Error after error in booting and in recovery mood My tablet brand is ASUS and its android's version is 5.0.1. It shows many error  likes Unfortunately com.android.setings has stopped, Unfortunately UI has stopped, Unfortunately Launcher has stopped frequently. Sometimes when I restart it, it doesn't show my desktop. Also its reset to factory doesn't works properly (it just reset the time of tablet).

I have cleared the cache and data of setting but errors persists.

So I decided to recover my android. After holding power button and + volume, I chose recover option and it got to the recovery page. after 5-7 seconds the error appeared with death android icon and just the word "error" as its caption.

  How to recover my android? what files I need? What is the adb?

Please note that my (android of) tablet is not longer supported by ASUS Inc. Also I have reset my android to factory setting 1 month ago successfully.

I have downloaded My tablet driver from ASUS website and then the following ADB command in boot menu resolved the problem completely. (notice that it removes user data I think!)

adb sideload <filename>


whatsapp notification in my samsung j1 when screen is lock I am not getting whatsapp notification in my samsung j1 when screen is lock

To allow notifications for lock screen, go to settings>sounds and notifications>notifications on lock screen>show content.


can you "voice to text" without using wifi or data Is there a way or app that allows  "voice to text" when I am not near wifi or have data?

For the most part, sure.

I just put my Galaxy Nexus (Android 4.2.2) into Airplane mode and tried to compose an email message with speech-to-text.

It worked, but it was slo-o-o-o-w. And not as accurate as I'd like.

If you go into Settings > Language & input > Google voice typing (settings) you can set which languages are downloaded to your device for speech-to-text. English is my default (and is already downloaded) but I see about 20 other files I can download.

However, whether you can do this or how well it works depends a lot (I think) on your device and the version of the OS you're running.


Genymotion how to hide back/home/menu button that shown after ALT button pressed This button shown up after pressing ALT button, that automatically show virtual keyboard (but all I want to do is ALT+TAB). How to make them disappear?

Or how to disable calling virtual keyboard when pressing ALT?

you can find it on android setting

keyboard & input > Virtual keyboard > Android keyboard setting Advanced > Emoji for physical keyboard

disable it!


Lost my Encrypted mobile phone So,

Yesterday I lost my Samsung A6+. The guy/girl who picked must have already shut it down.

It is encrypted and it had a locking pattern each time I needed to use it.

If the guy does a factory reset(the one went turning on the phone), will he be able to do so, and use it as a brand new?
The documents I had in the SD Card are cloud safe, so no worries about losing it. However, do you know if the encryption also goes to the SD card level?

I really doubt that even going to the police to alert them I've lost it, would do anything useful in order to have a minor chance to retrieve it if it is one day reconnected to the network, so do you think I should do it either way?

Thanks all!

TBH the answer is 'Yes' he can use it after factory reset.

As we know that it is needed for an android device to re-login from the same account as it was previously logged in before doing a factory reset or called it as owner's account, but one can still use other account to log in and set up a fresh android after resetting the device.

However, Google always providing patches to these vulnerabilities but it is not enough as of now.
There are various guides to bypass FRP.

Coming to your data on SD card. If it is encrypted no need to worry about data.

It may help you, read here more about 'Adoptable storage' and 'Portable storage'.


Can not update to lollipop due to TWRP recovery I use Nexus 7 2012 wifi version. I rooted the device and installed TWRP recovery on it when it was on 4.4.4. Now the lollipop update of 5.0.2 is available to install, whenever I download the update and click install button the tablet boots in recovery mode and gives failed message. How do I get rid of this and install lollipop update successfully?

You can either upgrade to L via TWRP itself (some reported having trouble with TWRP 2.8 and suggested trying 2.7) or revert from TWRP back to stock recovery if you want to go the OTA way (I guess that's what you're trying to do, you're not clear on that in your question).

Also instead of TWRP you can try ClockworkMod recovery.

edit: typo


Files not copied to laptop when transferred via USB from Nexus 5 I have downloaded a 3 gb folder of android tutorials from torrent on my nexus 5.Now I am trying to copy that folder through USB to my laptop but unfortunately everytime I try to copy it I get a blank folder.When I try separately to copy those media files I am unable to copy them.Please help me fix this.
 P.S. My phone is connected as a media device via usb and recently I upgraded it to lollipop.

Same problem here with Motorola Moto G 1st and 2nd gen after Lollipop update. All the files will be able to be transferred after a restart but no new files after the restart is transferable. You must restart your device after every new files download to be copied to your PC via USB.


How to enable voice-activation of S Voice when in car? I am only interested in using S Voice with voice activation (i.e. "Hi Galaxy!") when driving.

Is there any way to activate S Voice when I plug my Samsung Galaxy S3 into my car's charger?

Take a look at the app Tasker. Also the free app Llama may also be able to do this.

Tasker and Llama automate tasks on your phone. So you can have them say IF this condition (car charger plugged in) THEN do something (activate SVoice).


Will changing a /system partition file system delete all data? I am trying to remove forgotten PIN number on my Samsung Galaxy S3 without removing any data.

I already installed custom recovery TWRP, but cannot mount /system partition -> Invalid argument error. I found some tutorials that suggest changing /system file system to FAT and then back to original file system, to be able to mount.

I am affraid this will remove all data and I want be able to use my phone.

Is this correct?

The phone is not rooted, but error is not about permissions, but about some argument.

It highly depends on how you change the partition FS and what software you use to do it.

If I guess it right, the FS on your /system partition is Linux ext4, which does not have a lossless way to be converted to FAT that I am aware of, so I guess it's mostly formatting it twice: to FAT, then back.

It's obvious that formatting will make all data on that partition lost. However, if you find, or if the tutorial instructs, another way to losslessly convert ext4 to FAT, it's possible that you can change the FS without losing any data. But be aware that changing ext4 to FAT will mess up all the permissions on files, which may potentially lead to extra work before it turns into a usable state.

Proceed with caution.


Manually backup and restore all partitions I would like to backup and restore manually all partitions.
I know this is not the first time this issue has been raised. There are already many links and questions on this issue, and I have reviewed most of them probably.

The suggested answers are divided to the following:

Root the device, install appropriate recovery tool (nexus root toolkit, TWRP or clockworkmod recovery), and boot into recovery, then do the backup from the tool.
Other solution suggest to use "dd command" but only for boot partitions, not all partitions. I'm not sure why.
for example the follwing page warns not to use dd on system partition:
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-backup-your-android-phones-boot-recovery-and-system-partition-images/

I wonder how the suggested tools are capable of backup all partitions. If "dd command" is not used, what is the way to manually backup all partitions (which is probably the way these tools do backup in source code) ?

The reason for warning regarding backup is, that dd just copies block wise everything, not caring about content. It clones the partition. Of course you can use dd also for backup the /system or /data partitions in recovery mode.
But in normal mode you should not use dd for mounted partitions, because content may change during progress (Android is running) and you probably get inconsistent/unreadable result. Unmount the partition first.
Another way is to create a tarball archive. That is what nandroid backup does. But with the same warning - better to do this "offline" in recovery mode, and not in normal mode.


One Plus 1 - Logs out and immediately back in WiFi randomly The phone from my girlfriend is a OnePlus 1. About 4 to 5 times every hour, it disconnects and reconnect back to the Wifi. Sometimes the disconnect time lasts 3 minutes, sometimes 10 seconds, but it happens continuously. I have tried to find out why, but I could not find any answer.

What could I do to stop this behaviour?

I used to get these errors till a few weeks back myself,especially on a friend's wifi hotspot, and strangely enough,same problem was on friends' oneplus 2 and 3, and not even a stutter on other friend's nexus6p/iphone6/moto turbo.

Flashing a new rom helped a lot,currently running Mahdi rom, works pretty great and wifi stutters have reduced significantly(still,not zero, although barely once or twice per hour compared to the old 5-6 times back on stock), so if that's a possibility,go for it!
PS Worked on oneplus 2 and 3 as well, Custom Roms in, wifi disconnections out!


SMS App with DIFFERENT conversation list style for unreplied threads. I've been searching everywhere to find an SMS app where I can see at a glance which conversation threads might need my attention. I often forget to reply to a text and would love to be able to look at my conversation list and see the threads where I was the last person to reply shown in green shading and ones that might be waiting for a reply shown in red.
I find it ridiculous that all the SMS apps I've tried rely on memory alone (or estimation based on texting style) in order to remember who was the last person to reply.
I'm a self employed musician and have about 100 contacts that I contact regularly and it takes me ages to go back and check if there's anyone waiting for a reply because I have to open each thread individually.
It seems like such a simple thing!  You could even have threads highlighted in bright red where the last message was from someone else and it had a "? " in it!

Seriously does anyone know of an app with any distinction between threads like this?
Any help would be much appreciated!

You might want to take a look at GO SMS Pro. Unread messages have a NEW indicator at the top right corner of a conversation. Also, the contact name is usually bold (see screenshot below). You can also select other themes which may have different indicators.

Caveat: There is no way to filter by UNREAD conversations. So, you still have to scroll through them. But the indicator should help a bit.


How do I enable Google Now on my Galaxy Note 2 (NT-7100)? I go to Google Search app but no Google Now "cards" are showing.

I do the ff:

Long-press Menu soft-key to bring up Google Search
Press Menu -> Settings
Under settings, I only get 3 entries: Voice, Phone search and Privacy & accounts (no Google Now)

My friend, who uses an HTC Sensation with MIUI ROM, and Google Now works nicely.

Question is, how do I enable it on my Note 2?

*I am suspecting that this has to do with my Privacy settings or Location settings but I still haven't gotten it to work despite changing those settings...

You must be running at least Android 4.1 to use Google Now - please ensure this is true.

If you are running at least Android 4.1, then ensure you have the latest Google Voice Search update from the Google Play Store - be aware that it is listed twice (at least on my old device).


YouTube 360 videos will play but the view is stationary I'm using Sony Xperia M2 phone on Android Lollipop 5.1, and the YouTube app with latest update. Any video that supports 360 view will play, but the view is stationary - I can't move it around.

To watch 360° videos your phone should support a gyroscope sensor. A gyroscope gives the phone's pitch tilt and yaw, which is needed by the YouTube app to properly rotate the view on display.


How do you disable system apps in Android 4.x.x (and up)? I heard you can "freeze" or "disable" system apps starting in Android 4.0 without rooting. How do you do it?

You can disable only System apps from Android 4.0 onwards.

Check the guide here with video.

Basically you have to:

  Go to your phone’s main settings menu.
  Go to the “Apps” or “Applications” option.
  Go to the “All” tab in your list of apps.
  Find the app you wish to disable and tap on it.
  Press the disable button next to the force stop button.
  If the disable button isn’t
  visible, you have to press “uninstall updates” first. Then go back
  to step 5

To enable it again:

  Once you’ve disabled the app, it will be hidden from your phone as if
  it were never there. The great news is if you ever wanted it back, all
  you have to do is the same process but “enable” it instead. Just to
  let you know, disabled apps show up at the very bottom of the app list
  (not in alphabetical order) if you ever wish to re-enable it.

Update:

To disable user installed apps I use this aswesome software called Titanium backup pro (needs root). Freezing app i.e. disabling app is only one of its many features.

To freeze one app:

Open Titanium backup pro
Go to Backup and Restore tab
Find you app and click it
Choose freeze from the menu
To restore click defrost instead of freeze

Note: Freezing app still consumes space.

I personally use this to freeze heavy app like Skype. Application settings like username and password aren't lost in this way.


YouTube resumes playing video on old quality even after I change the quality setting My YouTube app recently stopped allowing me the ability to change the video resolution.

For example, when watching a HD 720p video, if I go into YouTube video quality settings, the menu shows a list with all quality settings (auto, 144p, ... 720p). But if I select a new resolution, the window closes and resumes back to the video, but the resolution doesn't change.

How can I change the video resolution?

YouTube app version: 10.08.53
Android version: 4.4.2
Device : Acer A3-A10 10" tablet

Just wait a few seconds, YouTube adapts the resolution so that you can watch the video earlier at a lower resolution but it changes to a higher one once enough of the video is buffered/preloaded.
I noticed, that it may take up to 30 seconds for some videos depending on your bandwidth, but it definitely works.

As AndrewT. pointed out:

  Youtube uses MPEG-DASH, where "the client automatically selects from the alternatives the next segment to download and play back based on current network conditions. The client selects the segment with the highest bit rate possible that can be downloaded in time for play back without causing stalls or re-buffering events in the playback. Thus, an MPEG-DASH client can seamlessly adapt to changing network conditions, and provide high quality play back with fewer stalls or re-buffering events."


Any chance to save merging data Google and Facebook contacts? after factory reset of my Motorola Atrix (2.3.7 Android) I can easily restore SMS messages, E-mail, call-history and etc. My problem is that after the reste I have to merge manually contacts imported from Google accounts and the Facebook.

How can I save the mentioned information?

If you have a HTC phone, with Facebook for HTC Sense, there is an option to backup your merged contacts. It actually use the comment field to put a <HTCData> tag.

(I don't remember exactly the option, so feel free to edit)

Some facebook sync applications such as HaxSync (paid) provide an option to backup contacts links informations. (In the case of HaxSync, it uses HTC tags, so it is compatible with Facebook for HTC Sense and others applications that may also use HTC tags).


Stuck at boot animation on multiple custom ROMs Just yesterday I thought of having a new ROM installed on my phone and it is not the first time I'm doing it. Though I made a mistake of not taking a backup of the system before flashing the custom ROM.

These are the steps that I followed:

Moving to bootloader and rebooting to TWRP recovery
Wiping the cache, system, data and dalvik cache
Moving to install option and installing the CustomROM1.zip from the Internal Storage
But the screen is stuck at boot animation
Using my laptop I tried to do the following:

5.1. fastboot erase system and fastboot erase recovery

5.2. Flashed TWRP recovery again using fastboot flash recover twrp.img

Moved the CustomROM2.zip file in the Internal Storage and tried to flash it using install option but resulted in boot animation loop

I even tried to ADB sideload and flash the zip but resulted in the same error.
Currently I'm on Moto G Play (Harpia) and the ROMs that I used are

CustomROM1 = Resurrection Remix v. 5.8.3

CustomROM2 = Eelo v. 0.7

Any sort of help to get out of this would be totally appreciable. And thank in advance.

After much try and waiting I couldn't get any satisfactory result out of it. So ultimately I had to flash the stock firmware. The name of the firmware could be deduced from the command fastboot getvar all

https://androidforums.com/threads/bootloader-unlock-back-to-stock-for-motorola-e4-plus-owens.1264881/

This is the link anyone who's facing the same issues can refer to.


How to change razr d3 MAC address? I'm trying to change the MAC address of my razr d3, model XT915, android 4.4.2, but I didn't have success.

In my last try I was using busybox and the following command:
busybox ifconfig wlan0 hw ether XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

The return is :
ifconfig: SIOCSIFHWADDR: Operation not supported

So I started to look for the nvram files and was able to find the file WIFI at /data/nvram/APCFG/APRDEB and edit my MAC address there. Unfortunately, it seems that the MAC address is set somewhere else.

Does anybody know if it is possible to change the mac address in this scenario and how?

Its not possible to change a MAC address every device connected to the internet has a unique MAC address which can not be changed. May i ask why you wanna change it.


Samsung galaxy note 2 android 4.3 problems Is there a solution for the battery drain problem that the note 2 suffers after the 4.3 update?
In my case the drain is most noticeable when the wifi is on. When its off battery lasts a good while same or maybe a little bit better than before. But when wifi is enabled, you can watch the battery indicator change values quickly.
I've looked for solutions but found non that seems to be working.

There may be apps in the background that run which drains the battery life. To be certain of which app:
Go to

  Settings > Battery > Battery Graph

The battery graph will give detailed analysis which app used how much battery. If there is any app that you don't recall using a lot but is one of the top battery consumers I'd recommend you to uninstall/disable the said app.


Galaxy S6 Folder is Empty on PC I connected my Galaxy S6 to my PC (Windows 7) for the first time.  My computer installed the driver successfully and the device is showing under "Removable Storage."  When I click on the device from my PC, however, the folder is empty.  There are no folders visible at all.  I tried the option of automatically importing the pictures, too.  I got a message the no pictures were located.  I have never had trouble doing this with any other Android phone.  I tried a different USB cable, but the result was the same.  Thank you for your help.

I just had this problem resolved. On the home screen of your Samsung, pull the notifications menu up by swiping your finger from the top of the screen.
Click on USB charging tab.
Click on File transfer or Photo transfer.
In windows explorer on your computer, click on your device. You will then see your phone details come up.


What does this button do in the Twitter app? I tried to find the answer online but I couldn't.  In the screenshot what does the circled button do?


Toggle location services via adb in Android 5 I see this answer from 2013, but now there are options for High Accuracy, Battery Saving, and Device Only.  Also, there was no command for disabling location.

You may check-out my updated answer dealing with the question in entirety, or consider the following info:

High accuracy: gps,wifi,network or gps,network (if you don't want Wi-Fi enabled)
Battery saving: wifi,network or network only
Device only: gps

E.g:

adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed gps,wifi,network

To disable Location mode

adb shell settings put secure location_providers_allowed ' '


How to export a chat thread in Tinder app? I have a chat on Tinder that I do not want to lose. Is there any way (even against payment) to export that chat thread to pdf, txt, excel, etc.?

All the Tinder messages are stored in /data/data/com.tinder/db/tinder.db.
Use Root Explorer and extract the data.


How to flash custom or stock ROM with Odin mode working? (from a bad flashed Galaxy A20, see image) The current state of the device is shown bellow.
I prefer using heimdall to flash each partition directly from command line if possible. Unless it is mandatory to put all images inside a tar and flash them at the same time.

Top left corner of the Download mode screen:

More details of the previous (and solved) problem here: question

Flashing the correct img solved the problem:

heimdall flash --RECOVERY TWRP-3.3.1.0_A20_V1.2_by_Agrim720\[Black-themed\].img.img

File was found here: XDA-forum

Device: A205GUBU4ASK2

Previously rooted with boot.img patched by magisk and vbmeta flashed:

heimdall flash --BOOT magisk_patched.img
heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img

I highly recommend to avoid Samsung devices. Motorola ones, e.g. are better for custom ROMs.

If device complains about "official binaries", bypassing KG state is needed.


Email app: how can I change the sender address? I'm using the Android Email app and IMAP/SMTP (not the Gmail app). How can I change the sender ("From") e-mail address? I know how to switch between accounts when sending mail, but I can't find a setting for the e-mail address of each account. Currently, when I send an e-mail, only my username appears in the "From" field (which makes it pretty hard to reply to my e-mails).

The version of the Email app is 4.1.

Why not change the account name?

NOTE: This is for Email 4.2. Instead of having something like geffchang, change it to geffchang@email.com. In the Email app: Settings > Added accounts: [account] > Common settings: More settings > Account name.


Tasker does not recognise incoming calls I have a Galaxy S4 I9505 on KitKat. I use Tasker for various things. I am trying to set up a "caller announce" when I am in the car. So I want to create a profile which when a call comes in announces the caller name (if in the contacts) or the caller number. That part I have working.

Where I am struggling is to get Tasker to activate the profile when a call comes in. I have tried Event - phone ringing and have that linked to my task. That task does not activate on incoming calls. So I tried state - phone - call (incoming), the same result. The phone starts ringing, but the profile does not activate the task (I have tried with a test task too, which sets a variable). From what I have read either of these profiles should activate when I have an incoming call.

The one you want is Event->Phone Ringing.  The State->Phone Call would not activate until you've answered the call.  Event Profiles activate and deactivate rather quickly so you probably wouldn't see it if you were trying to watch for the green active color.  However, you mentioned that it did not even set a variable through a test task.  Were you using a global variable for that or a local variable?  Try using the Flash action to flash the caller's name and see if that pops up.

Once you get that working and confirmed, you might need to do some more work on your announcement.  I'm guessing you're using the Say action.  You'll need to uncheck Respect Audio Focus in order for Say to talk over the phone ringer since the ringer takes precedence.  You'll probably also want to turn the ringer off temporarily using the Ringer Volume action to allow the Say action to finish and then turn the ringer back on.


How to customize android operating system of my smartphone? I'm wondering how can I customize android operating system in my smartphone? I have LG L90 D410 smartphone. It has Android KitKat 4.4.2.

Like we customize Windows 7 (for PC) by slipstreaming it using RT Se7en Lite or nLite software. We decide which software or updates we want to add or remove to/from the installation disc (iso file). Similarly we have nokia theme studio s40 for customizing symbian s40 nokia phones.

In the same way, do we have any Windows based software which can customize/configure Android operating system so that I can decide what apps will be bundled in the KitKat and what built-in apps (unnecessary factory apps) that I no longer need can be removed to save space and avoid cluttering. Is there any GUI based software available in the market which can enable us to tweak the android phone the way I want and put full hold on it?

EDIT

Ok guys; I am willing to root my phone from very beginning but don't know how and where to start on. My phone's warranty has already been expired so no need to worry about it. But you didn't tell me about any software or appropriate article though which I can start the process. I already knew the phone needs to be rooted before any tweaking. But how to and what's next. Any subject oriented stackexchange post will be very helpful too.

Check out this XDA Developers subforum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-l90

That's the general discussion forum for your phone, and you can find lots of fun stuff there including mods, themes, guides to root and do other things, custom ROMs, kernels, and more. If you want to play with or change your operating system or its features in any way, XDA is the place to keep a lookout in. But make sure you read posts thoroughly to make sure that you know what you're doing and so that you don't end up breaking or bricking your phone.

As for your specific request, this thread in the L90 forums will get your phone rooted quick and easy as long as you follow the instructions well. Make sure you get ADB and download all the files prior to starting the process, and also, please don't jump into it without making a backup.

Good luck!


Dirty Flash Android Kernel Will it be an issue if I dirty flash android kernel? I am trying out a few kernels for my phone and I want to make sure that dirty flashing won't affect the efficiency of the kernel. If it does, what is the method to flash a new kernel without losing data and apps?

Use twrp to flash the kernels.
Always keep a flashable zip of the stock kernel, in case you face any problem.
I have seen requirements of many kernel developers that,
you need to be on stock kernel before flashing the custom one. So, before flashing another custom kernel, it is always recommended to flash the stock one, then flash the custom one.


Cannot find unzipped files from WinZip Android app I have installed WinZip for Android and unzipped a file. However, I cannot find the extracted files anywhere on my SD card. I always have to open the WinZip app and go to the last zip option to view all the files.

Is there any option to view the unzipped files on my SD card or to select the path/folder before extraction?

The app's description on the playstore does not speak of "unzipping files to your sdcard". It rather seems to simply "handle" them, only temporarily extracting files to process them. Which would explain why you cannot find the files anywhere outside the zip-file itself (or outside that app).

If you want to extract files to handle them separately, you might rather wish to take a look at e.g. AndroZip Dateimanager instead, which is explicitly stating to extract files:

  AndroZip File Manager helps you copy, delete, move, unzip/unpack, compress, encrypted ZIP supported, search, and organize your files, music, pictures, and folders just like you would do on your PC.


Different sounds for different alarms Is there a way (app, root code, etc) to set a different alarm sound for each alarm?

Hopefully this app is your answer: GM Alarm as mentioned in google play, this app has different alarm sounds and you can select the option for random alarm sounds each day. and the alarm sound will not repeat as it maintains a history for previous alarm sounds. Might be useful for you.


How can I make Dolphin open bookmarks in the current tab? I have loaded the Dolphin browser on my HTC Android phone.

Each time I open my bookmark it loads a new tab in the browser which means I have many running and I have to go in and close the tabs.

Does anyone know how to make it use an existing tab of the browser? I don't want the browser to have so many tabs open. I realise this will mean if I have TWO apps the previous will show then open the bookmark. Alternatively, is it possible to have Dolphin close my tabs when the Home button is pushed?

In the current version of Dolphin:
Menu Button > Settings (ship's wheel) > Customize > Open links in > By default

Default will open in the page is set up to open the link into (normally the same page), other choices are Open in background tab (current tab remains the active tab), and Open in new tab.

Older versions of Dolphin had option under Labs instead of under Customize.

Optional:

I find it best to stick with the default open in the same tab, but will often use a bookmarklet to force tabs to open in a new tab when I want to make sure I don't fail to use the context menu to open a link in a new tab, for which I assign a gesture written as "nt" in Dolphin, or a keyword shortcut of "nt:" in Firefox (where : is not hard to type on a keyboard).

Name:     NT:  New Tab
Address:  javascript:(function(){var%20a=document.getElementsByTagName('a');document.title='||'+document.title+'||';for(var%20i=0,j=a.length;i<j;i++){a[i].setAttribute('target','_blank');}})();

When creating the bookmarklet in Dolphin, create by replacing content of a newly created bookmarklet with the above content, typing a space instead of  %20 and  and suggest changing the folder to one you have created as "bookmarklets" within your bookmarks.

see my page on Dolphin Gestures


Galaxy S7EDGE Random Reboots Two months back from now I installed LightROM oreo, it was fine then but after two months it started to get slow. So I decided to flash pie or Q rom, but from my previous experience whenever I install a pie or Q port of note or some else model it started to get hot or lag. This time I for some reason thought, lets try NOUGAT but it ended up horribly as my phone now keeps on restarting and rom is either not flashed. It stucked in bootloop so I flashed stock rom with REPARTITION OPTION checked in Odin with pit file. Tried every trick in the book that I knew of but it keeps on restarting, meaning if I go to recovery(TWRP flashed via Odin from AP tab) it restarts after couple of moments or became hang in recovery mode. In OS mode keeps restarting after every couple of moments. I have attached the last_kmsg file.
last_kmsg file
What things I have tried;
Flashing BL separately.
Flashing CP separately.
Flashing them together.
Trying old TWRP versions.
Using moro TWRP.
MODEL

SM-G935FD

CSC By default XSG(UAE) changed to PAK(Pakistan).
I posted the same question in xda but didn't get any response so far. I have seen few errors in last_kmsg but can't figure out what they are.
EDIT: got hold of logcat during random reboot logcat.txt

SOLVED it by myself;
So the problem was with recovery partition size, now when I installed nougat rom it tried to install bootloader and modem and somehow messed up recovery partition, samsung phones has a restriction for that meaning you can't downgrade either your Binary or Kernel via odin or any other flashing tool for that matter. Not even with twrp, sometime back I also tried another nougat rom but that had an option of if you want to upgrade but this ROM just tried to do without prior asking and it wasn't also mentioned in the OP. So how did I figured it out after three days is by going through last_kmsg and logcat.
This is a guide for only for Samsung phones
How did I solve it is by doing the following things in order;

Download latest or same binary version of your device firmware. Mine
at this time is 8 (B=8. K=7), you can find it by going into download
mode (by pressing HOME + VOL-Down + POWER Button) and looking on
top left corner after few lines.

Select all the files BL,CP,AP,CSC, and Home USER DATA and then go to second tab in odin check following options: NAND Erase, Re Partition and F.Reset Time, uncheck all other like auto reboot and everything else.

Now plug in your Phone (assuming you have already installed USB Drivers) and click start/flash.

After it is done, reboot your phone again into download mode by holding HOME+VOLDOWN+POWER key first it shutdowns then it reboots again into Download Mode.

Now reset odin by clicking on reset button or closing and reopening it, then load TWRP .tar file in AP Tab and check all the previous flags except NAND Erase and choose your PIT file. Google this for your Phone and Carrier. Inmy case it is PAK and is bundled with XSG(UAE) OMC.

After recovery is flashed, reboot to recovery mode by pressing HOME+VOLUP+POWER key and go to Wipe>format and after that flash your phone's specific mods/zips like DM-Verity disabler and any other. Now you have your stock ROM, install Magisk/SuperSU or flash any other custom ROM.

Now the problems that can be solved by this way are if you have messed up your Boot Loader by trying some boot-splash or boot-animation mod (Do all the same things explained above except load your BL*.tar.md5 file at BL tab not AP tab and same goes for modem(cp) at CP Tab), messed up recovery partition by trying to flash old rom after upgrading your Binary or any other partition related problem.


Stereo to Mono Sound Is there a way to digitally convert stereo sound tracks to mono ones, while playing?
I need this feature because sometime I split my headset with other people, and hearing only one channel is quite awful.
I do not want to change my music player, which is n7player (paid).
My phone is Galaxy S4 with Cyanogenmod 11 (Kitkat 4.4.2).

The only answers I was able to find were to use PowerAmp player, but again, I don't want to switch to it.

On Android 4.4:

From your homescreen, hit the Menu key and open System Settings
Go to Accessibility, tap cancel on "need a screen reader" to bypass / scroll down to "Mono Audio"
Uncheck box

Done!


Note 3 stuck on "Odin Mode" I wanted to check if I had an unlocked bootloader or not and I pressed "Reboot into bootloader mode" in recovery mode.

It now has a black screen with a green android robot saying "Downloading... Do not turn off target!!"

I'm panicking what do I do how do I get out of this mode??

I fixed it. Power + vol up + home ( pressing all three simultaneously)  should work. Hope this can help someone else who gets stuck!


Motorola Milestone problems Before I start, please let me say I've tried pretty much everything, including, of course asking my providers for a new phone, but it didn't work. I also posted a similar question on a programmer's site but they couldn't/wouldn't help me. So here it is: I got the Motorola Milestone and it just has so many bugs, it's ridiculous. When I searched online I saw people complaining exactly about the same issues.

Phone switches off randomly, sometimes during a call.
Phone switches ON randomly, sometimes during a meeting (!)
Music from the MP3 player turns on randomly, so I always have to turn the volume off before turning the application off.

I also tried upgrading etc, but nothing helped.

:/

I have encountered random OFF problem a couple of times and it seemed to be always related to the connection with a Bluetooth equipment. For the random ON problem I would recommend shutting down the sound and keeping the device ON every time. The random music activation should have been corrected with the latest firmware update. In my case, the firmware version 2.1-update1 corrected the random music activation. I would recommend that you make sure all your firmware updates have been done.

These are not the best solutions but that is all I have been able to find. Let's hope the next update to Android 2.2 will correct all these issues once and for all.


How can a shell script get the number of an incoming/outgoing call? new user here from Montréal, Canada!

So i have a shell script that runs when a call comes in, and another one that runs when i make a call. How can this script get the phone number of the caller / of the number being called? Grepping through the logcat output doesn't show it.

Receiving caller number from incoming call

Tasker maintains a global variable  named Call Number (%CNUM) which would reflect caller number for the incoming call.

If you intend to run your script when the device rings, you may setup the following profile:

Profile: Event → Phone → Phone Ringing → Priority: Highest
Task: (Actions): Code → Run Shell → Command: sh FILE_PATH "%CNUM"

Replace FILE_PATH with the absolute file path of your script. In your script, %CNUM can be received as an argument by storing $1 into a variable. (See this answer by Bruce Ediger for any related help.)

Example script:

#!/system/bin/sh
incoming_no="$1"
echo "$incoming_no" >> /sdcard/incoming_no.txt

Save the script and try executing it from an action in that profile. For an incoming call, it would create or append the file incoming_no.txt with the caller number.

Note: Tasker supports creating global variables, so if you don't intend to run your script with that profile, use the action Variable → Variable Set to store the value of %CNUM into a user specific global variable. Whenever time is ripe, use that variable in your script from Tasker.

Receiving called number from outgoing call

Tasker doesn't have an inbuilt support for this, as it seems to me. Worry not, since this answer by sush can be used in Tasker for our goal. The crux of that answer is: listen to a broadcast with action android.intent.action.NEW_OUTGOING_CALL and receive the value from a particular extra type key.

Tasker has support for receiving intents. Before we begin with profile, hear me out on how I extracted the value.

I made a call to a number and immediately ran the following command (requires adb in PC):

adb shell dumpsys activity

In the output, under the section ACTIVITY MANAGER BROADCAST STATE (dumpsys activity broadcasts) I noticed:

BroadcastRecord{32699300 u0 android.intent.action.NEW_OUTGOING_CALL}
act=android.intent.action.NEW_OUTGOING_CALL flg=0x10000030 (has extras)
extras: Bundle[{android.intent.extra.PHONE_NUMBER=+919XXXXYYYZZ}]

Here, android.intent.extra.PHONE_NUMBER is the extra type key.

As for Tasker, setup your profile in the following fashion:

Profile: Event → System → Intent Received:

Action: android.intent.action.NEW_OUTGOING_CALL
Priority: Highest

Task: (Actions):
the number can be retrieved from the variable

%android_intent_extra_phone_number

As usual, store the value of that variable into a user specific global variable using Variable → Variable Set and use the latter in your script whenever you want.

Note:

The solution is tested on Android 4.2.1 and Android 5.0.2 (COS12).
Per userguide of Tasker, the Variables tab is not shown if Menu / Prefs / UI / Beginner Mode is enabled.
Caller number for incoming calls can alternatively be retrieved by listening the broadcast intent with action android.intent.action.PHONE_STATE and receiving the number from %incoming_number. Use %state in a condition to check whether its value is RINGING or IDLE. If former, get the value from %incoming_number.


How to fix "fastboot FAILED (command write failed (Success))" error? I tried to flash twrp image in POCO F1 by using the command fastboot flash recovery  twrp.img. But it didn't work. It showed the error message:

fastboot FAILED (command write failed (Success))

What could be the possible reasons?

It can be one of the following issues:

1) Your TWRP image is corrupt. Try downloading the image again, or download from another source.

2.) There is an issue with your USB connection. Check your USB ports and the cable, or try another PC.

Also, are you using a Linux distribution? There is a known issue with Fastboot that sometimes causes the error you mentioned in Linux, so try a Windows PC if you can.


Where does the Foursquare notification come from? Yesterday, I got a Foursquare friend request in the notifications panel.

The only running services at that time were, I believe, the same that are running now. Definitely there was no Foursquare service running. I hadn't used Foursquare in weeks. From Settings:

Settings
Google Services (GoogleLocationService)
WhatsApp
My Calendar
Google Services (Cloud to Device Messa…, Google Messaging Ser…)
Maps
Android keyboard

I was logged into Google Latitude.

By what mechanism did the friend request reach the notifications panel?

When Google Cloud Messaging receives a message from Google, it sends a broadcast to the related app. The app can receive this broadcast even if no service was running, and it can respond by starting a service, or by creating a notification from within the broadcast receiver itself.

Part of the Android developers' documentation explains the process step-by-step. There's a lot of detail there that you only need to know to write an app that uses Google Cloud Messaging, but it might help satisfy your curiosity.


Unable to install Google Play Services to save Clash of Clans village I play Clash of Clans and I have a village which I do not want to lose.

I am attempting to save the village to Google Play Services but I am not able to install Play Services as it says that it is not compatible with other apps. How can I save my village without services, or how can I install Google Play Services?

My device is Maxx AX5 with Android 4.0.4 and kernel version 3.0.13.

Part 1 of your question can be answered in the bottom half of the following link. Requires Google+

https://gamesupport.supercell.net/hc/en-us/articles/421682-Can-I-transfer-my-village-to-a-new-device-

Part 2 of your question can be accomplished by flash the proper GApps package to your device. Goto XDA forum and do a search for your device and GApps package for version of Android that you are using


How to stop Foursquare from turning on Wi-Fi? Some time ago I noticed Wi-Fi powers on without any action from me. There was a question already from me, asking why the phone would do this. I localized the issue to Foursquare app — it actually has a permission to change Wi-Fi state and seems to be using it to turn it on when it wants to use geolocation (which is, strangely, almost all the time). When I removed the Foursquare, Wi-Fi stopped to turn on by itself.

Is there any way to prevent Foursquare from enabling Wi-Fi without removing it and logging off from app (to be able to still use it)?

You could try removing the permission to change the Wi-Fi state with something like LBE Privacy Guard. There's also the possibility of using the method described in a similar question on here, this involves changing the .apk file and no root is needed.

There's a few caveats though:

Biggest one is that when Foursquare tries to use the removed the permission it may well break depending on how the developers coded it.
LBE Guard needs root, so you'll need to have a rooted phone.
There have been suggestions here and here LBE Guard isn't all it's cracked up to be (buggy, hard to uninstall, might mine your data?) despite the high ratings in the marketplace.


Can't download from Play Store - need new ideas to try I've had this Moto X (1st ed) for a few years. For the last 3 weeks or so I've been unable to use the Play Store to update any of my apps or to download any new ones. The store otherwise works just fine: I get notification of updates, I can browse the store...

Problem is, once I hit Update or Accept to update or install, the status shown is stuck at Downloading... indefinitely with no progress; even if I let it sit for hours, there is never any error message.  Here's what I've already tried:

Made sure there is enough space to install/update apps
Cleared the cache for Play Store and Play Services apps, and restarted the phone.
Uninstalled Play Store updates Settings >> Apps >> Google Play Store >> Uninstall Updates and restarted the phone. Even the old version of the store wouldn't download anything.
Used a mirror site to download and update Google App, Google Play Store, and Google Play Services to the most recent version (more recent than what I had before #3). I think these APKs were genuine since the signatures must have matched what was already installed or the update would have been blocked
Switched from WiFi to Cell data.

I've gone through the similar questions from the troubleshooting FAQ but didn't come across something else to try.  Any help would be welcome.

Moto X on Android 5.1
Google Play Services 10.5.53
Google Play Store 7.7.09.N-all

Reboot your device and open it again
If above steps fails,  please do clear data and cache in applications settings , and open it again for Google play store and play services
Or go for *Third party store for android * like Mobogenie

EDIT :

This step will stop the Play Store and clear data stored in a temporary area of device memory. This gives the app a fresh start and can help payments process properly. It won't delete any permanent files.

First, Force the Play Store to stop:

Open your device's Settings Settings. Scroll down and tap Apps or
Application manager (depending on your device, this may be
different).
Tap the Google Play Store Play Store. Tap Force stop.

Second, clear the cache and data for the Play Store:

Open your
device's Settings Settings.
Tap Apps or Application manager.
Tap Google Play Store Play Store. Tap Storage. Tap Clear cache. Tap Clear
data.

Next, reopen the Play Store:

Open the Google Play Store app Play Store.Try your download again.

I have found these steps from this link , i hope it will help you Click here


Printing documents from secure online system w/ controlled page breaks? We use an online system where you can log in with a username and password and gain access to printable documents. The online system uses CSS rules, so that if you are viewing it on the screen it has certain features that are not included in the printout. Also, it has page break rules so that it can repeat the logo on every page and say Page 2 of 3, etc.

This works great on a laptop, but I want to use Android.

I've seen tablet multiple print solutions.

Some of them ignore the print styling, which is bad because then the page breaks based on the length of the content instead of the instructions of the online system.
Some of them use an outside app which separately fetches the content, which doesn't work because like I said it is behind a login, and the cookies are not transferred to the other app. (for good reason)

Is there a print solution for Android that does not suffer these types of problems? Can you outline

What Android versions would be necessary?
What types of printers would be needed?

Also, keep in mind this is a mobile solution. I can either physically plug in the printer or connect the printer to the same WiFi hot spot, or Bluetooth, or something else you suggest.

Android 4.4 (KitKat) has a built-in printing system. It uses "Cloud Print", which can print to a "Cloud Print ready" printer, or to a normal printer accessible from an Internet-connected PC running Google Chrome. In either case, the target printer doesn't even have to be on the same network, if both the printer and your tablet are connected to Internet. You can also use this system to generate a PDF from the content you're trying to print.

I haven't tried using Chrome to print a web page with CSS rules as you describe, so I can't say for sure that you'll get exactly the results you'd get on desktop, but I'd expect it to work the same way.


Will Android read any other non-FAT file-system on SD card? I use Sound Juicer to rip all of my music. I have a lot of songs that published in a different language, and moreover that use different characters. I find the native file system doesn't support much in the way of file names...

cp -R /home/ecarroll/Music/Tom\ Morello\:\ The\ Nightwatchman/ .
cp: cannot create directory `./Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman': Invalid argument

It just doesn't like a lot of characters,

mkdir "foo:bar baz"
mkdir: cannot create directory `foo:bar baz': Invalid argument

cp: cannot create regular file `./Rebel Diaz/Otro Guerrillero/1 - Which Side Are You On?.flac': Invalid argument

Currently the device is mounted as VFAT

/dev/sdc1 on /media/87B0-1816 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks)

Can I possibly reformat my SD memory stick, and put a different non-FAT FS on it that the Android can read? For reference I'm running on Ice Cream Sandwich but wouldn't object to rooting the phone if required to get around this crap. I even pay for these songs...

The Theory
I guess this very much depends on your device and the ROM used. Searching the net, I found people using different file systems on their sd-cards successfully:

NTFS seems to work at least on a Transformer, according to this post
A post on XDA mentions an app to be used with the Samsung Galaxy tab (and S2) which made NTFS usage possible
According to this German post, CyanogenMod supports EXTFS on sd-card
different sources mention what sounds logical from the Unix/Linux standpoint: on a rooted device, you can format the sd-card with any file system supported, and adjust the fstab accordingly

Praxis: What does the Playstore say?
So following that Google-Search of mine, I checked the Playstore for hints -- as there was that mentioned app for NTFS in one of the threads. And indeedy, there were some reasonable findings:

Ntfs Mounter (requires root) claims: Automatically mount and dismount NTFS/FAT/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 formated USB Sticks, USB HDD, SD Cards
NtfsSd (root) claims to be able to mount SD Card using NTFS

Conclusion and final thoughts
To sum up: If rooting your device is an option, above hints should offer you a selection of alternative file systems you could use on your sdcard. Which of those might be your choice will probably depend on some additional thoughts -- such as other devices you want to use your sdcard on. If those include a Windows system, you better stick with NTFS (as Windows is not easily convinced to read EXTFS). If not Windows systems are involved, you're probably better off with one of the EXTFS versions.


Is it possible to get FireFox running on Samsung Galaxy GT-I5700? Would really like to try and get firefox running on older android device.

Have a Samsung Galaxy GT-I5700 which has an ARM V6 800mhz cpu, 250mb internal memory, 4GB SD and is running CyangenMod9 ICS for Spica(GT-I5700).
Am working on getting native apps2sd working properly to try and free up some of that tiny internal memory.
Have not really researched or tried anything regarding installing firefox but a similar question was asked here and thought would post my own q in order prevent bumping somebody elses thread!
PlayStore say firefox is not compatible with my device yet on mozillas website there are older samsung phones that are listed but my exact model is not.

From the Firefox for Android page : Installation requires [...] 384MB of RAM. Your device has only 256MB. You can always try to install the nightly version, although it may be unstable. Or you can search on google for a stable firefox apk.


How to install Android Composite ADB Interface Having trouble with this line on this tutorial:

  "In your Android SDK directory, at \extras\amazon\kindle_fire_usb_driver, run KindleDrivers.exe, and then follow the instructions on the screen."

I just cannot find this area, any idea where i should install it from?

On XDA, in the user profile of Astarioth, there's a link mentioned in the "most thanked" tab:  https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vprplelu9zx7s2o/kindle_fire_usb_driver.rar?dl=1 (and this is the XDA post thanked for). The name of the .rar archive suggests it holds your wanted drivers -- and the quote

  [...] uninstall your old Kindle USB Driver and install this one.

confirms my guess :)

Now, why didn't you find it in your SDK directory, you might ask? Guess that's as it goes with apples and peaches. You assumed Google's Android SDK -- while Amazon has its own Android SDK. And that line most likely referred to the latter, while you have the former installed. Also only a guess -- but I'd say I guessed right again? You might want to read Setting Up Your Development Environment, take a special look at the section Installing SDK Add-Ons. If you work with Eclipse, this gives you another source to get to the Kindle drivers.


Create websites with Android phone? I have Google searched this many times, but I only get "how to make a mobile version of your website" and such. I want to know if I am able to use my Android phone to write code/script and view the results. If so, how would I go about it?

Yes you can do this. You can install different Android apps to edit the code, any HTML editor tool will do -  they can be found in the google play store.

You do not need to make a totally different version of your website, you can use google's mobile friendly test to check what needs to be changed.


Is there any way to access Google Plus Messenger history? Once you leave a Google Plus Messenger (formerly Huddle) conversation, it is removed from the main window of the application. Is there any way to view or search old messages?

I guess this is irrelevant now as Google have moved messenger to Hangouts.

Hangouts does have message archiving. From the list of hangouts, select options in the top right corner. Then select Archived Hangouts.


one plus one update from 5.0 to 6.0 I'm update my device (one plus one) to 6.0 and it works fine

but I cannot open caller and make call , also I cannot send sms (message)

my contact numbers & text message  sometimes disappeard.

I don't know what is the problem?

android version: 6.0.1
cyanogen OS version : 13.0-ZNH0EAS26M

I made reset factory to my android device , and It works fine


How to place Apps on "Home Bar" for Logitech Revue Google-TV? How can I add apps to the home bar on the Logitech Revue Google-TV box? I can remove them by pressing and holding the OK button and selecting remove from the popup menu, but I haven't seen an option to add them.

The Logitech Help has stopped working - all the link report "Unable to Open URL". I am guessing this is part of Logitech's dropping of support for this device.

Press the Menu key on the remote, and then select "Edit home screen icons" or something to that extent (wording could be different, I'm going by my Sony Google TV unit.)  Now highlight (using the arrow keys) and click on the empty box on the home bar vacated by the app you've just removed, and a pop-up should appear with all installed apps and bookmarks listed.  Selecting any of them will place it on the home bar.


Running a program as root on Android I have followed the guide at XDA Developers for a Samsung Galaxy Note II, and used "option 2" and flashed the firmware using heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --CACHE cache.img in Linux.

This gave me a SuperSU program, which I could execute. After executing it immediately wanted to update. I allowed it. It required a reboot, I allowed that. The program asked if it should attempt to install by the "normal" or CWM method. I picked CWM.

The device started up in the CWM minimal OS, but it was not apparent to me what option the user should take at this point to proceed. I tried various options, like installing from cache or sd card, but there didn't appear to be any file to install.

I rebooted again, started SuperSU again. I selected "Install SuperSU into /system". The program needed to reboot again, this time I was not given the option of how to install it ("normal" or CWM).

After reboot, I started SuperSU again. The option was still available to "Install SuperSU into /system", it is unclear if this means SuperSU has not successfully installed, or if this option is always available in case you need to repeat the procedure after an update.

I downloaded the Titanium Backup program which as I understand required root access. When executing Titanium Backup, I was prompted by SuperSU if I wished to grant root access. I clicked yes. The program appeared to function properly.

My questions are:

What action is the user supposed to take within CWM when SuperSU requests to reboot using this method?
Is the choice "Install SuperSU into /system" supposed to still be possible to select after a successful install?
How do I run an arbitrary program as root? What I wanted to do in the first place was to get a terminal to run as root. I have already a program called "Terminal Emulator" installed. How do I make "Terminal Emulator" execute as root?
Is it normal for SuperSU to "close" itself spontaneously while looking through the settings? I think once it updated itself while I was in the settings, but I'm not sure.

Ugh, that's 4 questions in one. Our site works best with one question per post; but let me try:

How to install via CWM (custom recovery)?
usually, it's "install update.zip from SDCard" when the deal is to "install something via recovery". By default, there should be an update.zip file in the root of the SDCard, which you then navigate to and select.
Hint: I always update it via Google Play (the "normal way"). Works smoothly, never had trouble, doesn't require a reboot.
Is the choice "Install SuperSU into /system" supposed to still be possible to select after a successful install?
I'd say "No", but it depends. This usually moves the app from /data (user-space) to /system (system-space). After having moved it, it should no longer be in its original location. But depending on how updates are installed (SuperSU e.g. updates via Google Play, like any other app), this update could again end up in user-space, in which case the user might wish to "repeat" the system integration.
How do I run an arbitrary program as root?
Two-fold. First, "arbitrary programs" (apps) must request root access themselves, you cannot make them "run as root". That's a little different when it comes to the command line: prefixing your commands with su makes the terminal app requesting root access. So you could e.g. list all directories below /data using su ls /data and succeed (while a simple ls /data wouldn't be able to access all files/sub-directories here).
Is it normal for SuperSU to "close" itself spontaneously while looking through the settings?
I've never experienced that, and I'm using SuperSU on one of my devices for a year now (the others have chainfire's SuperUser). But I must admit I'm not often calling it directly and stay there for longer. I mostly only see the access requests of apps, or the update recommendation via Play :)


How can I save and protect sexy pictures sent by my girlfriend? I'm traveling and my GF wants to send me some racy pictures.  Of course I will accept that offer, but I need to save them on my phone in a safe way.

My phone uses Activesync, so it's possible for my office to reset my pin code and so I need an extra layer of protection for more intimate pictures.

She has an iPhone so I think she will send them over SMS, but I can ask her to do it a different way.  What are my options?

You should try Audio Manager from Anuj Tenani. You can also save videos, images and audio which were send via any application from the gallery.
It's also available on iTunes.

--About the app --

The app is cleverly disguised as "Audio Manager" in the App Drawer.
Disguises itself as a Audio Manager app which can be used to turn the volumes up and down. but if you Long press on the Audio Manager title the actual Hide It Pro app will launch, which is basically your secret vault of pics/videos/messages/apps etc.

-- Features in Detail --

1.) App disguised behind a fully functional Audio Manager

2.) Categorize media into folders of your choice

3.) Batch(Multi-Select) support for hiding and unhiding pictures

4.) Delete/Share/Unhide/Move pictures between albums

5.) Sort files by date/size/name and sort folders by count/name

6.) Gallery features Pinch to Zoom , Double tap to zoom , One finger hold and move zoom

7.) Slideshow with Fade, Zoom, Swipe effects

8.) Send/Share pictures

9.) Special optimization for low end phones.

10.) Video player features play/pause/forward/rewind/next video/prev video support

11.) Disappears from recent apps list

12.) Two lock screen options viz Pin and Password

13.) Escape pin/password for times when you get caught

14.) Built in encryption tool(with military standard 256-bit AES encryption) to secure your most important files

15.) Plugins for features like Private Messaging / Calls , Private Browsing , Locking Apps.
etc.


Which android devices have optimized encryption hardware? I've been using a Nexus 5 for a while and using FS encryption. Apple's iOS Security document states that:

  Every iOS device has a dedicated AES 256 crypto engine built into the DMA path
  between the flash storage and main system memory, making file encryption highly
  efficient. Along with the AES engine, SHA-1 is implemented in hardware, further reducing
  cryptographic operation overhead.

Do any of the Android devices have such hardware to reduce encryption overhead? Is it part of a standard like iOS?

Fundamentally Android requires the developer to implement encryption directly (ie, there is no OS supplied framework for this).

To the best of my knowledge, there is no current Android hardware with Encryption built into to the hardware.  The new "Black Phone" that Boeing is reportedly making for the US defense industry is likely an exception to this (the phone HW was specifically engineered for security).

Basically iOS is encrypted by default, and Android requires the devloper to implement encryption in their applications.


Get into fastboot mode (AOC Q70S15 model) Model: AOC Q70S15
Android version: 4.2.2
Tablet not rooted
Desktop OS: Arch Linux
Issuing the command adb reboot fastboot from my pc makes the tablet shut down but it doesn't reboot, the same happens with adb reboot, nothing change if I do it with sudo.
According to the manual: Press and hold the power button and volume button 3 seconds at the same time. Release the buttons and tablet will boot and an Android robot will be displayed. However 3 seconds doesn't do anything, two scenarios occur when I maintain pressed the buttons for longer time:

After some seconds (10-15) the tablet starts booting but not in fastboot but the normal way, however if I release the tablet buttons it goes off inmediatelly.

Sometimes nothing happens.

Keeping pressed Volume Down + Power for 6 secs did the trick, after that you need to wait like 5 secs and the android robot should appear, then you press the Power button and without releasing it press the Volume Up button one time, now you are the system recovery.


Copy synced videos in/from Dailymotion Is it possible to access the sync'ed DailyMotion videos somewhere else?

I know they're saved somewhere in the cache (\mnt\sdcard\Android\data\com.dailymotion.dailymotion\cache\videos). If you clear the cache, they're gone.

Is it possible to move them to somewhere else, e.g., on your SD card or even PC and watch them there?

Go to the cache, and find the file that you want to play. There will be 2 files with the same name, one will be only a few kb, the other will be the video (should be a few MB).

Long press on the file until you get the menu. Then select "open as", then "video", then select a video player.

I used the stock one that comes with the phone even though I have several others I thought I would try that first, and it worked first time (this was on a Galaxy S3).

If they play then copy them where you want, pc etc. You might need to rename the video files (adding the .mp4 file extension).


Unable to view videos - Message: "sorry, video cannot be played" I have a strange issue. I have downloaded some WMV files on my Android to watch them while offline. I watched some of them and now all of a sudden I see "sorry, video cannot be played". None of the videos work any more, not even the ones I watched.

How can I fix this? Please don't suggest WMV players. It worked, now it no longer works and I want to fix it. Reboot didn't help either.

Any clues?

(HTC Wildfire S)

I had this problem with videos that used to play and then simply don't anymore.  It's not your video player or the video format, its something screwy with Android's file system.

Solution:

Download Rescan Media app from Google Play store.  Install and run, but do not enable the auto-close feature; just run it then minimize.  Your files should play now.


TWRP: Could not mount /data (even after format data / change file system) I'm trying to root a Vernee M5. I installed TWRP - which worked - and tried to use it to install Magisk - which didn't work (my guess is because of encryption?).

Now the phone always boots into recovery/TWRP and I want to install the factory ROM so I can try rooting it again.

However, using TWRP to install the ROM fails with the error:

[...]
Updating partition details...
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
...done

Rebooting the device opens TWRP again.

I tried Wipe -> Format Data -> yes, which also fails:

[...]
Updating partition details...
Failed to mount '/data' (Invalid argument)
...done
Unable to mount storage

I also tried Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Data -> Repair or Change File System. Changing the file system fails with the above error message. Repair also results in an error:

/sbin/e2fsck -fp /dev/block/mmcblk0p48 process ended with ERROR: 8

Some additional info: TWRP is not asking for a password anymore when booting. Internal Storage is shown as 0mb on "install", but it does still contain a folder structure. The console also shows that full SELinux support is present & MTP is enabled.

How can I fix these errors and install the factory ROM?

While formatting with twrp results in an error, formatting with fastboot worked for me:

start phone, which will boot into twrp
reboot -> bootloader
fastboot format:ext4 userdata. This will of course delete all data from the phone.


What is the difference between temp root & pemanent root? What is a soft reboot? The AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 4 currently has temp root, but no permanent root.  I am not 100% sure I understand the difference.

From what I gather, temp root is lost if the phone is rebooted in a typical fashion:

Battery drains to the point the phone shuts off
Pull the battery, let the electricity discharge, put the battery back in, and boot the phone normally
Tell the phone to reboot (for example by holding the power button and using that menu)

However, I remember reading (sorry lost the links) that a "soft" reboot will not force you to lose root.  I'm not clear on what a soft reboot is.  The description I read said something about the software rebooting but not the kernal.  Finding information on this is troublesome since the terms "reboot" and "reset" have become intermingled by nontechnical users.

For example, Technopedia describes one thing, while another site talks about hard vs soft reset.  Both were results for the search term what is a soft reboot.

There's a link on XDA Developers where a user is asking the difference between a soft reset and a reboot: http ://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=620337

Over on Android Central, there's a thread where the people who reply get their vocabulary mixed up: http ://forums.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/15765-soft-reboot.html

What are the differences between a permanent root from a user functionality perspective?  What kinds of apps do not work, or don't work well, with temp root?

What is a soft reboot?  What are the benefits?

Permanent root vs. Temp root:

Permanent root:

Root persists a reboot
No need to re-root after rebooting
Root access in boot phase (needed for some apps that run after Android is booted)
Usually prevents any future OS updates
Usually voids warranty

Temp root:

Root access is lost after a reboot of the device
Needs to re-root after a reboot
No permanent changes to the OS
Allows future OS updates1
No root access right after booting

1: Only if the device has no active "root check" (like some Samsung devices)

"Soft" reboot vs. normal reboot:

Normal reboot:

Complete and safe shutdown of the device
Proper halting of the CPU
Restarts through the bootloader with possible access to the recovery and download mode

"Soft" reboot:

Reboot of the Android framework
No restart through the bootloader
No access to recovery and bootloader
The system is abruptly halted/killed (ie. unsafe)
Most of the hardware is still running (ie. no need to re-enter your SIM-Pin, WiFi does not need to re-authenticate)
Can be achieved by killing he system_server process
Requires root access/Custom ROM
(Preserves temp root)1

1: Only if the device does not check for modifications after the initial boot (like some Samsung devices)


How can I disable mobile data connectivity on my Sanyo Zio? I have a pay as you go Android phone. I only pay 10 dollars per 3 months (or something like that). That means that every cent counts before I run out of money.

I want this phone for emergency reasons only and for internet so I don't use it to call. Yet my money on the account still runs out. When I check my statement I see a lot of charges for few to as much as 30 cents. I use my internet when I'm connected to wifi only but I think I'm still getting charged for connecting through my 3g network.

Is there any way to disable the connection with the data plan so the only internet that will work is wifi? This way I will not get charged.

I have tried changing the apn under settings and with apps. My phone seems incapable of even doing that. I wonder if it's some scheme to get me to pay for data without me noticing. I would still prefer a solution that allows me to call and receive calls at all times since I might receive emergency calls or need to make them.
.

Update
I downloaded an app called easyswitch and it allowed me to disable the 3g network the problem is that it's a trial that lasts a week. if anyone knows a free app that will do it please let me know. I also rooted my phone but don't really want to install a whole new rom on it.

After using easy switch for a while i realized that it keeps allowing 3g sometimes (sometimes it doesnt) I dont know what its depended on maybe if my phone restarts the easy switch settings restart as well? I think i will just install a new rom.

"Data Roaming" just refers to using data when connected to a foreign network (i.e. not your providers "home network").

There should be another option available for "mobile network" or "mobile data" (the phrasing may differ between devices), as the following screenshot shows:

Look out for the red frame at the end. If you find something similar, remove the checkmark. If not, simply remove it everywhere where it sound similar. Remember which ones you removed, then enable them again one by one until you find the "evil doer".


GS4 - Stuck in a bootloop on stock ROM SGH-I337 I got recently is stuck in a bootloop. Itll post and then attempt booting and stay on the screen forever. As this phone is completely stock and never touched so usb debugging is not enabled. Factory resetting does nothing, the phone will not wipe the cache (it attempts then errors out and restarts itself). Ive tried flashing TWRP via odin but the bootloader is locked. Trying to use ADB logcat does not seem to work. What route should I take from here?

Run adb logcat during boot, record the output and post it here / try to find the cause of the boot loop.


How can I get shell access on my almost dead phone My phone broke, so I have been messing with it and from the errors I can see, it looks like all the system folders are missing. /system /data etc.

I saw a YT video where the guy used ADB shell to gain access then just ran some cd commands to create the missing directories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-LZvVLEC5o)

adb shell isn't working for me. Currently, I have 'Philz Touch 5' running and I have a working Odin connection.

How can I restore an empty file system?

thanks!

if you can go in recovery mode, you can also go in download mode.
if you use odin, i guess you have a samsung device.
Normally push togheter power button, home button, volume - button
turn any samsung mobile in donwload mode.
downlaod an official ROM from http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/
and flash it with odin.


Cant' uninstall app; it shows up on home screen but not app drawer or installed apps list An app called APP Lock installed on my phone yesterday and I have no clue how it got there. I can't find the app under the Play Store installed apps, my app drawer, or any folder within the system that might be related to it. I've looked in different folders to find where it might be installed but can't find it at all. It doesn't show up under Device Administrators either, the only trace of the app existing is it's icon on my home screen.

When I open it it lists my installed apps and asks if I want to "protect my privacy" in broken English. I think it's malware so I want to get rid of it.

Is there any way to cleanly remove it or at least find where it's installed?

Is the app in this question the same as the one you're talking about? If so, you might be dealing with malware.

The reason the app might not be showing up in the installed apps list in the Google Play Store is because it was installed outside of the Google Play Store (by a different app). Try finding the app in the installed applications list of Android itself. Do this like so:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to Apps.
In the top right corner, click ... and then Show system apps.
Search for the app name in the list, presumably APP Lock, and select it.

Have you found it? Great! Uninstall it by clicking Uninstall.
If this button is greyed out, then the app might have installed itself as a system app and you will need root to remove it with Root Uninstaller, for example.


How can I change my Asus Eee Pad's language from Taiwanese to English? I bought a Asus Eee Pad and when I did a factory reset the language was in Taiwanese.

How do I change it back to English? It looks like it only has Taiwanese on it.

I called Asus and they couldn't help me as they said that it had been converted into English by a Jail Broken Flash. I have no idea what that is.

Use the icons.

First look for the settings app or icon (looks like cog wheels). Scroll through the list of apps in your launcher. You can also press the menu button while on your main homescreen and choose the settings from there (same idea - look for the cog-wheel icon).

Once you're in settings, look for the menu option with a little 'A' icon on the side - that's the one for Language settings. Press that.

Now press the very FIRST menu option to get a list of languages.


How to run Android ICS on a PC (win7) inside a VM? I have a PC and would like for kids to run Android games/edu apps. I have a touchscreen. How hard is it to run ICS inside a VM (VirtualBox or any other VM platform (MS, VMware)

There are answers about older versions of android. but I would like to run ICS.

Recent versions of the SDK include a native x86 Android image. (http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html)
http://android-x86.org offers a 4.0 image that can be run from VirtualBox.
http://androvm.org/blog/ offers a Jellybean (4.1) image for VirtualBox.

Note that performance may not be so great.


G1/Dream running CM6 - black screen, won't boot, can't reset I have a T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream, rooted, running CM6.  It froze up at the lock screen, and after trying everything I popped the battery out and rebooted.  However, this didn't solve the problem; I still couldn't get past the lock screen.  After rebooting again (via battery removal, because nothing else worked), I only get a black screen (LCD on but blank).  The problem seems different than other questions here on the site because I don't ever see the T-Mobile splash screen.  I've tried Home+Power, Call+Menu+Power, Camera+Power, and none of those combos have allowed me to boot into recovery or factory reset, I still just see a black screen.  When I plug in USB, the computer does not see the SD card.

Update:  Now the LCD doesn't turn on either.  Perhaps this is a problem with the ribbon after all?  But that doesn't explain the freezing/booting issues.

Update:  Although I only get a black screen, the phone does vibrate when I turn it on (using any of the key combinations mentioned above).

Since you have CM6 flashed already, try booting the phone into the bootloader (fastboot). If you can get in there, you can rescue your phone with fastboot erase cache; If that doesn't work, reflash CM6. This will cost you your data that's not on the SD card.

Opinion: Having had a bunch of G1s (all secondhand), they are not the most reliable phones I've owned. I have had one turn into a brick (permanently!) after leaving it in a hot car (next to my Magic, same chipset, which survived) for 30 minutes.


Get Android notifications in Windows This question doesn't seem to have been asked here before, although the exact opposite question (get Windows notifications in Android) has been asked.

I'm thinking here of getting notifications in Windows from (pretty much) all Android apps, and not from a tiny subset of apps (e.g. messaging apps).

There used to be a way to get app notifications through Cortana, but that was disabled in 2018 and still has not been enabled either in Cortana or in any other product offered by Microsoft. Is there some other way to do it?

I've had great success with Join in the past (and in fact with Tasker overall, which is superb): https://joaoapps.com/join/

And while it's a paid service, Pushbullet has also been very useful: https://www.pushbullet.com/


Alarm not sounding on an Honor 6X Note: I have researched this online, but none of the answers seem to work.

Currently, my honor 6X does not make any alarm sound. Obviously, this can lead to some predictable problems. I've made sure of the following:

My volume, ringer, alarm, and calls are all turned to max.
My regular volume works perfectly
I am using the default clock app
I deleted all my alarms and tried again, to no avail
My phone was restarted (I do not want to do a factory restart unless that is the only possible solution)
The alarm pops up, but has no sound
I gave clock priority over other apps and gave it all the permissions possible
I've tried different alarm sounds and reset it to the default
I have turned off Bluetooth
I have cleared all other apps
I have turned off the Android given task manager
I have no other clock apps
Although, my phone is rooted, but for over a year now, and have only encountered this problem very recently, so I think I can cross that off my list.

I am completely lost now on what to do, I have basically tried everything possible. So how in the world can I get this to work? Any opinion or idea would be greatly appreciated

you can also try the following two methods.

In the Settings - Smart Assist - Gesture setting, there is an alarm to turn the mute to see if it is caused by flipping the phone and causing the alarm to be muted.
Wait for the new version and upgrade to the latest version


SD card has 81% free space but says insufficient space for App2SD (native, Huawei Honor 4X) I have downloaded OLX app and presently it is in internal memory.
When I try to move this app to SD card it says "Insufficient space. Can't move to SD card". Please help.
I am using Huawei Honor 4X handset now.

Try to move some small apps from SD card to phone memory, then try moving any apps from phone memory to SD card, as you said Ola, or any other. I did the same when I had that issue.


Is it somehow possible to change MANUALLY the format of a telephone number? In this question Is it somehow possible to change the format of a telephone number being displayed ? @Edelcom asked to change the format of telephone numbers, but he could get his wanted format just by changing his language. By manually I mean that I want to set it up no matter the language such as the format I want isn't in any of the languages I speak.

By the way: my phone is a Samsung Galaxy i5510.

This is a function of your dialer and contact-saving/editing application. Various ROMs use various applications (be it AOSP Dialer, Motoblur, Sense, Touch Wiz, etc.).

You can install third-party dialers. I've never used it but this dialer supposedly supports what you're asking for. I suggest you browse around the Market for third-party dialers.


My Aristo Android 7.0 does not have a clock widget I've followed every link I could find in the last 75 minutes.  Nobody addresses the real issue I am having.  Every one of them tells me how to get to the widgets list, that I should select the clock there and install it to my home screen.

One problem: THERE IS NO CLOCK WIDGET TO INSTALL.  So how can I put a real live ticking clock on my home screen, the way every other phone I have had had one.

With a brief search I saw that there are lots and lots of clock widgets in google playstore. Install one from there and then go to the widgets list and at least one will be available.

examples:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.egert.clock&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.andreas1724.bigdigitalclock&hl=en

Just search the term 'clock' in google play and you will find many.


How do I prevent a system update from occurring? We have 150 new XOOM Wifi tablets (MZ604) that we are distributing to high school students in 2 weeks. The tablets have stock ICS 4.0.4 on them, unrooted.

The requirement is the tablets run Adobe Flash Player 11 in order to interact with math and science curriculum that coincides with our textbooks.  Adobe Flash Player does not work with Jelly Bean, therefore we need to prevent the devices from going past the 4.0.4 update. The students can take the devices off-campus and use them with their home wifi connections, so doing anything to block the devices at the school network is not going to work.

There's an app for this. You can use it to install Flash Player on a Jelly Bean device.

You can also try installing Flash Player and then upgrading the device to Jelly Bean.


How to Increase font size on LG optimus g pro notepad, not the whole phone I am setting up a LG Optimus G Pro, and the notepad, both in this widget thing, and in the application itself is hard to read (on the smaller screen).

I know where the phones font size and accessability features are, but I do not wish to increase the size of all the fonts, for example the settings text is large enough.

I had the font on the notepad much bigger, but I cannot find the settings for the notepad itself, tried the menu button, and all the buttons shown.
I attempted searching for this with google , but came up with nothing.

I am hoping that somone with this actual model, knows how I had the fonts there large, without an additional app or changing the overall font sizes.

[Phone needs to be rooted] In case you're interested in an app solution, try Xposed Installer and App Settings.

What is Xposed Installer?

  Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the
  system and apps without touching any APKs. That's great because it
  means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs
  without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too
  much). It's also easy to undo. As all changes are done in the memory,
  you just need to deactivate the module and reboot to get your original
  system back. There are many other advantages, but here is just one
  more: Multiple modules can do changes to the same part of the system
  or app. With modified APKs, you to decide for one. No way to combine
  them, unless the author builds multiple APKs with different
  combinations.

What are some of the things that App Settings can change?

DPI: Changes the DPI used by this app both when loading resources (some might be DPI-specific) and also when rendering them.
Font Scale: Scales the font up or down, similarly to the system-wide "Font Size" setting.


Is there a way to automatically change SMTP server? I have a friend with a ntlworld.com email address. For desktop setup the SMTP server is smtp.ntlworld.com, but this only accepts email from IP addresses served by Virgin Media (who bought NTL) as ISP. When on 3G, they can use the SMTP server of their network provider.

So is there a way to have one SMTP server for WiFi and another SMTP server when not on WiFi?

Basically I had the same problem, and if you had an iphone spits on ground I would say yes (you can set more than one smtp server up and if it fails on one it'll try on the other) . . you can just get round it by turning off the phones wifi when you want to send an email (at home)

Emails can be sent over the phone network using their smtp server (smtp.orange.net for example) but as soon as you hit your home network (via wifi) the  orange out-going server will not work (because it doesn't know  who you are because you are going through your own ISP), where as if you change your smtp server back to ntlworld it would work (because you are using your home connection)(hope that made sence?)

O2 solved this issue, because they had a user name and password for their smtp server, so even if you sent an email over wifi (at home) it could authenticate who you were and subsequently send it.

I tried explaining this to orange . . .  it fell on deaf ears


How to detect that an app is linked to Play Store or not? Previously, Android Market didn't show Uninstall button for apps which aren't installed using it. So, this button was a nice identifier of linking status. Now, Play Store displays the button for every app.

Problem starts here: Titanium Backup started to show some of my purchased apps as unlinked from Play Store. It was unexpected.. Something had broke it. I could re-link apps using Titanium Backup, but I needed confirmation to avoid more problems. Well, I checked it using other apps like  App Manager of ROM Toolbox Pro. Interestingly, all such backup apps are displaying different linking status. So, I am screwed up.

I want to discover linking status without any help of third-party apps.

Go to https://play.google.com/store/account, with a regular desktop. Then click on the tab 'orders', you shall find there all the apps you downloaded via Google Play.

After clicking Install or Installed button, you'll get pop-up having device list. If app is already installed in a device with linked status, device would be inactive to send install signal. It can be used as identifier.


How can I set my phone to display all Wireless Emergency Alerts silently, without playing any sound? I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with CyanogenMod 12.1 (Android 5.1.1), and I want to silence the Emergency Alert (e.g. AMBER Alert) sounds without disabling the alerts entirely. A few places have mentioned deleting a sound file, but I can't find it in /system/media, and absolute paths I've seen are also not present (e.g. /system/media/mms)

I am asking about the built-in Android feature, not the Google Now alerts.

In the Emergency Alerts stock app -> Settings, there is an option "Emergency alert tone" with subtitle "Play a sample emergency alert tone."  When you do this, it plays the tone and a dialog says "The sound you hear now will be played when you receive an emergency alert.  The alert volume matches your phone's volume."  This indicates that you could avoid the alert sounding simply by silencing the phone.   There are also apps available for managing the volume settings according to other criteria.


Google apps settings deleted I just deleted the Google apps settings by mistake (from Applications -> Google Apps -> clear data). So, my HTC Magic is not connecting to the Google server anymore. How can I input the dates I've deleted? Can it be reinstalled?

I'm not sure about HTC, but you can probably configure your Google account in Settings > Accounts.


Where are the developer options in Android 4.2? I wanted to access the developer options to enable adb access on Android 4.2 but cannot find it.

How can I enable that?

Once I've activated the menu, how can I hide it again?

Starting with Android 4.2. developer options are hidden by default to clean up the options menu. They're nice for debugging but some overlay options may be very alienating for average users when they're accidentially enabled.

  On Android 4.2 and newer, Developer options is hidden by default.
  To make it available, go to Settings -> About phone and tap Build number seven times. Return to the previous screen to find Developer options.

You see a popup hat reads You are now a developer when it was successful.

Source: http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html

It's not possible to hide it again unless you're root and delete this file:

/data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/development.xml

EDIT: According to this answer it's also possible to just delete the App data of the Settings app (com.android.settings, located at Settings->Apps->All->Settings->Clear data).


Android Marshmallow keeps moving apps to internal storage after update I have a 32Gb SD card as adopted storage in my phone with Android M. It should be considered as the default installation storage for apps, as I have migrated the data to it.

However, I still experience the annoying situation of having to manually move apps back to SD card every time they update (as in Lollipop). Actually it's even worse because the migration systematically fails at the first try saying "Couldn't move app. Internal error". The second try always works. I guess data from the new version clashes with data already in SD card from previous version, and it's deleted when error message pops up, so at second try there's no conflict.

How can I fix this? I'd like to get apps updated directly to SD card, which is how supposedly adopted storage should be working.

From Google:

  Apps can be placed on adopted storage media only when the developer has indicated support through the android:installLocation attribute.

The problem is that some apps that deny this support can be forcibly moved anyways, which it sounds like you're doing when you ignore that error and try the process again.  From reddit:

  I have seen screenshots (see this post by Austin Pinto on eyes-free google group, where that device running Marshmallow IS allowing moving all apps (though still excluding system and built-in apps). That is, it is violating the developer's preference for where the app should be installed.

So when the app updates, the Play Store is simply following exactly where the app tells it to be installed.

So, your options are:

Stop moving those apps
Ask the developers to add support for this feature
Stop updating those apps


How do I find out alternative apps from Play Store that have same functionality and LESS permissions? Users often tend not to look at App permissions, while installing from Play Store, either out of ignorance or for other reasons. Permissions in Marshmallow are less granular and bundled compounding the problem

Is there a way to easily find alternative apps ( within Play Store) having same functionality but asking for lesser permissions?

Yes, good news is that there is an app released on Play Store recently for that SecuRank :

Use SecuRank to find safer alternatives to the GENERAL-PURPOSE apps you have installed. SecuRank automatically scans your smartphone to find safer replacement apps that provide the same functionality as the ones you currently use. SecuRank uses natural language processing and permission usage analysis to identify and recommend alternative apps.
For more information on how SecuRank works, visit our website at https://securank.me/

This app was released on Play Store on 07 Oct and a paper presented on 24 Oct 16 by the developer in the pre conference workshop of the annual CCS conference ( to start today). The paper explains how it works in detail and can be downloaded from here
(Yes, the app itself asks for network permissions but may need more when updated)
Snapshots from my device, highlighting alternative apps for alarm clock app. It offers potentially safer apps which can be directly accessed by clicking and mentions permissions not used in suggested alternates

Happy weeding ! Only draw back is that it claims to scan General Purpose apps only, but as the list shows it covers root apps, which are not general purpose IMO
Disclaimer: I am in NO way affiliated with this app, but love the idea
Edit: Thanks Izzy for pointing out related ways of filtering for alternatives


Coming back Google Play Services I have Samsung Galaxy A50 which is my professional smartphone, I use it for work and it is funded by my company. It has some professional software installed in Knox like encrypted e-mail etc.

I am observing problem with Google Play services app/service. I have message coming from time to time saying (translated):

Device Health Services
Enable Google Play Services
Device Health Services app won't work if you do not enable Google Play Services

I've tried to turn off this message by disabling notifications from three apps:

Google Play Service
Device Health Services
FAMOC

This didn't helped. Still I get the same message between few minutes to few hours.

When I click this message I get possibility to enable or stop Google Play Services but the enable button does not work - it does nothing or sometimes is disabled. From this screen it is obvious that the app is stopped. However when going to Settings menu and below I get info that the app is enabled and working.

Stopping the app also does nearly nothing. Clearing data and/or cache does not help. Downgrade of this app is not possible. Deactivation also is not possible.

The app version is 19.2.75 (100400-269183835). It is the newest as I have other phone and the version on it is the same.

The app does not make any problems, there are no errors.

How can I get rid off this message coming from time to time?

Ok, so I found a solution.

When you block notifications for all 3 apps it is not enough.

You need to hold this specific notification longer and use options there.

Problem solved!


How to hide status bar notification icons? I'd like to figure out how to hide the icons of the status bar that would appear in the left. Is there a way to control that? Some apps such as Weather.com don't have the option to hide that icon from the status bar.

Interestingly, you don't need an app to hide those notifications. You can go to the App Info screen for an app and uncheck the "Show notifications" option. There are a few ways to get to the App Info page for an app.

On some launchers, you can drag the app out of the drawer, and onto an "App Info" area.
Likewise, on some launchers, you can long-press the icon and an options menu comes up with "App Info".
Go to "Settings", then "Apps", then select the specific app you're looking to hide notifications (and icons) from.

Let's also take a moment to learn the reason why apps (like weather apps, etc) don't have an option inside the app itself to do this!

If an app requires its notification to be displayed 100% of the time, then Android's Garbage Collector/Process Manager is not able to automatically kill it. If, for example, The Weather Channel's app allowed you to disable the notification/icon, then using that option would possibly allow Android to kill the background process (without knowing that it's important) and it would stop getting weather updates.

Services that use Push Notifications (Like Hangouts, Email, lots of chat apps, etc) don't need to be constantly running in the background to function. However, apps that need to do more background processing or need richer data (I guess weather apps?) need more than just push notifications. That's why this is a thing.

Fortunately, disabling notifications inside the App Info screen does not affect the app's other functionality. The app is still requesting the notification to be shown (Therefore protecting itself from getting killed) but the SystemUI App is just configured not to show it.


How to do Factory Reset I know the topic has been covered here. But this is something different. I got a Tablet in my workplace to work with. It has a primary email Id for which I don't know the password. So to remove this, I clicked on remove account, but it says it can't be done. Only a factory reset has to be done to remove this Id. I tried adding an alternate gmail id, but still it considers the same Id for which I don't know the Password. So I tried to look out for factory data reset option in Sdcard and Device storage. But there is no such option there. I tried all over the net, but couldn't find anything useful.

Can someone help me on how to do a factory reset without the factory reset option?

NOTE: The Tablet looks like an ipad with same kind of button. I am not sure about the name of it, but my guess is "MID".

Try these steps:

Turn your device off
Press both volume button and power button.
You should be accessing the boot loader by now.
Look for the option "Clear storage / Factory settings" using the volume button. Once found press the power button to confirm.