Can't write to Micro SD portion So I have a 16GB SD card in my Samsung S5.  And I was copying some files over and the copying stopped, saying I don't have enough storage.  The phone says I still have 10GB left on the card.  I took the micro sd card out and put it in a USB card reader and placed in the PC.  The PC said I had 10GB but I couldn't copy any files to it from the PC to the card reader, saying there isn't enough storage.

What could be blocking me from using that 10GB on the card??

Info:
Samsung S5
Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
My Micro SD card: 16GB (looks exactly like the one of the left, but without the word "Toshiba".  There is no vendor name on mine.  But it was shipped with my S5)

Card Reader I used:

UPDATE:  So the problem went away.  I think what the problem was that when I was copying files, the phone would go to sleep and it would disconnect from the PC during the copy.
After taking the SD card out of the phone and connecting it to my PC with the card reader, the PC wanted to run a scan disk on it.  It found some issues and corrected them.  I then put it back into my phone and the SD was fine.  I was able to write to it.

This was very odd.


Phone stuck in fastboot mode I've rooted my OnePlus 6 yesterday. To do so, I followed this guide:
Root Your OnePlus 6 with Magisk — A Beginner's Guide
TWRP version: 3.5.1_9-0
Magisk version: 22.0

I also installed the Magisk app on my phone
Now  I've edited my hosts-file (needed to change some permissions to be able to modify this file
) to block some sites. I've restarted the phone once successfully, but now the phone will not boot anymore. When I power on, I see the OnePlus logo very briefly and then it gets stuck on the "bootloader is unlocked" warning for a long time. It then goes on into fastboot mode. If i press start from there, the process repeats. If I press recovery mode I still get into TWRP, but rebooting from there also repeats the process and does not boot up my phone successfully.
I'm not sure, but I don't think editing the hosts file is what caused this? Shouldn't I be able to edit this file without bricking my device?
Any help on what happened and how I can fix this bootloop without wiping/reinstalling my entire device would be greatly appreciated; I don't want to lose all my settings =).

The problem was that I edited the system hosts file. This causes the system to be unable to boot; the reason is dm-verity which denies boot (chain of trust) when any modified system file is detected.
To fix the issue, I followed https://www.droidwin.com/restore-oneplus-6-stock-via-fastboot-commands/
Basically, it explains how to download the stock ROM, extract the .bin file into multiple .img files, and how to flash them subsequently.
Since only the boot and system partitions were modified, and I did not want to lose my data, I flashed them using
fastboot flash boot_a boot.img
fastboot flash boot_b boot.img
fastboot flash system_a system.img
fastboot flash system_b system.img

This fixed the issue =).


Call settings missing in settings after updating to Ice Cream Sandwich I updated my Google Nexus S to Android 4.0.3. Now the call settings seems to be missing and video calling is not working. When I hard boot the device it shows "LOCK STATE -LOCKED".

Though I'm responding late, I too faced this problem today and could figure the call setting by following procedure below:

Press the Phone symbol from the Home screen
Settings button & select 'Settings'.
Under Other Call Settings select 'Additional Settings'
Caller ID

Is that what you're looking for? HTH


Nexus 7: does ruining the bootloader hard-brick the device? Or is there still a chance to recover? So, I've got a Nexus 7 and would like to start expirementing with images, etc (primary goal being installing Ubuntu in multiboot with Android, probably loading from a flash drive over an OTG cable).

My main concern (and hence the question) is:

I've heard, that rooting, unlocking the bootloader and flashing ROMs involve some dangeorus operations (like "fastboot erase boot loader") that can render the Nexus 7 unbootable if something goes wrong (i.e. the bootloader ends up in a messed state or erased).

Is there always a strong guarantee (not "99 out of 100, I'd say, if you're lucky") I can get the Nexus 7 to boot an OS with software-only means (i.e. USB cable, PC, and my hands pressing the hardware buttons on the tablet) if the above-described scenario takes place (i.e. the bootloader is ruined and the device refuses to boot)?

I've discovered that there exist different opinions on that matter, with some (obviously quite experienced) people telling one should not really worry about possible problems during image flashing and alike operations, and still others seem to struggle with what appears to be a Nexus 7 hard-bricked after an unsuccessful flash attempt.

For example:

This thread is a story of several Nexus 7 devices (hard) bricked with essentially a wrong sequence of fastboot (or alike) commands.
This fresh thread bears an example of "a knowldgeble guy" telling everything can be fixed.

Please note: this question is specifically about Nexus 7, and not about unbricking in general!

If you can get the device to boot to fastboot then you can "fix" a brick.

I have "soft bricked" my devices many times.

Samsung has "Download Mode", basically their version of fastboot. If you have an image that you can flash, you can recover. The same goes for the Nexus 7. If you have an image, which google provides because they are "developer" devices (as well as consumer).

The term "brick" is used very loosely and doesn't mean what it meant back in the WinMo days. When you bricked your WinMo phone it was as useful as a paperweight.

The only true bricks I have ever seen is when something fails in the hardware. Anything else that I have seen there is still a way to get to recovery, fastboot, download mode, etc. If you can get in to any of those you are golden.


How to export a google keep todo list to google calendar? I use google keep as a todo list and I want to export it to google calendars so I know what to do during the day. I also use the always on display to see what events/tasks are needed during the day. How would this be achieved?

To Do list cannot be exported

Only reminders can be exported - see Google help

So instead of to-do mark them as reminders and switch the calendar to show reminders or else try the  solution mentioned here Widget to show calendar events and TODO items merged in a single agenda?


Moving entry between calendars I have a number of Google calendars open on my phone.  Sometimes I add things to wrong one.
I can't see a way of moving items on the standard application.  Does any other Calendar app gave this feature?

Business Calendar Pro (and maybe even the free version) can move events from one calendar to another, even if they are on different accounts. I got Business Calendar Pro when I was still using the Samsung TouchWiz UI because I did not like their calendar application. Now that I am on a Vanilla Android, I still use Business Calendar Pro. The agenda widget is nice and the UI and functionality exceeds the stock calendar app.


Forgot lock pattern in One plus one phone My girlfriend set a pattern lock for One plus one phone and she cannot remember the pattern now. I have a very sensitive data and also many valued pics. kindly help me recover the data or remove the lock.

Please please please please help me. I am in big trouble without the data.

I spoke to One plus customer service rep, they said reset is the only option. But i will loose the data and I can't afford to loose the data.

Firstly, you will need adb for this method.

Because Android does not allow adb connection if the device was not unlocked, you can't access adb from the system itself in your situation. Instead, you will need some recovery that gives you adb access.
twrp (Team Win Recovery Project)'s recovery gives you adb access. What you want to do is install TWRP on the OnePlus One (bacon) device; you can download the img file from here.

Next, you want to make sure that you unlocked the bootloader. If you didn't beforehand then you're out of luck¹ – but if the device is unlocked, boot into fastboot (hold volume up + power until the "fastboot" screen appears). You then could install TWRP by typing this command:

option 1 (installing TWRP to the device):

fastboot flash recovery [TWRP.img on your computer]

or option 2 (just booting it once without installing):

fastboot boot [TWRP.img on your computer]

then reboot to recovery (only option 1 – option 2 does that automatically).

Now, to remove the pattern lock, run adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key, and reboot the device.

¹ If you havn't unlocked the device yet, unlocking it will wipe everything (including the pattern lock) so adb wont matter. If you do want to unlock the device (your own risk):

reboot to bootloader
type in fastboot oem unlock.

that's it. hope it helped you.


Why does Google Play Services does make VNC connections? today I did had fun with Netstat on my device and saw that Google Play Services are making VNC connections from my device to a Google server.

The question here is : why ? Sounds to me like a backdoor allowing Google to see whatever I do, that's really scary...

I just decompiled the SockStat apk and found this:

.class Lcom/powl1/sockstat/Utils$1;
.super Ljava/util/HashMap;
.source "Utils.java"
#
#
#skipped lines
#
#
const/16 v4, 0x146c #Register v4 is assigned as 0x146c (Hex equivalent of 5228)
#
#skipped lines
#
.line 161 # A HashMap might have been used to map port 5228 to "VNC"
    invoke-static {v4}, Ljava/lang/Integer;->valueOf(I)Ljava/lang/Integer;

    move-result-object v0

    const-string v1, "VNC"

    invoke-virtual {p0, v0, v1}, Lcom/powl1/sockstat/Utils$1;->put(Ljava/lang/Object;Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/lang/Object;

What this means is that as @Izzy pointed out, the developer might have incorrectly labelled port 5228 as "VNC"..

Contact the developer to solve this issue ;)


I have three batteries used in succession and all new. The problem is the same. I supect apps are in use when not needed I've replaced my damaged battery with a new one in my Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but it drains too quickly.

After fully charging the battery, when I leave the phone without using it (the screen is totally off & no apps running background), the battery level gradually reduces to 87% with in 20 to 30 minutes.

Below 87% to 36%, the battery performance is petty good, but when it is below 36%, the battery drains too fast. It falls to 0% within 5 to 10 minutes, and if I play any game when battery level is around 30%, it shuts down without informing me the battery low information.

I changed the battery twice from the shop that I bought it from, but the same thing occurs.

Why is my phone draining my battery so quickly (and inconsistently)? Is it a battery/software/hardware problem?

Please check is there any application having more number of services. Setting-> Application -> Running.

If there is more number of services it will eat your battery.

The main thing is your display will drain your battery. So that the android OS recommend that the following

http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Battery-Power-on-an-Android

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367542,00.asp


Battery percentages per app nowhere near total when I look at my Nexus 5 with android 5.1. battery screen, I can see something like this:

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)

Sum of all per-app percentages in list is 10. However as you can see, there is 60% battery consumed (40% remaining). So, what is the deal here? Who consumed 50% battery? Or what do the percentages next to apps mean?

As you can see, screen was on just for few short times, the same for awake, and yet battery life about 18 hours? I dont get it.

Also, I found this issue reported on AOSP, but noone from google seems to care:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=80131

There's usually a wrong conception on how these "numbers" should be interpreted. For example, your screenshot shows "Screen: 3%". So what does that mean?

a. the screen ate 3% of your battery, thus reducing it e.g. from 100% to 97%
b. the screen was responsible for the overall discharging by 3% – in this case, it "ate 1.8% juice"

Hint: it's not a) – so your numbers just account for 6% drain (10% of 60% drain).

Second, not all participants of the party were named – there's a threshold. I'm not sure where exactly that threshold lies, but it's safe to assume that somewhere below 1% of participation, they simply get "uninteresting".

Which still leaves the question open: what was responsible for the remaining 90% of the 60% "battery loss"? To find out about that, you will need a helper to sum up everything. I recommend you taking a look at my list of apps to Identify Battery Consumers. Personally, I'm using BetterBatteryStats – which at least in the "tech scene" (especially on XDA) is "the reference product". Less technical oriented users often hold to GSam Battery Monitor.

Now lets go for your second screenshot. Focus on the bars below the graph:

Cellular Network Signal: You had pretty strong cell signal – except for several minutes before ~10 am (where you've been out of coverage – red) and after ~10 am (weak signal – yellow). This bar looks fine.
GPS On: Not a big deal here, just two tiny stripes. If you see big colored areas in this bar, there might be apps flooding your GPS modul with requests, which quickly drains the battery.
Wi-Fi: Your WiFi was turned on all the time. Unless you've used it all that time – and especially when you could not use it as there were no network/AP you wanted to use), you might consider turning it off when not used. There are WiFi automatics which can take care for that, see e.g. Auto disconnect wifi when out of wifi zone? – otherwise it uses power to permanently check for available hotspots. Not a big issue in your case it seems – as according to the first screenshot, WiFi accounts for only 1% of overall consumption.
Charging: In all the time, you've never connected a charger. Good to know :)

Ah – you've noticed I've skipped two bars? Yes, and two important ones at that. These two must be seen together: Your device was "awake" more often than your screen was turned on – so some apps get active while you're not actively using your device. That might be OK (and doesn't really look excessive here) – think of background-syncs to check for new mail, updates for your wheather widgets, Spotify streaming music to your ears (no screen-on needed for that), and the like. Though, "big blocks" in the awake-bar with no corresponding part in the screen-on-bar should draw your attention. Using the Spotify-example, you might be able to easily account for them (did you stream music at the time? Oh, OK: then that's it, probably).

Again, you cannot always correlate those with the first screen. For a really thorough analysis, you would need a specific app. And the really good ones when you want to "dig deep" are not coming for free. My first look would go to the paid version of SystemPanel and comparable candidates, which can to good background monitoring (check out the screenshots; you will also notice this app doesn't forget about stuff having participated with 0.2% only). You can give the free version a look if you're curious, it can do most of the stuff as well.


Sometimes Market update gets stuck downloading. How can I cancel? Sometimes when I update an app through Market the download gets stuck at 0% or 100% and won't finish download or finish installing. The only way I've found to work around this is to uninstall the app, then reinstall from Market. Is there a better way to fix this situation?

On the "downloads" screen, long press the app in question and click "Cancel download."  Then try to update the app again and see if it'll complete this time.


GPS quick settings tile I have a bootleggers ROM (Android 9 pie) installed on a Motorola Moto E 2015 phone. Can I add a quick settings tile that would toggle the GPS (location) on and off?

I know there is already a "location" tile, built in the rom, that can switch between different location modes (high accuracy, etc.), but I only want to toggle the GPS on and off, not to change the modes.
Also, I already solved this by using Tasker and QuickTask app to create a custom tile. And it works, but sometimes it takes some time for it to respond (which is understandable having in mind my phone's specs and the fact that now two additional apps are used to control the tile). I don't know if the delay is caused by QuickTask, by Tasker or by both, and it also depends on how many apps are open at the time that I use the tile.

So, maybe there is a more reliable and quicker solution.

So an answer to my other similar question helped me find a solution for this one as well.

It is possible to toggle the GPS with an app Automate.

I used the block, called "Location provider set state" from the "Location" category to enable/disable the GPS. And the block, called "Quick Settings tile show" from the "Interface" category to create and control the quick settings tile.

Here's a screenshot of the complete flow I'm using:


ICS upgrade - Contacts freezing on Galaxy S2 This morning I upgraded my Galaxy S2 from Android v2 to ICS, using Settings/About/Software Update.  Since doing so, I am encountering a problems with my Contacts, which crashes practically every time I open it.  Major downer, not to be able to look up my contacts, as I'm sure you can imagine.

(I also have a problem with Hebrew fonts, which no longer display correctly - but I've opened a separate question here to deal with that.)

I have tried doing a factory reset, as suggested in one of the answers, which I originally accepted, because it seemed Contacts were working OK right after the reset - but later, after the rest of my apps were automatically downloaded and reinstalled, the same problem started happening again.

Are there any apps that are known to conflict with Contacts in ICS?  Everything worked fine when I was on Android 2.  Any other ideas how to fix this?

I would try to backup as much as possible and then factory reset the phone. This gives you a fresh start, so that alone might resolve your problems, or if they still occur after the factory reset you know they're not caused by any data or applications that didn't survive the upgrade to well.


LG G3 - 4.4.2 - Stop SMS converting to MMS I used to have Nexus 4, I was able to disable SMS converting to MMS. It did not convert my messages to MMS when I do group messaging.
Now I have LG G3 with Andorid 4.4.2, when when I do group messaging, it sends it as MMS automatically.
i went to Messaging Menu - Creation Mode - Set it to "Restricted". it still does that. Is there any way to stop MMS completely?

Thanks for your time!

So what you need to do is; before you create the message, when you are at the screen where all of your text messages show up, tap the menu button in the to right of the screen. Then tap settings and go to multimedia message. Once there uncheck the box that says Group Messaging. This can only be done from the screen where you see all your other text messages and can create a new message. Not once you are in the text itself. Hope this helps.


How can I get a voice confirmation of an alarm? When using the voice search and speaking "set alarm for 10 am", the only audio I get back is "setting alarm...".

While the screen displays a helpful "This alarm is set for 3 hours from now", I'd like to get a similar audio feedback. Is this possible?

While this may be extremely helpful, I believe that the only way to get this functionality would be to modify the Google Now app, or build the additional response into a custom ROM using one of the TTS modules.

While it is by no means an optimal solution, you could try third-party voice action apps like Vlingo or Jeannie to see if they include this functionality.


Text App that supports Keyboard shortcuts I'm a writer and i've just gotten a keyboard for my asus transformer (3.2 Honeycomb). However the included polaris office doesn't do keyboard shortcuts like CRTL i (for italics). Anyone know of any text editing app that supports these?

It would be great if it suported docx files but any text editor would do.

try PaSTE, free from the market, as per Text editor that supports italic text and tab indenting, via keyboard shortcuts

So far the only thing I've found that supports CTRL + I and CTRL + B.

G


Android-x86 8.1: graphical glitches I can install android-x86-8.1-rc1.iso, but when I boot it looks like this:

What can i do to fix this?

PS: I installed it directly to my Root-Server.
Virtualization is activated and already works with VirtualBox and similar programs.

I've had similar (less severe) issues in cm-x86 14.1 and this is how I solved it:

Wait for the glitches to start.
Press ALT+right arrow to go to the terminal.
Press ALT+right arrow again to go back the the Android GUI.

After that, Android should look normal.


Gmail has gone completely crazy Gmail went completely crazy, I don't know what to do.

When I open it I get the inbox, but the app is almost unresponsive: whatever I do, be it opening the menu, scrolling or opening a message, it starts to do it (the menu starts opening, the message gets highlighted) but after a fraction of a second it flashes and gets back to the inbox itself as if nothing happened.

I still receive new mail notifications in the top bar, but clicking them prompts the inbox anyway, with the same problems.

Even after managing to evade the application using the home button, sometimes it pops up again, going crazy even if I don't touch it (flashing repeatedly the inbox, doing a "left to right" slide-like effect), and the whole system can be unresponsive for a while.

Other applications, including google ones (calendar, docs, contacts), appear to have no problems.

Phone is a Nexus S, was running android 2.3.4, I upgraded to 2.3.6 and upgraded the gmail app too, but nothing changed.

Doing a "clear data" prompts the "mails will appear shortly" screen, and there the menu works, but as soon as I receive the emails, it goes crazy again.

I'm clueless, what could I do?

Have a look at this discussion.

Is your problem same as the one discussed here? If so, Google is working on a fix.


Google Maps forces offline mode I've been able to use Google Maps as normal at home (strong WiFi; 2 bars in 3G) with no problems for ages. Suddenly it says it is in Offline mode so won't plan a route; tapping the message bar does nothing. I understand that offline mode is now available, but why should that disable online mode? How can I get it back online?

It's not the version, and permission to access Internet is on. I think it may have been a temporary glitch: after an hour, it was back to normal & has been ever since, so hopefully problem solved.


How often does Android refresh the battery statistics listed in the Settings? Does anyone know how often Android refreshes battery statistics? This screen is Settings > Battery. This may only apply to Android versions >4.0.

I believe it is real-time. Meaning, the stats are always updated as the battery is being drained (or charged).


How does ICS deal with Menus on devices with physical buttons? ICS removed the need for the Menu key with always visible action bars, but also has support for phones which come with hard keys. Traditionally the menu button brought up a context menu.

I've got a device with hard keys, if I upgrade to ICS will the Action bar always be visible, standard ICS style, or will it be hidden under the Menu key? What will the menu key do in ICS?

The menu button will display the action overflow menu, and the action overflow "soft" button should not appear on the Action Bar. The Action Bar itself, however, will still be visible as it normally would (provided the app implements it, of course). The Android Design guidelines for the Action Bar state (emphasis mine):

  Action overflow

  The action overflow in the action bar provides access to your app's
  less frequently used actions. The overflow icon only appears on phones
  that have no menu hardware keys. Phones with menu keys display the
  action overflow when the user presses the key.

For the sake of clarity, the "action overflow button" is the little three dots icon shown at the far right here:


How to stop Android apps starting automatically when internet connect? How to stop Android apps (such as "todoist") starting automatically when internet connect?
(non-root device)

You can go to the app info screen (Settings > Apps [> App List] > Select App) then click on Data Usage. This provides a number of options to control its access to network.

You do need Android 5.0 or up I think.


Is Google maps more accurate than other geolocation apps? I'm trying to record way points to locate features in open areas. Ideally, I'd use an app like GPS Waypoints, where the waypoints can be tabulated and exported. However, I've done a bit of testing and it seems like Google Maps can achieve better accuracy. Is that because it 'snaps' your location to features on the map (e.g. road)? Does is use location data more effectively than other apps (by incorporating wifi signals etc)? Or is location calculated by the operating system (android), and all apps simply use that (meaning all apps should have the same accuracy)? Thanks!

Android defines interfaces for interacting with its location sources. The location information returned will be the same for all applications.

GPS - Your phone locates itself using a constellation of satellites. This can be done without any data connection, but usually uses a data connection to assist and reduce the time to first fix.
WiFi/Bluetooth - Your phone scans for transmitters, and sends the list in a location request to Google.
Cellular - Your phone scans for towers (transmitters), and sends the list in a location request to Google.

How an application chooses to use location information may be different, as in your snapping example. Usually the best accuracy source currently available is used, which starts as WiFi then switches to GPS. But an application can choose to ignore WiFi and only use GPS, for example.

If you are trying to map locations in open areas, then application heuristics like your snapping example will not help; any application with GPS that records coordinates should be fine.


Google Photo changing resolution Using Google photo with "High quality" setting I'm having all my photos compressed to 12MP even if every photo is shooted from a Nexus 6P. (16Mp)

I'm asking this since the app is supposed to change the resolution only over 16Mp.

Why is this happening?

EDIT:

My bad. Nexus 6p has a 12Mp sensor.

I suspect that the photos generated by the camera are slightly over the limit that Google Photos checks. MP ratings are really ballparks.


Payment deducted but app was not downloaded I paid Rs.180/- for an App called "Pop Diary+Journal.  The amount was debited but the App was not downloaded.  It has not shown in Google play stores history.

The App developer said he could not help in this matter.

How to download the App or to get refund?

Whenever a transaction is initiated online it has 2 parts ...

The vendor(merchant side - in this case will be google) side
The Bank side(the bank whose Credit Card/Debit Card/Net Banking one would use)

The part that routes from the Vendor side to the respective gateway(for credit cards) and Banking portal(for Net Banking) is a normal redirection. The next process is where the actual transaction takes place ... This is the process where the Credit/Debit cards/Net Banking Accounts are debited(which involves authenticating the OTP) ... ONCE this process is completed, what lies ahead is the MOST IMPORTANT part ... the part where the Successful transaction part has to be clearly transmitted back(redirected) to the vendor side(portal) for the finality of the process.

The Issue described above is the place where the last(and the most important) part has failed ... the communication of the successful transaction back to the vendor portal which initiated this whole process ... this occurs in probability due to a request time-out ...

In such cases the vendor has no information with regard to the success(approval) of the transaction as a result they have no information of the transaction except the request time-out information. But as the transaction was successfully completed on the side of the bank with the debit and the OTP authentication leaves the funds in a suspense account waiting for the vendor to raise a credit for the same. As the Vendor has no information with regard to the success of the transaction they will not seek a credit for the same ... the bank who had moved the debit to a suspense account which holds the funds until a claim is raised will not know what to do ... except lie in wait that they may be presented with a claim any time.

Net outcome of this above situation ... is that our funds from this stale transaction will continue to rot in this suspense !!!

The only way this stands to be resolved is from the side of the Bank as the success of the transaction was fully recorded on their side.

ALL WE NEED TO DO IS ... contact the bank and raise a complaint with them of this "request time-out" issue one has faced ... They'll raise a ticket ... and investigate the same ... they'll wait for a specific time to see if any claim gets raised for this transaction with the said date, time and transaction nos. ... and even after this waiting period they do not get any claim for that particular transaction they'll finally decide that this was a case of a request time-out and subsequently issue a reversal of this transaction ... This whole exercise could take a minimum of 10 days and could differ from bank to bank.

Hope this information helps cases of request time-out get sorted out better.


How to transfer SMS message store to new phone which does not have an SD card Possible Duplicate:
  How do I backup and restore SMS Messages?

There have been many duplicate questions asking about transferring SMS messages from one Android phone to another. The agreed answer recommended using SMS Backup & Restore.

However, it involves the use of an SD card.

My old HTC T-Mobile G2 has an SD card. The new Samsung Galaxy Nexus does not have an SD card slot.

Can I transfer the message store through USB mass storage on a computer? I have access to Windows, Mac and Linux boxes and will use whichever is easiest.

you can use SMS Backup+. It syncs your sms messages with your gmail account and allows you to restore. If you have deleted the messages though, they are gone and if they are not already backed up then they are lost in the nothing for ever.

I have never use SMS Backup and Restore, but if this backs up to the sdcard, you should be able to pull them off the sdcard on your computer (using mass storage) and then transfer those backups to the galaxy nexus. If memory serves though, I don't think you can use Mass Storage on the nexus, it uses MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).


Switch language on Android device with bluetooth keyboard I'm using Logitech MK850 bluethooth keyboard and mouse combo on Samsung Galaxy S8+.
If I'm using Samsung (default) keyboard, I can switch language (Korean/English) using Kor/Eng switch key on the keyboard (it's actually right Alt key).
But I'm using Swiftkey (keyboard app.), this language switch key does not work. Shift + Space does not work either.

How can I switch language using the bluetooth keyboard?

Go to Settings → Language and Input, then find Languages and select English and your language.
Now you should be able to use Ctrl+Space key combination to change languages from the Bluetooth physical keyboard.


How do I block this (carrier) advertisement dialog? I receive this kind of messages almost every day, and I'm tired of them.

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)

I want to block them, but I have no idea how are they called.  I'm looking for a way to block this messages, either via an app (doesn't matter if it needs root) or programatically (if I can detect these messages, perhaps I would be able to create an app to block them).

EDIT:
The message icon is the same as the SIM Toolkit. Could this be related? As far as I know, Cell Broadcasts don't show with "OK" and "Cancel" buttons as this message.

From what I can see from this site (In Spanish):  this is a specific advertising service that only the Movistar network seems to push to phones.

The only solution I found is to Disable the "SIM Toolkit" application, Settings > Applications > SIM Toolkit but this may require root access to your device.
Removing SIM toolkit according to Android Forum users can be removed without any issues. I would Disable it rather than take the nuclear deletion option personally.

From the link:

  Hasn't been on my phone in a year... no problems without it - that I'm aware of.

and

  I know for a fact that 4G works without it... has not been on my phone for the last year - and every ROM I could flash made no difference. I'm really temped to believe that SimToolKit is for Metro's various services/bloatware (where they monitor data usage - for whatever reason)

From Wikipedia:

  SIM Application Toolkit (commonly referred to as STK) is a standard of the GSM system which enables the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to initiate actions which can be used for various value-added services.

These so called 'value added services' are what you want to remove.

Alternatively you could contact Movistar and see if they can stop it, tell them it is crashing your device or causing you issues and ask what can be done. Depending on your contract you could move to another network also.


How to stream screen from two phones to one video? I am trying to do a Challenge with my friend, (who gots faster to arena4 in Clash royale) and I need to stream from two phones in one video. I have computer and Asus Zenfone ZE551ML (mine) and Lenovo A536 (from that phone will be streamed friends' screen). Can you help me? I also have additional wi-fi receiver.

You could use a vnc server on each phone, and use a vnc viewer on your computer to connect to both the phones. You could then just record your computer screen.


Can I control how google accounts get synced? Mobile vs Wifi Under Settings>Accounts>Google>(my account) there is a bunch of services you can check and uncheck.

My question specifically is I'd like everything to be synced but I want to be able to choose which services sync over wifi or mobile data.

For example, I'd like most services to sync on both wifi and data but I want music and g+ photos to sync only when on wifi. Is there a way to do this?

I also don't want to disable auto sync.

Syncing Google Play Music doesn't actually download the music: it just updates the list of what music you have. Music streams, caches, or downloads when you start to play it, and you can control that using the settings inside Google Play Music itself: Download via Wi-Fi only and Stream via Wi-Fi only.

In the same way, you can control when Google+ "Auto-Backup" backs up photos and videos, using the settings inside Google+. From the settings menu, click Auto-Backup, and click Back up photos and Back up videos to select when they're synced.


Droid only boots into ClockwordMod So I've just rooted my Motorola Droid (I've done this before on the same device, but with a different method back on 2.0.1). I am on 2.2.2.

The root went successfully, Super User app was present, etc.  I then installed ROM Manager and http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ from my SD card.

After that, my phone would boot, then run through the boot animation, freeze, then start the boot animation over again, and repeat.

I made a backup through ROM Manager before the install, and have restored it.

From what I could tell, that went fine, but now I'm stuck in ClockwordMod Recovery each time I try to reboot my device.

It boots once, showing the Motorola logo, then shuts off, then boots again showing the logo, then goes directly into ClockworkMod, without me holding x or anything special.

Can I get out of this or am I bricked?  And troubleshooting suggestions?

Restoring a backup of one ROM over top of a different ROM is a bad idea; although it may work in some cases, the device partitions often get screwed up.  You need to flash a working ROM -- preferably the original one -- and should have no problems doing so since you have Clockwork access.


MHL connection not working properly I just bought an MHL adapter for my Nexus 4. I have connected the adapter with a HDMI cable to the TV, plugged the microUSB into my phone and provided power on the other microUSB input as I should.

The TV showed an error message:

  Check signal cable +some small text about possible power and source problems

If I unplugged the power from the adapter, or disconnected the HDMI cable, it said:

  No Signal

So I think I was on the right source. I tried a different HDMI cable, another HDMI port on the TV, and another phone (Samsung S4), but the TV still showed the error message. It seems to me the phone did not give a signal through the microUSB port. Is there something I should turn on?

As András' comment says, the Nexus 4 uses Slimport not MHL. I use this Slimport adaptor to connect my N4 to a TV.


I messed up android partition with TWRP first of all sorry if I make any mistake, I'm new here.

Help. Today I decided to try to root my xiami mi a2 lite...
I accidentally flashed twrp-3.2.3-0-daisy.img on both a and b partitions.
Because of that, now I can only access the TWRP menu...

I think I should download the official rom and get its boot file, but im not sure and I dont want to mess it up more...
I've downloaded the rom and found this .img http://prntscr.com/lmegw9 . If that's it, is it enough to flash it? and in which partition? a or b?

Find a rom made specifically for your device here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite

Then use this to unlock your bootloader & flash a new boot.img recovery & rom  https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite/development/tool-tool-one-driversunlocktwrpfactory-t3866191

Warning unlocking bootloader will wipe all your files.
Also make sure to flash g-apps. You can search "opengapps" and your os to find the ones you need.


how much current can Samsung Galaxy S II take for charging with whatever ROM? What is the maximum power SGS2 can use when charging, given a capable charger?

I use power-consuming apps while driving a car (navigation + video registrator), and looking for ways to minimize battery drain. Ready for custom ROM if it will allow higher current.

According to this youtube video, where the user measured actual current drawn while adjusting the settings, the maximum is 650ma (.65a).

Contrary to the first answer, the charging device cannot in any way "push" current into any device; it is like the AC outlet, which can supply a lot of current, but will never supply too much unless there is a defect or short.

The charger can only supply current, hopefully enough to satisfy the amount the device is trying to draw. You cannot damage your device by using an adaptor that supplies higher current, you can only slow down the charging by supplying too little.  The device itself contains the charging circuitry that controls how much current is drawn at various stages of charging.

If the wall adaptor could damage a device by supplying too much current, then it would not be safe to plug it into the computer USB port, which is often capable of supplying higher current when properly negotiated by the device.


Samsung Galaxy S3 - after AT&T over the wire update - google search doesn't find installed apps I just purchased a Galaxy S III from AT&T, and only after a few days, I got a pushed, forced update from AT&T (not stating what it does, just "AT&T Software update" version: "V3_1205_2_2")

I didn't notice any change for a few hours, until I wanted to search for an app (menu - search)

Up until the update (still innocent till proven guilty, but looks more than circumstantial evidence) as in any android phone, the built in google search would search and find all installed apps,

However after that update (and again, it could be something else, but I can't think what it is) it stopped working. Google search (which is the built in device search) only shows web results and bookmarks

Am I the only one experiencing it? if so I'll just return it to AT&T and get another, as much as re-installing everything gives me a headache just thinking about it.

If I'm not the only one, then is it indeed a bug in AT&T's anonymous, rude, forcing itself on you, update?

Galaxy S3 dumb search update feature confirmed by Samsung, it’s because of Apple

Read more here:

It has been removed by Samsung working closely with Google and has been removed from carriers like Sprint as well. Apple pattented the universal search and was able to ban Galaxy Nexus in US. As a precaution Samsung and Google took the decision.

  One of the two injunctions Apple obtained in the U.S., even though stayed on the second appeal, affected the Galaxy Nexus and was based on an Apple patent describing a “unified search” technology, which is currently used by various mobile devices. The Galaxy Nexus made use of that technology – the Google Search app displayed local results (stuff on the phone) and web results, when the user performed a search – and that’s one of the things that got it into temporary trouble.

Solution:

But you can get the search back by installing old quick search app. You've to follow this post in xda-developers.com for that. If you're not rooted you've to replace it every time you restart the phone ;).

Update from Samsung

  Samsung has updated the software for the Galaxy S III as a precautionary measure to ensure that U.S. consumers may enjoy using our innovative products without interruption


Consuming lot of data by android os My device is Micromax a110q. I rooted it and changed my rom to sony pure xperia z2. After changing my rom the data is much more consuming by android os. So help me how to reduce data..

Restrict background data of your android os (in settings -> data usage). Hope it helps


30-40% battery drain at night I am using unlocked Samsung Galaxy S5 G900F model for 1 year.
It working fine. But for 3-4 months I cannot keep my phone on overnight.
It drains battery to 30%-40%. I have tried all possible solution like:

kept brightness to minimum
WiFi, mobile data, Bluetooth, GPS kept off
stopped unwanted services like FB, S finder, etc from App manager.

I mean all possible options.

It shows that Phone radio and network are draining my batter (as shown in attached images)
Also how can screen brightness drain battery when kept idle screen locked mode overnight? (as shown in attached images)
Please Help.
I have attached screenshots when I found 69% battery remaining in the morning (kept at 100% at night)

Note:

During day battery performs normally even with WiFi and data
Even when kept in ultra power saving mode overnight it drains around 20% battery

Screenshots - Battery Info(Click to enlarge images)

That's a known bug in android where there is no real solution for, you live in a zone with bad reception or just in between antennas.
Possible solution are: moving. Or, set your phone to 2G networks only, certainly at night. I ALWAYS put my phone on flightmode at night...

if you are rooted you can use an app for that: 2G 3G 4G switch

I read the bug is even still there in the current beta version of Android M (6.0).
I had the problem for a while but then it suddenly went away... maybe antenna transmission had slightly changed by my provider.


Facebook woke up by Google Services and don't want to be Greenified Facebook and it messenger apps are eating up my Galaxy Note battery (rooted). When I Greenify them, they are activated by Google Services.

How can I stop their activation without uninstalling?

Many thanks!!

There are quite a few apps which will wake up Facebook in the background. In particular, any apps which offer to allow you to sign in via a Facebook identity. Even though you might not have signed up via Facebook, those apps will often wake up FB anyway.
  If you want to ensure FB doesn't wake up, then you need to install Xposed framework, enable the Greenify module in Xposed and then tick the option on Greenify for Wake-up Tracker and Cut-off. You can then disable having other apps open FB.

Source Thread


"Settings" hangs when scanning for WiFi since JB update on One X I have an HTC One X which has never before exhibited any connection problems.

Since the update to Jelly Bean around 2 weeks ago, it cannot reconnect to a WiFi network once it has lost the connection. It stays on the 3G network by itself. When I go to Settings and select WiFi, Settings sometimes freezes still showing the normal Settings screen but not reacting to touches, sometimes the screen becomes black (the bar with the network information and battery level is still visible). I can still use the Home button to start other applications. At some point, I get a message telling me that Settings is not responding, prompting me to terminate it.

When I restart the phone, it automatically establishes the connection to a known WiFi network. If I am somewhere where it doesn't find a known network, I can use Settings as usual to connect (scan for networks, choose one, enter password, connect). But after about an hour, I find that the phone is again on 3G and the above freezing happens when I try to reconnect.

I think this is not a problem of the way the networks are set up, as I had the same symptoms in 4 different home networks, using different router brands. Many other devices, including other Android phones, function in these networks without a problem.

A software update which came 2-3 days ago did not change anything about the problem.

The phone is running Android 4.1.1, firmware version 3.14.401.31. It is not rooted.

Any suggestions how to troubleshoot this? When I search the Internet for the HTC One X having WiFi problems, I only get scores of articles about known hardware problems.

I am using the same version of the OS on my HTC One X and I have never had this problem before. So I am thinking this is maybe a problem concerning the hardware of your phone. Maybe you should contact HTC for this problem. They can probably help you some more.

But you could always try to do a hard factory reset (this is something which HTC support will ask to do too) . Because an update doesn't really reset anything. A factory reset should reset all settings, this to make sure it isn't a problem of your settings. Before you do a factory reset, make sure you have a backup of everything.


I have an emergency. Lost Android We have lost an Android phone. Every possible aspect that could make it more difficult has happened to be an encouragement to surrender.
We do not have the IMEI, it does not have access to internet that we know of (Unless the thief connects it to Wi-Fi), and so on. I was wondering if there is a way to locate the phone via Cellular Towers. I know a tower CAN locate a phone using just its connection strength. Maybe that's a good solution??? Any help is appreciated! :)

You have two ways to locate your device:

If your phones gets some cellular data, try going to Android Device Manager and remotely wipe it to make sure that nothing is traced.
File a police report. Sometimes, it can communicate between nearby towers and get some signal nearby. Tell them that you lost your phone and may suspect that your phone is taken already.

Hope this helps. It will give some helpful ideas when you lose a phone.


Tasker/IFTTT - Dual SIM missed call auto sms respond Is it possible to create a script that send sms automatically when there is missed/declined call but send them based on which SIM the call was missed?  For example i miss a call that was going onto SIM 2 so it sends a sms from SIM 2 and vice versa.

Automate has dual SIM support, i.e. Subscription id in the Call incoming and SMS send blocks.


Flashing CM 10.2 to 11 TWRP flash not working Background
Today and yesterday I tried to upgrade my HTC One X+ from CM 10.2 to CM 11. I knew from before that if I use the build-in updater (Settings-->About phone-->CyanogenMod updates), it successfully restarts and performs the flashing. However after that it gets stuck during booting and the CyanogenMod icon keeps spinning.
From this: https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/guide-cm11s-cm12-nightlies.231709/ I think it's most likely that the problem lays with Gapps. This means I have to manually update CM 11 in the TWRP menu and then Gapps. However flashing either CM 11 or Gapps for CM 11 like this, gives an error that it failed.
This is strange for the following reasons:

Flashing CM 10.2 or Gapps for CM 10.2, it succeeds
Flashing using build-in CyanogenMod updates, it works with the exact same .zip

I tried first flashing Gapps for CM 11 (it still starts CM 10.2 after this) and then flashing CM 11 both using CyanogenMod updates. However now it hangs a bit at the HTC screen and then automatically goes to TWRP.
Questions
Any inspiration why using Install in TWRP fails? What do I do wrong that I cannot properly update to CM 11?
System

Device: HTC One X+ (enrc2b)
Current Cyanogenmod: cm-10.2.1-enrc2b.zip
Trying to install: cm-11-20141112-SNAPSHOT-M12-enrc2b.zip
http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=enrc2b&type=snapshot
Custom recovery for Android: TWRP v2.7.0.1 (https://twrp.me/)

You can install it,

First of all try to update to a new TWRP version if possible like you installed it before.
Or you might want to go to the bootloader/fastboot on Samsung devices you need to press

Volume up + home + power

On other devices you must press

Volume up + power

and connect your phone to your PC and install the drivers if not done before, you can install the naked Adb drivers from twrp's site.

This is the link for your device:
https://twrp.me/devices/htconexplusinternational.html

You also can connect it to your PC install the drivers and type

adb reboot bootloader

You can find more info on TWRP's site.

put the Gapps/Google apps on the SD card, you might want to use

adb shell push gapps.zip /storage/sdcard0/
Downloads

All after each other.

Or setup mtp for TWRP.

You can do this at the settings mount and enable MTP.

Then push the update zip to your device which is the same as above.

Install the update and wipe the caches.

Then you're all set.


Sending SMS to Numbers with Five- or Six-Digit Short Codes Are Bounced The error message I receive is, "Error: this message was not successfully delivered." This happens whenever texting my bank, or other business services that use short codes like this (e.g., 50292, or 22000) for customer interaction. I can receive their messages but I cannot send back any replies to them. They always fail with the same stated error message. I happen to be using a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S5 running on stock firmware. For SMS messaging I've preferred to use Google Voice (it's linked up to my Sprint number and handles my voice-mail too), but the error still happens on the stock SMS messaging app.

Ultimately, the solution was to decouple my Sprint number from the Google Voice service. The instructions to stop using the Sprint number are at https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1207070?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en. It says,

  Stop using Google Voice on your Sprint phone

  I use my Sprint number

  Use a computer to remove the Sprint number from your account.

On your computer, open Google Voice.

At the top left, click Menu Menu and then Legacy Google Voice.
Google Voice will look different, but you're in the right place.

At the top right, click Settings Settings and then Settings. Click
the "Phones" tab.

You'll see your Sprint mobile number with the note "Enabled by
Sprint." Next to your Sprint mobile number, click Disable.

After you turn off Google Voice, you'll have to record a new
voicemail greeting for your Sprint phone service.

Now I am able to text those five digit and six digit phone numbers and get a reply back using my stock messaging app without an error!


Unable to Install and move APK files on SD-card I have an E-tel(curiosity i110) mobile device running on android 4.42.
I tried to install Apps using APK files to my SD card but i couldn't.
My problem is that I cannot move Apps which already installed to SD-card.
When I check app manger, I seems move to SD card button is fade out.
My question is, why my android OS blocked this feature?
What can i do?
How to select default APK installer as SD card without rooting?

In your case, if move to SD card option is fade out, then you can't move apps to SD card. The apps installed by user could be moved to SD-card to save internal storage.

There are some system apps which could not be moved to SD-card because OS doesn't allows that.

This may be also app specific, as whatsapp or any game, because block to move their data. Some apps you can move or some you can't.

If it is not possible without rooting, you can go to root your phone and install Link2SD , by which you can create a partition on your SD card and install apps on that.


List of all devices connected to my network Is there any way to get list of all devices connected to my Wi-Fi network?


What is the downside of using GO SMS Pro and / or Handcent? All I've been seeing about these apps are the positives. I want to know the negatives of using them, apart from me having to install an additional app to do something that the phone can already do by default. I'm looking to using one of the two because of the built in support for backing up SMS and MMS, something that will come in very handy especially since I text often.

I can only comment on  GoSMS which, while being a great app, has a few obvious issues.

Texting via GoChat is, at best, unreliable. With both parties connected to hi-speed broadband, texts take their own sweet time to deliver. These texts shouldn't expire but they do. Given a certain amount of time, texts stay undelivered.
If you have root access and are thinking of uninstalling the stock SMS app (which would be the logical thing to do), bear in mind that GoSMS notifications don't work hand in hand with the app's UI. Meaning, if you see a notification in the status bar and press on it, it will lead you to the main app interface but you may or may not see the actual message. This happens often when you receive more than one or two texts at the same time. Strangely, even though you can't read the texts (I assumed they were lost), you will have an irritating notification indicating that you have unread texts (that you obviously can't read because they don't show up). Having the stock app ensures that GoSMS shows all texts, unread or otherwise. Also, when you have read the text in the stock app, the notification from GoSMS disappears.
Local backup only works when you aren't connected, either via Wi-fi or mobile data. With the latest version of the app, everything gets backed up to GoCloud. This happens only if you have signed up with GoChat.

Hope this helps.


Trying to find Game App installation folder I used to play this Bingo Blitz game and was trying to find where the installation folder is. I couldn't find it under Data folder, even searching the
keyword "bingo blitz" does not yield anything.

Any experts able to install the game and try to figure out where it is?
My device is not rooted.

As @Izzy said, without root privileges you cannot see the contents of neither /data/app or /data/data.

Even if you did have root privileges, searching for Bingo Blitz inside an average file manager wouldn't have yield anything. This is because no file or folder is named after the app label. In order to turn up some results, in fact, your search term must be an app's package name. In your case, the package name is air.com.buffalo_studios.newflashbingo.

Armed with this knowledge, we can now say that the app's APK can be found inside /data/app/air.com.buffalo_studios.newflashbingo-x.apk (pre-Lollipop) or /data/app/air.com.buffalo_studios.newflashbingo-x/base.apk (Lollipop and above). In both cases, x is a digit depending on how many times you updated the app.

The app's data, on the other hand, is to be found inside a folder called /data/data/air.com.buffalo_studios.newflashbingo/.


Can I reset the Kindle Fire HD and power off without going to setup? I just got a Kindle Fire HD which Im planning to give away as a gift to a friend. But I need to boot it and write a review on my website before giving it. So, how can I make it look like I never switched it on?

When we boot the tablet, it'll give us a setup wizard. After resetting, we will get to the setup wizard again. My question is, how to power off the tablet without following the setup and will it show the setup when I power it again?

Depending on the setup, you may be able to bypass it. This is the case if it is the default Google setup wizard.

If it is not, then there may be no way to bypass it, and you will therefore have to follow it through.

When you wipe the device, it will show again on next boot, so why don't you just follow the setup and then wipe it? This way it will be as if it was never booted for the next person to turn it on.


Is there any way to mass background restrict app battery usage? My Pixel 2 has been experiencing severe standby battery drain (last night it went from 95-30 while I slept), and I'm pretty sure it's one of my apps' faults since it doesn't happen when I reboot the phone in Safe Mode. So now I'm trying to restrict most of my apps from using battery in the background, but it's a huge pain going through 50+ app battery usage pages to toggle their "Background Restriction" property. There's a page to disable app battery restrictions in Settings > Battery > Adaptive Battery > Restricted Apps, but there's no way to add apps to that list. Is there a mass app battery management settings page/developer option I'm missing, or maybe an app that provides this functionality?

I don't think there's anything else because all you have to do if you want to restrict background battery usage is to toggle the slider on all 50 apps which barely takes a minute. But if you want help for a longer lasting battery you should search for "Battery" on the google play store and you will find a lot of apps to help you.


How to change android system language if morelocale2 does not work I recently bought a chinese smartphone (SM-G3858) and there are only 3 languages available. English, Chinese and Korean. I tried to add another language (e.g. german) with the apps morelocale2, any locale, raygional, localeswitch, language picker widget... as already suggested in:

Is it posible to change the locale of my device?

but the system language remains in the language I initially set up the phone with (English). Only the apps itself (e.g. the manually installed googleplay- so not system apps) are changed to german. The settings menu and the whole framework is still in English. No custom rom exists for that phone so thats out of the question. I tried via adb the command:

pm grant jp.co.c_lis.ccl.morelocale android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

But that didnt work. I have root and run on 4.2.2 JB. Also tried to contact the dev of morelocale 2 but no answer. Also asked on xda, no answer. So I´m stuck. Im not interested in changing the keyboard language, cuz that works fine. I want to change the system language. I guess there is some kind of language lock on that phone. Now how can I override that lock? What do I need to change in order to have the whole system in the new locale language? And by the way. That phone works worldwide, so I guess that means that there is no region lock?

I could not find a thread with the exact same specifications mentioned. If one exists I would appreciate a link. Thank you

It's not that the locale is locked, it's just that it's only useful to change it to a language that's already on your phone. If the phone doesn't have a translation and other needed files for German, changing the locale to German won't have any effect. It's just like if you have a German phone and you install an app that's not translated into German: you'll get the app's default language.

You can only add a new system language by installing a custom ROM that supports that language, and as you've noticed, it's hard to find custom ROMs for Chinese phones.


Some but not all music is showing in my phone's media player I have a Galaxy S7 Edge, and am using the 64GB SD card they gave with the phone when it first came out at BestBuy's. I've put music on my phone already and have had it stored on the SD card and have never had an issue changing up what I have on there until yesterday. I re did my playlist and put different music on and synced my phone only to get to work and find out certain songs do not show up in the default media player (even though they are songs I've had on my SD card before). So today I decide to re sync it and after it is done I went through Windows Media Player and it said all the music was "Already On Device". Go to the default media player on my phone to a specific artist, and only HALF of their albums are on there... And when I say half I mean, it basically skipped every other song on every album. So half the album is on and the other is not... But when I search files on my phone all the music shows up.

I know there were other people with similar issues that I saw but none were resolved, and none were having issues only with partial music not showing up. All my artists show up, but it's only putting HALF the songs they have from each album into the player...

This may not be your issue, but I've had a problem like this for years, and just figured it out today. I wanted to get it written somewhere.

I buy CDs (yes, I'm the one), and then rip them to .ogg files for playback from my phone. What I was finding was that the newer CD's often wouldn't show up at all on any Android media player. However, the files were definitely there. If I connected to my PC with a USB cable I could play them just fine on the PC.

Hat tip to Metrov in this AndroidCentral thread. The problem appears to be that Android media players are very persnickety about music files having their tag information properly filled out. I installed Florian Heidenreich's Mp3tag, ran it against the problem children, and sure enough, they didn't have their tag info filled out properly. I'm guessing its been more of a problem for me with new music, as newer stuff is less likely to have good tag info about it uploaded to freedb.

This also allowed me to fix another problem I had where one album was showing up twice (inconsistent artist and Album Artist) tags.

In your particular case, I'd suggest hooking your phone up to a computer with a USB cable, then running Mp3tag or a similar tag editor and comparing the tag info in the files that are showing up on Android to the ones that aren't.


Twitter ReceiveSMS permission On Twitter November 25, 2013 update, they ask for receive text messages (SMS) permission.
Does anyone know what exactly this is for ?

I was concerned about this as well and decided to decompile the app to find out what it's doing. Twitter receives SMS messages via a BroadcastReceiver in com.twitter.applib.client.SmsReceiver. Here is what the code looks like after decompiling it to Java with dex2jar and jd-gui.

public class SmsReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver
{
  private void a(Context paramContext, SmsMessage paramSmsMessage)
  {
    if (paramSmsMessage != null)
    {
      String str1 = paramSmsMessage.getMessageBody();
      String str2 = paramContext.getText(mb.sms_verification_text).toString();
      if (("40404".equals(paramSmsMessage.getOriginatingAddress())) && (str1.startsWith(str2)))
      {
        SharedPreferences localSharedPreferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(paramContext);
        localSharedPreferences.edit().putString("device_registration_sms_text", str1).commit();
        String str3 = localSharedPreferences.getString("device_registration_normalized_phone_number", "");
        if ((!TextUtils.isEmpty(str3)) && (!TextUtils.isEmpty(str1)))
          a.a(paramContext).c(str3, str1);
      }
    }
  }

  public void onReceive(Context paramContext, Intent paramIntent)
  {
    Bundle localBundle = paramIntent.getExtras();
    if (localBundle != null)
    {
      Object[] arrayOfObject = (Object[])localBundle.get("pdus");
      int i = arrayOfObject.length;
      for (int j = 0; j < i; j++)
        a(paramContext, SmsMessage.createFromPdu((byte[])arrayOfObject[j]));
    }
  }
}

You see see here that when a text message is received, the app passes the message to a() and checks that it comes from twitter's number. Then it writes the content of the message to shared preferences. As Problematic suggested, the app is only verifying your number and not doing anything malicious. Although Twitter isn't doing anything malicious, it would have been nice if they would have explained why the app needs this permission in the last update.


Backing up whatsapp to two different google drive accounts I have had my WhatsApp account backed up to my personal Google drive account, taking up a total space of 841 MB. I now have access to a Drive account with more space, and I'd like to switch backup to there. I tried changing the settings on the phone to backup to the new account, but i only get 549 MB there.
Why would the two backups be so different? I'd like to delete the original one to free up space, but not if it means losing data.
Thanks

Whatsapp store last 7 backups.

You can see it by checking your file manager -> Whatsapp -> databases and there, you can see almost 7 files.

The size of files vary from each day.

Since you are changed your google account, the last backup file only be stored in G Drive and previous backups will not uploaded there.

So, after 7 days, you can see that the size in G Drive becoming 841 MB.


How to on recover mode on my device How to Enter Recovery Mode on Sony Xperia XZ2? I tried a few methods to do and the phone doesn't do anything no factory mode at all. Now what? How can I on recovery mode on my device?

It appears that the XZ2 does not come with the recovery mode. There's no stock recovery to boot to.

So, the key combinations won't work until you root your phone and flash a custom recovery (which might not exist yet either).

If your intention is to reset the device, then as mentioned in the source link below, you can do it from within the Android system or the Sony Companion.

Source - https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xz2/help/xz2-recovery-t3811741


How to take clickable 360 degree tour to explore the area I know how to take 360 view photos on android like this one.

But I am not getting how can take 360 pictures which will allow me to click on various location in that picture and after clicking on any location, it opens up another 360 picture, something like this.

Note that first one is simple 360 picture which you can rotate spherically, but you cannot click anywhere in that picture to open new 360 picture taken at that location. While you can do this in second picture.

I am able capture 360 degree photo like the first one. But, how do I capture pictures like second one on Android? Is there any official googleapp?

This appears to be a feature of Google Maps/Street View which has some guidelines for that effect:

From Publish and connect 360 photos with the Street View app:

Step 2: Connect your photos

Your photos may be automatically connected within 24 hours if:

You’ve made and published a set of 360 photos according to these spacing recommendations.
"Geotag 360 photos" is turned on.
You've earned and activated the trusted badge in the Street View app.
You’ve used auto-capture to make indoor 360 photos within two small steps of each other (1 m / 3 ft).
You’ve used auto-capture to make outdoor 360 photos within five steps of each other (3 m / 10 ft).

You can also have the Street View app suggest the five closest 360 photos that you can connect.

Open a published photo.
In the top right, tap More [the three dots]  and then Connect nearby photos.

OR

Connect Photos Yourself

Open the Street View app.
On the "Profile" tab, find a photo and tap Select.
Pick the photos you want:

Choose two photos: Tap the ones that you want to connect.
Choose all photos: In the top right, tap More [three dots] and then Select all.

In the top right, tap More [three dots] and then Connect 360 photos.
Your photos will show up on the map as numbered markers.
Tap and drag each photo to the correct location. Swipe left and right on the photo to see all directions.
To try your new connection, open your photo in the "Profile" tab and tap the white arrow.


bsnl is709c android tablet is not booting up My BSNL penta IS709C tablet got locked after too many unlock attempts. After that I tried to hard reset by pressing BACK + HOME + MENU buttons together with the power button but in vain. Tablet present condition:

1) USB debugging off, so no adb commands.  2) wifi is off. 3) No
    associated google account.

Please help me restore the tablet or suggest me how can I hard reset it.

So after battling for two days, finally I have managed to solved this problem.

First of all download stock ROM for your tablet from here
and extract the file anywhere you want.

Note:- All the below steps are provided in .ppt file which you can find in the downloaded zip folder(here ..\BSNL-IS709C\BSNL IS709C\Firmware\upgrade\tool). Since it is a Chinese version so I thought it might help if I re-write the steps here:

Shut down your tablet.
take out your SDCard if you don't want data loss.
Plug one end of the Usb cable to PC/Laptop.
Press the middle button(namely menu button) of the three buttons on the tablet and the power button together and then plug another end of the Usb cable to the tablet.
After this, your computer will try to install drivers for your device which you can ignore because you are gonna install the drivers manually.
go to device manager->Other devices->right click on the unknown device(which is yours with yellow triangle) and then click on update driver software.
Choose to manually locate drivers and move to this directory (..\BSNL-IS709C\BSNL IS709C\Firmware\upgrade\tool\Driver).
Select the appropriate driver(x86/x64) and click OK, a red color pop up is displayed. Click yes(or whatever) to install the drivers.
Now open the RKBatchTool provided here(..BSNL-IS709C\BSNL IS709C\Firmware\upgrade\tool). You will see a green color square on it which means that it has recognized your device. Meanwhile is the Chinese version, so can refer this picture for further operation:

Click on the Restore button to factory reset the tablet and when its done. Click on upgrade.
Restart the tablet and voila, its done!!


How to know whether my Xperia Ray's bootloader is locked or unlocked one Title says all, but again a bit background

I would like to know whether the bootloader on my xperia ray is locked or unlocked one. I bought it from ebay & with seller warranty (or you can say no warranty). It was a great deal & I didn't need warranty too as I was going to root it.

I haven't done anything to unlock my boot loader till now. Used x-parts (auto CWM installer) to test some roms. How do I know the phone I received, has bootloader locked or unlocked?

Try to flash the original firmware for your phone, then dial *#*#7378423#*#* on your dialer app and navigate to service menu -> service info -> configuration. It should be indicated there.


How To Install Android 5 on an LG G Pad 7.0? I have an LG G Pad 7.0 running Android KitKat (4.4.2). Could I update it to Android 5, even though there is no release for the G Pad 7?

I would also by fine with the latest version of CyanogenMod.

Also, I am very new to Android, but is it flexible in the way that you can change the Android version easily, or install another UI?

Yes, it is relatively easy (compared to apple). The basic steps you will have to take are as follows:

Unlock the bootloader, can vary massively in difficulty by device, depending on how irritating your manufacturer's being. This will wipe all your data, but theoretically is the last time you ever have to wipe your data.
Install a custom rom of your choice

In order to find more concise tutorials, explaining step by step, do a google search for "lg g pad 7.0 (LTE?) bootloader unlock"


Why is the connection between the Android emulator and a PC so slow? Host OS: Windows 7 x86

Android emulator target: 2.3.3

When I execute 'adb pull' or 'adb push' with emulator - transfer speed is about 70KB/s.
When I do this with real device it's normal USB speed. Why is this?

Because the emulator is buggy and slow and should be avoided if possible when developing. I'm assuming its because of the general problem with emulators, it is trying to mimic hardware functions on a software level which is extremely inefficient.


"Unable to forget Hot Spot" - Can't disconnect from it either I am running stock kitkat (4.4.4). There are some hotspots my phone will connect to whenever I am near. If I try to disconnect from it, I get an error message that says:

Unable to forget Hot Spot (sic).

My only options are to disable WiFi or keep connected.

If I am not near that hotspot, it won't even show up on the list of memorized hotspots.

What is happening here?

These are probably hotspots set up by your carrier, designed to reduce load on their 3G/4G network by offloading some of it to WiFi. You would not be able to prevent using these unless you turn off WiFi (why is that a problem for you?) or root / use a custom firmware.


Can Android devices with NFC be used as POS terminals for EMV Chip-and-pin cards? I know that Square, for instance, makes payment card readers you can attach to phones in order to make transactions using the mag strip, and they're soon to release a new card reader designed for EMV chip cards, but are these necessary for Android phones?

My understanding is that tap-and-pay using Google Wallet or Apple Pay (or the like) use the same technology and technique to authorize a transaction as EMV chips do. If that's the case, is it plausible that one could create a program that allows the phone to act as the point of sale terminal instead of as the client? If not, please help me understand how these technologies and/or communication methods differ. Thanks!

Edit: I just found out that some EMV chips support NFC while others need direct contact, and that most American cards don't support NFC, including mine.

Most card's chips are readable via the NFC sensor in your phone. There are quite a few apps on the play store that allow you to read card info (ex BankCard Reader). If you are capable of writing your own application you may be able to receive payments via an external API.


Chrome for Android's cache location I am using a Samsung Note 2 (N7100) running on root. I want to know where Chrome for Android saves its cache files.
Like on Windows, the cache is located on ..\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile 1\Cache.
Where is the location for Chrome for Android's cache?

Like other Android apps, Chrome for Android stores the cache under its data directory which is /data/data/com.android.chrome/cache. Cache and Media Cache goes there.

GPUCache is located under /data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/.

Related reading on Forensic Wiki.


Automatically turn work profile off on evenings and week-ends I'd like to block myself from accessing my work apps at certain times and days (typically, evenings and weekends). Ideally, I'd like to use the system-level setting to remove access to all apps on the work profile. Back when all my apps (personal & corporate) were living on the same profile, I used the paid version of Stay Focused to block all work apps individually, and that was a satisfactory solution. Unfortunately, now the "device policy" forces me to put all work apps on the work profile, this Stay Focused app isn't available on the work profile version of the Play Store, and when I install it on the personal profile, it can't block apps on the work profile, so it's basically useless.

I know turning work profile on/off manually is really easy, but

I too easily forget to do so (and then mindlessly check work email late at night), and
the fact that it's so easy to turn it back on is part of the problem (ideally, I need to be 3-4 clicks away from accessing anything work-related, otherwise I do it mindlessly).

I use a Pixel 3A on Android 10. I can't root my phone. Is there a workaround or am I just out of luck?

If you go to settings > digital wellbeing + parental controls > digital wellbeing > ways to disconnect
There's a setting for setting a work profile schedule


A questions about "wipe" in CWM Recovery CWM Recovery has a many options for wipe and format partitions, and the options are:

wipe data/factory reset.
wipe cache partition.
format boot, system, data, cache, sdcard or sd-ext.
wipe dalvik cache.
wipe battery stats.

I wonder What is the difference between a wipe and format In terms of safe deletion of data?
How can I Completely Wipe Data from all partitions of phone device?
(I want do that before install a new ROM).
What is the overwriting Standard used in the wipe? ,thanx in advance.

Note: I don't know version of CWM Recovery but I'll use CWM Recovery from here:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-4c/development/honor-4c-root-cwm-recovery-inshaalmirza-t3177770

I wonder What is the difference between a wipe and format In terms of safe deletion of data?

A wipe is, in any method, removes selected data from filesystem. It can be plain deletion or formatting the partition.

A format is a complete reset of a disk partition, by cleaning everything up and re-build its headers, inode records, file allocation tables, etc.

  How can I Completely Wipe Data from all partitions of phone device? (I want do that before install a new ROM).

Use the 1st option wipe data/factory reset. That's enough.

  What is the overwriting Standard used in the wipe? ,thanx in advance.

AFAIK there's no overwriting. It simply deletes files and/or formats partitions of your phone.


Fingerprint Scanner Problem with Samsung C5 I have bought Samsung C5 recently. The mobile phone is very nice and slim to work with. But yesterday I was trying to configure my finger print on it for biometric security. I tried repeatedly on it but it is not scanning my thumb? Can anyone please help me regarding this?

The solution to this problem is really simple. This model comes with a front end fingerprint scanner that doesn`t cover up the area of your thumb. So while scanning for biometric registration, you have to slide your thumb from top to bottom to get it done rightly. As a tip, try to clean your thumb before biometric registration.


Rooting multiple devices let's say I have about 100 old kindle fires to root (or other android devices). Of course I don't want to waste days to root them one by one, is there any way to optimize the process?

Thanks

The first step must be done manually, and one extra tap (confirm a prompt) for each device is required.

Enable USB debugging (after unlocking Developer Options) for every device
Prepare the files. A custom recovery (you should find it by yourself) and a SuperSU flashable ZIP
Prepare a script and place the downloaded SuperSU ZIP and recovery IMG in the same directory. Rename the SuperSU ZIP file to SuperSU.zip and your recovery image to recovery.img
Plug in one device and run the script. Tap "Authenticate" if it prompts for USB debugging. It will reboot several times. When the device shows the normal operating system, unplug it
Repeat step 4 until all are finished.

Script (Unix version):

#!/bin/sh
echo "install /sdcard/SuperSU.zip" > openrecoveryscript
echo "cmd reboot" >> openrecoveryscript
adb wait-for-device
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot wait-for-device
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot boot recovery.img
adb wait-for-device
adb push SuperSU.zip /sdcard/SuperSU.zip
adb push openrecoveryscript /cache/recovery/openrecoveryscript
adb reboot recovery
# You're done!


How can I remove the SIM lock from a Samsung Galaxy S? I bought one from bell Canada, and I can't put in a SIM card from any other service provider. Does anyone know how to unlock this phone?

To unlock your phone, use GalaxSim Unlock.

You need root for this app. If you don't have root, the app will give you instructions on how to root your phone.


Do running applications and background processes have any effects on Power Consumption? I need some help with android applications: Do running applications and background processes have any effects on Power Consumption of the Battery (running down so fast)?

I would say "Yes" through my own observations.  Apps like live wallpapers do have an effect on  battery life.  Add to that any active radios like WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Mobile data and battery life can go down the tubes.  I have learned to disable things if I am not able to charge right away or need a bit more battery life.  I would also like to mention about running apps and background processes, I would suggest not disabling them unless you know what you are doing.


How do I hide the "App permission management is running" notification? I have a vernee Apollo Lite which runs Android 6.0.

There's a permanent notification called "App permission management is runn..." The App name seems to be Permission Control.

It's always there and clicking on it brings me to the permission management dialog.

I would prefer if it wouldn't always clog up space in the notifications. Is there a way to hide it without changing to automatically allowing all permissions?

Longpress on notification than tap on 'i' and check block all notifications, but beaware if is permission management part of system you will maybe not be allowed to block notifications or it will block notifications that you don't want to block.


Does MMS messages with pictures always use your data? I have the Pixel 3a running android 11. My Wi-Fi is always on. And my mobile data is always off. I have the app "My Data Manager" installed so I can see when my mobile data is being used. When I send an MMS text, no data is used. But when I send a MMS text with a pic, then I can see that my data is being used. The following app is using the data "org.codeaurora.ims". Is this normal? Because my phone plan is supposed to offer unlimited text messaging with pictures. But everytime I send an MMS text with a pic, it's eating away at my data plan. Thanks for your help.

No, it does not take your data(Internet connection) but it takes the balance of your sim.


How can I sync podcasts (with progress) to my Android device with iTunes? I am a user of OS X, and would like to sync my Android device with iTunes.

I still use an iPhone and have a bunch of existing podcasts, and sometimes I use desktop to listen to podcasts, so two-way synchronization of files as well as progress would be quite useful. By progress I refer to time as well as whether an episode was completed. There is no need to sync with iOS devices directly; syncing with desktop iTunes on OS X is perfectly fine.

Any app that I found so far that even has sync apparently can sync only with itself on Android and iOS, but not with iTunes; or else it can import audio files from iTunes, ignoring progress.

DoubleTwist was built for a similar purpose and does the job well. To use it, you can simply install the Mac app and the Android app and use their DoubleTwist Sync feature to synchronize iTunes with Android.


Getting internet for Galaxy Tab 2 from Galaxy S3 Is there a way to use the Galaxy Tab 2 with my Galaxy S3 (SPRINT) to get an internet connection?

Yes, very easily actually.

To Make your S3 emit a WiFi network

Enable 'WiFi Tethering' in System Settings->More->Tethering and Portable Hotspot->Portable WiFi Hotspot.
Configure the hotspot (name, password etc), in the Setup WiFi Hotspot menu.

To Connect your Tablet to the WiFi network

Enter the tablets WiFi settings, and turn WiFi on.
Select the WiFi network you configured on your S3).
Select connect. If you setup a password, you need to enter it.

Other Info

If you do not see the WiFi Hotspot option, then your network has disabled it. If you're rooted you could use an app such as WiFi Tethering - just be aware that this will produce an Ad-Hoc hotspot, and Stock Android cannot connect to these types of hostspots.

There is currently no way, AFAIK, to create a standard WiFi hotspot without using the stock android tethering system.


How do you encrypt your device running CyanogenMod 12.1? CyanogenMod 12 and 12.1 'Encrypt phone' setting is broken, and has been for quite a while. Is there any way to encrypt the phone in some other fashion? Can CM be sideloaded onto a phone with an encrypted /data directory? Are there any other ways to keep your data safe and sound? The device I'm working on is a Verizon LG G3.

There are low(er)-level commands that can be used in a shell to encrypt your user data partition. Disclaimer/Warning: the following instructions will wipe your data, ensure that you make a backup if needed.

Following these steps, you should be able to wipe your data partition and have it encrypted afterwards (similar to a factory reset):

Boot your phone normally (either recovery does not work anymore, or I ran into a different issue).
Ensure that USB debugging mode (adb) and  Root access for ADB is enabled.
Enter a root shell with adb root followed by adb shell.
Optional: watch logs by invoking adb logcat in another shell.
Enter this command, type your password and press Enter. This will actually set your password. This command reads one line of input (head -1), strips the trailing newline from Enter (tr -d '\n') and converts it to a hexadecimal representation (hexdump ...). If it looks scary or if you are not sure what this command does, see below.

vdc cryptfs enablecrypto wipe password $(head -1 | tr -d '\n' | hexdump -ve '1/1 "%.2x"')

If everything goes okay, your device will set keys and reboot to complete the encryption.

The above vdc command ("Volume Daemon Client") communicated with vold (Volume Daemon) has some subcommands like cryptfs for encryption. The enablecrypto subcommand has two modes: wipe (clear /data completely) and inplace (supposedly applying encryption while copying your original /data inside the container).

Then, four options are available starting with Android 5.0, one of them is password which accepts a single hexadecimal sequence as key. Thus if your password is foo, then the hexadecimal representation is 666f6f (f is 66 in hex, o is 6f, see http://www.asciitable.com/). The command for this is:

vdc cryptfs enablecrypto wipe password 666f6f

This was tested on a Nexus 5 (code name hammerhead, running cm-12.1-20150814) which has a separate partition for storing metadata. It is important that the userdata partition has the encryptable flag set followed by either the path to a partition or the special string footer. An (abbreviated) line from my /fstab.hammerhead file:

  /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata     /data           ext4    ...,check,encryptable=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/metadata

When the special string footer (encryptable=footer) is present, then 16 KiB at the end of the data partition is used to store encryption metadata.

For further reading, see:

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/security/encryption/

Appendix: logcat excerpt from the moment I executed the encryption command until it finishes and reboots (omitting unrelated graphics messages at the end). Note that this Nexus 5 has hardware-accelerated crypto (QSEECom).

--------- beginning of main
08-16 12:57:15.459 W/DrmManagerClientImpl(Native)( 2108): DrmManager server died!
08-16 12:57:15.459 I/ServiceManager(  184): service 'drm.drmManager' died
08-16 12:57:15.467 D/Cryptfs (  186): Just asked init to shut down class main
08-16 12:57:15.470 D/Cryptfs (  186): unmounting /mnt/shell/emulated succeeded
08-16 12:57:15.599 I/ServiceManager(  184): service 'media.audio_flinger' died
08-16 12:57:15.599 I/ServiceManager(  184): service 'media.player' died
08-16 12:57:15.599 I/ServiceManager(  184): service 'media.camera' died
...
08-16 12:57:16.695 D/Cryptfs (  186): unmounting /data succeeded
08-16 12:57:16.695 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_get_handle sb_length = 0x2000
08-16 12:57:16.696 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): App is already loaded QSEE and app id = 2
08-16 12:57:16.697 I/Cryptfs (  186): keymaster version is 3
08-16 12:57:16.697 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_dealloc_memory
08-16 12:57:16.697 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_shutdown_app, app_id = 2
08-16 12:57:16.697 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_get_handle sb_length = 0x2000
08-16 12:57:16.697 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): App is already loaded QSEE and app id = 2
08-16 12:57:18.058 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_dealloc_memory
08-16 12:57:18.058 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_shutdown_app, app_id = 2
08-16 12:57:18.058 I/Cryptfs (  186): Using scrypt with keymaster for cryptfs KDF
08-16 12:57:18.208 D/BootAnimation( 2683): Use save memory method, maybe small fps in actual.
08-16 12:57:18.208 E/QCOM PowerHAL( 2683): Failed to acquire lock.
08-16 12:57:18.691 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_get_handle sb_length = 0x2000
08-16 12:57:18.691 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): App is already loaded QSEE and app id = 2
08-16 12:57:18.692 I/Cryptfs (  186): Signing safely-padded object
08-16 12:57:18.797 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_dealloc_memory
08-16 12:57:18.797 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_shutdown_app, app_id = 2
08-16 12:57:20.056 I/Cryptfs (  186): Using scrypt with keymaster for cryptfs KDF
08-16 12:57:20.690 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_get_handle sb_length = 0x2000
08-16 12:57:20.691 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): App is already loaded QSEE and app id = 2
08-16 12:57:20.691 I/Cryptfs (  186): Signing safely-padded object
08-16 12:57:20.796 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_dealloc_memory
08-16 12:57:20.796 D/QSEECOMAPI: (  186): QSEECom_shutdown_app, app_id = 2
08-16 12:57:21.429 I/Cryptfs (  186): Enabling support for allow_discards in dmcrypt.
08-16 12:57:21.429 I/Cryptfs (  186): load_crypto_mapping_table: target_type = crypt
08-16 12:57:21.429 I/Cryptfs (  186): load_crypto_mapping_table: real_blk_name = /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata, extra_params = 1 allow_discards
08-16 12:57:21.431 I/Cryptfs (  186): Making empty filesystem with command /system/bin/make_ext4fs -a /data -l 13725837312 /dev/block/dm-0
08-16 12:57:21.447 I/make_ext4fs(  186): SELinux: Loaded file_contexts from /file_contexts
08-16 12:57:21.447 I/make_ext4fs(  186): Creating filesystem with parameters:
08-16 12:57:21.447 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Size: 13725835264
08-16 12:57:21.448 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Block size: 4096
08-16 12:57:21.448 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Blocks per group: 32768
08-16 12:57:21.448 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Inodes per group: 8144
08-16 12:57:21.448 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Inode size: 256
08-16 12:57:21.448 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Journal blocks: 32768
08-16 12:57:21.449 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Label:
08-16 12:57:21.449 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Transparent compression: none
08-16 12:57:21.449 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Blocks: 3351034
08-16 12:57:21.449 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Block groups: 103
08-16 12:57:21.459 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Reserved block group size: 823
08-16 12:57:21.465 I/make_ext4fs(  186): Created filesystem with 11/838832 inodes and 93654/3351034 blocks
08-16 12:57:21.465 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Total files: 0
08-16 12:57:21.465 I/make_ext4fs(  186):     Total bytes: 0
08-16 12:57:42.926 D/Cryptfs (  186): Successfully created filesystem on /dev/block/dm-0


DNAT iptables rule on rooted Android phone? How i can set iptables rule like this on my rooted Android phone:

iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i wlan0 -s 192.168.1.100 -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT -–to-destination 192.168.1.101:8080

... since Android iptables implementation doesn't support protocol by name and DNAT?

According to this question on Stack Overflow

iptables is available in Android source distribution.
Users of retail Android devices cannot access iptables binary. Even Android OS itself cannot access that binary. This is hard-coded in Android. Many devices also don't have iptables at all.
The only way to access iptables binary is to build your own Android images. Check out http://randomizedsort.blogspot.com/2010/08/building-android-and-linux-kernel-for.html. Once you get comfortable with that process, check out http://randomizedsort.blogspot.com/2011/03/porting-iptables-1410-to-android.html.

iptables is a default module in aosp, you can use netfilter to write c code to handle that.

For example, you can create an android project, and write a JNI file, use ndk-build to compile that, and then adb push the executable to the android file system to execute. And in the mobile end, you can adb shell to it, directly use iptables command as a root user, just like in Linux.

To check if your device supports iptables:

Issue the following command in ADB shell or in Terminal Emulator:

iptables -L -t nat

Alternatively you could try the beta of  IP Tables app on Google Play to see if it does what you want.

There is also Droid Wall that you could try. It supports scripts that may help, e.g.

$IPTABLES -A "droidwall" --destination "192.168.0.1" -j RETURN


How secure are the "app password protection" apps? I know there are a number of apps available that can password protect specified apps. I want to know how secure they really are.

As far as I know, there aren't any exposed OS hooks in android to allow one app to prevent another app from starting up. And some of these apps can be fooled by just switching tasks when it presents the password screen. So, are all of these apps just for casual protection, or are there any apps out there which guarantee that password protected apps can't be launched without the password?

Those protected apps aren't secure at all. These protects are meant for girlfriends only... :)
As you've said Android doesn't allow one app to prevent another app from starting up, there's no way to really protect an app.
The password screen can be by-passed by disabling one receiver of protector app. Even its also not required for some poorly written protector apps: Just, kill the protector app and done! And, the most easiest method is more funny: Many protector apps provide a failsafe password to by-pass protection in case user has forgotten the password. You just need to contact developer saying you have forgotten your password & he'll provide you a failsafe password. :)
If your device is rooted, I recommend you to use Seal. Seal provides a root method which is much more secure than generic methods. Disabling a receiver doesn't by-pass its security. As it gets root permission, it heal itself from any attempt to by-pass its security. So, even malicious codes fail against it.
In the last, no protector app encrypts an app & decrypts it on fly before opening it. Its simply because Android system simply doesn't support it. So, an advanced user can access your protected apps & associated data using Android SDK.


Is there a way to see call log with duration? I need to log how long I spend on the phone. In lollipop this send impossible.

First, the dialer only shows the start time.

Second, if I make multiple calls to one number the logs become inaccessible, as they're grouped and entering the contact record only show's recent'.

Is there a way to see the actual logs?

From the phone app, tap the Action Overflow button (...) in the top-right corner, then tap Call History. Tap any entry, then Details, and it will show you the date, time, and LENGTH of call, or calls (individually, in a list) if multiple were grouped together.


How can I forward SMS via Jabber (XMPP) to read them on a PC? I want my received SMS to automagically be forwarded via Jabber (XMPP), so I can read them on my current PC.

I don't want to send SMS from my computer, though I would not mind the feature as an extra bonus.

How can I achieve this?

GTalkSMS (Google Project Page) does what you want (and much more).

Edit: After actively developing GTalkSMS, I decided that it's time to spawn a new project called MAXS. See my second answer.

Note: According to the FAQ I have to disclose that I am involved into GtalkSMS. GTalkSMS is an open source GPL licensed Android app. Everyone can contribute.


How to disable SMS notification during phone call? I call somebody, or somebody calls me, we are talking. Now, during the call I got SMS and I cannot hear anything because the SMS notification is playing.

So how to disable this notification when call is active? Thank you in advance.

Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Android 2.3.

Note: I am interested in setting this once and for good. Not something I have to remember to switch off each time I make/get a call.

Since this is of the Samsung Galaxy family, the following may help you:

On my Galaxy S3, the setting is controlled as 'Alerts on call'.

See: Dialer\Call Settings\Call Alert\Alerts on call - uncheck this and calls will not be interrupted with notifications.


android how to remove white square shortcut icon from screen I am using phone with android 4.4.4 version. yesterday suddenly one white square appeared on my screen which looks like shortcuts for keys. It is very much annoying as it appears in all screens, no matter which application I am using. I want to remove/disable it as it permanently.

I searched a lot on internet and I tried to check in settings also but nothing worked out. please help me as this is too irritating. I wonder how google could make such bad feature. Please find the screenshots below.

Problem marked in red circle.

When I click on square button

Please note , There is no mobility tab under my "settings>System>accessibility>"

Since your phone is a Lenovo, as can be seen from your screenshots. The feature is called as Wide Touch which adds a floating button on your screen, allowing quick access to system functions.

You can disable Wide Touch in your device's settings. I cannot talk about the exact location of the setting, but for most Lenovo phones, it is in Settings > Features > Wide Touch.

The feature can be list item within settings or a separate tab. So, please look carefully through the settings.

Here is the link to Lenovo website explaining the feature for S90 smartphone. Your P70 might have it the same way or with minor changes.
https://support.lenovo.com/in/en/solutions/ht102904


How can I download a torrent to the SD card using BitTorrent? How can I download a torrent to the SD card using BitTorrent?
I tried to go to Settings -> Default Download Folder, but I can't see to be allowed to browse to the SD storage location (see error below when I click on the back arrow):

I use BitTorrent.

Saving to SD card  isn't officially supported - this is not documented in the support (at least, I couldn't find it) but it's mentioned in reply to user review (user name - Sujeet)