybe connected to Volume Rocker only controls Bluetooth In-call Volume; cannot control all other volumes which I just found – need to check that with the next call I make). I didn't have that issue before I got and connected the smartwatch.

My guess is it is …

the reason of the linked question (volume rockers bound to bluetooth)
that funny "max volume ear protection" we had mentioned here a couple of times

Apart from switching Bluetooth off whenever there's a call in progress (which I probably could do with tasker):

  Is there any way I could increase volume (or get the rocker off the Bluetooth part and back to the built-in "ear speaker" to control/raise the volume)?

Note that audio is not routed to Bluetooth (I've explicitly disabled that, as otherwise everyone around would hear the other side via the speakers of my smartwatch), call volume is already set to 100% – and yes, I've checked with Settings › Audio already. Also, I've already checked with …

How to set in-call volume
How do I disconnect Bluetooth headset while in call (different issue)
Disable calls through Bluetooth smartwatch but show call status (remotely related, but no answer)
Why does the in-call volume change on its own on my Samsung Galaxy S3? might be related (that BTNotifier stuff really is a bit buggy), but there's no update to BTNotifier available (in fact, I had to sideload the app from the manufacturer's site as the playstore version doesn't work with the watch)

Uninstall the BT notification. By uninstalling it, the volume on the smartwatch will return to normal function, the best it will be.

The only other way is to install a volume booster from the Play Store.


File copy: Add new files, but do not replace files, to a set of folders I often need the following function:
I wish to make a copy operation  (usually from my phone to the cloud). I wish to copy a set of folders and subfolders with contents/files.

I wish all NEW files to be copied but NO FILES SHOULD BE REPLACED in the target.

One reson for doing this is that earlier backups in the cloud are incomplete. Copying to the cloud can consume a lot of time and bandwidth, I therefore wish to skip overwriting files that are already in the cloud. I wish to only copy NEW files that not yet reside in the cloud.

It would be like pressing "overwrite" for every duplicate folder but "skip" for every duplicate file, in a copy dialogue.

I have tried the app ES File Explorer. It handles all clouds relevant to me (Dropbox, Drive, Mega, OneDrive) in an efficient way. But I can not find the function described above. Files and folders are treated in the same way regarding overwrite/skip.

An example could be:

I make a backup of 1000 files to the cloud. The connection breaks after 900 files. I am not sure which 100 files still have to be copied.

I just want to restart the 1000 file backup and only the missing 100 files should be copied. This should work no matter in which folders/subfolders the missing files are located.

It is very simple to do manually. (Dilbert's boss could do it.  ;) ) Just press "overwrite" for duplicate folders and "skip" for duplicate files. But I can't sit and do that for hours. There ought to be a file manager that does it for me?

The app FolderSync solves the problem. You can choose whether to overwrite target files or not. (Even if you choose not to overwrite individual files, you can still include new files in subfolders into your backup, if you want.)

You can also choose whether to only backup/sync modified files (date or MD5 options). Under this option, a file deleted in the cloud, will not be uploaded again, unless modified.

The app has many options e.g.

synch both directions or just f.ex to (or from) the cloud
include/exclude subfolders
include/exclude filenames containing user defined strings
synch deletions is optional (files deleted on the phone will then also be deleted in the cloud)
and many more

It is able to handle thousands of files and also works under a less than optimal Internet connection. It connects to a multitude of clouds. It does scheduling and works discretely in the background.

So far it has solved my copy needs for the cloud.

...

Another good app is ES File Explorer. It is a file manager (not a sync program). It also handles the common clouds (I think you need "Pro" version for cloud Mega.)

ES File Explorer works well. But if you choose "do not overwrite files" you can not include subfolders. (Files and folders are treated in the same way with respect to overwrite/skip.) At least I couldn't make it work. For me it also had problems communicating with Microsoft cloud OneDrive for large backups. Maybe because my Internet connection is somewhat poor. "ES" functions well with other clouds over my Internet connection,  though.


Video player to play all files? As VLC is not available for android, which Android player supports most video formats (and faster and lighter if possible)?
For example currently i use kascend media player, it can also play flv files (without flash player) and faster then other flv players.

I like MoboPlayer

It seems the fastest on my Xoom, and plays back nearly anything I throw at it flawlessly.


Cost of using AGPS for satellite location Can anyone tell me, if I want to use GPS or AGPS with an app to locate a satellite for TV reception, will I be charged for the data. I'm thinking of buying a Huawei g300 Pay as you go from Vodaphone but don't want to be landed with heavy charges to use this facility while abroad. Thanks

Assisted GPS may cost money: it depends on your cellphone provider, and you should check with them first. See this old CNET story for more info. For Vodafone, I couldn't find any official information online, but this thread by a user on the official forum suggests they charge A-GPS data the same as any other Internet access.

If you're worried about the data charges, go into Settings -> Wireless and networks -> Mobile networks, and turn off Data roaming (the names may be slightly different depending on which device and Android version you have). While data roaming is turned off, your phone won't try to use mobile data while you're roaming (that is, abroad). The GPS will still work fine, but it may take longer to fix your position: maybe as long as 12 minutes, according to Wikipedia.

Whether the app you want to use will still work without an internet connection depends on the app you're trying to use. You should probably test this before getting abroad: if it turns out you have to download and use a different app, you won't have saved any money at all!


How can I block incoming SMS from certain senders? What is a good app for blocking incoming SMS? I want it to be easy and able to add numbers from contacts and not require to many privileges (probably only some storage and intercepting SMS).

'Call & SMS Filter'. I've not used it but description matches what you are after & very good comments.
I believe Handcent SMS also has block options.

Required privileges on both are greater than your preference though.


Can't install new apps, all incompatible with Android phone (ZTE Blade) After spending a few moments moving some apps from my phone's internal storage to my SD card, I'm no longer able to download/install apps.

Every time I try to get one (like the Wikipedia app) I get the bellow weird alert, saying that my phone is not compatible with the item I'm trying to download.

I can update apps already installed, though.

How can I solve this problem? This is my first Android phone (ZTE Blade, commonly known as "a5" in Portugal) and I have no idea how to solve this issue. I have Cyanogenmod installed and all caches have been dumped.

EDIT:
I've simply uninstalled the updates for the Market app, downgrading it to the 'old' Market and it just worked!! I could easily download and install new apps, but when the Market app re-updated itself automatically, I couldn't download/install any apps again.

When the market re-upates itself. Goto:

Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Market

and select 'clear cache'

Now go back into the market and re-signin with your market account. See if this helps.


MOTO E 1st Gen From Dalvik to ART : com.android.systemui stop and loop May I first apologize for my english : non-native speaker, some erratic grammar might happen.

Si un francophone passe ici, ce sera bien plus facile pour moi ;)

I'm NOT skilled in android fix, so be patient and please forgive if i ask you more precision to understand what you say !
Some previous questions were on the same problem, but i did not succeed on performing the solution, or [doesn't dare other] for i did not understood it2

I own a Motorola E, 1st Gen, since feb.2015.

Legal warranty void six weeks ago...
No root, no boot, no custom rom.
Kitkat 4.4 (or maybe 4.4.2, can't remember)

In the last weeks, a trouble appeared : i could neither listen or speak to my interlocutor, but by pluging in a wire headset or putting the phone on speaker (the one you shan't but still use while driving). The normal "phone pressed against the ear" did not worked anymore.

The first times, a simple reboot was all it needed to go back to normal.

Since a few days, reboot have no effect.

After an extend search on the internet, i found a solution for the Moto G (2nd gen) that appeared to work perfectly.

Going from Dalvik to ART, which i did friday (march 10th).

1st reboot, upgrading 150 apps
=> Several error messages stated that XXX app has stopped. Then "com.android.systemui" has stop, and i cannot validate the prompt : once I click "OK", it comes back before i could even read the next error message.
I can't do anything with the phone.
==> Reboot by long hold on POWER
2nd reboot, upgrading 39 apps
=> Several messages again, com.android.systemui again
==> Reboot by long hold on POWER
3rd reboot, the same
4th reboot, upgrading 29 apps
5th reboot, the same
6th reboot, the same
7th reboot, upgrading 28 apps.
xxth reboot, the same ...

Today, After a day's rest and no manipulation, count on upgrading application dropped to 27.
By repetivly pressing "ok" and 'report" when avalaible, i somehow managed to get as far as parameters menu.
Can't scoll in the microscopic time given between two prompt.
However,
-> The phone seems to receive calls (it ringed about an hour ago) but not to show the screen (caller ID, accepting the call, etc.)
-> Afterward, the led flashed again.

The android buttons (back, home, active application list) doesn't show up.

And here i'm stuck !

What i tried :

A coffee. Did nothing to the phone, but improved my optimism
Shut it down, let it rest, power it
Fully charge it
Make it reboot by a long hold on power button while it was "upgrading 28 apps".
Pluging it to the computer, to see if it did anything (it didn't)
Making loud assumption on the engineer's mother honour and weight.
Go to recovery mode, and let it boot (if i understand well, it's just a normal boot for long inactivity)
Go to recovery mode, and wipe cache partition
Tried to do this : Moto E is not switching on after changing runtime to ART
=> I made it up to the 5th step ; but 6th don't work "Not recognized as a command or program" I tried the shell on E:\Programmes\AndroidSDK and E:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools. Neither works.

What should i do now ?

Thanks a lot,

Kaldui.

Don't ask why, don't ask me how ... Android automatically reverted to Dalvik.

My best guess is : there is an idiotproof security somewhere that revert automatically after to much fails (at least 20) on booting under the new runtime.
Maybe installing the motorola drivers on my computer before repetivly booting in normal and safe mode while the USB cable was plugged had a positive effect.
Maybe the little bug felt that i painfully resolved to fetch the electronic axe (aka hard reset) and flew away ...

It seems that no data was lost.
It's a true relief !

  If you cross this topic, and face the same trouble, well ... it took me five day of patience, two full charge and discharge of battery,
  stubborn booting and prompting closing, ten cache wipe, and utter
  infuriation before everything settled down by itself. Try your luck !

Kaldui.

PS. To the android engineer : i was mistaken, you weren't making overtime to pay the attorney for your divorce, yo mama is a fine women, she ain't this overweight, and her reputation is of a loving, caring and faithful person. I also own you a beer.


Backup an app's complete data when phone is stuck in bootloop My rooted Moto G is stuck in a bootloop. I want to backup a specific app.

usb-debugging is enabled. I have access to bootloader and twrp recovery. I have tried wiping cache and dalvik cache and even flashing the ROM again. Now I need to wipe the internal storage to make my phone work.

The device does not have an SD card slot. I need to backup an app before wiping all of my data. Other data like pictures, documents, etc., is already backed up by using otg cable and pen drive.

I tried using ADB to backup but I cannot confirm the backup on my phone as no such screen is shown in recovery mode. Can I just copy and then paste some files to restore the app?

You would need a custom recovery for this solution and it appears that you already have TWRP installed.

Setup adb in PC, if not already. Boot into recovery mode. Mount data partition. Find the package name of your app, if don't know already and execute these commands:

adb shell
busybox tar -C / -cvzhf /sdcard/PACKAGE_NAME.tgz data/app/PACKAGE_NAME* data/data/PACKAGE_NAME  # replace PACKAGE_NAME with package name of the app

The last command will create a tarball with extension .tgz under /sdcard with name as package name of the app. The tarball would contain the app's APK (among other things) and app's private data. Files' ownership and attributes would be preserved automatically. Extended attributes (such as SELinux context) won't be preserved in this command.1

Your app may be having publicly accessible data under /sdcard/Android. You can simply use adb pull or MTP to copy those files into PC and restore them using adb push or MTP, when needed.

To restore the backup, do:

adb shell
busybox tar -C / -xvzhf BACKUP_PATH   # replace BACKUP_PATH with the file path of your backup, such as /sdcard/PACKAGE_NAME.tgz
restorecon -FRv /data/data/PACKAGE_NAME  # this will set default SELinux context on the data files of your app

Unmount data partition, reboot and you should be able to find your app in restored state.

Note:  I've tested this solution on an unofficial CM13 build.

1 I noticed that bionic build of busybox (found in TWRP v2.8.6.0) among other arguments has -p for tar which is used to store SELinux contexts. If the file was created using that argument, then during extraction those contexts would be restored automatically, hence, no need to run restorecon explicitly.


What can I expect from the "Pure Google" Nexus S 4G? Sprint recently announced that they are going to sell the Nexus S, and that it will be "Pure Google", implying that there will not be any additional carrier fluff on the device. I am considering buying the phone, but I'm hoping others who already have the Nexus S or Nexus One can tell me a little bit about what to expect.

Are the updates timely? With my HTC Hero, I found that I had to wait a long time for updates for the OS, and eventually it stopped receiving updates, leading me to install Cyanogenmod for Froyo/Gingerbread. Will I be getting updates for new versions of Android almost as soon as Google releases it?
Can I tether? I'm assuming that if this is "Pure Google", it will not have restrictions on it such as grayed out tethering buttons. Is that a valid assumption? Or do I need to root the phone? If I root, do I still get OTA updates? This segues to the next question..
What can I not do without root access? I understand that if I want to install a different boot loader or Cyanogenmod or something, I need root access. But if we're looking at day to day activities, is there functionality that I will be missing without root access?

And any other factual comments about things I may not have considered that's materially different from running a carrier-fluffed phone would be greatly appreciated!

I have a Nexus S for T-Mobile, and I've enjoyed it so far.

There's only been one update for the Nexus S so far, to 2.3.3. I didn't get it the first day, so I installed it myself.
Unless Sprint turns it off, you should be able to tether. I can both over Wifi and USB.
I have never needed to root, and I'm a rather advanced Android user. You can unlock the bootloader without doing anything fancy on the Nexus S.

I truly enjoy having a clean phone. There are a few apps installed by Google that I can't remove (with root you can), but they don't bug me much. It doesn't have the load of crapware that most carriers apply, and it definitely does not have the various awful custom UIs manufacturers feel they need to add.

It runs fast for everything I do, including some light gaming; I generally wait till I'm at my PC to game, but it plays Angry Birds and Robot Unicorn Attack just fine.


Error Connecting Nexus 7 to Ubuntu 12.10 I have a 32 GB Nexus 7 (idVendor = 18d1, idProduct = 4e41, if that helps...), and my laptop runs Ubuntu 12.10, and have tried connecting using K.K. Patel's answer here, to almost no avail.  What happens is that the "GalaxyNexus" folder is created, and then when I try to navigate to it, it has two sub-folders "Playlists", and "Internal Storage" (I cannot add a file or folder here, which is the first point of concern).

When I navigate to "Playlists", the folder opens to a nice blank screen and I guess that's to be expected (I haven't been able to put music onto it yet).

When I try to open the "Internal Storage" folder, it opens a new window that is the same as the first ("Playlists", "Internal Storage").

So I tried going in through the terminal to a similar fate.  Anyone experienced this problem and/or know what to do to fix it?  I really just want to be able to transfer files to the device.

Jelly Bean devices do not use USB Mass Storage to mount themselves on PCs. They use the more secure MTP method, and Ubuntu does not natively support MTP.

The method you have linked to is the only official way to do what you want.

I own a Nexus 7, but I am using a custom ROM, and as such, USB Mass Storage is hacked into my build. However, I believe on the stock ROM, if you check in Storage and you press Menu, you should have an option to set the USB connection type, and there is a Picture Transfer mode. It won't let you see all of the files on your Nexus, but it will allow you to copy and it shouldn't need any extra help inside Ubuntu.

For an extremely detailed explanation on MTP and why it exists, and why on the stock ROM you will never be able to use it as a flash drive, I highly recommend you check this StackExchange question:

How can I use my Galaxy Nexus as an external USB storage drive?


My Phone will not recognize USB connected There is no USB options when I connect to pc. I have tried a Galaxy Avant phone with the same cable and works, so it is not the computer or the cable. I have turned off and on USB debugging. I have tried so many " solutions"  and still nothing.

Phone: Rooted Galaxy Avant (T-mobile)
Kitkat 4.4.2

First of all, please make sure that you have latest Samsung USB driver installed on your computer, if not please update it or download latest version from this page.
Second, make sure that USB cable is working properly.
Third, if USB cable is ok, driver is up-to-date and you still won't able to connect, then type in your Phone app this string *#7284#and check the option MTP + ADB, press save and reset. This should solve connection issue.

P.S. If appeared *#7284#  "service screen" is different which means you can't see the MTP + ADB option please post the screenshot here.


Updating my Nexus S from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3 I have an unlocked GSM Nexus S I bought from a friend. I'm currently running version 2.3.6 (which was pre-loaded on the phone). I really like the way Ice Cream Sandwich looks, so I would like to upgrade to 4.0.3.

I've looked around for tutorials and it seems I'm going to have to root my device and install a ROM. However, I can't seem to find an ICS (4.0.3) download from any reputable sources. They all seem to be hosted independently by users. Is there a place I can download the update from Google/Android directly?

Google hosts their flagship device OTAs online, fortunately, under the codename crespo for the Nexus S.  Some searching along those line resulted in this Android Police post (affiliate links removed):

  Well, that didn't take long. Here are the instructions to [get] your Nexus S rocking ICS right now. Do not try this on the CDMA Nexus S!

  Download the OTA Package

  Rename it to update.zip
  Copy it to the root of the internal storage
  Power off the device, hold Volume Up and Power to reboot into the bootloader
  Select "recovery," then hit the power button
  Once the warning triangle appears, hold the power button and hit volume up
  Select "apply update from /sdcard" and choose the update.zip
  Once the process is finished, simply choose "reboot system now"

  Once it reboots, BAM! You've got ICS. Congratulations!

The link there is http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespo/VQ8PQk_V.zip.  Koush notes that this is for the T-Mobile version, the i9020T.  From dottech.org:

  There are unofficial reports that the update works for i9023 (the Super LCD version of Nexus S); and can work for i9020A (the AT&T/Telus/Koodo Nexus S) by flashing compatible radio files. If you are a brazen fellow you can attempt to update your i9023/i9020A with the T-Mobile ICS package but be warned: You might get a brick.


Stock widget in Apex Launcher How do I get to use stock widgets (like email) on HTC Sensation 4G running on ICS and Sense 3.6 with Apex Launcher Pro?

These widgets are not standard widgets. They use non-standard APIs of the Sense launcher and thus that other launcher's don't have and thus, they can't use them.

This is why, you can't use Sense widgets with custom launcher.


Tablets being able to make calls I wonder can any of the Android tablets make calls (it's about Cellular calls, not Skype or other)?

Yeah, I am okay to have 7' or even 10' tablet near my ear and have a talk (well, or use headsets).

Having those tablets being able to make calls would make me throw the smartphone away and have the single gadget.

I know that Galaxy Tab 7' is capable doing this.

But how about Galaxy Tab 10' or Nexus 7?

Are they capable? Or is there any possibility to make them having this feature?

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 can make 2G/3G calls and calls over Wifi with Voip apps like Skype or Tango.

The Nexus 7 can only make calls over Wifi with Voip apps as I already mentioned. There would be no easy way of getting the Nexus 7 to make 2G/3G calls as it would require adding a radio to the tablet.


How many SIMs does Data Usage remember? The Data Usage screen of Android seems to remember data usage per SIM. What I want to know is how many SIMs does it remember before deleting the old ones or does it not do that?

With my carrier it's cost effective to activate a new SIM (heavily discounted) every month so was wondering how much data the Data Usage screen would take up.

Each time you change the sim card and use internet, The data will be added up to the previous data. In lollipop, The Data usage moniter screen will show the entire data. If u want to clear that, You have to Root the phone or Reset your phone.
There are many third party apps on Play store to Record usage. And u can also customize them for your need.


How can I find a compatible device for a given app on Play Store? There was an app (Carrot Fantasy, already removed) that I can't install directly from the Play Store on Android tablets. It does run on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, but I have not yet had any luck with any tablet I have tried.
I managed to have the Play Store on a Google Nexus 7 shown the app, but it would not offer an Install option and just said This app is not compatible with your device. without any further information.
On other devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, the app does not even show up in Play Store.
I have searched for other similar questions, but they usually seem to be asked from the developer point of view, i.e. how to modify the app manifest or how to check one's settings in Play Store. They did not provide any insights into what to do on the user side.
Certainly, there must be a way for me as a user to diagnose why the app is deemed incompatible, what specific requirements it has, and then pick an Android device that fulfills those requirements - how?

It appears that you have already tested the surest way.  Attempt to download the app and it will specify its compatibility.  You still might not be absolutely sure until you actually try to run the application.
As mentioned in the comment, you can ask the developer or communicate with others who have used the app (via feedback on Google Play or the author's provided web site).
The only way the author can be totally sure is by testing it on every Android or getting feedback from their users.  There are many occasions where based on feedback, the author has to go back to the drawing board to work on glitches to support some devices originally thought to be compatible.
I have a number of Androids.  I just clicked on the install option and find that it's compatible with my Samsung Galaxy S3, my very old phone (the Samsung Galaxy Prevail).  However, it's not compatible with my Samsung Galaxy Tab7 or my Acer-7 tablet.
By the way, good question.  It really appears there should be something specific since Play Google is using some criteria to display compatibility.


How do I remove an automatic bug/virus premium messaging/MMS box from popping up and stopping sending texts? I have a Google Pixel phone and I received a shady message saying something like: "You have been subscribed to such-and-such and are paying such-and-such amount. To unsubscribe text whatever to whatever".  Unaware of the the malice I foolishly replied to the text. A box popped up saying "this may cause charges on your mobile account remember my choice" Instantly I knew I made a mistake to I tried to rectify it with my my phone provider. As I tried to text them, the same box popped up. I closed it I tried to contact an alternative number provided by my phone company and the same thing happened. I used a different SMS app from the play store. Same thing. I factory reset my phone, then hard reset it. Same thing. How do I get rid of it? What do I do?

It’s typically not a “virus”, per se. A virus is a program that can infect another program or active content data file (such as a Microsoft Word Document) with itself, as a result of running or opening the infected program or document.

It’s most likely malware or adware, that you’ve unwittingly installed it on your phone, or if not, you may have had your DNS settings in your router hijacked, or you may simply be visiting sites that have JavaScript-based redirectors that trigger after conditions are met.

The process you will need to use depends on how it operates. For a lot of malware or adware, it typically comes in when you install an already infected application from the Internet.

There are a lot of people who intentionally propagate these infections through either third party “App Stores”, or through “sideloading” of applications. Typically, they operate by offering the application for a discounted amount, or for free, when the app typically costs more, or would normally come from a different location. If you use Windows PC, freeware from the Internet may bring such adware or malware.

This is most common in Asia.

The largest contributors to this problem are:

Companies who are pirating applications, and have decided to “make a little money on the side”
Government agencies
Pirated/redistributed development environments (for example, the most common way Apple iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch applications get infected is a pre-infected copy of Apple’s “XCode”, which downloads very slowly when obtained from official sources in many areas of the world).
Region locking/region restriction; this is mostly a copyright and distribution rights issue, which is very annoying if the App you want has not been licensed for distribution in a given region (if it’s this: I suggest you learn to live without the App for now, and contact the manufacturer of the App, asking for it to be made available where you are).
The first thing to determine is exactly what’s doing the redirection.

For example, if it’s your router, it’s not even your phone’s fault, and it can usually be fixed by updating your DNS settings in the router, or having the ISP doit for you.

If it’s a JavaScript redirect built into a template page that you’ve downloaded and applied to all of your browser pages, it’s a multistep process; her’s an example for the malware known as ad-type.google.com:

Disable JavaScript in all your browsers
Install anti-malware software, such as “Malwarebytes for Android”
Run the anti-malware software to remove the store JavaScript copy of the malware
Reenable JavaScript in all your browsers
If it’s from an App installed from something other than the Google App Store, then you will need to deinstall the application. You are on your own, determining which one(s) brought the infection onto your phone.

In rare cases, there have been infections due to infected software hosted on the Google App Store (not even Google can catch everything!), and if this is the case, updating your Apps relatively frequently, and deinstalling Apps that are no longer listed on the store can also help.

In additon, Resetting you Ad identifier from
Google settings -> Ads
(Google settings is an app in your app drawer)

This stops the malicious adscript being targetted to your device based on a previously dropped cookie from a malicious app/site.


How do I find out what app is showing a toast? Several times a day my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy A51, Android 11) is showing this toast

We're having trouble connecting. Check your network connection and try again.

If I stay offline this toast will return every few minutes. How can I find out which app is posting these toasts. And most importantly how do I get rid of them? Long-pressing the toast doesn't show anything.

You could use the Toast Source app for that. It not only integrates the app icon and name with each toast message (first screenshot below), but also gives you a history of toasts you received and which app sent it:

Toast Source (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

Quite privacy friendly it doesn't even require the Internet permission (so no ads either). But as it uses accessibility services, it's unclear whether it will survice Googles current purge.


Whatsapp last seen versus blue double check for sent messages I have experienced a weird situation with Whatsapp, and I don't know what it means.
I sent a message and it got the blue double checks at 18:00 hrs, but the person to whom I sent the message was last seen at 16:00 hrs.

How could my message got  blue double checks if the person hasn't opened Whatsapp?

There could be Two (or more)  possible reason for this:
 All the word "read" is in past tense

Read while Offline
Your friend was connected to net, but whatsapp was closed (not in foreground) and recieved your msg.
Then he got disconnected with internet, and while this, read your message.
Thus the Whatsapp application registered that the user has read the msg.
Then your friend got connected to internet, it is now when Whatsapp fires the "msg read by user" request to server.
But as the Whatsapp is closed, the last seen does'nt change.

Whatsapp Plus
The second possibility is that your friend is using a modded Whatsapp version called Whatsapp Plus (discontinued for now).
It has the ability and option to hide last seen of the user, even when the user is connected to internet and Whatsapp is running in foreground.
Thus, the user can chat with you in real time without changing his last seen!
Now the thing is that, Whatsapp Plus also has an option to Hide Blue Ticks and Hide second tick.
Thus, we can conclude that, it is possible, that your friend has Hide last seen enabled, and rest all disabled.
Leading to the situation in Question.


Update an app if an update is available but Play Store doesn't show update option. I installed the earlier version of the Respawnables and now, I want to update the app. But there is no "Update" option  available on the app's page  in  Play Store.

How do I update the app?

There are two possibility for that.

First is that you have disabled it.
second is signing key of app has been changed by developer or the place from where you downloaded.
Third may be that it is no longer available in your country.
Fourth is ( if this paid app ) that you did not buy it from play store.

Further if you want to update from play store you need play store version installed in your phone.


Where are LineageOS nightlies compiled & Who has commit rights to the codebase? A] Where are LineageOS nightlies compiled?

1) Are they compiled on maintainer's machines
2) On a project controlled build farm?
3) Pool of contributed (random) machines?

B] Who has commit rights to the codebase? Is that tightly controlled or is it easy for rouge commits or rouge maintainers to enter the project?

Note: I am trying to determine if I got SMS spam shortly after installing LOS.  I am trying to determine the security of the Lineage OS contribution and

CyanogenMod (the ancestor of LineageOS) compiles nightlies on its own build farm, but now without the backing of a corporate, LineageOS pay for 3rd-party servers. See costs here.

Among all AOSP-based ROMs, LineageOS has argulably the most strict standard for accepting a device into official queue, including a recently composed charter. A list of contributers / device maintainers can be seen here. Moreover, there's also a complete code review system that guarantees the non-malicious nature of commits.

On top of all above, all the device-dependent and -independent sources, sans Google apps, can be found on their GitHub. This might sound natural, but do note that for a lot of other ROMs, even if an "official" moniker is given to a device, its sources aren't necessarily readily available or easy to find.

Feel free to review the code on your own if you suspect a security breach.


How do I have anonymous notifications (phone, text, ...) on Android 4.3 like 4.1? So back in what I believe was Android 4.1, I had to swipe my lock screen to unlock my phone. Before swiping, it gives me the option of swiping into my missed calls, my text messages, and my applications. It did not show who I missed a call from, nor did it show the contents of my text message.

Now it shows both. How can I stop my phone from displaying private messages and communication?

This is only a partial answer to my question, so I won't mark it as accepted just yet.

If you go to Messages / Menu button / Settings / Notification settings there should be a setting called "Preview message". Uncheck this and text messages will not show up in your lock screen.

I have not figured out how to do this for calls though.


Alternative keyboard with Czech language dictionary? Is there any alternative keyboard for Android HTC Desire 2.1 that supports English/Czech dictionary and easy way to switch between them?

You can install HTC_IME modified http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416 and make a gesture for cycling between EN / CZ.


How to activate Android debugging mode I've recently upgraded my Samsung Galaxy 5 from Android 2.1 to 2.2 and I can't find Android debugging mode in the settings. I need to root my phone.

It's usually located in

  Settings > Applications > Development

Of course, you could just perform a quick and easy root by installing Universal Androot as detailed here - http://androidadvices.com/root-unroot-samsung-galaxy-5-i5500-easy-tutorial/2/#.UF3Qi1H1pjc


Low disk space notification, but heaps of space free A few days ago I put two large files (about 300MB all up) on the phone storage. I got a low space notification.

I connected the phone via USB to a Windows XP machine and deleted the files, but I still had the notification.

I have emptied trash. I have also connected via linux and done a find -printf '%b %p' to find the biggest files and the two that I originally put on are definitely gone.

I deleted even more cached files and now windows explorer reports 720MB (about 60%) free.

I am still getting the low space notification even after a reboot of the phone. How can I get rid of the notification?

HTC Desire running Android 2.2 with Sense. Thanks for any help rendered!!

Check your phone's internal storage, via Menu > Settings > SD & phone storage, and then look under Internal Phone Storage. If that's looking low, then you can try uninstalling some apps, or, since you're on 2.2, moving those that support it to your SD card (as that does seem to have plenty of space).


adb "CreateProcess Failure, error 5" When I want to test an app in Eclipse (in an AVD), it throws out the following:

The connection to adb is down, and a severe error has occured.
You must restart adb and Eclipse.
Please ensure that adb is correctly located at 'C:\Users\[...]\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe' and can be executed.

The problem is, the file is actually there and CAN be executed.
When I open cmd and go to that path and type "adb start-server", I get following error message:

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
CreateProcess failure, error 5
* failed to start daemon *

After a reboot, process kill, reinstalling Eclipse and all SDKs, trying without antivirus, the problem still persists. I've also looked up the port 5037, which is not blocked by any program.

This answer on stack overflow suggests that it could be a permissions issue, the user that is attempting to start the adb server cannot access the file. Could you try moving the sdk to a folder that is not within your users area and see if you can start it then?


How much does an LCD's backlight drain the battery? The screen tends to be one of the biggest consumers of electricity. How much of this is for the backlight vs the actual screen, particularly in the case of an LCD?

Not only the screen is a main consumer. Based on the Motorola Droid, I can give you some data to compare:

Video recording         1557 mW
UMTS Upload             1410 mW
UMTS Download           1349 mW
EGDE Upload             1179 mW
WLAN Download           1158 mW
Video play (fullscreen) 1135 mW (already minus the display)
UMTS phone call          983 mW
Camera                   934 mW
EGDE Download            853 mW
Bluetooth receive        751 mW
Display (at max)         730 mW
GPS Search               550 mW
GSM phone call           511 mW
Bluetooth send           487 mW
WLAN Upload              479 mW
Display (at min)         310 mW
MP3 play                 160 mW
UMTS Standby              18,3 mW
GSM/EDGE Standby          11,6 mW
WLAN Standby               7,8 mW
Bluetooth Standby          2,8 mW
GPS Standby                0,4 mW

As you can see, there are clearly compontents/actions with a much higher energy consumptions -- but the display gives you good potential to reserve some.

Data source is an article at Heise.DE called Energiesparplan (google translate version here).


My phone use so much ram I have a samsung note 2 but I have a problem 1GB ram is always used even if I don't use any app and that drain his battery he have 4.3 android (I tried update but I can't find new one) is this normal ?

Do you find any lag when opening applications or does it slow down when multitasking?
If no is your answer then it is a very normal behaviour.
My phone has 1 GB of RAM but more than 600 MB is always occupied and it doesn't lag anytime. You can read about RAM management in Android in so many developer forums if you'd like to.


Documentation for adb shell getevent / sendevent Is there any documentation on the format of the getevent and sendevent shell commands? specifically the ones for touchevents.
or is this device-dependent?

it is a bit hard to guess what those ids are doing.

There is some documentation on the AOSP site:

getevent

Plus several Howtos like e.g.

Android, writing events low level touch screen automated shell
Turning the output from getevent into something something that can be used
How to emulate key presses
adb shell sendevent, sending touch like events
Android, low level shell click on screen

However, the answer to your question on Google Groups states:

  No, this is fairly device-dependent.  getevent prints a summary of all the devices so you know what those are.  The data generated for a device are generally the Linux kernel's event protocol, so you can look there for further help, but there is no guarantee that a particular device will be following those conventions.


My galaxy s3 mini will not restart A few days ago my s3 mini turned itself off and it won't restart. I have charged and changed batteries but nothing happens. I have tried several times but the screen just does not come on

Regarding the basic problem - if the phone isn't showing the battery graphic when you connect the charger, that's a bad sign. You could try booting into Recovery mode or Download mode just to see what happens :

you use Recovery mode to clear the system cache and to Factory Reset
you use Download (aka Odin) mode (showing the Android guy) to load/reload firmware
the key sequences to enter both modes are very similar, and they are timing dependent so it may take a few tries to get it working
-- Recovery = Volume Up + Home + Power
-- Download = Volume Down + Home + Power
for either, you start with the phone completely off
press and hold the required keys simultaneously, and release them all when you see the swirling logo (not the static white text)

Try Recovery mode first (use the Volume rockers to navigate; use the Power button to select) and if it boots into this mode just clear the cache and then restart. If the phone doesn't boot normally then try Download mode.

If the phone doesn't respond to either of those methods it's time to take it in to your place of purchase or your local carrier store.

Source : Android Central

Hope this helps !


Getting confused by rooting and enabling wifi tethering I'm trying to activate wifi tethering on my (verizon) Samsung Galaxy S4 mini through rooting. I'm getting a bit confused by the myriad ways to do this that I'm reading about on the web.

Could somebody help clarify the choices for me?

Here are some of my specific questions:

1) To the best of my understanding the process of enabling the wifi tethering begins with rooting your phone then enabling the "Mobile Hotspot" setting (under "Settings>Connections>More networks>Wireless and networks"). Then just installing a tethering app e.g. FoxFi, PdaNet, 1-Click-Tether etc, etc. Is this correct?

2) Is that all there is to it or is there more. For example, I've encountered a lot of posts talking about needing to flash a custom ROM for this. I understood that the purpose is so that you don't mess with your stock ROM so that you don't void the phone's warranty. But to flash a new ROM don't you also need to root your phone thus mess with your stock ROM?

Thanks much for any help.

If you have the Settings > Wireless and networks > More > Tethering and portable hotspot menu item (which is present from Android 2.2  onwards, so I assume you do, since your phone ships with 4.2), you do not have to root your device to turn on tethering. Just use that menu and WiFi tethering will work. Those apps are for phones with earlier versions of Android which did not have this menu item.
Your phone only has one ROM on it at a time. If you modify or replace it, your warranty is gone. It makes no sense to "flash a custom ROM to avoid messing with the stock ROM and thus preserve the warranty", because by flashing a custom ROM you erase the factory one. (There MAY be highly dangerous procedures which restore the device to a state that the former modification is undetectable, but you could assume that if you do anything that involves flashing or rooting, you void your warranty.)


How do I draw mind maps seamlessly with touch screen only? Desktop software such as MindManager and FreeMind allows you to easily draw Mind Maps. But their interface rely on much keyboard shortcuts that doesn't work (well) on Android virtual keyboard. Is there a way to draw such mind maps seamlessly with touch screen only?

I've been using the app Thinking Space. Certainly not as efficient but good if i want to map a quick idea out.


MP3 Used to play in WhatsApp, now Podcast Addict wants to play it Because my front mic don't work, I have to create an MP3 from the back mic, and send it in a Whatsapp message.
Sometimes I would click it to play it back myself.
It played in Whatsapp just fine.
Then I installed Podcast addict and now when I click on the MP3 in
Whatsapp, it opens Podcast addict and wants to play there.
I could not find where permissions got changed.
I want to keep Podcast Addict, but I want an MP3 that is in Whatsapp
to play in Whatsapp.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks

Go to the newly installed apps preference in settings, their will be a "set to default" kind of section.
Reset this for the new app.

This will reset defaults without removing the app, now you can open mp3 in your preferred application.


Shortcut key to hide all windows on Samsung DeX Is there a shortcut in Samsung DeX to minimize all windows and display the desktop?

Hit Meta+Enter.

To view more shortcuts, hit Meta+!.

Pro-tip : do it from Chrome and you'll see Chrome's shortcuts as well !


How to add root permission to some app by myself? Is there any way that I intentionally grant root permission to some app? Not automatically via SuperSU when a specific app asks for root permission, but in a way to pick an app via some tool and grant it root permissions.

For example, I add my favourite text app to the approved list and then I can open root files via that app.

No. You should request the app developer to do so.

On UNIX like systems, permissions are managed with something called UIDs.

Every process has one and it dictates what they can access. Moreover, there are also groups that have permission that their members can use. When an app has permissions like Write to SD card they're put into a group that has this permission.

The root permissions are an exception since they are not declared in the app's manifest, but rather in its code. Root is also not a group but a separate UID (as it is a separate user) so it's not that easy for an app to use it.
Apps that have root rights need to be explicitly written to do so.

The way this works is every time an app wants to do something as root, it has to request the su binary to do it instead. su will then ask the app that manages these permissions (e.g., SuperSU) whether the app is allowed to gain root access. If it isn't, it'll prompt you to allow or deny it. Then the action is carried out as root, not as the app user. These actions are not an integral part of the app but rather an external executable.

While theoretically it is possible to add this to an app, this would be a non-trivial process requiring knowledge of writing smali code, which is the internal format of the Dalvik virtual machine (the part of the system that runs the apk file) called smali. And even then, there'd be a huge security risk if the app allows other apps to access it: it wouldn't know how to keep the privileged root access separate from its normal access. So in reality this isn't really feasible.