Corrupted data - Can't restore Whatsapp chat history When I try to recover my Whatsapp messages on my new phone after I have copied the Whatsapp folder from my old phone to the SDcard, it suddenly crashes after 10 seconds: "Whatsapp has stopped working"

I looked into the System Log to find some clues about this crash. It looks like it has something to do with SQLite and the msgstore.db (or msgstore.db.crypt) file, because there's msgstore.db file is corrupt error. Here are some lines from the System log:

 "E/DefaultDatabaseErrorHandler (3784): Corruption reported by sqlite
    on database: /data/data/com.whatsapp/databasesmsgstore.db"
 "E/AndroidRuntime (3784): java.lang.AssertionError: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabaseCorruptExcep tion: Database disk image is malformed (code 11), SQLiteConnection.java,-2"
 "E/SQLiteLog (3784): (14) cannot open file at line 30191 of [00bb9c9ce4]"
 "E/SQLiteDatabase (3784): Failed to open database '/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db' "
 "E/SQLiteDatabaseException: unknown error (code 14): Could not open database"
 "I/sqlite_db_corrupt (3784): /data/data.com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db"

Can somebody help me to unravel this mistery?  I really want to copy my old messages to my new phone and continue using the app on my new phone.

How can I fix the corrupt msgstore file? Or see what part of the file is corrupt (the exact cause)

Some screenshots of the System Log file:

Usually if you place your msgstore.db or msgstore.db.crypt7 file in the following directory on your SD card and reinstall WhatsApp it will see it and ask if you would like to restore your old messages during installation.

/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/

However if your database (msgstore.db or msgstore.db.crypt7) is corrupt you may still be able to regenerate the databases using sqlite3.

The WhatsApp Database is an sqlite3 database and is stored unencrypted at this path on the Android device:

/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db

Backups of the database are also stored encrypted on the SD card typically at the following location:

/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt7

The unique key for the encrypted backup databases is stored here:

/data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key

Access to the /data/data directory requires root access. Alternatively ADB (Android Debug Bridge) can be used to extract the above files after booting into recovery on the device.

If you are dealing msgstore.db.crypt7 files then you must Decrypt them first as follows:

(commands below are run from a linux enviroment)

Extract Key File: /data/data/com.whatsapp/files/key
Extract crypt7 file: /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt7
Extract Decryption Keys from "key" file extracted in step 1:

256-bit AES key:

hexdump -e '2/1 "%02x"' key | cut -b 253-316 > aes.txt
IV (initialisation vector):

hexdump -e '2/1 "%02x"' key | cut -b 221-252 > iv.txt

Strip Header in crypt7 File:

dd if=msgstore.db.crypt7 of=msgstore.db.crypt7.nohdr ibs=67 skip=1

Note: Size of header stripped file in bytes must be divisible by 16
Decrypt crypt7 File:

openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -nosalt -nopad -bufsize 16384 -in msgstore.db.crypt7.nohdr -K $(cat aes.txt) -iv $(cat iv.txt) > msgstore.db

Once you have you msgstore.db file either by first decrypting the msgstore.db.crypt7 or by extracting it from the /data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/ directory you can now try to regenerate it using the following commands:

echo .dump | sqlite3.exe msgstore.db > Temp.sql

echo .quit | sqlite3.exe -init Temp.sql msgstore_new.db

Now Try to Restore your database Again

If you followed the procedure above correctly you should now have a msgstore_new.db file.
Rename this file to msgstore.db and place it file in /sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/ and reinstall WhatsApp. Choose to restore your old database/messages when asked during installation.

Reference:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24566937&postcount=3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1583021


Where does YouTube's offline feature store video files? I'm using YouTube offline feature on my Android device, so that I can playback the offline videos within the YouTube app even there is no internet connection. When I searched for any of the video files, I can't find them on device/SD card memory. Are they encrypting the file so that it can be played only with YouTube app? Does anyone know the specific folder for offline video data?

The location for those videos on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is as below:

  Internal
  storage/Android/data/com.google.android.youtube/files/Offline/(system
  generated folder name)/streams

There might be a minor change to this location or path on other Android devices, but all those downloaded files are saved as .exo files, in an Internal Storage of a device!

But it is also true (to the best of my knowledge) that those "offline" videos can only be played using official YouTube App, and those videos simply can not be played using any other Video/Media player application.

YouTube (means Google) controls the access to the offline file.

The permission is controlled on their server per account basis, to access those downloaded files.

There are 2 other discussions related to offline functionality here and here, which should be helpful to enrich the info about YouTube offline feature.


Switch between accounts in Android 4.2 I would like to know if it's possible to easily switch between two Google accounts in Nexus 4 running Android 4.2 JellyBean.

For example, I have at the moment two Google accounts set up in the device: my personal account and my work account. But if I access Google Analytics, I can only access using my personal account (the first one that was set up).

Any suggestions?

I asked a similar question.

As a workaround, you can use the data profile feature of Titanium Backup Pro with the analytics app.


Why does Android prompt me with "Enter the credential storage password" when I attempt to connect to a secured WiFi network? When I connect my iPhone to a secured WiFi network (at work), I'm prompted for my Username and Password. (And then I'm prompted to accept what I presume is an SSL certificate.)

But when I select the same network on my Motorola Droid or HTC EVO 4G, I'm prompted with "Enter the credential storage password".  What is this password?

I went into Settings -> Location & Security (on Droid, Security on the EVO) -> Use secure credentials, and entered the credential storage password.  Then I was no longer prompted for this password when selecting the WiFi network.


Make the screen to appear again when the screen is off by just touching the screen. Instead of pressing the on/off button Our system at work is automated. Sometimes a machine stop and we get the fault popping up on a android device everyone is carrying.
It's a Cat B15 Mobile with Android 4.1.
We are carrying the phone with a holder around our arm.

If the screen is on all the time, the battery drains out pretty fast.
So I want to make the device to shut down the screen, and when I touch the screen it will start again.
Right now it's a little complicated to press the on and off button. Because the holder is blocking it.

Anyhow, if this was a possibility it would make everything a lot easier!
I checked the settings but didn't see anything about it.

I'm afraid there is no such facility (though it might exist a device which has this, I've not yet heard of). Screen off means screen off.

However, I may be able to offer an alternative: tasker can react on "motion" as well, so you could use a "shake-pattern" as trigger. A profile I could imagine:

Condition: Shake twice (record the shake-pattern)
Task: Turn display on, unlock, bring app to foreground

I'm not sure if "shake patterns" could also be something like "tap the device twice", so you could try that as well. And though Tasker is a payed app (worth every cent!), there's a free, fully functional 7-day-trial available on their homepage.


Why partition gets unmounted automatically after some time? I have Android phone running Oreo 8.1.0. I have two partitions in sdcard. One partition is ext4 formatted. I mount it using:

mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/sdext2

But after some time, the partition gets unmounted automatically and I have to mount it again.

Even when it is mounted, the contents are not visible in file explorer apps like MiXplorer and ES Explorer, and are only visible in terminal.

So, what is the best way to mount ext4 partition in Android persistently and what is the reason of such behavior?

SHORT ANSWER

Go to Magisk Settings and set Mount Namespace Mode to Global once for all. In SuperSU app, disable Mount Namespace Separation.
OR
For one time solution, use this command instead:

~$ su -mm -c 'mount <device> <mountpoint>'

LONG ANSWER

  but after some time, the partition gets unmounted automatically and I have to mount it again.

ANDROID NAMESPACES
This behavior is due to Mount Namespace implemented by Android since Android-6 for the purpose of apps sandboxing / isolation. In order to control app's access to system resources and  filesystems - particularly SDCards - every app (Dalvik or ART VM which processes Java bytcode to executable .dex binary) is started by zygote (an Android init process) in a new mount namespace where it can independently unmount any filesystem (except rootfs) or remount, not affecting other namespaces. Every process the app starts, lives in the same (or further) isolated namespace.
Usually mnt (mount) and net (network) namespaces are enabled on Android kernel by default. Other namespaces pid, user and uts can be enabled by rebuilding kernel.

GLOBAL NAMESPACE
Very first process started by kernel at boot: init along with all kernel processes (kworkers etc.) and other init daemon processes (such as ueventd, logd, servicemanager, vndbinder, mediaserver, netd etc.) live in Global / Root Namespace. When we install mods (such as Magisk, Xposed etc.), they also start as a process in root namespace, usually at initial stage of boot process.
Android filesystems (real or pseudo; /system, /data, /proc etc.) are also initially mounted in global namespace. An app's namespace has all mounts (including rootfs) set to slave, so that any new mount inside them in root namespace, propagates to the app's namespace but not vice versa. See mount propagation.

NAMESPACE TOOLS
Linux command lsns can be used to view all namespaces. Mount namespace can be created by unshare -m. To enter a namespace, nsenter is an easily available SETNS wrapper. In most cases these commands don't work without root privileges.

SUPER USER AND MOUNT NS
When we execute su command in a Terminal emulator app, a new process (shell) is started with elevated capabilities. This process lives in the same mount namespace as that of Terminal app. So the mount command is also executed in the same namespace and thus filesystem is only visible within that namespace. Once we exit that shell, mountpoint won't show filesystem contents. If there is no running process in a namespace, it's automatically cleaned.
Please note that an app is completely killed when its Dalvik process is killed by Force Stop or by Android's memory management.
If the Terminal app wasn't completely killed, su may enter the same namespace, only when Inherited Namespace option is enabled in Magisk. Isolated Namespace will always create a new mount namespace.

Now coming to your question:

  Even when it is mounted, the contents are not visible in file explorer apps like MiXplorer and ES Explorer, and are only visible in terminal.

This is because Explorers (apps) are running in their own mount namespaces. Run this command as root to get an overview:

~# ps f -p2 --ppid 2 --deselect -o mntns,pid,cmd --sort=mntns

You may use Termux for a full version of ps.

  When I set this command to execute on boot by placing inside init.d directory in /etc, then it works normally and ext4 partition does not unmount itself automatically.

This is because that init.d script is executed by init in global namespace.

  So, what is the best way to mount ext4 partition in Android persistently and what is the reason of such behavior?

To escape the whole enigma, always mount your frequently accessed filesystems in Global Mount Namespace (though it's vulnerable to security breaches) unless necessary otherwise. A simple check if we are in global namespace:

~# [ "$(readlink /proc/self/ns/mnt)" = "$(readlink /proc/1/ns/mnt)" ] && echo 'In Global NS.' || echo 'Not in Global NS.'

NOTE: This test works only in initial PID NS.

Another possibility is to create namespace with unshare -m --propagation shared. Now any new mounts in this namespace will propagate to all namespaces. But this isn't applicable to already created apps' namespaces. mount --make-rshared / doesn't work (at least for me) if namespace was originally created with slave  or private propagation.

See this thread post for more details.


what will happen to built in apps in galaxy note 1 n7000 after hard reset such as s pen? my gt n7000 is getting slow, sometimes it restarts by itself and some application close by itself. i presumed the low device memory was behind all f this.i want to ask if hard reset will solve my memory problem and what will happen to my built in apps such as S-pen? will they still working or i have to reinstall it again? please i need your suggestion. thanks.

The types of problems you're describing are generally best solved by, indeed, factory resetting. If you can't find another solution, it's pretty much always the last resort. So if you're willing to do it, it's all but guaranteed to fix the problem, unless the problem is being caused by a hardware issue.

Built-in apps will all remain. Anything that shipped with the phone will still be there. Some may have updates that need to be reapplied, but you won't lose anything that was there when you first turned on your phone after buying it.


Unlocked HTC One X (AT&T) Jelly Bean update I just got my HTC One X from AT&T and have been using it unlocked on T-Mobile. Eventually, will I get the Jelly Bean update, or will I need to root?

OTA updates come also with carrier modifications. So no, you will not


Is it possible to change file permissions on Android's internal storage? How can I change file permission of a file on Android without rooting? I actually want to prevent some files from deletion.

Note: I am asking of changing the file permissions of user-created files in internal shared storage.

On all operating systems based on Linux kernel - like Android is - it's possible to set permissions on files (including directories) provided that filesystem supports UNIX permissions (uid, gid, mode). Common examples of such filesystems are ext4 and f2fs.

However Android's internal (confusingly called external) storage which is accessible by installed apps at /sdcard, is not an actual but virtual / emulated filesystem exposing /data/media (which is a real filesystem) through sdcardfs. sdcardfs and its predecessor FUSE expose the emulated filesystem with a fixed set of uid, gid and mask (mode). So the commands chmod and chown have no impact, whether executed through CLI (adb shell or terminal emulator) or GUI (file explorer).

It's possible to change permission bits of file on underlying actual filesystem, but accessing /data/media requires root access because only UID/GID 1023 (aid_media_rw) has read access to the directory. And still the permissions will remain same when viewed from emulated view /sdcard.

So you can't change permissions of user created files on Android, with or without root.

Further reading:

What is /storage/emulated/0/?

Related:

Why chmod gives “Operation not permitted” error?
How to remount sdcardfs to allow setting file permisions / ownerships?


Accessing data after flashing new ROM? My S6 Edge was stolen so this question is intended to answer some of my fears.
Phone was PIN locked.

Can data from internal storage (like photos) be accessed if a new ROM is flashed and lock is cleared?
Can a new ROM be flashed if device is encrypted?
Does reset via recovery mode console remove the encryption and data?

EDIT:
Some notes
- ROM was all stock
- Usb debug disabled
- No SD card storage expansion on it

See 2. :)
Yes. But to answer the question behind it: without knowing the passphrase, that wouldn't mean encrypted storage became accessible. Passphrase and key are required to decrypt.
A hard-reset just cuts the power. A factory-reset should remove data and reset the encryption (as it would clear the encryption key along)

What you left out is data on your SD card. If the card was not encrypted, the data of course can be accessed. Otherwise, see 2. again.

As you report your device stolen, beeshyams pointed out another fact that might be of interest to you (in the now cleaned-up comments): Factory reset protection would be an added complication to the thief. That is, if it was available and enabled on your device (FRP was introduced around Android 5.1.1 but only automatically enabled for devices which originally shipped with Android 5+), even when flashing a new ROM the "possessor" would still need your Google credentials in order to use it. There are ways to work around that, but they don't work on all devices and are also not easy to perform.


How can I get the Android to use wallpapers sized to my screen resolution? When I only have one "desktop" on my Android phone and I select one of my photos for the wallpaper, it asks me to crop the image.  The cropping tool only allows an aspect ratio that has nothing to do with the real aspect ration of my phones screen resolution. Why?

I have a Samsung GT i5800 running Android 2.1update1.

If I remember correctly, the aspect ratio is always for a 5 desktop scroll. If you have enabled only one desktop, the you'll see just the middle part of the wallpaper.


how wanam exposed work? I have a Samsung phone which is rooted and has xposed framework. There's an app "wanam exposed" it's runs using an xposed module. It can change themes of stock Samsung ROM. It can change color of notification bar, and almost anything. I want to ask that does it modify any configuration files? If so then what's the locationof those files? And all is changes can be reversed just by disabling the module in xposed app and restarting. How is that possible?

I've just published a blog article on that yesterday you might wish to read: Xposed: The mighty Android toolbox. Amongst others, it explains some background on how Xposed works.

Basically, the framework modifies the dalvik cache at boot time (or the corresponding art stuff on Android ≥ 5). So all changes take place on boot. Thus enabling/disabling modules only shows changes after rebooting the device: if you disable a module, it's changes simply won't be applied the next time you start your device.


Is it possible to get caller location by GPS? I know there is another question about that but I don't have the ability to comment there and it's an old question. So, I need some update on the topic:

is it possible now to get a location of the mobile phone caller, at least city and country?
Let's say we have an app installed on both phones (being called and caller). Is it technically possible to share GPS location between these two within that app, so they can see the location of each other constantly, even when travelling?
In other words, is it possible to send GPS location from one phone to the other?

Any mobile phone provider needs to be able to route calls to the correct tower to service a phone, so they must know to at least the location to the accuracy of the tower cell area. Generally speaking, this information is not available to parties in a telephone call.
An application can read the location at any time, and gets this as latitude and longitude. It is up to you to do a lookup of the city and country from this information.

Yes. A phone application gets location information as latitude and longitude, and the applications can simply exchange these values as strings over the data network.


Why is Android System always keeping my phone awake? I woke this morning and discovered that my phone's battery was at 70% capacity, even though it had been fully charged when I went to sleep. I went into the battery settings, and found that Android System is primarily responsible, having kept my phone awake the entire time. I searched a bit, and this does not appear to be normal behaviour. Reception and wifi are fine, and power saving is on. I'm hoping that there is an explanation and solution to this.

A common workflow to track down deep-sleep / wake-lock issues:

Install CpuSpy
Install BetterBatteryStats
Turn off your phone
Fully charge it while turned off
Unplug the cable
Start the phone, unlock it and open some apps like email, browser, facebook, and close them again
Don't touch your phone, let it be on your table for a hour
Open CpuSpy

"Deep Sleep" should be the longest bar of all. If not, the CPU works because a process (App, Service) constantly wakes your phone up or you use a non standard Kernel/ROM which has a Deep Sleep problem

Open BetterBatteryStats

Set the first dropdown to "Kernel Wakelock" and second to "Since unplugged", then see if any app you've installed appears in the list, using high % numbers (waking your phone up)
Then set the first dropdwon to "Partial Wakelocks" and check again for any app waking your phone up with a high % number

Uninstall the app which causes wake locks (preventing your phone from deep sleep)
If the problem still persists, google for further instructions with the following pattern:

"wakelock + [appname]" without the brackets, enter the app or service name which causes high percentages in BetterBatteryStats, and google without the quotes!


Are modified boot images for rooting OS specific? I'm trying to figure out how to root Oreo on Nexus 6P

The guides I was able to find are all Marshmallow (6.0) specific, and include requirements for 3 files: (1) Modified boot image, (2) TWRP recovery and (3) SuperSU

Obviously, the latter two are OS independent and I simply get the latest versions.

But can I use the same modified boot image for Oreo 8.0/8.1 as I did for Marshmallow 6.0? Or do I need OS specific modified boot image?

Boot.img has the kernel
 and ramdisk
 in it (linked answers explain what they do). They are the  first components that boot your device and subsequently OS comes into picture

Some reasons not to flash the boot.img meant for one OS on to another OS:

Hardware is usually different and so are the drivers for it. Which means hardware components may fail to function in the absence of drivers. Worst case, your device may be unusable (say your display drivers don't work)
Security Kernels are updated with latest security patches and flashing older kernel would make you vulnerable
Encryption In the instant case you are talking of Marshmallow and Oreo. They have major differences in the way OS boots and in the way encryption is done. Marshmallow has Full Disk Encryption which has been replaced by File encryption from Nougat onwards. See this for details. So your device likely would fail boot

These are few things that are on top of the mind. In short don't


How to lock screen while playing games? I am wondering is there any app or a robust way of locking screen (front keys as well) while playing games in android phone. Is there any common app for locking/disabling the keys/touch when we play videos, youtube, playing games or reading ebook etc.

The phone should go in lock mode as if by pressing lock button on side panel, and pressing it should prompt us to unlock the device. My LG L90 D410 has this built-in feature for playing local videos but not for other apps, games and youtube videos.

Okay, here's how to do it using Tasker:

Install Tasker
Create a new Task called lock screen, add an action to it as via

Display → System Lock

Create a profile and add as context to it all games in the apps list it provides, or as you need it.
Link the lock screen task to this profile.

Your device should lock up now if you try to open any marked app.

Note: Tasker is a paid app. Also, the trigger system lock functionality needs you to allow Tasker as a device administrator.

Edit:

I figured out how to do this using MacroDroid, which is free for a limited feature set.

Install MacroDroid and open it.
Tap on create new macro
Select Application launched/closed from the trigger list.
Select application launched from the popup
Choose the required apps from the list.
Choose the action as screen on/off.
Choose screen off from the popup
Press the tick button.
On the constraints page, leave it at none and press the tick button.
Enter a relevant name for the macro and press OK in the resulting popup.

This worked for me. Again, this needs the app to be a device administrator, which will be indicated to you as you select the screen off action, for similar reasons as above.


Pixel imported contacts' names not showing up at top of messages I'm coming to a Pixel from an iPhone. When I set up the Pixel, I imported my messages (using the switch process) and contacts (synced through gmail), among other things. However, I wasn't aware that my iPhone contacts were all saved in Google's Exchange account (not gmail), which no longer exists (as of 2012). So when I imported my contacts from my iPhone, every contact I had added since Google migrated away from exchange was not added. To fix this, I exported all my iPhone contacts as a .vcf (using an app) and then imported them to the Pixel.

It seemed to work smoothly, as all my contacts were now showing up in the contacts app. However, in my messages app, I am still showing phone numbers instead of names for all my contacts that were imported through the .vcf--even though google associates those number with their correct contact when I click on the image/letter representing the person in the chat. It also shows the persons name on the lock screen when I get a message--but again, just shows their number at the top of the messages app when texting them. How can I get messages to show the contact name and not number at the top of messages? Should I not have imported my messages?

Related, but outdated: Contact names not showing for the calls and messages

After a long support session with Google, some combination of the following things resolved the issue: (although it was unclear what happened when because there were numerous glitches that occurred throughout the process which were corrected by clearing data and rebooting)

Force closing the contacts and Messages apps and restarting the phone
Clearing the cache of the Messages app
Clearing the data of the Messages app (note: this does not delete all your conversation threads as I feared it would. The warning may sound ominous, but at least for me, all my conversation threads were resynchronized following the data clearing and reopening the Messages app).
Going into settings of the Messages app, and changing the default SMS app to Hangouts, and then back to Messages (note #1: this requires the Hangouts app. note #2: upon opening Hangouts I was prompted to try the Messages app--I hit OK and this fixed >50% of my contact formatting issues)
Rebooting the device

This was on a Pixel with Android 7.1 and Messages 2.0.


Cannot delete hundreds of duplicate contacts I have a Google account and a MS Exchange account (Outlook). There are multiple instances of hundreds of duplicate contacts for a single name; e.g. John Smith. They are in "not assigned" groups. If i go into contacts and delete all 200-400 of them, they all reappear in a couple of hours.

They take up so much space; there are thousands of them.

I very much appreciate your help and ideas.

I"m using a Galaxy S3, v4.4.2.

Firstly where are the duplicates from? You should be able to selectively sync items from exchange, thus uncheck the contacts section. Furthermore, some default contact apps allow "link", where you can link all aspects of the contacts. I gather your issue is for phone, mobile, email etc it is creating another contact.

The fact that they are reappearing backs the theory it is due to repeated sync. A handy alternative would be grab any contacts from your exchange, tick the option to migrate to SIM then disable sync. You'll still be able to search for them via email etc by selecting "search on server" etc.


How can you disable the Google "Did you just sign in?" notification Title sums it up. I use my Google account on many devices. Including virtual machines and other items that may get reset and have to be logged in again frequently. It is annoying having to constantly swipe away this notification on multiple devices (5+) around the house when I already use two step verification and extremely secure passwords plus I get the email notification.
How can I disable this notification from coming back again?

To remove:

Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services -> Notifications -> Block all

That should remove those notifications now.

Source here


Google Maps timeline feature not working - says "Can't connect to Maps, try again" When I was trying to connect my past timeline events, I encountered an awkward situation.

It says "Can't connect to Maps, try again".

(Click image to enlarge)

Does anybody know why I'm getting this error? Is there any way to solve this issue?

Sometimes it gets disconnected internally.
So the app is non-functional.

You can always uninstall then reinstall the app.
That will reconnect it internally.

I see chatter in the comments about locations and time zones but that is not in the question, so my answer stands as written.


Is there anything similar to APNS on Android? Is there anything similar to APNS (Apple Push Notification Service) on Android?

(APNS uses a single TCP connection between an iOS device and an Apple-controlled server, which issues push notifications for all the installed apps on a given device, thus preventing the need for the individual apps to each maintain their own network connections for the push notifications.)

If Android doesn't have anything similar to APNS, doesn't this mean that an equivalent set of apps would always require more standby power on Android than on iOS?

Historically, in order to promote battery life, Apple did not let the apps run in the background (until iOS 4.0 release in June 2010), but did provide this APNS (Apple Push Notification Service), which would let the app developers implement certain client functionality on their own third-party servers, which would then push the notification messages to Apple's central notification system (available since iOS 3.0 release in June 2009).

As such, anyone who would have wanted to write an app with any kind of background notifications at all during the whole iOS 3 availability window, would have had to have APNS support implemented, else, their app would have had no multitasking at all.

It would appear that this has never been the case in the Android land.  Per my understanding, Google's take on APNS — GCM — Google Cloud Messaging — hasn't really taken off yet, probably because running out of battery in one day is not as evident as not having the background-notifications functionality at all, and the APNS/GCM architectures require the app developers to themselves run the extra servers on their own side, which is obviously not free, either, and would certainly require extra engineering and complexity, for achieving something that's not entirely obvious to the naked eye.

Additionally, according to a question on StackExchange, GCM is a second incarnation of Google's take on APNS, where the first one, now discontinued, was called C2DM (Cloud to Device Messaging Framework).  It would appear that C2DM had quotas, which were then abolished with subsequent GCM.  The exact dates on the introduction of GCM and C2DM are not clear, however, their device-side parts would appear to be backwards compatible, since they both claim to support Android 2.2 and above.  Android 2.2 "Froyo" was first made available May 2010.


What is this N-shaped icon on my HTC One? I have an HTC One with Sprint, and I believe this icon appeared after the 4.3 update.  I have gone through the list of apps (both running and total) but nothing appears to match up.  Other friends with Android phones don't appear to have this icon, but they all root and customize 7893 ways.  Can anybody identify this icon?

It means that you have NFC enabled. Some manufacturers (LG and HTC, I know for certain) have started adding an icon to let you know that you have NFC enabled since it can have potential security implications related to mobile payment systems. It would also be useful to know if you intend to use features like Android Beam.

If you'd like to get rid of the icon, you can disable NFC in your settings by selecting "More..." in the Wireless & Networks subheading and then unchecking the "NFC" option (you can view Sprint's official instructions here).

The icon they're using is the official logo of the NFC Forum.


Is there a way to change sound profiles based on GPS position? I thought heard about an app that could change sound profiles based on GPS position, but I forgot which one it was. Is there any way to do this?

The free app android llama can do this.

Best of all it is not required to use the energy-expensive gps-receiver but can do the same also with "wlan-ids-in-reach" and "cell-phone-masts-in-reach" as alternative.


Play Store Downloading of Updates Stuck part way through download I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 & I have 3 updates in the Play Store.  When I click on them they start to download but part way through between 40%-60% they will just stop downloading.  The phone looks like it is still trying to download but nothing is happening.  Started happening yesterday.

I have tried force stop, clear data and clear cache from the Google Play Store and Google's account manager.  Also, tried uninstalling Google Play Store.

I have also cleared the Cache from the Recovery start up (Up arrow, Home, Power button).

Nothing seems to work.

Phone works fine outside of unable to download from Play Store.

Checked system updates and ran Lookout for viruses and everything is fine.

Please help.

Thanks

Talked to Google and they said to try restore phone.  Did that for over 1.5 hours and phone said Shutting Down but nothing happened.  Called back Google and they suggested to call Samsung.  Called Samsung and they help me reset the phone via Power button, Home button & Up volume button.  Wiped out everything and started new.  Thanks for your help.  Phone seems to work now and able to download apps.


Does Android 8.1(Oreo) lack "Landscape Orientation" mode? I am using AospExtended v5.7 for tomato and I have noticed something weird. The rotation button in the status bar only toggles between Portrait Mode and Auto Rotate Mode. It lacks the Landscape Mode(even when I try to do it whilst holding the phone in Landscape).

Is it normal? I feel its weird because I had this functionality in LineageOS 14.1(basically Nougat), but its not in a later version.

It is normal. Even my phone has the same. I can be on either
"Auto Rotate" or "Portrait Only".

You can reply on 3rd party apps like "Rotation Control" to force a landscape if needed.


How can I stop this "Not signed in...setup phone" error? I recently upgraded to Marshmallow by CyanogenMod Nightly 13.0 in my Moto E (first generation). Then I flashed GApps 6.0 Nano.
But then after my phone rebooted and I had those "Unfortunately, Setup Wizard has stopped" error.
I fixed it by giving all permissions and rebooted again.
And then this error popped up:

Click on image for larger version

I keep on clicking on "set my phone" and this keeps popping up.

Please help me. Nothing in my phone is working.

I just had your same problem.

This is related to Google Apps: you have to enter settings -> Apps -> Google Play Services -> enable all permissions -> soft reboot.

This solved for me! Please let me know how it goes ;)


Wireless tethering between two Android devices I have two Androids. The first one has an Internet connection. I want to share this Internet connection to my second device. I installed wireless tether app to my first device but my second device didn't find this tether network. What setting should I change?

Your Android phone (if that is what you mean by having two Android), should have a setting for Wireless Tethering. Open the Settings -> Wireless option in your Android phone and there you will get the option.

You will need to provide a name to the network and then try to search for that name in the other phone, as a New Wireless Network. Also, your Data provider should have allowed tethering on your phone; they sometimes block tethering where unlimited data plans or plans with high data usage are provided.

Also, could you provide some more details on how you went about doing the same, that might help in providing a more useful answer.


Will a higher class SD card reduce the risk of crashing my Galaxy Ace? I was using my class 4 32GB SD card in my Samsung Galaxy Ace quite happily until I filled it up to a certain point (which point, exactly I'm afraid I can't find out and don't know). Once the SD card reached a certain percentage of its capacity (Somewhere in the >20GB used area) it started going into the "Sleep of death" bug, where it cannot be woken up after going into lock.

I then deleted some non-essential stuff, and the phone worked with the card quite happily for about 20 minutes, when the card died. I haven't been able to revive the card on my PC or phone.

My theory is that the processor in the Ace couldn't handle that much data on such a low-speed card, which would explain the sleep of death, but not the card failure. Is there any merit in this idea? Would a better class 32GB card have a chance of avoiding the sleep of death, or am I indulging in some wishful thinking?

Apparently the problem is very widespread in Galaxy Aces (according to the manager of a phoneshop I brought it in to), and it seems to happen the Nexus One aswell.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Its because of you are using Max amount SDCard that an Ace can support.
Ace supports 32Gb Maximum, and you are using the same. But Its fact that Ace supports 32Gb ,but it may cause problems mounting that much higher amount.

You can try 16GB class 10, it may be accurate.


s4 mini SD card makes battery drains fast? I have inserted a 8GB SD Card in my S4 mini i9190 and since then only GPS enabled my phone loss abt 5% per hour battery. For me it is a big shock to only last a day at best as usually my old phone which is way smaller last for 2 days on battery...really awful but if I remove the SD Card and use the replacement battery got from MPJ, the battery life is awesome.
Is the SD Card fautly or something wrong with my phone??

There are known issues with certain SD cards causing some read/write errors which prevent your phone from entering the deep sleep state. This causes your phone to drain battery fairly quickly as compared to a phone which goes into deep sleep when not in use.

You should update your phone as certain kernels have also been known to fix battery drain issues. If it doesn't help, consider changing to another sd card from another manufacturer.


Google Maps "copy to clipboard" via share menu Samsung S9+ user here.

On my old S6 I used to be able to enter a location in Google Maps, click the 'share' button, then click an option 'copy to clipboard.'  This would copy a goo.gl link to the clipboard that I could then easily paste into messages.

On the S9+ this is no longer available.  This is a problem.

I send anywhere from 50-100 text messages per day to my staff and each one has a Google Maps link... I can no longer just copy and paste this link, the only way I can do this is to 'share' the link via SMS to a random contact, cut the link, delete the excess text, then go to the staff SMS, and paste the link.  It doesn't sound like much, but over 50 messages it's A LOT of work.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Copy to clipboard option only appears if you have Google Drive installed. Alternatively, one can install "clipboard" apps available on Play Store for this purpose

Installing Google Drive fixed the problem as confirmed by OP


Is there a way to turn off translation in Google Play I have HTC Desire with Norwegian language set up. In Google play, all program descriptions are translated to Norwegian. I find this quite annoying because most of the translations are bad, and looks quite silly in Norwegian. Sometimes I need to imagine what it would be in English to understand what it say!

Is it possible to force the Google Play app to display all texts in original language?

EDIT:
I have realized that the issue is different for different apps.

Examples:

AppLock by DoMobile Lab. This one is the description shown as badly translated to Norwegian in Google Play on my phone. When I go to Google Play in a browser on my PC, it shows description in English (My PC has English system language, and I have set up Google settings to use English).
MindFeud by MonkeyBin Studios. This is shown with English description in Google Play on my phone, but it has a button next to the description header you can click on to translate (which is a function in Google Play, probably using Google Translate). This is exactly how I want it to be.
TvGuiden by MeeTV AS. This is a Norwegian app, and of course has good Norwegian description in Google Play on my phone. This is also fine with me, since it is a proper translation. When I go to Google Play in a browser on my PC, it shows description in English, which is evidence that it provides description both in English and Norwegian. In this case it's most likely written in Norwegian and additionally translated to English.

In example 1, I suspect the app vendor have translated using automatic tool and reports to Google Play having a translation for that language.

In example 2, the app vendor does not claim to have a translation to Norwegian, so in this case, it is shown in Google Play in English, with a button that the user can choose to get it translated.

Example 3 has a truly proper Norwegian translation done by humans, so the app vendor reports correctly to have a translation for Norwegian. It would be interesting to get experience from others on this app if it will be shown in English for users that has phone language set to other than Norwegian (example Hungarian).

Is this the result of some app vendors (ref. example 1) misunderstand how the translation system in Google Play is supposed to work?

Three methods available, depending from where are you accessing Google:

Google Play app usually uses the language defined on your device settings:

Tap your device "home";
Tap "settings";
Locate "Language & keyboard" and tap;
Under "Select language" you can define the language for your device that is also used by the Google Play App as to present you the information on your language.

Accessing from a browser: The Google Play Store sets the language by your IP address, you can update that definition by changing it at the footer (it will persist):

For all Google Products: From Gmail, you can access your account settings and set the language that you prefer for Google Products:

Login to your Gmail account;
On the top right corner, click "account";
On the left vertical menu, click "language".


add shortcut to a file say a local pdf on to the homescreen My jelly bean phones are not rooted. I was hoping to be able to place a file, or a shortcut to a file, such as a '.pdf' on the homescreen.

I have seen suggestions that it may be done, by using file managers, but maybe that no longer applies. Both devices have 4.2.2 jelly-bean.
See for instance this question.

I have tried on an HTC desire 310 and on an Alcatel onetouch.  I get no option to add the file or shortcut to the home screen. I did install the Astro file manager, with a shortcut on the home screen but did not see any additional option for putting a pdf on the homescreen.

Download and then install the latest version of Astro File Explorer.

long press on a home screen where you want the shortcut. Select widgets, then select "Astro". Astro then asks you for choice one file, then you can go to your pdf Directory and add it on the home screen. ; )


Can I recover app data after the phone has been Factory Reset? Without remembering application data, I reset my Galaxy S3 to factory state. Now, I lost data for one expense manager app. Is there any way to recover the data?

NO. Unless you perform a backup before, you lose all app data during a Factory Reset.

Factory reset
A factory reset or master reset is a full restore of an electronic device to its factory settings. Such electronic devices include handheld computers such as PDAs and mobile phones. It entails deleting all information stored in the device. This is essentially the same as reformatting a hard drive. A factory reset may become necessary from time to time on a device which is no longer working. It should be used with caution, as it destroys all data stored in the unit. Many problems with a hand held electronic device such as freezing can be resolved by performing a factory reset or hard reset.

Wikipedia Article


Gestures setting on LG G3 running Android Marshmallow I have LG G3, now running on Android Marshmallow. Prior to Marshmallow, I had this setting under Settings - Gestures. Now, I can't find it on Marshmallow.

Did LG remove it? If not, where is it?

The features are still there, LG only moved the settings to other place.

From a post by jtrvk on XDA Forum,

  The gesture settings regarding calls have been moved to main phone
    Settings - Call - scroll down to Gesture

  For smart screen gesture, that setting is now listed under Display


How to use Windows' internet on Android phone through USB cable I'm using Android 4.4.2 (on Micromax Unite 2 - A106). I've a Windows PC at home which has highspeed broadband internet connection. I don't have wireless router or access point. I just want to use PC's internet connection on my phone. I've tried multiple methods but none seems to work.

Method 1: Using native Android 4.4.2 option

In my phone when I connect my phone, in Settings > Wireless & networks > USB Internet (sharing Windows PC internet via USB cable) checkbox, which I checked then it asked me to choose my Windows version (which is Windows 8.1 but since it didn't show that option) I chose Windows 8.  It gives me further instructions as showing in the following picture:

Here is the problem, there is no sharing tab (see the following screen shot)

Method 2: As described in How to setup reverse tethering over usb

I learned on this site that it is called Reverse tethering. I read and followed the procedure mentioned in How to setup reverse tethering over usb

I followed all the steps described in that answer, until executing the command.

Install USB drivers from Android SDK [DONE]
Connect USB cable and activate USB Tethering (You should see on a new network interface.) [DONE]
Bridge the 2 network interfaces [DONE]
On your computer execute adb shell netcfg usb0 dhcp [PROBLEM]

When I execute adb shell netcfg usb0 dhcp it says: error: device not found. I tried the same thing with USB Debugging in Developer settings, ON & OFF. The error remains the same.

Method 3: Rooting the device and using an app

I read here and there that there is another method, in which we can directly use an app but it requires rooting the device. My phone is a new phone and warranty becomes void if I root it.

EDIT: I've tried the method suggested in answer, at the 4th step of method 2, I'm facing this problem:

Actually, Method 1 is quite easy to do. As implied by this answer, you need more that one network connection for the sharing tab to appear.

Short Answer:

First, ignore the instruction of your android device and try to connect to the USB-Internet anyway.
This will create a new Network connection and allow the sharing-tab to appear on your PC Network Connection.

Detailed Answer

1. Prepare Windows 10

Rightclick the Windows-Start Button

In the opening Context-Menu, open "Network Connections"

The Network Connections will show up. As you can see, there's currently only one Network connection, so there will be no sharing Tab.

2. Prepare your Android device

Connect your Android device with a USB-Cable to your PC
In the Wireless & networks   section (you might need to click on "More..." on some android devices), Try to activate the USB Internet

Instructions will appear. Select Windows 8 and just click on Next and Done, ignoring the given instructions

Now, there should be a check-mark after USB Internet:

If this is the first time you are connecting your Android device to your PC with a USB-Network, Windows might ask you whether to grand the Network connection. That's normal.

3. Share the Internet Connection on Windows 10

As you can see, there are now two Network connections, so the sharing Tab will be now available:

Right-click the first Network Connection and open the Properties

Now, there's a Sharing Tab and you can Allow your Android device to use the Internet connection of your Windows 10 PC


nanddump vs fastboot I have two identical phones. On one of them I've managed to corrupt the system partition and it won't boot. I have fastboot, root (on the one that boots), but I don't have ClockworkMod --- my phone isn't supported. Instead I have the world's most unhelpful vendor recovery, which supports update.zip and nothing else.

I'm trying to copy the system partition from the working phone to the non-working one via fastboot. But I cannot successfully reflash the partition. I always get a failure, and the only message is 'flash write failure'. I've tried erasing it first.

My suspicion is that I'm somehow not taking the image from the working phone correctly and the OOB data is incorrect.

I'm using busybox's nanddump to do this:

nanddump -f /sdcard/backup/mtd7 /dev/mtd/mtd7

Is this correct? The resulting image is larger than an image taken with dd, so it does appear to contain the OOB data, but fastboot won't flash it. Does fastboot require images in some exotic format?

Take the image of the phone that's working by the following code

First find out the dev block of the system partition

  cat /proc/mounts

Search for the system partitions and note down the corresponding /dev/block/ partition
For example for my phone it is /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
Now make the exact copy of the partition using dd command

  dd if=/dev/block/***** of=/sdcard/system.img

Copy this system.img from your phone to PC
Connect your other phone in fastboot mode
Run the following command

  fastboot flash system <path-to-system.img>


How can I "split" the virtual keyboard when typing on a large display in landscape mode? I have a large Android tablet and would like to "split" the virtual keyboard when it's in landscape mode. Something similar like the iPad feature.

Is this possible and if so how?

Thumb Keyboard allows for this, as well as many other handy features which make it well worth the money

Paid Version

7 Day Trial Version


Phone storage is very low Samsung duos
total space as shown in system storage is 4 Gigabyte. But application manager shows total space of 60 'Mb'?
i cant install any application.

Try moving some apps to SD card in app settings


Open RemixOS system.img on Windows and edit init.sh (Faulty Touchscreen) I installed RemixOS on my Baytrail Tablet but the touchscreen doesn't seem to work properly. It only works in the middle of the screen and the touches are registered 3-4 cm left of the area of touch. I have already tried everything I found by Googling like adding rmmod i2c-hid and modprobe i2c-hid with no luck.

But, recently under OS/BOM configuration in the BIOS I found 6 different options for the touch panel - MSSL, Ntrig, ChipOne, Focaltech, Goodix and Disable. I'd like to try each one of them, but I want rmmod and modprobe to run on every boot automatically.

I tried editing init.sh (in system/etc) with no luck. I am using Windows 7 right now. Can anyone suggest?

maybe try to add your line of code into the init.sh file under Function_misc line 18


Why is my phone's brightness reset to full brightness? I put a new SIM card in my phone, then took it out and rebooted.  Afterwards I noticed the screen brightness was up to nearly 100% (I always have it all the way down).  Auto-brightness was off both before and after.  Does anyone know why this might happen?  Is brightness somehow linked to my Google account (which was invalidated on the phone due to the SIM swap)?

I'm going to assume that, as suggested in the comments, brightness is (for some reason) one of the settings that gets wiped when the SIM is swapped.


I cannot open or play song's with anything but Files (default file explorer on AndroidOne I have a new Nokia 3.1. After putting in and formatting an SD card, I copied a tonne of music to it (in Music/ in the root folder). This is m4a and mp3 files.
Every music player app I get (Musicolet, Pulsar etc.) will not find the music automatically; will not find it when forced to rescan; will not play it when it is sent to the app via Files.

'Files' and 'Google Play' will see and play the files. Musicolet (the only one out of 10 different apps) will scan the files, pick up that they're all there - and then not update the music library or show anything.

What the hell is going on? It seems only default apps can see and play music - although not very effectively, since I don't want to pay or use internet to listen to my own collection

I've tried clearing temporary storage, uninstalling/reinstalling music player apps, restarting the phone - same story.

Please please god help, if I can't play music I may as well not own this phone. The Nokia 3310 can play music fgs.

Android uses a media database ("Android MediaStore Database") which is used by most apps. If the file has not been indexed by the database or is unknown to the database it doesn't exists for the apps.

If you have copied a "tonne of music" this database may be a bit overloaded by indexing all the uploaded music files (or may be even crashed).

Therefore I would first wait a while and then re-check if the media files are now visible in the player apps. If after some hours the files are still not visible, reboot the device. This usually triggers a re-scan of the media files.

Furthermore the actions I presented at the end of this answer also can be applied in your case.


Is it possible to disable the system update notification? I have a Nexus One that I want to keep at v2.2 for testing purpose. But the update 2.3.4 has been pushed to my phone and I keep seeing the notification to install it. Is it possible to disable the system update notification?

I believe the only way to stop the OTA notifications for good is to unlock/root the handset and install FOTAkill.apk to the /system/app/ directory.  The version of this app for Froyo can be found within the GApps package.

You might also need to "fake" your phone's signature by modifying the /system/build.prop file and altering the ro.build.... lines, so that they match the latest OS version.

On my Nexus One (it's rooted and running CyanogenMod 7) these are the relevant entries:

ro.build.id=GRI40
ro.build.display.id=GRJ22
ro.build.version.sdk=10
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.3.4
ro.product.model=Nexus One
ro.product.brand=google
ro.product.name=passion
ro.product.device=passion
ro.product.board=mahimahi
ro.product.manufacturer=HTC
ro.build.description=passion-user 2.3.3 GRI40 102588 release-keys
ro.build.fingerprint=google/passion/passion:2.3.3/GRI40/102588:user/release-keys

In either case you will need to root your N1.


What does HBOOT mean? My best guess as of now is "partition and mount point layout". But it feels like there's more to it, since the bootloader can identify the HBOOT by name.

I've been flashing custom ROMs for quite a while now, but I still haven't quite grasped what HBOOT really is or means.

HBOOT is bootloader. It lives inside NAND's first partition, mtd0 (if partition map is MTD). It is loaded in memory (RAM) when device is switched ON. Its jobs are:

Check the Hardware.
Initialize the Hardware.
Start the Operating System (Either Android or Recovery).

HBOOT can also support doing more than this like flashing ROMs.

Something More: Nandroid backup and restore don't touch HBOOT.


PM error Could not access the Package Manager I am trying to freeze an app on my phone using the solution given here.

I am using the Terminal Emulator app to execute the commands:

su
pm disable {package_name}

But am getting an error:

android.os.TransactionTooLargeException
Error: Could not access the Package Manager. Is the system running?

This error is being generated regardless of the app I try to disable.

How do I resolve this error?

My phone is a rooted Micromax Unite 2 A106 running on Android 4.4.2.

The problem has to do with your version of the su binary. I was using ChainFire's updated binary and it didn't work. I re-rooted with Kingoroot and it's now working.


Samsung GT-I5500 hangs after boot After booting I receive this message:

Process system is not responding:
1. Close
2. Wait

Whatever I choose I got only black screen.
I'm using official unbranded latest rom -> 2.2.
List of installed apps.

How long are you waiting? Sometimes it can take a really long time to load.

What you'll probably have to end up doing:
Turn off your phone, then start up in Safe Mode by pressing and holding the big black dpad key plus the power button. Keep pressing them until you see "Safe Mode" on the screen. Uninstall any apps you've installed since your last restart. If you're rooted, do a nandroid backup first.


Can I record a Skype call (audio and voice) using a Samsung Galaxy S3? I've tried using various call recording apps, and standard voice recording, but none do the job.

I need to record both sides of a Skype call made on my Android phone. Unfortunately time is short and I need to do this in a couple of hours, any advice appreciated.

This probably is too late to be of help to the OP, but this question is valid and could be useful for others.

Found this: http://community.skype.com/t5/Video-INACTIVE/Record-video-calls-windows/m-p/3012#M44 but it pertains to windows and not the phone environment.

Unfortunately on android, Skype itself would have to have this feature for the best overall success.

Related topics with good answers:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5382212/capture-video-of-androids-screen
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3176555/android-capture-screen-of-phone-as-a-movie
Direct link: Droid@Screen

An on-phone solution to recording audio would have to simultaneously record incoming mic audio (from you) and outgoing speaker audio (from other). However, you could simply record the stream externally and use a movie/video editor to synchronize the video and audio streams.


Notification LED's generic power consumption I know that all phones got different hardware, and that leads uses just a little power, but:

What if I set my LED notification frequency to high (like the light will pulse faster)? How much would that chew off my battery?
What about "always on"? How much would that eat? Would it damage the LED in any way?

(I know LEDs are supposed to be durable, but the phone switches them off-on for a reason.. I guess.)

What I'm looking for is a generic answer, like "it's not noticeable", or "a couple of percent drop".

The power consumption isn't noticeable. Even a tiny watch battery can run a small LED for a few days continuously.

Increasing the blink rate won't change the power consumption at all: what makes a difference is how long the "on" part of the blink is compared to the "off" part. This is called the duty cycle of the LED.

Most LED controllers use the duty cycle to control the brightness of the LED (because LEDs aren't sensitive enough to voltage), so even when the LED appears to be on continuously, it's actually blinking faster than you can see. You can see this by waving the phone around in a darkened room: instead of tracing a continuous line in the air (like a sparkler or torch does), it looks like a dotted or dashed line. If you can keep the waving speed constant, and measure (or estimate) how long the dashes are compared to the gaps, you know the duty cycle.

The only reason for the LED to blink is a human one: to make it more eye-catching, so you can see when you have a message (or whatever).


Deleting Hardware files leads sometimes to brick the phone I started recently to look up for a way to permanently disable my wifi, bluetooth, NFS, Network and GPS. Unfortunately I didnt find a proper method to do that. There was the option to physically break the hardwares, but I didnt want to risk that, if I get something wrong there I wouldnt have a 2nd chance. Except of that, there was only some ways to disable the wifi but it was easy to re-enable it again.
Anyways I figured out, that I need to root my device in order to remove hardware files, but the problem is I dont know WHICH files would be okay to remove.
I'm using a samsung galaxy s8 with Android 9 Pie
Till now I rooted my device twice and deleted hardware files,
the first time I deleted wifi hardware files from the system/etc/permissions folder. That lead to brick my phone.
The second time I deleted hardware files of bluetooth and nfc from:
system/lib
system/lib64
system/vendor/etc/init
system/vendor/etc
system/vendor/lib64
system/vendor/permessions
surprisingly it worked, I totally disabled bluetooth and nfc.
Then I wanted to proceed to remove gps (I figured out S8 aint using gps but gnss) so I removed the gnss files and folders. But this time, it bricked my phone, so I had to reinstall the samsung firmware again and now I rooted my device again.
Before I start trying again, I would like to ask you, if any of you have some knowledge about this and if there is any no-go files, which I should never remove or smth.
I dont really just want to try out over and over, it is taking much time to do all this... I hope somebody can help me out.
Additionally, do any of you know how the network hardware is called? basically the hardware which lets you call people or just the hardware which connects to a network provider.

The reason why I want to do this shouldnt be important right? but if you want to know why:
I want to keep my privacy. I want to be able to connect to the internet only via ethernet cable and also I want to use my device more as a map to plan routes, camera, calc etc.
ALOT of other people want to do this too, but nobody (after searching for over 20 hours) had the right solution. Every way I found, it was possible to reenable it easily.
Thank you for taking your time and reading my issue! I hope you can help!!
I will give an update about this anyways!

I'm using a samsung galaxy s8 with Android 9 Pie
Model: SM-G950F
Update:

I found a way to disable the following hardware:
(disclaimer: there is probably tons of methods to permanently disable hardware, but this is how it worked for me)
Ofc you need to root you device, I used TWRP as boot loader.
MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DEVICE
you could loose your data forever!! and dont do the same mistake I did, not backing up the contacts.
Contacts are NOT in the internal storage, therefore you need to do a back up while rooted!!!
Tip: every file you edit or delete, make a backup of the original one and name it differently. If your android bricked, then you can use TWRP and delete the modified file and rename the backup again to the original name. This would help you to prevent wasting much time.
Bluetooth:
Delete the following file:
/system/vendor/lib64/hw/android.hardware.bluetooth@1.0-impl.so
WiFi:
Delete the following file:
/system/vendor/lib64/vendor.samsung.frameworks.ucm.wifi@1.0.so
GPS:
Delete the following file:
/system/vendor/etc/gnss/gps.xml
Some files I just edited them, these are permissions file, if you delete them completely, android wont work anymore.
You need to delete everything between <permissions></permissions>
You can edit the files using text editor
GPS:
Edit the following file:
/system/vendor/etc/permissions/android.hardware.location.gps.xml
NFC:
Edit the following file:
/system/vendor/etc/permissions/android.hardware.nfc.xml
Telephony:
I tried to dial emergency numbers, which should be actually possible with or without a sim card, but it didnt work.
Edit the following file:
/system/vendor/etc/permissions/android.hardware.telephony.gsm.xml
And that's it, now just restart your android and it should work with no problems.
I would recommend to download everything you want to have on your phone, before you get rid of wifi.
WARNING:
Most google applications like google map wont work, after you get rid of the gnss/gps. Google doesnt like it, if you turn off your location lol
The network data (LTE, 4G ...etc) is not tested and I am not sure if it is even disabled, I have the feeling that Telephony is not the same. I dont use a sim card anyways, so yeah. But if I found out a solution for that too, I will post it here for sure!
have fun!!


Power button is not responsive when being hold on LG Optimus F3 I have an LG Optimus F3. Last night, I wanted to screenshot something, but holding the power button didn't do anything. I can press it and the screen would turn on/off, but there's no response when holding it.

I tried holding it for a good 1 minute, but it still isn't working.

How to fix this?

This is a routine issue for me.

Removing the battery to force a reboot temporarily fixes the problem. I haven't found a permanent solution though.


How to Remove Autostart for Certain Apps? is there any way you can install an app (for instance WhatsApp) on Android 4.2.1 ICS but at the same time remove its autorun properties sothat it becomes a standalone app and ONLY uses memory, processing power and even more dear battery, only during the time that I start the application. After closing it I want it to remain unstarted!

Note: this is different than autokilling it with taskkiller and alike. I want the app to not start in the first place).

I find myself installing and de-installing certain apps to overcome this dilemma and I hope there is a better solution otherwise whats the point of Android freedom feeling, right?

You can try this application which allow what you ask for: Autorun Manager, though I think you need to have your phone rooted for this.
Regarding the part when you say that want the application to remain closed, that might be tricky, because that depends on the apps implementation. IF the developer is checking constantly if the service is up or down, and try to start when it is down, I advice you not to mess with it, because by trying to stop the service, then you will ended consuming more battery (you try to stop, and the application starts again, and then you stop it again, and you end in a cicle draining your battery). Starting with Gingerbread, is best to let Android manage the state of your application, as it improved greatly the memory and application management.


Honor 4x recovery menu and factory reset not work i need help with this strange problem, i want update my phone to android 6.0 but when i start local update phone reboot and freeze on Honor logo, when i try factory reset or reboot to stock recovery menu - its same, again only Honor logo. Bootloader work ok, its unlocked, phone rooted, but when i for example try flash twrp recovery - fastboot send me "Failed...command not allowed"...Cant access recovery menu by fastboot, any app in phone and by keys combination too..also vol up, vol down and power for update from sd card not work, trying to seek for solutions to more than 2 weeks, can anybody here help me please?Thx.

Os installation in huawei Honor 4x

Unzip the os zip and copy the dload directory to sdcard.
press volume up + power key to switch to EMUI screen then install OS through sd card.
 OR
Press volume up and down key + power key until phone turns on then leave power key and hold volume up and down key until it show Huawei software installing.


How to install Twitter on Galaxy Tab 3 I've just done a factory reset on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, which is now running Android 4.1.2.

I've been to the Google play store and tried to search for Twitter app, but it doesn't show up.

I've found it in a search and followed the link, but it's showing This app is not supported on your device.

All other apps like Facebook, Instagram, Skype, etc, etc, show up and install fine, but not Twitter. Any ideas why?

Note : I've tried to update my android software, but this says there is an error and it can't be installed.

The latest version the Twitter app supports for Android 4.1+ is 6.39.0 (March 22, 2017).

Play Store prevents app installation if it is incompatible with the device (as of January 2020, AppBrain shows the minimum of Android 4.4+).

One way to install old apps is by downloading the APK and installing it. The APK is available on APK Mirror. The device also needs to be set to allow installation from unknown sources.

Note that even if it is possible to install the app, there is no guarantee that the app will work smoothly since it also depends on the current Twitter infrastructure. In that case, it is also possible for some browsers to create a shortcut on the home screen to the Twitter site.


My phone keeps converting SMS to MMS even when messages are under 20 characters? I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note and having enough trouble with the texts. I never even start typing and it says "Converting to MMS" the moment I open messaging and pick a contact.

I've already turned "Creation Mode" to "Restricted" and it did nothing. No one gets my MMS messages either. It's like I never even sent anything.

How do I make it stop?

I had problems with my texting immediately after leaving the Cricket store. This may not be your problem with the conversion, but as far as people not receiving MMS, try fixing your APN. You will have to research how to do it on your phone and get the correct APNs for your phone carrier, as I do not have access to that specific phone. This may at least help you with people not getting MMS from you.


Whether a new user of my old number can see my old WhatsApp messages? I was using WhatsApp with my mobile number since last 1 year. Suddenly the number got deactivated due to no call/messages for long days. However, I got to know that the same number has been allotted to another person-B.

Now I am wondering whether the person-B can be seeing my old WhatsApp messages those I had 1 year before attached to the same number?

They cannot see your messages because they would not be able to sign into your account. Without your password and/or physical access to your phone where your messages are saved there is no way they will be able to access your messages.

An entirely new account can be created for the new owner of that number, but it is separate from your old account and does not have access to your old messages.


I checked 'use as default' when choosing the default launcher, but now I can't start ADW.Launcher any more I installed ADW.Launcher on my Galaxy S running Froyo (2.2) to check it out.

When it was installed, every time I pressed the 'home' button, I got a choice which launcher to start.

In the end I found this irritating, I choose the default installed one, and checked the 'use as default' check box.

All fine, but now, I can't seem to be able to start the ADW.Launcher any more.

No icon in my application list and none on my home screens.

How do I start ADW.Launcher again ( without re-installing it ). I verified that it is still installed on my device.

You need to remove the default setting for the Launcher application.

Menu | Settings | Applications | Manage applications | "All" | Launcher | Clear defaults


Is Google Authenticator data saved in the google backup cloud? is the Google Authenticator saved with the google backup like wifi passwords, settings, gmail and some other google aps? If I will reflash my current system or make a clean install will it be backed up with all the codes form websites I have there? I do not want to loose it and it will be a lot of work to go to every site I have there, revoke 2step verification and then do it again with new system

Google Authenticator in version 5.00 (as of now) permits backup, but only preferences are backed up, and the critical data (secret keys which creates those codes the user need) are not backed up at all. ADB can also back it up with the command:

adb backup -keyvalue com.google.android.apps.authenticator2

I'm making this claim based on the presence of the attribute android:allowBackup set to true, and presence of key-value pairs backup provisions in its manifest and a dedicated backup agent is also listed, named com.google.android.apps.authenticator.backup.AuthenticatorBackupAgent. This certainly wasn't the case with prior versions.


lost usb tethering android 7.0 after an update from android 6.0.1 to android 7.0  i ve lost usb tethering function on samsung tablet wifi SM-T580 !

need update to recover this function which is very important for me because i use this tablet only to connect to Remote controller  of drone  via usb tethering  . Without this function this tablet no longer serves me and the drone too .

thank

Check what type of connection it is using, take down the notification drawer and see if there is a "Recharge" notification or something like that.

If so, tap on it and choose the MTP option, then go in the tethering options, and activate it.

Done :)


Spell Check not working on HTC M9 I was wondering is spell check on android the same as the iPhone, that is does the word get underlined, because that doesn't to be happening in my case. I have downloaded Swiftkey and Google Keyboard and both still don't have that option, is there anything I can do? I don't want next word/current word prediction!

It does work, not sure on your device but on the Nexus 6 running 5.1.1 under Settings > Language and Input. There is an option for spell check. I use the Google keyboard and I assure you. It has spell check. It's in the keyboard settings under text correction.


Multiple partitions on sdcard (fat, exfat) on Android? How is Android supposed to handle multiple partitions on an extern sd card?

As an experiment, I took a 64 GB SDXC card, looked at it in Gparted, it turns out it is exfat formatted, with some amount of MB unallocated at start. Using gparted and gnome-disks, I managed to split the partition into two exfat partitions, which should be around 32 GB each.

Inserted this into an Xperia Z2, stock ROM (the last Android 5.x update). The phone didn't put out any notification upon plug in of the sdcard, but notified the plug out of the card, and complained it should be unmounted first. I inspected a bit via adb logcat and it looks like mounting is ultimately fine, as /storage/sdcard1. But when I look at that via Settings/Storage, I can only see 29.12 GB for "SD Card". Plugging the card back at the PC, I can see only the first partition has Android files saved, not the second one. Same result if first partition is exfat, and second partition is fat32.

So, basically, is this the expected behavior of Android when presented with an SD card with two partitions - it just mounts the first one, and ignores the rest? Could I mount the second partition from say adb shell, and would I need a rooted device for that?

By default, Android only uses the first partition found on the card and mounts it as described in your question. Subsequent partitions will be ignored. That's what's utilized by tools like link2sd: as the system won't interfere on other partitions, they use those for their purposes – be it moving apps to free up space on internal storage (Link2SD), having a swap partition/file, or something else.

Now, if you want to use multiple partitions for your own purposes, you'll have to care for them yourself – which, next to the obvious creation, also includes mounting. To do so, you will most likely need root; I have not read about a user-accessible FUSE method for this (open to learn if it exists :)


Moto G 2-gen - can I recalibrate automatic brightness mechanism? Is there any way to recalibrate/reconfigure automatic brightness behavior?

I would like to make it a little bit brighter in low light conditions.

I'm using Moto G 2-gen with KitKat without root access.

It is not possible to calibrate the mechanism normally. The screen brightness values are fixed.

You could use an app like Lux Auto Brightness to manage your screen brightness instead of using the default auto brightness setting. This isn't a perfect solution but it is probably the easiest to implement. Alternatively, you could root your phone and install the Xposed Framework. You could then use a module like Gravitybox to manually set your preferred auto brightness values.


USB no longer stays connected I have a Samsung Intercept running 2.2.1. I've been using USB debugging for several months, and recently (no recent changes to the phone) the connectivity just dies after a few seconds, not long enough to load new apks. The same goes for Mass Storage: it dies as soon as I try to transfer files to my computer.

I have a handful of other phones, and using the same setup and cable I'm able to connect via USB to them, so I know it isn't my computer or cable.

Before I try to replace my phone, as I need it for testing, does anyone know of a software reason for this to be happening, or is it pretty much assuredly the usb pins?

I can give you one suggestion. Based on the what you have posted and based on what I understand do the following thing.

*. Backup all your data through Bluetooth and do a Settings Reset.
(Settings --> Privacy --> Settings reset).

And try to connect to Computer using your USB setup. If still no help do the next step

*. Do a Factory Reset.
(Settings --> Privacy --> Factory data reset).

If still no help then that might be Hardware issue. Go to any Samsung Customer service center. They might replace only the Pins section.


How to use application buttons that are under the usual on-screen buttons (Back/Home/Tiled apps) Many sites show buttons to accept/reject the cookie policy at the bottom of the screen. But on my phone (Xiaomi Note 7, Android 10) this puts them under the on-screen-buttons:

It seems that everything under the faint/thin line at the bottom is out of reach, either nothing happens or the on-screen buttons take precedence (on sites with thicker buttons, I can tap the button above the line)
Is there a way to avoid or mitigate this?

Turn on desktop site mode in your browser


Is Skype available for the Motorola Xoom? Is Skype available for the Motorola Xoom?

I recently (two nights ago) installed Skype on my Xoom, and it appears to work fine, with chat, video, and audio calling available.

This was on the UK market, Wifi version (so no provider issues), stock 3.2.

This is the market item I have installed.


Record screen AND system sound on rooted device I cannot find a way that will allow me to capture and save both system video and audio (not microphone),  even on the Play Store. My device runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has root permissions access via SuperSU. I'm aware the API for system recording is not available in Stock Android, though I remember several apps being able to access internal audio for purposes such as streaming, casting, etc...

I recommend AZ Screen Recorder, it is free, lagless, quality video, sound available from system and from microphone. Most important feature is that root isn't required and it is completely free for the most important features.


Unlock OnePlus2 after reset and now in FRP I have reset my Android Phone (OnePlus2) after it froze. Now it wants me to log in to my previously used Google account.

I know the PIN Code and the Code to Unlock the Screen and the fingerprint is also set to me.
Is there a way to bypass this protection ?

IMHO this does not make any sense if there is no way. Any reasonable thief, who knows all this information can simply unlock the phone and disable OEM lock.

My only problem is that i forgot the Googlemail.

There are bypasses but it varies by phone. The best bet is to flash stock firmware. That's the only way I know to do it, because I've done it on my wife's Galaxy S5.


Android apps not compatible between roms I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 with CM10, I was testing SlimRom and notice that some applications that I bought on PlayStore showed the message "This app is not compatible with your device". It's the same device with different rom.

Any ideas about why this happen?

thanks!

I've had that before, I think it has something to do with how the device was named on the build.prop. I had a device that runs on ICS before, I changed rom to another ICS and one of my apps showed incompatible on the Play Store. I installed the app from a backup copy and it ran without problems.


What Does "[UID]" appended to a root request mean? I recently got a root request that came up as "Greenify [UID]". This looked suspicious to me as I usually get greenify requests as just "Greenify". I have tried to contact the developer of Greenify and I have yet to get a reply. Could someone clarify what "[UID]" means?

UID is the "User ID" assigned to an app.

On Android, each app runs on a separate user (for sandboxing). So on install, the system "creates" a UID/GID (UserID/GroupID) pair for new apps, which is what they are identified by. This is also used for file permissions, to ensure private data of an app stay private (and no other app can simply access them; see our file-permissions tag-wiki for details).

  At install time, Android gives each package a distinct Linux user ID. The identity remains constant for the duration of the package's life on that device. On a different device, the same package may have a different UID; what matters is that each package has a distinct UID on a given device.

(Source: Android package security)

For further details, please take a look at:

How can I find app name by UID?
Where is user/group id info stored on Android and how do I inerpret it?
What is the GID/UID of the system on Android?
How UID of an app determined during install in Android?
Android security part 1: application signatures & permissions


Samsung Galaxy S5 AT&T - Stop 5.0 Lollipop update mid-download I received an alert for a software update the other day that I kept putting off until today. Unbeknownst to me when I started the download, it was Android 5.0 Lollipop. I've read around that it still has some issues that need to be worked out and I'd like to avoid updating until I see better reviews and updates as Kit-Kat is running beautifully.

Unfortunately, I can't find a way to stop the download. I've tried restarting my device, looking for an option to stop it, etc. The only thing I've found that works is disabling wi-fi which, while it works, isn't a permanent solution.

Is there a way to stop the download and not install Lollipop?

well let the update download. After downloading you have manually install it so don't install. This way you can prevent the lollipop update and stay on kitkat.


How do I stop Android speaking my commands? Suddenly (OK so I may accidentally have triggered a setting somewhere) my android phone (LG v20 Standard Android) has started speaking all the touch commands I do.

For example, if I start from a blanked locked screen and turn it on the device says
"Screen on. the time" Then after a pause, "Screen Off" as it turns off the screen

If I type in characters it speaks every letter/character as I press the key (makes passwords tricky!!)

If I try to close an app with the X  I
press the x it says "Dismiss button. Double tap to activate"
I double tap and it says " app dismissed"

But worst of all swipe no longer works. So I cant swipe up to see what is on the bottom of a page; I cant swipe left to see other pages of apps etc etc

Please, how do I get back to a normal silent android!
TFAI

Method 1

Tap Home key > Tools > Settings > General tab > Accessibility > Vision. Then, disable Talkback

Method 2

Hold Volume Up + Volume Down for more than 3 seconds to disable (or enable) Talkback as described in this answer from XDA.


Stop Google Search Opening in Chrome Until recently when I used the default Google search bar and tapped a search result it would open in Firefox. However there must have been an update to either the search bar or Firefox as the results are now opening in a stripped down Chrome window.

This is happening on both my devices (Moto G - 6.0 and Nexus 7 - 6.0.1). Firefox is set to open multiple tabs and other apps (mail and Feedly) continue to open in Firefox.

How can I force the search app to open the results in Firefox rather than Chrome?

Google Search uses Chrome Custom Tabs since April 27, 2016. From 9to5Google,

After its most recent update, the Google app now opens search results as Chrome Custom Tabs. [...]
[...]. By default, links from search results now open as a Custom Tab that features a blue action bar with options to Share, Copy link, Find in page, and Open in Chrome.

To change its behavior,
open Google app's setting by e.g. tapping Google app from app launcher to navigate to Google Now screen, tap hamburger icon (3 horizontal bars) on top-left to open navigation drawer, then,

Users can go to Settings > Accounts & privacy to toggle off the new ‘Open web pages in app' option if they prefer opening all links the old way.

Related: Prevent apps opening links in Chrome Custom Tabs (i.e. open in default browser directly)


How to troubleshoot a lockup/freeze I have a GNex running on CN(A) 3.8. It has started to lockup/freeze when the screen is off. So far it occurs mostly overnight while it's charging. I have to pull the battery to resolve. I believe it started a couple of ROM updates ago. I have not gone through the step of doing a factory wipe (but have cleared the cache/Dalvik), etc, but I was wondering what tools does Android have to troubleshoot freezes, etc.

Is there a system log, etc that I can look at to see if there's a pattern of what is occurring at the time of freeze?

There are apps that let you look at the system log, like CatLog.

What I would do is start logging before you charge it at night and then take a look at the result in the morning. The log will probably be staggering but the errors should show up in red.


Can I view the HTML source of an email sent to an Gmail address from an Android device? I have a Samsung tablet and would like to check the HTML source code from a Gmail message. Does anybody know how to do this?

I'm using Firefox Aurora for Android; I can simply type view-source: in front of the address in the address bar, and a new page loads with the HTML code, etc...displayed in a formatted viewer.  I'm not sure if the other browsers have the same functionality, or what the corresponding command for those would be. You can find Firefox Aurora for Android at their website.

There's also a convenient Add-on that creates a menu shortcut for this function.


Startup apps not running at start up I've recently purchased a Lenovo Vibe K5 mobile.  The phone runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with the Lenovo UI layered on top.

I have been facing a strange problem.  Apps that are set to start at startup simply don't start until I start them manually.  This includes messaging apps like Telegram etc. (only WhatsApp somehow seems to startup, but it then often hangs), battery monitors, QualityTime, Resilio Sync, Twilight, etc.

This has become more than an annoyance as the failure to start messaging apps means I never receive messages.  I've missed several important messages as a result.

I have checked in Bootup Manager and all these apps are listed as startup apps.  I have also switched off Lenovo's "Intelligent power settings" system (which seems to basically terminate apps if they are running in the background).

I have made no modifications to the stock ROM except rooting it.  I also experienced a weird problem with SMS not being received when I restored messages from a different phone from a backup.  I eventually deleted the message database and started from scratch; that seems to have fixed the problem.

Is there any way to fix this problem?  Where would I start? I am tempted to go the whole hog and replace the stock firmware with a custom ROM, but that is likely to bring its own problems in its wake.  Is that the only route forward?

In my case it appears that the problem was that some of these apps had been set to "restrict to launch" (in Settings -> Apps -> [each app]).  I don't know what this setting is intended to do, or why it was turned on. Also this does not seem to be a complete solution, but it appears to have ensured that some of them are now starting at startup.

This setting appears to be unique to Lenovo phones, though I may be wrong about that.


If I insert a Japanese SIM into my Nexus 4, can I have unlimited access to the Japanese Google Play Store? I read this thread (How does Google Play determine the region on a tablet without SIM card) and it seems like the region is determined by IP, but if I insert a SIM purchased in Japan into my Nexus 4, will I be able to purchase Japanese apps, games, books, etc even if I don't have a Japanese credit card, or will I need that as well?

No, having a SIM card from a particular country does not get you that country's Play Store. See this answer on a related question for instructions from Google Play support about moving to a different country.


Does rooting void s4 warranty if the thing that is wrong is not the fault of rooting? I have a galaxy s4 from AT&T with knox on it. And I just want to root (no custom roms) but if my phone breaks or something I don't want to void my warranty because it's rooted. So is my warranty voided automatically with root or is it voided only if the root is the cause of the problem.

Rooting your phone will void the warranty from both the carrier and the manufacturer.

No matter what happens to be wrong. If they found that the phone's rooted then you'll have to face the consequences.

*So your warranty will be void automatically with root. *


Can't activate nor deactivate any administrator permissions outside of safe mode I just upgraded my Nexus 5 from 4.4.4 all the way to 6.0.1 and ran into a problem: I can't change any administrator settings outside of safe mode. I wanted to activate it for a screen lock app but the 'activate' button and 'cancel' button don't respond to touch, the same with any app in the list, whether to activate or deactivate. Screen orientation does not matter. In safe mode I can only see the apps already activated, none of which I now dare deactivate fearing I won't be able to reactivate them.

Can anybody help me with this?

If you are using an app such as Facebook Messenger, CF.lumen, Lux or Twilight that draws over the screen, you'll need to stop them doing so in order to interact with secure settings pages such as the device administrator activation/deactivation pages.

For example, in Facebook Messenger, you would either close all chat heads or go to the Facebook Messenger settings and deselect 'Chat Heads', or in CF.lumen you would disable the overlay by pressing 'Disable' in the persistent notification.


Why does the Google Authenticator app have "obsolete" in its title on Play Store? Why does the Google Authenticator app have "obsolete" in its title on Play Store?

Does it work? Can I still use it for two-factor authentication? Is there a preferred method?

Looks like Google has released a new version of Authenticator (as of March 21, 2012) under a new package name: com.google.android.apps.authenticator2.

Old version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator

New version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator2

Different package names means that you can have them both installed simultaneously, but my guess is that Google will eventually remove the old version from the Play Store.

Installing Authenticator 2 without uninstalling Authenticator allows Authenticator 2 to import your currently configured sites.

I've read a few posts from people claiming that Google lost their signing key, and this why they have to release a new app under a new package name. I want to emphasize that there is no evidence to support this claim. While it is true that signing keys cannot be changed with app updates and therefore require a completely new app/package name, a more plausible explanation could be that Google wants to integrate Authenticator more tightly (e.g., shared UIDs, signature permissions) with other apps (see below).

Additional info for those interested:

The signing key used on the old version of Google Authenticator (SHA1 fingerprint: 24:BB:24:C0:5E:47:E0:AE:FA:68:A5:8A:76:61:79:D9:B6:13:A6:00) is also used to sign: Scoreboard, Goggles, Finance, Google Voice, Shopper, Transalte, Chrometophone, Earth, Reader, and a few others.

The signing key used on the new version of Google Authenticator (SHA1 fingerprint: 38:91:8A:45:3D:07:19:93:54:F8:B1:9A:F0:5E:C6:56:2C:ED:57:88) is used to sign: Google Maps, Google Play Store, Gmail, Google+, Google Chrome and Google Music.

Update: Google has put up a blog post talking about the new up as well as the upgrade procedure.


find total incoming and outgoing time I am using HTC WildFire, and what to find how long I have been talking on the phone since purchase?

i.e., I want to find out, my total incoming and outgoing call duration

I found a free app that will track this information for you: Call Meter NG.  I don't know if installing this app right now will give you historical data but it's worth a shot.


How to put restrictions on android? Is it possible to install android on a tablet and then restrict its use case scenario? What i mean is can i make it so that no apps can be installed (Not even by using an external apk) except the one I pre-install on it?
Something like how normal users/ guest users can't install software on windows without admin password if they don't have the necessary permissions?

You can use Automate app.. It will automatically check if an app is installed and then perform relevant action. You can also set that if package manager is opened, force close it or press home key. You can choose to uninstall it as soon as it's installed if you have  root permissions OR you can delete its files from storage to render it useless OR you can set that the home button is pressed and not responding pop up is shown whenever the app is opened.. LOL
Further you can download AppLock to prevent uninstalling of Automate app or any other app too.
With Automate you can do many more further hacks.
Hope it helps...


Can you get MAC drivers for Huawei U8180? I have a Huawei U8180 (sometimes called X1).

When I mount the USB I can see the SD card and there is also a tool on the device to install the Windows drivers. But can't seem to find anything for Mac.

Does anyone know if you can get Mac drivers for it so adb commands will run on it?

You do not need drivers for a Mac.

What you can do so you can access adb from anywhere is create an environment variable that
points to the path of adb.

Open Terminal
Type cd ~ this will take you to your home directory
Type touch .profile this will create a hidden file named profile
Type open -e .profile this will open the file you just created in TextEdit
In the file, type export PATH=${PATH}:/pathToTheAndroidSdkFolder/android-sdk-mac_86/platform-tools
Save file, close TextEdit, Quit Terminal, and Relaunch Terminal

now when you run adb devices, in a terminal, you should see something like the following:

  List of devices attached
  5751A45CB25EF device

if you don't see anything listed for devices, make sure you have USB Debugging enabled in Settings > Development > USB Debugging