Create symlink/mount/bind in root I want to compile (through make) on my Android phone. I have root access.

I have almost all the things set up.
But there's this hitch. All the configure files have a shebang of #!/bin/sh.
I can execute them by $SHELL configure
I've also set $CONFIG_SHELL
But some configure files execute other shell scripts and they give the /bin/sh: no such file or directory.

I'm thinking about creating a symlink /bin/sh -> /system/bin/sh
I've read somewhere that the root file system is the ramdisk and any changes to it will require to be done in the init.rc file.
So, if I want to accomplish this I'd need to first create a directory 'bin' then make a symlink 'sh' in it. I doubt that ln will work in init.rc.

I have this another idea.
Make a directory 'bin' somewhere preferably in Terminal IDE's (I'm using that) data directory. Then create a symlink in there sh -> /system/bin/sh.
Then create 'bin' in / through and use mount the first bin to /bin through init.rc

Thirdly, I can just mkdir bin and cp /system/bin/sh /bin/sh

Also, all of these methods will fail and result in boot failure if any of the source directories cannot be found.

I want to know which method will be more safe and if there exists a safer alternative?

@vishalbiswas
For that to work you may also need to export PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH

you can actually script out your required set up and push that script to xbin so it be run as executable. so you would be looking at something like this
for setup name the script to what works for you

#!/system/bin/sh
mount -o rw,remount /
mkdir /bin && mkdir /lib
chmod 755 /bin /lib
mount -o bind /system/bin /bin
mount -o bind /system/lib /lib
export PATH=/bin && export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/lib

the above is loose, tinker with it a little, now to close it out mostly reverse order

#!/system/bin/sh
umount /bin && umount /lib
mount -o ro,remount /

the directories /bin and /lib should vanish on reboot since they are living in ram
and you shouldn't need to unset PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH as when you close your terminal instance those variables should die with it.

The other approach is to set up a no-frills chrooted arm linux in your external sd card's second partition. I use debian and customed my init.environ.rc as follows

# set up the global environment
on init
    export PATH /sbin:/vendor/bin:/system/sbin:/system/bin:/system/gcc/bin:/system/xbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH /system/lib:/system/gcc/lib:/system/vendor/lib
    export ANDROID_BOOTLOGO 1
    export ANDROID_ROOT /system
    export ANDROID_ASSETS /system/app
    export ANDROID_DATA /data
    export ANDROID_STORAGE /storage
    export ASEC_MOUNTPOINT /mnt/asec
    export LOOP_MOUNTPOINT /mnt/obb
    export BOOTCLASSPATH [blah blah jars blah xD ]

# Debian CHROOT
    export DEBIAN_ROOT /debian
    export TMPDIR /tmp
    mount -t proc none /debian/proc
    mount -t sysfs none /debian/sys
    mount -o bind /dev /debian/dev
    mount -o bind /proc/net /debian/proc/net
    mount -t devpts none /debian/dev/pts

in this approach your file manager should read your chroot partition files directories and all without issue. i use total commander.

EDIT- i forgot the necessary entry in fstab it goes as follows, again adjust to your device's scheme

/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.2/by-num/p2              /debian      ext4    rw,errors=panic                               wait

Here is the tutorial i learned to do the above from
http://whiteboard.ping.se/Android/Debian

Do look for a fairly current distro image though.
As long as you don't try to delete a bind mounted directory without first UNMOUNTING IT [ i have never ever ever done that btw] you won't accidentally delete your system.


What does the random "ding" in Google Maps Navigation signify? Ever since updating my Nexus S to ICS, I've noticed that when using Navigation I sometimes hear a random "ding" when driving around.

Any idea what this means? I was thinking maybe it was a warning about the speed limit or something, but I haven't noticed any particular circumstances whenever it does it. Sometimes its multiple times per journey, other times not at all.

In the UK, Nexus S 4.0.3.

It sounds like you might be getting the "ding" noise discussed on this Google groups post:

  Thanks for the question. The alert chime you here indicates is a
  prompt for an upcoming driving maneuver. It plays in places where the
  Text-to-Speech engine is either unsupported or unavailable, but it
  also may play if the data connection becomes flaky during guidance and
  Navigation isn't able to process a road name in time.


How toEliminate Google from S8+ How do I get Google completely off of my Galaxy S8+.

Go to settings->app settings and select desired app in that menu you can disable the updates and it will still be installed but not executable until you enable it again, the size will reduce since it will keep an executable APK to install updates


How easy is it to return to stock after rooting with Unrevoked? I have found the following link for rooting several Android devices:

link text

It seems quite easy to root, but how difficult is it to go back to unrooted once you've rooted?

I'm using a HTC Hero and when I had to unroot my phone, I found the RUU for my phone. This in simple terms is a restore to your phone which the service provider uses to restore the phone to absolute stock. I'd check and see if you couldn't find the RUU to your specific phone!

Good luck!


Remove Facebook and Gmail contacts Some time ago I have synced my Facebook contacts (using Facebook for Android app) with my contacts. I also have my Gmail account synchronized. Having all those contacts is too much.

I went to Account and synchronization and turned off Facebook synchronization. Also in Google account I unchecked the Synchronize contacts box (however I still synchronize Gmail, Picasa, Calender and Google Reader).

Now the contacts are not in my contact list, but when I want to send SMS, I still have to browse trough all Gmail, Facebook and local contacts. That's too many entries and it's hard to find the right number. How to get rid of Gmail and Facebook contacts completely?

Also, when I go to Dialer, all my Facebook friends, who shared their phone numbers, appear there. How to remove those entries also?

I'm using Android 2.3.5

On Contacts tab of stock contacts app, hit Options button. Then, choose more ~> Display Options.

On this screen, un-check Only contacts with phone numbers. Then, check all accounts whose contacts you want to delete (like Facebook, all Gmail groups). And, un-check all accounts whose contacts you don't want to delete (like Phone, SIM). Tap Save button after you finished checking and un-checking.

On Contacts tab, hit Options button again. Choose Delete this time. On next screen, tap Select all and then Delete button. Done!

After this, again go to display options to display your contacts which weren't deleted.


Does Android have support for IPv6 tethering? It appears like Apple has fully supported IPv6 tethering on iOS devices years ago, including proper, native IPv6 addresses on each tethered device.

What about Android?  It seems like Android 6.0.1 is still totally missing IPv6 on the tethering side.  Not only that, but tethering explicitly doesn't even work at all when you're on an IPv6-only network, unless your phone has IPv4 connectivity, too (which with DNS64 and NAT64, is often not the case -- T-Mobile US is especially well-known for not being keen on providing native IPv4 to IPv6-capable devices).

Has IPv6 tethering support been added since then? Are there any plans to add support in later versions?  It's 2017, there are basically no more IPv4 addresses, what's up with this disappearing tethering support?!

It should be available since Android 7. https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/7747fd4/services/core/java/com/android/server/connectivity/tethering/IPv6TetheringCoordinator.java

It's working on my Android 8.1.


One Plus One CM12 update always reboots and starts the "Android is Upgrading..." process About my Phone:
It's a rooted One Plus One with twrp and CM12 installed.

I updated CM12 with a Update zip which had to be flashed manually through twrp. When i now want to boot the Phone it always starts "Android is Upgrading...". When the process is finished, the Phone reboots on it's own and runs through the same Process again and again.

Does anyone have an idea how stop this and boot normally?

Did you perform a full factory reset or did you do a "dirty flash"?

If it is the latter, make sure that you perform a full factory reset, including the cache, and then re-flash; that should solve your problem, it did for me at least.

If that doesn't work I reccommend using the latest build of BlissPop which is built on CM12.1 and runs like butter.


Connecting Nexus 7 to external hard disk? How can I connect a Nexus 7 (JB 4.2 rooted) to an external hard disk? I know I have to use a USB OTG cable, but what's the exact procedure to achieve this after connecting via OTG?

You need to:

Root your Nexus 7
Install StickMount
Use a file explorer to browse the files on your hard disk


change device-model without root i want to change the device-modell of a non-rooted device.

is there ANY way to do it (that doesnt involve rooting)?

maybe also an app that sends that the device is compatible.

By device model do you mean Android version? In this case, it is possible without root, but you will be left with the company. Some companies offer Android upgrades (to the latest version) for devices. To attempt to get the latest version of Android:

Go to Settings > About > System updates > Check for update.

If it says "upgrading" or "updating" you might be in luck!

If not... there really isn't much else you can do. Unless you want to try root, a custom recovery, and flashing a new version of Android (besides voiding your warranty, this could hard-brick your device). Or contact the company and see if they offer Android upgrades for your device model.


Why does my Nexus 7 (1st gen) never let me copy my files to my PC? I have a 1st gen Nexus 7 and I've been having trouble copying files to and from my Nexus 7.

The first problem is that when I plug my N7 into my Windows 7 PC, using the factory cable, the device shows up in My Computer, then immediately disconnects, then reconnects then disconnects and finally connects. This is so infuriating as for about 15 seconds it's just showing then disappearing constantly.

Once its' finally connected, I'll navigate to a file and drag it to my PC, to copy. As soon as that happens, an error box saying "A device attached to the system is not functioning". Then the explorer window disappears and my device has to reconnect.

It's driving me mad, it's not worked for about 6 months and I'm at the point of smashing it with a hammer. I've completely re-installed Android from Google's stock ROM. I've re-installed the drivers on my PC, got rid of the ADB drivers.

Any ideas?

I was having a similar problem.  What I did was install ES Explorer on my Android and use the LAN option.  On the PC I setup a share folder(s). In ES Explorer I went to the folder with the file(s) I wanted to transfer, I copied them. From there I went to LAN page and tapped on search, takes a few seconds, then tapped on icon for my PC (192.168.x.x.x). Then choose where I want to put the file. Real easy work around

You can also use ES Explorer to transfer between other devices (wifi hotspot, Bluetooth, FTP...)

Good luck!!!


Real root can not change any thing on /system original files! On my rooted device running Android 4.2.2, I have following tools installed:

Terminal Emulator
BusyBox Free

On Terminal Emulator, su command successfully changes user to a real root:

root@hwH30-U10:/ # id -u
uid=0(root) gid=0(root)

Then I remount /system as R/W:

root@hwH30-U10:/ # mount | grep system
/emmc@android /system ext4 rw,realtime,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0

Then I even:

root@hwH30-U10:/ # chmod 777 /system

But I can not change any thing e.g. permissions or contents of /system original files like /system/build.prop!

I am sure that permissions and mounts are OK because I can create a new file, /system/tmp.prop, change it's contents and permissions by Terminal Emulator.

I really have no idea why these operations are not permitted while in Linux point of view, all things are OK for root to do these changes!

Is there any hard-coded further protection inside Android e.g. in kernel?

How to figure out this, please?

Based on my comment and Yasser's subsequent comment , I can conclude that the issue was the immutable attribute set on the file build.prop. If other files and directories also can't be edited or deleted, then they may also be having the same attribute or append-only attribute.

The remedy is to use this command with root privilege:

chattr -i FILE_PATH    # FILE_PATH is the file which currently has immutable attribute

Use -iR followed by a directory's path to remove immutable attribute from a directory recursively.

It is to be noted that OP already has busybox installed. chattr and lsattr aren't the utilities found natively in Android.

Relevant info about the used chattr command and append-only attribute can be found in my answer here.


Markdown note taking with Dropbox sync How do I do all of the following with my Android phone?

Read markdown-formatted notes stored in my Dropbox folder
Show it as HTML in Android
Optional editing from the phone

FWIW, the iPhone already has an app that does this.

Seeing as both Epistle and its successor Draft are both no longer maintained and can no longer sync with Dropbox, this app simply called "Notes" seems be the closest alternative to them.


What is PD1A.180720.030 in Android 9.0.0 (PD1A.180720.030)? https://developers.google.com/android/drivers has binaries like

Pixel 3 XL binaries for Android 9.0.0 (PD1A.180720.030)
Pixel 3 XL binaries for Android 9.0.0 (PD1A.180720.031)
Pixel 3 XL binaries for Android 9.0.0 (PQ1A.181105.017.A1)
...

What is the number in the parenthesis?

Further, I have Pixel 3XL and the system version is Android 9.0, which binary should I download?

They are build numbers:
According to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL First Factory Images are Available!:

Google just posted the first factory image and OTA files for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Since today is basically launch day, the timing seems just about right.
The files are available as Android 9.0.0 builds PD1A.180720.030 and PD1A.180720.031 for both phones, the second being the Verizon specific build. This is the build you should find out of the box.

About PQ1A.181105.017.A1, a reponse is found in this article:

Google is rolling out the November 2018 security patch update for its latest flagships Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL. The current updates are also making their way to the older devices Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL.
The new build number which accompanies the software goes by PQ1A.181105.017.A1. Both Pixel 3/3XL and Pixel 2/2XL are getting an upgrade with this new build.

Summary:

PD1A.180720.030: International build (released date: 20 July 2018).
PD1A.180720.031: Verizon build (released date: 20 July 2018).
PQ1A.181105.017.A1: November 2018 security patch (released date: 05 November 2018).


Is Samsung's Media Hub only available to new customers? Are old donkeys not allowed to eat carrots?!

Appears to currently be US only, and only added in the latest Epic 4G update. However the marketing materials keep mentioning Galaxy S devices, rather than any specific models, so it could well roll out to the rest of the Galaxy S range in future updates, or possibly even via the on-device Samsung Apps store that most Galaxy S's have (assuming your phone company hasn't removed it).

However it's worth bearing in mind that this is a transparent attempt to lock you into Samsung for future phone and TV purchases, as once you've built up a large library of paid content on their media store, you're probably not going to want to move to hardware where you can't watch that content. If you're happy with that then ok, personally I'll stick to more hardware independant media vendors.


How to get emergency mode in LG E455? I can't boot my phone but I can see the lg logo.

So my question is how to get emergency mode in LG E455?

According to this link, you can reach recovery by holding the power button and the volume button for a few seconds when the phone is turned off completely.

From there you'll probably be able to reset your phone to factory defaults to make the phone bootable again. This probably means losing all user data stored on the phone. If a factory reset does not help, you might need to download your ROM (=Android version of your phone) from the Internet and install it using the recovery. If you can't do this in your recovery or you can't get it to work, I recommend you contact LG support.


Bluetooth Consistently Turning Itself Off I'm having issue where my bluetooth will occasionally turn off.  This is an issue because I have a smartwatch that connects with bluetooth.

My SO also has a smartwatch, but doesn't have this issue.  I noticed in my battery usage that Bluetooth shows up as an entry in my phone, but does not on my SO.

When I tap on bluetooth, there is an option for 'Adjust Power Use'.  It's apparently set to 'Turn off bluetooth when not in use.'  I can tap on this option, but all it does it take my to the Bluetooth pairing screen, which doesn't seem to have any way to change the option.  I also do not have battery saver mode on.  There's a variety of things that are battery optimized, but my list of apps matches my SO's phone as well, so I don't think that's an issue either.

Clearly I don't want my bluetooth to turn off, otherwise it makes my watch kind of useless.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix the issue?

So if you go into BATTERY> : MENU> BATTERY OPTIMIZATION> and change "NOT OPTIMIZED" to "ALL APPS", you can then select each app or service you want "NOT OPTIMIZED". Try Bluetooth Midi and Bluetooth Sharing to set Not Optimized.


Prevent one particular autocorrect in Google Keyboard On Google Keyboard, if the app thinks you've mistyped a word it will autocorrect it.

Is there any way to prevent the autocorrect occurring in some particular circumstance? I don't want to totally disable autocorrection all the time and I don't want to add the word to my dictionary. If I let it autocorrect I can do two backspaces to undo it, but that's tedious; is there a way to prevent the autocorrect from occurring at all?

To my knowledge, adding the word to your dictionary is the solution for this problem.


How to transfer Whatsapp audio files to computer? I know how to copy pictures received on Whatsapp to my computer, but I don't see audio files received on Whatsapp anywhere to be accessed and transfered to my computer. Any suggestion?

The path to access/view then in your device is as below:

  WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Voice Notes/

This is inside your internal Storage.

Go inside this folder, choose a voice note that you want to send to your computer. These audio notes file names are starting with PTT. Select "Share" option and choose from available choices such as Email, Gmail, Bluetooth etc. Send it using any one of these and receive it on your computer.

If you connected via USB, then you may want to copy these files to External SD-card and then browse it using file explorer via PC. Those files be shown as ADTS Audio files which you then can copy into your computer/PC.


mount command outputs usage on correct arguments I enabled root for adb, and then tried the following:

root@crespo:/ # mount /dev/block/platform/s3c-sdhci.0/by-name/media /storage/sdcard0
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory
1|root@crespo:/ # mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /storage/sdcard0
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory
1|root@crespo:/ # mount /dev/block/mmcblk0 /storage/sdcard0
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] [-o options] [-t type] device directory

but, even if -t is optional, I get a different error message by adding it:

1|root@crespo:/ # mount -t vfat /dev/block/mmcblk0 /storage/sdcard0
mount: Device or resource busy

maybe the arguments parsing of the command is messed up... seems like a bug in busybox, or is something much more pedestrian going wrong?

It turned out that mount isn't actually supplied by busybox, but by toolbox.

With this knowledge, it was easy to track down the cause of the bug: unlike busybox, since I don't have another "toolbox" implementation with a correctly working mount command, it's likely that the behavior would've been easy to see from the code.

In fact the problem is here at line 330: it checks if type == NULL, but then outputs an USAGE that erroneously shows -t as optional

Compare with busybox at line 1930: // Loop through filesystem types until mount succeeds


Screen keeps turning on I have a new Nexus 6 which immediately updated to Lollipop. When in standby mode the screen turns on randomly and displays the clock. This has been going on since I got it 24 hours ago.

Any thoughts or tips to fix this issue?

After having switched off the Ambient display the problem has stopped for me. Hope this helps.

Settings > Display > Ambient display (Wake screen when you pick up device or receive notifications)


How to fix Hangouts not working for one gmail account My Hangouts had two email accounts associated with it. One stopped working. I tried deleting and re-installing Hangouts. I tried deleting and reinstalling the email account that was not working with Hangouts.

Now when I try to add this second email account to Hangouts, I get the error message that the account already exists on the device.

I did delete that email account and before adding it via the phone's accounts manager, I tried to add it from Hangouts. It then added it as an email account but not associated with Hangouts.

Sorry - I got it fixed. I tried deleting the email account and then before re-adding it, I restarted the phone. Then when I added the account to Hangouts it worked.


No Move to SD Card or Move to USB option in android 4.2.2 I have a Carbonn Phone (model: A18+)

http://www.karbonnmobiles.com/karbonn-A18+-proid-193.html

Android Version is 4.2.2

Under Settings -> Storage -> 'Preferred install location' and it has three options for it:

Internal device storage
Phone storage
Let the system decide

there is no option for "External storage device"

but below Preferred install location there is another option: Settings -> Storage -> "Default Write Disk" and it has two options:

Phone storage
SD Card

I have "SD Card" selected here

But I don't have choice to choose SD Card or External storage to install apps and when I install any app from 'play store' that goes to either to phone or to internal storage.
Even after going to the Settings -> Apps ->

I only see 4 tabs

Downloaded | Phone Storage | Running | All

there is no 'SD Card' or 'USB Storage' tab and when i tap any app here it only shows "Move to Phone storage" or "Move to Internal Storage" on 'App Info' Screen.

My question is How can I move or install apps to External SD Card. I have tried many apps like APP2SD or similar ones. But no app gives me to move apps to SD Card. Even I have tried rooting my phone, that also doesn't work.

Move to SD is disabled android 4 onwards. Also App2SD AppMgrIII etc all are useless. I found best solution to this problem after a-week-long search on google I found this very useful new app called FolderMount

see:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount

Of note, you need to Root your phone. Root It by Easiest means Mobogenie

I tried it on 3 folders (in free version only 3 can be tried) and then immediately bought the pro version; its worth..  just cleared lot of place on my Galaxy Mega 6.3.


No Google Play Store in Craig 4.0.3 Android tablet I have a Craig 4.0.3 Android tablet.

Can it download apps from the Google Play Store? My tablet does not seem to have the Google Play app.  Is there a way to download the Google Play Store app?

I have already signed up with a Gmail account, which was one of the prerequisites to access the Google Play Store.

Please let me know. I keep getting an error that I cannot download apps, because I don't have the Google Play Store app.  Thank you very much.

The latest version of Google Play Store is 3.10.10.

AndroidPolice has hosted an APK which you can download and install.


Is the rooted hack for Move to SD card better than the option built into the Android Phone OS? What I have found recently: In order to save space on my device (Galaxy S5) I attempted to use the 'move to SD card' option. This has not really helped all that much. It seems that it uncompresses an application, making it a lot larger before moving a chunk of it to the SD card.

What I am asking is about the option that is available via a rooted phone. Does the rooted version offer a better solution, such as moving more of the app to the card? Or is it not worth the effort to root the phone for that choice?

My phone is I am certain long out of warranty so not really worried about that.

It is clear to me there also may be multiple different tools that do this. It would be helpful to find which may be the best choices. Thank you in advance.

The "Move to SD card" neither moves the app (APK file) nor the complete app data.
It just moves the additional media files and data (that doesn't pose any security risks upon revealing to user) like Images or Graphics or whatever.
(And all apps do not provide this option. It depends on the app developer.)

These moved data can be found in the Memory Card in a directory named Android/data .

And yes, the rooted solution moves the complete app and app data into your memory card, which completely lessens the burden.
But you have to create a separate EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 partition first in your memory card (using softwares like MiniTool Partition Wizard) and then use an app like Link2SD (as @Tamoghna said) or Mounts2SD.


Stop Text Notifications From Showing On Edge I have the Galaxy Note Edge and have tried the stock app, Handcent as well as Chomp, but all of them will display a text message on the Edge Screen.

I have disabled the display message over lock screen option, and no messages are displayed there, but the preview shows on the Edge.

How can I disable that?

I was trying to see if I could find a filter which would let you choose which notifications you would want to display on the edge and which you would not.  That way you could use the Edge deal, but get rid of the SMS notifications.  In all my searches I can only find a setting on how to disable/enable all or no notifications.

"Edge Screen Settings - Samsung Galaxy Note® Edge

Check out this Edge Screen video for more information.

From a Home screen, navigate: Apps > Settings> Edge screen.

The following options display:

Manage panels
Express me
Information stream
Night clock
Edge screen text
Edge screen timeout
Notifications

Shows notifications on the Edge screen.

Enabled when a checkmark is present.
Use Edge screen on left

Alternatively: you can access the Edge screen settings by swiping upward on the Edge screen from the bottom then tapping Settings icon."

Reference: http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-140340/

Now I do not own an Edge variety of phone myself (I will not buy a phone personally that does not allow me to swap out my battery and/or does not allow me to use an external SD Card).  So there could still be a way I am unaware of to set it so you can use Edge for notifications and then just block those notifications you do not want to display.  Of course this is ONLY notifications you can still have the clock/date and news feed and other stuff still running on the Edge while notifications do not.


What is the relation between ROM Manager, ClockworkMod and Nandroid? Which one(s) do I need? So I understand the first thing I need to do with my phone, after rooting, is to back everything up. But I was confused about 3 of the apparently popular tools used for this.

For example, is Nandroid an application I run on a computer connected to the Android device, or on the device itself?

I understand ClockworkMod is a "custom recovery". What does that mean? Why do I need it? What does it mean to "flash" it?

Asides from browsing and installing new ROMs, how does ROM manager interact with the other two? Does it include them both, so I just need to download it from the market and be done with it?

I will appreciate any answer that can sort out the differences, with emphasis on what I, as an end-user, actually need to do, and whether there is any risk on those actions.

A "Recovery" is a special space in the internal memory of your phone, set aside by the manufacturer to perform diagnostics and OS upgrades.  In Windows terms, it's a rough equivalent of Boot Menu (usually accessed by pressing F8 during boot-up.)  It's invisible to the phone under normal operation, and is accessed in a special way (usually by turning the phone on while holding one or more buttons).

The problem is that the recoveries that comes with stock devices do not allow for installation of custom ROMs, only firmware images "signed" by the manufacturer.  In order to install custom ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod for example) you will need to replace the stock Recovery image with a custom one, made by community developers.  On Android there are several custom recoveries, Clockworkmod (CWM) and Amon-Ra being the most known ones.  These custom Recoveries allow you to do a lot more things with your phone.  The biggest advantage is being able to flash unsigned custom ROMs.  Other benefits include various tools and utilities for further managing the phones.

One such utility is called "NANDroid".  It's a backup and restore tool that allows you to take a full image of all the phone's internal NAND memory (hence the name) and store it on your SD Card.  Should something go wrong with the phone's software, you can use the previously saved backup to restore the phone to a working state.

The maker of ClockworkMod Recovery also created an Android app called "ROM Manager".  This app allows you to easily upgrade the CWM recovery to a new version when one becomes available for your device.  It also allows you to manage NANDroid backups stored on the SD Card, as well as perform a slew of other useful advanced tasks.  These include fixing app/data permissions, re-partitioning of the SD Card right on the phone, downloading different custom ROMs and flashing them directly from the app.  A paid "Premium" version of the app has more advanced features, such as OTA update notifications for custom ROMs that support it, etc.


Phone takes a long time to boot after installing Darky 10.2.2 EE I took the plunge and installed Darky 10.2.2EE on my SGS.  Now it takes a few minutes to boot, when before (stock + voodoo) it took less than a minute.

Is this normal?  If not, what can have caused it?

The first time you boot a device after installing a new ROM, or wiping the Dalvik Cache , the OS needs to rebuild the Dalvik Cache. This cache is what is used to launch the applications on the device quicker.

Any time you install a new application or update an application, a dalvik cache for the application is created. When you wipe the cache, this needs to be rebuilt. The more apps you have installed, the longer it will take the first time it boots.

As a good practice, you should clear the dalvik cache when ever you update your ROM.

On top of that, there could be extra boot scripts that will "extend" boot time.


Can I make Google Play not run a background process (on CM10)? There is always a background process for Google Play Market in the CyanogenMod 10 system (Android 4.1.x). I don't like this. Since my device (Samsung Galaxy S) doesn't have much memory, I'd like to make it not run in the background.

Instead I'd like it to run only when started manually to install a new app or check for updates, or from time to time (to give it the possibility to sync).

Is this possible without de-installing Goolge Play?

I think Google Play is bundled with some services that requires for another applications.
 ie : Applications that uses Google Cloud Messaging (GCM).

According to this link: http://developer.android.com/guide/google/gcm/gcm.html

  GCM requires devices running Android 2.2 or higher that also have the Google Play Store application installed....

So basically, Google play is not there only for install a new app or check for updates etc.. So I think it's better to leave it as it is.


Potentially Malicious APKs In theory, should it be possible to root your device with an APK file? Or possibly create a potential harmful application?

I know that APKs can be used as apps you can install offline, but I'm assuming it could be used to be malicious. But what all could it do? How destructive could it be? And is there even a limit; a system to protect you from stuff like this?

Rooting a device with an APK file is definitely possible.

In reality it depends on two factors:

The age of the device software
The amount of money you are willing to pay to for exploit software

The device software age is important as usually you can say the older the device the more security vulnerabilities it has and therefore there is a higher chance to get a combination that allows you to root the device.

For example the very old devices can all be rooted using the TowelRoot app (which uses AFAIR an kernel exploit).

The price you are willing to pay for an exploit is important as you can buy exploits (even zero day exploits that are not known to Google or the device manufacturer).

Once a malicious APK has been installed it can use the incorporated exploits to attack your system. Once it managed to find a working exploit to get root it can do anything you could do with root permissions, too. This includes installing code persistently into your system, redirecting traffic, extract passwords and other secrets, ...


Gmail or Inbox not loading mails I'm using gmail and inbox in my browser, they just work fine. However, on Android the Gmail app or Inbox app both displays nothing left whereas I do have emails in my inbox. If I try to switch in other categories such as spams or trash, it displays "No network" even though I'm connected.

I have a rooted phone with JB 4.2.2 (deodexed) and:

Xposed
Greenify Pro
GravityBox
Xprivacy (not for system apps)
...
I removed some system apps using ROM Toolbox but only samsung's bloat

I tried:

turning off Greenify auto-hibernate and Xprivacy for inbox
deleting data of Gmail, Inbox, or Google Play Services. When I try to use Inbox it now asks me to connect and then says that an error occured and try again later.
download manager is not disabled
removed /system/etc/hosts

You have to turn sync on. Go to your notification toggle section, and there should be a loop, that is the sync toggle button


Outlook Android no longer synchronizes Office 365 contacts As of version 2.2.74 my Android Outlook does not sync any contacts.

The previous version has synced all of my coworkers from Office 365, but after a factory reset my coworker contacts are missing.

There is a setting in the application that shows if I enable contact synchronization and it is set on.

In Accounts and synchronization settings, I have an Outlook type account, and it has the Sync contacts set on and the last sync took place seconds ago.

In the new version of Outlook Android, there is a new tab called Persons, and it says I have 0 contacts. I guess this new feature is not working as expected.

Do you have any idea why these settings can't help?

Well, it seems, they restructured how the contacts are synchronized.

I checked my Outlook on my computer, and it has 2 separate contact store options:

  Address book - mycompanyemail@mycompany.com

  Contacts - mycompanyemail@mycompany.com

All my company coworkers were in the Address book and my Contacts were empty.

I copied them to Contacts and now they are all synchronized - even appear in the new Contacts tab of Outlook Android.

So to draw a lesson: always check your online Contacts and see what it contains.


Where can I find the bootanimation.zip in the Evolution X Custom ROM? So, I wanted to replace the stock boot animation that comes with Evolution X since it is kind of boring, but the problem was that I couldn't find the /system/media/ directory in any root browser or even the file manager built within TWRP. I just need to know where I can find the bootanimation.zip file in Evolution X, and if there are any further steps required to change it other than just backing up the original boot animation and replacing it.

Specifics: I'm running the latest official build of Evolution X for zerofltexx (Samsung Galaxy S6) with MagiskRoot and a few Magisk Modules.

Try to do a search in the root explorer.you will get the location
System/product/media
Thanks
-redminote5pro
-evolutionx 4.3


How to find app based on package name? I've installed a malicious app that is posting ads over my notification bar, but can't find it. I know the java package name for it: com.letang.game103.en using the command: adb shell dumpsys notification.

As you see the name of the app is not obvious from the package name. I want to find which app it is, that uses this package name. I also want to report them to Android Market, after leaving a nice feedback for them there!

I've looked at different dumpsys commands:

adb shell dumpsys [something]

But so far wasn't able to get apps based on their package names.
Is there any way to do this?

The easiest way, without using any specialized tools is just to visit that app's page in the Play Store (website, not app).

All apps in the Play Store have their package name as part of their URL, so you can just take your package name and prefix it with https://play.google.com/details?id= to get

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stackexchange.marvin

where com.stackexchange.marvin is the package name which will take you to the page for Stack Exchange Android app.


Running an over/under-clocking app without rooting Can it be done?  I'd like to be able to set clock limits based on a number of conditions, such as battery temperature, charging/not charging, and what radios are turned on.  I'm aware that there are apps for rooted phones that will allow me to do this, but I'm wondering if there are any that don't need my phone to be rooted.

Sorry, but this simply isn't possible.  You have to have administrator access to your phone to control the processor's speed.


Soft Bricked Nexus 4 A long time ago my Nexus 4 was doing an OTA update and crashed midway through. Now when I try to power it on it shows the google symbol then a standing Android with its chest open and a progress bar under it. The progress bar says "Installing System Update...". Then when about 25% through (A few seconds) the Android is laying down with its chest open and a red triangle with a exclamation mark over the Andriod. The screen says "Error!". If I wait a few minutes then it repeats this process.

I have searched the internet for long hours without finding any solution. I sadly don't have USB de-bugging on or my problem would have been solved long ago.

I currently have Ubuntu 16.04 and Windows 7 and I can't seem to mount the Nexus on either one. When I enter recovery mode it has the same dead Andriod and it says "No Command". I have factory-reset it and wiped the cache partition but neither helped in anyway.

I am not sure but I believe to update from ADB I need USB de-bugging activated and the Nexus needs to be connected to my computer. (Both things I can't do) All of the solutions I find need USB de-bugging enabled and I can't find any way of activating it while it is in it's current state. When I load fastboot mode this is what it says in the bottom.

FASTBOOT MODE
PRODUCT NAME - mako
VARIANT - mako 16GB
HW VERSION - rev_11
BOOTLOADER VERSION - MAKOZ30d
BASEBAND VERSION - M9615A-CEFWMAZM-2.0.1700.84
CARRIER INFO - None
SERIAL NUMBER - 029965911c4e2725
SIGNING - production
SECURE BOOT - enabled
LOCK STATE - locked

I don't know if that will help but I'll put it here anyway. I think that is all and I greatly appreciate any help given.

USB Debugging is not relevant, it doesn't come into play here, but you must be able to connect it to your computer via USB.

The first thing you have to do is unlock the bootloader, luckily the Nexus 4 does not require anything special to unlock the bootloader. From the fasboot screen, on your computer use the command:

sudo fastboot oem unlock

And follow the instructions on the screen to confirm the unlock and wipe process.

If this fixes it, your done... But to flash the latest firmware, you can go to: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images which has the images and instructions to flash the device from the bootloader (fastboot). It is literally as simple as downloading the appropriate image, expand the archive, and run ./flash-all.sh script

If you need adb and fastboot, they are available in the normal Ubuntu software repositories.

Nexus devices are wonderfully simple to work with, and are virtually unbrickable.


How to move contacts from SIM to phone? I have all my contacts saved on my SIM-card but I want to move them to the phone which is Galaxy note so that when I change the SIM-card my contacts are still saved and I don't need to save them all again. Is there any way to do this?

Yes, just go to:  Contacts -> Menu -> Import/Export -> From SIM to Phone

Or you can view this more detailed article to help you:
http://androidadvices.com/import-sim-contacts-android-phone/


How can I check whether my phone is network locked (Samsung GALAXY S3)? I have a Samsung GALAXY S3 with a rooted Android 4.1.2. My network provider is AT&T.

I tried dialing *#7465625# but it doesn't work:

You could try an app to do this, Samsung have removed/changed some of the Dialer codes on the Galaxy range.

GalaxSim Unlock seems to do what you want, it checks if SIM locked, and offers an in-app purchase to SIM unlock. Please note I have not tested this app.

You could also pop in a SIM from a friend's device that is on another network and that should tell you pretty quick!


My Galaxy i5503 (Android 2.2) is dead, they say it needs new software? My phone is not switching on. It's a Samsung Galaxy i5503/Galaxy 5. It started automatic switch offs even on a little pressure and now it's not getting on.

Someone checked it and said they need to reinstall the software (probably the operating system, which is Android 2.2).

My question is: Can I do it manually? If yes, then how? And, if I opt for getting it done from someone, What data will be erased? I cannot afford to lose the data of my applications (like Colornote's notes).

I have bad news:
It almost impossible to get data from your internal storage if your mobile does not turn on.
First we need to know more about the problem:

What do you mean under not turn on?

Does it light up or no signal at all? What if you plug it into the charger? Can you see any lights flash up? Can you get into recovery?

If none of the above happen, then I need to ask: Is your important data stored on your SD card? Most apps store their user data on SD Card so you can access them if you pull out your SD card and read from that.

If you re-install android, you WILL LOSE your internal data so if you have lots of important things on your phone (not your SD Card) you should not reinstall without backup

Colornote does not store your data internally but uploads to the cloud. See Their FAQ


Missig remove option When I list the attached devices on my Google account in the security option and click to expand the device I wish to remove, then click on the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner, there is no option there to remove the device. Any suggestions as to how I can remove the device.
Thanks

Previously it was removing access of the google account from the device and now also its doing the same. To remove account access in a specific device, just click on the 3 dots as mentioned above and click sign out.

You can also view your devices from this link https://mydevices.google.com


Is it possible to update BQ aquaris E4.5 with latest firmware for BQ aquaris A4.5 I have this phone, BQ Aquaris E4.5
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/434564/bq-aquaris-e45-ubuntu-edition-zwart/reviews/

And at the moment I have android 5.
However I want to update to Android 6.

On the official page of the manufacturer I see http://www.mibqyyo.com/en-download/categorias/aquaris-e4-5/

However I see update for BQ Aquaris A4.5

http://www.mibqyyo.com/en-download/categorias/aquaris-a4-5/

Do you think If I try to update the firmware, the phone will break ?

Regards,
Oleg

If the specs from PDAdb is to be believed, the 2 phones are quite different hardware-wise:

BQ Aquaris E4.5 Dual SIM vs. BQ Aquaris A4.5 4G LTE Dual SIM

The A4.5 is a relatively new Android One phone that's promised 2 years of support. The E4.5 on the other hand, despite released in late 2014, bears a MT6582 SoC which had fallen out of mainstream for quite some time. There's no way you could cross-flash between these two, and you likely won't find anything tailored to this particular device either.


How can you determine what programs you installed last? Following my question about logs I wonder if there is a way to determine the last updates and applications which have been installed.

Does Android keep a chronological list of installed programs and updates ?

I am running Froyo 2.2.1 if that should make a difference.

AFAIK, Android Market shows the list of installed apps in chronological order. So the latest app you've installed should be on the top (first) of the list. The app that was installed before this - should be the second.


How do I store my contacts so I can retrieve them after a factory reset? Has anyone used the HTC backup app?

I'm going to factory reset my phone and I want to store my contacts somewhere so I can retrieve them after the reset.

Has anyone done this before?

Aren't your contacts automatically synced with your Google account? Htc one m8 usually has Andorid 4.4 so you should check settings>accounts and check if your google account syncs your contact info automatically. You should double check it by logging to your google account on a computer to see if it's working.

Link to contacts: www.google.com/contacts


HTC Wildfire won't boot My HTC Wildfire will not boot up. When I boot normally with the SD card in, I only get a screen that says "Fastboot" with the options bootloader, reboot, reboot bootloader and power down. It says to use the volume keys to select the option and press the power button to select. Using any of these buttons does nothing.

I then need to take the battery out, and power up while pressing the volume up button. I get an HBoot menu with the options fastboot, recovery, clear storage and simlock. The volume button does not allow me to select anything, but when I press the power button to select fastboot I get a number of messages saying SD checking load image [xxxx.zip] No image found This happens too quickly for me to see the name of the files missing.

I am able to connect my phone to a computer using USB, but I can do nothing there also.

Anybody got any suggestions?

Basically something wrong and bad happened and hence your phone is unable to boot.  I am not sure this is the answer, but I am just trying to help as I too faced such problem and was in panic during initial days with Android.

This XDA site beautifully explains the boot related problems and how you could get over.  Basically you have to reflash the ROM for which you need few USB drivers + flashing tool and original or some other ROM.  Though I am unable to point you to exactly to sites that provide these, I guess you can easily search for it.

TIP: Had if your phone Clockworkmod recovery, things will be bit easy. This is one convincing reason, I made up my mind to root and install CWM recovery as a first step on all my devices.


Google Clock how to remove added city time I am using default Google Clock application for time and alarm setting on my Moto X4. Moving to clock on it, there's globe icon under home time, which is used to set and display different city time. I have added some cities, and then I cannot see any option to delete that city. On tapping, Menu->Settings on top-right corner, I cannot found any option to delete it. How to delete those added city time?

Open Google Clock.
Switch to Clock menu.
Press and Hold city time you need to remove, then you can see a Delete icon there(globe icon changed to dustbin icon), swipe down to Delete it.


Android Oreo autofill on chrome I know android Oreo has an auto fill feature, and I like that it can be integrated with a third party password manager. However what is unclear is whether that auto fill feature works within a browser like chrome.

Does it work? Are there browsers that support it? If not, is it on a roadmap?

Full disclaimer: I am using keepass2android and it doesn't seem to work. Google has made them remove the accessibility feature that worked and keepass2android claims that they have now implemented Oreo autofill integration, but that doesn't seem to work with chrome.

I've read around that the chrome team was planning on making android autofill work within chrome, but I don't know how trustworthy it all is and/or how old. I am curious if it is even possible to have an app that tells autofill where it's fields are and what it's app name/ URL is... Or whether autofill is a one way system.

Turns out that Keepass2Android did the work correctly, it works on Firefox like a dream, but they have not implemented it in Chrome even to this day which is sad. The best I can do is to share the page to Keepass2Android and the app will take me to a keyboard selection page where I can choose the special keyboard and be sent back to chrome to fill my fields.


List of purchased apps and app install/uninstall history log anywhere? My device was damaged and since then I've had to order a hardware replacement.
Given that all purchases and application installs/uninstalls via Google Play Store
are carried out in connection with my Google account, I would like to know whether
there is a way to:

How can I view a list of apps I purchased, perhaps arranged in reverse chronological
order according to purchase date? The Google Play Apps site displays all applications I've ever installed, including free ones. WHen I go to My apps on the Android Google Play Store applications, I don't see the apps I paid for which were on my old device (same Google account).
Is there an application with a graphical user interface which displays all the
history of installed/uninstalled applications linked to my Google account?
This thread seems to suggest that this is possible via the DOS command-prompt on Windows using the adb (Android Debug Bridge) tool, or even on Android with BusyBox. But I am looking for a GUI application, possibly one that uses info stored on the Google account in the cloud rather than in a log file on the device.

Thank you for your help.

To view a list of apps purchased in the play store click on the menu icon then account. Under account you will see order history.


How can I use Gmail's canned responses on my phone? I frequently use canned responses in Gmail on my computer but it doesn't seem to be accessible on my phone. Are there any workarounds or solutions that allow me to use this feature on my phone as well?

As of July 2019, the features is not available for Gmail app but you can use it when using a browser on your phone and requesting the desktop version.

You are left with 3 possible solutions:

Create draft messages that you can then copy and paste for new messages.
Enable "Smart Reply" in the Settings of the Gmail app for the account you are using. Then hope that you will get good suggestions when replying to messages.
Use Canned Responses for GMail. It purports:

  GMail canned responses are very handy on a full featured web browser but when it comes to mobile - it's almost impossible to import your canned responses in an email message. With Canned Responses for GMail you will be able to do it in 2 taps. A swipe and a tap actually :)


Can I set the default browser differently for different websites? I have the following browsers on my phone:

stock
Dolphin Mini
Opera Mobile
Firefox

I don't want to set a catch-all default because some pages render better on some browsers than on others.

When I click on a link on a non-browser app (e.g. google search or google reader) it asks me which browser to choose (as expected).  Can I set a default browser for some pages and a different default for others?

There seems to be an app called "Browser Auto Selector" which looks like it will allow you to associate a domain with a browser.
Here is the link to the page on AppBrain for the app, http://www.appbrain.com/app/browser-auto-selector-free/info.usamimi.kfc9.superakiraman.browserchooser_free


How I know my device screen ratio I have a game where the monsters list appear in 4 columns on my devices, But I have seen videos on youtube where display 5 columns.

Even one of my very old device 1280x720 screen resolution also display 5 columns

But my newer devices doesnt.

One is Galaxy Tab S 10'' 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA) ~288 ppi http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_gala...5_lte-6235.php
The other is LG Flex 2 Curve 5.5" (1920 x 1080) with 403 ppi http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g_flex2-6916.php

So what is the difference? I think maybe is something regarding the screen ratio. But not sure what or how I check so when I buy my next device work properly

To know your phone's aspect ratio and\or resolution there are many ways. One way is to go to this website and it'll immediately show you:
http://whatismyresolution.com/. If you'd like to know the ratio before buying any device you can simply ask about it. Most game developers intentionally develop games to adjust to any ratio the device is on, but some games aren't developed that way. This is most likely one of those games.. It really depends on your phone's screen size


How to restore a particular app's data from Google Drive backup? I have hard reset my android phone and I have restored it from a backup in Google drive which was taken 2 days ago. Some of the apps are installed.
There are however some system apps whose data is not restored.
I can see from the Backup that there was about 750KB of data for system app which can be restored. But it is not restored.
The app has no option to restore data from Google drive backup  also.
I have also tried Google Takeout (for Google Drive) bit it did not give me the Android backup data.
Question
How to restore a particular app's data from Google drive?
Also, is it possible to download the Google drive backup data on PC or to some storage and try to extract it?
Can I restore it on any emulator like Genymotion to get the data?

The applications that was not restored does not allow backup (android:allowBackup="false"). Which mean that your backup will not contain these applications even after restoring in another device.
You can check that by following these steps:

Install one of the concerned Apps in your new device
Enable USB Debugging
Run this command (using ADB):

adb shell dumpsys package concerend.app.package | grep flags

Where concerend.app.package is the package name of the installed App.
If ALLOW_BACKUP exist in the command's result then probably the application can be backed up. Else, the application cannot be backed up and it will explain why it was not restored.


Galaxy S6 - MMS gifs not sending? My Galaxy S6 Active (and from looking around online, the Galaxy S6 in general) sends some animated .gifs properly, but others just get sent as a still photo.

I search the web for a gif, find it, and save to my phone.  (For this example, I'm trying to send this gif).  I am able to view in the gallery as a .gif, yay!

However, when I go to send it, and attach - it is a still image (not sure if it's the whole .gif, just not animating, or if it's just the first frame).

Other gifs I can send fine.  I have yet to find a rhyme or reason some work and others don't.  I've seen some comments saying that the Galaxy/Android cuts the file size down when it changes the text to an MMS, and this could be stopping the gif?

Thanks for any ideas.  I'd rather not have to root or install a third-party app..I'm mainly interested in learning if this is just a fact of life for my phone, or if there's a fix.

Edit: With the two answers below, one partial solution is to use another messaging app.  I tried Google Messenger, and was able to successfully attach a .Gif that I couldn't with the default messenger.  However I still can't send those gifs, it says the file size is too large for an attachment.  I understand that carriers put a limit to MMS size, but I'm 99.9% positive my friend with an iPhone can successfully send the same gif that I am not able to. Hmm.

Edit: April 2016 - While it doesn't really answer the question of the .gifs getting cut down, I downloaded Google Messenger, and it seems to be sending .gifs that the default program wouldn't.  Not a perfect solution, since it involves downloading an App, but it's the best I've found so far.

Edit: March 2017 - while not a solution to the MMS sending/not sending gifs, in addition to Google Messenger, both WhatsApp and Signal work fine with .gif. However I believe it's mainly due to their use of the data plan/wifi which allows for the greater file size to be sent.

I figured out how to send .gif files with my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and I'm sure there are others out there that are just as frustrated in their search. I tried downloading several .gif editors like Textra and they just did not work the way I wanted. The one app that I found that works is Google Messenger.

Steps I did that worked:

Downloaded Google Messenger app (free from Google Play Store), use Google Messenger as your default texting software for your device (MMS), google a .gif file you want to send (DO NOT TRY AND SAVE IT FROM THE GOOGLE THUMBNAIL PAGE.  CLICK ON THE LINK TO THE ACTUAL WEBSITE THAT HAS THE GIF ON IT), hard press the moving .gif to save to your phone, open GOOGLE MESSENGER, attach the .gif file to a text message from your gallery (IT SHOULD SHOW AS MOVING ONCE YOU HAVE ATTACHED IT), and hit send!! I hope it helps. Good luck!!!


Unable to flash a recovery using Clockworkmod I'm trying to install Cyanogenmod 11 onto an unlocked HTC One, but when I went to boot into recovery mode, all I got was a red error triangle. The docs don't mention it anywhere, but other reports of this error suggest that I first need to flash a custom recovery image.

So from there I discovered Clockworkmod and installed their ROM Manager app. It detected my phone version, but when I select "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery", it successfully downloads something, but then reports "an error occurred while flashing your recovery".

How do I fix this?

It looks like the CyanogenMod installation instructions for M7 are missing a section for flashing ClockworkMod recovery onto the phone.  Right after you unlock the bootloader, you need to do the following:

Download and install Android SDK Tools from here (expand the "Download for Other Platforms", and it should be under the "SDK Tools Only" section.)
Download the latest version of ClockworkMod Recovery image from here.  Scroll down to "HTC One" and select either the regular or touch recovery.  Save the .img file somewhere on your computer.
Download and install USB drivers for the phone.
Restart your phone in bootloader mode by turning it off, and then turning it on while holding the Volume Down button.
Connect the phone to your PC via USB cable.  Your PC should recognize it.
Open Command Prompt (assuming Windows here) and navigate to the platform-tools subfolder of where you installed the SDK Tools (e.g. cd C:\android-sdk\platform-tools)
Ensure the connection works by issuing the following command: fastboot devices This should show you the serial number of your phone.  If this returned nothing or gave you an error, something went wrong during USB driver installation.
Flash the recovery by using the following syntax: fastboot flash recovery [path-to-recovery.img-file].  For example: fastboot flash recovery c:\recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.4.6-m7.img This sends the recovery image to your phone and flashes it.  Wait for the success message.
Issue the following commands: fastboot erase cache followed by fastboot reboot-bootloader

Your phone should reboot back into bootloader mode, and you should now be able to enter recovery and continue with flashing CM.


Disable touchscreen input via console I'm looking for a way to disable and enable the phone's touchscreen via console, and possibly the physical buttons, so to prevent finger touches from being processed. The phone is a Samsung Galaxy Frame, Android 4.1.x.

Background:

I'm configuring an old Galaxy Fame to serve as sat navigator fixed on my car dashboard, aiming at using the up-to-date and free OpenStreetMap.

When I turn the key, the phone's usb is powered at 5V, when I turn off the car, the usb has no power. The phone is able to detect these events and I scripted some actions upon them, aiming at providing an instant-on and instant-off navigator service.

The phone remains always on, just switches to a power-save status when the car is off. The navigator app – OsmAnd – starts automatically at boot, but boot does not occur between a car-on / car-off cycle, because the phone remains on to detect the mentioned usb changes.

Currently, what happens when I start the car and the usb gets powered:

Display is lit (echo 200 >/sys/class/backlight/panel/brightness)
Sat receiver is activated
Cpu frequency set to max

What happens when I turn off the car and usb loses power:

Display's backlight off
Sat receiver goes off, along with wify and bluetooth, in case they might have been active
Cpu frequency set to minimum

Up to this point everything is working. My problem now is that, when the car goes off and the phone enters this quasi-standby mode, the touchscreen still accepts input and, if the phone is handled or touched for whatever reason, it will stealthily react to those touches while the screen is unlit.

davide,

cat your init.rc and under # Permissions for InputDevices.

chown system radio /sys/class/sec/tsp/cmd
chmod 0660 /sys/class/sec/tsp/input/enabled  <--your device may differ
chown system system /sys/class/sec/tsp/input/enabled <--your device may differ

Add to your scripting setup after verifying, for my device, a samsung galaxy tab 4

echo 0 > /sys/class/sec/tsp/input/enabled

Touchscreen slain.

echo 1 > /sys/class/sec/tsp/input/enabled

Touchscreen re-enabled.

m


How can I always get desktop version of web sites using Firefox for Android? Some sites offer restricted functionality based on mobile user agent.  Although the current Firefox for Android (67.2.0) offers the ability to select Desktop site from the menu, I'm required to do that every time I open a new tab.
In the past, I thought there was a way to always go to a desktop version of a specific site, but I can't find it now.  Is there some about:config setting that can help?

about:config is disabled in Firefox for Android, but if you switch to the Firefox Android Nightly version, about:config is currently working.
If a new key is added general.useragent.orverride and a desktop user agent string is used (for instance Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:85.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/85.0), then all web sites will receive that as your user agent.
This may not be desirable, since many web sites are difficult to navigate on the smaller mobile screen, but until there are user agent switcher add-ons that are allowed by the powers at GoogZilla, this is the best you can do.


How to turn off notifications from Facebook Messenger on Android Gingerbread? All the instructions on the web for disabling messenger notifications are for Androids 4.0 and higher. I just don't have "show notifications" box which to uncheck in the app menu on my Gingerbread device. Is there any other way to turn off messenger notifications or am I simply forced to buy a new phone?

Thanks a lot!

Screenshot (click for larger variant)

If you have root access on your device, an application like this may work for you. I cannot test it as I have no Gingerbread devices.

This option only lets you turn off notifications for 24 hours (what a terrible feature)

Open the messenger application.

Go to the 'cog' icon for settings.

Turn notifications off.

This image shows the Icon, and shows the 'Notifications' option, but the arrow isn't pointing to it!


Install another Settings app? Is it possible to install a different settings app than the one my phone came with?  Specifically, I'd like the official Google one.

There's an alternative method here if what you're looking for is greater control and access to settings not available through the default settings UI: Settings Database Editor

Word of warning: you can possibly brick your phone if you don't know what you're doing, so proceed with caution, back up your data, and thoroughly research any customization.

Through this app, you can directly access and modify the db values for your various device settings.  This doesn't necessarily require root (might depend on device model & OS version), as you can grant some of the permissions through an ADB command.

EDIT: fixed link.


How to import my Contact from google contact to Coolpad Android Phone I'm living in China were Google Play is now not supported but I have a vpn so i can still access my accounts. I just lost my phone and I bought another android phone but it does not have Google on it. I can add my gmail and also Chrome and use them as long as I have my vpn on. I have opened my google contacts on my computer and would like to know how to import them to my phone.

If you visit https://contacts.google.com (Contacts Preview) you cannot export contacts. You need to vist the old Google Contacts website i.e. https://www.google.com/contacts and export all your contacts to restore in your phone.

Visit the old Google Contacts website
Click More > Export
select All contacts radio button to export all your contacts
Select vCard format to export your contact as a single .vcf file
Now move this .vcf file to your phone and import the .vcf file to your phone using the inbuilt Contacts app.


How to take screenshot with stock Samung Galaxy S4 from Google Play Store I have a stock Samsung Galaxy S4 fresh from the Google Play Store, and I can't get this phone to take a screen shot using the power and home button method. Without using an app, what else should I try to fix the problem?

There is another way to take a screenshot without an app according to this article.

Open Settings -> Motion
Scroll down to Hand motion
Enable Palm swipe to capture


No storage space left Long story short, on a R11Max* (?) device with MT6592 CPU running Android 5.1 and reported 8GB storage (though possible to use SD card), when trying to install additional apps than the ones than came at purchase, always shown dialog that there is no storage space left, yet there is plenty left, even when SD card is inserted and is selected prefered install location default write disk.

Though taking pictures or videos with the camera works, so storage is not full.

Of course, from a generic/unbranded device, expectations are much lower, for example there was no fire while charging, fingers crossed!

Any suggestions?

from Wish.com, was advertised as AllCall Rio Android 7.0, so yea...

Try to delete caches and junk files using third party cleaning apps. The one I use: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cleanmaster.mguard&hl=en


HTC one only boots into recovery I installed kitkat 4.4.2, via clockwork mod and the install went smooth, no issues.

I rebooted, and now all I can is my bootloader and recovery, whenever I try to normal boot.  It simply takes me to recovery.

The bootloader states my phone is

*** TAMPERED ***
*** UNLOCKED ***

Which seems fine, it was the same with a previous rom I've used.

I tried a few things, clearing cache, factory resetting the phone etc, no change.

Any ideas where I'm going wrong?

You need to re-flash your recovery in fastboot. Make sure you use the correct recovery for your device and carrier. (I can provide links if needed.) Your rooted so I will assume you have successfully achieved S-Off which requires proper adb drivers and fastboot.

boot to fastboot (hold power + vol down) and connect USB cable
flash nameofrecovery.img (from same directory adb and fastboot are in) by typing

fastboot flash recovery nameofrecovery.img


How do I set a system-wide default browser? I seem to have the opposite problem from this question: I'd like to set a single browser (probably the default one) to open every website. What happens at the moment is that every single link pops up a menu asking if I want to open it in the default browser, or in Firefox, or in Firefox Beta, or with Phone to Chrome. It makes browsing the web pretty frustrating...

Samsung Galaxy Note, Gingerbread.

Since you haven't mentioned I'm assuming you haven't tried this.

You've to select 'Use by default for this action.'.


Is there a way to detect that SMS text messages have been deleted, or is there a text message deletion history? I don't know if this is possible, but is there a way to detect that SMS text messages were deleted on an android phone, specifically the Samsung Galaxy S4 phone, Android OS 4.2?  I'm not looking to find the content of deleted text messages.  I'm curious if you can, essentially, see a text message deletion history.  For example, you deleted 5 text messages on this day from this person.  Is this possible?  Has anyone ever heard of something like this?

I would appreciate any help.

Thank you.

I heard a while back that all of the text messages you send get kept on your SIM card. I just did some quick research and I guess it is true:

http://www.pimall.com/nais/phonefilepro.html
http://hiddencameragear.com/cellphone-sim-card-file-retriever-recover-calls-texts-history-and-more

These devices will allow you to see the contents of the text messages and also the sender and receiver. If you are looking for a way to do it through your Android device, then it would be a lot more work. You would have to try to do a data recovery on your hard drive (which is a lot of messing around). Even if you did do a data recovery, the chances of you getting any of your text messages back are slim, and if you have encryption enabled forget it.


How do I stop a Google account from syncing contacts? I have multiple email accounts on my phone. Some are personal emails and one is for school.
The problem is that my school email is syncing all of my school contacts to my contacts. This is a problem for two reasons:

I do not want 2,000+ people that I do not know appearing in my contacts when I search and
I like to keep my school information and personal information separate. I only want to use my school email for email, docs, and drive.

When I go to my account, I unchecked everything except those three options and my school contacts are still synced. If there is anything I am doing wrong or something I can do instead, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

You can go to Settings - Accounts - Google and uncheck "Gmail" to turn automatic synchronization off I think but doing so will stop push notifications about newly received emails and information from your main account won't be synced too.


In Android Google Sheets, "enter key" (->|) won't move to cell below. How to fix? I don't know when or how I changed the behavior of the "enter key" (->|) in Google Sheets for Android. It used to enter the text I was typing (if any) into the current cell and then move to the cell below the current cell. This is what I want.
But for no apparent reason, "enter" now adds a line feed to the end of the text being typed and does NOT go to the next cell below.
Wrap Text is NOT selected and never has been.
How do I make touching the "enter" key move to the cell below the current cell and NOT merely add a line feed to the text being typed into the current cell?
*** EDITED ***
FWIW, I just noticed that touching "enter" twice puts a line feed at the end of the text being entered and THEN moves to the cell below the current cell, a bit surprising--why not add a second line feed? After all, if we're allowed to enter entire paragraphs into a cell, why not a generally-accepted properly-formatted  second paragraph (blank line between the two)?
Surely the vast majority of users would prefer to have "enter" move to the next cell below the current line (or simply staying in the current cell) than adding a linefeed for possible (but rare) additional lines. I don't get it.
Why is there not an option to specify "enter" key behavior, as in Excel? (Or is there one and that's what I can't find?)

It depends on the keyboard you are using. I tested it first with Gboard and secondly with Hacker's Keyboard and Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard. With Gboard pressing Enter, insert a new line on the same cell. With Hacker's keyboard and Swiftkey, it takes you to the cell below. So, a possible solution is to use another keyboard (if GBoard is your default keyboard) while using Google Sheets.

Why is there not an option to specify "enter" key behavior, as in Excel?

That's a question Google developers (Gboard) will answer better than us as to why their keyboard behavior is different from the other (I have not found a webpage yet a reason for this behavior).

(Or is there one and that's what I can't find?)

There isn't one (for now).
Disclaimer: I am just a user of the mentioned keyboard apps.


Oreo/Pixel2: Bottom Navigation Bar is no longer fading out As long as I had my Pixel 2, the bottom navigation bar would not be displayed as long as an app was open. To get to the bar, you have to swipe it up from the bottom.

Works fine for me, I like the additional space.

Since yesterday the bar is no longer hiding and stays visible. And I've no idea what I changed. I believe I hit some combination of volume buttons, power button and nav bottons ... makes no sense though.

The navigation bar is still hiding for games and videos, and can be retrieved by swiping up (or to left/right in landscape mode) but i.e. stays visible in Chrome, Play Store, the settings and other apps (including some which were not created by Google).

I found a bunch of threads/posts where people are asking how to get this feature (to hide the bottom navigation), and they were referred to rooting their phone and some ad-featured apps in the Play Store.

Thats not what I am after. The feature already worked, but I can't find any setting to enable it again.

Anyone have an idea how to enable this feature again?

Credit to PM_ME_2LEARNHOW2CODE from r/GooglePixel:

To autohide statusbar only, use command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.status=*

To autohide navbar only, use command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.navigation=*

To autohide both nav and status bar, use command:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*

To revert back to stock, just re-enter the command you did but without the *

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=

If your phone doesn't let you unlock it/freezes up when you try to unlock and you want full immersive mode run these:

adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

I personally used a tweak to permanently hide my navbar and then use immersive for my status bar.


Installing apps from Android Market or alternatives to a virtual Android x86 device I'm using Oracle Virtual Box to emulate an Android-x86 device. I installed android-x86-2.2-r2-sparta.iso to a virtual HD.

Are there any way to install apk packages from Android Market (http://market.android.com) or do I have to download them only from "unnoficial ways"? Any suggestions for the 2nd case?

PS: Note that I'm asking for a solution for that particular case.

I am not familiar with that particular distribution.  However, in general unless the build you installed contains the "Google Experience" apps (or if there is a separate Market package for it,) you will not be able to use the official Android Market front-end to send apps to your virtual device.

There are some alternate markets, such as Amazon Appstore, GetJar, SlideMe, etc.  Most will require you to download and install their own Market app in order to get other apps.

If you already have APKs of the apps, you should be able to side-load them either via ADB shell (from Android SDK), or via the bundled package installer by executing the APK from the storage area with some sort of a file system browser (if included with the build.)


On formatting your phone where does all your media go that was previously placed in the vault? I recently did a factory-reset on my android phone which cleared all the apps and the media files including the ones I had in applock vault. Upon reinstalling the application appLock I could not find the media I uploaded there so I just want to know where these media files from the vault go and if there is a way to recover them?

Thanks in advance

If this is the app that you used, then according to their FAQ (found in the app details in play store) the images are not stored online, and therefore were deleted during your factory reset. there is no easy way to restore them.

  Are my hidden files stored online?
  No. Your files are stored only on
  your device, so please make sure to backup all your hidden files
  before transferring to new device or factory reset


Can not connect to PC from Android via ES Explorer I was using ES Explorer to connect to a PC okay but recently I changed the modem then my Android phone can't connect to the computer anymore. I thought it would be caused by a setting on my modem, but searching on Google cannot help me find out. Please tell me how to get my android connected to the PC so I can access files again.

Details:
I have ES Explorer 3 on Android.
My Android is connected to the internet through the same modem as my PC.
The D partition has been shared as "Everyone to view.
When I add a new server from ES File Explorer, it says "Error, Can not find the server"
Update: I have turned off Windows Firewall.

I had the same problem after updating Windows 10. This is what I did to fix it:

Select the LAN connection of the Win10 PC (under Network tab in ES Explorer. If you deleted it, scan again to get the connection).
Select "Edit Server" option.
Enter your Computer name in the "Domain" textbox. Don't change any other thing.
OK, and enjoy the SMB re-connection!!


How can I install Touchwiz apps on Cyanogenmod? I would like to know how to install Touchwiz apps on Cyanogenmod 12.X.

There is an answer to your question here. Posted as an answer because I can't comment yet.

In short, you can't. The Samsung Apps need the Touchwiz framework to work. However, you can find alternatives to the apps here.


My device is trying to open mSecure app whenever I launch an internet browser Whenever I launch an internet browser on my droid phone it attempts to launch another app (in my case mSecure).

This happens with dolphin and my stock browser so I don't think it's an mSecure setting.  In fact I deleted mSecure but I still get the message failure attempting to launch mSecure.

Any help to get rid of this message will be appreciated.

Thanks

mSecure is a Password Manager and Digital Wallet. It contains a feature called Auto-copy on URL Launch. Reinstall the app and untick all of its settings, maybe they kept somehow "active" for your browsers even after you uninstalled the app. Then uninstall the app if you still want to do it.

If neither the above nor the answers which other users post here work for you, the app manufacturer have an email to give you support. In that case, we encourage you to post here what they suggest you in order to fix the problem.


How to flash Nexus S (currently on custom AOSP build) with stock Gingerbread by Google (Android 2.3.3) I have a Nexus S which I have flashed with a custom Android build. Now I need access to the Android Market and some other Google services and therefore I need the stock Android from Google.

How can I revert my phone back to Google's build of Gingerbread (Android 2.3.3 which includes Google apps)

Here's a full stock ROM for the Nexus S (via XDA): http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespo/f182cf141e6a.signed-soju-ota-102588.f182cf14.zip (MD5: 3e8908941043951da5a34bb2043dd1a0)

You should be able to name that update.zip and put it in the root of your SD card; upon reboot it will be installed.


Can i turn on usb debugging without touching the screen? My phone working for a long time without problems. I go to sleep my phone is still working.I wake up and turn on my phone. The phone turned up but i can't write my PIN and my screen is almost not working. I thing the problem is with android and i don't know how to get in recovery mode to factory reset or installing new rom. I don't have turned on usb debugging .Is there a way to get usb debugging turn on without touching the screen ?

Press and hold power button to turn off the phone.
Find the combination to get into recovery (usually a combination of power and volume buttons). Once in recovery, The phone will most likely be connected in Debug mode.

If its not in debug mode, Then you need to flash a custom recovery(Voids the warranty in most cases).


How to disable screen lock on my HTC desire Z? I would like to disable screen lock completely, as anyway there is need to press power button every time + unlock the screen which is anyoing

Try No Lock.  Probably will do what you want.  Doesn't work on all phones.


Can't change file and folder permissions on rooted device I can't change the file and folder permissions on my rooted android 4.4.2 device. I tried doing this from Root Explorer, Total Commander and also from terminal emulator and it didn't worked. Any idea why?

I guess the file system you are working on is mounted as readonly mode.
/system is readonly by default. You need to run the following command to re-mount it as read-write

su
mount -o rw,remount,rw /system

Another guess is that the file has immutable attribute. Try run this command as root to remove immutable attribute from the file.

chattr -i YOUR_FILE


Bluetooth keyboard keys are swapped I have a Samsung tablet and bought a cover with a Bluetooth keyboard. The problem I have is that the @ key and the " key are swapped around.

How do I resolve this?

This can be due to a number of reasons:

1) You have a layout conflict between the OS and the Bluetooth keyboard, as pointed out by the previous answerer. Resolve this by going into the "Physical Keyboard Settings" option in the settings of whatever 3rd-party keyboard app you may have as default, or if you use the inbuilt soft keyboard, go into
Settings->Language and Input->Keyboard app Settings button->Input Layouts.

2) Same as above, but in this case the problem is due to a region setting in your phone which conflicts with the layout of the keyboard. Fix this by checking if the region setting on your tablet is incorrect for the keyboard layout, and correct as necessary.


Disable images in Chrome for Android I want to save some bandwidth for my mobile data plan, is there a way I can disable loading images for Google Chrome, the way I can for Opera Mini for example?

I couldn't find an option in the settings.

It did exist in an earlier version I was using late 2013..but as of the current release, the option has disappeared.


How can I make the stock browser continue running while the screen is off? I am running a JavaScript compliance test in the Android stock browser which takes quite a long time. How can I prevent the browser from pausing when the screen goes off?

Meanwhile, I am using the "Stay Awake" debugging option, but I would rather avoid this because it may burn my screen.

I am looking for a solution that allows the screen to go off while preventing the device to go into sleep mode and thus allowing the browser to continue doing its computations.

Device: SGS3 running CM9

I don't believe there is any way to get it to keep running while the display is off, though I could be wrong.

What you could do is turn the screen brightness down all the way, and then use an app like Screen Filter to make the screen even darker.  At it's minimum setting, this will almost have the effect of turning the screen off, while letting everything still run.

I'm not sure modern screens even still suffer from burn in though.  Some do suffer from ghosting, but that goes away fairly quickly.  Burn in like on old CRT monitors was permanent.


How to find the lost mobile when no tracker app is installed? 3 weeks ago, I lost my Samsung Galaxy Ace Dduos 6082.

I don't have any tracker applications or any "if lost" applications installed. I'm looking for some tracker. I have IMEI number and Gmail installed in that.

Is there any way to find my lost Samsung Galaxy Ace S6082?

Have you heard of plan b ?

  Plan B is your last resort to find your missing phone. This is the
  first and only 'find my phone' app that you download AFTER you've
  already lost your phone. Having Lookout on your phone is the best way
  to protect your phone and find it fast, but use Plan B if you have
  already lost your phone and didn't have Lookout installed.

=================
NOTE: Plan B only works with 2.0 - 2.3 versions of Android
=================


How to install apps into android device without internet connection? I have:

A Windows XP with internet connection.
The .apk file in the computer.
A USB cable.
A rooted android device with sdcard.

I do not have:

WiFi connection for my android device.
Any file explorer app in android device.

You will need to use adb install full-file-name.apk from the command line, where "full-file-name" is the name of the application you want to install.

See here to install ADB


Format and fresh install Is there any option for android phones to format like we do in computers and fresh install with a new OS?

I have searched a lot but all are going for custom ROM, and I am not interested in custom ROM, as they are basically a few tweaks. I want to install new OS in my phone like we do in our PC. Can anyone help?

If you just want a fresh start with your phone, you don't need to reinstall the OS at all, because OS files and user apps and data are stored separately. In normal use, the OS partition is read-only. All you need to do is a factory reset. This wipes all user data and apps, but doesn't usually touch the SD card. The process to follow is slightly different for different phones, but there's usually two ways: either reboot into recovery mode, which has a "factory reset" menu item, or from Settings → Backup & Reset.


What does it mean when Google Maps says "moving"? I left work like it says , drove to my friends which you can see , but it says I was moving from 8.23 am -2.30 am but that I didn't leave. I don't think I accidentally turned it off when I left that morning. So what does it mean to say moving.

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)

From the last point (Harding's) to your current point, it assumes that you were moving, probably because of changes in distance or because of movement.


Why is my Android not restoring the app data from its Google Drive backup? I'm testing a new version of our app that now supports Android Auto Backup (by targeting API over 23).

I've managed to get the system to back up the app's data by leaving it overnight (two nights), but when I uninstalled the app and installed it again, it didn't restore the data from the backup.

However, I can still see the backup for the app under Settings > System > Backup > App data > [appname] and that it was last backed up yesterday.

I first re-installed the app from an apk downloaded to the device. Would this not trigger the restore like installing from Google Play or over adb should?

I've tried uninstalling again and installing over adb, but it still doesn't restore the data.

Is there a way to force it to restore the data from the backup?

I'm going to post an alternative answer to my own question, in spite of having accepted the previous answer. The reason is that I have since learned, on my personal device, that the Android Backup and Restore doesn't work as well as I expected, so while that wasn't the case in the case above, this might be the case for other people finding this question.

Apparently, if restoring on a different device or even on the same device with a different OS, it won't restore anything but system data. This happened to me when I wiped my Moto X (2nd gen) to install LineageOS on it.

That means that notification settings, WiFi passwords and background images will get saves, while app data (save games, app settings, etc) will not.

I'm not sure if newer versions of Android come with better Backup and Restore functionality, but for now I'm going to be using a specialised backup app (Helium at the moment) to keep my data fairly backed up, and also use that when transferring to a new device.

If anyone has any positive experiences with Android own Backup and Restore actually restoring app data on a new device, please share any details of android versions and device :)

Update on Helium

Here's a few words on my experience with Helium so far.

At first I was a bit disappointed, due to a few limitations of the app. Using the free version you can't setup a scheduled backup, so I had to start it manually every time. This, however, became extremely tedious, as you can't save a "selection" of apps to back up, and so had to scroll through all your apps each time. So I bought the premium version, so I could set up scheduled backup tasks.

But for some time this also didn't work, because the app kept losing "authorisation" or whatever it is, so I had to connect it through USB with USB debugging enabled and running the Helium desktop app every time I wanted to do a backup. And you can't just trigger a backup, only change the scheduled time until "in a minute" and wait...

Then that seemed to stop being a problem, and authorisation isn't lost any longer, even over restarts. But another problem is that the backup can't run if the screen is locked. I'd like to have the backup run automatically in the night, while my phone is charging and on WiFi, but I only wake up to a message about the backup not having been able to run, because of the screen lock. This is easier to fix, by simply tapping the message to run the backup, but means I then have to leave the phone until done.

Over all it works and I'm glad I've got backups (backing up to Google Drive), but it could work a lot better.

I still haven't tried restoring, so there might be a call for another update when I've seen how well that works :-)

Update 2 on Helium

It's started losing the authorisation all the time again, which means that the automatic backups aren't happening, and I have to re-authorise and re-schedule to "now" to trigger them. Would be great to hear from any other Helium users out there, if they have some experiences with this.

Update 3 on Helium

It's not losing authorisation as much, which is probably because my phone isn't restarting as much (I've got a new battery). Also, there have been some updates to Helium, so now you can save selections of apps, which is really handy if you want to update which apps you backup in a recurring backup (almost as handy as if you could edit the recurring backup's settings).


All apps except WhatsApp cannot work on WiFi I'm having some strange problem with my Sony Xperia SL. I use Virtual Router Manager on my Laptop to connect my mobile to internet over Wi-Fi. Since this morning, none of the apps are connecting to Internet (Play Store, Instagram, Subway Surfers, Browsers, etc.) except WhatsApp.

I've tried resetting Settings on my phone. Also reset the Wi-Fi modem on my Laptop, but still the same. Any solution?

Try cleaning cache, e.g. using the All in One Toolbox, then restart your phone.


What is GlanceViewMk I found an app called "GlanceViewMk" within my notification and sounds settings menu. If I allow it, "GlanceViewMk will be able to read all the notifications you receive, which may include personal information such as contact names and messages sent to yo. It will also be able to dismiss these notifications or select actions related to them."

What to I gain by allowing this?

Since Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 was upgraded to Android Lollipop, got that bug called GlanceViewMk. The only solution I found was to root the device and remove the GlanceViewMk with the app you like better (I used Titanium Backup pro).

The battery stop draining and all apps are now visible on the sound notification settings.


Allow unlocking my phone with my voice, but only when I'm at home On my Google Pixel (and presumably other modern Android devices), there is a setting called Trusted Voice:

I'd like to enable this feature, since without it I can't use Google Assistant hands-free when my phone is locked. (Even simple search queries which don't involve accessing any of my personal information require my phone to be unlocked first.) Unfortunately, this obviously comes with some significant security risks:

I'd like to mitigate the impact of this by only allowing the Trusted Voice feature to be used in specific situations, like when I'm sitting at home. Is there a way to do this? (Maybe I could toggle this feature on and off with Tasker? I didn't see any immediately obvious way to do that in Tasker's list of actions.)

Alrighty so there's no way to my knowledge to toggle trusted voice as it requires authentication with each toggle. I'm thinking when on the lockscreen or screen off and not near your home just kill the mic, trusted voice relies on this and therefore would not function.

To detect your house I would use Wi-Fi Near or Connected YOURSSID. Obviously not near your house would be when either of those equaled false.

Detecting screen off is easy but you don't want mic to immediately turn back on when screen comes on but your on the lockscreen. Then once the lockscreen unlocks your going to want your mic back on.

After all that psuedocode here's a profile I've created based on the above logic.

1st Profile | Away from house pt. 1

Event: Screen Off & Not near your Wi-Fi

Task: Mute mic

2nd Profile | Away from house pt. 2

Event: Screen On & Not near your Wi-Fi

Task: Wait until keyguard is unlocked and when it is unmute mic

3rd Profile | At house

Event: Near your Wi-Fi

Task: Unmute mic

Profiles zip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B48arFbBn-PdR2JlX3Ryblk2Wms/view?usp=drivesdk

Place all three .xml files in /sdcard/Tasker/profiles. Then to import long press the profiles tab in the Tasker app and hit import, select the three. Change the YOURWIFI to the name of your Wi-Fi in each of the profiles.

I have tested the mic muting and unmuting but I cannot test the rest, let me know how it goes.


How to set the quality of YouTube video on UC Browser? I am using UC Browser. I can't find any option to set the quality of video in YouTube to low or high.

There is no Low on UC Browser, but you can trick it using Opera Max (available on Google Play Store).


Trying to root and install Xposed on Nexus 5 with Lollipop I'm trying to install Xposed on my Nexus 5 running 5.0.1. I used Wug's rootkit on Windows to root my device, but first of all it seems that I cannot root. I have gone through the whole process listed on the XDA page. And everything the root kit itself walks me through.

I don't see SuperUser installed after my device reboots; I have done a second test to see if I'm rooted by going into the terminal on my device and checking the symbol after the prompt is a '#' instead of a '$'. It's a '$' currently, which I'm told indicates that I'm not rooted.

It's worth noting I suppose that my device is encrypted, but I don't think this would affect anything since the encryption function encrypts only the /data folder and not the /system folder.

Does someone know if there is an issue with 5.0.1 or perhaps something else I need to be aware of? I'm not sure why this doesn't work.

Hopefully I don't get burned too badly for this, but I thought I would share this info for people who haven't rooted/unlocked their phones lately (or never have).

In order to root one must unlock first; this functionality is provided in Wug's rootkit as well as the rooting function.

I was trying to mod my phone as little as possible, and I was told by several people that I could root without unlocking first, but it appears that this can never be done (perhaps Wug's rootkit should make that a pop up notification that the user must read in case a scenario presents itself where a user tries doing what I did; this way they can take recourse). In short, I had heard long ago that rooting and/or unlocking could potentially permanently disable Google Wallet, (more deeply speaking, I believe it would disable the use of the NFC chip) and I use NFC for lots of things so I didn't want to risk it if I didn't have to.

I've restored now, and everything has been tested and is fully functional.


"Try Again On Your Phone" error—Android Wear When I try to send a text message on my Moto 360 (2nd gen, 2015) connected to my Nexus 6P, an error message pops up saying "try again on your phone." The text message actually does send successfully every time, but is always accompanied by this error message. How can I get this error message to stop popping up?

I've tried basic troubleshooting like restarting phone and watch, clearing Google app cache, changing default SMS app, etc.

How can I prevent this misleading and annoying error message from popping up?

Please refer to this thread at Product Forums

It states that update is on its way. You can use install "Google" app beta version and everything will start working like it should.


My Optimus X2 was missing its custom android While I was waiting for my new LJ Optimus X2 (P999) mobile I watched a couple of youtube reviews and it always came with extra features to android. But my phone is pretty much vanila android. Is it because of my carrier? Videotron in Quebec.

Features I am missing: From what I could see in videos there was a different keyboard more like the one from Ios. Also some features like taping the side of the phone to move the cursor around. Holding a icon and tilting the phone left and right to move it around. Pretty sure it had extra features everywhere. Also a lot more options in settings then vanilla android.

As far as I know (not from US/CA) the P999 is a T-Mobile G2X device with vanilla Android, whereas P990 is LG Optimus 2x. The specs are mostly similar but there are certain differences, such as the OS customization. Maybe a custom ROM will bring the functionality to the G2X as well.