How can I make the button on my headphones control something other than the stock music player? When I press this button, it plays/pauses the stock music player. I don't use the stock music player--I use a comination of Last.fm, Grooveshark, and Winamp. I would like to make the button play/pause whichever player I am currently using. If this isn't possible, I would like it to simply control Winamp, instead of the default player.

I am using Android 2.1 (unrooted) on a Samsung Fascinate.

To get the headset to control only one application:

The application has to support receiving headset control events.

In the case of Winamp, press menu --> Settings --> Enable "Control headset"

If there are multiple apps that accept headset controls, you may have to disable the feature on the other apps (I'm not certain which app gets priority over another).


Will it be a good idea to block Google play store to save my data? I am new to android phones (using one for the first time since last two days). I have a limited data plan, so I want to save as much data as I can. But when I was monitoring my data usage, I observed that certain system apps, in particular Google services framework and Google play store are eating way to much data even when I am not using them at all. So I have installed Opera Max, where I can block apps. Now I have two questions-

What is Google services frameworks?
If I block these two apps, is there going to be a problem?

Thanks in advanced.

Your phone would be a paper weight. Most of those app blockers are garbage. They eat up resources and battery life.

Most google apps require a network connect to work.

Best bet simply set your phone to wifi only when you can. Turn on wifi only updates. Something like Tasker can help if you can get past the learning curve.


Restore WhatsApp media from Google photos I set up my phone to automatically backup WhatsApp media to Google Photos. Now I want to print one of my conversations as a book using a service like Zapptales. The problem is, that all media, that has already been backed up, is no longer available:

'Sorry, this media file doesn't exist on your SD card.'

However, the photos and videos are all still available on Google Photos. Is there a way to restore certain or all WhatsApp media from there back to my device?

Downloading the photos, keeping the names the same and putting them back in the

/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images/

folder will work for most of them. Some photos might have been resized or other meta data changed during the upload to google photos and so it might not work for all.

If you are talking about a large number of photos, then you can download ALL your google photos from here (could take a while):

https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout#

to your PC, and then select all the ones with a WhatsApp-style name, e.g:

IMG-20160913-WA0000.jpg

If you have set up google drive backup (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup), then you might stand a chance by uninstalling WhatsApp, deleting the local backup from the phone, and allowing WhatsApp to retrive the backup from Google Drive. Before going to all that effort however, it is probably worth checking the size of the backup listed under (Settings -> Chats -> Chat backup). If it is large then it might contain all your photos. If it is small then it is unlikely to be worth the effort.


Why can I see '/' in a file manager when my device is not rooted? My device is not rooted: I have rooted it before, but I did a full factory reset using the Nexus Factory Images. Root Checker tells me it's not rooted, and SuperSU tells me that it cannot find SU Binaries. However, when using multiple file managers, they can all see the '/' folder, and all the folders and files beneath it. I thought that root was required to do this. Is this correct, or am I imagining things? How can my device can see these? When actually going into Cheetah Mobile's File Manager Settings and checking the 'Root Explorer' option that apparently allows me to see the '/' folder, it says is cannot gain root access. How come multiple file managers let me see this folder? Thanks in advance.

I thought that root was required to do this.

That's not quite right. Any user can see that directory, but only root can write to it. Directories lower down the hierarchy such as /data/data are not world-readable, so while you'll be able to see that that directory exists, you won't be able to see its contents on an unrooted device.

Some file managers choose not to offer the option to display system directories like the root directory unless the device is rooted, simply because it's not very useful to do so when you can't see the contents of some of its subdirectories or change it.


In general, do Android apps use encrypted connections? If so, is public WiFi safer? I know that connecting to public WiFi carries risks.  I know that much of the risk has to do with sending data over a public connection, allowing it to be intercepted.

So, my question is, do most or all Android apps use SSL or some other secure protocol?  Is SSL forced via Android policy or technical limitations?  Would I only have to worry about websites in my browser that use http?

If an app uses a secure connection, does that mean it is significantly safer to use on a public WiFi network?  I know that people creating their own WiFi network or spoofing others is still a risk, but is there anything else?

Your concern is very real.  Most developers and users don't understand the benefits of using SSL and other forms of encryption.

You can guarantee encryption by using an SSH Tunnel, although it will only ensure the stream is encrypted to the exit point (which would be the server to which you're connected).  This is good if you are simply trying to prevent your ISP from spying on you.

Another way would be to use TorProject's Orbot.  This has the same idea in mind, except you will not be required to provide your own tunneling server and benefit from being able to change your exit point at will.  Orbot also uses multiple proxies to help obfuscate your identity.  Of course, you are encouraged to help participate and provide a relay if at all possible.

In order to have 100% stream encryption, neither of these options are fool-proof, but may help you in your endeavor.

This is why it is important (especially now) to use different passwords for different sites, as some sites/services won't provide the same level of security as another.

SSL on a public WiFi, while still much much more secure than non encrypted streams, does not provide 100% failsafe protection.  Unfortunately, Root Certificate Authorities are vulnerable to hacks, and some (Trustwave) have even been caught issuing certificates to companies they knew were not the owners of the website SPECIFICALLY to allow said companies to spy on encrypted connections.  It is also easy to strip SSL out in applications that do not require secure connections.

You do, however, have a few options that will provide you with stronger security.

You can use gpg to encrypt messages and data using your intended target's  public key.
One pass encryption has the highest level of security for certain applications.

TLDR;

Your phone is insecure.  It is up to you to decide what conveniences you need, and how they will impact your security.  There are many practices in which you can become disciplined that will help minimize your risks, but at the end of the day it is your responsibility to safeguard what you deem private.  I would be more worried about the data that each app you have installed is trying to offload to it's servers.  Read through the 'Permissions' of each app you install before you download it, and decide if it really needs half of what it says it does.


Top Grossing Apps on Android Market I was surfing on Android Market and I found a list of Top Grossing Apps? Do you know what does it mean specifically? Which is the criteria to appear in that lists?

Top Grossing: applications and games generating the most revenue, including app purchases and in-app payments

From Market Help Page


Creating and handling an encrypted folder on sd-card for unrooted devices I'm looking for a way to create an encrypted folder on the sd-card and provide password protected access to its contents. Ideally, this would provide a UI to encrypt new files by moving files to it and retrieve them back.

I know there is EncFS but it only works in rooted devices.
And also BoxCryptor which is only for Google Drive or DropBox.

I need a solution which would work with sd-card folders and on unrooted devices.

There are many available choices, depending on the features you need:

Cryptonite uses EncFS and requires root
LUKS also requires root and provides on-the-fly encryption (AES by default) to virtual folders
Eds provides encrypted containers and does not require root. It even is compatible to TrueCrypt.
DroidCrypt can encrypt single files or full directories. No root needed.
Encryption Manager is a file manager providing file encryption support, and so is AnDisk
FilesCrypter supports encrypted files and folders

And many more.¹ Just check the examples, and take a look at the "also recommended" stuff on their market pages to find more.

¹ disclosure: link goes to my Android site


Market Downloads, GTalk and GMail notifications fail when on company VPN I've noticed that when I login over WIFI to my company VPN the following problems occur:

GTalk does not login.
No GMail notifications received.
I can access the Android Market but when I attempt to download an application it fails.

All these work ok on my home WIFI and 3G connections.
Does anyone have any idea what would cause this?
What protocols/ports do these services use and is it possible to edit them?

I think GTalk uses port 5228, and the notifications and Market downloads both use the GTalk protocol internally.


My Android tablet seems to be "read-only" I got an iView 7" Android tablet about a week ago, and it's been doing fine until today. This is the product on NewEgg

In short; it seems my internal storage just won't accept any changes of any kind, which is causing all manner of odd errors.

I have gone to the extent of trying a Factory Reset; powering off, holding Vol-Up, Home and Power; waiting for the prompts, and choosing the Factory Reset option. But it did not work - after rebooting, everything is just like it was before; My ADW Desktop is still there; all my programs and data, everything.

Of course, it's not usable as is, though; Programs don't work as intended. Some (Like Facebook and Calendar Storage) Force Quit as soon as I unlock the home screen. Others will Force Quit during operation - usually, one can tell, when it's needing to save some data. Yet others appear to operate, but don't save their data; the program apparently just 'swallows' the error.

Some system functions don't even work; for instance, I can't connect to WIFI; when I turn it on, the WIFI item in the settings area just shows "Error".

I can't even uninstall programs. Well, I can; But as soon as I reboot, they are back.

Via the file manager, I can not modify any of the files on the user area of the internal SD Card.

The tablet is rooted (it comes rooted; I did not do this myself), and using ES File Explorer I can go to /system/app/ and I can, for example, rename APK's and it appears to take effect as you would expect, but then as soon as I reboot, the program is back in the state it was in before.

All I have done with root access on this device is installed Superuser and ES, then mounted the system so I could rename the Phone.apk and Telephony.apk files so they would not run, since this is a tablet with WIFI only. I did that as soon as I got the table last week, and it hasn't given me any other troubles. Now, those files can't be renamed back to their original permanently.

So, I'm wondering if perhaps my internal memory card is fried or something? It seems odd that the behavior would be so predictable with a hardware error like that, but who knows?

Anybody have any idea?

I am facing the same issue with my VOX V81 tablet. I formatted its internal storage and did a factory reset. But when I rebooted it, it came to its previous state.

I suppose that it is due to the Avast Mobile security I installed on this tablet; after installing Avast, this problem started. So I suggest you to uninstall any antivirus or mobile security application.


Android: An app failed to download/install - what do I do? Sometimes I download an app but it fails to download or install. The message just says that, no further details. It generally seems that the app never installs after that. Is there anyway I can find out more details about why it failed? Is there any good way to get stuff to install after this has happened.

I am using Android 1.5 on a T-Mobile Pulse/Huawei U8220

Can you get any app to install? First thing to always try is to reboot the phone.

If that doesnt work, try downloading aLogCat from the market (if you can install it). If it installs, then go to the market and try to download the app you're having issues with. If it STILL wont download, then open aLogCat and look at the system log entries. Then you should be able to glean a little bit of info of why its not installing. I know this is not a 100% answer of what you're looking for, but it does help and has helped me before.


Can you restart data service with full strength & orange indicator? With some regularity (6-7 times per month) my Android 4.4 phone gets into a data-wedged state where the connection is shown as full-strength LTE, but without connectivity (the icon is orange in the settings drawer). Toggling mobile data and toggling airplane mode do not help, but rebooting the phone does restore service. Sometimes simply leaving it alone will eventually result in data restoration (but that could be a case when it was a transient carrier issue).

Is there some way to kick (restart) the radio or data service to get going again without a reboot? I have root and a terminal, as well as SL4A experience if that would help—I just can't find anything that fits this description in the developer docs. I can't figure out what would be lower-level such that rebooting would cause the needed "kick" but airplane-mode toggle wouldn't.

Note that the apparent answer Restart data connection when stalled? doesn’t actually answer the question, it suggests diagnostics for verifying the connection really is stalled (I don't have any trouble with that part).

(In case it matters, this is a Nexus 5, Android 4.4.3 KTU84M, T-Mobile LTE.)

While I haven't seen that issue, you can restart the radio.

Dial *#*#INFO#*#*, choose Phone info and scroll down.  Click the Turn off radio button, then click its replacement, cunningly called Turn on radio.

A Nexus 5, being Google, should support the standard android_secret_code URIs, so INFO should be present. Other vendors may replace/remove/augment those, so bets are off on anything not directly from Google.


SwiftKey Select/Copy/Cut/Paste/other shortcuts Swype has a great feature of sliding between the Swype key and:

a - Select all
c - Copy
x - Cut
v - Paste
m - Open selection in Google Maps
g - Google for selection

It's much quicker than long-pressing and then (for example) going into the More menu for Select All.

Can SwiftKey do something like this?

(Feel free to tell me any other killer shortcuts while you're at it)

3 years later and Swype being unfortunately dead my solution was to switch back to Gboard.

Apparently Swiftkey doesn't give a s**t to customers needs.


ADWLauncher: Go straight to default screen instead of requiring a second "home" tap? I have CM7 installed, and am using ADWLauncher which comes pre-installed.

I know how to configure a "default" home screen, so that when I'm in ADWLauncher already, pressing "home" brings me to the default screen.  But when I'm in another application, pressing "home" takes me to the most recently viewed screen, and an additional tap of "home" is required to then move to the default screen.  What I want to do is be able to press "home" from ANY application and go STRAIGHT to the default screen, regardless of what my last viewed screen was.  Is this possible?

Thanks!

I don't think there is a setting in ADW that can do that. I use ADW.EX and I looked through all the settings and didn't see any way to achieve what your are asking for.

It is, however, open source, so someone could implement the option for this, or you could request it to anderweb and he might add it to an update.


Can the previous version overwrite the currently installed app? Suppose the new version of APK of any project is currently installed on the Android phone, but I want to install my previous APK on the phone. In that case, what will happen? Will it be updated to the previous build or showing error?

If it's updated to the previous build, will it only show specific things from that build, or also include the current (latest) things?

No, you can't downgrade the app. The installation will fail (with error code [INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE] if installed from ADB).

Normally, you need to uninstall the app/updates, then install the specific version from the APK, but doing this will also clear the data. There are alternatives to prevent that:

If you're using ADB, you can use adb install -r -d <link to apk> to allow downgrade (from an answer by supereee on SO)
(need root) Use AppDowner to downgrade the app (more detail on AndroidPit)
(need root) Use Titanium Backup root to backup your data, uninstall the app and install using APK normally, then restore the data (from AndroidForums)

In case of using the first 2 alternatives, you will only see the specific things from that build only, since basically you are having that version.


How can I remove myself as an admin of a group? There is a group that I was a member of. Suddenly one day, all of a sudden I became admin of a group.

How can I remove myself as an admin of the group? And how can I make someone else an admin of that group?

Any help appreciated.

Long press the group chat and hit "Delete and exit group" - your chat will be deleted and you will be out of the group. Someone else will be auto-selected as the group-admin in your place.


Verizon Activation Setup Galaxy s3 I recently bought a new contract-free Verizon CDMA Samsung Galaxy S3 for testing purpose and I couldn't pass the activation setup wizard. When I reached the customer service they said I have to activate it to use it which is lame. I buy a 300$ phone and they force me to activate it with a plan to use it. How can I skip this?

I tried how-do-i-bypass-the-verizon-activation-on-a-samsung-fascinate but it didnt work.

I activated that phone with a prepaid plan and didn't pay anything and successfully able to use it in wifi.


Sound via Bluetooth shuts off during quiet We have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, running Android 5.1.1 (U.S. Cellular, if it matters). We're connecting it to a Sony HT-CT80 Soundbar via Bluetooth.

While this works perfectly most of the time, during some shows that feature extended periods of quiet (such as Law & Order SVU, when there's an extended pause in the conversation, of about 5 seconds or so), the speaker appears to disconnect, in that the speaker is completely silent. When sound returns on the show we'll miss less than a second of the sound before the speaker starts back up. We've also had it do this while listening to the radio (WPR - Wisconsin Public Radio - via their Android app).

The tablet is connected via USB and fully charged, with the screen on the entire time. The soundbar is plugged in and doesn't lose power.

We've tried checking the bluetooth settings but don't see anything obvious, and suggestions online suggested that keeping the screen on might help with keeping the bluetooth connected, but as noted above the screen is definitely staying on.

Are we missing a setting that might explain why the tablet appears to be temporarily disconnecting during periods of quiet?

It's the "feature" of the soundbar called "Auto Standby" -- it shuts down the audio amplifier when there is no audio to play, and then it needs some time in order to turn the amplifier back on when it detects that audio has returned. Unfortunately, it does that even when connected to power source (to reduce power consumption). I've checked the manual (https://docs.sony.com/release/HTCT80_EN_ES_FR.pdf), and it seem that on your model it isn't possible to turn auto standby off.

The only workaround is to prevent the soundbar from going into standby by periodically playing sound on it, but that will be very annoying, since it must be a real sound, not silence.


How can I turn a stock HTC One into a Google Experience one? I'm considering buying an HTC One soon. Sadly, the Google Experience one isn't available in my country in the Play store. Either way, I would get the new phone from my carrier anyway.

So I'm wondering, can I turn my phone into a proper Google Experience version? If so, how?

This how-to meticulously explains how to flash a ROM taken from the Google Play edition of the One. To summarize:

Backup your data
Root your One
Download the ROM
Boot into TWRP, wipe the old ROM and install the new one


Turn off aeroplane mode to make a call on Moto g2 I have installed Marshmallow on my Moto G2 using adb. It was a successful installation and everything was working good. Then I realized that none of my SIM was working.My SIM card shows operator name but it can't get network.

Whenever I try to make a call, It shows me error

  Turn off aeroplane mode to make a call

I have checked and found that Aeroplane mode is already off on my device, I tried

Turn on/off aeroplane mode
Reboot my device (Multiple times)
Do factory reset
Wipe Cache and Dalvik cache
Do hard reset
Restore old Kitkat version from backup
Re-installation of ROM (Multiple times)
Insert another SIM to my device (Did not work)
Insert my current SIM to other device (Worked)

But nothing seems to be working for my case.
I have read each and everything related to this on internet but was not able to find any solution.

EDIT

I have also tried below command

adb shell settings put global airplane_mode_on 0

to disable aeroplane mode from adb, and checked with below

adb shell settings get global airplane_mode_on

It returns 0 that means Aeroplane mode is off but issue is still there. I still see the error message and can't use my SIM.

EDIT 2

I run below commands with OKAY response.

fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn

Used *#*#4636#*#* and changed network type to WCDMA preferred

Checked IMEI using *#06# and its valid.

EDIT 3

I found that there is no "Cellular Network" option available on my device. Could this be the issue for not reaching out network?

Below is output for getvar all

(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: 4887
(bootloader) product: titan
(bootloader) secure: yes
(bootloader) hwrev: 0x8400
(bootloader) radio: 0x5
(bootloader) emmc: 16GB ID=15 REV=07 PRV=0B TYPE=57
(bootloader) ram: 1024MB Hynix S4 SDRAM DIE=4Gb
(bootloader) cpu: MSM8226 CS
(bootloader) serialno: ZX1DXXXXXX
(bootloader) cid: 0x0007
(bootloader) channelid: 0xc0
(bootloader) uid: 2B8DXXXXXX000000000000000000
(bootloader) unlocked: yes
(bootloader) securestate: unlocked
(bootloader) iswarrantyvoid: yes
(bootloader) mot_sst: 3
(bootloader) max-download-size: 536870912
(bootloader) reason: Reboot mode set to fastboot
(bootloader) imei: 3533210XXXXXXXX
(bootloader) meid:
(bootloader) date: 09-11-2014
(bootloader) sku: XT1068
(bootloader) battid: (null)
(bootloader) iccid:
(bootloader) cust_md5:
(bootloader) max-sparse-size: 268435456
(bootloader) current-time: "Tue Apr  4 23:50:50 UTC 2017"
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[0]: motorola/titan_retla_ds/titan_umts
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[1]: ds:6.0/MPB24.65-34-3/3:user/releas
(bootloader) ro.build.fingerprint[2]: e-keys
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[0]: Blur_Version.24.81.3.titan_retla_
(bootloader) ro.build.version.full[1]: ds.retla.en.01
(bootloader) ro.build.version.qcom[0]: AU_LINUX_ANDROID_LNX.LA.3.5.1_RB1
(bootloader) ro.build.version.qcom[1]: .04.04.02.048.045
(bootloader) version-baseband: MSM8626BP_1032.3116.99.00B DFLT_FSG
(bootloader) kernel.version[0]: Linux version 3.4.42-g0a0ded4 (hudsoncm@
(bootloader) kernel.version[1]: ilclbld86) (gcc version 4.8 (GCC) ) #1 S
(bootloader) kernel.version[2]: MP PREEMPT Mon Aug 22 14:30:22 CDT 2016
(bootloader) sdi.git: git=MBM-NG-V48.87-0-gdc5aeaf
(bootloader) sbl1.git: git=MBM-NG-V48.87-0-gbffe41a
(bootloader) rpm.git: git=MBM-NG-V48.87-0-gbe53f43
(bootloader) tz.git: git=MBM-NG-V48.87-0-g31cba28
(bootloader) aboot.git: git=MBM-NG-V48.87-0-g1b80345
(bootloader) partition-type: raw
(bootloader) partition-size:
(bootloader) qe: qe 1/1
(bootloader) productid: ZX1D62FVGF
(bootloader) sutinfo:
(bootloader) ro.carrier: retin
all: listed above
finished. total time: 0.340s

I am using XT1068_TITAN_RETLA_DS_6.0_MPB24.65-34-3_cid12_CFC.xml.zip dated 2017-02-05 19:29 from this source

I used EasyInstaller.bat to install on my mobile.

Is there any other thing I can try?

It appears you are using the incorrect firmware for your device... Your device is Retail India (RETIN), but the firmware image you are using is Retail Latin America (RETLA). The correct firmware for Retail India is RETAILDSDS (don't ask me why, I have no idea what it stands for other than Dual SIM something).
A mismatch of radio firmware to the hardware in your device can cause the operating system to think you are in airplane (aeroplane) mode.

Assuming you have the proper drivers and fastboot installed, use this file and extract it to your fastboot directory, or any known directory if fastboot is in your path. Open a elevated privilege command window, in Windows click Start and type cmd and then right-click on cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator or in Linux open a terminal window and enter sudo -i and your password, and navigate to the folder where you extracted the firmware file's contents.

Then enter these commands manually, one at a time (it's OK to copy/paste them individually, just don't do the whole thing at once):

fastboot oem fb_mode_set
fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
fastboot flash motoboot motoboot.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash logo logo.bin
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot oem fb_mode_clear
fastboot reboot

If ANY step fails, or gives any response other than OKAY, check the command and try again. In some cases the modems will need to be done be done 2-3 times. If you get a "Preflash validation error" on the partition table (gpt.bin) it is OK to skip that file (ONLY if you get that error), but you must do each step after that.

The first boot on Marshmallow can take a long time, give it at least 20 minutes after the final reboot to come up to the setup wizard.

This should bring the modem/radio firmware in line with the boot image and the hardware radio and allow you to get normal service again.

Good luck!


Mount external SD-card for the secondary user When I create a new user on my Asus MemMO Pad 10 (in addition to the existing primary user), the new user does not "see" the external SD card (I've tried a 64gb Micro-SDXC/exFAT and a 2gb Micro-SD/FAT32). When I switch to the primary user, "Preparing an external device" is displayed at the top of the screen and the SD card becomes "visible" as "external device".

I.e. external SD card is not automatically mounted to the secondary user, only for primary one.

Is this a feature of the Android system or ASUS tablets only? How can I make my Micro-SD card mount for the secondary user? (In case I need root access, I would consider installing it)

Device: ASUS MeMO Pad 10 (ME102A), Android 4.2.2, root access not installed.

Sorry for my English

Some people wrote in 2013 that this is impossible, or at least was impossible back then. Here is what I found on a SonyMobile forum:

"Each user gets their own [internal] space and only the owner has access to the external SD-card."

"One of the reasons for not sharing the SD card is security: FAT file system doesn't allow even for the basic Linux type permissions, thus it's impossible to secure a user's files. I agree it's a bummer but they [Google] have to go w/ the most secure of the solutions..."

(Link to the SonyMobile forum)


How to install kitkat in oppo? I bought a smartphone in China, is an OPPO r5, the smartphone has the following settings:

4 GB RAM
Android version: 4.4.2
Kernel version: eight core MT6592
Compilation number: MTK 6592
Personal compilation version: A3SE_AX_CHT_MTZ_4G_V1.1_20141105114604

But when I tap in the android version appears JellyBean Logo (weird because 4.4 is kitkat), when i restore the phone, apears with applications extra and uses 3GB of RAM (without applications starting, and due to this the phone is very slow). The question is if i can install a 'pure version' of kitkat or jellybean version (also a mod) so the smartphone will be faster?
Note: Ir has been checked with antutu and cpuz, is an oppo adn it has an octacore and 4GB ofrece RAM

There are a few things which don't sound quite right.

4GB RAM - The Oppo R5 has 2GB RAM build in.
"eight core MT6592" - R5 uses an Snapdragon SOC. MT6592 is an Mediatek SOC.
The Android version. It doesn't matter which version is shown in the system information. It's a simple edit in /system/build.prop. Everyone can write whatever they want.

With these things in mind I think you have bought a fake R5.
So can you change to Cyanogenmod? No. By installing the cyanogenmod for the official R5 you might brick your device as the kernel is not fitting your hardware.

Link to the official product page of the R5


I uninstalled/deleted a system privileged app (from /system/priv-app) by mistake. Where can I get the apk of it? My /system/priv-app/DocumentsUI is empty obviously. Putting any 3rd party DocumentsUI.apk in it results in bootloop. I have a custom rom (Aosp extended).
Flashing the /system again would fix the problem I think. Just want to make sure if this will make the condition worse or im going alright?

The way I did it was a little different.. I made a full twrp backup. Wiped everyhing. Flashed the stock rom. Copied the DocumentsUI.apk from twrp. Wiped again. Restored the backup. Placed the copied apk into /system/priv-app/DocumentsUI. Everything worked perfectly!


Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 wont boot after rooting I try to Root my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 with KingoRoot using pc.
after that it restarted, but now it won't boot.
when i try the button combination, home+power+vol, tab goes into downloading, odin, mode.
where can i find the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (model: SM-T211) flash firmware?

so that i can download and flash with this downloaded firmware ?

You may find stock firmware for your model on SamMobile from this link.

This site is also a good source for firmware for most Samsung Mobiles. Just search for your model here. Do take note however that you have to register for a free account before you can start downloading. Optionally, upgrade to a premium account for faster download speed.


How to switch the GSM/3G module off? I only use my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Chat) as a "pocket computer" (with WiFi) and don't use it to make telephone calls (I use a dual-SIM "dumbphone" for this). All the time it shows a cellular network signal indicator and reports that it can make emergency calls. Can I switch it off to save battery?

Some years ago, when I had a Benefon Esc! GSM+GPS phone, I could independently turn its GSM and GPS modules on/off. I wonder if this is possible in modern day smartphones.

You can switch your phone to Airplane mode - this will shut down ALL radios. After this, turn on ONLY the WiFi and you'll be able to use it as a WiFi only device.


Lost huge internal memory while debugging application on device I started developing Android apps recently. For debugging purpose I used my device. Debugs and all went good but lately I realised that 32MB of my internal memory is missing.

I have gone through all the applications, cleared caches but nothing helped.

Does anyone have any idea as to how should I get back the 32 MB's of Space on my Device.

Device: HTC Desire
Android Platform: 2.3.3

Not sure, as devices are setup differently -- but the word "debugging" suggests it:

If you are rooted, check whether the directory /data/tombstones exists. If so, there might be some "tombstones" inside. Being root, you can delete them (they are owned by system, and give no permissions whatsoever to other users).

Explanation: Tombstones

Tombstones are what the dead are covered with, and so it is here. On Linux/Unix known as "core dumps", this is what some apps leave behind when crashed to death: the process' memory dump for analysis by the developer. Only few applications throw tombstones, I guess they have to be explicitly enabled by the developer -- which might happen implicitly when toggling some debug flags.

Up to now, I didn't discover tombstones of that size (all I've seen was between ~30kB and ~250MB), but that doesn't mean they cannot be bigger...


Android Marshmallow: How to disable vibrate on call connect? I recently bought a moto e3 power phone with Android Marshmallow OS. The phone vibrates every time when the receiver takes the call. It is annoying. How to disable this option? I have checked the settings. There is a option "Vibrate for calls". But disabling this option does not remove the vibration.

Open the dialer and click the 3 dot menu in the upper right corner and select Settings, then Sounds and vibration, under "In-call vibration" there are options for Vibrate on Answer, Vibrate on Call Waiting, and Vibrate on Hang up, select or unselect as desired.


Application connection errors after phone reset My phone was reset, now Wordfeud gives constant connections errors. Do I have to reset something for Wordfeud to work?

Try going into Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> WordFeud and clicking both the Clear cache and Clear data buttons. Clear data may remove your account, so you may have to log back in, but it should help the problem.

If it doesn't, I'd have to say uninstall and re-install.


Does turning off cellular data override restrict background data? I have always assumed that turning off cellular data under Android settings/Data Usage meant no data use is possible.

However, I found out there is another setting: restrict background data. If that is turned on, will the phone still use cellular data even when cellular data is off?

I see three questions:

1.) Does cellular data off override restrict background data?
A: No. It's possible to get Background Data through WiFi.

2.) I have always assumed that turning off cellular data under Android settings/Data Usage meant no data use is possible.
A: No. See above answer, and below.

3.) However, I found out there is another setting: restrict background data. If that is turned on, will the phone still use cellular data even when cellular data is off.
A: Yes, it's not impossible. That restricts Background Data only.

But, some Phones 'leak'.

I had everything turned off and set to use WiFi, even went to the "Data Usage" Setting and restricted each APP individually - but the Carrier was billing me for Data Usage.

I phoned to complain and the Call Taker thought I must have done something incorrectly - Supervisor!

The Supervisor said that I had used a few BYTES on a couple of days, and they were adding a Charge for "Under 5MB Usage". I assured her that I had turned everything off and bought the Phone from them. We agreed that no practical Web Page is that short and that I wasn't trying to Surf for free.

They added a Feature to my Account called "Data - 5MB Free" finally admitting that they got so many complaints about this that this is what they came up with.

I suspect that the Manufacturer's UI or the OS was not checking the Settings (a 'leak' / Bug) and since the change to "5MB Free" I'm no longer getting billed for using Data without intending to.

So, yes, technically it is possible to Set something (or read something on the Internet) and to get different results than you had hoped for. It's possible to turn Data off and for a tiny amount to get used, resulting in getting billed for it.

If you don't want to pay Cellular Data Charges (or ask the Carrier to completely disable it) then turn it off and check your Data Usage (on your Phone and Phone Bill). If it's leaking take it to the Store or convince them over the Phone that you have turned everything off on your end.

Ask if the Usage is extremely small, if it is and the Phone is theirs ask for at least 1MB free.

I think I found where the leakage is coming from, or at least how to block it.

I bought my phone unlocked and have not rooted it. If you have a carrier subsidised phone this may not work without their cooperation if they have locked the settings for "Connections -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names". I've had this problem on two phones from different manufacturers, so I guess it's a UI and Android problem.

The problem (or solution) is that "Connections -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names -> APN Protocol" is set to "IPv4/IPv6" - you need to change that to "IPv4" so that when you have Data turned off the setting is respected. Either it's 'by design' or a Bug that turning off Data isn't blocking IPv6 usage when your phone boots, either way it's a rip off to get a Bill for Data usage when it's turned off.

My Carrier has locked their settings so I couldn't alter them without either taking my phone in and explaining all this again (or scouring the Internet for a way to change the Carrier settings). Fortunately I am able to add a new setting and choose it (I bought my phone outright), if your phone is "Carrier Locked" you might not be able to create a new "Access Point".

While researching this (after discovering how to see the leakage) I found a few tools and webpages that are helpful.

The APP that showed me the Data trickle is NetTech's "Net Analyser".

On their "Information" tab at the bottom it shows the total IPv6 usage since last boot - prior to fixing this problem it said that I was using over 60kB of Data, not much but enough to get billed (prior to getting 5MB Free).

Here's a screenshot, notice at the bottom where it says: "Received Since Boot" and "Sent Since Boot" - previously those values were over 60kB, now they are zero. The leakage is prevented, money saved.

What you need to do:

Go to "Connections -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names" and click on your current setting. See the Android Central article: "What is an APN, and how do I change it?" for a longer explanation. You either need to be able to edit the fields or create a new entry for this fix.

Screenshot your current settings so you can keep a record of the original settings in case you make an error when you edit them, or so you can create a duplicate entry to modify.

Either modify the Carrier's original setting for "APN Protocol" or create a new entry in the "Connections -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names". If you create a new entry use the screenshots to exactly copy everything identically (spaces, and set to "none" versus "not set" must be identical,).

Change "IPv4/IPv6" to "IPv4".
Save and reboot.
Check Data usage with "Net Analyser" (or APP that shows IPv6 usage). There should no longer be any IPv6 data usage.

Fixed.

While searching for a solution I also found this webpage: "How to DISABLE IPv6 on Android?" but they say the solution is temporarily and needs to be done each boot - that's useless for us because our problem seems to occur during boot, before the UI Settings kick in.

A more helpful webpage appears to be: "IPv6 on Mobile Devices" and especially: "Android: IPv6 Data Leaks" (translated from the original German webpage) which explains how to turn off IPv6, though you'll likely need root to do it:

## Kernel
# Disable IPv6
echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/wlan0/accept_ra
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disable_ipv6
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/default/disable_ipv6


Does Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 show which LTE Band is used (e.g. 12)? I'm a T-Mobile US customer, and I'm quite interested in getting a phone with Band 12 support, and one that'll actually let me have a better understanding of the network and whether I'm receiving the benefit of having the upgraded phone with the Band 12 support.

As per https://sites.google.com/site/cellularbinder/compatible-phones and the specs of the phoe itself, Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 does appear to support LTE Band 12.

However, does it have the ability to show which band is presently being used, like some other non-Google phones can?  (I currently have a couple of Google Nexus phones, and am quite disappointed that there appears to be no way to see which exact bands of LTE or UMTS do they use.)

I currently have the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, and yes it does support band 12. In fact, my phone is currently using band 12 over band 4 which is what my OnePlus One was using, since it doesn't support band 12.

One way to check is to download the LTE Discovery app.
Or, open your phone's dialer and type *#*#4636#*#* -- this will open up Testing mode.

Go to Phone information and it will show which band your phone is using.
See screenshots below. First two are from my Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 and the last two are from my OnePlus One. As you can see, the Phone information mode for the OnePlus One does not show the LTE band for some reason. (Depends on the phone I guess.)

Also notice how band 4 is in use on the OnePlus One according to LTE Discovery and there are no bars, whereas the Idol 3 has 2 bars of Band 12 LTE.

Note that these two phones are placed right next to each other.

Click image(s) for larger version


Adjust long press of back button to kill app in CM7? As you may know, CM7 has this nice feature where you can hold down the Back button to kill a misbehaving app (Settings > Applications > Development > Stop app via long-press).

Unfortunately this feature kills apps too quickly for my taste; I find myself killing apps that I didn't intend to kill at least a couple of times a day. Mostly this is a mere inconvenience, but I fear that at some point I'll corrupt some file by accidentally quitting an app that's writing to it.

Is it possible, perhaps through some hidden settings file, to adjust how long the long-press for this button must be? I'd like to at least double it.

I have not ever found a way in any the settings to adjust this. I think the time is hard coded. I completely agree with you about the time before it would close, for this reason, I disable it unless I am testing something and need it for a specific test.


Camera light flashes when the phone rings - how do I turn this off? With Android version 4.3 for my Samsung Galaxy S3 (or perhaps just Verizon's flavor of it) my camera flash has begun to blink very brightly when I am receiving an incoming call.  How can I turn this off?  I've been through the settings and nothing obvious really jumps out at me.

I found the setting, and something interesting as well:

Settings > Accessibility > Flash notification

When I came into the settings it was already unchecked, yet my phone was exhibiting behavior as if it was. I had to check the setting and exit the menus. Then I went back in to uncheck the setting and exited the menus again. This time the setting took effect - my camera light is no longer flashing.

Hope this helps others in the same situation.


How do I hide "Show Sample Cards" in Google Now? It's been months, I really don't need samples anymore.  Is there any way to completely hide the link?  I've checked all the settings and cannot find anything.

From Google:

  To see some sample cards from the main Google Now screen, touch Menu > Settings > Sample cards. When you’re finished and want to get back to the main Google Now screen, touch Hide sample cards.


Using multiple devices with the same cloud accounts I bought a new phone and everything is now up and running, and the old one has been disconnected from the Internet since I set up the new one. Now I'm considering using it as a backup phone for situations where I could lose or break down the new one.

Is it ok to connect both phones to the Internet at the same time or will that mess things up? I'm thinking of problems like different versions of an application writing configuration info or metadata in different formats, and messing up one another.

It is very unlikely that such a setup messes anything up. The only possible scenario where this could happen would be a badly coded app.

In most cases, your apps would only allow you to log in from one device. Once you login on another device, you get logged out on the first. For instance, WeChat works like this.

Other chat clients like Skype or Google Hangouts push your messages to all other devices that are connected. Email clients should work in the same manner.

Cloud storage apps like Dropbox or Owncloud synchronise your files. Unlike messaging apps, they allow modifying and sharing of files. In rare cases, synchronising errors can occur. To solve such conflicts, the cloud server creates a duplicate. This would only happen if you try to edit a file from two or more devices at the same time.

Apps that include an editor (such as Google Sheets or Simplenote usually allow only one version at the same time. That means, even if more than one person edits the file, there won't be any synchronising issues as changes are made instantly. If these persons delete each others changes, data loss would also be instant and can be reversed using the history function of the app.


Whatsapp message not delivered before deleting account I had sent a message to a friend of mine in WhatsApp. However, it could only reach the server (one tick). But owing to personal problems, I deleted my WhatsApp account before the message was delivered. Will the message still reach my friend?

Yes, it'll be delivered, because it's on the server. You cannot control it.


How to root a HTC Desire running official Android 2.3? I have an HTC Desire (Bravo, A8181, GSM) sold in Sweden. I updated it to Android 2.3 using the official release, which is as of 2011-12-29 available at HTCdev with instructions from here.

Now I want to root it. I did some googling and it seems like it isn't possible to root a Desire that has been updated to the official Android 2.3. I tried following this guide, but it failed at step 6 in How to: Root. When I attempted to run unrevoked, the progress text running root... was followed by the error message Error: failed to get root. Is your firmware too new?.

I also tried searching for a way to downgrade it to Android 2.2, with no luck.

How can I root this phone?

In my searching I stumbled across Revolutionary. It looked good enough, so I downloaded it and ran it. It prompted me to plug my phone in, and then it pretty much did the rest on its own. The result was that a custom recovery system was set up, from which it is easy to install ROMs and the like to the phone.

The Revolutionary docs mentions a zip file you need to install in order to root the phone. In order to install the zip file, I first downloaded it to my phone's SD card. Revolutionary only sets up the mentioned recovery system, so the official HTC Android 2.3 was still intact and running on the phone. I used that to mount the SD card on my computer and copy the zip file, but I could just as well have done it using Revolutionary.

After placing the zip file on my SD card, I shut down the phone, then held the volume down button and pressed the power button. This results in starting the phone's bootloader, from where one can start the recovery system (Revolutionary in my case). This greeted me with a neat menu containing the entry install zip from sdcard. I selected this and navigated to the zip file I downloaded. When the installation was complete, I rebooted the phone into Android, and my app drawer now contained the Superuser app. Root complete!


Microphone goes mute on Pocophone F1 when opening any game while in a phone call Using Xiaomi Pocophone F1 (MIUI 11.0.8 Global). I abruptly go into mute when I boot up any games while in a normal phone call. This doesn't happen in other apps.
I tried denying microphone permissions for the game (Phone permission wasn't required in there). Experienced this issue in Call of Duty Mobile, Head Ball 2, etc.
Does Game Turbo have anything to do with this issue? I can still hear them while gaming, whereas I'm muted until I exit the app.

Yes, I too have that problem. I disabled Game Turbo and calls are working fine.


copy my exchange server settings password The password field under "exchange server settings" is blocked out. I want to add my business email to another phone. Is there any way to reveal the password?

Thanks.

If you are talking about the stock Email app, there is no way to show the password. This is for your privacy and security. You don't want people to be able to see your password if you lost the phone, especially if don't use a PIN- or password-enabled lockscreen.

The best way to resolve this issue is to contact your company's IT Support, and request for a password change.


I have broken screen. Can I root my phone only with downloading mode and recovering mode? I want to recover my data from my Samsung S Duos. I have broken screen, so I can't do anything, even unlock (because I have a password to enter the phone). I tried to install CWM and connect with ADB, but USB debugging isn't turn on, so I can't connect with ADB at all. Is there some way to root my phone via recovering mode (with CWM) so I can turn on USB debugging and work with ADB? Maybe there is some easier way to recover my data? I thought e.g. about connecting keyboard to my phone, so I can unlock it and normally connect via USB, but my phone doesn't support OTG :/ any ideas?

I think you should be able to use adb on your phone while in recovery. adb devices should show something along the lines of YOUR_DEVICE   recovery.

Once you have access to your device in recovery, you can mount the data partition using adb shell busybox mount /data and then you can use adb pull to pull data from the data partition, for example: adb pull /data/ phone_data/ will save the entire contents of your /data partition (which includes apps, wifi settings and app preferences) to phone_data in your current directory. If you want to pull data from your sd card for some reason, simply do adb pull /sdcard/ phone_sdcard/.

Note: I prefer using TWRP (which you can find for your device here), so if any of the above steps don't work you should try using it.


How do I send SMS from PC through Android Phone or to Android Phone? I'm looking for an app that will let me type text messages on my PC and send the SMSs directly from the PC through my phone, or save the messages to the phone for later use.

I'm basically looking at something like Nokia PC Suite's equivalent.

EDIT:

Google Voice is only for US, doesn't work in India at least, and also defeats the purpose (it will go through the internet, why, when it's possible through the usb cable/modem/wifi).
DesktopSMS is a good program, but kept crashing, for some reason.
PDANet worked for me.
But I liked the tiny EasySMS. It's weird, and I had to change the bluecove library jar file for Windows 7 x64, but it's compact (a concern for me).

PDANet (a tethering program) will let you send and receive SMS via a little desktop client when you are connected to your phone via USB or bluetooth

Update as of May 2015: PDAnet apparently no longer offers its sms agent in its latest version.


A reset problem on a RCA, Android tablet I was given 2 used 7" RCA model RCT6873W42 Android tablets. The batterys on both tablets are charged up and the tablets turn on. The last owner didn't do the "wipe data/factory reset" in the right order. They didn't remove the last Gmail account that the tablets were sync to before doing the factory reset.  And I keep running into a roadblock on both tablets when I get to the point in the set up were it asks for my Google email address. See the screen capture. I did the "wipe data/factory reset" 2 times. No change. I don't know how to bypass the "Factory Reset Protection" and I can't get the last owner's email address and password in order to open up the tablets. Is there a way to around the "Factory Reset Protection"?

Steve

Update I now have what the eBay seller calls an "OEM MICRO USB male to female USB OTG Host Adapter For a RCA Voyager RCT6873W42 Tablet". I must be doing something wrong in trying to get the tablet to see the prog "Bypass any Samsung Google Account Lock.apk" or I am using the wrong APK prog.

Also I have found that I have full access via a back door to all non rooted files and directory's in the tablet via the USB cable when connected to my Windows laptop. What I can do with that back door, I don't know. But I can read and write to the tablets. I also have ADB/Fastload for windows. I have used ADB/Fastload to root a cell phone and a tablet before. But that cell phone and tablet didn't have FRP installed in them. They were older OS's.

Have you tried removing their Google account in settings?

To remove a Google account, go to settings, then either Google (Or accounts). If prompted, tap the account name. Tap MORE. Tap Remove account. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT to confirm.

If they have a passcode or screen pattern then you'll have to find a way around it. But if not then that should help.


Update.zip signing- different sha for the same file I am trying to flash a customized update.zip on a pre-Kitkat device.
In the zip there are 2 files with SHA1 signatures of other files in the update. But they have different signatures for the same files.
Example:
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF:
Name: system/lib/libcustom_jni.so
SHA1-Digest: +PhV5XphkQTNTyM2TSRTeiaDlCA=

META-INF/CERT.SF:
Name: system/lib/libcustom_jni.so
SHA1-Digest: 7ooFhqk1oYWF5pmVuSAhF2pFVNw=

I can get the first one using:
sha1sum system/lib/libcustom_jni.so | cut -d\  -f1 | xxd -p -r | base64
+PhV5XphkQTNTyM2TSRTeiaDlCA=

How is the second one computed? The second file has a hash of the first file, so maybe the other hashes are salted with the first file or something?
From what i found in java doc the SHAs should be identical, except all SHAs are the version 1 in the original update.zip.
It seems hat the certificate used to sign the update was the android test one so it should work, but aborts instead.

Answered here as i wrote in the comment. The second hash is a SHA1 of the 3 lines in the manifest file.
I can obtain the second hash by running:
echo 'Name: system/lib/libcustom_jni.so\r\nSHA1-Digest: +PhV5XphkQTNTyM2TSRTeiaDlCA=\r\n\r' | sha1sum | cut -d\  -f1 | xxd -p -r | base64
7ooFhqk1oYWF5pmVuSAhF2pFVNw=

The echo command adds the final \n so it must be removed from the command to not be duplicated.
Edit for posteriority:
The update.zip is then signed by SignApk using the -w argument, which makes it generate a ZIP comment, without which the installation fails.
The comment consists of signed by SignApk string followed by a signature block. Code at Android SignApk source
This was the last piece of the puzzle that allowed me to create a custom update.zip for my Prestigio tablet.


Is it possible to restore TWRP backup with CWM? Is it possible to restore TWRP backup with CWM?

I have some backups with Team Win Recovery. If I install ClockWorkMod, can I restore them with it?

I checked that myself.

I installed CWM 6.0.1.0 on my Galaxy Tab P5100, then I tried to restore the TWRP backup that I already had, and It didn't work.

Maybe it needs a little more technical work. But with a normal procedure, it doesn't work.


The application Market Feedback Agent has stopped unexpectedly The application Market Feedback Agent (process com.google.android.feedback) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again.

I keep getting this error message when YouTube crashes. I click to report the problem, then this error occurs. I tried to manually visit https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.feedback to check for an update but nothing was found. Android version 2.3.4. Neither Verizon, Motorola, nor Google will update it.

How can I fix this problem?

The first step for any of these force close issues is to clear the cache and/or data from the problem app. Whether it's the Play Store or YouTube that is the problem is unclear; you may end up doing both.

Open Settings
Apps
Scroll down to the app you want and tap to open App Info. (If it's a system app (without updates) you may need to swipe left to "All" in order to find it.)
Tap the Clear cache button. If that doesn't work, return and tap Clear data

See also: App <X> isn't working correctly. How can I fix it?


How do i find apps which weren't installed from Android Market The Sky Go application will not work for me because it thinks my Samsung Galaxy Nexus is rooted even though I have never rooted it.

According to the Sky customer service agent I chatted to, this can be because of apps on the phone which weren't installed from the Android Market/Google Play.

I know that I have manually installed an apk or two in the past[1], but I am not sure which apps still on the phone (if any) were installed manually.

So, how can I tell which apps on phone were installed manually and which were installed from the Android Market/Google Play?

[1] Amusingly, the only app I can remember installing manually was the Sky Go app, when it wasn't available to download for Galaxy Nexus phones. It didn't work however, and I removed it.

The whole answer relies on the fact that when this query is made (requires adb) :

adb shell pm list packages -3 -i

the installer for an app is listed in the output next to app's package name. We can filter the installer names in that output to single out apps not installed from Play Store.

Note: if you've a rooted Android OS, you may check /data/system/package.xml since the said command exposes the information found in that file, but in a more legible manner.

Automation

I found Tasker (user guide) apt as well as flexible for the job. Create a task named NonMarket and create the following actions inside it:

Task → Run Shell

Command:

pm list packages -3 -i | grep -ve "com.android.vending -ve "com.google.android.feedback"

Store Output In: %AllPkgs

This will store the package name of all the third-party apps  currently installed, but not from Play Store,  in the variable AllPkgs. Replace -ve with -e in the said command if you intend to list apps currently installed and were installed from Play Store.

Any line in that variable would be following this template:

package:PACKAGE_NAME  installer=INSTALLER_NAME

Here,

PACKAGE_NAME → package name of the app;
INSTALLER_NAME → package name of the installer app, such as com.android.vending or com.google.android.feedback for Play Store, org.fdroid.fdroid for F-Droid, null if installed manually by adb or from an ordinary file manager and so on.

Variables → Variable Search Replace

Variable: %AllPkgs
Search: package:
tick Multi-Line
tick Replace Matches
Replace With: leave it untouched since we intend to remove the match from the lines

Variables → Variable Search Replace

Variable: %AllPkgs
Search: .*
Note that there is a whitespace before .* and it has to be included.
tick Multi-Line
tick Replace Matches
Replace With: leave it untouched since we intend to remove the match from the lines

After the execution of this step, each line in the variable AllPkgs would contain only the package name of an app.
Variables → Variable Set

Name: %ret
To: tap Enter key in your keyboard for once

I learned this step from the post here by plepleus. This step is needed because we intend to copy each line (has a package name of an app) from AllPkgs into a separate variable. It is for ease of use.
Variables → Variable Split

Name: %AllPkgs
Splitter: %ret

This step makes an array of AllPkgs and each line of erstwhile AllPkgs is assigned to an index of that array. Hence, the size of the array is the number of lines AllPkgs had.
Variables → Variable Set

Name: %count
To: 1

We're creating a variable named count and initializing it to 1, for the purpose of looping on all the elements of AllPkgs.
App → Test App

Type: Package Name
Data: %All(%count)
Store Result In: %Label(%count)

This step finds an app's label from its package name and assign it to an element of array Label. See Variable Arrays in Tasker's userguide on Variables, if you're confused in this step.
Variables → Variable Set

Name: %AllLabels
To: %Label(%count) - %AllPkgs(%count)%ret
tick Append

The last step, on its every execution in any cycle of the loop, would overwrite the value assigned to the variable mentioned in Store Result In. This step would assign that value into a new variable named AllLabels and Append makes sure that new cycle only adds but doesn't overwrite previous changes.

When the loop ends, AllLabels would be having lines where each of them would be having a particular app's label and package name.
Variables → Variable Add

Name: %count
Value: 1

This step increments Count variable, so that we can move to next cycle of loop.
Task → Goto

Type: Action Number
Number: 7
If: %count < %AllPkgs(#)+1

This step finally implements the loop. When this action is executed it checks whether count is less than the maximum number of elements in the array AllPkgs. If yes, it remains in the loop and creates a new cycle, else, the loop ends and we continue to rest of the actions below it.
File → Write File

File: /sdcard/unknown_sources.txt
Text: %AllLabels

This step writes all the lines stored in the variable AllLabels into a file named unknown_sources.txt under /sdcard. If you're making replacement in the first action, make sure to change the file name in this action to keep the results stored separately.
Variables → Variable Clear → Name: %Label

You would end up with bizarre outcomes if you don't clear an array manually created by user and uses it in a task.
Alert → Flash → Text: Task completed.

Run the task using the play button. Once the task ends check the file to find the content you're seeking.

Command-line

I couldn't ignore command-line which makes the objective so easy to be achieved in this particular case.

Dependencies

Requires busybox tool. If you don't have it installed, refer to: How do I install missing command line tools onto an Android device?
Requires aapt tool. If you're running a CM or its derivative ROM then ignore this requirement. Otherwise, for Android 4.x, you can consider downloading the binary from here. For the purpose of installing it in device, follow the root or non-root approach mentioned here, appropriately.

Android 5.x users: ask Google for assistance.

My little script

#!/system/bin/sh
# Check if the busybox binary exists under /data/local/tmp/ or /system/xbin.
# Set the detected binary's path into the variable busybox or exit if file
# doesn't exist or executable permission is not set
if [[ -x /data/local/tmp/busybox ]]; then
    busybox=/data/local/tmp/busybox;
elif [[ -x /system/xbin/busybox ]]; then
     busybox=/system/xbin/busybox;
else
     date +'busybox binary not found or executable permission is not set. Exiting';
     exit;
fi

# Check if the aapt binary exists under /data/local/tmp or /system/bin or /system/xbin.
# Set the detected binary's path into the variable aapt or exit if file
# doesn't exist or executable permission is not set
if [[ -x /data/local/tmp/aapt ]]; then
    aapt=/data/local/tmp/aapt;
elif [[ -x /system/bin/aapt ]]; then
    aapt=/system/bin/aapt;
elif [[ -x /system/xbin/aapt ]]; then
     aapt=/system/xbin/aapt;
else
     date +'aapt binary not found or executable permission is not set. Exiting';
     exit;
fi

# List third-party installed packages not installed from Play Store. Replace -ve with -e if you intend to list packages installed from Play Store.
pm list packages -3 -i | grep -ve "com.android.vending" -ve "com.google.android.feedback" | $busybox sed 's/package://g'| $busybox awk '{print$1}' > /sdcard/pkgs.txt
#$busybox printf "List of third-part installed apps not installed from Play Store:\n\n"

# For each package, get its label and print it with package name on standard output
while read line; do
    path=$(pm path $line | $busybox sed 's/^package://g');          # retrieve path of package's APK. Required for finding app's label
    label=$($aapt d badging $path 2>&1 | $busybox sed -ne '/application: label=/p' | $busybox cut -d "'" -f2);   # Retrieve app's label using $path
    printf "$label - $line\n";
done < /sdcard/pkgs.txt

Save the script under /sdcard into a file named nonplay.sh and run that file from a terminal emulator app in this manner:

sh /sdcard/nonplay.sh

Demo output:

(Click image to enlarge)

(Note: those apps listed in the image were downloaded from Play Store some time ago in my Primary ROM. Since they were sideloaded in this secondary ROM, they appeared in the output. If I successfully update any of the sideloaded app from Play Store, it will be considered that the app is installed from Play Store.)


Audit app permissions easily in one place? Is there anyway to list all the applications installed on your phone and the permissions they require all on one page, or export the list so it can easily be audited?

Use market applications like Permission Watchdog or Permissions. Also, there are several others.


Direct Music Player audio to Caller Assume you have a call. I would like to play a piece of one song to the caller at one point of discussion, while keeping your voice too in the discussion.
I am using Android 6.0 CyanogenMod with Samsung Galaxy S4.

Edited: According to Media Playback's docs, the standard Android system does not allow the feature.
However, I am interested in how this restriction works.
If the feature works in non-rooted CyanogenMod, then it is not a restriction.
Also, I am not sure if Media Playback's manual applies to the whole system.

How can you direct Music Player's output into the ongoing discussion?

You cannot

Media Playback developer documentation says (emphasis added)

  You can play back the audio data only to the standard output device. Currently, that is the mobile device speaker or a Bluetooth headset. You cannot play sound files in the conversation audio during a call

Edit

In response to your edited question:

I am not aware of Cyanogenmod permitting this- searching in their source code may give a clue
To enable this, I presumed would require programming, so searched Stack Overflow and found this Why it is not possible to play an audio file on a voice call in android. This gives a couple of reasons, in answers as to why it is not possible - security and prioritization of audio
It also suggests ways of  achieving which are in programmers domain


Offline translation files not recognized When I try to use Google Translate offline, I get an error:

  Translation failed.  Offline translation file not available. Please check SD card is inserted.

In Settings-> Storage I could see that the Translate app was stored in the phone's internal memory.  I tried moving it to the SD card, and even after restarting the device, the same error was still there.

Using a file browser, I am able to look at the SD card and see that
/storage/extSdCard/Android/data/com.google.android.apps.translate/files/olpv3/v5/25/r11 contains folders like dict.en_pt_25, lang.en_pt, and lang.pt_en where "pt" is also replaced by some other two-letter language codes. .../r12 contains the files for French.

How do I get Translate to work?

In the file browser, at e.g. .../r11, Select All and choose Move, and move them to the similar path on internal memory (which works out to be /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.google.android.apps.translate/files/olpv3/v5/25/r11) and also move the other revisions (e.g. .../r12 on the SD card to .../r12 on internal memory).  The app itself can still be running on the SD card, but for some reason it can't find the offline translation files there.


How can I stop the bootloader unlock process? My 4 year old turned on my phone (Nexus S, 2.3.4 I think) while pressing the volume button. Apparently, this triggers the bootloader unlock process, which I don't want.

The phone is now stuck on the "unlock bootloader" screen and I'm afraid to lose lots of unbacked-up stuff. The soft keys have disappeared, and all I see is the unlock icon and no way to back out of this process.  Any ideas?

Do I let the battery die and hope it offers me the password page next time? Do I connect to a computer and do something or yank the battery?

Your phone is basically waiting for input from you, not really doing anything under the hood, on the "Unlock Bootloader" screen. It should be safe to simply pull the battery and then reboot the phone normally (one corroborating source: Google's help forums).


Contacts with and without international extensions I'm in the UK. My Nexus S received its update to 4.0.4 yesterday, and I now have the following problem.

If I have a contact with (say) the number 07123456789 and I receive a text from this contact, it comes up as +447123456789. However the phone no longer seems to recognise that these numbers are the same (i.e. one is with the international extension, one without) and the contact name is not displayed with the text. Is there a setting or anything that will fix this?

This is a known problem with ICS (up to 4.0.3, I think) :

http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/ZVK3xcu2NrA

If you follow this link you'll also see a solution to the problem (I'd recommend backing up your contacts first, just in case):

Assuming your phone is synced with Google Contacts
Disable contacts syncing. From the home screen: Press Menu -> System Settings -> Accounts & sync
Erase all contacts from the phone: From the home screen: Press Menu -> Manage Apps. Scroll down to Contacts Storage and press Clear Data.
Restart the contacts sync as in Step 2.

I also have a Nexus S and am in the UK and have just had version 4.0.4 rolled out to me yesterday, I haven't had a chance to download it yet BUT 4.0.4 should have 'Improved phone number recognition' according to the Android team, I'm assuming that's a reference to the problem we've been having and should fix it. Here's the link to statement from the team:

https://plus.google.com/104629412415657030658/posts/NgGwavbmkQ7

Here's another solution, that's been posted on the top link I gave you, I haven't tested it personally but others in the thread seem to have and have said it works. Try the first shorter one before this though. Here it is:

    1- menu --> people
    2- option --> import/export
    3- export to storage --> OK
    4- option --> import/export
    5- import from storage --> after searching
    6- import one vCard file --> ok
    7- choose the file which you exported early (00001.vcf) --> wait for import
    8- now your issue is solved and you can try if it works with you. but we got another error of duplicated names here.

    if you want to solve the duplication on names here. follow the below:
    1- menu --> settings
    2- accounts & sync
    3- enable the sync and choose to sync your gmail account
    4- after finishing the sync. go to your laptop and open your gmail email.
    5- press on the contacts tab on the left side
    6- select all the contacts --> more --> find & merge duplicates


Scanning with Android There are a few apps that seems to act like document scanners?

How do they work?  Is it more than a lot of posprocessing of one shot?

Are they actually "scanning" or utilizing more several shots?

What kind of phone specs do I need to have quick and reliable document scanning?

In my opinion, the word scanning in this context is a misnomer.
Basically the camera and the flash are the key hardware components involved in this operation.  The camera doesn't go into burst mode and instead takes only one good shot. The rest are the magic of software algorithms that straighten, finds boundaries and brightens and de speck the image.

The app Camscanner supports creating documents either from image or capturing with camera.

Higher camera resolution, the ability to autofocus and presence of flash (in absence of ambient light) are the features that are to be looked for. For shooting an A4 size with text printed with font size of 12,  a 5 mega pixel resolution is needed and with 3.2 mega pixels, I am able to capture A5 sized papers with very decent quality - observed from my experience.


How to switch a Google account without resetting a phone? On my Android LG Optimus Dynamic phone I originally entered an incorrect email when setting up the Google account to use. I want to switch emails now, but when I add the correct account and then try to delete the first account, it says it is required by some applications, and that I can only delete it by factory resetting the phone. However, that message does not come up when I try to delete the second account, and it removes fine.

How do I delete that original account so that I only have the new one left without factory resetting my phone? (I don't want to lose all of my apps and my contacts).

Uninstall all Google applications on your phone, such as Google+, Youtube, Google Maps, Chrome, Voice Search etc. Then install the Google Installer app, and install all google applications. After installation, the Google App or Google Account Manager will prompt for account details. You can login with your required Google account. After that, the device will Sync the account to all other Google apps.


How can I stop being redirected to the App Store/Google Store by dodgy ad-scripts? There are a load of sites that do this now, and it's really annoying:

I visit a content site on my Android device.
10-15 seconds after loading starts the site hangs for a few seconds.
Google play store loads with a garbage app (usually some awful FTP or useless battery app) pre-selected.

This appears to be because a dodgy ad-script (i.e. Javascript running in the web page) is somehow able to redirect my device to open a link to an application in the store without me selecting it directly.

I consider it to be a critical security fail that Android lets this happen, but then Iphones do the exact same thing (but hang for much longer opening the app store).

This isn't me accidentally clicking on anything - the site loads, then the play-store redirect fires, every time.

Is there any way to stop this? Any option I can set in the store or browser to stop this incredibly annoying behaviour?

I'm on a Nexus 7, but I've seen this on lots of other Android devices.

You can't stop websites redirecting you to other sites: that's just how the web works. What you can do is stop links to apps on Google Play opening in the Play Store app.

Android 6 (Marshmallow):
From the main device settings, go to Apps, then find Google Play Store in the list, click Open by default, then Open supported links, then Don't open in this app.

Older Android:
From the main device settings, go to Apps, then find Play Store in the list, and click Clear defaults.
Next time a website redirects you to a Google Play link, you'll get a chooser asking you whether to open it in the browser (it'll give you a choice of browsers if you have several installed) or with the Play Store app. Select the web browser and click Always. Now links to Google Play will never open in the Play Store app.

Note that this isn't a security problem, whichever behaviour you choose. Web links can only open apps on the device if (1) the app specifically says it can understand/handle that kind of link; and (2) the app specifically says that it's safe to access it in that way from the web. The app does this using an intent filter marked with the browsable category.


Google Photos deletes copy and original on device I'm facing a very strange issue with the Google Photos app. Every time I copy an image with "copy to folder" (specifically not "move to folder") and then delete either the copy or the original image, both are gone.
In the trash only one image appears after that. If restored both images are back.
This is not the behavior that I natively expect. When I delete one image, I want the other one to still remain untouched in its folder.
I have searched for a solution myself, but was unsuccessful. (I only found unanswered threads like this one.)
My question is: Why is this happening and is there a way to change this behavior?

Google Photos version: 5.23.3.348108244 (newest to date)
Android version: 10

After a while of trying around, I found a solution.
This behavior of the Google Photos app seems to be intended, because it is more an interface for the network service to synchronize images, and less of a gallery app. It keeps track of exact copies and synchronizes them as one. Therefore they are deleted as one instance, even though they are stored multiple times on the device.
Nevertheless, there is a (rather hidden) function implemented that does exactly what I wanted instead.
Instead of using the trash icon...

                            Screenshot of a device folder opened with Google Photos. Trash icon highlighted.
... under the available options, when an image is selected, there is a "Delete from device" option doing the trick:

        Screenshot of a device folder opened with Google Photos. Option menu open. "Delete from device" highlighted.
Note: With this method the image remains in the cloud even if it's removed from all synced folders.
I hope I could help someone who has encountered the same problem.


Cant download any other app My ocean t1 can't install any app except Facebook and whatsapp.
It says i have insufficient memory every time i try to install another app yet it has RAM of 1.1GB and ROM 8GB
I wonder why?

If it's about installing, then ram got nothing to do with it. If it was about opening after installing, then yes, ram could be a problem. You mentioned that you had 8 GB of space, which I could see be the problem. 8 GB space is just not enough today. Even 16 gb struggles to barely install some apps after the OS has been installed.


Is there a way to find all apps in Nova Launcher which are NOT in folders (similar to Folder Organizer)? I am contemplating getting a Nova Prime launcher, as opposed to my current combination of Nova free and Folder Organizer.

The main feature of Folder Organizer that I see as a must-have and not sure if possible on Nova is an easy way to find ALL of your installed un-labeled apps (via "Other Applications automatic label") so you can work on relabeling/foldering them (assuming your goal is to have a proper folder for every app you have).

Is there such a feature (easily find all not-in-folders installed apps) in Nova Prime?

If not, a second subquestion is, is there a good replacement launcher among those well known (Apex, GO, etc...) that has such a feature?

Currently, you have a way of (by default) forcing Nova to remove any apps that are in a folder from its main app drawer.

As such, you can simply use the main app drawer configured this way to get a list of un-foldered apps.


Not Rooted Huawei Device, Android 4.4.4, Locked Out. USB debugging not enabled One is huawei. h60 -L01 Second is CHM-U01 Thanks for your time. I have a huawei phone which isn't rooted and USB debugging isn't enabled. Furthermore, I am locked out. Please suggest any remedy. I have searched out the whole internet but there isn't any solution, as far as I know.
And if there is No possibility please suggest me how to access my data by any mean. Even if it's post hard-reset recovery.
Please Help!
Thanks!

Edit 1:
Actually I handed over 2 phones to my employees. They gave me a loss of 42000$ and I have recovered 2 phones from them. I didn’t recover any cash but these two phones which can give me a lead to what they were actually up to. As I am from Pakistan, I don’t want to go into any legal process. So, that’s what I am looking for and I can spend money even to recover the data inside. –

So you can say I am not the owner but I would have asked it directly than it would be giving an outlook that I am a thief lol. So.... I am in a great need of the data inside that phone. Any sort of help that can give me access to full data will be highly appreciated. And I am willing to pay for that even. –

And thanks for staying there and spending the time to read all that long passages. Thanks again! –

Huawei has locked bootloader by default, no chance to boot custom recovery from fastboot = no way to break in and reset locksettings.db
(you can check the unlock status with fastboot oem device-info)

If you are the owner of the bonded google account and phone, you can connect it over wifi, or insert a SIM card (with disabled PIN) to accomplish mobile data connection. if you recently changed your Google account password, you need to wait at least 72 hours.

Unlock your Kitkat Android device

After you've tried to unlock your device multiple times, you'll see "Forgot pattern."
Tap Forgot pattern.
Enter the Google Account username and password
Reset your screen lock

Unlock your Android device using Android Device Manager (ADM)

On a computer, visit: google.com/android/devicemanager
Sign in using your Google login details
In the ADM interface, select the device
Select ‘Lock’
In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have to enter a recovery message.
Now click ‘Lock’ again.
If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
On your phone you should now see a password field in which you should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.

Android system recovery <3e> userdata_20160823_100259.backup

If your device has slot for external MicroSD Card or USB-OTG Support, is not encrypted, and has "backup user data" option enabled by default, you can create a backup from stock recovery. This backup files can be extracted with linux tools (google: "bckp2win")

Brute forcing a 4-digit PIN

If you are not the owner of the google account, the only way will be to bruteforce a 4 digit PIN with a Hak5 USB Rubber Ducky or Teensy microcontroller via USB-OTG Adapter. if it is a longer PIN or password, no chance!


Can't use Gmail and Google play store In my Samsung galaxy on nxt, android version 8.1.0. in my phn I can't use Gmail as it is showing msg that Google play is updating. And same time can't sign in Google play store. What to do?

You can check the internet connectivity. Other thing is to reboot the phone. Ideally this should help and if it doesn't you need to go to customer care of Samsung.


Turn on HotSpot via ADB -- Sony Ericsson Xperia mini ST15i How to turn on wifi hotspot on ST15i via ADB? There is already on post about this using keyevents but it does not work for me. It has hot broken touchscreen, back is always clicking, but before, I turned on USB debugging so ADB works. It is not rooted. I want to use it as mobile hotspot from SIM. It has Android 2.3 GingerBread.

Try this:

/system/bin/hostapd -e /data/misc/wifi/entropy.bin /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf


Galaxy Tab Multi Device App Installation I am planning on having a few labs of Galaxy Tabs (60+ tabs), and I need a way to manage all of these. Primarily I need a way to automatically install apps on all of these at once. I know there is a solution called Meraki but it won't install the apps for you it just sends a notification and the user has to install individually install the app which is kinda useless.

Mobile Device Manager might be a solution for you. You can find an introduction with screenshots and more on AndroidTapp. Quoting:

  3CX Mobile Device Manager is a flexible and easy to implement service that allows a user to remotely manage, locate and administrate mobile devices. From the comfort of a web browser you can control multiple devices in a variety of ways. It’s a great option for network administrators who, in addition to swathes of desktop PCs and laptops to worry about, now also has to ensure the company’s smartphones and tablets are secure and up to date.


What is the difference between swiftkey and swiftkey x? Using the Amazon Appstore I have "Swiftkey" and "Swiftkey X". When I install one there is an update for the other. It's getting confusing. What is the difference and which one should I install?

The SwiftKey website no longer lists anything called "SwiftKey" only "SwiftKey X". I have to assume this means "SwiftKey" was an earlier product, possibly a beta?


lenovo A6000 not booting I have a Lenovo a6000 which I recently flashed and when it rebooted I cant even see the logo and if I press the power button it just vibrates again and again in a few intervals,I tried to boot into recovery by pressing volume up and power button but that was also no use what can I do to get into recovery

To get into Recovery you need to keep both VOLUME + and - keys pressed down and hold .. Also press the POWER button till you see the Lenovo logo. Then let go of the POWER button but keep the VOLUME Buttons (both + and -) pressed down until you get to RECOVERY mode.

Hope you have backed up the Stock ROM before you did the Port ROM install.

Another way to get to Recovery is to flash a new Copy of RECOVERY (CWM).

http://techolaty.net/how-to-install-cwm-root-lenovo-a6000-smartphone/

If your phone is not booting then, keep the Volume Down button pressed down with the POWER Button, then release the Power button on seeing the Lenovo Logo, also release the Volume button.

This screen looks almost the same as the Lenovo Boot Screen however if you look closer, to the bottom you will see

  Powered BY
  android

  Powerkey long press can reboot phone

BINGO!! You are in Fast boot mode

Now follow the link above and start off with

STEP 3:

Open the C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot directory and press and hold the shift key and right click anywhere inside the folder at the empty space and choose "open command window here".

Now type:

adb devices

This will not show any authorised devices. Basically it will not show anything.

Now type:

fastboot boot recovery.img


WhatsApp 2 step verification code being asked frequently Is it normal that Whatsapp keep asking for your two step verification PIN in a certain frequency? Like once a week for example. I noticed this behavior on my phone. Is something to worry about or it's normal?

As per WhatsApp FAQ I would like to believe this is normal, for security reasons and to prevent one from forgetting their PIN

  Two-step verification is an optional feature that adds more security
  to your account. When you have two-step verification enabled, any
  attempt to verify your phone number on WhatsApp must be accompanied by
  the six-digit PIN that you created using this feature.

and that...

  To help you remember your PIN, WhatsApp will periodically ask you to
  enter your PIN. There is no option to disable this without disabling
  the two-step verification feature.


what is updated in honeycomb 3.2.1? My wifi Xoom was just updated to 3.2.1.  Anyone know what this update contains?

The android developers web site has the new features for users and developers listed under the "Android 3.2 platform". Digging into that page, under the revisions heading it lists "3.2, Revision 1" as the only revision. I would guess that this would be the 3.2.1 update then.

  New user features

  Optimizations for a wider range of tablets

  Android 3.2 includes a
  variety of optimizations across the system to ensure a great user
  experience on a wider range of tablet devices.

  Compatibility zoom for
  fixed-sized apps

  Android 3.2 introduces a new compatibility zoom mode
  that gives users a new way to view fixed-sized apps on larger devices.
  The new mode provides a pixel-scaled alternative to the standard UI
  stretching for apps that are not designed to run on larger screen
  sizes, such as on tablets. The new mode is accessible to users from a
  menu icon in the system bar, for apps that need compatibility support.

  Media sync from SD card

  On devices that support an SD card, users can
  now load media files directly from the SD card to apps that use them.
  A system facility makes the files accessible to apps from the system
  media store.


android video transfer crash I'm trying to transfer video files to my phone, HTC Google Nexus One (Android 2.3.6), but with this strange behaviour:

After I copy file to the phone, when I'm opening it with computer it works ok.
After turning off USB mass storage, I open the video file with my phone's video players and it's not opening.
When I mount the phone to computer again and try to open it with the computer video players it again can't open.

I suppose that:

The problem is not with video encoding, since it can be opened the first time, from the PC.
It can be opened from the PC after I transfer it to the phone, so the problem is not with cable or transfer either.

The fact is, that after I unmount phone from my computer, the video crashes and can't be opened either by the phone or the PC!!!!

Can someone help me with this?

I will be very appreciated.

This looks like a corrupted file. You most probably pulled the cable before everything was written to disk. Compare original and copied file by calculating both md5sums and see if they match:

Open office' site has a comprehensive guide how to do that on Windows and Linux (same on MacOS).
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/using_md5sums.html


Decrypting microSD card on another Android device or desktop computer I'm looking for a solution that would allow to encrypt external microSD card with the following conditions:

external microSD card is not merged with the internal storage;
encrypted external microSD is mounted upon booting automatically;
content of an encrypted microSD card can be viewed in another Android device and Windows/Linux PC if the smartphone where this card has been used was physically destroyed beyond repair.

The motivation behind these criteria stems from my workflow on a desktop computers.
All of them have both system and storage drives fully encrypted with VeraCrypt.
I set them up in a way that I enter a password upon booting once, and all the favorite volumes are automatically mounted and I boot into fully functioning system.
On the other hand, if for some reason I cannot boot anymore (e.g. missing or corrupted system drive), I can take off the encrypted data drive, plug it into any other machine running Windows/Linux/MacOS with installed VeraCrypt and decrypt my files in no time.

However, I cannot achieve the same with the default encryption offered by Android.
To encrypt the SD card, one must merge it with the internal memory, and if the device fails to start, there is no easy way to recover/decrypt my data from the external card.

I searched Google Play and couldn't find any third-party app similar to VeraCrypt.

There are related topics, but I couldn't find an answer in any of these either:

Decrypting Encrypted Micro SD Card without phone
How to decrypt Adopted Storage?
How to decrypt a microSD card after a factory reset of the device used to encrypt it?

I'm using a rooted Moto G5s running Android 8.1, but a vendor-independent answer would be more preferable.

I don't know of any GUI solutions that fit your needs but can share something about working CLI solutions.

DISK ENCRYPTION:

  external microSD card is not merged with the internal storage

You are talking about Android's Adoptable Storage. Actually it's not merged (like in case of LVM), it's just decrypted and mounted as a separate filesystem. Android starts emulating /sdcard from /mnt/expand/[UUID] which otherwise is from /data/media/. Additionally some apps are also movable to this newly adopted storage. In case of FDE (based on dm-crypt), key is stored at /data/misc/vold/expand_*.key, which can be used to mount the SD card on any OS running Linux kernel (including Android). All that you need is dmsetup. See this answer for details.

  content of an encrypted microSD card can be viewed in another Android device and Windows/Linux PC

In case of Adaptable Storage you can backup the master key to some safe location so that it could possibly be used in case device is wiped or no more bootable. Or if you don't want to go with Android's native encryption, you can manually setup dm-crypt FDE (plain / LUKS) on SD card using cryptsetup.

FILESYSTEM ENCRYPTION:

Recent versions of Android mostly use FBE which is based on Linux filesystem-level encryption (for ext4 and f2fs). It doesn't use a single key, instead the master key generates per file keys on the go. On Android encrypted master keys are saved to /data/misc/vold/user_keys/. Device Encrypted (DE) and Credential Encrypted (CE) storages make it further complicated. Also FBE with Adoptable Storage doesn't work on Nougat and Oreo, and doesn't look very stable on Pie. So it's not a very reliable option at the moment.

It's also possible to manually setup FBE using fscrypt (or e4crypt/f2fscrypt) tool provided that your kernel supports it. But again there are multiple issues with the implementation in userspace as well as in kernel space particularly related to key management. So it's again not a very feasible option.

fscrypt is most probably going to replace ecryptfs; another Linux kernel's native feature. It's a stacked filesystem which can encrypt any other filesystem. But fscrypt (per-file encryption) “is more memory efficient since it avoids caching the encrypted and decrypted pages in the page cache”. You can use ecryptfs too on Android if kernel is built with CONFIG_ECRYPT_FS.

FUSE-BASED ENCRYPTION:

All of the options discussed above are native to Linux kernel, so won't (or at least very badly) work on Windows (sorry I have no experience with Mac). However you can go for FUSE-based solutions which have more or less support on Windows as well. E.g. encfs and gocryptfs are stackable cryptographic filesystems; more useful in situations like incremental backups.

If you want to stick with veracrypt, that also works perfect, performs even better than on Windows if combined with dmsetup to make use of Linux kernel's native cryptographic services.

Another FUSE-based solution dislocker can decrypt Bitlocker. But FUSE over FUSE may exert performance penalty, so should be avoided with right choice of filesystem drivers.

  encrypted external microSD is mounted upon booting automatically

You won't find an option with graceful GUI interactions to enter a password upon booting because unlike Linux there is no terminal login or crypttab or PAM. User interaction is only possible by developing an auto-starting app, which won't be up before zygote/system_server and all (native / Java) services are fully running. Or you may try to hack Android framework's SystemUI package to get the same credentials asked through UI (in case of FDE/FBE).

A simple approach would be to put an init.d script or create an init service. This should work with any of the methods described above. This answer can be helpful. I have been using EncFS to extend my external storage on K and L devices (details here). SD card was mounted by an init service, password was saved to /data partition which was in turn FDE encrypted.

NOTES:

Encryption methods described above cover all commonly used filesystems including FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ext4, f2fs etc.
If not using Adoptable Storage, better create two partitions on SD card to let vold service mount first partition on boot. First partition can be of a few hundreds of MBs. Use second partition for encryption.
Command line applications used for encryption are available here for Android.

RELATED:

Cross-platform compatible encryption of SD-card for Android


Is sideloading same as flashing via custom recovery? Recently, I side-loaded the latest nougat release on my nexus 6p. Which was almost identical to how one would go about flashing via recovery. This brings me to the question- is there any off  the hand differences between side-loading a zip file against flashing it?

ROM Flashing refers to flashing the OS ROM. Usually involves installing a new image of the OS.

Side-loading usually refers to installing a single app that is not delivered from the Google Play Store (or whatever the app store your device is setup to use.) It can still flash ROMS, but it requires the process of using adb. Good for devices with limited storage, since the ROM can be on the PC with adb rather than the device, but sorta identical to Flashing otherwise.


Shortcut/Widget to set a reminder in Google Now I use Google Now to set reminders quite often. At times when I'd rather not be talking at my phone to add a reminder, I wish I could have a button on my homescreen that would take me straight to the Add Reminder card.

I just found out about the "Set Reminder" option in Google Now's quick settings panel. It's much quicker than typing out "add reminder" in the search bar. But still, having a shortcut to that "add reminder card", or a widget which would add reminders from the homescreen would be pretty advantageous (I would probably prefer a shortcut).

I've tried using a few of the Google Search app's activities, but none seem to take my straight to the add reminder card.

Any ideas?

I don't think it's possible to add a shortcut to the "add reminder" card at the moment. I've had a look through the Activities as well and none of them appear to do what you want.

There is a "Set reminder" option in the menu within Google Now which may help? Click the three dots at the bottom right (you might need to scroll down) and you should see the "Set reminder" option.