How is the screen resolution calculated for phones with curved edges and rounded corners? Consider phones like the pixel 2, Samsung or iPhone X with notches and non rectangular screens. How is the screen resolution calculated? Do they take a rectangular screen with a standard resolution and 'chop off the edges' and use the regular value as the resolution?

Okay I asked ##techsupport on freenode and they answered it. If anyone else is looking for the answer:
The resolution specifies a rectangular screen with the same width and height of the screen. Rounded edges and notches are the rectangular screen with the appropriate bits cut out


How can I create a file from My Files? This seems like a silly question, but how do you create a file in My Files? I've been searching for a while on Google and this site, but I cannot find out how!

When I pres the "menu" key, I can see an option to create a folder, but there's no option to create a file. So, how can I create a file, for example, "filename.html", from the My Files viewer?

I am using a Galaxy S4.

I think My Files does not allow you to create files. You could try a 3rd-party app like File Expert though; this app lets you create both files and folders.


Remove App icon background I have a Xiaomi mi5 (MIUI 8) and I would like to remove the white background of these icon but I don't know if It is possibile

I don't own a Xiaomi device, but on my Samsung J5 I have the option to remove those background at Settings > Displays > Icon frame. Check to see if there is something similar.


i cannot open my playstore application, using my google account Everytime i open the play store store, it always directsme to the playstore setting where redeem appears and directing me to type my google password. just as i typed my password, connection problem always appears, where signal is strong.

Similar to Server Error! Play Store failing

Well you need to delete hosts file, which is done via root privileges, without root you can't delete that file and I am afraid that play store won't work without deleting this file.


How to find exact HTC One S version (S3/S4) I have begun doing research about rooting my HTC One S phone (HTC Sense looks so nice but unfortunately is so unstable) and one of the first things I've noticed is that there are two versions of HTC One S. One has a 1.5gHz dual core CPU, the other has a 1.7gHz dual core CPU.

I went through all the information I could find in my phone's "about" menu, but the CPU section only specifies "dual core". The packaging also has no further details than this.

The only reference I have is that the (online) shop I bought it at, has 1.5gHz in the spec. That would mean I have the S4 which is the most common version. But the vendor may as well get that information from somewhere else rather than the actual product, so I want to be sure before doing anything.

I've already searched google and can't find anything, but I hardly know what to look for either. Seems like no other website knows of this distinction.

On a side note, if anyone knows (has experience with) any good and reliable guides about rooting the HTC One S, feel free to post them as well.

Easiest way. Check your packaging. Look for Model describtion on the back of the other label. Either z520 or z560, the z520 is S4, 560 is S3.

from wikipedia:

Processor and memory

One version of the One S uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4...In certain markets the One S uses the older Snapdragon S3... The two versions have slightly different packaging, the S4 is model Z520e/Z520m and states "Processor: Dual Core, 1.5GHz"/"CPU Speed 1.5 GHZ, dual core, whereas the S3 is model Z560e and states "Processor: Dual Core".


Odin error : NAND Write Start!! FAIL! (Auth) can't flash stock rom SM-G530H Can't complete the Stock ROM flash on my galaxy grand prime SM-G530H. The following error is shown inside the Odin message box.

<ID:0/010> Added!!
<ID:0/010> Odin v.3 engine (ID:10)..
<ID:0/010> File analysis..
<ID:0/010> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/010> Initialzation..
<ID:0/010> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/010> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/010> aboot.mbn
<ID:0/010> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/010> FAIL! (Auth)
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

I hope the problem is with the NAND Write Start!! part.

I tried with three of the stock ROMs and getting the same result. What should I do to overcome this problem?

I'm pretty sure you're in Recovery mode. Put your device in Download mode (turn your device off, press and hold volume down and home buttons, then press and hold the power button until the download warning appears, then volume up to continue, connect USB and run Odin) to flash with Odin.

Putting your phone in Recovery mode is done the same way except volume up is pressed with the home key instead of volume down.


Google Calendar app constantly missing notifications Since I got the new phone Google Calendar app on it had been abysmal at making notifications it is supposed to. Most of the time they just never happen or happen late at the wrong time.

Sometimes opening the app triggers some overdue notification from an hour ago.

As far as I can tell Calendar is the only app that has any issue with notifications, all notifications from all other apps work perfectly.

Is there anything I can try to do to knock some sense into it?

EDIT: before trying the solution below, first try disabling battery optimization for Calendar.

Note that the following is only my experience and opinion based on limited observations.

History of events

I've seen this happen after upgrading to a new 5.8.x release. The last (mostly) reliable version I'm aware of is 5.8.38-200532405-release. After I noticed the missed notifications on the upgraded version, I downgraded (using my backed up apk).

I didn't upgrade for a while, and during that time, at least one new version was released; I decided to give it another chance. This upgrade took me to 6.0.x. It sort of worked ok for a while - notifications were sometimes late by a minute or two, but that was acceptable to me.

Then a couple days later, I was doing some intensive work on my phone, with a lot of apps open at the same time. Calendar was starting to get flaky and not trigger notifications, or only trigger sporadically.

My theory

Newer app releases are possibly taking more memory than before - or not as robust at restarting the background service when the OS kills it due to low memory conditions. The more memory in use by apps, the more likely any particular service will be killed (not necessarily Calendar's, but a memory-bloated service or app will make the problem worse).

I'm not at all familiar with Android development, but ideally Calendar would keep a list of the recent notifications (maybe in the last hour?) that have successfully triggered. Then if the service is killed and gets restarted, it should compare recent notifications that should've triggered with its list of those that actually did trigger. It should then trigger the ones that were missed and add them to the already-triggered list. I have a feeling the app is not doing this.

Suggestions

Avoid having too many apps running. Swipe away those you're not using.

Failing that, try downgrading Calendar. You can try APK Mirror (use at your own risk!). Out of curiosity, I downloaded 5.8.38-200532405-release onto my desktop and compared it to my own backup. The apk file wasn't the same (because it's a zip file with possibly different compression ratio & file modification times, etc), but the unzipped contents were identical (compared using diff -r). The sha256 of the APK Mirror apk is 30340b7e95e5e71f8183cc53af376efd27b10e11d75e8dd4b957b03a45c3dedf.

Caveats

The last reliable version (mentioned above) for my device and usage patterns may not be the same one that works for you. I said "mostly" reliable because once in a long while I still miss notifications. Keeping the list of running apps small seems to help.

Miscellany

I used information from answers here to backup my device's apks.


Fastboot is not providing a token when trying to unlock HTC One M9 I am trying to unlock my HTC One M9 following the instructions on the HTCdev website. When I get to the part where you're supposed to obtain the identifier token, it doesn't give me any errors, but it also doesn't give the token. I have the phone booted in 'download mode' (As far as I can tell from the HTCdev website, this is the equivalent of fastboot mode for everything M9 and later. There is no actual fastboot mode in the bootloader).

Below is what I get when I type in 'fastboot oem get_identifier_token'.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem get_identifier_toke
n
...
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!
OKAY [  0.059s]
finished. total time: 0.064s

Do you have any ideas about what I'm missing here?

(bootloader) [KillSwitch] : /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/frp
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] Last Byte is 0X00, disable unlock
(bootloader) [KillSwitch] oem unlock Turn Off!

This means that you need to enable Developer Options in your phone's Settings (go to About and tap the version number repeatedly), then go into those options and check Enable OEM Unlock.  This setting prevents a thief (who doesn't know your device password and thus can't change this setting) from unlocking your bootloader, flashing a new ROM, and gaining use of the phone.

See http://www.droid-life.com/2014/11/04/fyi-android-5-0-introduces-enable-oem-unlock-option-in-developer-options/

Note that not every phone has this setting: only those that can be unlocked by fastboot in the first place do. This answer applies to the phone in the question and other phone vendors that allow their bootloaders to be unlocked. Not all vendors do.


What is inside the "other" category in the storage settings and how can I delete these large files eating my storage space? I know this question has been asked before, but I cannot find a clear answer.

I just recently flashed lineage is 14 on my Samsung galaxy S4. I used TWRP to wipe the internal storage with eh wipe internal storage option in the wipe menu.

So every now and then I go into settings and look at the storage tab, and I see how much storage apps and photos and so take up on the phone. And when I scroll down a see a category labled "other":

(click image for larger variant)

In this other category I see that around 700mb is taken up by this, and I don't know what is taking it up. I went to the explore option and there was nothing in there that could possibly take up 700mb.

So my question is what is in the other category, why does it keep growing, why do I need these files (if I do need them) and how can I delete them?

Other section has all the remaining extension files e.g. Zip, rar, log, backup etc. You can remove these manually or you can use some app like ES File Explorer which can scan storage and recommend some files to delete.


Switching from active call to a waiting call? I'd like to ask you if you know how can I change the line of calling. For example, a friend of mine is calling me and we have a talk. Meanwhile, another one is calling me and at this moment I'd like to start conversation with the second one and to put on hold the first one.
I guess there should be an app for this?
Thank you in advance.

You don't need and App to do this. This is the basic "Call Waiting" feature.
Go to:

Settings -> Call Settings -> Additional settings -> Enable Call Waiting


Play High-Resolution mp4 Videos on Galaxy Y When I try to play high resolution videos on my phone I get this error message:

  Sorry, this video cannot be played

Is there a way to make these videos play, like an app that can handle these videos or is it a limitation of my device?

I'm sorry but your device cannot play high-res videos. Your device should be able to handle videos up to 640*360, this is the resolution of HQ YouTube.

Note that there's absolutely no point in watching HD videos on your phone. It has a screen resolution of 240 x 320. Anything above this will be scaled down to fit the screen.


Change the server that Android uses for an internet connectivity check? As far as I am aware, Android checks internet connectivity by connecting to connectivitycheck.android.com.

On one of the WiFi networks I regularly connect to, they use web filtering, and block the android website. This means I can use the internet, but when I move around the campus and my device has to connect to the next access point automatically (with the same SSID etc.), it refuses, as it could not previously get an internet connection. Provided I am rooted, can I change this server to, say, www.google.co.uk?

I am running Cyanogen Mod 12.1 on a C1905.

P.S. There is very little chance that I can get these guys to unblock the android website. :(

Just execute su then settings put global captive_portal_server SERVER_YOU_WANT_TO_USE in a terminal emulator app or ADB shell. I'm in China so I do this for every device I own when I set them up (i.e. clean flash - this persists through dirty flashing), and I use g.cn (shorthand for Google.cn). Google.com.hk should have the same function though I can't be sure.

I wonder why this didn't get a proper answer for this long...


How do I paste my password on Google Signin? I change the password of my Google account on a frequent basis. My password is always a quite long alphanumeric string generated by a password manager. Typing it is really annoying, specially on a touch interface, so usually I copy and paste it. It works in-browser, but I can't use long pressing to copy and paste on the "Google Signin" screen.

Let me be more clear. When I change it from the desktop web interface, a few moments later my phone complains about an "Account action required".

Clicking the notification shows me a (native, browserless) screen that says:

  Couldn't sign in: you typed an incorrect password or your account has changed. Re-type your password. If you forgot your password and need to recover your account click here.

Then it shows me another non-browser screen where it expects me to type my password. On this screen, I can paste as usual, by long-pressing near the cursor and then waiting for a "paste" button to apper.

So far, so good. However, I have two-factor authentication turned on, and just typing my password isn't enough. I see a second screen that says:

  Couldn't sign in: To access your account, you must sign in on the web. Touch Next to start Browser signin.

Then it opens what seems to be a browser-within-a-window, with my email address already typed and waiting for my password. The problem is, I can't paste on this screen. Long pressing does not show the "paste" button.

And if I trick it into showing me the button, then I can't submitting the password: I have followed this answer on a related question (writing a single characther and then long pressing), but then pressing the submit button produces no result at all.

The trick here is to use a keyboard app with pasting ability. I had success using both Hacker's Keyboard (It has a CTRL screen that you can combine with v to paste), and Swype (long pressing on the +!= key and then in the four arrows key provides a screen where you can paste).


Facebook contact sync in Ice Cream Sandwich The rivalry between Google and Facebook seems to have gotten in the way of a really useful feature from Gingerbread: Facebook contact sync.  Currently my Verizon Galaxy Nexus has the ability to add accounts for Google, Twitter, LinkedIn.  There is even a Facebook entry in the add account list.  However, clicking that does nothing.

I see that in 4.0.3 there are new social contacts APIs that will let 3rd parties extend this feature with checkins and posts.  Is there a way to enable Facebook contact syncing in ICS (with or without 4.0.3)?

I use Hax Sync on my Nexus. Works perfectly for ICS, it will sync high quality photos (if they are available to sync). I highly recommend it.


Oddities Reading boot.img - Way Too Big and Errors In Kernel This is related to this question but as I've made some progress since and run into some rather different issues that would mean I'd essentially have to rewrite it to be a totally different question I've decided to make a new question. As in that question, some device info:

It's a BLU ADVANCE 4.0
Board is Mediatek MT6572
Android version is 4.2.2
Kernel version is 3.4.5
I do have root access

I've been trying to take a backup of certain partitions on my phone (boot.img, system.img, recovery.img) but I've run into some problems.

I've found backups online for this model, taken backups with MTK Droid Root and Tools and tried to read directly from /dev/bootimg and /dev/recovery. I've run into a few different issues. There are three main ones and I include them all here as I think they're related. I'm going to start with the one that's consistent across all of these:

Issue #1

The kernel part of my boot.img seems to be way too small (about 18.0KiB - that's not right, is it?) and ends with a bunch of error messages before the GZIP 1F8B that I think marks the start of the ramdisk. Here are the messages:

System halted.
Attempting division by 0!...
Uncompressing Linux.....
decompressor returned an error..
done, booting the kernel...
invalid distance too far back...
invalid distance code...
invalid literal/length code.
incorrect header check..
unknown compression method..
invalid window size.invalid block type..
invalid stored block lengths....
too many length or distance symbols.
invalid code lengths set....
invalid bit length repeat...
invalid literal/lengths set.
invalid distances set...
incorrect data check....
Out of memory while allocating output buffer....
Out of memory while allocating input buffer.
Out of memory while allocating z_stream.
Out of memory while allocating workspace....
Not a gzip file.
header error....
read error..
uncompression error........

The newlines are from me, I tried to format it as best I could. I'm a little confused about what's going on here as I'm just reading the image - there shouldn't be error messages. Am I just seeing lists of possible errors in the kernel?

Issue #2

I can't extract the contents of the ramdisk in the properly sized kernels (I want to check that the backups worked properly) as in this guide to unpacking boot images
When I run this command:

gunzip -c ../your-ramdisk-file | cpio -i

I get the following messages (a whole bunch like the first and finishing with the last two):

cpio: Malformed number (�K�����
gzip: ../ramdisk.gz: decompression OK, trailing garbage ignored
cpio: premature end of file

and no new file outputted. Note that I can unzip the file by omitting the cpio bit and redirecting the output and it will produce a file containing some recognizable text in a hex editor, so I assume the extraction was successful.

Issue #3

The boot.img read from /dev/bootimg, though it seems to be valid at the start, is way, way too big - I stopped it at 3.0GiB+. For reference the one I found online and the one I generated with MTK Droid Tools and Root are 6.0MiB. By truncating it to 500MiB I was able to find the same kernel structure as in the other ones, though I wasn't sure where the ramdisk ended so couldn't reliably check that.

I suppose my question is basically: what is wrong with my boot.img? Is it valid (despite the errors and inability to extract the ramdisk) and safe to use as a backup?

It turns out most of the problems seem to have stemmed from my trying to split the boot and recovery images in the wrong place. I was trying to extract the kernel and ramdisk at the 1F8B for gzip (the kernel before, ramdisk after), but there were several instances of 1F8B (specifically 1F8B 0800) in the hex code and the first one was not the correct one.

After splitting the image in the right place, I got a more realistically sized kernel and a ramdisk which extracted successfully.

I was also able to get boot.img and recovery.img via adb from /dev/bootimg and /dev/recovery by explicitly limiting the size as per aureljared's comment on the question regarding my original problem:

dd if=/dev/bootimg of=/where/to/store/it bs=6291456 count=1

Though the images still contain the error messages, I think they're probably supposed to be there as I've found them in some other known good images online.

Note that I haven't truly tested the images are valid as they're just backups and the only way to test them is to flash them and thus potentially brick my phone if they're bad. I'm fairly confident this problem is solved since I can extract the ramdisk, though.


Where do you find the password attempts setting or option in ICS? I want to either stop this function or at the very least set the number of attempts to a higher number than 3.

There is no way to change the limit on incorrectly entered screen lock codes, unless you make your own custom ROM with this ability.

It should be set at 5 incorrect entries triggers a 30 second wait period - if this isn't the case then the ROM maker has changed this.


Is there a way to isolate my Google account to just the Play Store? I want to use the Google Play Store, so I need to login with my Google account. The moment you login, Android will store your Google account, so apps like Gmail can access it.

However, the Play Store is the one and only app I want to use my Google account with. I don't want Gmail or anything else to access or even know that I have a Google account.

Is there a way to isolate my Google account to just the Play Store? Is my only option to make a dummy Google account just for this device?

I'm running Android 7.0.

If you want to use the original Google Play Store there is no way to limit the Google Account to this service.

In case you loose the device, anyone who gets access to the device can install any Google app like GMail and then use it with the stored Google account used for the Google Play Store.

The only workaround is the one you already mentioned: Use a new Google account that is only used for Google Play Store.

Alternatively you could switch to a different app store or use a third party app that allows to download apps from Google Play Store (not sure if there is currently one that works).


Personal google play books, how to make them voice-readable? I am trying to load a couple of personal ebooks on my google play account, so that they are readable by google play books. The books are DRM-free, also.

Is there any way, to make them voice-readable? If not, what are the prerequisites? To all my tries till now, the "read aloud" option is disabled.

You can use the Google's Text-to-Speech app from the playstore. It allows you to read text on the screen aloud by using the device's text-to-speech feature.

Features:
As mentioned in the description, it can be used by:

• Google Play Books to “Read Aloud” your favourite book.

• Google Translate to speak translations aloud so you can hear the pronunciation of a word.

• TalkBack and accessibility applications for spoken feedback across your device.

• And many other applications in Play Store

How to use?

To use Google Text-to-speech on your Android device, go to Settings > Language & Input > Text-to-speech output. Select Google Text-to-speech Engine as your preferred engine.

Text-to-Speech Screenshot - Click to enlarge image

To start listening to books:

Open the Google Play Books app Google Play Books app.
Open a book.
Touch the center of your screen.
Touch Menu Menu > Read aloud.

Many books from Google Play can be read aloud. If you don't see the "Read aloud" option, that means the book is in a format that doesn't allow it. Learn more about file types that allow reading aloud.


How to duplicate screen on a secondary monitor in Phoenix OS? I usually use my laptop as a CPU. I put it aside and it is connected to a screen via a VGA cable. Recently, I installed Phoenix OS in my laptop,  but nothing was displayed on my secondary monitor. In windows 10, I only have to press "Windows + P" to see split screen option, but in this OS I couldn't find such settings.

How to get that setting?

replace with this command on grub.cfg
(if dual boot with win10 then search how to edit grub.cfg on windows 10)

menuentry 'Phoenix OS--ext display' --class android-x86 {
    insmod part_gpt
    insmod fat
    search --file --set=root /EFI/PhoenixOS/kernel
    linux /EFI/PhoenixOS/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 SRC=/PhoenixOS vga=788 video=1920x1080 video=eDP-1:d
    initrd /EFI/PhoenixOS/initrd.img

}

where 1920x1080 is my secondary display resolution and eDP is my laptop screen where -1 disable it
in your case it may be LVDS-1:d try to add both


Hangouts Notification - SMS no longer supported I just got an Android tablet (Lenovo 4 8") after using an iPad for a couple of years or so.

I'm getting the "SMS is no longer supported" notification from Hangouts repeatedly and I can't seem to get rid of it.

I've tried opening Hangouts and trying to find a setting to let me get rid of this message, or to declare an alternate SMS app (I have one).  But the instructions I've been able to find must be for an older version of the interface, because there's no Options menu item and I can't find an option in Settings to help.

How to get rid of "SMS is no longer supported" notification

I use Hangouts all the time and I'd like to continue using it.  But the SMS message is really annoying.

I think you are getting this message again and again because Hangout is still registered as the default app to handle SMS messages (which it doesn't support anymore).

Therefore have to make a different app the default SMS app. To do so open the Android Settings app (the gear icon) and select the Apps and Notifications section (might be named a little different on your device depending on the Android version and manufacturer).

There you will find an entry that allows you to select the Default SMS app. If you can't choose the app your device may be missing an app that can handle SMS. In such a case search the Google PlayStore for an new SMS app.


Rooted, cyanogenmod. How to get back Sense UI from Titanium Backups? Similar to Rooted the phone and installed cyanogenmod. How to get back Sense UI? but with the addition of full backups of the old Sense UI packages.

I am running Cyanogenmod 7 on a rooted HTC Incredible 2. I have Titanium Backup copies of all the original HTC Sense UI packages. When I try to restore some of them, Titanium Backup brings up the "Restoring  ..." dialog but it just sits there with the message up. It never goes away, Android does not try to Force Close it, and the message also stays in the Notification bar until the app is manually closed via a task killer. (The system still responds; just Titanium Backup that seems to hang.)

How do I restore these system packages to get the Sense UI and widgets back?

It is impossible. You can only use  Sense UI  on a ROM that incorporates it. To regain it you will either need to return to your stock HTC ROM or see if there are any other ROMS that support Sense.


Why is Google Keep's use of background data suddenly through the roof? I just got a warning from my provider that I had already used up 80% of this month's data plan. So I checked my data usage and saw that Google Keep had used a whopping 201 MB in background data, since april 8th.

Needless to say I immediately turned off background data, but the damage has already been done.

What on earth can have caused for Google Keep to use such an enormous amount of background data? I hardly even use it, only as a clipboard (since sharing to clipboard isn't always available, while sharing to Keep almost always is).

Also, in a case like this which looks like a malfunction, is there any chance for me to get a compensation from the app's maker - Google?

Well that would be a data leaking app as per April 8th. And I never saw that coming because I have a large amount of data package for myself but would go and check.

This is a hell lot of data being used up by such a tiny app. I mean in my phone 200mb+ data is either used up by Google Play store or a Browser app by which I downloaded files (audio, video, images etc). Otherwise I never saw such event.

However, if you want to contact Google about it. They would be waiting for the feedback and you can include this as the feedback message. But if you want them to get you some data package (maybe I got confused and mis understood your point of view for contact) then they won't do it.


How can I make the SD card work again after deleting necessary folders? I was cleaning junk in SD card and I accidentally deleted some folders. And my tab is not showing system memory in settings or my ex SD card memory in settings. And I can not download anything on chrome or Google.if I want to download system apps apk in chrome it says you don't have SD card installed. If I transfer with Bluetooth same thing no memory card. I don't know what to do.but I can download some apps in play store. Please help me solve this problem. My tab is miki75 6628 ics2.   and it's rooted       Please tell me what to do?

I think for starters you should back up any important files from the card, and then re-format it, wiping it completely. I'm not sure if it'll work, but it should trigger Android to recreate what it needs to. After that, you can copy any old data back to the card.


Created a Whatsapp group, then left did not get message to delete group I created a group messing with phone, added half a dozen names then went to cancel it, I was removed from group but did not get the following message asking if I wanted to cancel it,  the group was called Lookers, I had not realised it would be so easy to create and I would have thought each member would need to accept membership to a new group, I have looked online how to delete this to no avail, as I have left it no longer appears on my phone, this has caused me much embarrassment and I need this group to be cancelled it was created on Wednesday 14 June I Do not even have all the names of members.

If you were the only group admin and you exit a group, a participant is chosen at random to become the new admin1. The new admin can then remove each user individually or the rest of the users can voluntarily leave the group like you did. You cannot do much at this point since you are no longer an admin in the group.

1. https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/s60/23721933#exit


Moto G2 speaker phone issue when calling My Motorola 2nd Generation(XT1068) mobile running Lollipop 5.0.1 version is facing problems after removing headphone. While I can talk using the headphones' mic and the phone mic has no problems and the other person can hear what I speaking. But I could not hear the other person's voice from the earpiece or when loud speaker mode is on. If I press the loudspeaker, the icon loudspeaker is shown at the notification bar but I cant hear a thing. So everytime I need to use the headset to hear the other person's voice and its annoying.

I cleared the cache and data of the Dialer app but din't help. The only temporary solution that works is to restart the phone. After restarting the phone, the earpiece works fine and I am able to talk and hear properly. But again if I insert and remove the headset to listen to music the earpiece stop working and I couldn't hear the other persons voice on a phone call. I have also tried inserting alternative headsets. I've also tried removing the headsets slowly that din't help either.

I thought the phone was still in the headset mode but if I play song or video from Gallery/Media player or Google Play music or through File Manager apps the two speakers in the front work fine. And If I remove the headset the songs playing in the Play music pauses which means there is no problem in the headset and jack.

Any ideas on how to solve this issue? Could this be a hardware or a software issue?

Update 1:

Troubleshoooting methods suggested by Motorola Support:

Clearing Cache, Data of Dialer and Phone apps.
Wipe Cache Partition on recovery mode.

However both of the above didn't solve my problem. So they suggested me to do a factory reset which I don't want to do since factory resetting will erase all my data.

Update 2:

There was also another problem which gave me "Unable to play this file" in the Play Music app while playing a song. If I open the Dialer app when a song in playing in background(in Play Music/other music player apps) the song stops on it own and wont play and the Play button won't work until I change to next track or sometimes I need to restart the Music player app.

Solution:
Factory reset.
Finally, after doing all the necessary backups using different tools like adb, Helium(Carbon), Google, Super Backup,  I did a factory reset(Soft Reset through the option under Settings > Backup & Restore > Factory Reset) and the speaker phone issue is solved.


Insufficient SD storage space error! My SD (memory) card has about 14 GB of free storage space but when I try to open documents saved in my SD card, it says that there isn't sufficient space to open them.

What could be the cause of this and what can I do to fix it? I am using a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini.

Try clearing data of the apps you dont need. It's probably your internal storage that's used up. You can even clear the cache of the apps in Settings>storage..


Is it possible to set the language and locale to different values? I'd like to have all the text displayed in English (US), but use the Polish (Poland) formatting for numbers, dates etc. On a desktop Linux system, I'd set LANG to pl_PL and LC_MESSAGES to en_US. Is there a way to so on Android? I see only combined language+locale setting. Note: I am not asking about the keyboard, I know can set it to use a language different from the language+locale setting without problems.

I've set my phone to English (United States), but then I also customized Date & Time to use Italian format (DD/MM/YYYY). Numbers don't seem to be customizable, plus some apps ignore Date & Time settings and use the ones from the main language, or allow to specify a format.


"Re-lock all apps after screen is locked" message; tablet always getting locked every few seconds My tablet keeps saying "Re-lock all apps after screen is locked". It is locking my tablet every few seconds. It is making the device lag and become very slow and even takes me back to my home screen, knocking me out while I am on something!

I've went into setting for locking screens and everything is good. How to remove it?

If you do have AppLock or CM Security check the settings and see if Settings is locked. Every time I opened Settings I got the same message. Turning it off stopped it. I think it's an extra precaution by the developers but I can't find any documentation on it.


Brightness and battery use When I turn down the brightness of the screen on a Samsung Galaxy Mega am I lowering power consumption or increasing the opacity of the screen?

I'm going to answer generally, since the same is true of any smartphone. There are broadly two kinds of colour screen used on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, wearables, and handheld game consoles): LCDs, and OLEDs.

LCD screens

These change their opacity according to an electrical signal. But to see that change in opacity, they need a source of illumination: a backlight. In early PDAs and the first few generations of Android phones, CFLs (which are basically small fluorescent tubes) were used for backlights, but these days many LCD screens are lit by white LEDs. Either way, the brightness slider controls how bright the backlight is by varying the voltage to it, so it directly affects power consumption, just like a dimmer control on a lamp.

It used to be the case that LCDs used a lot more power to be opaque, so displaying a black screen drew more power than displaying a white screen. However, manufacturing techniques and densities changed a few years ago, and the difference is negligible these days.

OLED screens

OLEDs are a new kind of LED. They can be a lot smaller than traditional semiconductor LEDs: small enough for each pixel to be a separate LED. There's no need for a separate backlight. Because of this, the brightness slider multiplies the brightness of every pixel separately. Decreasing the brightness setting doesn't decrease power consumption directly. The power consumption of the screen depends on how bright is the actual image it's displaying. In general, decreasing the brightness slider will tend to decrease power consumption, because the screen is darker overall, but a white screen on minimum brightness will draw more power than a black screen on maximum brightness.

Some phones with OLED screens have software that adjusts the brightness dynamically, instead of simply multiplying the screen colours by a constant value. This increases the brightness of the bright colours when more of the screen is dark, and decreases the brightness when more of the screen is bright, so the overall brightness looks the same. This can help save power: when you've adjusted the brightness so darks are clear in your environment, there's no point in the phone burning more power to make the brights look brighter than you need. On Samsung phones with OLED screens, you can find this in the Display settings, labelled Auto adjust screen tone.

Summary

Whatever type of display technology your phone uses, decreasing the brightness control can use less power, but for different reasons in each case.


Why is Android 5 corrupting my SD card (moving files to LOST.DIR or losing them)? I've been using VFAT formatted SD cards for years to transfer files between devices (tablets, cameras, GPS, computers) under different OS (Linux, Windows, Symbian, Android) without, as I recall, any significant problems. In some cases (the GPS), that's the only way to copy files.

Recently (May 2016) I got a new phone, and tried to copy a file from my Android (4.2.2) tablet to the Android (5.1.1) phone via SD card, putting the card from the tablet in the phone. The phone trashed my SD card. Hundreds of  files were renamed and moved to LOST.DIR, and some I think deleted (I recovered more with photorec on Linux, and most have metadata such as EXIF that I can reset the date and name from, but it was annoying).

This seems to be repeatable; I tried with a new card, originally on the phone, and tried creating files under Linux (Fedora 9). If I create a new file under Android 4.2,  then move the SD card to Android 5.1, it will rename the file into LOST.DIR. It seems that 5.1 is running an fsck pass when the card is inserted, "repairing" it. If I try "fsck.vfat -r" on Fedora, it doesn't like the file .android_obb, saying it's an illegal filename, but it doesn't trash the FS.

I thought about using an EXT4 formatted SD card, which Android and Linux will recognize, but Android won't it seems automount it. I can mount it manually on my jailbroken tablet, as root from adb, but that seems clunky and besides, I haven't jailbroken the phone.

There are hundreds of complaints online about LOST.DIR, so it's hard to find a good technical answer. Does anyone know more about this, such as why it happens or how to prevent it (apart from not doing that particular transfer) ? For instance, can one disable the fsck on insertion ?

You should probably mount the SD card with a USB reader in the PC, to see if the SD card or filesystem is damaged.

I had that issue a couple of times and it was that the SD card was actually corrupted or broken. So, a filesystem check might fix it or you will know that it needs to be replaced.

In Linux, you could check the filesystem with fsck.vfat. It works ok for a fat32 filesystem (not so for ntfs), so you could try that. Or use some other GUI utility like Gparted, Disks or whatever you like.

In Windows you should right click your SD drive (in my computer), select properties, the tools tab and check now. You can leave the auto fix errors checked if you don't mind losing files. (Disclaimer: I don't use windows, so the way to get to this might have changed in the last few versions).

If the card has corrupt sectors, the wisest thing to do is to format it (in vfat/fat32) and fill it with files (like mp3 or movies), then run another filesystem check. If it fails again, you should replace the SD.

ps1. Even if you don't have corrupt sectors, re-formatting the filesystem may fix the underlying issues. And if the problem persists, you should replace the SD.

ps2. Regarding ext4, it's not supported by default Android, you could use it with a partition if you have rooted the phone and Link2SD installed, but it's not recommended. ext4 has a journal system which would read & write more often to the SD and diminish the cards life. ext2 is recommended instead (is the last ext filesystem without journal).

Update after re-reading:

Android 4 (kitkat), 5 (lollipop) and 6 (marshmallow) use all different methods to handle external storage (sd cards).

I didn't quite understand at first read that you were moving the SD card from one phone to the other.

As the access method to external storage changed between versions, this might be a permissions issue and you might be breaking some internal android settings.

You should try sharing the file with another peer to peer (email, telegram, syncthing, bluetooth or bittorrent sync) android utility or cloud based storage (dropbox, mega, wetransfer, etc.).


No tab preview on Chrome I have Blu studio 5.0 on Android 4.1. When I open the tab viewer in Chrome, all I get is a list of open tabs and no preview of them. Does anyone know why?

I have this problem on the beta and regular version.

You've (accidentally) enabled Accessibility Tab Switcher.

From AndroidPolice,

  Chrome Beta for Android has an experimental "Accessibility Tab Switcher" flag that'll allow you to switch tabs in a compact, pleasing interface, also enabling you to bring back closed tabs with a handy "undo" button.

You can find the setting on chrome://flags/#enable-accessibility-tab-switcher


Google location( Find my device not accurate) can High Accuracy option cause it? Google location( Find my device not accurate).

My Device (Samsung galaxy s8) google location is set to "High Accuracy"

When I look at History in google maps, I do not show some stops and claims car is moving!

I have also a GPS tracking device which is always accurate!!

Now the question is if enabling "High Accuracy" which mixes GPS and Wifi hot spots can indeed cause inaccuracy?

update: By not accurate I mean it does not show some stops I made from point A to B.

Missing out places like that is nothing to do with location accuracy and everything to do with battery life. Every time the phone has to start up a process, get a location fix, and record that position in some database or send it to the cloud, it's running your battery down a teensy bit. This might be OK for an app like Strava where users run it deliberately, and are willing to spend some battery life on getting accurate results, but it's not OK for something that's always running in the background.

For this reason, your location history doesn't actually update very often, so it's very common for arrival or departure times to be inaccurate, or even for it to miss a short visit entirely.

Changing location mode won't affect this. One solution if it's really important to have a good GPS log is to use an app specifically for this purpose. It will run down your battery if you run it for a long period. Another option is to use a dedicated handheld GPS. As a purpose-specific device, it's optimized for just this task, and doesn't have to wake up your whole phone just to record a position.


Warning bar in "Settings - Data usage" disappeared. A bug? First, I'm currently using Android 6.0 on a Nexus 5, although this issue was already present when I was using Android 5.0.

Now I'll explain what I mean by "not seeing the warning bar". Regularly, the Settings > Data usage screen looks like this.

You can visibly see the warning bar, and that it is set to 4.7 GB.

Now, the Settings > Data usage screen on my device looks like this:

As you can see, there is no warning bar, and also no greenish graph that shows my recent cellular data usage.

How it happened, you ask? Well, it's a (more than a-) little silly. Usually, to change the warning bar, you hold on to it by pressing it, and then you slide up or down to increase or decrease the warning limit. I got a little bored I guess, pressed the warning bar, and started to continually raise it, as I was interested in the upper limit that Google enables. I took some time, but After getting to between 1.0E8 and 1.0E9 (it was hard to tell, since that number was rapidly increasing on my screen), it went back to 0, and started increasing from 0 again.

I was satisfied with my discovery, and wanted to try to stop the warning bar as close as possible before it resets to 0. After a few attempts where I came closer to achieving my goal, I accidentally lifted up my finger a bit while I was increasing the warning bar's limit. At 'normal' limits, nothing happens, and you can continue changing the limit afterwards. But when I lifted my finger up, my limit was in the range of tens of millions of GB. And when I lifted it in the middle of continually increasing the warning bar, the bar just disappeared, and with it, the graph.

My guess is that the bar was set so high, so the amounts of cellular data I use are insignificant compared to it, and that's way no graph is shown. But why can't I see the warning bar?

Anyway, this happened a few months ago, when my Android version was 5.0. I searched on this issue, but haven't found anyone else that encountered my problem. Also, before posting this question, I tried to reenact my scenario on another friend's Nexus 5 (running Android 5.1.1), to maybe gain more information about what happened on my device. A minute of experimenting later, his warning bar vanished too.

Any idea how can I resurrect the warning bar? (preferably without rooting the device or another 'drastic measure')

This is indeed a bug, or possibly, an overlook by Google, since the possibility for this bug to happen is very small. The bug occurs when you set the data limit above 700,000,000 GB (or 700 petabyte).
Note: This solution needs root access since it modifies a system file directly.

Open file manager that can browse internal storage (e.g. ES File Explorer)
Browse to /data/system/
Open netpolicy.xml as text file
Find <network-policy> entry which has an attribute of warningBytes="<very_large_number>" (in my case, it's warningBytes="775911474387222528")
Edit the value to reasonable number (e.g. 1000000 for 1MB, this is for temporary value)
Save and close the file
Restart the device (important)
If you don't restart the device, opening "Data usage" will reset and overwrite the file with previous buggy value, thus you have to do it from beginning
Open "Data usage", and the data limit bar should come back

Update: this issue has been mitigated on Android 6.0.1. The maximum warning/limit bar is set to 1TB.

Clamp large data usage values.
Without clamping, they can wrap around to negative values and cause
all sorts of havok.  1TB ought to be enough for anyone: that's 3Mbps
for a solid month.


Safe to remove 'OpenFeint' folder? Given that OpenFeint seems to no longer be in service (OpenFeint service shutting down Dec 14), was wondering if it is safe to remove the OpenFeint folder from the phone.

The main reason is that for some odd reason, OpenFeint images have been showing up in my Gallery, which is really annoying. I've stopped them from showing up by adding the '.nomedia' file in the directories. Whilst doing this, I thought - can't I just remove the entire directory given OpenFeint is no longer in service?

Does anyone know if it will cause any problems?

I won't cause any problem and you can easily delete it.
To be dead sure you can try renaming the directory to something else and see if anything happens. But as I said it's perfectly ok to remove it.


My android system and android os are consuming more part of my battery this problem has been troublimg me from the last few weeks I reported this problem at the Flipkart service center and they changed my battery and software.I even tried a factory reset but to no avail. i charged my phone in the afternoon . it lasted for aday and ahalf .while i was going to sleep the battery was about 58%..when i got up in the morning the battery was only 5%. I am completely tired.Please help me resolve this deadlock
Ashish Tiwari

Disable the following services

Google Now (if you dont use it much)
Developer options (off)
Location Reporting (off)
Background Wifi Scanning (off)
Brightness - low
Remove unwanted apps

Once you have disabled these services, restart the device .


Malicious Virus/Trojan on my phone, hard to remove I have been recently concerned about a malicious software on my phone, basically - the trojan/virus acts silently in the background, it increases battery drain, gives regular (and system apps) overpowered permissions and installs 'icon' programs that are a link shortcut to a possibly malicious website which I would rather not like to open.

The built-in browser is like an infected zone in which I do not go because its filled with ads, fake 'virus' warnings for every site I open.

Some of the recent 'icons' that have been downloaded are named 'loopscoop' and a what seems to me - possibly named Japanese or Chinese game, can't really tell by the letters. Here are the images.

INFO: Factory resets did not work, nor did Malwarebytes or any other antivirus detect it. It's a VIVAX FLY 3 phone.

Those malwares install as system apps and cannot be removed by uninstalling as regular apps, even hard resetting won't get rid of them.
The only solution is either to flash the whole phone or manually remove the aps with ADB shell but  root privileges is a must. You need also to know the package name of the app.

Root your device
Install USB drivers for your device
Install BusyBox (adds extra commands that help with sticky malwares that even root can't uninstall, such as those with immutable attribute...)
Install Minimal ADB and Fastboot
Enable USB debugging (Settings > About > Hit 7 times on build number > Back in settings > Developer Options > USB debugging)
Connect the device with USB cable then open minimal ADB and Fastboot.
A Windows terminal should comes up.
type adb devices : Displays some serial numbers which means the phone is detected.
Type su : To get root privileges. Check on the phone screen for any prompt.
Now mount the file system as read-write: mount -o remount /system rw
Now go to the app folder: cd /system/app then list all installed apps: ls
Now simply delete any suspicious app with rm malwareName.apk

Note: You may encounter with malwares that refuse to be unistalled. This is where BusyBox comes to the rescue.

First check for their attribute: lsattr
Those which can't be removed should have the immutable attribute, therefore even root cant delete such file.
Clear the immutable attribute : chattr -i *.* or specifically chattr -i malwareName.apk
Now you should be able to remove that malware.

Hope this helps you.


How to offload browser audio links to background player for continued listening. Is there an Android audio app that runs in the background and can have audio links offloaded to it (i.e. be the target of the intent) so the user can continue listening when the browser or foreground app that launched the audio link is closed? Or another way to configure this?

I'm on Jelly Bean and the built-in audio player sits in the foreground stopping the sound when I transition away from the foreground app.  For example, an MP3 podcast link.  The  issue occurs in Google Reader app too.

I have found BSPlayer to be able to play some internet audio streams in the background.

One unique (?) feature which also I liked is that it has an intent filter for youtube links, i.e. clicking a Youtube link will offer BSPlayer as a choice - unlike the Google's Youtube app, with BSPlayer you can adjust the playback speed - I found it useful for listening to lengthy talk-only videos and presentations where you need to quickly get the gist without wasting too much time.

ps. I'm not affiliated in any way is the app developers.


How to transfer WhatsApp from Windows to Android? I have a Lumia 535 and a Samsung S7 Edge. I am unable to transfer my WhatsApp to Android from Lumia. I have WhatsApp backup on OneDrive. Is there any way?

Windows Phone uses OneDrive and Android uses Google Drive for backup.Currently, Whatsapp does not support inter cloud backup transfer. You can subscribe to this Reddit group for updates.


How to move system programs to sd card? System programs like youtube, gmail and maps are consuming over 50 MB of my HTC Explorer (v2.3) which is a rather low end android phone and has only 128 MB of system memory.
As a result the low memory notification is kind of consistently visible. Can I (how) safely move them to the sd card?

EDIT: My device is rooted.

As @Cyborgz said, you have to first root the system. Take a look at this question to see your device is listed. Even if not, probably your device's closest like HTC Hero for more information.

Once rooted you have to partition your SD card to create a SD-Ext partition. See the question "SD card partitioning? Why? How?" to know how.

Then you can use apps like Link2SD to move few user applications to SD card and create link of few user applications to the sd-ext partition. By this way you would have created loads of free memory in your device. If you still want to get more like moving YouTube, GMail and Maps, you can use Link2SD to first convert them to user app (from system app) and move or link them (most likely moving will not be permitted).


Adjust volume with Android Terminal Emulator command? My volume up/down buttons do not work, and it's also a European phone that cannot change the volume until you agree to the high volume message. The thing is that from options this message does not appear you have to use the physical buttons, agree and then the volume will go up. Im playing around and I was wondering if I can use a command on the Terminal emulator to adjust the volume up and down?

Phone is rooted, thanks.

Use the following commands to change the volume from Android Terminal emulator (or other terminal emulator apps):

Volume Up:

input keyevent 24

Volume Down:

input keyevent 25

In case pressing the volume key once shows the current volume, you can input the command twice to increase/decrease the volume

input keyevent 25; input keyevent 25

Toggle Mute/Unmute

input keyevent 164


Will I have to reset my Nexus 7? I have a Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean. I was downloading a file and somehow I managed to remove a tick mark some were. Now I can not download anything from the net without Chrome stops working. Then I tried to download a backup program from Play Store, that mad Play store stop.

How and where do I add the tickmark again? Will I have to reset my Nexus 7? If so are all the app I bought then lost?

If youre talking about applications (.apk) downloaded from google chrome and not the play store then you need to go into Settings > Security > Unknown Sources


Google Translate text-to-speech not working In Google Translate application, when I try to install text-to-speach, It gives me a box saying:

  Text-to-speach requires:
  SVOX voice data: {disabled button}Installed{/disabled button}
  Text-to-speach extended: {button}Click to install{/button}

On clicking, it goes to the market, where the search fails:

  There are no matches in the android market for the search:pname:com.google.tts

I use x10 mini, which had 1.6 earlier, so I thought like many other apps, this one requires higher versions. But now it's upgraded to 2.1 and still the same issue.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is this a bug in Translate? Is there a work-around?

The app you are looking for is TTS Extended, search the market for it. I think the app stopped being available with version 2.2 because I can no longer find it on my phone, it is probably integrated now. Since you have 2.1 it should be there for you: Here is a link to the app. I know it works because I used it on my previous droid in conjunction with Google translate, it worked very well with Italian by the way.


Note taking app with handwriting recognition that includes math typesetting (latex preferably)? Is there some notetaking app that can recognize math and typeset the result using latex? I recently came across with this website: [1] http://www.reddit.com/tb/p88ty that does recognize equations and display them using Latex and MathJax, but it's not a full fledged note taking app.

I do a lot of draft calculations (I'm a physicist) and if I could replace pencil and paper for my android tablet this would be a major organizational upgrade in my life. :P

I've tried a few notetaking apps (Quill and Supernote are the best ones I could find), that are ok, but none of them have handwriting recognition (with or without mathematical symbols).

Is there such an app that works like Quill, can save notes with multiple pages and would convert it to typeset text and math?

S Note that comes with the galaxy note 10.1 has all that, but the math engine has its limitations. As an engineering student I do lots of  work with matrices and it doesn't work that well with it....but it does integrals quite well.


How to check version of OR update the flashplayer on HTC Android phones? Is there a way to check the version of the installed flashplayer?
And how do you update the flashplayer? Is it automagically updated?

You can install/update the flashplayer from the market. Just search for "flash player" and the one from Adobe should show up first.

To find out version go to: Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Adobe Flash Player. In there it should list the full version.


There is no driver for my phone's model number I use a Samsung J7 mobile phone, model number SM-J700F (checked both below the battery and in the "about phone" section). I live in Israel, so I don't use one of the four big main carriers.

I tried inputting my model number in the Samsung website
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/ but right as I enter the last character in my model number ("F") i get "please enter a valid model number.

What do to?

ADB Minimal should come with those drivers, and you might need the Samsung USB Drivers and lastly there is Smart Switch. I don't know about it much but it should provide drivers just like Kies did, although the first two should work real fine. Good luck!


How does an app reads an OTP SMS without SMS permission? I have recently installed an Android app from the Play Store.
While registering in it, I realized that it was able to read my message of OTP without even asking for my permission to read the message.

I have AOSP Extended 5.8 with the August security patch.
It's an Android Oreo 8.1 based custom rom.

Verification by OTP uses a different API which doesn't need read SMS permission. You can read more here Perform SMS Verification on a Server

Hence, the app isn't reading your SMS but using a separate channel to read specially formatted text messages

I learnt of this when an Xposed module to block permissions did not work as I expected (similar case) and the developer explained the reason


Nexus 4 rooted, stuck at CM10 for various reasons - HELP! I've been using a Nexus 4 for almost 2 years now. I rooted it to get LTE connection. Downgraded radio and all... it was beyond my level of expertise but I managed to get LTE and CM10, along with a custom kernel (Franco), thanks to http://hippowise.com/tag/nexus-4/

Ever since, I've been using this same set up. I once tried to upgrade to CM11 but the kernel was not compatible and ended up making my phone screen look like a STROBE LIGHT. I was freaked out and never again attempted to do any upgrades.

The phone is still working great and I have no plans to get a new phone anytime soon. But I want to upgrade my ROM to CM11 or nightly version of CM12. I want the new features that come with Android L. The thing is, I can't seem to find a way to get rid of my troublesome kernel without fully wiping the phone, causing me to lose LTE radio.

Why try to fix something that ain't broken? Maybe I'm crazy. Grass is always greener right? Any advice? Any advice against?

Thanks!

Congrats on your success so far.  Sounds like you have already unlocked your device, so the first thing you should do now is update your recovery image, perhaps to something like TWRP2.  You download the latest .img file and then boot into fastboot mode (adb reboot bootloader from adb or hold down the up (?) volume key while booting).  Then use fastboot on your computer to flash the recovery .img file into place with the command fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.8.5.0-mako.img or whatever.  (Or, alternatively you can use a .zip and use the existing recovery to essentially flash the zip to update over itself)

Now that your recovery image is up to date, it's time to get a cm-12 nightly, which you can do here.  Put the resulting cm-...NIGHTLY-mako.zip on the phone's internal storage, then boot into recovery mode (you can do this from either the reboot menu, from adb reboot recovery in adb, or by powering up with the down (?) volume held down).  Now use the menu to do three things:  1.  do a factory reset to wipe everything, 2.  wipe the /system partition to get rid of all traces of cm10, and 3.  Flash the cm-12 nightly .zip.  If you want to add a step to add the google apps (gapps) I'll leave that to you to discovery.

At this point you can reboot and should be in the nightly.  Note that you haven't updated your radio in this process.  The radio would be wiped if you did a stock update from your carrier, but since you're updating with a cyanogenmod nightly, the radio update isn't included so should not be touched.  But if you want to double-check, verify that there's no modem.img in the zip that would update the radio.

If at any point you DO want to update your radio, check out this archive of Nexus 4 radios, including some with LTE enabled and/or disabled.  You can flash these radio updates with your recovery just like any other zip.

Good luck!


S8+ stock always on display not showing notifications I recently got myself an S8+ running Android 7.0.

One of the most (arguably) shallow reasons for getting this nice new phone was for the always on display it offered, where it would show the clock, your battery and the date.

It also promised to show me my notifications, and for about a week or two, that's exactly what it did.

It would show everything, from missed calls, to applications from the store, to weather updates. It showed every notification I had from any application without doubt or question. And I loved it.

Recently however it's just stopped. It doesn't show anything except the time, the battery and the date. No notifications. No missed calls. No new texts. No nothing.

I have my always on display checked as "on", run a default theme that came with the phone (although I have tried others). I have it set to show "Home button and clock or information" (which is the default) and have "Show always" on too.

I'm not that much of a power-user and I haven't tampered with the phone's services or anything, so I don't really know what else I can tell you about the problem. If I'm leaving out some key information please tell me.

How can I go about bringing my notifications back to the always on display?

The only thing that is not an option is resetting the phone.

There are possible reasons why these notifications no longer show:

Type  of Always on Display (AOD) mode you are using (Clock/Calender)

It has been noted that if you're using the calendar AOD mode then you won't see any notifications, just the clock, calendar, and battery %.

  I could not get any notifications when using the calender AOD, but I do get messages and missed calls when using just the clock options in AOD. Nothing on emails in either, and I'm using the stock email app for an exchange work account. I could not get any notifications when using the calender AOD, but I do get messages and missed calls when using just the clock options in AOD.

Email client incompatibility

Sometimes there's some incompatibity or bug in the stock email application causing this. Check your email clients and if possible try switching to Gmail client. It somehow worked for one user.

  I switched my email accounts from the Samsung email app to the Gmail app (both email accounts are non-Gmail types).  Now my notifications are working fine.  I'll assume there is some problem with the Samsung email app regarding notifications going to the Always On Screen.

New changes introduced in AOD updates

It could be that new updates in the AOD features have brought some changes with it, for example the most notable change was the requirement of screen lock option.

  You must use one of the screen lock options for notifications icons to appear when phone is in AOD mode. Before the update this was not necessary.

  I picked the Swipe in the lock screen options and my notifications came back. It was working before that last update

Possible solutions

In addition to the above you may additionally try the following to resolve the AOD issue:

Clearing app data

Do a clear data for Always On Display. Go your device’s Settings >> Applications >> Application Manager >> Always On Display > Storage > Clear data

Fine tuning miscellaneous notifications

Make sure notifications are allowed for Messages. In the device’s Settings >> Notifications, make sure the switch next to Messages is turned on.

Switch to another Always On Display layout

Other workarounds

Install alternative  Always On AMOLED – BETA from Google Playstore

References

No notifications in Always On Display mode
S8 Always On Screen Notifications Intermittant
No more missed call and message notifications on Always-on-Display Galaxy S7 Edge
Customize-samsung-galaxy-s8-always-on-display


/system/bin/mediaserver and /system/bin/drmserver dont want these but Android disagrees I used this link Use Adb to disable Media Server

hoping to permanenenly disable the battery hogging media server process . It did not work Mediaserver still runs on my Android 4.4 Jiayu S3 phone as /system/bin/mediaserver and I found another just as pricky process called /system/bin/drmserver which shows up on adb # top .
So I mounted the /system in RW mode and removed -x from them both.
After that I killed the existing processes for these binaries. The phone just froze .  After a force restart it will NOT BOOT until I restored the -x bit again ( restored execute ) .
What do these do . How do I  ensure they don't run if they are not needed.

This is a really old question but I have an answer for anyone wondering.If you do not care about playing DRM-protected content, just replace /system/bin/drmserver with an executable file that does nothing (e.g. just sleeps forever). Example: File someone made for a Magisk module that disabled DRM


Battery went from 85% to 32% I have two cell phones, one is for work the other is personal. I had them stacked on top of one another on my desk. All of a sudden my work phone went completely dead from about 75% full, and my Android went from 85% to 32%. What gives?

It's winter, your phone was probably very cold. I've had problems like that too. My phone went from 6% to dead. Then I heated it back up to room temperature, turned it back on and it was at 26%. If it was a normal condition, and it happens again, consider replacing your battery.


How to get frequency band in which device getting signal from operator? I have to find the frequency in which device is working currently. Ex: My device is connected with ABC network which is 4G and run on 2100MHz or 1800MHz, So I want to know the frequency(i.e. 2100MHz or 1800MHz).

Please share your experience Which will help me to find the frequency band. But guys I don't wanna to know the network type. Is there any way by using reflection Please share.

Dial *#*#4636#*#* then select phone information.


Is there a maximum number of devices allowed on a Google Play Account? Many schools are looking at using Android tablets in classrooms.  Some have classroom sets of 35-40 tablets.  As a means to manage apps, having them tied to a single Google Play account would be ideal.  Is there a maximum number of devices allowed?

This setup would also be cost effective, if the school uses any pay apps, as the app is linked to the account, not the devices.  Does anybody have any experience or knowledge beyond, "I have 5 devices in my family all synced and it works."?

This applies to Music, but seems it also might generally apply to all Google accounts regardless if they use Google Music or not.

  Any user can associate up to 10 devices to his or her account.
  ...
  We limit the number of times you can swap out new devices at the request of some of our music partners in an effort to limit abuse.

But you may also run into an issue if there is a credit card associated with the account used to purchase apps - any student could purchase whatever from the market.

If you're serious about doing this, and you didn't make it very clear what you're actually wanting, you might want to consider contact a device manufacturer and setup a contract to create tablets specifically for your needs.


What is "Common data service" app in the preinstalled app list? when I searched for installed app from setting>App then under ALL heading I found the "Commmon data service" app with unknown/suspicious icon.
is it a android pre-installed system app?
or something from unknown sources?
Device is: HTC Desire 620g, dual sim with Android version=kitkat 4.4.2, & Kernel version=3.4.67

pls help..

It seems to be a program that enables the device to access data from one app while using another. Like an internal search engine as it were... I'd leave well alone....


Problem of the Google play store As soon as I get into Google Play store and search for an app, it automatically comes to the home screen of the Android device and a notification appears asking whether you want to close the app or open it once again.Will this problem will be solved?

This could just be that you are running out of RAM. There is more information on this here, if you need it.


Can I use an external hard drive with an Android phone? For years I've been downloading things onto my Android then transferring them to SD cards via the usb port connected to a card-reader.

Could I use a basic unpowered external hard drive instead, such as a Sonnics? (Phone is not rooted)

It is possible but not with all devices

USB OTG (USB On the Go) capability of the device both from the hardware and ROM (specifically kernel) decides whether your device is capable of connecting to a hard drive.
You would need to search on Internet if your device supports it or not. There are apps on Play Store, that can tell you but they require root (usually )
Rooting is not required if your device supports OTG connection to hard drive. Rooting helps in flashing a custom kernel that can enable OTG , provided your hardware supports and your device is supported by developers who make custom ROMs and kernels (popular devices are supported (search on XDA for your specific device model)
Also be aware that certain devices support OTG capability in terms of connecting a flash drive but not external hard disc (powered externally or not )

For more, see usb-on-the-go ( tag added to the question ) and frequent questions and How can I determine if my device has USB Host Mode (OTG) support?


What's the best way to turn an Android device into Linux server? I have an Android device with a broken screen and I'd like to turn it into a dedicated Linux server.
Now I'm reading articles found by googling but I'm still not sure what is the best way to do this. One way I've found so far is using Linux Deploy after rooting my phone. However, I'm still not sure it is the best and valid way since I have a little knowledge on Android and Linux.

I have listed below what I want.

A dedicated Linux server so it doesn't need to be run alongside Android. (I don't worry about its performance but I want to fully utilize the device's performance.)
A server which can be accessed via SSH clients such as PuTTY.
A full featured Linux server on which I can run Python and MySQL. (I hope it can be a replacement for my Google Cloud service.)

Can somebody give me a guide for this?

Since Android IS Linux you can use the existing Android configured by your carrier/manufacturer to to run Linux applications. The other approach is to replace the entire OS on the device and this is heavily dependent on the device. Not because compatibility with the CPU or even drivers is a big issue but because carriers lock down features of the device and the boot loader process is extremely convoluted on android devices as well as the need for a image or "rom" to install the distribution as well as a way to flash it to the device all of which are things that are specific to the device and may be locked by the carrier.

You can use an app called Linux Deploy to install a chrooted Debian distribution. But this will use the Linux kernel provided by the Android OS itself.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.meefik.linuxdeploy


How can I root unknown device I have a Turkish device named General Mobile e-Tab 7 B and I want to root it , How can I do that ?
I tried SuperOneClickRoot and it didn't work for me

use "unlock root"software

it works for almost every mobile phone
even I had same problem
it roots and also unroots if you want


What is the podcast/music syncing experience on android like for OS/X users? I have been an Iphone user for a long time but I am now considering moving to an Android device (Samsung Galaxy S2). The only thing that is giving me cause for concern is the convenience of the syncing experience.

I use my IPhone largely as a media device that accepts phone calls, so syncing is important for me. I subscribe to podcasts and manage my music using ITunes on a Mac. I then attach the Iphone and press the sync button. Everything else is then automatic, new music is copied to the phone, new episodes of podcasts are downloaded and old ones removed. I then listen to this media in the car using a bluetooth connection. I could not be much happier with that experience at all.

I appreciate that the Android experience will not be as slick as the IPhone one and I can accept that so long as I can get to the same goal, however I do not want to find myself copying files/podcasts manually on to the device.

How do other OS/X users rate the Android sync Experience, and what application do they use to achieve what I am doing with my IPhone.

For things like Podcasts, the experience should be far more slick than the clunky Apple need to plug into a PC and use iTunes. Most services on Android are about the device itself doing all of the syncing directly with the internet, not needing to have a PC in the middle that you have to plug into to get updates.

For Podcasts, you can use something like Google Listen, this keeps the list of your Podcast subscriptions in Google Reader, and syncs and downloads new episodes wirelessly throughout the day (though if you're concerned about data usage you can configure it to only download when you're on a wifi network). I haven't personally used it, but other apps like DoggCatcher keep your subscriptions on the device and wirelessly sync throughout the day in similar ways.

For music syncing, there's nothing built-in, but apps like WinAmp allow you to do a wireless music sync with a PC running WinAmp, again other apps also allow that, but I haven't used them.


Can I send a link from my phone to my desktop? I have "Chrome To Phone" that lets me click a button on my desktop browser to open the page on my mobile.  I'd like to be able to do the reverse -- sometimes, you take one look at a page and decide that it just isn't suitable for reading on a phone.

I know that I can look at the "tabs on other devices" in Chrome (from the desktop) and see the open page on my phone, but I don't always remember to do so.  I'd like a "push", rather than a "pull".

Try Push Bullet.
It let's you push images, links and other things to desktop, tablet, another mobile device etc.


CM12 + Titanium = How to recover Contact data? I just installed CM12 on N5110, and I made Titanium backup of all apps before. Now whenever I try to get my contacts back, the Contact app of android stops with error "android.process.acore stopped...

How to get the contacts? cause I didnt take google based backup on my contacts.

Thanks

Here's how you can (try to) restore your contacts manually.  (NOTE: I'm assuming a little bit of Linux knowledge.  I've tried to cover the things that are hard to look up, but little else.)

First, enable USB debugging mode, and plug your phone into your computer. Then,

Find the folder that contains your backups. By default, I think this is something like /sdcard/TitaniumBackup. If you used a custom location (e.g., to store backups on an external SD card), then it should be easy to find.
There should be a gzipped tarball with a name similar to com.android.providers.contacts-<date>.tar.gz. Copy it to your computer with adb pull.
Untar the file you just pulled. There should now be a folder called data. Descend into data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/. There you will find contacts2.db and profile.db. Use adb push to upload these to your phone. (Note: You will probably have to push them to a location that does not require root access.)

(For the next steps, you may want to reboot into recovery mode, to make sure that your phone is not using your contacts database.  You can do this easily using adb reboot recovery.)

Start a shell with adb again, and escalate to root using su. cd to /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/. Rename contacts2.db to contacts2.db.cm and profile.db to profile.db.cm.
Copy the files you pushed to /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/, so that they replace the ones you just renamed.
Make sure your new files have the same permissions as the old ones. Check the permissions of contacts2.db.cm and profile.db.cm with ls -l, and change the perms of your files with chown. Check the SELinux labels with ls -Z, and change them if needed with chcon <full label> <file>.
Reboot and see if it worked.

I hope this method works for you. I must admit, that when I tried it, CyanogenMod immediately reverted my changes (such that contacts2.db matched the original contacts2.db.cm). If this method does not work, and you really want to use CyanogenMod, then you can still recover the data from contacts2.db and try to add all of your contacts by hand.

Install sqlite3.
Run sqlite3 contacts2.db.
Your phone numbers are in the table named phone_lookup, and display names can be retrieved from the table named raw_contacts. You can see (at least some of) your contacts by running

select raw_contacts.display_name, phone_lookup.normalized_number from raw_contacts
    inner join phone_lookup on raw_contacts._id = phone_lookup.raw_contact_id;


WiFi says connected without internet, but works fine I am connected to a school WiFi network and I am able to access webpages and my apps work fine, but Android says I am connected but have no network. The issue is that Android defaults to mobile data when it claims it isn't connected, which costs me money. I know that I am connected and have internet access, even when mobile data is turned off.

As of now, I have just been turning mobile data off in order to keep Android from defaulting to mobile data on that network.

I'm on a Pixel XL on Android 9.0 pie. The issue has existed since I got the phone (it was on 7.1 Nougat at that time)

I had a similar issue. I solved it by rebooting the router. You can also just restart the gateway.


Is there a way to hide all notifications during the night? I mean something like this:

I'd like to hide them like this during "downtime period" or "do not disturb mode".
I'd like to hide them both on the lock screen on the status bar at the top of the screen.

Background

I'm interested in something like this because I like not to be disturbed around bedtime, or when I wake up during the night and glance at the screen to check current time.

For example: today morning I woke up ahead of time, very much not refreshed, and when I went to check for time on my phone, I saw a notification which got me excited and unable to fall back asleep. It's situations like this that I'd like to avoid.

Source for the picture. I presume the notification-hiding functionality might not have made its way into Lollipop -- since I haven't seen it in settings. Or has it?

Any ideas?

You could use an app called
Notifications off.
(Root required )

It has a settings that lets you block notifications at night.


The /sdcard direcory and other directory conventions: how is the Android filesystem structured? I am using the "adb shell" command to access either of an LG P690 (device A) or a Samsung Galaxy SIII (device B). Device A also has a 32GB microSD card plugged in while device B does not. When fromthe shell prompt I cd /sdcard and do a df I get:

On device A: /sdcard Size 14G Blksize 8192
On device B: /sdcard Size 12G Blksize 4096

Does this refer to internal memory? Device B also has a /storage directory which holds 0 bytes (what is this?).

Also, both have a /data directory which I know is where installed apps go. Is this also on internal storage? How do I know whether /data is on internal or external SD?

I'm confused as to why a directory called /sdcard would refer to internal as opposed to external memory. Is there no FHS standard for the Android file system as there is for Linux?

That's two different things, at least the first depending on a) Android version, b) manufacturer, and c) sometimes even the device in question:

before Android 4.0, /sdcard usually was were the external SDCard was to be found
starting with Android 4.0 (or even 3.x?), this changed for most devices, and usually became the place of the so-called internal SDCard
where the external SDCard is found with the latter group, differs a lot. Locations known to me include:

/sdcard_ext
/sdcard/external_sd

What really resides where, you can check with commands like mount or df. While mount will list all mounted file systems (including the "virtual" ones like e.g. /proc and /sys), together with details on where they were mounted from and what options have been used, this might be a bit confusing (at least to beginners). So you might rather want to use df, which sticks to the "real file-systems": it does not show where they are mounted from, but instead shows their total/used/free space, which might be even more useful to figure out what matches best.

As for /data: Yes, this usually resides on internal storage -- but might also depend on implementation. With Android 4.x, "internal storage" and "internal SDCard" are often "unified" (i.e. the "internal SDCard" often is nothing but a directory on internal storage). This was done a.o. to get rid of the problem of a filled-up internal storage (it can "expand" into the internal SD area now), or a full internal SDCard and plenty of space on internal storage (can "expand" the other way around, too -- as it's all the same "drive").


How to hide cookie warnings in Chrome for Android? On Chrome for desktop I use the extension "I Don't Care About Cookies" to hide cookie warnings that I personally don't care for.

I'd like to do something similar in Chrome for Android.

I've tried searching around for a way to do it, but nothing has come up so far.

I have root and Xposed Framework so I wonder if some adblocker that uses those may have some list I can add to block at least some of the most widespread templates for cookie warnings.

Or there may be some other way to do it.

My phone runs Nougat and the latest stable version of Chrome.

I know this is an old thread, but posting an answer for other people's info.
I use Kiwi Browser - it's Chromium based so works just like Chrome, but unlike Chrome for Android it allows you to install Chrome desktop extensions.


Start services at boot How to make applications start at boot? I have at least 2 which I'd like to start automatically but they don't (I need to manually start them to have services run in background):

Skype
Lookout

The best thing for this is going to be tasker. Best three bucks you will ever spend on an Android phone.


Android for Work or Custom Rom? We are attempting to present our progressive web application inside android for our end users who are seniors and would like to have special requirements met that I am not sure which approach we should move forward with. Help from the community would be much appreciated!

We have developed a web application that we would like to run on top of in a sort of advanced kiosk mode on an android OS in a tablet device. Additionally we need to offer our users an interface to modify their wifi settings. These are our rough requirements and wonder if we can reach them using Android for Work or if the community has recommended solutions such as if a custom ROM is necessary:

boot into kiosk mode
initial boot screen is branded or customizable
remove the android header bar
expose via our interface connectivity settings like wifi, bluetooth, and cellular data
access to the device camera
access to power off function
access battery levels

My research into current EMM provider solutions on the market shows that these solutions can really do a lot with the Android OS with the Device Owner permission. We are testing one option now. I'm just not sure if this would be the right approach. Your help is appreciated.

You could try the Android Management API, it allows to manage a device the same way an EMM provider would do.


How to add a contact to People from Hangouts? I'm using KitKat. I have Hangouts conversations with people who are not in my contacts (this may be an artifact of using a Google Apps account provided by my school). How can I add someone from one of these conversations to People?

I have tried double-tapping and holding down their icon or their chats without any success, and looking at the "..." options menus. No luck. I do know how to add contacts from email.

View the Hangout of the unknown contact
In the lower left hand corner of the Hangout screen, you'll notice a small icon to the left of the text box. If you tap that, 2-3 options will be available: "Hangouts," "Mobile (via SMS)," or "Mobile (via Google Voice)."  Select "Mobile (via SMS)."
Open the overflow menu (three dots in the top right corner) and select People & options
At the bottom of the people & options menu, you'll see "People in the hangout." The phone number should say 'touch to add to contacts'. Touch it.
Either search for an existing contact and add the new number for that contact or you can add as new contact by using the three dot overflow menu.


Moto G XT1045 is stuck in airplane mode My Moto G XT1045 (Android 4.4.4) is stuck in airplane mode. I did not put it into airplane mode, but in the menu shown when holding the power button it shows that it is in airplane mode, and in the phone status page in Settings it says "Radio off". However, the airplane mode icon is not shown in the status bar. I have rebooted the phone and cleared the system cache multiple times, but it has not worked.

Edit:  From comments(deleted to clean up)

Removing SIM , reinserting did not help
In Safe Mode also problem continues
Factory reset did not help
Device not rooted

The most likely case here is that your "modem" firmware is corrupt.

IF ON KITKAT (4.4.4):  I would suggest reflash of the factory modem firmware package available from here (note this link is the FULL firmware package, download and extract the 2 necessary files).

You must have working fastboot and drivers installed so that the device is recognized by fastboot devices when in the bootloader. Then extract the correct firmware image for your device from the link above to the directory that contains the fastboot executable, and open an elevated command prompt (Right-click and select "Run as administrator" in Windows, or perform a sudo su in Linux prior to starting) and change to your fastboot directory.

Enter:

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

This will reflash the device's modem firmware. If this fails you can attempt to flash the full image to the device, instructions are in the linked post above.

IF ON LOLLIPOP (5.0.1): the procedure is the same, but substitute the Lollipop modem firmware from here.

Make absolutely sure you have the correct modems, flashing the incorrect modems could result in "undesirable" effects, although your current condition isn't of much use either.


fastboot does not recognize my LAVA Iris Atom I've been doing quite the research on this error, but couldn't find a solution that could help me  with my device.

Adb commands works fine, but not fastboot commands.

I have tried several sites for the fastboot drivers, in case that's the problem, but it didn't work. (I still have an exclamation mark on Android ADB Interface icon in device manager.)

My phone gets stuck at boot logo when I try flashing a custom ROM and I have to re-insert the battery to solve it. I rooted my phone using the KingRoot app. Does this have any relevance?

Right click on Not installed or Exclamation mark driver in device manager, click Properties, then click Details Tab. After that from Property Drop down list, click Hardware Id.
and copy first value from the box and google it by pasting in search.

i hope you'll get the right driver.
Example:

Moreover, once you are sure that drivers are installed successfully, put your phone in Fast-boot mode to access otherwise fastboot command will not work.

in case you will stuck in process, let me know.

Thank You


How GPS works in android phone I want to know how GPS works on android phone. Does it send any identification data to service providers/phone manufacturers/Map providers?

I recently read a new about IPhone tracking users - http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/21/apple-tracking-location-database/.

I am using Samsung android phone. How can be sure that nobody is tracking me even if I keep my GPS on for my running app tracking?

Thanks.

If you enabled "My Location" in Settings > Location & Security > Use wireless networks then your Cell/Wifi and/or GPS data will be sent to Google to triangulate your location if there is an application in the phone that requested for location. Your GPS data may also be sent to Google if you're using Google Latitude, Google Navigation, location-aware search, or use other location-based services.

Third party applications may also track your location, read their privacy policy before installing those applications if you're concerned.

EDIT: According to Android Central

  Android does the same sort of thing,
  boys and girls. And it's supposed to.
  But it does it right. Instead of
  saving days and weeks and months of
  location data, it saves the 50 most
  recent cellular GPS locations, and 200
  most recent Wifi fixes. And it's
  stored in a little file on your phone.

  ...

  You can shut off Android's
  location services and stop further
  caching of location data. It's in
  Settings>Location & Security.


How can I root my HTC Incredible S? I have an HTC Incredible S and want to install Ice Cream Sandwich, which I don't think is officially available right now. How can I root it?

Doing a simple Google Search provides you with a list of How-Tos:

How to Root HTC Incredible S
How To Root Your HTC Incredible S
How to Root HTC Incredible S
All-in-One S-Off and Root Method for Incredible S

Even video tutorials are found:

Root Your HTC Incredible pt 1
Howto Unlock HTC Incredible S + CyanogenMod 7 Part 1 (part 2 and 3 are linked there)

With so many sources available, you should be able to find what you're looking for. And in case it's all to scary: We already have August, so...

HTC Incredible S to receive Ice Cream Sandwich update by end of August


Nexus 7 capacitive buttons and display So both the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 have dynamic capacitive buttons instead of actual physical buttons.  I was actually under the impression that this black bar was a separate capacitive display from the main display.  Now that I actually see a Nexus 7 in person, this black bar appears to be just a part of the screen.

So am I actually getting 1280x800 pixels?

The 1280x800 pixels count for the whole display, including the black bar for the buttons.

Google decided to stay flexible by moving physical buttons to the touch screen permanently.

Benefits:

No capacitive buttons needed (cheaper?)
Better user experience: Rotating 90,180,270 degrees rotates also the virtual buttons
Less frame space (the button's space belongs to the screen now)
You can hide the buttons in full view (e.g., video playing)
Maybe: Avoid Apples infamous rectangle with a single button tablet design patent


Protect ADB access via network? I have several Android devices in a local network. (Android Set Top Boxes from Geniatech, running 4.2 Jelly-Bean)
If these boxes have problems or need debugging, I simply connect to them via

adb connect ip-address

there I have full access to the (rooted) devices.

Unfortunately everybody in the network has this possibility. I understand that it is the responsibility of the network admin, to protect it against hackers and stuff, but I would like to add additional security. So my question is:

Can I somehow protect the adb-connection to the Android with a password?  (or a Certificate or something) Or does anybody of you know alternatives?

ADB must remain open, so I can access the devices from the network, e.g. to directly make apk-updates, or read the logfiles.

Best regards

As suggested by @Izzy I am going for the "firewall-solution":

Block all connections for the adb-port (5555), except from my trusted devices.

Thanks again!


Automatically disable mobile hotspot when no device is connected, using Tasker I am trying to create a task which automatically disables mobile hotspot (tethering) when no device is connected.
I successfully created similar tasks for bluetooth and wifi, however wifi mobile hotspot I seem not to able to get information on how to check if there are clients currently connected or when no client is connected.
I researched a bit, a got a hint that this code :

ip neigh show dev wlan0  | grep -i -e reachable -e delay | grep

can give information on clients currently connected to hotspot.

This was the output in terminal:

u0_a209@hws8701:/ $ su
 -i -e reachable -e delay | grep -o' ..\:..\:..'                              <
unknown option --  usage: grep [-abcDEFGHhIiJLlmnOoPqRSsUVvwxZz] [-A num] [-B num] [-C[num]]
        [-e pattern] [-f file] [--binary-files=value] [--color=when]
        [-e pattern] [-f file] [--binary-files=value] [--color=when]
        [--context[=num]] [--directories=action] [--label] [--line-buffered]
        [pattern] [file ...]
[1] + Done                 ip neigh show dev wlan0 |
      Stopped (signal)     grep -i -e reachable -e delay |
      Done (2)             grep -o" ..\\:..\\:.."
2|root@hws8701:/ #

however I don’t know how to manipulate this code to get more useful information to create a variable for zero clients connected.

I know this is an old thread, but i did not find any solution anywhere when i  wanted. So just posting the solution for other enthusiasts.

Ok so i just added a time profile with 5mins interval (choose the time which suits you better) as the trigger.

I added a new task with actions as follows:

A1:-

    Code > Run Shell

    Command:                     ip neigh show dev wlan0
    Store Output In:             %ipneigh
    Store Errors In:             %ipneigherr
    Continue Task after error:   Yes

A2:-

    Net > Wifi Tether

    Set:                         Off
    IF:
         %ipneigh !~ *REACHABLE*   AND
         %ipneigh !~ *STALE*       AND
         %ipneigh !~ *PROBE*       AND
         %ipneigh !~ *DELAY*

PS: I don't know the workings of ip neigh command. I implemented this by shear trial and error. But It works for me and i am not sure of any bugs yet. Will update with edits if i encounter or anyone comments with any.


Viewing Google Earth in offline mode I have a tablet (Android 4.1) which does not have 3G internet. I have installed Google Earth and I heard that there is a solution for viewing maps offline.

How do I do that?

As of current writing, Google Earth doesn't support full offline mode, in which you can specify to download certain location's satellite imagery in detail. However, just like Google Maps, you can cache a small portion of it for offline viewing.
Quoting Google Earth product support,

Google Earth works best with a live internet connection. You can, however, cache (save) small amounts of data that you can access when you're offline.
To do so, log on to the internet and visit the imagery you'd like to view while you're offline. Please pay attention to the Streaming indicator, which appears just below and a little to the right of your images. When this indicator has reached 100% for the imagery you're viewing, Google Earth has gathered all available data for that specific altitude and settings, so you can disconnect from the internet.
Please remember that once you're disconnected, you'll be able to view cached areas only.

Note: there's no streaming indicator in Google Earth app. Instead, you can wait until the images are fully loaded.