How to clear blank entries from Titanium Backup (pro)? I often delete those backups which are no longer useful to me. Backup entries are removed from list (popup), but app/element entries aren't removed even when those app/element are not installed.

Here's an example:

You can see No backup yet & the app is no longer installed. How to remove these entries?

I'm rooted and have latest version of Titanium Backup Pro.

Your screenshot suggests you simply uninstalled those apps. In TB, hit the menu button, select "batch processing", scroll to the end of the list. There you'll find "Delete Backups". Second item in that section should read "Delete backups of uninstalled apps" (or the like -- I run a localized version, was just back-translating). That should get you rid of those "striked" entries.

For more details (as well as solution to other TB-related issues), you might want to visit the Titanium Backup Knowledge Base, which provides you with a user's guide, FAQ, troubleshooting tips, How-Tos, and more.

As for the one circled entry, the linked knowledge-base a.o. states:

  You can easily remove orphan data by running the “Remove orphan data” batch job.


Can't decrypt adopted storage Last night, I messed up my LineageOS 16 install on my Galaxy S5 and had to reinstall it, starting essentially from scratch. I wanted to see if there was any way I could decrypt the 128 GB microSD card I used as adopted storage and found this tutorial. I got the key from a backup made using TWRP and tried it on Linux Mint 20 MATE (booting from USB), but it didn't work. The following command gave me an error:
dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 `blockdev --getsize /media/mint/4B2E-1F13` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 [16-BYTE HEX KEY] 0 /media/mint/4B2E-1F13 0"

blockdev: ioctl error on BLKGETSIZE: Inappropriate ioctl for device
/dev/mapper/control: open failed: Permission denied
Failure to communicate with kernel device-mapper driver.
Incompatible libdevmapper 1.02.167 (2019-11-30) and kernel driver (unknown version).

Doing it with sudo gave me this error:
blockdev: ioctl error on BLKGETSIZE: Inappropriate ioctl for device
Invalid format on line 1 of table.
Command failed.

I couldn't even mount the SD card with Termux when after putting it back into my phone. Is my data unrecoverable? Do I have the wrong key? Thanks.

Good news: trying the following command successfully decrypted my SD card without any errors:
sudo dmsetup create crypt1 --table "0 `sudo blockdev --getsize /dev/mmcblk0p2` crypt aes-cbc-essiv:sha256 [16-BYTE HEX KEY] 0 /dev/mmcblk0p2 0"

A couple of minor issues:

sudo mount -t /dev/mmcblk0p2/crypt1 /media/mint/sd returned the error mount: /media/mint/sd: can't find in /etc/fstab. I can view the content of the SD card in the file browser running as admin, however.
Copying the files over to my laptop's Windows 10 SSD, some files and directories didn't get copied due to the presence of invalid characters in their names (mainly asterisks and colons in file names and a period in a folder name). Not sure how to deal with these...

Thanks for all your help.


Faster way to unmount the SD card? I unmount my SD card a lot, and I find it annoying to have to navigate through the settings app each time to safely unmount the SD card. I would like some way or some shortcut that can do this as quickly and as simply as possible.

I'm running Android 4.4.4 and I am rooted and using Xposed Framework.

You can use the app QuickShortcutMaker to create a shortcut to the Storage settings activity of Settings app.

(Click image to enlarge)

Tap on a particular entry and choose Create to create a shortcut on home screen.


How to root Samsun Galaxy Tab S running Android 5.0.2? I've been trying to root my Tab S (Model SM-T700).

I haven't gotten very far before encountering this issue.

What I have done is gotten the Google USB Driver installed -- meaning I can use adb.

If you didn't follow that link, basically my issue is that I can't adb root, since my tablet is in secure mode.

Okay, I rooted it.
I don't remember the precise process, but there are two important things I used:

Odin, the external rooting tool
The knowledge that the "code name" for the SM-T700 is klimtwifi. Look that up instead of Samsung SM-T700 and you'll get a lot more stuff.


Is there a voice action shortcut in ICS? Android 4.0 doesn't have a magnifying glass search button like most pre-ICS phones.  I'm actually one of the people who used the long-press search button often with voice actions.

Is there a similar shortcut in ICS, now that it doesn't have the search button, or am I stuck going back to the home screen/app list?

Are you using the Galaxy Nexus?  On your home screen you will see the "Google Search" bar.  On the right, inside this bar, you will see a microphone symbol.  Tap it.

I believe you are stuck going back to this screen.


Liking a YouTube comment from the app I've been using Android for a few months now, and I'm mostly happy with it. I just can't find the "Like" button for comments.

Can someone help?

As already mentioned in the earlier Answer, as of this writing, there is no way to Like comments in Android YouTube App.

Below is the screen shot confirming this, taken from Official link.

Source Link


From nightly to official I'm currently running a CM 12 nightly on my OPO, but after hearing of the CM12S update which is coming in a matter of days, I decided I wanted to go back to receiving official OTA's.

I've read a couple of tutorials on the forums of OPO, but all the methods include returning back to CM11S which is painful.

So I was wondering, if there were any other ways to receive the official CM12s update without returning back to CM11s?

You can flash the CM12S update over the CM Nightly. I did it myself.

Just make sure you have a custom recovery installed and make a backup just in case!


How to watch Youtube with screen off on any Android without a Youtube Premium subscription How can I listen to Youtube with my screen off without a Youtube Premium subscription

There is a solution,
if you want to listen YouTube song even when your android phone is locked. To do that you have to use chrome browser in android phone. Open YouTube in chrome browser and request as Desktop Site and search for the song which you want to listen then minimise it. The song will be paused then, from the notification you can tap on the play(▶). By doing this you will be able to listen YouTube videos in your phone even if it is locked.
I hope this will help you.


Why does my device shows a resolution other than that advertised? I bought two different cheap android tablets, in the process of buying a dozen for my company. I haven't had much experience with them before and there's one thing that's bugging me.

I downloaded a few simple apps that show the screen resolution, and the values are 768x976 (portrait) and 1024x720 (landscape). The devices are advertised as 1024x768 (4:3) and indeed, they look 4:3.

What's going on here? Are the devices lying in their specs? Are the apps inaccurate? Is this because the apps omit parts of the screen that can't be used for apps?

The devices aren't well known but for reference, they are: Dinosaur Dino 9.97 and a Go On Touch DC97 IPS 9.7.

The apps I tried are: ScreenSpecs, Screen Resolution and Screen Resolution (same name).

You haven't specified the Android version, but on tablets the difference is generally because the system bar (or "combined bar") is 48px (specifically, 48dpi, but in your case that's 48 real pixels) and the apps are only considering available screen space when they report the resolution:

Portrait = 768 x (976 + 48) = 768 x 1024
Landscape = 1024 x (720 + 48) = 1024 x 768

Some references:

What is the true available resolution of a 10.1 Android tablet?
Asus TF101 tablet status bar steals 48 pixels
Metrics and Grids (from developer.android.com; explains why 48 dpi was chosen for UI components)


Prevent particular website pages from appearing in Google search [phone] How do I prevent links to a particular website from showing in search results on chrome, on my mobile?

For example I want to see a video of maybe cows dancing

But I don't want to see any links related to dailymotion.com.

Is there any way I can filter those results out?

(If this doesn't belong here, please leave a comment as to where I can ask this. I feel this could be helpful for others too so I asked it here)

If I understand correctly, you want to filter only some searches when you need it, and not permanently ban sites. Simply including -site:dailymotion.com in the search query should do the trick (make sure not to omit the '-').

If you want to permanently ban a site, try the following:

Some AdBlock apps exist that allow you to blacklist certain URLs. I'm not sure though if this would work with google searches (as they are only links to the host and not resources pulled from the host), but it's worth giving it a shot.


How can I resume cancelled app dowloads after attaching a Google account? I got a new phone and I signed in with my existing google gmail account. To my surprise, the phone started redownloading all of the apps I had on my other phone over my cellular data connection. Conveniently enough it was the exact same versions of the older apps I had on my old phone, and in some cases the same data preferences.

I cancelled the auto downloading, and now I can't figure out how to resume it. On the play store under My Apps under all it shows me the apps I have downloaded under that account at one point in time, but no way to mass resume downloading them. It seems to only have options for individually installing the apps

There is no way to resume a cancelled download queue in the play store. You will have to trigger a restore again.

The only way to initialise a restore is via the setup app, so you would have to wipe again, and then let it restore. Make sure you connect to WiFi in the setup this time however.


how to increase internalstorage on an Android devise I am using WHAM! WG40 mobile. It's internal storage is only 120mb. How can I increase it's internal storage.

You can get and SD card purchased and insert it over the SD card slot it will increase your device storage!


Upgrading rooted Galaxy Note II So after about 3 years I have finally received and Android 4.3 to my Galaxy Note II. It downloaded it but refused to upgrade (probably because my device is rooted).

What do I do now?

Can I upgrade it anyhow? (also would like have it rooted)

You will have to return your device to complete stock.  Since you have rooted it, in Settings - About Phone it will list your device as Modified, so if that's the case, you won't be able to update.  Going back to 100% stock in Settings it'll say Official, at that point, you'll be able to update.


SSH (and SFTP) server on Android discoverable through avahi/bonjour I would like for my Android device (a Samsung Galaxy) to be discoverable through avahi/bonjour when it is connected to a WiFi network, and then to be able to access its filesystem via SSH (SFTP).

For me, that's a familiar and convenient way to access various devices in my local network: to discover their SSh service via avahi/bonjour (not to have to deal with IP addresses), and to ssh to them. I would use this way for my GNU/Linux systems (like Ubuntu).

Is there free (= libre -- because I appreciate the freedom of hacking) software for Android that would implement this, namely:

avahi/bonjour support for Android, so that the Android device would be reachable by name in the .local domain (instead of just by its IP address);
and an SSH server with support for publishing itself through Avahi/bonjour (mdnssd).

I have been using the free SSHelper (without rooting) since it recently added zeroConf broadcasting. It provides an SSH and RSYNC (file transfer) server, while also broadcasting a ZeroConf name. Another avahi/bonjour client can connect without needing to know the android hostname. Explained in more detail in this other answer: Set hostname for SSHelper


How to get an .apk file from Android device? I need to get the apk file for an app from a development device (Galaxy Nexus). I've had very little contact with Android before.

I know the name of the app and have tried to search the "internal storage" that shows up in explorer when I connect it but no apk file with the app name shows up.

I also tried logging into the shell using adb, but I have no "find" command and no permission to list "/data/" where the apk files are supposed to be.

I'd really appreciate if someone could help me out here! Thanks!

I found this to be the easiest way:

adb shell pm list packages

find my apps package "my.package.name"

adb shell pm path my.package.name

adb pull /data/app/my.package.name

Thanks for your answers though!


Activate voice recognition with keyword I want to have the mic listening for a keyword and then have it turn on Google recognizer? Has anyone been able to do this and how? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This is something added Android 4.3 and is featured on the Moto X. The phone passively listens all of the time for you to say "Okay Google Now" followed by whatever your command is. (There's a special low-powered CPU being used to listen, which is why it's not available on every device with 4.3.)

(Here's a video demo by Slashgear.)

I expect to see this more frequently as new hardware comes on the market.


Kies dies when trying to update Galaxy Note firmware I downloaded and installed Kies in my Windows 7 laptop. (Toshiba Satellite.) I plug the phone in the USB, it is recognized and its storage shows in Explorer. Then I run Kies. It says there is a firmware upgrade available. I click to update. A window shows with a progress bar at the bottom, saying something like "downloading update components."

After the download goes to 100%, Kies just silently dies on the PC, no error messages, its windows just vanish. And nothing happens on the phone. My phone is not rooted, it still has the carrier-provided software, regularly updated via Play. It was bought here in Brazil.

Kies is trhe latest version, I had it check for upgrades. I also disabled the PC antivirus to no avail.

I had the same problem, did everything I could think of. Finally last night, I decided to try something different. I ran Kies in "Compatibility Mode for XP SP3" it took forever, left the phone plugged in while I went to bed, woke up this morning with 4.1 finally on it.

I run a Windows 7 Premium Home 64bit.  Not sure if this will help with everyone's problems with Kies but hopefully it will help a few people. It's worth a try.

My phone is a Galaxy S III from AT&T.  To change to "Compatibility Mode" do the following:

Go to C:\ drive, right click and click on `Explore'.
Go to \Program Files x86, look for Samsung then right click on that folder.
Click on Properties then click the Compatibility tab and choose XP SP3

If you are given the option, select Run as administrator.

I really hope this helps everyone else as it has me.


Is it possible to write android application using Google Web Toolkit? We are writing simple web application using GWT(Google Web Toolkit).  Now we should have this application cloned on Android and iPhone.
I don't know about the iPhone but may it is possible to have  same GWT application running on Android?

Yes

Most Android browsers support Javascript quite well, and since GWT "translates" the Java to Javascript it should be fine. Obviously it might require some tweaking to accommodate the screen formats.

EDIT:
Note, it will be a web application, with all limitations that come with that


Any solution for sharing text with friend but prevent copy? Is there any App / solution can suffice the follow needs ?

I want to share some text with friends (not public).
I don't want them be able to copy the text in anyway.
able view the text offline.
cross-platform. (not a must)

Simple idea is to type the required message in any text editor on phone (or in any messaging app itself / or write a Gmail and save as draft) and then take a screenshot of the text and send it over to the intended people!


Are all SGS phones able to detect a car dock? I have a Samsung Galaxy S I-9000 (the international version) and I have a car dock manufactured by Samsung for this phone (given to me by the Samsung representative who works with my cellphone provider, so I have good reason to believe it's the real thing).

I know that most car docks have a magnet that the phone uses to detect that it's been docked.  Mine seems to have one because when the phone is docked, the magnetic compass always points north, and when it's not docked, the compass points in the right direction (I checked this using Car Dashboard, which uses the internal compass when the phone isn't moving).

The problem is, my phone does not seem to detect that the phone is docked.  I have some triggers in AutomateIt for when the car is docked, as well as in Car Dashboard, and they don't seem to work.

The question is, should me phone detect the car dock?  How can I check this? If it should, but doesn't, how can I troubleshoot it?

You can test that the triggers work like they should with Dock Simulator (Market link). Run it and try "Car dock" to see what should happen when you dock the phone. If nothing happens, it might be a problem in your triggers. Otherwise, it's the dock or your phone's magnetic sensor. Try dialing *#0*# and selecting Magnetic to access a self test of the magnetic sensor.


Wallpaper on Kindle Fire I want to get rid of ads on my Kindle Fire and set some of my pics as my wallpaper without rooting it. Is this possible and how do I do it? I keep looking at different sites but none helps. Any advice?

As far as I know, you can't change the lock screen wallpaper.

If you want to turn off the ads, go to Manage Your Devices, and edit your special offers subscription status.


Restrict access to device settings How can I prevent people who borrow my device from changing any of my settings?

App locker more :

Smart App Lock

Advanced Protection

Apps Lock & Gallery Hider

App Lock (Pattern)


Galaxy Grand 2 asks password for credential storage while trying to create a vpn I have never used the vpn feature of my phone. Now when I try to create a vpn, by going to

  settings > more networks > vpn

it asks me to enter password for credential storage which I have never set. I haven't set lock screen in my device. I have just used applock software to lock some of my application and which I am sure is not the reason for this. Please help me solve this.

Thank you

You have to use a pattern, PIN or password lock screen in order to configure and use VPNs. This is a limitation in Android which may seem stupid and annoying, but there are reasons for it:

The credentials storage has to be encrypted with a password, so that even if other apps are able to steal the files they would be useless.
VPNs are primarily used at corporations that allow employees to work from home. The servers on their network often contain sensitive information that could easily be compromised if someone would steal your phone and connect to the VPN.


How to stop Chrome from causing Download folder to reappear in gallery? Wanting to exclude the Download from being scanned by the Gallery application, I do as required, and create a:

.nomedia

file in the Download folder. That correctly causes the Download folder to vanish from Gallery. And all is well.

But then

If I Save an image from Chrome, the Download folder reappears in Gallery. This coincides with Chrome adding a special file to the Download folder:

ic.bin

Deleting the ic.bin file does not cause the folder to disappear from Gallery. Deleting, and re-adding the .nomedia file to the Download folder does cause the Download folder to vanish from Gallery.

I could ask this a number of alternate ways:

how do I really prevent a folder from being scanned by Gallery?
how do I deny file creation permission of a file called ic.bin in the Download folder?
how do I deny file creation permission of a file called ic.bin in any folder?
how do I stop Chrome from creating an ic.bin file in the Download folder?
how do I stop the Download folder from reappearing in Gallery?
how do I prevent Chrome from causing the Download folder from reappearing in the Gallery?

What I'm really asking is, "How do I exclude a folder from the Gallery?", given that .nomedia doesn't always work.

  Device: Nexus 4
  Android version: 4.2.1

I know this doesn't answer your exact question. You'll save yourself a lot of time and effort going with another picture app such as QuickPic

It's fast and customizable, and you can select which folders to include OR exclude :)

Do yourself a favor and disable Gallery.


GTalk and phone with wrong time I have a phone where I like to have the time a few minutes forward the right time. Now, when I chat with people through Google Talk, I got all message mixed up because the received messages arrive with the sender time. If the answer is faster than my forwarded minutes, it appears before my message.

Example:

Phone 1 time        Phone 2 time       Sender       Message time        Message
08:01               08:18              Phone 1      08:01               I'm fine
08:00               08:17              Phone 2      08:17               How are you?

Is there anything I can set up (beside the right phone time) to avoid this?

Check the time zone you have set under Settings -> Date and time and make sure that it's correct. I had the same problem on my Samsung phone and this solution fixed it.


How do I scroll to the top of a list? On iOS, I can single-tap the top of the screen to scroll any list all the way to the top. This doesn't seem to work on my Nexus 4 (4.2.1 / CM10.1) and for instance in the list of phone contacts this is particularly tedious.

Is there a similar gesture on Android?

I'm surprised that I couldn't find this as an existing question, but I did search for it.

As far as I know, there's nothing built into the OS for that.

I guess it depends completely on the developers of the app you're using. I've seen some apps where, once you start scrolling, a "handle" appears on the side of the screen that you can tap-and-drag to scroll faster. I've even seen an app or two where you could touch the top of the screen to immediately scroll to the top of whatever multi-screen thing you're looking at. But it's certainly not universal.


Is there a maximum number of files per directory or maximum directory size? Recently I made a directory with > 20,000 small mp3 files in it. Not all the files successfully copied across from my desktop computer and if I tried to add any more I received an error message similar to - 'Unable to create the file'.  I assumed I had reached some sort of system limit, but I was just guessing.
Samsung galaxy tab.

This, really, isn't an android question, it relates more to file systems.

The limitation is set by the file system. FAT32 can have 65,536 entries. Each file and
subdirectory takes from two to thirteen entries, depending on the
length of its name.

There is one entry that hold the Short (8.3) name of the file name. If the actual name doesn't fit that entry, then there will be one to twelve more entries, each of which holds 13 bytes of the full name.

The size of the file itself, doesn't have make a difference, unless the file is larger the 4GB, which is the maximum file size for a single file in FAT32.

You can read more on the FAT32 Spec if you wish here.


Facebook Messenger: no notification when offline on Android Steps to reproduce:

I go offline (turn off Wi-Fi, turn off 3G)
My friend sends me a message through Facebook Messenger.
I go online.

Expected result: I receive a notification about the message.

Actual result: There's no notification at all.

Extra info: If I'm online when my friend sends me a message, I do receive a notification.

So, how to receive a notification about messages sent when offline?

Update the app. If doesn't work, update the phone. If doesn't work, switch off and on your phone. If still doesn't work, uninstall and reinstall the app.


What is the purpose of a ramdisk in Android? I am reading a link that explains what partitions exist in Android.

Can someone tell what is the purpose of ramdisk in Android ?

The link says ramdisk is present (along with the kernel) in /boot partition. However, when I try to do some searching based on that, I encounter pages where people try to copy boot.img and ramdisk.img to the phone.

Is ramdisk part of boot ?

Thanks.

Ramdisk

  ramdisk.img is a small partition image that is mounted read-only by the kernel at boot time. It only contains /init and a few config files. It is used to start to init which will mount the rest of the system images properly and run the init procedure. A Ramdisk is a standard Linux feature.

The ramdisk is in the boot image and also in the recovery image which is kind of boot image

Here is the tree for unpacked the boot image (Inside the boot.img):

.
├── dt.img
├── img_info
├── kernel
├── ramdisk
│   ├── data
│   ├── default.prop
│   ├── dev
│   ├── file_contexts
│   ├── fstab.goldfish
│   ├── fstab.ranchu
│   ├── fstab.universal3475
│   ├── init
│   ├── init.baseband.rc
│   ├── init.carrier.rc
│   ├── init.container.rc
│   ├── init.environ.rc
│   ├── init.fac.rc
│   ├── init.goldfish.rc
│   ├── init.ranchu.rc
│   ├── init.rc
│   ├── init.rilcarrier.rc
│   ├── init.rilchip.rc
│   ├── init.rilcommon.rc
│   ├── init.trace.rc
│   ├── init.universal3475.rc
│   ├── init.universal3475.usb.rc
│   ├── init.usb.configfs.rc
│   ├── init.usb.rc
│   ├── init.wifi.rc
│   ├── init.zygote32.rc
│   ├── lib
│   │   └── modules
│   ├── oem
│   ├── postrecovery.do
│   ├── proc
│   ├── property_contexts
│   ├── publiccert.pem
│   ├── sbin
│   │   ├── adbd
│   │   ├── bgcompact
│   │   ├── cbd
│   │   ├── emmc_quickverify
│   │   ├── ffu
│   │   ├── firmware_key.cer
│   │   ├── healthd
│   │   ├── knox_changer
│   │   ├── sverifysignature
│   │   ├── ueventd -> ../init
│   │   └── watchdogd -> ../init
│   ├── seapp_contexts
│   ├── sepolicy
│   ├── sepolicy_version
│   ├── service_contexts
│   ├── sys
│   ├── system
│   ├── ueventd.goldfish.rc
│   ├── ueventd.ranchu.rc
│   ├── ueventd.rc
│   └── ueventd.universal3475.rc
└── ramdisk.packed


SELinux always set to permissive, how to set enforcing permanently? I flash a custom ROM to my HTC B2UL.
The ROM, by default, has the SELinux policy set to Permissive instead of Enforcing.

I can use adb shell setenforce 1 to make SElinux enforcing. But after reboot, SElinux status still return to Permissive.

Is there any way to make SElinux always be Enforcing?

See this answer and this issue for details on how SELinux is enforced on Android. In short it depends on cmdline parameters of kernel and build configuration of init.

Check on your device:

~# cat /proc/cmdline

It must contain androidboot.selinux=permissive. You need to remove this parameter from kernel cmdline permanently in order to enforce SELinux on boot. This can be done by unpacking boot.img, modifying, repacking and re-flashing. Use AIK or magiskboot. Or you can also try Kernel Selinux Patcher.

But make sure you have a working sepolicy on your device or you may get into bootloop. Custom ROMs are usually userdebug builds with incomplete policy.


Can OTG HUB charge with connected charger more than 0.5A? I saw a video somewhere where man says that OTG HUB charges only 0.5A. Is there any superior OTG HUB which can charge more than 0.5A?

The multifunctional USB OTG Host Hub Adapter Cable is compatible with all tablets and cellphones with OTG function. While it is promoted to OTG mode and charging mode can work simultaneously, in fact this is not possible (except for some listed devices)


How to erase unsued space so that dumping userdata partition creates a sparse file of small size? When I create a gzip image of userdata partition (/dev/block/mmcblk0p29) it creates huge 6.8GB image, previously it was 350MB.

Is it possible through command-line to erase or wipe or delete space on userdata partition? I want to keep small compact compressed gzip or shadow images of clean unrooted and rooted partition on various dates and times.

I tried the following commands but nothing worked for me:

fastboot erase userdata
rm -r /data/*.*
rm -r /sdcard/*.*

Still image is 6.8GB.

dd if=/dev/zero if=/dev/block/platform/7824900.sdhci/by-name/userdata bs=8192
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/block/platform/7824900.sdhci/by-name/userdata bs=8192

/dev/zero and /dev/urandom not found in device.

newfs
iShredder 3 app
Secure Eraser app
Andro Shredder or Disk Sanitizer

But how will I format in unrooted while working in the Android userdata partition?

Any adb shell command to clear, format or zero fill

i guess your real purpose of this question is not what the headline suggests - secure erase your data - but instead you want to have a full backup of userdata including /data/media (downvote if i am wrong)

you have some options, most require additional binaries which you can copy to /cache partition or permanently integrate into your twrp /sbin

e2image (thx @IrfanLatif)
make twrp backup of /data to internal storage and just adb pull -a /sdcard afterwards, which you can zip without worry about file permissions
just create tar.gz instead of img.gz with gnu tar (with --selinux --xattrs -p flags)
create empty disk image and copy all (mke2fs + busybox cp -ac) then compress img with gz (requires much disk space and underlying non-fat32 file system type)
permanent tweak for twrp

(i will improve answer when i have time)


Unable to restore WhatsApp chat I have followed all the possible ways to restore my WhatsApp chat, but I'm unable to do so.

I uninstalled and reinstalled WhatsApp three times and had my WhatsApp data in my SD card even after I moved it to my new phone. I'm unable to get my data back. I'm even unable to rename the backup files.

How do I restore the chats?

WhatsApp encrypted database needs same phone number to be decrypted.

Back up your chats on your old phone.
    Go to WhatsApp > Menu Button > Settings > Chat settings > Back up chats.
Transfer your External microSD card to your new phone if your WhatsApp/Database folder is located in your external microSD card.
    Please see below if your WhatsApp folder is located in your device's internal memory.
Install WhatsApp on your new phone.
You must have the same phone number in WhatsApp that you had when you backed up your chats.
Click Restore when prompted to restore your message history.

Note: You cannot restore chat history from any other phone type to Android, or from Android to another phone type.

Related discussion: I'm getting a new Android. How do I move my chat history over?


Does clean installing instead of updating save more space? I recently removed and reinstalled Google Maps and there was something I noticed that made me post this question.

Before removing the app (which I had for about 2 years and had been updating regularly), it's size was about 60MB. After clean installing the application with it's latest version from the Google Playstore it now has a size of 44,5MB.

Why does this happen? Do updates add size in the app every time it updates? If for example an app occupies 30MB of space and an updates is 7MB, will this space be added to the 30MB? And last but not least....Is clean installing an app instead of updating a better solution if someone needs the app not to dramatically increase in size?

Usually when an application is being updated, its the case that files (resources in apk - code, libraries, assets, images etc) are being replaced rather than being added. Of course the question, is how big is the portion being replaced, which utimately determines the final size of the "update".
If new resources are added by the application developer without removing anything in the previous version then it will likely be bigger, and if some resources are removed and replaced with less, then its the other way round

If the update has contains more resources than before, it uses more
space. If it's a bug fix (similar to a typo in text), it might even
use a few bytes less space.

For most applications, updates will usually increase the total size to a larger value.
But in your case with Google Maps, it seems the items that replaced ones in previous version are "compressed" i.e much smaller.
Uninstalling old version and clean installation of newer version
When a user application is installed, it usually keeps its data (settings, databases etc) and also cache in the /data partition and  cache partition.
Uninstalling the application also deletes this related data.
If you then clean install it, you'd also note size difference (even say the were supposed to be same size apk!) Just as Izzy wrote in comments. In this case the clean install will seem to provide the user with a smaller sized update than updating straight (but its somewhat misleading)
But as expected, the size will also increase as new data and cache are saved.
Note: with this route you likely lose all saved data within the application.
Generally speaking though, uninstalling the old version and installing the new version will use roughly the same space as updating the old version.


Cache size exceeds phone capacity What is going on here? (please see attached screen shot).

This is a Galaxy S5 Mini. Totally stock rom, never rooted. I have recently restored it to factory settings in an effort to overcome a fast draining battery.

Apps are complaining about lack of space, but based on this I believe that to be false (also, I have put almost nothing on the phone).

Anyone have any ideas on the best way to fix this?

Storage (click to enlarge)

I fully agree the storage screen shows "incoherent data" (more cache used than there's storage available), so it must have miscalculated.

As your device is already complaining about "low storage", I assume installing additional apps is not an option. If your device were rooted (which it is not), you could figure which app(s) is/are responsible for "high cache consumption", utilizing ADB:

adb shell su -c "for dir in /data/data/*/*cache; do du -sk $dir; done"

This shows the directory (including the app's package name) and the size of cache used in kB. Snipped of example output (from one of my devices):

2224    /data/data/com.feedr/app_cache
32      /data/data/com.feedr/cache
32      /data/data/com.fsck.k9/app_sslcache
32      /data/data/com.fsck.k9/cache

Without root, there might be ways achieving similar results via tools like "package manager" (pm) – but I couldn't figure that yet. If the culprit was found with the above command, you can selectively free its cache running rm -rf against the specified cache directory (again as root), or just clear the cache altogether (see Clear Caches from ADB). Clearing the cache completely doesn't require root and is possible via most (stock and custom) recoveries, and also (stock, custom, root or not) via the fastboot erase cache command.

If the above is not possible for you, and you're still able to install apps (maybe after deleting another installed app), you could go the way SarpSTA recommended and install a cache manager to check. If that's not possible either, the "long way" would be going to Settings › Apps and walking the "All" tab – opening each app's page and see how much "cache" is printed for it, manually hitting the "clear cache" button for "heavy eaters".


How do I clone a SIM card? When I search the web, all I get is hits on how to transfer your "contacts".  "SIM" is an acronym for "Subscriber Identity Module".  So, as I understand it, there is more information on that little thing than just my "contacts".  I just got a new phone (with a new SIM card), and I want to move every bit from my old SIM to the new SIM, not just the "contacts".  How do I do that?

Cloning a SIM card is not what you think it is. Apart from the simple contacts information, the only thing stored on it is a code which identifies your phone to your carrier. It's like a user ID, which the carrier can use to look up which plan you're on and what phone number you should have.

Although cloning a SIM card is possible, it's not something you want to do as a customer. It's a technique used by crackers to impersonate another user to the phone network, in order to illicitly receive their phone calls. It may be illegal where you live.

Think of the SIM card like a credit card. It belongs to the carrier: they just lend it to you for the purpose of using their service. If your bank sends you a new card, or you change bank, you don't "clone" your old card onto your new one: you just use the new card. And, just like a bank card, if your carrier didn't send you the new card as a replacement for the old one, then it refers to a completely different account.

If you simply want to move your old phone number to your new phone, you need to contact your (old) carrier to do this.


How to force wpa_supplicant to connect to AP and skip scanning I have been using wpa_supplicant to connect to an AP on an Android device running ICS. I have defined a few APs within the network block in the wpa_suplicant.conf file. The problem is every time the device restarts, it does a fresh scanning which takes up a lot of time. What I would like to do is to force wpa_supplicant to just try re-connecting to one of the APs present within the network block of config file and not undergo a full scan. Am I missing an option somewhere (either command line or in config file) to achieve this without making changes to wpa_supplicant code?

The network info contained in wpa_supplicant.conf is not enough for associating(connecting) to a network. It only provides ssid and its crypto suite. In order to connecting to a network, the device needs more info to learn by scanning them. The scan is a MUST step for connecting.


Difference between system files charging_enabled vs battery_charging_enabled I have a oneplus2 and I need to know the difference between charging_enabled vs battery_charging_enabled files present in /sys/class/power_supply/battery

I am using an app called Battery Charge Limit that is currently using battery_charging_enabled file to toggle charging when the preset limit is reached but even though I can see my phone is discharging (the app stop phone's charging even though the cable is plugged in), the discharging current is unusually very small as compared to "normal" discharging (without the app). Why is this happening? From where is it getting the extra power (if not from the battery) to keep up with the activities done on the phone.

I was wondering if the full charge condition (the ability of the phone to run directly on plugged power source instead of battery after it charges to 100%)  was being applied at 90% (which I have set as the max charge limit in the app).

Also I checked the status of charging_enabled while the app was activated and it was 1, which means that it was not affected  by the app (which is obvious as the control file used by the app is different).

Edit: I just changed the control file of the app from battery_charging_enabled to  charging_enabled  and now the battery drain seems normal.

Can anyone explain the difference between these control files ?

Edit: Adding device codes snippets from the file /android/lineage/kernel/oneplus/msm8994/drivers/power/qpnp-smbcharger.c . Hope it helps.

case POWER_SUPPLY_PROP_BATTERY_CHARGING_ENABLED:
                smbchg_battchg_en(chip, val->intval,
                                REASON_BATTCHG_USER, &unused);
                pr_err("chg_en form userspace battery charging enable: %d\n",val->intval);
                break;
case POWER_SUPPLY_PROP_CHARGING_ENABLED:
                smbchg_usb_en(chip, val->intval, REASON_USER);
                smbchg_dc_en(chip, val->intval, REASON_USER);
                chip->chg_enabled = val->intval;
                pr_err("chg_en form userspace charging enable: %d\n",chip->chg_enabled);
                schedule_work(&chip->usb_set_online_work);
                break;
------------------------------------------------------------------------
case POWER_SUPPLY_PROP_BATTERY_CHARGING_ENABLED:
                val->intval = smcghg_is_battchg_en(chip, REASON_BATTCHG_USER);
                break;
case POWER_SUPPLY_PROP_CHARGING_ENABLED:
                val->intval = chip->chg_enabled;

I had mailed this to developer requesting to answer here , instead he answered on mail to me. Quoting verbatim

You are right. Different control files behave differently. battery_charging_enabled tries to maintain the charge. It takes required power from charger, and it didn't charge/discharge battery. This behaviour is ideal, and if it works, then you should be using it.
charging_enabled completely cuts off power supply from cable. This case we need the threshold limit to start charging again
I have a OnePlus 3, I have both files, but the former doesn't work. I have no choice but to use the latter.


Unix domain sockets between host and emulator I am trying get Android and my Linux host talk to each other on Unix domain sockets.

I have my server on the host while the client is part of a library that emulator's software stack will make use of. The Android stack is not able to find the socket stream file that I have specified which happens to be on the host's filesystem.

Now, before you say "port forward", I have tried that and this is what I have tried based on my understanding of the abd forward command. I have not had success in this. Could you guys please point out the mistake and help me?

adb forward localfilesystem:/tmp/android_socket localfilesystem:android_socket

The path used in the host is /tmp/android_socket and that in the Android emulator is "android_socket"

Unix domain sockets are meant to be used for interprocess communication on one host, not for inter host communication.
Sockets that are located on the filesystem like you describe are not unix sockets, but named pipes, and are also limited for use on the same host.

For inter-host communication, you need to use network sockets of some kind.


How do I reset the input language to English when I can't read the current language? I have a Nexus 4 with the latest OS.

I accidentally set the input to Arabic.

Now I don't know how to reset to English.

I tried re-booting but it did not revert to English.

I would like to avoid a factory reset, if possible.

I discovered how to do this.

The icons for the various functions remain the same.

I went into

Settings (cogwheel icon) then
Language & input (white square with black A)
Top item in this menu is Language

I tapped this item and was presented with the normal list of languages,
each in its own font.


How much free storage space is necessary to stop receiving camera warning? I'm trying to use the camera on my android phone but for a while I've had low storage and been getting the message "your internal storage is running out of space".

I have about 20MB free but am still receiving this warning. I even receive this warning with 50mb. How much space do I need to free up before this message goes away and is there any way to bypass or ignore as I know a couple of HD pictures aren't going to use up 15mb.

I'm using a fairly old version of android, don't know the exact one but it isn't really relevant anyway.

As camera needs memory to run as well as memory to store images. So if you can afford memory of 200 mb or more, your camera can run well. Every application you run takes some memory.


"Unable to Load Photo" when setting image as wallpaper via Google Photos Trying to change my wallpaper from the android Settings app, I tap 'From Gallery' on the film strip at the bottom which launches Google Photos. From there I select the photo I want, and it returns to the settings app with the message "Unable to load photo."

If I switch the default photo app to Gallery and use it to select an image stored on my phone, it works, but that doesn't allow me to access photos
from my Google account.

If I launch Photos itself I can set an image as the wallpaper, but that doesn't let me change the lock screen unlike going through Settings.

It all worked fine yesterday and I'm not sure what's changed. Restarting the phone hasn't helped, and neither has uninstalling and reinstalling Photos or clearing its cache.

I've never used google photos myself, but this sounds like it just needs you to download the photo to your local memory then set that to your wallpaper? I don't see why that wouldn't work...

Hope this helps


Is there a way to capture HTTP requests from an installed Play Store app? I'm developing a search aggregator service so I'd like to get the endpoint of some of the stores that, currently, doesn't expose their API. So I'd like to now if there's a way to do this with my cellphone.

Yes, you can do it on your phone alone. I use HttpCanary App with root access. It works without root as well but only a few apps that don't use certificate pinning.


If you unlock you don't have to unlock again in X time Is there a way to have my phone stay unlocked for some period of time after I have unlocked it once (via PIN, pattern or whatever). In other words, if I unlock my device with my PIN, if I turn the screen back on within the next 30 minutes I wouldn't have to re-enter my PIN.

If it matters my device is on Android 4.4.

I use an app called Delayed Lock. You can set it to stay unlocked for a set time after last unlock or after screen off and then it will enable the pin/pw again. It can also be used to unlock the device on specific wifi networks and lock when it disconnects (you still have to use your pin/pw the first time). And there is a plugin for it that uses location to disable the pin/pw as well.


How can one get the clipboard menu item in the contextual menu in Gmail's compose email field? How can one get the clipboard menu item in the contextual menu in Gmail's compose email field?

It's not present on my phone (Samsung Galaxy S9, Android 9):

Content of the ... menu:

The clipboard is a feature of the keyboard i.e. the Input Method in android terminology.

Assuming you are using gboard which is google's keyboard; you should see the clipboard button towards the top right of the keyboard. Depending on your device, it might also be inside the 3-dot menu item that can be clicked on to expand the rest of the list.
Clicking on this reveals more buttons. One of which is the clipboard. You could use copied items for one hour from this clipboard. In order to save items permanently, you can pin them.


Stock email client crashing Phone is Motorola Milestone (EU version of Droid), android version is 2.2.1.

About a month ago I switched my email server from classic Postfix+Dovecot to Kerio Mail server. I accessed my email account via IMAP and I didn't change any email settings on my phone. After the switch, all emails that were read on server (either via email client like Outlook or via webmail) were showing up as unread in stock email client on the phone. It was annoying but I didn't give it much significance.

After more than a month, stock email client started crashing after checking mail from server. My theory is that mail identifiers of new server caught up with identifiers from the old server, and it's making stock email client crazy ...

Deleting data from email app and recreating the account didn't help, crashing persists...

After using K9 Mail for couple of months, problem resolved itself, stock email client stopped crashing.

This only confirmed my theory that stock email client on 2.2.1 has issues with overlapping message UIDS


How to install custom stable ICS rom on galaxy S2 (rar file)? So if you follow this link then apparently this is an unofficial stable release of ICS for the galaxy S2. Also it's been tested by the members of XDA and they also say it's legit.

So if I want to test this out, the link to the download is here, how do you install the rar file? You flash it with Odin right? I loaded some custom roms on my phone a while ago but I can't remember if you flash rar files with Odin or put it on your micro sd and run it from there..(Although I think that you do with zip files.)

Any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks!

I can't see any obvious mention of that particular SGS2 ICS ROM on XDA's SGS2 pages but there are a few other ICS ROMs there, all with install instructions in their main post.

Have you tried opening the RAR file with something like WinRAR or WinZip to see if there are instructions or a readme inside it?


Why can't I shoot in raw on my galaxy s7 after upgrading to nougat? I recently upgraded to nougat through a T-Mobile service update and now all of my camera apps say that my camera doesn't support raw capture. Is there a way to fix this? If not, is there a way to revert back to marshmallow without losing all of my data or voiding my warranty?

You can shoot in raw. They just changed where it is placed on the Nougat upgrade. It is the last option under picture size and can only be accessed when using the pro mode.


Are there alternative ways of downloading free applications from Android Market? I can't download applications from the Android Market very well. The most common problem is that it sends an HTTP request and the remote server replies, but no data follows: the TCP connection just stalls. The Market app shows an animated progress bar (before "0%" or sometimes always "0%") indefinitely until I cancel the download.

Sometimes using another network connection helps. (Note: I don't have data plan yet and use only WiFi):

Connection over Wi-fi access point to my laptop that is running VPN and doing NAT: stalls
Connection over Wi-fi access point to my laptop that is running VPN and doing "-j REDIRECT' to tcpsocks that is connecting throught "ssh -D" from my server: sometimes works
Ad-hoc Wi-fi connection to my laptop that is running VPN and doing "-j REDIRECT' to tcpsocks that is connecting throught "ssh -D" from my server: stalls
Connection over Wi-fi access point to my laptop connected to university network and doing -j REDIRECT to tcpsocks that is connecting through the ssh -D (connections originating from my server): sometimes works, very very slow
VPN connection from the device throught the access point (without using laptop): works
Connecting through the ProxyDroid (running redsocks internally) redirecting to ssh -D (connections originating from my server) started on my laptop over Ad-hoc wifi network: stalls
Connecting through the ProxyDroid (HTTP mode) redirecting to proxy server running on my laptop (with by chain of proxy servers finally originates connections from my server) started on my laptop over Ad-hoc wifi network: stalls

The only workaround I found is to capture the request from device with Wireshark and execute it (using netcat) on my desktop computer. It downloads the apk file from the Market which I can put on the device as usual. Obtaining such links is hovewer inconvenient (especially when it uses HTTPS).

Trying to use ProxyDroid does not help.

How can I debug stalled downloads from Android Market?
What are alternative approaches to obtaining apps from Market? Would using the Android Market in the emulator be better?

If you can download from your PC without stalling*, you can then copy the .apk over to your phone and open/install from the file-system.

*Q: how to initate android download in a PC browser?

A: I don't know, but it's possible for other markets, anyway)


Why does "Preparing SD card" message appear on Optimus One P500 3-4 times a day? On my Optimus One P500 it shows.

Preparing SD card

The above message shows at least 3 to 4 times in a day.

During this Apps on SD cards are automatically closed.
Any files opened(Music/PDF) as not accesible.

Is this a issue with me or Optimus or android 2.2

I had a similar problem that was fixed by formating the card in the phone.

Settings -> SD card & phone storage settings -> Unmount SD card. Then format the card on the same screen.


Update software will also update the OS I have Samsung Galaxy S-Duos with Android Version 4.0.4.
I always get Software Update Popup.
If I will confirm the update then it will update the Android Version Also or just update all the system software's only?

It only updates the apps. How ever you can update the OS by Going to Settings > (More) > About device > Software update > update.


Customizing the notification-area toggles in Lollipop In Lollipop, when I open the notification area (down-swipe from the top), and press the top right "user" icon, I get a set of toggles for some features: Wifi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Auto-rotate, Flashlight, Location, Cast screen, Hotspot.

Is there any way I can customize those toggles?

Specifically, I'm looking to add a toggle for my account syncing, so I can disable it over slow networks, and re-enable when I'm back on a fast wifi.

I wasn't able to find any way of doing it via the stock ROM, and it seems like there is none. The second best solution I found was an application, Power Toggles, that adds toggles to the notification screen itself.


Samsung Galaxy s6 stuck in boot My galaxy s6 is stuck in what appears to be the boot phase, where the logo is flashing on and off so the screen is not frozen.

I have tried:

Holding the start button and power button
Holding the start button, power button and volume up button
Plugging the phone into the computer to try and flash it, but the computer won't recognise it

Before it was like this, I was trying to unlock the phone with my fingerprint. The screen froze for a minute then went into what is currently being displayed (see picture).

Is there anything else that I can try?

Try hard resetting it, works in many cases of soft brick.

Force close your phone, hold power button + volume down for 10 seconds. Phone should power off.

Now hold volume up + power button, phone should boot in recovery. From there select Delete data and cache then reboot.

You'll lose all your data stored in the phone memory but phone should work normally.


optimum hardware setup for android emulator? is there a "best" setup for the android emulator? It runs terribly slow on my mac os as well as my windows 7 32-bit. I was just wondering if there's an optimal setup as far as 32-bit vs 64 bit, or linux/windows/mac is concerned?

Actually the bad news is that everyone has the same problem . its dead slow !! . try using the Intel based emulator(instead of the arm-7 )and download the haxm software that Intel provides. Its available for the Mac too.
You can download the Intel based emulator and the haxm software (only for windows I guess) from the SDK manager.


How can I save a thread from Go SMS Pro to my SD card? I have tried several things, but haven't found one that works. How can I save a message thread from Go SMS Pro to my SD card?

From the main screen (list of threads), long click on the thread and choose the option to "backup  thread."  This will save the thread to your SD card as an xml file.


Number not displayed for incoming calls in sony xperia z1 Whenever I get an incoming call it is just showing unknown. No number is displayed and names are also not displayed though I have saved contacts in my mobile. But no problem for outgoing.

Recently I upgraded it to lollipop. It is fine when I upgraded but from the time I got my sim ported to other network(DoCoMo to airtel), im facing this problem. Did some troubleshooting like restarting the mobile and importing and exporting contacts to sim and internal storage and vice versa and I also saved my contacts in google account .But no luck.

It is driving me crazy. Please help me.

If you have chose before upgrade to sync your contacts with google account, you can have this kind of problem. My advice is to turn off sync from google account (in Settings/Accounts), delete your google account from device (reboot, just in case), add again you google account and mark sync options as "on" in Settings/Accounts. It can take a while for contacts to sync back, but this was the way I escaped a touble like yours.


Contacts permission for Google Account Some games ask for Contacts permission for logging in using Google Account.
Is it safe? Why some other games and applications don't ask for Contacts?
For example SoundCloud, it doesn't for, but Asphalt 8 do.

Will these apps and games modify my contacts list?

In order to uniquely identify a user, an app does not need to access your contacts (which is why SoundCloud doesn't).
However, if an app decides to ask for this permission, it is your decision to trust it or not. I personally usually decline those requests, since I'm not comfortable with an organization getting too much sensitive information about me if not necessary. I don't want to accuse any company, but rumor has it that this is exactly the kind of information that is sold to advertising companies, if you know what I mean...
Concerning modifications of your contacts: That depends on the exact permission the app requests. This developer resource lists three possible permission regarding contacts:

Read contacts
Write contacts
Get accounts

An app will only be able to modify your contacts if it requests the second permission and you accept it. This is where it gets tricky: Below screenshot (taken on a device running Android 7.0) shows the request to "access" your contacts, originating from stock Android's official contacts app. Obviously, this app is indeed able to modify your contacts, although the popup doesn't explicitly state that. In other words, there is apparently no way to distinguish between read and write permission.
If you don't get to see a popup like on the screenshot, either the app or your device doesn't support requesting permissions at run time. This feature was added in Android 6, so if your device's android version is lower or if the app wasn't optimized for this feature, you will be presented with a list of permissions before downloading the app in the Play Store. Unfortunately, there is no way to selectively adjust the permissions prior to Android 6 without rooting the device.
Will these apps and games modify my contacts list?
Assuming that you have to grant the app permission to modify your contacts (because of the reason stated above), you will have to live with the risk of your data being used for personalized advertisement. However, I highly doubt that an app of a well-known company would secretly modify your contacts, simply because they don't have a negative intention. That being said, be careful with apps that have lower ratings or don't seem as serious.


S Note 4 - How Many Books How can I tell my number of uploads in Google Play Books?
I have a bunch of books in my Google books.  It seems like I cannot add any more unless I delete some.  I found out that the limit is 1000 but I cannot figure out how to find how many I have already uploaded on to Google Books.

Visit the Google Dashboard, which details ALL data usage of your account. It includes a rundown about your Gmail converations, your synched Contacts, your connected Android Devices, usage and storage of Google Drive, Calendar, Photos, etc., in addition to the target of your question, how many books are in your Google Books.


Google Play UI language vs review language - what's happening here? I'm Polish, in Poland, but use English for the interface. I posted a review on a Polish app (in Polish, of course)... and it's not visible to people with Polish UI language selected.
I've tried changing the language in Google Play to Polish, deleting the review, and writing it again. Still no change.
What must I do to make my comment visible in Polish?

Add &hl=pl to the end of the URL.

(So it becomes https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&hl=pl )

This will force the Play store to change to Polish entirely, and display the Polish version of the site, not just the translation. (Works for all Google sites, and all languages) It will remain in Polish until you close the page or tab.


samsung galaxy s4 pressure sorry if this is slightly off topic but please could you give your thoughts to this

recently,  I had my s4 in my front pocket and while sitting down in a chair i could feel that I was slightly sitting on the phone

it had a back hardshell case and it was the screen facing down in the pocket

when I took it out everything was fine, can't see any scratches/ cracks

my worry is that because there was some pressure put on it, could there be some damage not visible now that could cause some problems in the future? should I be worried?

No , you don't need to worry at all. As mentioned if there are no scratches/ cracks on your device it proves how tough these devices are in reality.

Here is an example which shows how much of actual force is required to damage any device. Taking the case of a pencil:

Think about how tough your device is ? Galaxy S4 can handle pressure of more than 130 lbs whereas this pencil was just at 80 lbs.

So, no worries your device should be absolutely fine. In this case you also had extra protection with additional hardshell case to it.


How to disable the "sign in to wifi network" page? How can I disable the page "sign in to wifi network" that appears when connected to a wifi network that requires login?

I dont want to disable wifi. I just dont want this page to appear. Is it possible?

In most cases, no

basically, some WiFi providers will put a sign in page after you connect, so that you sign into your account which you paid for, or to be able to limit your time on the web unless you pay, or they'll give you free WiFi only if you subscribe to something etc.

So, what you're trying to do, in short, is get free WiFi in a place where they want you to pay.

There are a few tricks to try but chances are, that it's not going to work.

If the sign in page lets you download their app without signing in first, then what you can do is, press on the download option, it will open the play store, and while play store is open, you can go anywhere on the web,
Or you can use a VPN that blocks your activity from the WiFi provider and will let you bypass the sign in page and in turn you'll have free WiFi. Though it's hard to find one that will actually work.


App not showing up in app store search result I am trying to download this app in samsung galaxy s4 with android 5.0.1

I have tried looking for it in another phone with android 4.2 but it doesn't show up when I search for it in the playstore (even though the search box autocomplete shows me the exact name of the app when typing the first few letters). I assumed this was because the app says it's for Android 4.4 and up so I tried the samsung phone with Android 5.0.1 but the problem is still same. In both phones the search results are similar, but neither one of them shows me the one I want

Why is this happening? The two phones are signed into app store through different google accounts. Is there any way to go directly to the page for this app using the Play Store app, instead of searching for it? I cannot do this through the browser because I don't have the google password for the Android 5.0.1 phone.

It's because the app is not compatible with your device, and thus Google Play Store app filters those out because the user won't be able to install from it anyway (APK sideloading is always possible though).
As stated in Android Developer's official documentation,

How filters work on Google Play
Google Play uses the filter restrictions described below to determine whether to show your application to a user who is browsing or searching for applications from the Google Play app.
When determining whether to display your app, Google Play checks the device's hardware and software requirement, as well as its carrier, location, and other characteristics. It then compares those against the restrictions and dependencies expressed by the application's manifest file and publishing details.
If the application is compatible with the device according to the filter rules, Google Play displays the application to the user. Otherwise, Google Play hides your application from search results and category browsing, even if a user specifically requests the app by clicking a deep link that points directly to the app's ID within Google Play.
(Emphasis mine)

Note that app developer can also exclude individual device model manually.

Exclude your app from certain devices
Manage excluded devices per app
To prevent app crashes, you can exclude your app from being available to individual devices on Google Play. Making this change manually excludes your whole app—you can't exclude individual APKs.
By manually excluding devices with known compatibility issues, you can help provide a better experience for your users.

For this specific case, NextRadio Free Live FM Radio depends on the FM receiver chip on the user's device. The update since January 2, 2019 also states that it doesn't support streaming anymore and only use FM-radio.

WHAT'S NEW
NextRadio is going back to basics. Streaming is no longer supported, but you can still tune to your favorite local stations on FM-enabled devices.

On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S4 doesn't have FM radio, and it will be pointless to install the app since it won't work properly. Note that the user can always sideload the APK if they want.


SwiftKey gets removed as input method after every update Every time SwiftKey gets updated it is removed from the list of input methods. I don't remember having this problem before Android 4.4, but in the last few days SwiftKey had some updates and it just gets annoying. I have to set it up again in the settings as a viable input method, getting informed about the security implications etc.

Is there a way to disable this behavior, so I don't have to set up the keyboard after every update?

Seems to be a Google issue. There is a blog post on SwiftKey's support site.

Essentially:

  The issue is that Google Play installs paid apps in a particular location on your phone and that in some versions of Android (particularly 4.1 on Samsung devices) this location is not available at the point in the boot process where keyboards are being switched on. So your phone does not know that you have SwiftKey, and it defaults back to the phone’s keyboard.


Build.prop modifies okay. But not updates in system (e.g. About Tablet in settings) I am running Android-x86 4.4 on VirtualBox. Everything works fine.
But when I am modifying build.prop (with ES File Explorer or BuildProp Editor) with other manufacturer or model and save it. After reboot nothing happens. In About Tablet stores the old information.

Seems that android cache this info somewhere.

Any thoughts? How to force Android to update from build.prop

I found that there are a lot of other build.prop, ex: build.(...).prop
I deleted all except the last one and it works.


How to factory reset android using adb I am trying to factory data reset my Oppo neo 7 (Android 5.1) using adb shell. Any ways i can try and links to adb shell? thanks

You can try the following commands:

To enter the fastboot mode:
adb reboot bootloader

Check whether the mobile phone is also in fastboot mode:
fastboot devices

To delete the data:
fastboot erase userdata

To delete cache:
fastboot erase cache

Source and more detailed instructions click here.


Export sleep data from S-Health I am using a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and a Galaxy watch to record sleep with the S-Health app.

Is there a way to export the data? I notice I can easily export heart rate data, however the sleep section doesn't offer the option.

I found the following question from a few years ago:
Is it possible to export the S-Health data from a Samsung S6 into a usable data format?

However is there a way to get the sleep data without resorting to developer type solutions as above? Perhaps a 3rd party app the can connect to S-Health?

It's not so convenient to do on a daily basis but you can export all your data from Samsung galaxy health.

In the top right corner click on the three dots
Choose settings
In the "Data" section choose "Download Personal data"
Click "Download" at the bottom of the screen
Verify your Samsung account password

It will download a bunch of csv files to My Files > Internal Storage > Samsung Health > Download > Samsunghealth_[your username]_[download date and time stamp].

One of them will be "com.samsung.health.sleep.[download date and time stamp].csv

Some of the information is useful, some is not.


Need browser with websocket and full screen mode support I need a browser that supports websocket and full screen mode and where I can set a default homepage.

The device that I am using is Rikomagic MK802 III. I am using a startup program to open a browser in full screen mode with a default URL when the machine is booted.

The default stock Android browser works fine, but does not support websocket. It also does not have a very good support for JavaScript.

Next, I tried with Chrome, Firefox and Opera. All of them support websocket and works fine. But none of them have a provision to set a default homepage and full screen also is not supported.

However I found an add-on in Firefox that supports full screen, but don't know how to make this a default behavior when the browser is opened. Setting default homepage is still a problem.

Please suggest me what option I am left with. Is there any workaround ?

I know that Chrome For Android (not the Android stock Browser) does have Websocket support, and you can set a default homepage, not sure about Fullscreen mode though.


Unknown Bluetooth pairing requests I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that is receiving unknown bluetooth pairing requests with a confirmation code every 60 seconds. I do not know what this device is, and I don't want to have to cancel these numerous requests. I use the bluetooth for my car and also my ASUS Zenwatch, so I don't want to have to turn off my Bluetooth all the time. My Bluetooth is only visible to paired devices, and this request from "Sparrow" does not show that it is one of my paired devices. I had my bluetooth turned off all weekend thinking it was something close to my house, but it has continued today even though I am not at home. Is there any way to block these requests without having to reset the whole phone?

I had the same problem Sparrow is your Zenwatch


Android Browser that Saves and Fills Passwords Is there a browser I can install that stores passwords just like regular desktop    browsers?
I'd only use it for unimportant passwords, so I'm really not worried about security. Anything that saves and auto fills my passwords is fine.

Running a motorola-milestone.

The standard Android browser does this for me on most (non-banking type) websites. When I start typing my username into the login box it shows a drop down of names used in that login box before. Selecting one of those fills the password box in too.

If you go into the browser and press Menu -> More -> Settings and then scroll down the settings window to the Privacy Settings section, there's a tick-box there for Remember Form Data, then if you scroll down a bit further to Security Settings, there's a tickbox for Remember Passwords. make sure that both of those are ticked and you should be ok.

I'm on a Galaxy S running the official Samsung Froyo 2.2 release, and I'm sure my old HTC Magic running stock Android Donut 1.6 did this too.


Is the Nexus One battery charged when connected to a PC via USB? Do you happen to know whether the Nexus One's battery is charged while being connected via the USB cable to a PC?

If so, is this standard behavior for all Android devices that have a USB port?

I don't know about the N1 in particular, but as far as I know, most (if not all) phones charge via USB so long as the USB port provides enough power.  My Motorola Droid and G1 charge via USB. My Nook Color and Motorola Xoom (tablets) do not charge via USB.

However, do note that it is faster to charge with the phone plugged in to a power source instead of a USB port.


Retrieve files protected by NQVault due to forgotten password I downloaded NQVault to my Samsung Galaxy S3 and I moved some videos to the vault. However, I couldn't get back the videos because I forgot my password. After trying many times to find out how to change the password, I became frustrated, so I deleted the app.

My question is, is there anyway for me to get my videos back from the app due to the fact it was deleted?

Apparently, NQVault does not really encrypt the files, but simply does a byte-by-byte xor operation with a key that is generated from the password. Oh, and it does that only for the first 128 bytes. Since a byte can only take 256 different values, you can simply brute-force the key you need to "decrypt" your file.
The author of the linked post has even published the code for a brute force attack. All you need to do is to compile the c code, edit the bash script to recognize whatever mime type your videos are and then run the script.


How to extract SMS/MMS from Android to readable format? Looking for a way to extract text messages, photos included, to a readable format like HTML, PDF, RTF, etc. Is there any free software that can achieve this?

There is an app called “Export Messages” that looks like it would do exactly what you’re asking. You can check it out at this link: Export Messages

I stopped looking when I found this but I’m sure that there are many more like it.  Now that you know what you’re looking for, you may be able to find an app that suits your needs even better than this one.


Why is fingerprint lock considered less secure than pattern lock on Nexus 5X? My Nexus 5X highly recommends to set up pattern lock in addition to fingerprint lock, and the pattern is asked upon every reboot. And my password manager (KP2A) recommends to use fingerprint unlock only to "quick unlock" after a short period of inactivity, but to require full password for the DB after every reboot.
Hence two questions:

Why does Google considers the fingerprint lock as less secure than pattern lock?

Using your fingerprint to unlock your device may be less secure than a strong password, PIN, or pattern.

For my password manager on Android, is it really much safer to re-enter password upon every reboot rather than to use fingerprint lock? How many bits my password should have to be more secure than fingerprint lock?

Please note that I'm asking specifically on fingerprint scanner implementation in 5X, not for a general theory on an average abstract fingerprint scanner solution.

The weakness is actually in the fingerprints themselves and not the way Nexus 5x implements it.

Fingerprints are less secure because they cannot be changed like a password and cannot be revoked if compromised.

Fingerprints are also left everywhere such as, at a glass. They can then be captured and reproduced. Think about this: Android uses a touch screen. The fingerprints are left on the screen after device's usage.

With a fingerprint it's almost good then it is good enough. Because the way it is touched or if you have a cut. Making fingerprints not hashable. Compared to a pin which has to be perfect every time.

They can be taken without permission. Not only from being left behind but also legally without consent. If a password is in your head it must be given, thereby, also leaving your right to privacy and your right to remain silent.

In the United States a person is also protected from testifying against themselves by the 5th amendment. Legally, fingerprints are considered as physical objects because they exist in the physical world. So they are not protected by the 5th amendment.


Android G1 latest installable version? What is the latest installable version on an original Android G1 phone? Either vanilla or any kind of mod (CyanogenMod, etc).

Cyanogenmod 6, which is 2.2 is reported to work for the T-mobile G1.


What is com.coloros.safecenter? I am using Oppo F11 Pro mobile phone. When managing my Google account, under my activities I see "Used com.coloros.safecenter".

What is that?

This is the security center of your Oppo phone. It's a pre-installed app where you can hide your apps and photos and do much more.


Is there an official Google Apps package? So I understand that I need to flash the gapps package after installing a custom Android distro (ROM). In that case, is there an official google apps package? If so, why should I rely on competing distributions of the Google apps package, rather than get it straight from Google? If not, do device manufacturers get it through a different, private route?

If not, is there any way I can extract the Google Apps platform whole from my own device's stock Android OS image? As I understand, that is in fact the exception which Google allowed, which everyone seems to be abusing by simply distributing APKs extracted from other devices. I have not seen a single guide for this.

Official GApps package is never available publicly. Google only provides it to authenticated OEMs like Samsung and HTC. It'll be installed only on Google Play Verified devices, in their stock ROMs.

That's why individuals can only download and flash unofficial GApps packages.

You can, of course, extract Google Apps from an authenticated phone and install it elsewhere, but you'll surely do extra job in comparison to flashing well-prepared packages.


Hidden alarm at everyday 12AM I have the Lenovo Moto Z Unlocked with sadly still Android M.

There's a hidden alarm everyday at 12 midnight, and it doesn't show it in the original clock app, which I haven't used an app other than that for alarms.

How can I diagnose this problem?

I found the problem. It turns out TimeTune was doing this (even though it is only a reminder app). I uninstalled and it disappeared.


Looking for a way to use voice commands create calendar entry in non-Google calendar I'm looking for a way to create calendar entries in a non-Google calendar using voice commands. The built in voice command (using CM11 M8 / 4.4.4 with Google apps) only creates entries in my Google calendar and I do not see an option to change this behavior. I'm happy to use a different voice command app if that's what's necessary.

To clarify: I would like to create this calendar entry in a calendar hosted on a server accessed by caldav.

While strictly speaking, app recommendations are off-topic here – let's tread it as "how can I do that". And as this is my second question today, it's time for the app which answers every second question here: tasker, optionally with the AutoVoice addon for more convenience and flexibility.

The Tasker UserGuide explains:

  Calendar Insert:
  Insert an entry into the specified calendar.

(More details there)

With AutoVoice, you can have a widget/shortcut on your homescreen to activate it (or have Tasker do so via some other event, e.g. "shaking the device up-down twice"). Then speak your command, and Tasker would execute the Task assigned to what it recognizes. There are tutorials around also explaining how to make a "loop" for the "Sorry, I didn't understand – please repeat!" case ;)

Drawbacks: Both apps come with a fee if you want to really use them. Tasker has a 7-day-trial at their homepage, AutoVoice has a limited "free version" – so you at least have a chance to check first if it meets your requirements. Will take a few days getting used to Tasker – but once you did, you will wonder how you could do without ☺


Nexus 5 screen no working, how do i recover data My nexus 5 screens LCD had broken so I ordered a new one and installed it, it's not the first time I have done it, and for some reason, it won't display anything to the screen, I know my phone is working because the LED is on and sounds play. I don't believe that I can get the screen to work, I'm assuming there's an issue with the board since it seemed to be doing the same thing after I broke the previous screen. My concern at this point is that I would like to recover the data on my phone but I'm not sure how to go about it, The power button on it has been broken for a long time so I've just been using the Android SDK to turn my phone on but i cant figure out how to recover anything. Any ideas?

If you have adb working, you could just pull everything from the /sdcard directory which is either your internal storage if no actual SD card is installed or the actual SD card that is installed (/sdcard is an alias)

Anyways you can use adb and the pull command:

adb pull /sdcard .

That will pull everything on the /sdcard which could be a lot.

Some common file locations:

Screenshots

adb pull /sdcard/Pictures/Screenshots .

Pictures & videos taken with the camera:

adb pull /sdcard/DCIM/Camera .

Downloads folder:

adb pull /sdcard/Download

Also you could create a backup of your device, but you'd need to enter some information and tap a button to continue:

adb backup -apk -shared -all

So that's probably not for you...


Google Maps constantly requesting location I'm running LBP Privacy Guard, and every 30 minutes or so I get a warning that Google Maps is trying to request my location.

Why is this, and how can I prevent this?

Have you tried switching off "location sharing"?

It is under "Privacy settings" in settings menu.  Read more here


Nexus 5x stuck in download mode after flashing I flashed my nexus 5x following the instructions from the official android website https://developers.google.com/android/images . I installed fastboot on my Ubuntu 16.04 and started flashing. After executing the script flash-all.sh, it indicates that the phone was properly flashed in terminal, and even my phone shows commands that the firmware is getting installed. But after the end of the flash, my phone reboot and get stuck on a the message :
Firmware Update
Do not unplug the USB connection until the process is complete

with a progress bar stuck at 0%.
I've tried flashing with the firmwares : 6.0.0 (MDA89E), 7.0.0 (NRD90M), 7.1.1 (NMF26F, Dec 2016). And with every firmware I get stuck after the flashing ends.
Note
When I visited a link given by sancho.s , I noticed that I can't get into recovery mode, my phone get stuck into the same Firmware Update screen unstead.

There was no specific question posted, so I asume you have your phone bricked (unusable) now, and you want to get it out of that state.
Here you find a few alternatives:

Two people reported here that unplugging the cable, then holding the power button down restarts the phone, and it likely brings it back to life. Similarly here... And there are plenty of similar posts around.
You commented that this does not work.
There are further instructions here.
From here:
"If a battery pull doesn't fix the problem, turn your phone off, charge the battery sufficiently (while it's off) and then unplug from the charger. Hold Volume Down and Power to enter HBoot and enter recovery. Once you see the error symbol pull the battery out again and then reinsert the battery and start as normal. This (for some reason) works for a lot of people. If all else fails enter recovery and do a factory reset."


Are there any Android browsers that support loading a Java Applet in-browser? We have a client who are switching away from Windows Mobile (and IE Mobile) to Android based devices.

We have some specific software that we deploy to their WM workforce by an ActiveX applet that loads in IE Mobile, but obviously Android will have no support for ActiveX. So we will need to re-do our application to an Android-specific platform, and Java is the obvious choice for this.

Are there any Android browsers that support loading a Java Applet in-browser, in much the same way an ActiveX applet loads in IE (i.e. it fully integrates into the browsing experience).

Similar questions have been asked here before, the short version, JAVA applets are not supported on Android. The version of JAVA used on Android is not just your run of the mill JAVA so you would need to get a JAVA compiler on the phone first to run any applets. Which I don't think is possible or at least feasible.

Why not just download the Android SDK and make your own app? You don't have to sell it in the marketplace, but if your app could be used by others you could do that which might help recover some money spent on development.


How do I make my phone fully customizable? Recently my friend1 who knows how do stuff with phones has made friend2s phone fully customizable. At least that's what he said. The other day friend2 made everything in his phone to show Hodor. Time, letters, applications, everything.
I asked my friend1 how he did it and he spoke about it but I remember only that he did some stuff, flashed friend2 phone a couple of times and BOOM done it.

I'm listing these if you need to know:

My phone is Samsung I8190 Galaxy S III min
Version 4.1.2
Has Kingroot
Has fx installed

If you need to know anything please ask me.

Sincerely,
Seagullman

The Hodor trick is done using this Hodor Xposed module, which requires Xposed framework.

For a rooted device, installing Xposed is indeed a good way to customize without stepping into the realm of custom ROMs, but it comes at the usual risk of bootlooping and other problems. If you're only looking to do it for fun, and have no idea of how to recover from such failures, I advise you against it.


How to disable all "home" keys I would like to disable all my home keys for a specified event. Lets say my daughter is playing a game, she is 3.5 years old so she does not have very good coordination when it comes to not touching one of those keys accidentally.

Is there a known app that (through whatever means) disables home keys, and through some other means enables them again.

I define home keys as:

Home, Back, Menu, Search

Being on an HTC evo, the home keys are "part of the screen" which is what makes it annoying.

Side note: What tags should I use? No idea what is appropriate for this question.

This is a common problem with parents giving their phones for children to play with.  See my answer here for some related information.

Essentially, it's a security problem. If I take away your right to use the back button (or more importantly, the home button), then you can't quit my app and therefore I have hi-jacked your phone.

Therefore, the only way you are going to get around this is if there some method to do this with a rooted phone.  Or if an application/game supports some sort of "kid lock" that might not be foolproof.  Developers can override the back/menu/search button intents, but I don't think they can override the home button unless it is a home launcher app.

Take a quick look at this search on the Android market.  There are some games specifically tailored to this problem that you might find interesting.


Samsung OTA Update is published but the update is not yet available on my phone I have a Samsung phone and would like to update it because there already is an update.   However when I try to update my phone it says I already have the latest update. How can I update my phone?

The time that it takes to receive the update on your phone can take some time because it will vary per device.
If Samsung will let everyone update their phone at the same time when the update is available then their servers will crash because everyone is downloading the update at the same time.
To solve this problem you can update your phone with Samsung Kies. Just follow the steps below:

  Note: This will require a PC with  Windows or Mac.

Download Samsung Kies from their official website here: Samsung Kies Download
Now install Samsung Kies
When finished installing, connect your phone to your PC with an USB cable.
Wait till the device is recognized by Samsung Kies.
Now Samsung Kies should give a notification that there is an OTA update available.
Do not disconnect your phone while it is installing the update!
Enjoy your updated Samsung phone.


Does Family Link work on tablets that are sold with Andriod 6.0 then get software upgrades to 7.0? Google Family Link requires Android 7.0 Nougat on most devices.

Does it work on tablets that are sold with Android 6.0 Marshmallow then get software upgrades to 7.0?

And if so, what is the sequence I need to follow to make this happen?

Edit: Family Link instructions require a clean device / factory reset before logging in the child. If I log in, then upgrade to 7.0, then factory reset, will I still be on 7.0 after the reset? Or is there some other way to make this happen?

Yes, an app that only works with Android 7.0 will work on all compatible devices regardless of what OS the device first shipped with.

  Children can run Family Link on the following Android devices:

  Nougat 7.0+  Compatible with all devices. (Source)

So the sequence to follow would be,

Make sure that the device you are purchasing, has an update available for Android 7.0
Update the device to latest software from settings  → about device  → software update.
Download Google Family Link, and set it up.

To answer your last question:

  Your phone does not keep an original OS image. Thus, once you update
  your OS (either by OTA updates or by installing a custom Rom), you
  will not be able to revert to the older Android version. Doing a
  factory reset should just reset the phone to a clean slate of the
  current Android version. (Source)


Why does the CM7 Radio FM app require bluetooth to run? The FM Radio app on my stock ROM(s) (Samsung 2.2 and 2.3) only required to plug in earphones. And that was the case with any phone radio app on any cell phone.

But why does the app which comes with CM7 require both bluetooth turned on and earphones plugged in?

(Apparently, from the "about" page in the settings, it is developed by MIUI)

The radio chip-set is more than likely, shared with Bluetooth and thus issues the commands specific to bluetooth to be able to switch on the FM receiver. This will depend on the handset in question.

You do need the headset to be plugged in as that acts as a FM Antenna.

The FM radio framework was an add-on to the CM source at the time of GB 2.3.7; the headset acting as antenna is indeed the mechanism (don't ask me how/why, but its common among certain chip-sets that requires it).

The actual FM Radio app was developed by Andorko, he used to hang out on the Zte Blade Community, developed the radio and one of the CM devs on that same community, integrated the Radio framework into CM, (Which was non-standard). As due to the popularity of the FMRadio application, it was tweaked and adapted for other chip-sets in question based on handset.

Depending on handset, Silicon Industries is one, si470x (x being 8 or 9) is common (used on Galaxy 5, Zte Blade), there's Texas Instruments (TI) which shares the bluetooth functionality within the TI chip-set - we're talking SoC (System on Chip), by sending a series of bluetooth HCI commands, the FM radio receiver starts up.

By your comment below 'why did it work before?' that is assuming it was a stock ROM that came with Galaxy Fit handset, then in that case, the FM radio support was based on some proprietary software within the stock FM application itself.

CM 7.2 handled it differently using a non-standard framework for communicating with the FM radio, in which the above radio application that comes with CM, was adapted for that very reason.


Why doesn't my SIM card does allow a connection to this network? In Android 2.2 from a HTC Desire Z I am frequently finding my phone disconnected from my mobile provider.

When I select my provider from the Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks -> Network operators -> Search networks -> <My Provider> I get the message "Your SIM card does not allow a connection to this network".

The only fix I can find is to restart my phone. Problem appears to widely affect Android phones.

It appears several sites suggest preventing the phone from using 3G. I have gone into Settings -> Wireless & network -> Mobile networks -> Network Mode -> GSM only.

This appears to have fixed the issue for me. Of course this wouldn't be a solution for anybody who relies on mobile data (but my provider charges so much for data that I'm wi-fi only).


Confusing comments in MTK Droid Tools Every version on MTK Droid Tools on https://mtkdroidtools.com has a
 file "files_for_delete.txt" with comments in Russian. What's the meaning of that - should't it be in English to let everyone read it?
By the way, is this tool an Open Source and available for review? Otherwise how can one be sure that the code is safe?

What's the meaning of that - should't it be in English to let everyone read it?

As stated by @Robert, it was developed by rua1 who is Russian (his/her profile on XDA-Developers).

Using Google translate, here is an excerpt from the first few lines of the file. The comments are explanation of the lines

; --------- A list of files to delete from the phone ------------
; comments can be left after the sign;
; the name of the file to be deleted must contain the full path and begin with the /
; spaces in the tail and in front of the sign are allowed;

/system/recovery-from-boot.p; This file interferes with the installation of a modified recovery !!!
/system/media/bootaudio.mp3; sound when downloading on androids 2.2.2 and higher
/system/media/shutaudio.mp3

; Next, the list relevant to the B63M. On the other phones will not do harm. nothing to delete;)

/system/app/caivs.apk; Application that sends paid sms
/system/app/com.android.caivs.app.apk
/system/app/PinyinIME.*
/system/app/KaiXinAccountService.apk
/system/app/KaiXinAccountService.odex
/system/app/RenRenAccountService.apk
/system/app/RenRenAccountService.odex
/system/app/Sogou*.*
/system/app/sogou*.*
/system/app/androidmarketu.apk

; add-ons for B79

/system/app/SmsReg.*; Application that sends paid sms

/system/app/MobileLog.apk
/system/app/ModemLog.*

  By the way, is this tool an Open Source and available for review? Otherwise how can one be sure that the code is safe?

From this post:

  You cannot revive/update this tool because no source is available.
  The original author disappear by the forum.
  Some users developed some updates about external modules.
  But it's the maximum that it's possible now and for the future.


E:failed to verify whole-file signature I have the original Samsung firmware on my Galaxy Mega 5.8

It doesn't have any of the Google Apps on it, so I decided to flash the G-apps. I got into recovery mode, and selected the appropriate G-apps ZIP, gapps-jb-20130813-signed.zip

However, I keep getting the "E:failed to verify whole-file signature" error. I've tried downloading zips from different sources, including the CyanogenMod Wiki Downloads page, the problem seems to persist.

More

Here's a list of the steps I took: (My phone is rooted)

Download the G-apps zip file.
Put it on the root folder of the SD card.
Reboot into recovery mode.
"Install update from external memory", selected the g-apps zip file.
Got the error.

I would really appreciate any help that I can get.

I've also tried downloading the google services framework, play store and google login service APKs separately. However, the play store simply opens and closes. (Installing Google apps; "Google Services Framework has stopped" after installation )

This may help some folks: In my case the error was caused by a corrupt copy of the data file to the USB drive. On the offchance that I had yanked the USB out too early, I recopied, and after that the "whole-file signature" was OK and allowed the firmware update to complete.


LauncherPro Shortcut Creator Guide & Repository? Anyone know of a good guide on how to use the LauncherPro Shortcut Creator and/or a good source for already made shortcuts?

Check out his blog post on it.

  LauncherPro Shortcuts are a new way of
  creating, adding, and sharing custom
  shortcuts for LauncherPro. Shortcuts
  are created and shared as LPS files.

  LPS files are self-contained shortcut
  files that have all the info needed to
  make a shortcut, including the label,
  icon, and Android intent (more on
  intents in a bit). They are written in
  a new format that I created for this
  purpose, which is based in XML. Don’t
  worry, I created a web-based tool for
  creating these files so it’s as easy
  as filling out a form and downloading
  the resulting .lps file.

  A shortcut
  always needs an Android intent to be
  “executed” when the shortcut is
  clicked. Intents are the standard way
  of launching activities/apps and
  sending information and commands to
  apps in Android. If you want to create
  your own LauncherPro Shortcuts, please
  read this page for a detailed
  explanation of how intents work and
  how to make your own.

  LPS files need
  to be stored in your SD card, either
  in the root of the card, or inside the
  folders “download”, “downloads” or
  “lpshortcuts”. To add an LP Shortcut
  to a homescreen, long-press on a blank
  spot, choose “Shortcuts” and then
  “LauncherPro Shortcuts”. If you have
  any LPS files in the previously
  mentioned folders in your SD card,
  they should show up on the list. You
  can click on “Create New” to go to the
  web-based LauncherPro Shortcut Creator
  tool. You can also access the
  LauncherPro Shortcut Creator tool from
  your computer, and then put the
  generated LPS file in your SD card.

He also links to a lengthy forum thread where people are posting some of their shortcuts.  I can't seem to find any other resources of shortcuts.


can you connect two or more controllers? Is it possible to connect two or more bluetooth controllers to one android tablet? I am wanting to emulate some games that are four players and I want to know if three friends and I can all play together?

This is a bit of an opinionated, and caveated answer.

According to the Android Developers you can indeed

  "Manage multiple connections"

It seems to be the case than an Android tablet can connect with multiple Bluetooth devices sending data only, but Bluetooth devices that can also receive data will only pair with one device.

From my trying this on:

Galaxy Tab
Nexus 9
Nexus 7
Galaxy S5  (phone not tablet obviously)
Nexus 10
Galaxy Note

It only allows one controller and disconnects the others. We had some patchy performance with two working, but Bluetooth is not a good technology for multiple connections like this.


Android screen rotation takes too long to get triggered When I rotate my screen to 90 degrees, the screen rotates but it takes 3 seconds to start rotating. (This doesn't mean it rotates for 3 seconds. This means it waits 3 secs to starting rotation.) Can this be set in any property or any code related to do this setting?

I understand that this might be related to the sensor sensitivity, please let me know how to configure this if you know how.

It means your activity is taking very long to be recreated since every time you rotate the screen, entire activity gets redrawn. It doesn't mean the phone sensor is slow or anything, you just need to optimize your code such that it doesn't load data (whether from internet or local storage) on orientation change but only recreates the layout. Hope I made myself clear.