Music and Ringtones no longer found - Nexus 5 with Lollipop I have a stock Nexus 5 with 5.1.1

Since last Friday, Google Play Music can no longer access music put in the Music folder AND my custom ringtones which are in Ringtones folder can no longer be found.

I've rebooted countless times.
I've tried to Clear Cache and memory for Google Play Music
I've tried to Clear cache for Storage
I tried to use Android File Transfer to download the songs again but it won't even start
I've used a File Manager app to confirm the files are in there
I've used Poweramp and it is able to play the music
If using File Manager, I tap on a song, Google Play Music can actually play it.

My next step would be to reset my phone but I really don't want to go there.

I ended up trying the following
1) Looking at the logs. Saw no smoking gun
2) Clearing the memory on the media storage. That didn't do it. Wasn't a good idea either. It couldn't see the pictures I had taken after the issue started.
3) Resetting the phone and restoring from backup. That did it. Bit painful.


Facebook videos playing in low quality I recently purchased a new phone that uses android 8.0, whilst viewing a video on Facebook the thumbnail is clear and then when the video starts the video becomes very pixelated. The issue only occurs when using Facebook mobile app, the Facebook website streaming is in full hd.

I have tried setting my default preferences to hd when available but doesn't make a difference. My WiFi speed is not an issue neither.

I am starting to think that this could be a app/android settings issue?

Thanks!

I think this could be due to 2 reasons:

The videos you are playing are not available in a better quality. Or;
Facebook thinks that your connection is slower and hence reduces the playback quality.

You can see that it is not the 2nd by manually choosing a playback quality:

When you play a video and tap on the player, a gear icon should appear. And here you'll get the quality options.
Consider changing it from Automatic to one of the available qualities and see if that improves the playback.


Is there a way to turn an app into a floating one? I want to search a specific installed dictionary app which is on my device while I'm reading a book in the Kindle app.  Is there a way to turn an app into a floating app?  Anything even close to this idea even exists?

Note: I'm aware of pre-made floating dictionaries but I'm looking to use the one I have.

OS: 4.1
S3

Kindle has a built-in dictionary that you can download. When you highlight a word, it shows the meaning to you. Is that not good enough?

Screenshot (click for larger variant)


Can I enable USB debugging using adb? I own a Samsung Galaxy S3 and the display is broken and USB debugging is set to off too.

How can I enable it using ./adb commands? I have done these steps already:

data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db changed adb_enabled value from 0 to 1.
Also edited build.prop in /system.

After doing all this, the phone seems bricked, it's not turning on.
All I want to do is enable USB debugging and connect it to Vysor(beta) so I could control it on my computer.

I got it to work :)

NOTE: This requires unlocked bootloader.

Connect the device to Mac or PC in recovery mode. (I had to map the
process in my mind as the screen was broken).
Now open terminal/CMD in computer and go to platform-tools/. type
and enter ./adb devices to check if the device is connected in
recovery mode.
Now type ./adb shell mount data and ./adb shell mount system to mount the
respective directories.
Get the persist.sys.usb.config file in your system using ./adb pull /data/property/persist.sys.usb.config /Your directory
Now open that file in a texteditor and edit it to mtp,adb and save.
Now push the file back in the device; ./adb push /your-directory/persist.sys.usb.config /data/property
Get the build.prop file; ./adb pull /system/build.prop /your-directory
Add these lines:

persist.service.adb.enable=1
persist.service.debuggable=1
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb
Push build.prop back into the device; ./adb push /your-dir/build.prop /system/

This way you enabled USB debugging on your device. But you still can't connect. Why? Because it asks for RSA verification. If you could view your display then you could easily tap on YES to authorize the device. I am currently figuring out to bypass this. I want to revive my dead phone badly.
If you know any way to do this, please share :)


USB malfunction and rooting of my Samsung SIII (GT-I9305) I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII (GT-I9305), and here are my problem(s). It can't be detected by PC via USB (not showing on device manager, odin, kies, not even charging) but it is charging when connected thru a charger. Is the micro-usb port damaged? I don't think so because but it can detect my flash drive via USB OTG. I already tried reinstalling correct drivers, tried different cables, tried different USB port, factory reset both from settings and recovery menu.

How can I fix this?

Also, I'm wondering if I can still attain root access/permission even without USB connection but thru terminal emulator?

This sounds like either only one or even both central connectors of your phone's micro-USB port are broken. Charging only uses the outer ones which let's you use the charger.
If I assume that by detecting your flash drive you haven't accessed it, then it's this.

You are able to root your device (I got the same one) without a USB connection using TowelRoot, FramaRoot or a flashable .zip (visit xda-developers for more info(1) or (2))


I have android 7 but i cant locate factory reset protection(FRP) I have android 7 on my device but i am cant find how i can enable FRP.

I was thinking that all devices above 5 have FRP protection app as the settings ought to have cloud and accounts menu that i can find the FRP support.

Is this to be expected?.

The Factory Reset Protection (FRP) is invisible and if it is present always active.

You only have to add one Google Account into the Android account list to "bind" your device to this account.

If the factory reset protection works or not you will only see if you perform a factory reset of such a device. If after the factory reset it asks for the password of that Google account it is active.


ADB without USB connection The micro-USB port of my Xperia Arc with ICS it's broken. How can I enter to ADB by wireless, without connecting the cable? I am not root, and I need to enter to ADB to root my phone. I can connect to my phone from my PC by SSH. Or there's a another way to root it?

There are apps out there to help you do this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.exi.adbmngr&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.naooh.adbwireless&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.com.wxtech.adbwireless
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.easyadb

as far as I know, this is the only way to use ADB without using a USB cable. All of these apps however, require root.

If I were in your situation, I would try to get the warranty on the device. It would be a lot of screwing around to get and working without a USB cable. If you try rooting your device and you mess it up, you risk bricking the device all together, which then voids your warranty. I would at least try to get the warranty, the worst that could happen is they say no.

Hope this helped!


LOTS of red pixels Meizu M2 I've had lots of red pixels with my Meizu M2 (Flyme 5.1.6.0G) when I increased luminosity
I tried JScreenFix with luminosity at 100% but I just got some more when luminosity is at 0%...
Anyone knows how to fix this ?
Thanks.

PS: It does not appear in screenshots

I just had to make the color temperature a bit colder... and I see no red pixels, and rarely some blue ones !


removed as member of a group where I was the admin after reinstalling whatsapp after it crashed! I was the only admin in the group that I made, now after the app crashed and I reinstalled it - It says "Error you are not a participant in this group"

So that means the group exists without any admin? How do I reinstate myself as admin and get the group back? Do I have to make it all over again & lose all the old messages we had going over all this period of time?

Now there can be more than one admin for a WhatsApp group. If you choose to delete the group (where you are the sole admin) and remove yourself, one of the member in the group is selected in random and that member will become the new admin.

In this case, somehow your account got deactivated. Hence you were removed from the group. Someone else in the group will be the admin now.  You can ask the current admin to add you back and make you admin.


Can't see my device in Droid Explorer But my device still could be seen in adb devices, it said
List of devices attached
DU2TAN1581059861        device

I've turned on usb debugging and MTP mode on my android.

Screenshot:

The format of the info returned by the

  adb devices -l

Appears to have changed. So the regular expression extracting the info doesn't work any more.

I have worked out a new one, but haven't worked out how to submit the change into the github repo.


Backup without computer or cloud A desktop or server computer can be backed up, in whole or part, with only 3 components: the computer, backup software, and a connected storage device.

How do I accomplish the same for an Android device?

All of the answers and discussions I've come across so far rely on having a PC or a cloud service or both present.

A complete answer collection would include bare metal backup and restore, but for the moment I'm most interested in backup of user data, that is everything added and configured after one logs in to new device for the first time. Apps installed, docs and settings for those apps; wallpaper, icon and launcher layout, and so on.

There should be at least some ability to pick and choose what to restore from the backup archive.

I'm on Lollipop 5.1, but please don't feel need to restrict to that version unless necessary. I am partial to using sdcard as backup storage destination, while being open to other possibilities such as a USB device or LAN share.

As Bharat G noted, I don't see a single solution either. nandroid (clockworkmod is a custom recovery) backup comes close to what you want but it is more or less disk imaging and different custom recoveries uses varied formats to store the images so expect no coherency here.
Overall, whatever you do after logging in the device the very first time after a factory reset, the changes  are saved inside:

/data (custom settings of Android, apps installed, their own custom settings, other miscellaneous things such as logs, accounts info, Wi-Fi credentials) -- called userdata, and

/mnt/ or /storage/ (the location where user media is stored such as docs, music, videos, and so on) -- Internal and External storage, in short.
See what's inside /data here or on  Android Folder Hierarchy.

You need or need not to worry about the user media, as long as you know what factory reset will delete. For example, in some devices, factory reset will nuke both /data/ and internal SD card. In some other devices, you can choose to leave internal SD card (/data/media) intact while resetting the device.
Coming back to Nandroid backup, the option to backup user media is not provided in a custom recovery but you should be able to back it up using a custom script. That would  use dd IMO. Where you would  save it if the storage doesn't have enough space is altogether different matter to consider here.

There should be at least some ability to pick and choose what to restore from the backup archive.

The default options  to choose what to restore or backup in a custom recovery comes down to partitions only. There is no granular control such as to select specific files. A custom script would definitely and immensely help you though.
As GreenRaccoon23 noted, there are apps which can ease the pain.
(Requires root):

Apps like Titanium Backup can selectively backup and restore  the apps and few other miscellaneous settings.
Apps such as Nandroid Manager can let you peek into a Nandroid backup but don't expect much since it just opens the backup in read-only mode. For example, if you're unaware about where an app is located inside the backup, then this app won't be of much use to you.
Helium - App Sync and Backup  and My Backup Pro may also help a bit.


How to get my lost pics from my vaulty of samsung s5360? I'm user of samsung galaxy y s5360.I suddenly lost my vaulty app from my phone.I have kept my backup.When i tried to install it again,it is showing a parase error.how to get back my pics from vaulty?

I found that my phone had randomly uninstalled Vaulty one day and was worried i had lost my pictures.

I was able to install Vaulty from the play store again with the same pin and i was able to access my photos again.

If you can't do this i would suggest the following.

Transfer the encrypted files to your computer or another device
Restore your phone back to factory defaults
Re-install Vaulty using the same pin from the `play store'
Transfer your files back to the original location
Launch Vaulty and you should see your pictures again

If you supply us with your android version we can add more detail to the instructions.


Is deleting framaroot app will compromise or delete as well the root permission in my android device? I'm using security as my antivirus, and whenever it updates, ot always scan framaroot app as a virus/riskware. Can I just delete framaroot app in my device and won't compromise my root?

Yes you can safely uninstall Framaroot, without compromising root. Since the file is so small it really isn't necessary.

Your " security " app will always detect a virus on an app that roots. Reasoning is it is using an exploit on a vulnerability in the OS.


Changing contact to canonical form (adding + country_code) I am using Samsung Galaxy S2. Is there any automated way or app to change all my contacts with appropriate country code into canonical form.

I just found that lot of my contact are there without the country code. And few apps like whatsapp, viber etc does not recognize the contact unless + is appended with country code.

Is there any better way to do it than editing all my contacts?

You can try syncing your phone contacts with Gmail, preferably into a group.

Then use Gmail's web interface to export that group into a Google CSV format, use a text editor to replace ",00xxx" with ",+xxx" (and do any other editing while you're at it) in the CSV file, and reimport into Gmail.


Finding my Google email and password. I've made too many accounts I really need help because I just got this tablet for Christmas and only had it for 2 weeks.

I wanted to set the security on facelock, so I didn't have to remember the password. Instead, I set it to a pattern and I forgot that I had to use my email if I got it wrong, which I did.

I can't remember my emails or passwords. I made too many email accounts, and the passwords were very similar to each other. I really want this thing to work. I went through my mind trying to remember the emails and their passwords. As you can see, I have failed.

Please help me. I'm only 12.

I don't think there is an easy way to know which email address you used, afaik. But if you have an idea on which email address it could be. You could try to retrieve your password using the options below. Once you have the right password, you can try this to unlock your phone.

You can open Google on your pc and try to log in there. Try the password recovery options on the site. Passwords are made to be secure, so trying to recover them is something that was made hard on purpose. You don't want other people to be able to recover your password.

If you have set a main recovery email address on Google. You can use this option to recover your password. But this will probably be clear if you push the "Can't access your account?" link on the site.

Also a tip for the future: try not to make too many new email addresses, try to reuse the old ones. And if you do have to make new email addresses, try to have a system in the passwords: eg. 'password' + 'key' + 'password', where the key is something unique for the email address like the last 2 letters or something. There are an infinite amount of other possible systems like this one and if you make one up yourself (that you can remember) it is even more secure.

Or just use a password manager like LastPass.
And besides that, it is always best to have 1 main email address, so you can use my second recovery option.

I hope this is the answer to your question and helps you.


Why does adb work only while the tablet boots? I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab.  When I type "adb devices" or "adb shell", it works while the tablet is booting up - showing the Samsung logo or animation - but once the orange lock screen shows, the connection breaks and adb exits.   I've tried unplugging and plugging the USB cable, fiddling with settings and configurations,

According to answers to other questions I've asked, adb ought to work just fine anytime the tablet is on.  Maybe for others, but not for me.

Hint: it's not anything to do with udev. I took care of the udev rules thing along ago. Here is my udev rules file:

=> cat /etc/udev/rules.d/80-gtab.rules
# Samsung GT-P7510/Galaxy Tab 10.1
ACTION!="add", GOTO="gtab_rules_end"
SUBSYSTEM!="usb|usb_device", GOTO="gtab_usb_end"
ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", ATTR{idProduct}=="6860", SYMLINK+="gtab" MODE="777"

I've restarted udev with "cd /etc/init.d ; ./udev restart" (or something similar) and I see /dev/gtab, created by this udev rule.  I've tried other rules that don't involve /dev/gtab, different variations found on the web.

One time, the app gmtp actually ran, let me see the file system and copy many files, so I know it's possible.  I don't recall exactly what I did to make it happen. But I have been using the exact same udev rule file ever since.

I've been googling and experimenting for over a month now, and except for that one lucky time, haven't gotten adb to work reliably.

Main question:  What are some ways to diagnose this problem of the usb connection breaking when the tablet gets past boot-up?

If you have WiFi access in your place and the tablet is rooted, you can try adbWireless to see if adb runs well in your tablet. If it works then the problem may be your broken usb cable or usb connector.


Is Google Earth available for Android phones? I saw a list of top free apps in a magazine. Yeah, one of those old fashioned things with glossy paper made from dead trees. Anyway, the SPARQCode yielded an app not found message from Android Market. I'm guessing that means it used to be available? Do you know if it is available, was available, or will be available in the future?

Google Earth is definitely available, I can see it in my Market right now, however it needs Android 2.1 as a minimum to work, so if your phone is running an older version of the OS, then you won't be able to see it as the market hides apps that it knows definitely won't work on your phone.

See the note at the bottom of this page, where it says that it requires 2.1 http://www.google.com/mobile/earth/


Is there a common GPS cache on Android? From what I understood about Android securty all applications are separated by different user-accounts and different filesystem locations.

BUT: After GPS-test has fixed my location for the first time after powerup, all other applications will fix very fast. My conclusion: This has to be something not in Android user space.

So how does this work?

If every app had to interpret the raw GPS input itself, it would be very silly. Different apps would duplicate the same effort of decoding and interpreting the GPS input to compute a location. Different apps would end up using different libraries to do it, so each app might end up with a different idea of your location.

Instead, the process of interpreting the GPS data to compute with a location is handled centrally in Android itself. The Android system offers an interface for apps to query the location without having to worry about the details of whether it came from GPS, cell towers, or Wi-Fi networks.

This way, only the Android system has to compute the location, using any possible sources, it can give this location to many apps without duplicating effort, and (as you've noticed) each app doesn't have to start from scratch to compute the location. More recent Android versions also do clever tricks like giving a less precise location to apps that have the "approximate (network-based) location" permission but not the "precise (GPS) location" permission, regardless of which methods were actually used to determine the location.

Internally, this works with what's called a bound system service: an IPC mechanism for different processes to receive data from the service that actually computes the location. The service does run in user space, not inside the kernel, and like any other Android app it runs inside its own process. (Only the very low levels of the GPS receiver driver run inside the kernel.) The details of that are well beyond the scope of this site, but if you're interested, you can learn more by reading the Location Strategies page in the official Android Developers' Guide.


Sharing emails / open in browser from Inbox/Gmail apps? Is it possible to share emails from the GMail or Inbox apps?  The content of the intent isn't incredibly important.  It could be the full content of the email or be limited to the subject line or even just be a HTTP link to that email on gmail.com.

Alternatively:

Is it possible to open an email in the browser from GMail / Inbox?  There are numerous possibilities in that case.

I'm sure there's no feature as such. But there are ways you can "share".

Text: Click and hold to select text.

Images and similar attachments: Click to preview/Download.

Then you can use the Share menu to send it to other apps or Copy to Clipboard.

Then there's the Screenshot option. Depending on your phone model, the key combination to take a shot may vary.

--

Some emails contain a text logically written as Open in browser. That's rare, though.


Why don't see notifications on 5.0.2 Android update for Sony Z3 Compact Just updated to latest 5.0.2 Android on my Z3 compact, but noticed I cannot see any notifications for any apps on the lock screen.  I have tried all settings (show all, not show sensitive etc.) for "when device is locked" setting, but nothing shows up.  Could someone help provide a step-by-step guide on getting notifications to show on the lock screen?  This is extremely frustrating for me, especially if I have to enter my PIN to get the home screen just to look at notifications...  Thanks.

I think the problem is that you are using the PIN lock screen. Try changing to something else and hopefully it will work.

I also faced this problem and it disappeared when I changed the lock screen type.


Bluetooth dongle support for Ubislate 9ci tablet I purchased a new tablet Datawind Ubislate 9ci. It is a 9 inch no-bluetooth tablet.

Details:

Android 4.1.1
Rock chip RK2928
Linux kernel version 3.0.36+

I want to attach a Bluetooth dongle to this tablet. I have micro USB OTG cable and Bluetooth USB 2.0. Please suggest and guide me on how to do this, with download links to ROM, firmware, etc.

I found a software from Google Play and it is recognising the BT USB 2.0, but it is not connecting to the tablet  I have run the USB host diagnostics; everything is showing "yes".

The BT Dongle is recognised by USB host controller version 0.44 from Google Play Store. It is showing as below:

  under info: s3c usb host driver not found ! Root hub present, usb host
  mode is active

  under usb: 2-1 0179:0bda Realtek 802.11n NIC

  1-1 0001:0a12 Bluetooth v 2.0 Bluetooth v 2.0 dongle

As per your doubt, BT dongle is not recognised by "Android". This BT dongle, when plugged to Windows XP computer, it is recognised by computer.

According to some sources, Bluetooth dongle support was added in Android 4.2.2, and it requires some effort from the ROM developers, so it's not in every Android version. You should either ask the manufacturer for a ROM that supports BT dongles, or try to find a custom ROM like CyanogenMod for your device that has the support.

Sources: Does Android 4.2.2 support usb bluetooth dongle?

Bluetooth dongle via OTG


pendrive was working well on tablet, before formating..but now not showing data My 8 GB pendrive was working well on my android 2.3 tablet, before formating..but now not showing data on usb through tablet(but showing all files on PC/Laptop); Yesterday I've formated that pendrive in NTFS file system after that it is not showing usb data(detecting usb-but no data; I again re-formated using FAT32 file system then also tablet is not showing data through USB/pendrive...
Need your help ...

use partition manager. make partition in un-allocated space of pen drive then save the same. now pen drive works.


Add a friend in Line by username without ID or phone number In the Line app, Is it possible to search for friends by their username without ID or phone number?

There is no such functionality due to privacy reasons. Your only options are ID, QR Code or phone number.


How to find the app that causes crashes? Where should I begin the hunt for the cause of crashes / reboots when logging apps do not work anymore?

As can be seen in this video from the Google I/O conference, in Jelly Bean applications can no longer read the system log for other applications, they can only read their own log. This has broken most (all?) system log readers, here's a blog post from a developer of such an application talking about how it has affected his application.

The only way to have an app read other apps system log entries when using Jelly Bean is to root the phone.

Although other apps can't read the log files it is apparently possible to do it from the PC, try giving LogShark a go.


How to delete a file once it is created by an app? This question applies to any file created by an app, but this is the description of my problem.

I have an app installed in my phone that creates a .nomedia file in the root of my storage every time a specific action happens in the app. This causes all media files on my phone not to appear in gallery applications because the media scanner ignores everything.

I have contacted the app but they still did not have managed to solve that problem. What I want to know then is if there is a way to immediately delete the .nomedia file as soon as it is created by the app.

Monitoring a directory for a newly created or modified file is a simple task for an app as Android provides an API for doing so.

Therefore a lot of apps include file monitoring capabilities, such as Automate or Tasker. In these apps you can monitor the file as add a trigger to delete the file that will be executed immediately when the file is created.


Android integration with Mac OS X Is there a way to connect Android phone with OS X Yosemite, just like (or similar) iOS does? Apple - OS X Yosemite - Mac + iOS Continuity.

I'm aware of AirDroid | Delight Your Multi-Screen Life, but I'm looking for other alternatives...

For Calendar, Contact  data and other iTunes sync features are supported by AirDroid as suggested in this Android Authority article :Using Android with Mac OS X: tips and recommendations

For calls, SMS and other notifications try Pushbullet.


android virtual memory support I want to know if android supports virtual memory concept.I know windows supports virtual memory but what about android? Do our android phones store less used data out of RAM?

Android doesn't use virtual memory (in the sense you mean) by default, because it has a higher-level mechanism. Transparently writing pages of memory to flash storage is bad for battery life (and for the life of your flash storage, which can only handle a certain number of writes) and performance, especially since the application has no control over which parts of memory are "paged out".

Instead, Android manages memory using the same mechanism it uses to decide when to terminate apps that are no longer running. When it finds it needs to free up some RAM, it chooses an app that was cached (one that isn't currently in use). It terminates this app to free its RAM, but first, it gives that app's activities a chance to save some state by writing it to storage.

By making the app explicitly choose what to save to storage, instead of just saving the whole of that app's RAM contents, Android can reduce the amount it has to write from storage and later read back. This saves storage, and saves battery power and time, because each write to and read from storage costs time and power.

Of course, Android is based on Linux, and uses virtual memory in other ways not visible to the user. Android systems must have an MMU, so apps use virtual, not physical, addresses. This protects apps from having their private data in RAM read by other apps, which is necessary for a secure system. It also uses Linux's delayed-commit to save memory: when a process asks for more memory, it only gets pages of physical memory when it actually uses them. Virtual memory also allows memory-mapped access to files in the filesystem and to memory-mapped hardware. None of this is anything to do with swap files, but it means it's not quite accurate to say that Android doesn't use virtual memory.

You can enable swap on Android: see this related question for more details. It's not recommended to do so in most cases, because it defeats the memory-saving mechanism described above. Adding a swap partition will make the battery run down faster, wear out your flash storage faster, and make the system less responsive. You'd only want to do it if you absolutely must run an app that requires more RAM than your device has.


How can I wipe data with no display ( e.g. magnet )? I dropped my phone and broke the LCD. Now I can turn the phone on ( I feel the little quick vibrate that happens when you power the phone on ) but I have no display at all.

I got a replacement with the insurance plan, but I need to send the broken phone back. How can I wipe my data? Can I just rub a magnet all over it? How big a magnet?

Any other options? I thought about trying to navigate to the bootloader's reset function without being able to actually see what I'm doing, but I won't know if I succeed or not, and there are a few menus to navigate.

I also was going to ssh to the phone, but apparently I never made it so sshd starts automatically ( doh! ).

Any ideas?

Go to recovery mode of device and wipe data from there. In recovery mode, you need to work with physical keys (touchscreen doesn't work in this mode even in normal situation). Generally, volume keys are used for navigation and home key for Enter/OK.

How to click wipe data option when I can't see it.
See YouTube video of your recovery mode or check it in your friends' device. You can really do it after learning series of keys which needs to be pressed. E.g. down key 5 times, then home key, then down key 3 times and again home key.

How to ensure I am in Recovery Mode when I miss it many times even after proper key combination?
After you think you should be in recovery, leave device idle. If you hear boot music, remove battery, re-insert it and try again.

How about SSH/FTP?
Its very difficult without working touchscreen because it needs particular app/service running on device.

What about other physics based methods like magnetic wiping?
What you see in hacking movies can't be applied in real world. Particularly, powerful magnets can affect data on hard disks. Device storage doesn't store data using magnetic attributes.
Even if you find something which could wipe data such way, I'd strongly not recommend it because there's no reason why it can't damage hardware capabilities if it can wipe data from flash storage. In the last, this part is off-topic on this site.


Does Nexus One have support for EGNOS? I wounder if my Nexus One has support for EGNOS? to get better GPS accuracy. If I check the GPS Accuracy value, it's sometimes 2 or 3m which is pretty good.

I'm going to say no.

From the article you linked, EGNOS is primarily designed for airborne use and has limited ground applications.
EGNOS looks to be designed more for commercial applications (e.g. embedded navigation systems in vehicles, airline, etc.), not so much consumer devices
Nexus One's GPS is provided from the QualCom QSD8250 "SnapDragon" chip (specs). The specs for that chip do not mention any WAAS capabilities. Furthermore, there aren't any Qualcom chips listed on the EGNOS registered devices list.

If I'm wrong about the chip, then it should just be a matter of software to enable it. I haven't seen anything like that in the Android source, but that doesn't mean it isn't hiding there or in some third party bolt-on.

What the Nexus DOES use to improve both response time and accurace is A-GPS (Assisted GPS). This basically just means it us using the presence of other location clues (cellular towers, wifi networks, etc) to help triangulate a better/faster position.

You can see this in action with the Google Maps application. If you have GPS enabled and WiFi disabled and open the maps application, it will prompt you to turn on WiFi, even if you're not connected to a network. It uses a location database of wifi hotspots to help get a fix on your position, similar to Skyhook


How can I set custom notifications? I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running ICS, and I want to be able to set individual sounds for various notifications (Gmail, Facebook, texts, etc).

How can I go about making that happen? I looked in the sound settings, and that only allows me to change the default notification sound and my ringtone.

Typically the apps themselves will need to provide a setting wherein you can pick a notification sound to use. I am not aware of any global settings that will allow you to set per-app notification sounds.

As an example, in Gmail you can go into the settings (use the overflow menu - the 3 vertical dots - and select "Settings") and select an account from the list. Then within the account's settings tap on the notification setting right under the "Email notifications" checkbox. This will allow you to pick a different ringtone for emails on that account.

You can then repeat this process for any other apps you have installed.


Can one "saferoot" 4.4.2? I know that a Samsung 4.3 can be rooted using a method called saferoot. What it does is find a security hole in the OS and performs a "privilege escalation" on the process.

The advantage of this is that it doesn't touch the ROM and has little risk of bricking one's phone.

I assume that they fixed this specific exploit in 4.4.2. I want to know if there is another method like this?

Technically speaking there's no completely safe rooting of any devices, this is because rooting allows complete access to device files. So rooting no there's no really 'safe' way. You can however root your phone and then just be careful with what you install and do on your phone. I honestly don't see much of a reason to root a phone, but if you want to then just be careful. Also there had not been a release of saferoot and probably won't be for awhile due to Android 4.4 KitKat still being a fairly new OS.


Backup Homescreen shortcuts I have a Galaxy S5. Last time I updated the OS, all my homescreen shortcuts and widgets were deleted and restored to the factory default, and it took an hour or 2 to set everything back the way it was.

Now Android is harassing me with another update, and I don't want to go through that process again.

Is there an easy/cheap way to backup my shortcuts and widgets before updating again? All the backup apps I've seen recommended cost money, have a bunch of features I don't need, and might not work with my Android version (I have Android 4.4.2).

You might be able to do it  (++) with Helium or My backup which are available on Google Play,  they both have a free version and a premium version , if you've updated to Android 5.0 like me your probably out of luck because the home screen has been locked down in "Lollipop" I did however get my wallpaper back by using Samsung Smart Switch but not short cuts though
 (++ I don't know for sure  if it can be done in 4.4.2 "Kitkatt" because I never got a chance to try it )

Good luck , Sonny .


How to display a contact address on Google maps offline? For each contact there is a personal address field which can be filled with informations like street name, city, country, and so on. The problem is that in order to display these informations on a map, Google maps have to do an online search to get the coordinates. How can I use this feature offline ?

Short answer is: you can't.

The feature relies on a service called geocoding, which is done on Google's servers. The only possibility for this to be done locally would be to download the entire map data to the device and use that data to calculate the coordinates from an address. This is a resource and space consuming task (for example, OpenStreetMap has a dataset of 370GB), and not suitable for mobiles.

A workaround would be to save the coordinates themselves as a street address in the form latitude,longitude, e.g. 62.244858,25.758712 in addition to the regular address and use this "address" to show the map. The catch is, you'd still have to use a geocoder to resolve the address to coordinates.

All address fields are sent to Google to be resolved, that's why the workaround I suggested is invalid.


PDF reader with text wrapping Is there any PDF reader in the market that has text wrap functionality?
What I'm talking about is the way text wraps when you zoom-in on a webpage.

Most of the PDFs are meant to be read on a computer monitor, so a line of text in a PDF document is too long for a small phone screen. And scrolling horizontally for each line is too much of a pain.

I am pretty sure Mantano Reader and ezPDF do this as well. I recommend the former though.


i have a SPICE COOLPAD MI 515 AND I CANT ACCESS TO MY STORAGE i had not rooted my phone yet but i tried storage swaping intern to ex. but after editing vold.fstab sdcard0 to sdcard1 and restarted my phone. I loss access to my storage after the said restart So how can i get back my storage external as well as phone storage because both does not shown give me suggestion for unrooted phone.

You could try editing the file over an ADB interface.
You can install the appropriate drivers and the ADB Interface, and then use a program called PuTTYTray: https://puttytray.goeswhere.com . There, you can use the built-in Linux text editor using the command called vi to edit the vold.fstab file to return your device to its original configuration.


Android raw Memo files from PC back to android I used file transfer to copy the contents of my Galaxy S5 to my PC, thinking I had effectively "backed up" the data, then traded in the phone.

I had important notes about my daughter's first year (milestones, etc) saved in the Memo app. And of course, I'm now realizing I hadn't backed it up properly.

There seems to be a way to be able to get the files, as indicated in this post:
Anyone know where memos are stored on a Samsung Galaxy S6?

I can work with XML files, and have tried to pay someone to extract this data, but nobody seems to understand what I've done or what I need. These memos are so important to me ... can anyone with expertise recommend a professional that I can pay to solve this?

You deleted the memo files on the pc also? If you're just trying to get them back to your phone it seems the easiest way would be to email them to yourself. The files should be in (.smm). Hope this helps


Internal Memory does not show up in the Computer(file Explorer) I have Samsung GT-I19082 Galaxy Grand duos. When I connect it to my computer, it does not show the internal memory nor sdcard memory. When I switch to Camera memory option in the Phone, internal memory shows up in the PC, but it does not let me transfer data.

What can I do?

First ensure you have a good connection between phone and PC.  After you have connected,  unlock your phone and open the status bar.  There you should have a notification that reads "USB for charging" select it.  A dialog will pop up giving you a list of options.  Select the option "File transfers"  With this option selected you should be able to see "Internal storage" on your PC.


Why failing to get notifications of Stackexchange app in Notification Bar of Andoid 6.0? I receive no notifications of Stackexchange -app in Android 6.0 and/or CyanogenMod 13 in Notification Bar.
Confirmed that the bug is existing also in Android 6.0 [MarkCh].
Characteristics

not phone dependent because I can reproduce the problem in two CM13 in two different phones
OS independent, since occurs in stock Android 6.0 and CM13
likely Stackexchange -app specific
not internet gadget specific (Pebble, Xiaomi Mi Band 2)

Fig. 1 Stackexchange app in App Notifications, Fig. 2 Notification Access view without Stackexchange app, since I cannot install it

I contacted the developer of the application by email. I also voted with one-star the application to raise awareness about the problem, which has been now more than one year in the application with Android 6.0.

Phone: Oneplus 2, Samsung Galaxy S4 gt-i9506
OS: Android 6.0, Cyanogenmod 13 official nightly, CM13 Temasek's Rom

Bug of the application with some hardware in Android 6. Update OS to Android 7 or 8 which are better supported.


show carrier name on status bar (galaxy A5 2016) I have a Samsung galaxy A5 2016, and I would like to know if somebody knows how to activate to show the carrier name in the status bar.
I have searched in the entire menu (settings) but I cannot find this option.

I would appreciate your help!

Thank you in advance

I've been trying to do the same to my devices, and after extensive searching it looks like the only way out is to root and modify the SystemUI yourself. Refer here and here for steps on how to do this. This still works as of Android 6.0.

This will be even harder to do on Samsung phones, because their framework is tightly integrated and you might not even be able to decompile the framework in the first place.


Inbox shows 2 emails but nothing is there when viewing my email folders (inbox, sent, trash etc.) it shows I have 2 emails in my inbox, when in fact there are none.  When a new email come in it shows three, but there is only one.  What gives?

Try searching in:inbox is:unread.

Just input this in search bar. This means "in the inbox search for unread mail".
If you want let's say change from inbox to sent, it would be in:sent is:unread


Sharing internet on Kitkat 4.4.2 Presently i am using dual sim card (Grameen phone and Bangla Link) network in phone internet purpose, I have purchase internet package of 4GB data. Now I want to use this sim card internet 4GB data to my pc windows. My android phone verson is 4.4.2, So how can use this 4 GB data pack in computer. Please send me the procedure of using internet through USB cable (between phone sim net to computer).

Instead of using internet through usb, you can also try using internet on your PC by connecting your phone to PC via bluetooth. I haven't tried accessing internet using usb cable, but the bluetooth method works fine.


Processes are closing after removing the SD card I have removed the SD card from my phone and now my phone is not working.

All phone related processes are force closing. I have cleaned my cache and did 'Fix Permission' via Recovery but the processes are still force closing.

I have installed and customized a number of apps and I don't want to Factory Reset it. Is there an option to fix the issue without doing factory reset?

Getting the same SD card content back is not an option since the card was formatted.
My phone is Huawei Honor 3C and I am using TWRP recovery on it.
I have already checked all the questions here: https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=SD+Card+Removed+Unexpectedly

Update:
The problem is back after inserting the SIM card. I cleared cache/data of Phone and SIM Toolkit but the issue is still there.

2nd Update:
I installed a new ROM since there's no help available.

You should try Clear Data for the relevant apps.  If that doesn't work, I do think that your only real option is a factory reset (which is more or less like a Clear Data for everything on the phone).  If you are rooted you can back up yours apps and data, and after the factory reset you can restore one app at a time — if there are no issues, great, but if there are then you know exactly what app/data caused the issue.


factory reset of a Huawei Ascend H881C My google play store is not working. Every time I go to download an app, it says no connectivity. I was told that I would have to reset my phone, but I'm scared that it will delete everything. I can't download backup apps because I can't even get on google play. I'm really sad and frustrated because I don't know what to do. Please help! Thanks. (:

You can first try to do this :
Go to setting > manage application> google playstore > clear data

if that wont stop your problem,

you can download BackUp apps from many other sites on line.
try 1mobile market or MoboMarket etc.

If your phone is rooted, try titanium backup
http://www.papktop.com/titanium-backup-%e2%98%85-root-5-5-0-1.html

You need to enable 'Unknown Sources' in Setting > Security tab in order to install apps not from play store.


On Alarm Clock Plus, what does "Allow auto snooze/dismiss" mean? How do I use these features and can they both be used on one alarm?

Snooze - Instead of shutting the alarm off, it would pause it allowing you to sleep for few more minutes. If you see your settings, you could notice the snooze minutes viz - 5, 10, 15 minutes and you can also keep custom minutes.
When the alarm rings and you feel like having a quick 5 min extended sleep, you hit the snooze option. This comes handy since you dont need to wakeup, set another alarm for next 5-10 minute and doze off.

Dismiss - This cancels/shuts the alarm down for that day & time.
You click on the dismiss option when you are ready to ware up!

Auto Snooze
That means if there isn't any action (if you don't hit the snooze options) system automatically snooze and again the alarm rings after the x minutes as per the snooze interval. If this auto snooze is not set, you would probably get a notification as "missed alarm". I just updated the answer aswell.

Hope that helps!


How to get rid of ad-ware I've recently installed some games from Google Play Store. Then I uninstalled them all using application manager. The problem is now an advertisement popup appears now and then which stays on top for about 30 seconds and then a close button appears which lets me close it.

How can I get rid of this malware? device is a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0.

You can turn off your mobile data while playing the games. Settings > More Settings > Mobile Networks > Deselect "Mobile Data"

But with this, you can't sign in to Google Play Games service (if available in the game).


The speaker won't work for my Nexus 4 My phone was working fine until one day I left it outside for a few minutes. I went back inside and checked my phone. I tried to watch YouTube but it had no sounds.

Did you phone get wet, or really hot? Connect a headset, if it doesn't play sound at all, reboot your phone.


Allowing alarms to sound during calling states ( phone / skype / Discord ) How can I allow alarms to sound off while my phone is in a calling state?

When I'm not in a call alarms sound as you'd expect them to.
When I am in a ( Skype, Discord, Phone ) call the phone simply plays a "beep" sound instead of actually sounding off the alarm.

I have the Phone call alerts setting "notify during calls" enabled, but it doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever.

I'm using the default clock app for the alarm, so it's fairly unlikely that it's an issue with the alarm registering itself with the system as an alarm ;p

I'm tentatively confident that this only started after updating to Android 6, but I don't actually have anything factual to back that up.

If it helps, I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900V

I've spent several hours researching this and thus far I've been unable to locate a solution. I feel like it might be related to an Android in-call audio policy, but I'm hoping it's not ( because that would mean that it's not something that I can change. )

There's an app called AMdroid that let's me do it. Very late answer but eh. You have to go into the setting and to the global settings and "in-laws behavior" there's an option for ringing while on call you just have to let the app have permission to do it. Hope that helps

Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amdroidalarmclock.amdroid


Phone is discharging extremely fast.. How to stop this? I'm a moto gen 2 user, my phone is discharging extremely fast.. Just switches off overnight even with >50% charge .. But I'm able to charge properly.. Takes long, but its fine..
Tried the factory reset but both the soft and external reset not working. Please help. Customer care is a big task.

I was having this issue today, apparently something wrong happens with Google Play Services last update.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> All -> Google Play Services and click on uninstall updates. Some google apps will crash but after that everything will be normal again.

Hope it help, at least it works on my MotoX


Is disabling built-in apps fine? I am using Moto E(1st gen) with Android 4.4.4 KitKat. It is unrooted.

I wish to disable some of the built-in apps, which I do not use, e.g. Motorola Assist, Motorola Migrate, Google Play Books etc., to free up internal storage and increase the smartphone speed.

Whenever I try to disable a built-in app, the following warning pops up: "If you disable a built-in app, other apps may misbehave. Your data will also be deleted."

Is it safe to ignore this warning and proceed with disabling it? Or does it really cause the problems it mentions? Also, can disabling these apps have the reverse effect of slowing the phone down, further?

I looked up questions related to this in Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange, and found these : How can I prevent unwanted pre-installed apps from automatically running on Android?, and How can I stop applications and services from running?, but they do not exactly address this issue.

Most apps on android are safe to disable, however some can have some pretty bad side effects.  This however depends on what your needs are. You can disable the camera for example but it will also disable the gallery (at least as of kitkat and I believe Lollipop is the same way).

Android does have some core applications that are essential to the function of the actual system itself. For example disabling Package Installer will disable the ability to install any application and will likely cause your phone to go into a boot loop/soft brick.

More to the question, if you are unrooted you should be relatively safe since I can't recall any application without root privileges that can access and 'take down' any vital apps on the system.  That being said going mucking around with the core applications that make your phone/tablet function shouldn't be done lightly.

Source: I build custom roms, and I am a former PAC ROM maintainer.


How do I adjust audio balance of my Android phone headphones out? My earphones are unbalanced - one  is louder than the other, so I need to adjust the sound volume balance to get it right.
How can I do it on Android?

There is a possible quick solution, depending on the phone in consideration:
Go to Settings->Sound->Music Effects and depending on the phone, you may by default have an app that controls the music effects within which you should easily find your desired setting.

But if your phone is rooted, a more reliable solution would be to install the music effects app/driver:     Viper (basically a 3rd party audio driver for android) which can be  turned on or off at will.

The app, in addition to being able to fix an unbalanced stereo has a powerful and wide spectrum of amazing sound enhancement options which is a must have whether you have an unbalanced stereo or not!
In fact I can't enjoy music with it turned off anymore :( - - - - ;)


How do I enable birthday reminders or view birthdays as events in Calendar on Nexus 4 Simple problem: I forget the birthdays of my friends. I have the dates saved in my contacts (CardDAV-Sync address book) and can view them with the People app. I have not found a way to set up an alert or reminder, though. Alternatively I'd like to see them as events in Calendar. I would hope there is some option in the stock Android 4.3 of my Nexus 4 to configure this, but if it is not possible, do you know of a simple reminder app that does not ask for full internet access?

Thanks in advance.

..., but if it is not possible, do you know of a simple reminder app that does not ask for full Internet access?

The topic is also discussed in the Google forum for the calender application and indeed there seem to be only workarounds.

There is also an app mentioned, which does provide the notifications for the birthdays and does not need Internet access: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.noyer.consulting.contactevents.pro

That is a paid app for a small amount, but there is also a free version with Internet access for advertisements: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.noyer.consulting.contactevents.free

If you just want to try the free version if it works for you, you could perform the following steps:

Download the free app in the Play Store
Turn your device into flight mode
Start the app
In Android 6 or higher: Grant access to adress book at first start
Check the app, widget etc. (Notifications are only raised at midnight)
Uninstall the app
Turn off flight mode
Decide if it worth to get the Pro version


Can't transfer file from Ubuntu to Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 when connecting my Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 (USB debugging off) to my PC running Ubuntu 10.10 the device seems to be mounted properly, but I can't transfer any file (I always get "Error creating directory: -1: Unspecified error").

I googled the issue, installed mtp-tools and mtpfs, tried several recommended methods, but I still can't use my tab as a mass storage device.

Anybody can help?

Install SSHDroid on your phone and mount it on your Linux box using sshfs. Even if a wifi network is unavailable, you can still manage a transfer just by setting up wifi tethering on your phone (this will even work without a data connection, say when you're travelling).

Connect your laptop to the wifi tether and then turn on SSHDroid. After that it's just like copying to a server.  You can use a command like:

scp /home/daniel/Music/* 192.168.48.1:/mnt/sdcard/Music/

Or even mount that remote sftp server to a local path.  Just google for sshfs fstab.  Just note that the ip mentioned here will likely be different for you.

Note that data will move between your laptop and your phone on the local network, not using up your mobile data connection (if you even have access to one), so there's no need to worry about data fees.


Compile apps from github source on device via termux or apps? Is there any app's like "apk builder" by heagoo that can compile apks on device from github source?

Termux method would be nice too if anyone knows.
I have tried "sdrausty.github.io" method but I believe that's more for his pre-configured apks. I want something more universal.

Specifically, I'm looking to build this app: https://github.com/ukanth/afwall

any app's ... that can compile apks on device from github source?

The command ~/buildAPKs/build.github.bash can build nearly an unlimited number of APKs which are available at GitHub today and is available at https://github.com/BuildAPKs/buildAPKs.
This BASH script uses aapt, ecj, dx and apksigner in Termux and Termux PRoot to make APKs on device and runs in Amazon, Android, Arch Linux, Debian, Chromebook, Ubuntu and Windows.
The https://github.com/BuildAPKs/db.BuildAPKs repository has build results for a few of the accounts at GitHub.  For example, the B10NAMES file has GitHub login names that built at least 10 APKs on device in Termux.

Specifically, I'm looking to build this app: https://github.com/ukanth/afwall

$ ~/buildAPKs/build.github.bash https://github.com/ukanth/
build.github.bash: Beginning BuildAPKs with build.github.bash https://github.com/ukanth/:
.
.
.
Results for ukanth:
com.ukanth.simplebatterytemp.apk
com.andraskindler.quickscroll.apk
com.stericson.RootShell.apk

The app afwall does not build on the fly with BuildAPKs at present.  Three of ukanth's apps do build on device in Termux on Android out of box.  With modifications to this script, afwall should also build on device today.


Software for offline pedestrian navigation in New York My fiancée is going on a trip to New York City and she'd like to have some kind of navigation there on her G1/Dream.

Is there a software (preferably free, or not too costly), that would allow me to save the street map of the whole city (or state) to the SD card and do offline navigation for walking around during the visit? I suppose there should be something that uses OpenStreetMap that might even be free.

Google Maps 5.0 has an offline mode that will allow you to view maps without an internet connection.

  Google is now caching large areas on Android devices based on what areas they frequently search in Google Maps from their Android phone or tablet. This means people living in New York City, for example, will always have local street and area Maps content.

But if that is not satisfactory, there is always MapDroyd:

  MapDroyd stores map files locally on your device using our highly compressed and efficient MicroMap format which is designed and optimized for embedded devices.


How do I browser folders in Lollipop? How do I browse my Downloads folder on my Nexus 6? Or Pictures or Audio or any folder?

Right now, I do so by opening Gmail, and browsing possible attachments, which is silly but works.

Simplest of all, by downloading one of the many filemanagers from the Google Play Store or from your favorite Android app store. These would allow you to show files there.
For files downloaded via Android´s built-in download tool, you can access the ´Downloads´ app on your Nexus as well. However, that will limit you only to starting an associated app for the download (if one is available).

One good example of a filemanager I use myself is FileCommander, which can be downloaded from the Google Playstore here


Does 'poor' reception deplete the battery quicker? In the area where I live I sometimes have trouble with reception. The Internet stops working for me or it takes time to load pages. The phone tries and tries to connect.

It seems to me that when this is happening it depletes the battery much more quickly. Is my observation correct?

Yes, it does cost you more power.

The transceiver circuit is engineered with power saving in mind and will reduce sending power as much as possible if the reception is good. This also reduces the SAR value which is a measurement for exposure of the human body to radiation.

If the reception is bad sending signal strength has to be adjusted accordingly.

Additionally:
The underlying protocols are also designed to retransmit packages in case of a corrupted transmission. This might have an extra impact on your battery too.


Why does Android OS data usage not count? I have noticed that "Android OS" consumes a lot of data on my phone (LineageOS 14.1; Samsung Galaxy SIII GT-I9300; rooted). However, this data seems not to count for the overall data usage. As you can see in the picture below, Android OS consumed 36.72 MB so far. But that is more than the total data usage at the top (28.11 MB). This determined total data usage is the same as my provider says. Is there a particular reason why the data usage of Android OS does not count? Has it something to do with Nougat or even LineageOS?

On the other hand, My Data Manager, for example, seems to take Android OS into account:

Does someone know the reason for this issue or does somebody have an assumption at least?

As far as I can tell, Android OS (sometimes called OS + others) is not actually a real application to say. Basing this on one data application I've used it is explained;

  It is a "catch all" pseudo-application accounting for the difference
  between global usage (displayed in the main screen) and the sum of all
  installed applications usages.

Initially it will be equal to global usage, but discrepancies can easily be noted in case when an application which previously had access to data connectivity is uninstalled.
On the other hand, the value can stay as a very small value (few MBs) perhaps if the applications that occasionally use data are not affected (remain intact).
The other reason, I can think of is, data used in some minor updates (to Android itself), connectivity checks etc  can be assigned to Android OS in data usage counter such that there is always a reading for such in data counters.

I don't think this has something to do with Lineage OS or Nougat but just a conventional way for counting data usage accross apps (regardless they were uninstalled in that particular usage period)


Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 won't turn on after messing with build.prop I went to mess with my build.prop to do some stuff and then my device wouldnt turn on. I tried looking everywhere for ways to fix it but none will work because it keeps ending with when im in cmd with the adb stuff, when I type the commands it says "operation not permitted".

Heres the tutorial I was looking at (the wndows one) - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1927198

I was able to get to the very end until I had to do "chmod 644 build.prop" which then resulted in the "operation not permitted".

I also have a copy of my original build.prop in my device sdcard folder however Im unable to pull it out (or im just an idiot)

Please help, ive been sitting here for 6 hours straight trying to fix this!

Are you sure you're rooted?
If so, have you tried su -c chmod 0644 /system/build.prop? Or you can also try entering su first and then the chmod command next.

To pull the build.prop: adb pull /sdcard/build.prop
Or maybe you can just replace the one in /system with the one on your sdcard:

su
cp /sdcard/build.prop /system/build.prop
chmod 0644 /system/build.prop


The songs I downloaded online do not show up with the same name in the player I download music from various sites offering music for free (because I lack any sort of disposable income to legitimately download them). After changing their names into ones that make sense on my computer, I load them onto a memory card and then try to play them. They play just fine but their titles seem to be totally different from what I changed them to on my computer. For example, I renamed a file to "The Chainsmokers-Closer"  on my computer, but in Google play music it reads "TERGOS. RU". What is causing this and how can I solve it? Should I format the memory card as input? Should I put the renamed files directly onto my internal memory? Re downloading the song doesn't seem to help

Google Play Music is most likely reading the MP3 tag instead of the actual filename. There are two ways to edit the MP3 tag.

To do it on your computer, I have used in the past mp3tag. To do this from your phone, you can use the application iTag - Music Tag Editor. If you prefer neither of these methods, you would have to find a music player that does not read the MP3 tag but instead reads the filename. I use Poweramp and in the settings of that application, under Look & Feel > Player UI, you can set the player to read the titles from the file names.


Does sending images on Google Hangouts count towards my Google account storage space? Does sending images on Google Hangouts (Android application) count towards my Google account storage space?

I don't see why it would, but right after sending some images via Google Hangouts I received an email regarding my Google account storage, so I wonder whether this is a coincidence:

Yes, all the images which are sent via google hangouts are stored in your account storage. Refer this link to see all of your account storage on Google Dashboard. Click on Gmail to see stats. Click on chats to see all of your images.

Take this image as a reference.


Downgrade to KitKat on Micromax YU Yureka Micromax YU Yureka is not working properly after upgrading. When we place a call, the screen goes blank and I'm not able to receive or decline the call.

I want to downgrade to KitKat, how to do it?

I faced the same problem. Follow these steps and your problem will be solved:

Dial this code *#*#7769#*#*. One proximity info will come.
Press start and wait until your phone proximity info is shown on screen
Press exit.


Request Persmission after changing Google password I changed the password on my Google account a week ago, and ever since then I've been getting notifications on my Nexus 4, requesting permission for my account. When I press it, nothing happens, but Google Play Services appears in the recent apps menu, and nothing happens when I press it.

I had the same problem, it's a bug that appears occasionally when you change your Google account password, or when you switch to the two step verification. Some apps that are using your Google account can't synchronize the new password and this error appears.

In my case, the guilty was the app "My Tracks" (from Google) (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.maps.mytracks&hl=en). Going to "Settings > Apps > My Tracks", claning data and cache and relaunching the app solved the problem.

If you don't have "My Tracks" app installed then try this:

Go to "Settings > Accounts > your Google account". Start unchecking one of the options and select "Sync now" (in the menu). Continue unchecking the rest of the options one by one and doing "Sync now" until the synchronizing error stops appearing. At this time, go to "Settings > Apps", search for the last app you unchecked, clear its data and cache and relaunch it (the app may ask for permission, you have to allow it). Then return to "Settings > Accounts > your Google account" and check all the options and do "Sync now". If the error continue appearing it means that another app is failing, so repeat the operation to detect and correct it.


Root for HTC ONE M7? Is there any way to root the HTC M7 and flash CM without loosing any data? My friend has recently rooted his phone,  a M7 too,  and lost all his data.  Any way to prevent this?  Links will be appreciated :D

You can root without losing data by installing TWRP and installing SuperSU.

If you want to flash CM you will then have to wipe all data to install that.


Battery Percentage is not working after flashing Xperia E Dual with Nexboost ROM I have flashed my Xperia E Dual with Nexboost ROM. After flashing my mobile below functionalities (a far I have identified till now) are not working:

Battery Percentage Status Bar (Always showing 100%)
FM Radio (Not installed)
Live Wallpaper (Not Supported)
Gallery (Some options are force closing this Gallery app)

Are there any solution to fix these issues?

You must have read about the bugs listed on that page before flashing the ROM. The bugs listed are -

Battery percentage is weird at times (goes up and down). Battery life is ok, though. There seems to be a problem with the Poseidon Kernel causing this. Hope @UltraGamerHD will fix it sometime in the future.
A lot of people ask about the stock Xperia Themes. Well, they don't work. I already changed .pngs files in various apks causing the themes to no longer work.
Some apps force closes at times (Whatsapps, Gmail, Browser,etc..). Clearing the apps data, they'll work again.

They did not mention anything about FM Radio.

So the main point is you should wait until they release their next ROM (or) flash another ROM better than this.


Nexus 10 won't boot after attempted unlock/root I have a brand new Nexus 10 which is supposed to be a present for my partner for tomorrow.

I wanted to have it rooted and set up for her before I gave it to her, so I installed WugFresh NRT on my work computer (WinXP x32) and went through the same unlock/root/flash procedure I've been through a million times with all my phones/tablets.

After unlocking, it went into TWRP and I was told by NRT that I should do a factory reset manually from TWRP - a step I've never had to do before. I followed the instructions, but the factory reset failed.

I rebooted the Nexus 10 and it just sits at the colourful 'X' forever. I can hold the power button to try again, but I can never get past this. No problem, I'll just flash CM from TWRP, right?

Well, I can get into fastboot from power + vol-, but fastboot is frozen. It doesn't matter if it's connected to my PC or not, I have "start" selected, and I cannot select anything else. Fastboot.exe won't detect the tablet, and there's pretty much nothing I can do.

I can press power to select "start" from the fastboot menu and it begins booting normally, and freezes as before.

So basically I'm stuck here. I know how to push across a recovery and re-flash the system, but I can't actually get to that stage. I'm not sure if it's a driver issue - my experience tells me it probably is. I've tried 2 different cables and all the USB ports. I can try on my home computer that has the drivers all installed, tested, and working - but I won't be home for another 12 hours or so. I actually can't even turn off the device!

I've tried the naked drivers, the google drivers, the Samsung drivers, I can't install the PDANet drivers because it wants me to install the ADB drivers first - but I can't do that because the device won't boot!. This XP machine is now a cocktail of drivers that don't work. I do actually have an "unknown device" associated with the tablet, but I have NFI what it is or what driver to install. I've tried them all, and windows just keeps saying that the driver location I've chosen doesn't have any appropriate drivers for this device.

Any suggestions?

Edit: Hmm, I've managed to get my hands on a Win8 laptop and got the drivers working so that Fastboot and ADB recognise my Nexus 4 phone. When I plug the Nexus 10, it doesn't show up in Fastboot devices.

Had similar problems. My Nexus 4 was discovered just fine, but Nexus 10 failed to be seen as an Android adb device. So I uninstalled the Nexus 4 drivers, rebooted, and then installed some unsigned drivers from internet called Naked Drivers.
After that both Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 were properly recognized.

Then, attempted to unlock the Nexus 10 using WugFresh NRT (I'm lazy, I know) and after a temporary install of twrp, WugFresh NRT told me to do a factory reset to prevent a bootloop. So I did this, but it told me that it failed a couple of times.
After reboot, found myself in a bootloop, exactly what I tried to avoid.

After some google search came around this movie that explains how to do a basic wipe, but from original recovery not twrp.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/T1Se7Hr9Cww

Written explanation of the steps from the video above (in case it goes down):

press and keep power, volume up and volume down to escape from
bootloop and reach the fastboot menu
in the fastboot menu use volume up and volume down to navigate and select power off button to make a selection, so just select the recovery option
you will reach the recovery mode (there is an icon with android robot on his back and a "!" sign) and press quickly all three keys at the same time (power, volume up and volume down). If you succeed, a blue menu will appear, so from there, just select your wipe option.

After I tried this, it worked and found myself at configuration screen for first time setup.

Next, I downloaded latest version 2.5 for twrp, replaced the old 2.4.1 in the folder WugFresh Development\data\Recovery_Custom\TWRP. After that, using the WugFresh interface I went for the root and also checked Custom Recovery.

This time everything went smooth and also twrp was upgraded.

Hope it helps.


my wifi turns on and off continuously Well I am not able to understand why is this happening? When I connect to a particular router this continuous state of switching happens and there is no problem with other routers. What are the possible reasons of this? How to avoid it happening?

I had experienced a problem with wifi tethering of my device and this solved my issue.
Go to settings(Data Settings), there may have an app (I am using Xiaomi device and I have Security app which controls this) that restricts data usage for all applications(both wifi and internet).  In that, there is system app named "Android System" which controls wifi and tethering.

Please check whether it provided with data and wifi access.


Downgrade 2.3.6 to 2.2.2 - Nexus One I would like to downgrade my Nexus One to 2.2.2, because I've had non-stop problems with Gingerbread. I have the 2.2.2 update from android central, and going off the comments from a previous question, I'm under the assumption that this is doable.

So I've gone through the Bootloader -> Recovery -> apply sdcard:update.zip steps, and it fails with the following message:

assert failed: file_getprop("/system/build.prop", "ro.build.fingerprint") == "google/passion/passion/mahimahi:2.2.1/FRG83D/75603:user/release-keys" || file_getprop("/system/build.prop", "ro.build.fingerprint") == "google/passion/passion/mahimahi:2.2.2/FRG83D/91102:user/release-keys"

E:Error in /tmp/sideload/package.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

I would guess the OS is checking if I'm on either 2.2.1 (updating from the previous version) or 2.2.2 (reinstalling the target version), is this assumption correct?

This begs the question, how do I go from 2.3.6 to 2.2.2? Do I need to factory reset, and apply updates sequentially?

Generally, phone manufacturers will not allow you to downgrade for various reasons.  The stock recovery does indeed validate the update image, so that it's of a greater (or same) version than the installed system.  With the Nexus One being a developer phone, you can unlock the bootloader and replace the recovery image with the one that doesn't perform this check, and will allow installation of any image.  The caveat is that unlocking the bootloader voids your warranty with the carrier (and sometimes the manufacturer too,) and wipes all user data off the device.

Unlocking the N1 is dead easy. Just install Android SDK and the USB drivers (located in "google-usb_driver" directory.)  Then restart the phone in bootloader mode by shutting it off and powering on while holding down the trackball, hook it up to the computer via USB, and in command prompt issue the following command: C:\<path to Android SDK>\platform-tools\fastboot oem unlock. You will be presented with a confirmation screen with further instructions.  Upon successful unlock, you can flash a custom recovery that will allow you to install any custom ROM, including downgrade to 2.2.x stock version of Android OS.

To flash ClockworkMod recovery, download the latest version for Nexus One from here, reboot into bootloader mode (power on while holding the trackball down,) and in command prompt issue command C:\<path to ANdroid SDK>\platform-tools\fastboot flash recovery C:\<path to downloaded img>\recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-passion.img

Reboot to bootloader mode again, and then use the Volume keys to highlight the "Recovery" option and press Power button.  You are now in ClockworkMod recovery, and can flash any custom ROMs via the "Install zip from sdcard" option.

Here is a "stock" 2.2.2 ROM (with root) off XDA-developers forum.


How can I install APK file on Bluestacks app player? I have created an Android application using Eclipse, and now I'd like to install the APK on Bluestacks which is running on Windows 7. How can I install an APK on the Bluestacks player?

Save as app name.apk and right click on that file and open with HD-apk handler.exe which is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\BlueStacks.


How do I logout from Youtube? I have multiple Google accounts on my Android 10 (Samsung Galaxy M10s). Until today, I was using YouTube without signing in. Today I signed into YouTube with one Google account. Now I want to sign out from YouTube app but I don't find any such option.
I searched on internet and found Google Support Page which suggests to remove account from device in order to sign-out from YouYube app.
What I did:
Opened YouTube, go to manage accounts, removed the account from device, through which I have signed in YouTube; Then cleared the YouTube application data also.
But what I found is YouTube just auto signed in with my another Google account.
How do I sign out from YouTube?

Use your browser to get onto Youtube.
Log in, using the account you want to have logged out.
Then use the 3 dot menu to sign out.
Now clear the data in your Youtube app.
(I also think that you can sign out with the settings in the Youtube app, but I can't say how as I don't use the app.)


How to quit Skype on Android? I'm using the newly released market version of Skype on my ADP1 running CyanogenMod 6.0.

I can't seem to quit the Skype program. There doesn't seem to be any mechanism for signing out of Skype once signed in. I can kill the task, but the next time anything triggers it it think it has the right to sign in and be online again, bar nothing. The task bar icon just takes you to the program, but the program doesn't seem to have any menus, doesn't respond the the back button etc.

Ideas?

Go the to MyInfo tab and set your status to Sign Out.

Once you're signed out the back button works as expected and exits Skype.

EDIT: As of v2.9.0.315 (at least) Skype has simplified the log out mechanism:

In the home screen of Skype simply do this:


Is it possible to enable vendor-disabled user accounts in rooted device with Android 6.0? I recently purchased a Doogee X5 max pro device, which comes with a version of Android 6.0. I understand that this version of Android supports multiple user accounts, but it seems that the vendor disabled this possibility, at least it is not accessible in the standard way.

Since it is a relatively new device there are not many custom ROM's available.

Is there a way that I can enable user accounts? My phone is rooted and it has TWRP installed. If I have to do it from a computer, then preferably Linux, though I do have access to a Windows machine as well.

If you cannot access the multi user menu in the settings app it is possible that the manufacturer completely removed that feature from its android version. Luckily you can install a similar feature manually but you need the Xposed Framework.


Unlocking my sony xperia M5 DUAL's bootloader Can anybody explain me how I could unlock the bootloader of my Sony's Xperia M5? Because in your developer website, there's not my phone in your unlockable bootloader list. And when I type this code into my dialpad (##7378423##), I see that it's unlockable.

I have already tried to search the way to but I can't until now.

Please help me if someone knows how to unlock it

I found some info here. I've copied it below

  1.In http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/ choose Sony Xperia M2.
  2.Submit Email
  3.Submit IMEI
  4.And unlock bootloader with intruction.
  You get the code? Then we continue.
  Download the latest version here or Flashtool http://www.flashtool.net/downloads.php

  After installation, go the path C: \ Users \ username \ .flashTool \ registeredDevices here and create a folder with the code-name of your machine (you can find out if flashtool click on BLU and see where in the log are in line «Current device» for example, in line 09/045/2015 23:45:08 - INFO - Current device: C2104 - AB100C2DE3 - 1272-4136_R5B - 1269-5420_15.3.A.1.17 - WORLD-a_15.3.A.1.17 code machine will AB100C2DE3. Code which will write your name and location).
  Later in this folder, create a text file and name it «ulcode» (without the quotes). Open, and in it write your unlock code, that you have on the site Sony.
  Save. Write code very carefully.

  Now open flashtool and press the BLU. If everything is correct, in line you should write your code, pressing unlock. All should be ready to unlock.

Yes, it is for the M5, not just the M3, at least it says in that post In the title, i sadly can't test it for you as I don't own one


Adb pull - access denied I want copy all files(including system files),
but when I enter adb pull /

i get this:

I tried entering adb root but that does nothing.

Is there any fix to this?
Else any other way to copy all files(including files like /data) to my pc?

PS:I have rooted my phone(OnePlus 6t) and have twrp and magisk.

Thanks

To (re-)enable adb root you have to modify your prop.default file. This file was traditionally named default.prop and stored inside the ramdisk of boot.img - however, for system-as-root devices it is inside /vendor.

change the line ro.build.type=eng into:

ro.build.type=userdebug

from the Magisk Troubleshoot Wiki:

  ADB cannot run as root in production builds

  If you're having issues running the ADB root command after installing Magisk this is because of MagiskHide setting a few prop values to known "safe" values. You can get ADB root working again by turning of MagiskHide and rebooting, but if you need MagiskHide for some app or service this could quickly become annoying.

  A more convenient solution is to reset ro.build.type and ro.debuggable to their original values (userdebug and 1 respectively). This can be done by using the Magisk resetprop tool (see the Magisk Documentation for details), either by running it directly in a terminal emulator, in a late_start service boot script, or by using the MagiskHide Props Config Magisk module's "Edit MagiskHide props" function.


How do I fix blank photos in an Android device https://gyazo.com/f1a05cc619d35b588884d29b5b462f5a
https://gyazo.com/71968d66e18ff2639893079e05db5081
How do I fix Images that have become blank since the new sd card messed up the photos which contain photos of my mother's memorable past

Here are the links I might need some help they contain photos of a memorable past thanks

These could be photos from your new SD card in a format or compression that your phone does not recognize to display.

I have a similar case of photos I have modified on a PC and become blank thumbnails after transferring to my phone.


Examples of application, used Android Backup Services Do you know any Android applications (with open source, if it's possible), which use Android Backup Service (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/backup.html)

I need examples, how Backup Service can be used in real applications.

In your Google account Dashboard view, in the Andoid device part you can see which applications stored someting in the Android backup service, for my account, beside the standard Android Wallpaper, Android System Settings and Android Market I have some "Dragon, Fly! Free" data (a game).


How to reactivate Google Assistant after deactivating by changing Language? I had got Google Assistant for my Android device. However, I prefered Now On Tap for few features like the ones mentioned here and deactivated Assistant by changing the language settings as mentioned here.

But I was wondering how do I reactivate the Google Assitant, I tried changing back the language to English(US) in Settings -> Google-> Search -> Search Language but to no avail.

How do I get back the assistant if I ever plan on using it?

Try clearing the cache for both Google app and Google play services in settings / applications. Also clear all your recent apps after doing so.


How is system-as-root mounted in Android 9? In Android 9, system.img consist of system and ramdisk. So kernel will mount system.img directly and implement init program. Next, init will parse init.rc file and mount remaining partitions based on fstab file. But, there is some thing in fstab file that I don't understand :

/dev/block/by-name/system      /      ext4    ro,barrier=1

Here, system is mounted as root in fstab file. I thought that system.img is mount before to execute init program but here, system.img is mouted again. Can someone explain this for me?

init will parse init.rc file and mount remaining partitions based on fstab file.

Not all partitions in fstab are mounted by init on boot. Exemptions include partitions managed by vold and those only meant for recovery mode, raw partitions (not mountable) and root partition.

  There is some thing in fstab file that I don't understand :

/dev/block/by-name/system      /      ext4    ro,barrier=1

That fstab entry is incomplete because it doesn't include fs_mgr flags as per standard format. Complete entry should be like:

/dev/block/by-name/system    /    ext4    ro,barrier=1    wait,recoveryonly

On Treble devices (Android 8 and 9) “devices can specify fstab entries for early mounted partitions using device tree overlays”. An simple explanation can be found here. However “In Android 10 and higher, devices must specify fstab entries for early mounted partitions using an fstab file” and “must place the fstab file in the ramdisk and in the vendor partition”.

DTB is usually appended as blob to kernel binary and fstab entries are exposed in procfs:

~# cat /proc/device-tree/firmware/android/fstab/*/name
system
vendor

So on devices where fstab entries for partitions system, vendor and odm are in Device Tree Blob, init takes no action for these partitions on mount_all because fs_mgr flags include recoveryonly. You can comment out or remove the entry and the device should boot normally.


Droid Explorer cannot find device As the title implies, Droid Explorer cannot detect my Samsung Galaxy Tab A.
I've enabled USB debugging and set up Droid Explorer with Android SDK Platform-Tools 28.0.1.
I can detect the device with adb devices which shows:

5200dfccec4a940d    device

I can send commands to it as well, running adb reboot will cause the device to reboot, but Droid Explorer still cannot detect it.

Droid Explorer is pretty old and unmaintained for years.

Some years ago Google changed the API of adb. If you are using a recent version of adb together with Droid Explorer which was developed for the old adb version this may end up in several non-functional features.

You should better check for an adb based tool that is still actively developed and maintained.


Google Drive crashes on start I has happened 4 times now, I change some setting, delete the sheet open in the app from the PC, create a wrong function, and from then on, the Google Drive app crashes on start. I can not close the faulty document, so it keeps happening until I remove the application. You would think a restart of the phone should help, but it does not.

Is there a setting somewhere that lets me open the list instead of the most recent document?

Clearing Cache is not enough, however clearing the Data solved the problem. Of course then you have to set offline availability of your documents again.


My Chinese Redmi 4A showed me a step counter in the screen to the left of the home screen but my non-Chinese Redmi 6 does not I bought my old Redmi 4A in China less than two years ago. I never installed most of the Google infrastructure on it. I did upgrade to MIUI 10.

I just bought a Redmi 6 in Taiwan so it does have all the Google infrastructure and lacks some of the Xiaomi and/or Chinese internet apps etc.

Recently I noticed if I swipe right on the home screen on the 4A I see among other info the number of steps I've walked today. I did not have a step counter app installed . The 4A had very little storage so you always delete apps you don't use.

On my new Redmi 6 I don't see the number of steps I've walked.

How can I enable this feature on my 6, or at least find out what app etc the 4A got this info from?

I found the answer myself after some Googling. This is a feature of the China ROM that is not present in the non-China ROM.

MIUI Forum: [Feature Request] Step counter absent!

This feature was reported missing since at least January 2018. So far I haven't found anything on whether it's going to be added to the non-China ROM.


Is Google Play Music the same as the stock Android Music App? Is Google Play Music (formerly Google Music) the same app as the stock Android Music app?

I have a Nexus S running Android 2.3.6. I live in a country, Italy, where the Google Play Music service is not yet available. Some time ago, due to an Android Market glitch, then Google Music appeared among the apps installed on my phone.

The Market kept nagging me to update to the latest versions, which always failed because the app is not installed and I can't install it from the Market in my country. Before uninstalling the Google Play Music app entry, I'd like to make sure it's not the same as the stock Music app, which I instead want to keep.

No, it's a completely different service.

In fact, it's a cloud service with an Android app; whereas the Music app is simply a local music app.


How does Wi-Fi sharing in Samsung Galaxy S7 work? Starting from Galaxy S7, Samsung added a new cool feature called Wi-Fi sharing, by which you can connect to an Access Point and turn on your hotspot at the same time. That means, you can now turn on your Wi-Fi and hotspot at the same time, something that was not possible in any other phones till date. So, how do they do it? Is it something possible to do in code, or you have to have a special hardware?

Software, not hardware
Thanks to the brilliant research of xavier_fakerat
If you look here, What is the functionality concept behind Wi-Fi sharing (aka Wi-Fi Profile share)?
You will see that software can accomplish this. So it's not just a special hardware thing.
You can use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kha.prog.mikrotik&hl=en To get similar results that the S7 produces


Does Android come with a built-in plain text editor? I need to edit a simple plain text file. Is there a built-in text editor that comes with Android? I have Android 7, LG Stylo 3.

I just need to open a text file, and enter some words:
cat
dog
etc

I need to edit text, then share it via email or have it saved in Android file system so I can share it later.

Second question: if there is no such a thing, what is the simplest plain text editor app available for such task?

No AFAICT, unless it it is preinstalled by the device manufacturer, for example some devices like Xiaomi, Huawei come with a preinstalled document editor (WPS), which not allows you to view but to edit text files as well.

As suggested above, stock android only comes with with text viewer , not editor, in any case if you need to install it, please see Izzy's list of suggested text editors


Is the MAC address stored in software or hardware? I'm trying out a ROM.  It seems to be flashing the whole system.  It claims it is a total wipe.

However, the MAC address seems to never change.  So my question is, is the mac address for an Android stored in the ROM or is stored somewhere in the hardware?

A media access control address (MAC address) of a computer is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications at the data link layer of a network segment. MAC addresses are used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Logically, MAC addresses are used in the media access control protocol sublayer of the OSI reference model.

MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface controller (NIC) and are stored in its hardware, such as the card's read-only memory or some other firmware mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer's registered identification number and may be referred to as the burned-in address (BIA). It may also be known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address (not to be confused with a memory physical address). This can be contrasted to a programmed address, where the host device issues command to the NIC to use an arbitrary address.


Samsung I9300 - Network unlock fails I recently flashed a custom ROM on my Samsung I9300. Everything is working fine, except I have to enter a 'SIM network unlock PIN'. I assume, that this is not the usual 4-digit PIN code. If I enter the correlating correct 4-digit PIN, it says 'SIM Network unlock request unsuccessful'.

I tried different SIMs from different providers which are working in a different mobile phone.
The problem appears with Slim 5.1.1 and 4.4.4, CM12.1 and OmniROM 5.1.

My phone was running stock firmware Android 4.3 and I never had this problem (even if I once changed my provider).
There are plenty of tutorials about how to unlock the I9300, but none worked so far, there are also many non-free services for unlocking which seems rather untrustworthy to me. It would be new to me, if the phone is or was ever branded.

There is the possibility to unlock the phone by using the service menu by entering the secret/hidden code

##197328640##

like shown in this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hzeBEeO_k.
Why is the code (or others) in Slim not working?

Could you please verify too that the only possibility to unlock the SIM is to buy a specific unlock code?

I got the phone unlocked at a local mobile phone dealer for € 20. This worked.

Generally I'd say it is interesting how this network SIM lock comes from, because my phone never has been locked or branded by a provider. The stock firmware worked with different providers. The problem only appeared for the custom ROMs.

And be aware when changing your SIM card! I broke mine 2-times only by exchanging it (probably scratching the chip's surface) and had to buy a new one and get the old number transferred to the new.


Android device can support SD Card of up to 32 GB, so FAT32 is more suitable? May I assume that there is no point to format your SD Card (assume you have the 32 GB size) to NTFS if the device can support SD Card of up to 32 GB and FAT32 maximum limit is also exactly 32 GB?

The reason for asking such question is that since the device can only support 32 GB, so I can assume that NTFS will likely not be supported by the device, or I cannot assume in this way? And this FAT32 will be more suitable and likely to be accepted by major android devices?

32GB is the limit imposed by the Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) specification, not FAT32.

FAT32 supports 2TB drives, with a standard 512 byte sector (or 16TB with 4.096 byte sectors) which is (coincidentally?) the same as the latest Secure Digital eXtended Capacity (SDXC) specification, so FAT32 should be viable for some time to come.

The biggest restriction with a FAT32 formatted drive is the per file size restriction. Since FAT32 uses 32bit file pointers, which means that no single file can be larger than 4GB (actually 232-1). Most of the time this isn't a problem, but if you want to transport movies or virtual machines which aren't split into multiple smaller files, then this might cause you problems.

As an aside, in an answer like this, I can't help but illustrate it with a favorite picture of mine which compares 8 bytes of magnetic core memory from 1953 with 8GB (8 thousand million bytes) of flash from 2008:

In the same space as those 8 bytes from 1953 you could now fit 8x or 12x 32GB uSD cards (when you take into account thickness too) so who knows where we will be in another 55 years? Probably wondering how we got by with only a couple of terabytes in our phone. *8')


How can I send incoming calls from unknown numbers directly to voicemail? I have received incoming calls from an unknown number (no caller ID provided). When I answer, I get a recording which is clearly spam. Is there a way to send calls from an unknown number directly to voicemail so that my phone does not ring?

This is very similar to Call blocking with spoken message?, but I do not need a new message to play. Regular voicemail is fine.

I am interested in a solution for stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There appears to be the ability to block calls in CyanogenMod, which would be suboptimal, but I cannot find a similar setting in Marshmallow, either in Settings or in the Call application settings. Send blind calls to voicemail?

This is different from blocking a known number, as in
How can I reliably screen or block callers on a number-by-number basis?

This is different from How to block private numbers because I do not want to block calls, just send them to voicemail, and this option is not available on stock Marshmallow. The call application allows blocking specific numbers but not unknown numbers.

Automation is the preferred option. Many apps are available. I prefer using MacroDroid , since it is free (upto 5 macros) and easy to learn. To understand how MacroDroid works and the settings required for your Android version, see  my answer

Note

This is not tested on Marshmallow  as I am on KitKat
You will need to tweak timings in accordance with voicemail behaviour and "Doze" feature of Marshmallow
Voice mail is used solely for unknown callers
This solution also "mutes" unknown callers (no call ring sound) before diverting them to voicemail to minimise spam nuisance

Your macros would look like this

Unknown caller macro

Trigger: Call incoming → Select contact →Unknown Caller

Actions:

Volume Change →Ringer (Set to zero on sliding scale- this action will mute ringer for unknown caller)
Call Reject
Wait before next action (set time in seconds per voicemail behaviour so that call is sent to voicemail)

Constraints: None

Other caller macro (to reverse muting of call done for unknown callers)

Trigger:

Call incoming → Select contact →Any number

Action:

Volume Change →Ringer (Set to required volume on sliding scale- this action will unmute ringer for callers other than unknown caller)

Constraints: None


Is there any way (as a user) to force all notifications to be expandable? Some notifications can't be read because they spill over the allotted space, but I can't expand them because the app developer never enabled that feature. Can I force all notifications on my phone to be expandable so I can read them?

Provided that the notification itself has an expanded mode in the first place, Xposed framework + "All Notifications Expanded" module had done the trick for me back in KitKat, expanding every expandable item. Haven't tested it on Lollipop and above. Also, installing Xposed always involves some hassle and risk.

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