Microphone issue Samsung GS2 name is Blenderpony

Since half a year now I am stuck with a problem.

My Phones (Samsung GS2) Mic level is ridiculous low. You barely hear anything.
Ofc Some would suggest that the mic might be broken or anything. But its not.

If I do a factory reset. The Mic works how its supposed to. Nice loud and clear. No annying background Noise, nothing.

But the moment I turn on wifi or mobile data. And all the updates from the google play store or samsung with it.. My mic just decides to knock the volume level down to 1% out of of possible 100

There isnt really a setting I can use to get it back up.

The Service menu isn't working because Samsung blocked it in the most recent OS updates.

There arent any apps because the Phone is not rooted.

Dude, I had same problem with one of my device few months back. What i did i kept reseting my phone to factory level and it use to get fixed for a while. But later on it use to give me same problem. Then i restarted my phone safe mode and tried testing the mic. It was working fine, then i uninstalled all unnecessary app. That fixed my problem. Please give it a try. If that doesn't work for you. Try reinstalling your phone's OS yourself or go to the service center. That will surely fix your problem.


Sync google+ Albums with Nexus 5 Is there a possibility to sync my google+ photo albums to my Nexus 5?

My Galaxy Nexus, with the old gallery app, had the feature to "pin" albums locally to the device. My new Nexus 5, with the new photos app, dosn't seem to have this feature.

The photos app shows all my g+ albums, but always needs to load them from the web.

According to this site, it is (currently) not possible:

  You can view and manage your albums when logged in to the Google+ Photo app. We do not offer the ability to view albums offline at this time.


Shortcut to mark all SMS text messages read? Is there an app that has a homescreen shortcut to mark all SMS text messages as read?  Or an app that does this when I run it?

ChompSMS has a "mark all as read" option


MAC address keeps changing My MAC address keeps changing when ever I turn off the phone or turn on/off the wifi card. It's a big deal because I have to register my device on my network at school, and if it keeps changing it doesn't know who I am.

Poking around on google there are a lot of other folks with this problem (MAC address is re-generated on wifi/phone resets).  It seems to mostly be Motorola hardware.

Normally a MAC address is burned into the WiFi device.  So it seems very, very odd to generate MAC addresses on the fly like this.  Too much software (technically incorrectly) relies on MAC addresses as a stable identifier for an endpoint, so this seems likely to cause more problems than it fixes...

Here's a post about the problem from 2010:
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/38758

The only useful recommendation I saw on the internet was the obtuse 'WiFi Fixer' app, that is known to work around some problems on early Android wifi handsets.   I saw no concrete evidence that it 'fixes' this problem.

Alternatively, you could look into the tools for MAC spoofing (AFAICT, these all require a rooted phone).  Then just "spoof" a stable address all the time.  Here's a highly manual method:
http://blog.thecodecracker.com/hacks/spoof-mac-address-in-android/


Is there any other way to install firmware than recovery mode or flash tool? I'm trying to re-install my phone stock firmware. (I'm experiencing bugs, I already factory reset 5 times but the bugs are still there)

Phone's chipset is spreadtrum (sc8830)

I already loaded the packet file succesfully as seen in this screenshot.

The problem is.... I can't put my phone into download mode (bug), now the tool can't detect it.

I as well already tried all of this option but still nothing.

Another bug is I can't put it into recovery mode. I tried using apps like link2sd to put it into recovery mode but it only goes to blank screen (tried that many times)

Is there any other way to install firmware than what I stated above?

Spreadtrum devices don't have recoveries, nor don't they have a ''download mode". Their bootloader is accessed with a "boot key" (usually hardware buttons) through SCI USB2Serial port.

To get the phone detected, just simply switch it off. Hold volume down button (or volume up) and plug the device to the computer. Windows should install drivers (Download and install SCI drivers).

Open the flash tool (ResearchDownload), load the PAC file, click on run. Power off the device, hold volume up/ down, connect USB cable. Et voilà.


Developer Options screen opens for a second, then closes I'm using an LG4c Android v5.0.2.  I have enabled Developer Options - it is in the menu where I can tap it to open it.
When I tap it, it opens for a split second - long to enough to see that it is on (blue button is on) and but turns off almost instantly so that in effect I cannot access it.
How can I get it to stay on?  Why does it not stay on?

try it by going on safe mode(hold the power off option and click ok), after that use the developer options and by the same procedure , reboot into normal mode.


800MB free RAM yet home screen redraws? my lowest priority app-kill min-free level engages at 64MB.

if I have 800MB of free RAM as reported in OSMonitor, why is the garbage collecting Nova Launcher assets? I can't even.

BTW, I have noticed this behavior in Android for many years, across launchers, across phones. I don't think it ever really got fixed-- remedied perhaps; I think people just gave up fussing. From the user's perspective, nothing should be cleared from RAM unless RAM is needed.

This is a rather old question but Nova Launcher has an option to stop (most) redraws.
It can be found in Nova Settings > Advanced (at the bottom of the list).
It reads:

Aggressive desktop
Persistence, caching, and preloading to reduce redraws. Comparable to Keep in Memory option of Android 2.x launchers.

It's not a good idea for phones with low RAM (<=1GB), but if you have 800MB free (so, assumingly, your phone has 1.5 or 2GB), it should be just fine.
There should also be (persistent) next to the app name in Android Settings > Developer options > Process stats after changing that option.


After Factory Reset, how do you unlock phone when it is not connected to wifi? I can't use my Samsung i9000 (Galaxy S1) for a number of years because I tried the screen lock incorrectly too many times. I no longer get that option, it just says "Too many pattern attempts" and asks for your Gmail details. But even after a factory reset, its still asking for these details and the phone is not connected to wifi. I would really appreciate some help.

Till i understand, factory reset will completely erase all data which includes all settings also. So are you sure you have factory reset your device?

As mentioned here if you have USB debugging ON on your device you can follow this steps to disable lock:-

How to Disable Pattern Lock via ADB

You must have previously enable USB Debugging (Settings ->
Application -> Development -> USB Debugging)
Download and extract the Android SDK (from here)
Plug your phone into your computer
In command line navigate to where you extracted the SDK, then to the Tools folder which should contain adb.exe. Do not simply run adb.exe but instead enter adb –d shell.

Please check this question of forum


Frequent login failure on Yahoo Mail from GMail app I have added my Yahoo Mail account to Gmail app on my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 3, latest Gmail version)

However, ~5 times out of 6, the app fails to log in to Yahoo (the username/pwd and other settings are clearly correct since it does succeed in connecting once in a while).

Server is android.smtp.mail.yahoo.com, port 465. SSL/TLS security

Error is "Username or password is incorrect".

What could be causing this and what can I do to fix?

I encountered the same issue. I didn't find a solution yet, but I'd like share my opinion on the possible cause of this issue.

After I re-try the sign-in, the sign-in page shows an error indicating redirection loop or proxy loop error.

Sometimes, I get error message saying that I'm trying to login from an unexpected country, and I have to verify the log-in with a SMS message.

Some other cases, if I login the www.yahoo.com with the browser, with password and CAPTCHA, on the same connection, I re-try the login in gmail app, it works.

Most of the time, in the gmail app, when I re-try the log-in, I just get a dumb error message that leaves no clue.

My theory is that the yahoo server does a lousy job when it tries to balance between the user convenience and security. The server is too sensitive to "suspicious" login attempt, and didn't have a better way to offer CAPTCHA validation with the gmail login.


adb pull - copy whole folder to computer How do I copy a folder from my android device to a certain folder of my computer?

if I use this command:

adb pull efs

It copies the contents of the efs folder to my computers root directory. I want to copy the whole folder with it contents to a certain destination to my computer.

I have tried with the following for instance, without success

adb pull efs C:\Users

(my android is rooted)

I am using a window shell

To pull files to the C:\Users directory with adb you would need to be in an elevated command prompt. If it is not a necessity to have it in the C:\Users directory, you could pull the files elsewhere. Ex: adb pull C:\Users\[your username]\Desktop.


Samsung S4 Active turning itself off I hope this is the right place to ask this question.

I'm using a Samsung S4 Active with stock Samsung-branded Android. Since I updated the OS from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2 my phone is sometimes turning itself off, trying to restart and failing, trying again. Maybe around 3 times until nothing is happening anymore.

The only way I can restart the phone is, that I connect it to power. Furthermore I feel that it only happens when my battery is lower than 60% - but still way higher than 0%!

I updated the phone via the Samsung-thingy which keeps popping up. So nothing external...

I factory-resetted my phone because I thought it might solve the problem - but unfortunately it didn't.

Any ideas what could be the solution for my problem? I googled quite a lot but couldn't come up with a hint...

Thanks,

Ron

Well, turned out that the battery was the problem. I invested 10€ for a new one and since one week no trouble at all.

Still thanks everybody!


Low internal storage, message memory full and sluggishness problems on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos Lite I currently fixed that error by uninstalling all internal memory programs and re-installing them (In other words, formatting their data cache). I also found that you can solve this problem by using Link2SD Pro (which also moves the app's data files). I am leaving this thread open so that anyone can answer it with a better solution in the future.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos Lite (GT-S6102) phone rooted and Link2SD. I am always getting the error that my internal memory is always full, and after many factory resets, I installed Link2SD. I linked all the apps that can be linked and after finding that linking takes some space in internal memory, I app2sd all the apps that would and the rest of the user apps except Play Store, which I converted to a user app and I have on my ext2 partition. I ran the inbuilt cleaner on Android Assistant.

Recently it is giving the error Message Memory Full. I have 9 mb free of 170 mb.This time it won't go at all no matter what I do. I need to receive my SMSs on my phone. It is also very sluggish.

I appreciate any help.

Thanking you in advance,

Sanoo

I use a backup tool (SMSBackupRestore) to save old message on my sd card. Very nice because you can read the backup file to find your old messages.

I followed the same scheme as yours (I own a Samsung Galaxy Y Pro - GT-B5510). The only problem I still have now is the low ram. Apps are becoming more and more greedy and even the simplest apps need 20Mb RAM and that's too much with all the "Google Services" taking up to 50Mb. So now, I'm trying to find a way to overcome the lag caused by the low RAM.

From what I read on forums, the problem of low space comes from the apps mostly. But messages take space too (I had some problem too) and lag was coming from the messaging app that doesn't bear so many messages. So backup was the only solution for me.


How many DPI does the T-Mobile G1 phone have? I've got a G1 borrowed from a friend and I was wondering what is the DPI/PPI for this phone.

I tried to Google for that, but no luck so far.
Thanks!

According to the specs at Wikipedia it is

320 x 480 px
3.2 in (81 mm)
HVGA 65,536 color LCD
180 pixels per inch (ppi)


Change "Audio Applications" in Notification Bar I'm not sure if this is a Galaxy S3 feature, or an ICS feature, but here goes.

When I plug my headphones in, I get a new section in my Notification Bar titled "Audio Applications".  Under that, there are 5 app icons.  For me it shows Video player, Talk,  Music Hub, Voice recorder, and YouTube.

Is there any way to change which apps show up in this section?

It appears to be a TouchWiz/SGS3 feature.  A post on XDA developers suggests freezing ContextAwareService.apk if you'd like to disable it, but no way to edit the list.  Another post suggests that a more recent release (LFB) has options related to this (settings -> accessory -> audio applications), but doesn't expand on whether or not you can edit from there.


Compile JellyBean's Keyboard for ICS Rom I tried creating an Image with a JellyBean's LatinIME.apk, replacing ICS's LatinIME.apk, in system apps folder of ICS ROM, but it crashed. But when I put it in preInstalledApk folder, it got compiled and ran successfully.

But it needs to be selected from "Language and Input" in Settings and also both the keyboards have same name.

What I want is to install JellyBean's LatinIME.apk during compile time of Image and also be the default input method. I don't mind if its not a system app. And I will change the ICS's LatinIME.apk-Keyboard name from the code, so that user can selected any of them without scratching their heads.

I literally had to scavenge the code up and down to get to the solution. A xml called defaults.xml contains the default input method node. That needed to be changed to the package name of the JellyBean's LatinIME. This is yet to be tested; will let you all know if it runs okay.

Edit:
This worked. Please go ahead and get cracking.


Change the week start on Clock alarms Is there a way to change the start of the week to Monday (instead of Sunday) in the default clock program?

Note that my local is set to English (UK) so it should be the default but is not. I am running v4.2.2, if that matters.

Looks like it's just/about to be fixed in Clock 4.0.1 as reported on AndroidPolice.

  The new APK for the clock app from the Android M Developer Preview doesn't look very different from the one you'll find in Lollipop - most of the functions (alarms, world clock, timer, and countdown) are in the same place and operate in the same way. But there's one tiny change that a small amount of users will be extremely happy to see. The Clock app can now "start" your week on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

Update: As of 18 June 2015 the stock app on my MOTO E 2 was updated by the normal 'My Apps" update notification and I still have the option of what day to start the week.


Nexus 5 Random Static on Screen I have a Nexus 5 phone that randomly switches to a static display. At that point I just need to power it off and back on again and it usually works. It will randomly go back to the static screen after some usage, but it's totally random, sometimes it goes hours without doing that.

Is there anything that maybe loosened up with time? The phone has been very well cared for, no falls or visible damage and has also been kept in a pocket.

What could be the problem? Is it likely to be a motherboard issue or something simpler?

I have the same, it starts happening more. I have upgraded my LineageOS but no luck. So it could be indeed a hardware issue


Configuring my office e mail in samsung galaxy 3 Does samsung galaxy 3 have support for microsoft exchange servers . I am trying to configure my office e mail (which uses exchange server) but my phone keeps giving IOException. Any solutions ?

I don't know whether Samsung includes an own solution -- but there are several Apps available on the playstore which can work with Exchange:

K-9 Mail probably is the most popular mail app. It supports Exchange via WebDAV.
TouchDown for Smartphones is said to work very well with EAS, and syncs emails, contacts, calendar and tasks with your Android device
Moxier Mail (Exchange) also claims to do

There are several more apps available -- but these three should get you started (well, I guess you got started meanwhile)...


How secure is a sim lock? I have sim lock enabled on my sim, so basically, if I put my sim in another phone or if I restart my phone, I need to enter the sim lock pin.

How easy is it to crack the sim lock if a theif got hold of my phone?

For example, would a theif be able to use my locked sim to make calls, send messages, extract contacts from my sim etc etc?

So basically, my question is, what does a sim lock protect you against?

The thief would, perform in this order of chances below are:

Throw away the SIM card (see below)
Attempt to unlock boot-loader (if its locked) which results in wipe of /data and /cache
Pop in a SIM card that does not have PIN lock.

If an incorrect PIN is entered more than three times, a PUK is needed!

Now the chances of the thief walking into the carrier's shop, asking for the PUK code is very slim hence why number one (in the above) is done first, even if digging around trying to figure out what the number is.

And furthermore, some, if not all, carriers have the handset, locked to the network in itself.

Sure they will get the IMEI and walk into a Mobile shop that specializes in phone/network unlocking and get the handset freed from the carrier's network.

So it would be safe to say the SIM card's PIN lock is secure somewhat!


how to replace gmail with the new inbox by gmail I've got an invite to the new inbox by gmail service. I downloaded the app, but I can't seem to make it the default mailing app on the phone. (when I receive new emails, I get system notifications from the gmail app and not from the inbox app).
I tried to list the inbox app as the default mailing app using "Default App Manager" from the play store, but I guess that deals more with handling "mailto" commands and such, not with system notifications.
how do I get Inbox to show notifications instead of gmail?
I kinda randomly got 2-3 notifications from inbox while trying to make it work, but I have no idea why it happened.

thanks in advance!

Enable notifications for Inbox:

tap menu icon
tap settings (just above Help & feedback" at bottom of screen
tap your email address
check "New messages" and your choice of Vibrations, Lights, and sound.
Tap "Turn off Gmail notifications" & confirm (if displayed)

Disable notifications in the Gmail app (if "Turn off Gmail notifications" is not displayed in Inbox):

swipe from left to right to expose mailbox list, labels, and settings
scroll down to "Settings"
tap your email address
uncheck "Notifications"

(repeat for each email address if you have multiple set up).
You'll be able to see your mail from either app, but notifications will now come from Inbox instead of Gmail.


Backup app (Clash of Clans) data from the system partition; monitor app write activities Yes, I know I can backup my village via google+; yes, I've tried that before; no, it didn't work for me the several times I did it and I don't want to do that again. I've also used the Titanium Backup method until recently when it stopped working for some reason.

Apparently when I update Slimroms via TWRP and I wipe the system partition, my Clash of Clans village gets reset along with it, which leads me to believe that Clash of Clans is storing the ID for my village in the system partition. Is there a way to get that piece of data stored in /system and transfer it onto a newer build of Slimroms? Is there a way to monitor which directories an app writes to?

What ever you do to update your ROM, you are doing it wrong. Never ever should you wipe your /data partition during an update (it should automatically wipe /system). Inside the /data partition is all your data, so your Clash of Clans village as well.To backup and restore your village the Google+ option is working like a charm for me and all other people I know. Just remember to login with the same account you saved/linked it to and accept the warning about overwriting your level 1 village with your saved one.


Are flash counters a part of Android? I have heard that many Samsung devices have a flash counter so that the company can know if the device had been rooted, even if the device was unrooted later.
Are such flash counters or any similar software default in every Android device ?
I have an Asus Zenfone 5. Does it too have similar software like Samsung's flash counter ?
Thanks in advance.

It is not built into Android, but is built into the bootloader. Not all Android devices have it.

As said by @GiantTree, the easiest way is to boot into the bootloader and checking the screen output. Asus devices in general, don't have any such counter.

Samsung uses a flash counter or the Knox counter, which is triggered when any changes are made to the stock partitions. Knox is tough to reset, but apps like Triangle Away can reset the flash counter.

Rooting usually does not trigger any flash counter, except in cases where you have to install the SuperUser (su) binary manually by flashing it. A clean unroot will, in most cases, restore the counter if it is triggered.

For more information, please see this link : http://www.kingoapp.com/help/samsung-knox-counter.htm

Although the above link contains material related to the Kingo Root App, it contains well-explained information regarding this topic.


How to convert PDF to read on Android Kindle? I can convert my PDFs to the nice AZW format through the Amazon Kindle free email converter.

However, I did not yet figure out how I can add the resulting .azw file to my Android Kindle app as well - does anyone know how to do this?

I've tried copying it to the /kindle directory where the .mobi files are, but it does not recognize it


How do I get my GPS working in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean? Recently I've been having all sorts of troubles with audio and GPS and the compass... I tried different ROMs, different kernels, different patches.

The short story is that after a long time spent messing around trying to get all features working at the same time, in the end I had to factory reset my phone and start anew.

Now, the current situation is that I have a rooted phone running Jelly Bean 4.1. It's freshly installed as of about an hour before writing this.

However, the GPS is unresponsive. Of course I want to fix this, but I don't want to go through the whole mess I just went through over the last few days.

So... how do I get my
GPS working without playing feature whack-a-mole? I'm taking a breath, slowing down, and I'm looking for a reliable patch or process that I can execute with reasonable assurance and no guesswork.

Specifics are that I have a Samsung Galaxy S2, GT-I9100, issued in Japan. Android version 4.1.2, Kernel 3.0.15-CM (Siyah 5.0.1), Cyanogenmod 10-20121120-NIGHTLY.

Update: The compass issue I mentioned earlier was fixed when I used the build of Cyanogenmod available in this thread on the XDA forum. So I'm now just focused on fixing the GPS.

Have you tried GPSFix kind of apps from Play store?

And take a look at web site Samsung Galaxy S2 GPS Problem? SOLVED! which talks about how a battery saving option (disabling repetitive polling of GPS data) causes fix issues and how it can be tweaked using another app, GPS control for SGS2 which is mentioned there.

Before starting with these two, just for ruling out false alarms, can you try getting a fix with your Internet connectivity on and in open place where you can see sky like in fields?

All said and done, I still do not know why magnetic north is flipped in your case!


i need to remotely accsess sumsung s5 through windows I'm sure you all are tired of reading this kind of question, but I'm seriously desperate. I using a Samsung Galaxy S5 sport, rooted. I've tried androidlost, lookout, where's my phone, and they don't work because they weren't installed before I lost access. I have called Samsung, google, sprint, and each numerous times. My phone is still on, I can call it and it rings. ADM says it's ringing when Im trying to locate it, but ya my phone is lost/stolen and I need help.

Login to your Google account on a PC. Pull up your account security setting. Look for finding my device. Probably won't work if you already tried talking to Google. Then go to your photos (In your browser) look at all your photos. If there was any photo, video, screenshot taken you can look at it and depend on your settings, you should be able to get a geocode with a timestamp for the exact location of anything taken. You can then postcode into GMaps and switch to satellite view and see where your phone is located at the time and place of the pic. Then go to the PlayStore on a PC, log in. Now from the PlayStore you can now load any App you want onto your device from there. You are going to need to try and fool whoever has your device, so load a bunch of picture apps to try and get them to take picks. The apps will load on your device, but they have to be opened on there end since you did not set them up before hand ie. teamview would be awesome if setup before hand.
Last, setup any type of Android with the same account. If you can, buy a through away phone. Now you can mirror all the activity of your Google apps (if they did not log you out)


Limit YouTube to Wi-Fi only My daughter loves to share videos on YouTube with her friends. As a result she's blown through her monthly 2GB data allotment on multiple occasions.

While I've educated her on the difference between 3G and Wi-Fi, and she's a smart kid, it would simply be easier if I could limit her YouTube app to only allow streaming while on Wi-Fi.

I looked in the app settings but unless it's in some weird location there is no such setting. How can I prevent YouTube streaming to be only allowed on Wi-Fi?

(If it matters: Droid Incredible 2, Gingerbread)

Don't know of any YouTube option for that end, but if you are open to use an app to limit other apps, you can give a go to Onavo Count | Monitor Data that has an option to limit the app to Wi-Fi only:

  Save money on your mobile bill - avoid costly overage fees! Onavo Count puts you in control of your 3G data plan. Easy setup, three brand new widgets, tailored alerts and automatic blocking tools will keep you safe from bloated data bills.

Update September 2016:
It looks like Onavo Count is no longer compatible with some modern Android devices including devices like Nexus 6P. Onavo has a new "Protect Free VPN+Data Manager", which still has the above functionality in addition to some cool VPN features.


Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card I have a Motorla Droid running CM6 (essentially Android 2.2).  I'm connecting to Windows 7 machines via USB.  Every time I plug in my phone via USB it automatically mounts the SD card as external storage.

How can I stop this behavior?  I haven't really noticed when it started, sometime after I installed CM6?

Apparently the Winamp app has an Enable auto-mount setting that is by default set to true.  Problem resolved.


App updates from different sources I'd like to know why F-Droid shows updates before Google Play Store. Typically these are apps like Hacker's Keyboard and NetGuard Firewall, etc. Wouldn't the developers of such apps submit changes at the same time to both?

F-Droid also tells me that the signing key is different as well. Is it a common practice to create new signing keys upon updating an app?

(Yes, I'm concerned about 3rd-parties using dirty tricks to gain access to my devices.)

I'd like to know why F-Droid shows updates before Google Play Store. Wouldn't the developers of such apps submit changes at the same time to both?

It's common for app developers to upload their updates to many markets at the same time; certainly they want as many users as possible to use their latest update. The only difference is how quick their updates are up on each store. Since F-Droid update workflow is considerably simpler than Play Store (automatic build from source, and no further server validation), big chance the apps will be up on there first.
While I have never used F-Droid, market apps in general can check updates for already-installed apps by getting and comparing their package names and versions, even though if it's installed from different source. (That's already possible by comparing 3rd-party apps manager: show app's package name and version from its manifest).

F-Droid also tells me that the signing key is different as well. Is it a common practice to create new signing keys upon updating an app?

From this statement, I assume you installed the apps originally from Play Store, then F-Droid notified you about the update.
First, I think there's a little misunderstanding: it's uncommon to create new signing keys upon updating an app, because it prevents users to update it!
The more reasonable practice is, that the developers use different keys for each store, but still (and must) use the same key when updating their apps to particular store. This might be used to prevent cross-market to interfere the update (e.g. security issue, different flavor, etc).
The other reason (which is this case) is, F-Droid forces their apps to be signed by them:

Packages built by F-Droid are signed by F-Droid, so all apps in the official F-Droid repo are signed by F-Droid keys. F-Droid will generate a new key for each app that is included. All of the different APKs built from different versions of an app will be signed by the same app key. But do note: if an app is also distributed in an APK signed by the developer, like in the Google Play Store, then the F-Droid APK will have a different signature.
(Emphasis mine)


Nexus 4 shows up empty on Windows Explorer I connected my Nexus 4 to my PC via USB.

When I open the device in Windows Explorer, though, it's empty.

I made sure to install an MTP driver.

How can I access the file system of my phone?

Edit: I have not unlocked my phone, because I'm unable to: the screen cracked, and is nonresponsive. Can I get around that?

Edit: So the Nexus 4 actually doesn't support OTG. Do I have another option? Take out the hard drive and put it in a new phone?

Here are 2 methods to access your phone

Method 1: Android Debug Bridge (ADB)
You will need:Your device, Access to a PC
This method has proved to be the most helpful for users in terms of their feedback after completion. However, this method will only work if you have USB debugging enabled on your Android phone. If you don’t have this option enabled, move on to the second method on the list.
The ADB is used to create a bridge between your PC and your Android device. This bridge can be used to unlock the device and to access your files.
Download the Android SDK package on your PC. You can download it here. Make sure that you download the correct version for your PC. Once downloaded, extract the zip file on your PC.
Download the relevant USB drivers for your phone. You can get the USB drivers for your device from your manufacturer’s website.
Launch the Command Prompt on your PC and change the directory to where the ADB file is located. Type in the following command in Command Prompt.
cd C:/android/platform-tools
Connect your Android phone to your PC using a micro USB cable and enter the following command. If your phone is recognized, you’ll see some numbers in the Command Prompt message.
adb device
Type in the following two commands. You’ll need to type in the second command immediately after the first one. Replace 1234 in the first command with your actual password.
adb shell input text 1234
shell input keyevent 66
If the process is successful, your phone should be unlocked. You can now backup your important files and contacts.

Method 2: USB On the Go Mouse Method
You will need: Your device An OTG adaptor, A USB mouse
If you can’t access USB debugging , you can try
the USB mouse method. This involves connecting your phone to a USB
mouse with an OTG adaptor. Here’s a full list of compatible devices
where you check to see if your device is covered. If not, users have
reported that a USB keyboard can be used to unlock a device locked
behind a passcode when a mouse hasn’t worked, so it’s worth giving the
cable a try.
You can find the adaptor cable online, and it’s reasonably
inexpensive. If it lets you access your device, than it’s definitely
worth the price.
Once connected, the mouse will drain your battery, and some devices,
(such as the Galaxy S3 Mini) will also be unable to charge during the
process, so make sure your battery is sufficiently charged beforehand.
Once you have the wire to hand, the process itself is reasonably easy
to complete.
Connect the micro USB side of the OTG cable in your Android tablet or
phone and plug in the USB mouse in the OTG adapter.
As soon as you connect the mouse, you should see a pointer on your
screen. You can now use the mouse to unlock the pattern or use it to
press the keys of the on-screen keyboard if you have a password lock.

Source


Majority of apps deleted themselves (including Google Play services) on a Samsung device My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has developed an interesting fault.

It happened one evening, after the phone shut down due to low power. Its symptoms:

It has deleted (or appears to have deleted) most of the applications - including system applications. For example, I had at least 3 browsers installed, I now have none.
The majority of other applications do not work, for example:
 Messages still appears, and I can view a listing, but as soon as I try to access a message it says "Unfortunately, Messages has stopped". Less than a second later, that dialog also disappears, without me having to press OK. The Google Play Store app shows a blank white screen, then crashes - this time, without the dialog. Apps that were received through Amazon Underground (those that still appear) complain that Amazon is not installed and logged in.
I have a notification in the notification area that says "Get Google Play services / Google Play Music won't run without Google Play services, which are missing from your phone" - and again, when I press it, it transitions to a blank white screen which then promptly crashes, dialog-less.
Phone now takes at least 5mins to boot, every single time.

So my question is: what could cause this? I've resisted rooting this phone, so I never (theoretically) had the capability to delete these files.

I intend to try and reflash GApps etc, then probably install a cynogen or something - if my phone is imploding even with a stock rom, I may as well have fun. And I have backups of most of the important stuff. So I can rectify the situation - the question is purely what could cause this.

Would a Google Play service update during the phone shutdown be enough? (I guess no...)

Maybe registry corruption of some sort? (My best guess for the extended boot time)

And has anyone ever succeeded in doing this through some intentional action?

[Edited]: Small update: Firstly, I forgot to mention, a large portion of my contacts seem to have disappeared too. So I can see the phone numbers in my Messages, rather than their names, for probably about 80% of people. I guess this might be because it cannot access Google for some reason?

Secondly, I have now tried reinstalling Google Play Services (installed using adb install) and nothing seems any better. Have looked at the logcat, and I suspect that chromium webview is the real cause of many of the above symptoms. Downloading now.

[Edit 2] Also, forgot to mention, most of my contacts disappeared. They were mostly synced with Google though, so when I installed a new rom, they mostly reappeared - I guess with the exception of recent contacts that hadn't synced.

But yes, crisis averted (more or less). I now have a Samsung Note 3 pretending to be a rooted Samsung Note 5 and am pretty happy, but still curious about what went wrong.

The same thing has happened to me.

The fact I also have a Note 3 with exactly the same symptoms makes me believe it is a faulty system update or other service installation/upgrade error.

Google Play Services v7.3 (according to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gms but maybe it's 9.0.82 or 83 or something) rolled out from May 16, I reckon this is the culprit.

I woke up to my phone complaining the same error: "Get Google Play services / Google Play Music won't run without Google Play services, which are missing from your phone".

I managed to install Samsung Internet for Android via Samsung Galaxy Apps.

I then downloaded a Google Play Services apk after searching Google for one and installed it.

That kinda got Google stuff working again, but I had to reinstall a lot of my apps. Authenticator still works thank god.

Boot still takes ages, and every time Google Play Services is gone again.


Is it possible to do a factory reset without losing application data? I need to do factory reset of my phone, but don't want my applications to lose data.

Is it possible to somehow move the apps to SD card and, later, back to the phone?

A quick search provides:

~ Titanium Backup
~ Helium
~ (you guessed it) App Backup and Restore

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/02/featured-top-10-backup-apps-android.html

I've used and personally prefer Titanium


How to automate command line when specific application is launched? So basically I want to run a few line of code each time a specific application is launched and closed.

Is there application which could do that ? (Busybox ?)

I actually have to print it my self in a terminal emulator and it's a bit harsh :/

Using Terminal Emulator and Macrodroid, an automation app

Create a macro in which the Trigger is launch application of your choice and action is Launch Shortcut where you choose Term Shortcut and key in the commands in the arguments . See Firelord's answer here for additional details Home screen icon for terminal program?

To understand how MacroDroid works and required settings,  my answer here
See this to enter multiple commands Run 2 commands in the same line in terminal emulator  ( since you mentioned you have a few lines of code not a single command )


Google Play Store without payment Can I use Play Store with no credit/debit card, or PayPal or code to redeem. I have no intent of paying anything, what I want is free, so I don't want to put cards online. Is there a way to do this?

You don't have to do anything. Google accounts without payment info work right after creation.
The only negative on a non-pay account is that in Google Play Store if you download an app from time to time you get a nag screen about "Completing your account set-up" where you can specify your payment data, but there is always an option to Skip this dialog without negative effect (see sample screen-shot below).


When is native GIF support coming to Android? When I try to view a GIF in Whatsapp, or the default Android Gallery app - GIFs do not autoplay.

Why is this? When is native support for GIFs coming to Android?

To till date now, Android OS don't have native support to run GIF files. For such approach they demand to use a GIF Player or any Media Player who is aware to run GIF (stack of images animated).

E.g. Gallery app, Photos app etc they have features to play gif files.


Warn or Block Internet Access When No VPN? I use a paid VPN service (TorGuard) and when I run it on my computer, I am able to configure the client to completely block Internet access if the VPN is disconnected...

The Android version of my VPN client does not have this option, so my question is, is there another way I can completely block Internet traffic if my VPN is disconnected?

Alternatively, is there a way I can get some sort of warning when the VPN is disconnected?

I'm using a Kogan Agora 6+, running Android 6.0 ("Marshmallow").

If you set up your vpn connection manually in settings. The three dot menu bar has this option in one if its menus.


Galaxy S3 Mini Internet problems I can't connect my Galaxy S3 mini in the internet even though it was already connected in the wifi.

Its my first time to use a samsung phone and Im havinng a hard time coping in it.

go to settings, more, application manager , then slide menu to the left till you see all. then scroll down and look for smart wifi and simply turn smart wifi off.  hope that helps.


Galaxy S5 SM-G900F soft-bricked & stuck on Samsung logo screen Hi may can someone to help here. Today i restart my phone don know why will stuck on SAMSUNG screen like the picture. I see a lot tutorial say have to factory reset. Is that anyway I can make backup now?

You need to install stock Firmware into your mobile using Odin. You can find the Odin and Firmware for your Galaxy S5 from https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/.
I don't think you can backup your mobile at this stage.


Galaxy Y is restarting again and again after factory reset. I formatted my phone due to "low space in memory", after I click on factory data reset and now my phone is restarting over and over.

I waited for 5 minutes but it was not turning on then I removed my battery and I restart it but it was showing samsung's logo only.

I also tried to enter into recovery mode for factory reset by pressing volume down+power button, but same thing happened restarting again & again showing only Samsung logo

A hard rest on that device is: Hold and press the Volume up, Home, and Power buttons simultaneously for 10-15 seconds.

There is a set of visual instructions here: http://visihow.com/Reset_a_Samsung_galaxy_young_gt-s5360_using_two_different_methods if you want to get a sense of what that will entail.


HTC Clock widget takes 2-3 seconds to update after unlock On my HTC One X, my home screen has an HTC Clock widget on it. When I unlock my phone, the time displayed on the clock shows the old time (when the phone was last unlocked) for about 2-3 seconds, and only then updates to the correct time. The system time (as seen on the lock screen and in the status bar) is correct at all times, so for a jarring moment the widget and the status bar are displaying different times.

If I place an HTC Clock widget on a panel other than the home one, a similar problem occurs: the clock is not updated until a few seconds after that panel is displayed, at which time it 'jumps' to the correct time.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Is this a problem unique to the HTC Clock widget, or would this also happen if I used a different app?

edit this behaviour remains the same in Airplane mode, so it's not a network latency issue

Following an OTA upgrade to Android 4.1.1, this problem appears to have been fixed. On unlocking, the clock widget immediately shows the correct system time.


PIM alternative to Outlook that syncs through USB? I find Outlook 2007 slow and bloated. Before I check Outlook 2010 to see if it's any better, I was curious to know if there's a PIM (Personal Information Manager) that can sync with Android smartphones through USB.
At this point, EssentialPIM can only sync through wifi. Ditto for MyLifeOrganized, which only handles to-do lists anyway.
Is there just no USB-capable alternative to MS Outlook?
Thank you.

As you are obviously running Windows, you might want to take a look at MyPhoneExplorer and the MyPhoneExplorer Client. This allows you to sync your contacts with Outlook, GMail, Windows contacts, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Lotus Notes and Tobit David, your calendars with Outlook, Google, Sunbird, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Windows calendar(Vista), Rainlendar, Lotus Notes, Tobit David and net shared calendars (WebDAV, FTP, local), SMS and more as well, and offers many additional features.


Data Usage Warning in ICS I found these related questions on the same issue:

How do I disable the data usage warning and notification in ICS?
How to turn of Google Samsung Nexus Galaxy 3g/mobile data usage warning?

But, my problem is the graph doesn't show up the limit lines. How to disable the notification now?

Screenshots (click for larger variants)

When I try to set mobile data limit I'm getting the message from the second screenshot and it backs to the first image. It is not enabling.

I fixed it editing the netpolicy.xml file manually. Increased the warning limit to 4GB in 3 places as shown in the image and rebooted. Then the notification went-off:

Remount /system to make it writable (mount -o remount,rw /system)
Edit /system/netpolicy.xml file as root:

Remount /system read-only (mount -o remount,ro /system) or reboot the device


Gaining root acces/installing custom rom on G1 with build number CRC1 Could you please share your knowledge about how to flash the latest update of stock Android OS on G1 (aka HTC Dream)? I would like to try out some custom roms, but most information I was able to find relates to the RC30 or R33.

I think you will have better luck at the XDA developers forum

It's the main place for ROM cookers (mainly HTC devices), for the Dream follow this link.

Try this thread for more info on rooting your HTC


Is there a way to create groups of contacts? On my old Nokia phone I was able to create groups of contacts. I found this very useful and had groups such as Co-workers, Neighbors, Doctors, Friends, Family, etc.

Is there a way to do this on my Moto Droid? The only way I've found to group contacts so far is to mark them as Favorites, or create custom folders with direct contact shortcuts on my home screen.

I don't know of any way to do that on the Android device directly.  But you can create groups within your contacts in Gmail, and it will sync down to your device.


Will this android rom work for hd7? Will this hd2 rom work on the hd7 since they have almost the same hardware?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1930240

I would NOT RECOMMEND using a ROM that was not built to go with your specific device. If you use a ROM that doesn't go with your device, even if the ROM goes with your device on a different carrier, you risk bricking the device. Make sure that your device specs match EXACTLY to the ROM specs.

Rule of thumb when it comes to ROMs:

  close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.


Check if a certain directory exists on AVD using ADB command I want to check if a certain directory (e.g. /data/textdata/) exists on the AVD using adb shell.

I'm following prolink007's answer on SO, except this line:

DIR_RESULT=$(adb shell ls /data/ | tr -d '\015'|grep '^textdata$')

but it goes always into the then branch if the directory exist or not. I've also looked for the adb shell manual without results.

Any suggestion?

I tried this on an avd and it works for me:

ls /data/textdata > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "exists" || echo "not exists"


Micro USB Flash Drive on Android Without OTG Cable I have bought a Samsung 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Duo in hopes of being able to use the Micro-USB side with my Sony XPeria Z3+. When plugging it in, I got no response or message from the phone. I tried looking up the reason why on google, but all i get are these responses on how to use a usb drive with the phone by using an OTG cable.

Is there any way that I can get the micro-usb side working on my phone? It must have been put on the drive for a reason, right?

In your case there is no need for an usb OTG cable. It does nothing else then wiring the USB Type A connector to the micro usb connector, there is no electronic involved. The same goes for the micro usb connector on the stick itself. It's directly wired to the type A connector.

Usually the device should recognise and mount the stick automatically although this can be different depending on the manufacturer. I assume that sony's android implementation does not mount it automatically, but they have a manual (thanks ernie for the link).

From Sony:

Find and tap Settings > Device connection > USB Connectivity > Detect USB device.


Trying to remap my hardware buttons Since I have a broken back button I have remapped my buttons in such a way that my original volume up button functions as a menu button, and my original menu button as the back button. I've done this by changing the key values in /system/usr/keylayout/generic.kl.

The problem is, I've flashed a new ROM so I had to do it again, but now it doesn't work anymore. The changed values are persistent but my phone ignores it, it seems.

And yes, of course I've rebooted after making the changes again.

Anyone have an idea?

As you wrote you've modified a system file, it's safe to assume your device is rooted. There are several apps available promising to remap keys (see my list of key remapper apps), one of them might solve your issue. I have not tried any of them (had no need), but what sounds promising is Xposed Additions, see this screenshots:

Xposed Additions (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

On the first screenshot (the module's main screen), the last item reads "Buttons". Tapping that leads to the second screenshot – again look at the very button, and you see it even includes hardware keys (here: the power button). The item just above that would be your back button (soft or hard). So no need to directly tamper with system files – just let Xposed deal with it :)


How to remove Cyanogenmod from Sony Xperia Z? I've got an old Sony Xperia Z running Cyanogenmod which is pretty unstable.

I'd like to remove Cyanogenmod & do a factory reset to the default Sony Xperia Z ROM. It doesn't need to do much - just run Spotify & Google Maps in our car.

However flashing a Sony Phone with a factory ROM requires a special tool (FlashTool) & a special file format (FTF).

Running FlashTool on Ubuntu 16.04 my phone connects in flash mode, but then reboots into Cyanogenmod after the "Preparing the files for flashing" step. I had assumed this was something to do with Cyanogenmod.

INFO  - Device connected in flash mode
INFO  - Selected Bundle for Sony Xperia Z(C6603). FW release : 10.5.A.0.230. Customization : C6603_1270-4066
INFO  - Preparing files for flashing
INFO  - Device disconnected

How do remove Cyanogenmod from a Sony Xperia Z & restore it to it's factory ROM?

If that isn't possible what can I replace Cyanogenmod with?

There's no such thing as "CM bootloader" - a CM installation only writes a new /boot (kernel) and /system.

Since you are explicitly looking to return to stock, FlashTool is still your best bet. Find the latest stock ROM for your variant and region using XperiFirm, generate a .ftf format file with what you downloaded using Flashtool with the guide here, then flash away.


Wifi Doesn't connect to internet in my i5801 in my phone i can connect to any wifi but when i start browser or market or any application that requires internet. It shows no network connection.

I have tried following things

Tried several different wifi network,
forget network and connect again and enter password,
restart device

Following is my Device information
Device : Samsung Galaxy i5801,
OS : android 2.2,
Baseband version : I5801DDJP2,
Build Number : FROYO.DDJP6,
Kernel Version : 2.6.32.9

any help is appriciated

as i go to setting's advance option i noticed i have checked use static IP address and given some fix ip address ... that's why wifi was not working. removing that everything works


How to allow ADB on phone if there is a Lock Screen and Screen is not responding + black How to allow ADB on a rooted Android Samsung J3(2016) if said phone has a broken display(black/unresponsive)?

P.S - ADB is enabled. Just not allowed.

theres no way to do it.

only if your screen on, you could broke-lock with a ByPass and then allow it


Moon+ Reader Pro TTS I know that there is a TTS ability in MOON+ Reader Pro.
Can someone explain me exactly how I can TTS a ebook with MOON+ Reader Pro.
I don't see any option or speak button.

regards

You find it in the options, in the "control" section. If you tap on an action (e.g. for "shake"), a drop-down opens where you can select many things -- a.o. Read (Text-to-Speech). If you enable it here and then shake the device, Moon+ will start to read the text to you. Shake again to make it stop.

You also can assign it to your DPad keys, or the headset controls (just scroll further down on that page to see for yourself).


How to access files via localhost in firefox browser I'm looking for a way to access my devices files in Firefox. The reason for this is I want to use an extension to read *.md file.
I know that I can use file:/// to access files, but the extension can't use this way. The only way is to use localhost. I have searched around but have only found talk about accessing the PC via localhost. I want to access the local android files.
Here is the link to the extension I want to use: Markdown Viewer

If you need localhost, than run a web server on your Android and bind it to loopback address. There are many apps on Play Store that can run a web server. I just tested out HTTP Server powered by Apache and it works fine.

Instructions:

Install and launch it.
Grant Storage permission/access.
Download an Apache version. The latest version comes with the app and would be marked with X sign next to it. Tap on that entry once to install that version.
Afterwards, go to the section Server address & port → Change:

Server Address: 127.0.0.1
Server Port: 8080 (or anything above 1024)
Fallback action: Stop

Start Server. The server's home directory is /sdcard/htdocs/public/, so move your directories under public directory.
Setup your addon in Firefox and add http://127.0.0.1 under Allowed Origins as mentioned here.
Load your file in Firefox by using the address `http://127.0.0.1:PORT/PATH. The extension should work now.

Replace PORT with the port you used for the server. Replace PATH with the path of your directory/file relative to public directory. So, if  file is under /sdcard/htdocs/public/testing/readme.md, the PATH should be testing/readme.md.

Note: for some reason the addon sometimes load, other times it just shows a blank page when trying to load README.md.


Custom Launcher that supports Google Now integration? I just upgraded to a Nexus 5 and am setting up my launcher + icons.  Right now I'm using Nova Launcher, and a like a lot of things about it, but it's lacking in Google Now integration. Two things in particular I miss:

Having Google Now start listening when I say, "Okay Google" without pressing a button - this still works once I'm in Google Now, but not on the Nova Launcher homescreen (as it does with the stock launcher).
Being able to swipe over to the left from the homescreen to get the Now screen

Are there any launchers that support these features, especially the first one?

The Google Experience Launcher is actually built into the Google Search app along with Google Now. This is why it can listen for 'Okay Google' and have Google Now accessible via the left swipe. Ars Technica has a good article which goes into more details on this.

There are some launchers that support gestures, which might be similar to the left swipe to access the Google Now page (although they will only be able to launch Google Now in the same way an upward swipe does).

I don't think there are any that support saying 'Okay Google' from the homescreen though.


What is the app that has a logo like 'p' inside a square? Where is this app logo that looks like 'p' inside a square come from?

That's the Peel Smart Remote old logo. Peel make your compatible android phone as a remote controller for various devices, such as televisions, set top boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs) and other devices.

It allows users to tune in directly to a TV show or movie, record the show on their DVR, set up a calendar reminder or share with contacts by clicking a promotional banner.

Learn more about  Peel Technologies


What kind of encryption is required for LineageOS on Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (whyred) to boot? Having my Redmi Note 5 stuck at the LineageOS logo, I tried different ROMs like Resurrection Remix OS. They work well. After some reserach, I found a hint to some kind of encryption in the LineageOS release thread on xda-developers. So I re-flashed the stock MIUI ROM (without firmware cause of Xiaomi's devious anti roll-back mechanism) and LineageOS could be installed without problems.

I want to understand this topic:

What are those keys?
Why LineageOS needs them?
Has this anything to do with device encryption?
Is this a Xiaomi specific topic or does it apply to other manufactures as well?

Currently, I know very little about those encryption keys:

It seems that they're generated by the stock MIUI on first boot
They got deleted by formatting in TWRP, not on simply wiping
We don't get any usefull error message, only a endless booting LineageOS animation
Encryption can be bypassed using a zip from here. But without OTA updates and the zip for bypassing must be flashed on each LineageOS update
Other ROMs like MoKee or Resurrection Remix OS don't care

Format data using TWRP, unmount the data partition, then resize the partition with adb shell :
resize2fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p50 51G

(my original size of filesystem /dev/block/mmcblk0p50 was 52.1G (you can find it with the command "df -h /dev/block/mmcblk0p50")
The encryption process need to take some place at the end of the partition or it will fail - this thread has helped me : github.com/CyanogenMod/android_device_motorola_xt907/issues/3
You can debug also the problem with the adb logcat command.


Access and modify files on the SD card of my mobile using WIFI tethering I am looking for an application for my Android 2.3.5 Sony Xperia X10i.

I want an app that will mount my phone on my hot spot as eg: http://192.36.02.08 , which will have both download and upload functions.

I want this so that I can quickly transfer files from my computer to my mobile in a hurry, as I have found out that WiFi speeds for file transfers are much faster than that of an USB cable.

Are there any apps that can do it?

I appreciate any help.

You've got quite a few Apps that can do it:

Wifi File Explorer

Wifi File Transfer

3rd: WifiDroid, it doesn't let me post more than two links because of my reputation, but you can search in google.

4th: AirDroid, it allows you to transfer anything, and even control your phone with it.

I've used the first too, both free and pro versions, i like the 2nd more, the 3rd i never used.


Remove bloatware on Galaxy S2 - what are my options? My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S2 flashed with stock ROM - ICS v4.0.3, carrier is Virgin Mobile (model #GT-I9100M). There is some bloatware installed by Samsung, which causes minor problems, such as

being listed in the apps list, so it takes more time to find the app I need
asking for updates every now and then.

I've read on the internet - there are several ways to solve the problem with bloatware, but I am not sure which one addresses both of my concerns. All of them require rooting - so I booted into recovery mode and tried to proceed according to this article: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1501719. I got the error "failed to mount /sdcard", googling for it resulted in some vague answers. I believe this is showstopper - so I cannot do anything about bloatware without rooting - please correct me if I am wrong.

Supposing I managed to root the phone somehow, there are couple options:

remove bloatware (many apps on the market can do it, even for free).
freeze bloatware (something I can do, for example, using Titanium Backup).

What's freezing? Does it remove the app from everywhere, like it never existed? How stable is it, i.e. can any action cause them to accidently unfreeze? What are the risks associated with going along each path? Will I be able to upgrade my ROM, when the new version comes out (ICS 4.0.4 and then Jelly Bean - 4.1.1)?

Do I need to backup my phone and what are best ways to do it? Just so I can restore if something happens, without paying for the fancy features I don't need. There are a lot of backup solutions out there, my main concern is reliability and, for some of them, it suffered in the latest versions and people started complaining in the reviews.

A backup never is a bad idea, so right after you get root access, you should:

Do a full NANDroid backup (which creates images of your partitions, so you always can revert to this state by simply restoring them)
Use Titanium Backup to make a full backup of all your apps and their settings (so you can re-install a selection when needed)

Freezing does not remove anything, and it is fully revertible. I always recommend to first freeze a single app, then check for potential side-effects, and only remove it if there were none. Titanium Backup even offers to create a homescreen shortcut to freeze/unfreeze an app (like a toggle: If frozen, the app gets unfrozen and vice-versa), which is nice for apps you rarely use but which always annoy you (for me, this is Google Maps, which I need maybe 2-3 times a year but is running permanently in background -- so I freeze it when not needed, and simply unfreeze it when I need it).
Basically, freezing an app simply hides it away from all activities. I'm not sure how that works technically, but I compare it with the "execution flag" of a Unix/Linux binary: If not set, the binary does not get executed. So no background services or any other activities from this app, though it is still installed.
In short: Freezing is the safe variant, as it easily can be undone. It also doesn't touch the apps data. Removing an app is final: without a backup available, it's simply gone, including its data.

Additional ressources you might want to look up for this topic:

Unistall a system app without root?
How can I uninstall applications that are locked by phone vendor?
How to Remove / Disable the Bloatware Apps in the HTC One X
Bye-bye, bloatware: Disable system apps in Android Ice Cream Sandwich


Will klte ROMs work on SM-G800F? I want to install AOKP on my Vodaphone Samsung Galaxy S5 mini SM-G800F, however, the kminilte ROM is not yet developed.

klte seems the closest to kminilte, so will installing it brick my phone, or will it be successful? What features of my hardware will be voided by installing the wrong version if it successes?

Edit as I cannot add an answer as this question is a duplicate.

I actually started dabbling in things regarding porting (slightly modifying ROMs for different devices). And the differences are huge. In the script that initializes the rest of the system, it tests for different models of klte, thus not finding a result and not booting.

Regardless of that, the CPU, screen size, pixel density etc. is different.

If someone has an unsupported device, they can try to find the most similar supported devices to keep change to minimum. You can also look on the CM wiki for unofficial ports.

When comparing devices, I recommend the webpage http://pdadb.net/ as it gives very detailed info about android phones.

Very bright chances of bricking your phone if you flash a ROM not specifically meant for your phone. Custom ROMs are made by developers to cater explicitly for models specified by them, and being "closest" to your phone model doesn't mean anything in this context. Please read these to get more understanding

Can I install a ROM made for a different device?:
Feasibility of flashing a ROM (meant for original device) on a re-branded device

I don't know if your phone is "tied to a carrier", or is not , but even flashing a ROM meant for a specific device and carrier on same device but different carrier can successfully brick your phone, and that is the reason developers also mention the carrier it will work on where relevant

Second part of your question, What features of my hardware will be voided by installing the wrong version if it successes?, is redundant given the explanation above.


How can I pick the correct replacement usb charger for my phone? My phone has a wall charger with outputs 5vdc and 850mA, which just broke (I saved the USB-microB cable which I've been using to charge from laptops). Unfortunately, OEM chargers of that particular model are not readily available in our area. So, I have to resort to generic/replacement chargers or adapters. Now, when I got to an electronics store, they don't have a charger with the exact specs. It's either a 700mA or an iPhone adapter that has 1A output current. Which should be somehow better/safe for my phone which has Li-Ion 1320 mAh battery? I've seen other threads which suggest getting higher outputs while some say otherwise.

Using a higher current charger will not be a problem.  The phone "pulls" current, rather than having the current "pushed" to it by the charger, so it will only take as much current as it wants, regardless of how much the charger is capable of supplying.

By relation, there's no point in getting a charger with a current rating higher than your phone will accept.  It's just a waste of money, as your phone won't make use of the extra capability.  Exactly how much current your phone will accept is usually unspecified and is generally only determinable by direct measurement (i.e. put a multimeter in the circuit), and thus generally isn't practical to exactly determine for an everyday user.

1A chargers are fairly standard and would be completely adequate for almost any phone.  Chargers with more current than that are generally intended for tablets/phablets which have much larger batteries and will accept more current (e.g. 10" tablets generally charge at around 2.5A).  Your phone will charge off those fine, but as I said above, just won't take advantage of the extra current capability you paid for.


uninstalling WhatsApp I want to uninstall WhatsApp from my phone fully so there should not be any data left, as it was preinstalled its not removing fully. I have only 2 options, force stop or disable but they're not helping. I want to remove it with cache memory as while installing WhatsApp its showing error.

Also its showing low internal memory space

My device is Karbonn S2 Titanium  (1.2 GHz Quad Core Processor and 1GB RAM).

You can't remove pre-installed apps without root access. These system apps are stored on the system partition, which is generally mounted as read-only and prevents non-root users from modifying it.

However, the system partition is also usually separate from the user partition where you install apps. That is, the system apps by themselves don't take up any usable space. As long as you clear data (instead of just clear cache), you can disable the app and it won't take up any usable space.


Able to open existing files, but cannot download any new ones (e.g., pictures from Chrome or camera app) My (unrooted) Moto G4 currently has a 32Gb SD card formatted for internal storage. I can open files stored on the SD card (e.g., pictures, ebooks, etc.), so as far as I can tell the card itself is working fine. However, whenever I attempt to download a file in Chrome I get the following error: "download failed missing SD".

I thought this might be a problem with Chrome so I removed and reinstalled the app, but that didn't solve the problem. I also ejected the SD card, and then later remounted it, but I still got the same download error each time. It was at this point I realized that I can't save any new files to my phone. I can open old pictures, but I can't take a new one with my camera app. I can open old documents, but I can't save a new one in the Microsoft Word app. I even tried restarting in safe mode and I'm still having the same issue. The only thing I can download are new apps from the Google Play Store. Bizarrely, I can move apps from the SD card to phone storage, but not the other way around.

I've combed online forums and talked with Motorola tech support, but nothing has helped so far. Any help would be much appreciated.

I finally managed to solve the problem. Although ejecting the card did not work, choosing "forget SD" in the storage options solved the problem immediately (fair warning to others, this did delete all data on the SD card). It seems that although I was able to access files on the SD card, it had still become corrupted.


Ice cream sandwich tablet saying the internal SD card was removed? I just got this tablet, and I was playing on it. Out of nowhere, it said SD card removed. The only problem is it's an internal SD card. So I didn't remove it. Now, it says there is no memory on it. Anyone else have this problem, and know how to fix it?

What exactly did happen there for that to occur?

The only way this can happen is by going into Settings > Storage, scroll down to the bottom and it says "Unmount SD Card", at this point it is already unmounted so that would show by now the following "Mount SD Card"?


Is there a way of ordering the applications alphabetically? Can I order the apps alphabetically or group them into folders?

Or maybe there's a better way of managing with an ever increasing number of installed apps?

Can I order the apps alphabetically

The app drawer already does this for you.

  or group them into folders?

Long press on the home screen.  Click folders.  Click New folder.  Click on the folder to open it.  Click on the "Folder" at the top to rename it.  Drag and drop apps into the folder from the app drawer to place them into the folder.

  Or maybe there's a better way of managing with an ever increasing number of installed apps?

I can also recommend Apps Organizer.


Android notification dots appearing on random apps I'm seeing a pale red notification dot randomly on apps in the launcher, even though I dont have notifications from that app.

Couldn't find much details online. Is it an indication that there is some background network activity from those apps at the moment? Is there a way to enable/disable this?

I have a OnePlus 3 with OxygenOS 5.0.1 (Android 8.0.0)

Here are a few screenshots, taken a few seconds apart.

As of now, this seems to be a bug and only appearing in OnePlus phones post the latest Oreo 8.0.0 update. It is unclear what they denote though.

Restarting the phone solves the problem temporarily. It will be safe to assume that a fix could come out in the next patch from OnePlus.

As @beeshyams discovered, this has been reported few times on the forums


Google Play Error - could not be downloaded due to an error(403) Today I got brand new Cubot GT-99, added my Google acc but when I try to install any app it throws error:

"Some App Name" could not be downloaded due to an error(403)

Also app update throws a bunch of errors:

Update for "Some App Name" could not be downloaded due to an error(403)

I tried factory reset, and even another Google account and it still doesn't work.
Also, I tried clearing proxy settings, and still no results.

This is the only problem with this phone, everything other works excellent.

Any help, please? Thank in advance.

It seems there is a problem with Google play.

Please take a look at the issue tracker.


How can I get rid of this anonymous app? I have just found an app in my apps menu (pictured below), but it doesn't have a name or proper icon.

I have looked in the app info menu in settings, but I can't see anything.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ. It's running android 8.0.0

Does anyone know how to get rid of this?

Usually that is a virus app(no name and no icon and can"t uninstall) and you can uninstall it by using malware cleaner apps


WhatsApp: old SIM card but new phone I have a new phone as my old one was stolen, but I still have the SIM card with the phone number connected to my WhatsApp account.
I inserted that SIM card into the new phone, but none of my contacts, WhatsApp groups or pending messages can be seen.

Is it because I have not checked my WhatsApp messages for 60 days? How can I get all of my account back? I thought since I have the SIM card connected with the account, I could retrieve my WhatsApp account.

Key Point is Whatsapp doesn't delete an inactive account.

Also see:

• What happens if my WhatsApp has been inactive for months?

• Does WhatsApp delete inactive accounts?

You can get your contacts back if you had synced them in any of the cloud service e.g. Google Account(Contacts). Sign in with your Google Account to see.

Whatsapp doesn't save your contacts name on its server.

After switching or restoring your Whatsapp account from one device to another. One can see his all groups(created or joined) but personal chats will be erased and can't be seen until you have backed up it to Google Drive and restored them at the time of account creation.

See: Restoring your chat history

After restoring your chats successfully, you will be seeing all your chats by numbers instead of  names but you can now easily guess the names of acquaintances.

Or if you get your contacts saved by Google Contacts you will start to see names of the recovered chats automatically.


Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro Battery Issues I have a Redmi 2 Pro, and it works fine, except for some issues with the battery. If I charge it to 100% before I disconnect the charger and go to sleep, by the morning it may go down only to 98%, but if I leave it on around 70% for the night it can even shut down by the time i wake up. In every case I use CleanMaster to shut unnecessary apps down before I go to bed. The possible shutdown makes it completely unreliable when it comes to morning alarms.

One solution may be to leave it on charger for the whole night, but i heard  about it being damaging to the battery. Is it? What can i do?

Based on the information provided, it appears that the problem could be due to any of the following factors:

Weak/Dying Battery: Can be verified by changing the battery
System not going to deep sleep: Could be due to wakelocks letting the system alive either from apps or system like media server. Clean Master may say that it had killed apps, but it cannot kill apps completely , including background processes unless it has root capability and is designed to do so. Neither does it ask for root permissions nor does the app description claim it can kill background processes, so one cannot trust that it is really killing your apps

I would first suggest that you do a factory reset after taking a back up of your data. I am presuming your device is not rooted, so you can see this for taking a back up Full Backup of non-rooted devices. This solution does not cater for SMS, contacts/ calendar which can be done using CM backup

Instructions for doing a factory reset for your device here. If the problem persists after factory reset, then I would suggest you to change your battery.

I am hopeful that this should resolve the problem. Please revert with Irvine and edit your question with additional information sought in the comments section, which would come in useful if the problem is not resolved

Coming to your other question, leaving it on charger overnight is not recommended, since the Battery gets internally hot and stress caused by this reduces battery life as you can read  Find out how to prolong battery life by using correct charge methods.
. Related inputs for additional reading Should I charge phone overnight or let battery down to a minimum?

Edit

Are you on MUI 3.6.6.0? Asking since rapid battery drain seems to be a problem , unresolved till mid last year, as per reports here

In any case, your device has the facility to identify battery consumption separately for hardware and software (app wise) as shown in screen shot below taken from the same source. Can you study that to identify the culprit, in case of rapid drain? You can quickly weed out the battery hogging apps using this


How can I preview (watch online) videos while downloading the torrent? How can I preview (watch online) videos downloaded from torrent?
I've tried Torrent Stream Controller with Ace Stream Engine for Android but it seems to be only for torrent tv and I even couldn't force it to work on my device.

Sequential download feature is more common in current torrent downloading apps, e.g. you may find it in Flud and tTorrent apps.

It can be a bit problematic to find video player which supports playback of unfinished video files in various formats. VLC isn't perfect, but quite usable for this.


What is the clockworkmod blobs folder good for? I recently upgraded my clockworkmod recovery image to version 6.x and noticed that there's now a new blobs folder in the /sdcard/clockworkmod/ directory:

/sdcard/clockworkmod # ls -l
drwxrwxrwx    3 root     root          4096 Aug 27 14:46 backup
drwxrwxrwx 2329 root     root        131072 Aug 27 14:49 blobs
/sdcard/clockworkmod # ls -l blobs/
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root          4096 Aug 27 14:48 000
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root          4096 Aug 27 14:48 001
[... 2322 folders omitted]
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root          4096 Aug 27 14:48 ffc
drwxrwxrwx    2 root     root          4096 Aug 27 14:49 ffd

What are those blobs good for?

Starting with version 6, deduplication support has been built into clockworkmod recovery. The blobs directory folder contains a hashed directory structure that holds the deduplicated files across all backups.

See the developer's Google+ post for more, in short:

  TL;DR:
  ClockworkMod Recovery now deduplicates files between builds. This results in way smaller backups.
  Don't delete /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs


Fix Broken Launcher on Soft-Bricked Device I recently tried to remove the Google search bar on my homescreen using this tutorial by disabling the Google Search app in settings. It turns out I was using the Google Now launcher, and so when I rebooted the launcher broke and sent me into some kind of recovery mode (not the proper android recovery mode.) It went through the booting animation, but then just came up with an alert saying 'Optimising Apps: 1/150', which cycled through each app and 'optimised' it. Upon completion, a black screen came up and the phone rebooted itself.

I'm using an unrooted Moto G2 which had Marshmallow running on it. I'm wondering how to reinstall my OS or otherwise restore my device; I don't care about data as it is backed up.

Any ideas how to fix/reinstall my Android installation?

Solved my own question, thanks for the help.

To get into recovery mode on my Moto G2, I first went into the bootloader by force shutting down the bootlooping device (hold power until it turns off) and then pressing Power and Volume Down at the same time for 2-5 seconds. I then selected 'Recovery', which came up with the boot animation and then a dead android with the words 'No Command' written above. I then pressed Power for 5-6 seconds and tapped the Volume Down button, which took me to the recovery mode menu.

I then selected the option 'Wipe data/factory reset' and selected 'Userdata only'. Once it wiped that, I rebooted and waited ~10mins at the booting animation before it took me through the Android setup wizard. All of my data was restored through Google Drive and Google Photos, even stuff like the order in which apps were displayed on my homescreen.


How should I disable wave animation I have seen in my device running Lollipop that, when charges get below 15% the device get into Battery Saver mode, in which all the animation of the Android get disabled (like, Wave animation).
So, I just wanted to disable that animation manually, how can I do that, anyone know please share it.

Note:  I have rooted phone

You could try  setting the animation scale to 0% (in developer options)

If it is not enabled already, go to Settings > About phone and then tap Build number seven times.

After that Settings > Developer options will be available.

In the developer mode and set animation scale to .0% (or off)

Credits:  Disable Animations on Lollipop


Apps won't close on Huawei MediaPad M5 Usually on Android, there is a button to show what apps are running the background - this isn't a list of system processes (nor system apps), but user started applications (games). After we press the button to see the list of apps, there is often a button which closes all open apps. This should be familiar to everyone who uses Android!
The problem I have is, my daughter's Hawaei MediaPad running Android Version 8.0.0 doesn't persist the close. When we press the square button, we can see all running apps. If we close each individually or one at a time, return to the home page and then press the square button again, all the apps remain.
I tried with an app called Advanced Task Killer from the Play Store. By clicking boost (which means close apps), a progress bar was displayed showing it was killing each task, but again as soon as I open the list of running apps, instead of seeing an empty list which is what I expected, I see the same list of applications.
The only thing that kills the list is a restart of the machine.
Is there anything we're doing wrong?
Update
I've played with this tablet a little more. Some times when I choose to kill all, they all disappear. If I return to the list, it remains empty (great). if I start another app and return to the list, instead of having only that recent app, it is listing all of them!
When I kill the apps, it sometimes shows a message showing how much memory I've freed up.
I also should point out, this machine is my daughters and as such has Family Link. I'm not sure if that has made any impact.
Edit
When I say it still running, I mean, with state. If it were a list of recently used apps, then when I clicked on one, I'd expect the application to start (restart). In this case, the application is able to resume.
For example, I open a game and get half way through level 1. I then press the square icon to show all running apps, click the bin icon to shut all running apps. Now, I press the square button again and I can see the list of the recently closed apps. I click on the game, and it resumes from half way through level 1
The game:

All running apps and the option to close all

All apps have cleared (apparently)

Press the square button again and see the apps are still running

Click the game and note the game is still in progress

(sorry, with a 2mb limit, I can't upload a 7mb animated gif showing the issue in an animation)
Edit 2
Force close does what I expect it to do. It makes the app close. Even though it still appears in the background tasks (I'd guess that's expected), when I click on the app from the list of background tasks, the app starts from the "beginning", it does not resume. This means, I have a work around but this is not ideal.

The applications that are available on the Play Store will not kill Apps as they use the permission GET_TASK which is deprecated from API 26 (Android 5.0) and there is no equivalent for recent Android versions unless if it's a system App (came installed with the phone not from the Play Store).
The solutions to kill the background app is to use an app that came with Huawei system or simply use developers options which can let you kill the background services and processes.
For the second solution, please follow the steps bellow:

Go to Settings > System > About phone on your phone.
Keep tapping Build number until the message "You are already a developer" is displayed.
Go to Settings > System > Developer options > Running services.

You can find a list of third party apps running services. You can click on the App that you want to kill then select "Stop" this will definitely kill the app until you open it again. If the wanted App does not appear in the list you can click on "SHOW CACHED PROCESS" (Top right corner which is not recommended unless you know what are you doing) and it will list all the services and processes.
References:

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission#GET_TASKS
https://developer.huawei.com/consumer/en/doc/quickapp-open-developer-option


Samsung Galaxy S3 random reboot during clipboard use I have a UK sim-free Samsung Galaxy S3. It's had official OTA updates only, and is not rooted or modified in any way.  It's running Jelly Bean.

Since getting the Jelly Bean upgrade it's possible to get the phone to reboot by using cut and paste functionality.  I've achieved this with both the Gmail app and Chrome.  I've seen it on other people's phones too.  I've performed a factory reset and the problem continues.

To reproduce, load up Chrome and then long-press on any webpage with text, select a little text, and then either press the highlighted text or the copy to clipboard icon (two overlapping rectangles).  After between 1 and 20 attempts, my phone will reboot.  Sometimes it will reboot when I paste something; for example a URL into the URL bar at the top of Chrome's screen.

I've not been able to reproduce this on the stock browser, despite a number of attempts, nor on any other apps (apart from Gmail).

I'd be interested to hear if any other people are affected by this.

When I read your question it sounded like a Chrome bug to me.

I looked around, and YES, it's a bug on Samsung's multi-entry clipboard feature, and it's been reported here.

Here are two things you can do to fix this:
(1) If your phone is rooted, delete the contents of "/data/clipbord/*".
(2) OR, Do a factory reset.


Factory reset a woo tablet I tried to reset a woo tablet 7" without success:

When pressing [Power button] + [Volume Up] I can see the android icon with the warning icon but nothing happens!
pressing [Power button] + [Volume Down] opens a weird menu in a korean-like language.

How I can perform a factory reset on a woo 7" tablet?

Update

I can't access to the tablet, it's locked with gesture pattern.

Power Button + Volume Up
Volume Up, select recovery mode
Open with Volume Down
Volume Up or Volume Down to select wipe, then Power Button to execute


Help in identifying the pop up notification icon Can anyone please help me figure out the icon provided by me in the screenshot that appears on the top left corner of the notification bar which looks like a message box with an exclamation mark! Whether it is an app notification icon or android system based icon.

You can pull down the notification bar, tap and hold on the notification and then tap "i" to show more information about the app that pushed the notification.


unable to remove google play store search history I see the list of internet word searches every I go to google play. No matter what settings I use the words are still there. Show searches I made on the device. But only in google playstore. It could become embarrassing. I cleared data for all application I could find use history and cache cleaners. Nothing works.

Follow this instructions listed here.  On Android:

  Tip: If you want to delete your recent searches under the search box, touch and hold the search you want to delete > OK. The search will be deleted from the Google app and your Web & App Activity.

  Delete items one at a time

  Visit your Web & App Activity page.
  Check the box next to the items you want to remove.
  Touch Remove items at the top of the page.

  Delete multiple

  Visit your Web & App Activity page.
  In the top right corner of the page, touch Options > Remove items.
  Choose the time period for which you want to delete your history. (To remove all items, select The beginning of time).
  Touch Remove.

  Note: If you turned on the option to include history from Chrome and other apps in your Web & App Activity, visit the additional Web & App Activity page to see that information. If you only want to remove additional Web & App Activity from a certain device, choose that device in the "Remove items" dropdown menu.


What does exactly "Re-root System (SuperSU)" do to your phone in Philz Touch Recovery? I tried to manually root my phone via pushing a proper su binary to /system/bin and /system/xbin.  I was able to push them via adb in recovery, which is a root one (idk why). Once inside my phone, I chmodded 755 both of them and typed su --install and su --daemon&. After that, I tried to setenforce 0.

All seemed to work, but when I rebooted, I wasn't rooted. So I returned to recovery, used the "re-root" option and it worked.  Why is this?

According to the source code available on GitHub, the recovery performs a whole bunch of operations aside from simply launching the daemon in background, copying the su binary to /system/xbin and changing its permissions. As can be understood by examining this install-su script, what the recovery does, is to initially perform a cleanup operation for root manager apps that may have already been installed.

After that, the operation of copying the relevant files, namely, the su binary (which is called anytime you request root privileges), the 99SuperSUDaemon (which execution depends upon init.d), a customized install-recovery.sh (to force the daemon to be executed on Jelly Bean) and SuperSU.apk (the root manager).

After this phase, the script uses the previously defined functions set_perm (which combines chmod and chown, and serves to define ownership and permissions) and ch_con (which marks the files as system ones). The latter is probably the cause of your manual procedure's malfunction: you didn't change the context of the files you pushed, so they weren't recognized as system files.


Skipping "Swipe screen to unlock" screen? I do not have any kind of password/pattern lock enabled in my rooted Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone.

When I wake my phone up, by pressing either the power button or the middle button, I see this screen:

What I wish is that I do not get this screen, I directly go to the home screen of my device when I press the power/middle button. How can it be done?

P.S: I have a rooted phone.

Your phone do not need to be rooted. Go to Settings > Security > Screen lock. Then select None to disable the lock screen (which should be set to Swipe or something like that in your casesince you get the Swipe screen).


What is true octa core? I found few budget phones are releasing with true octa core.What does it mean? I read that the powerful dual core snapdragon phone is snappier than the quadcore phone of mediatek processor. Is it true? I also read that from ics only android supports dual core. Is the latest kitkat version is made to support octa core?

A true octa-core is basically a processor either with homogenous or heterogeneous multiprocessing architecture.

The processor in the Galaxy S4(Exynos 5410) for example (intl. edition) has 8 cores based on the ARM big.LITTLE architecture wherein 4 cores are slower with low-power and 4 are faster with relatively higher power consumption. Under this scheme two possibilities are there:

Only homogenous multiprocessing, For example in Galaxy S4. This allows only 4 cores to run at a time out of a total of 8. The processor can control which 4 run but all 8 cannot be utilized together.
Heterogeneous multiprocessing, For example in Galaxy S5. This allows all the 8 cores i.e the low power as well as high power cores to run together effectively increasing the maximum achievable performance of the SoC.

MediaTek's processor is also based on Homogenous Multiprocessing but has 8 homogenous cores instead of 4+4 different ones. This allows these cores to operate in coalition with each other without the heterogeneous architecture.

As far as fast or slow goes it depends on the FLOPS which the processor can achieve.

In this case, Mediatek's processor usually has a slower clock speed than Qualcomm's processor and a different architecture as well. Thus it's impossible to make a direct comparison of two processor without either a benchmarking software or a datasheet, but in general Qualcomm's latest top of the line processors are better than Mediatek's and this is despite additional cores.

One more reason which exists for this performance parity is that not all applications are built to utilize multiple cores i.e parallel processing. If you want more information regarding the same, consider reading this wiki article on Amdahl's Law.


Do all apps have a demo/trial version? Someone suggested a pay-for app in another question and when I looked it up, it seemed it didn't have any trial version that has the feature for which I'd pay.

Now, I will not pay for something I have never seen working, even if it's only 4€ and so I was wondering whether I missed something or whether it's usual for pay-for apps to charge before you even can try it?

(This app, Moon+ Reader, does have a free version, but I'm specifically interested in a feature of the pay-for version, so the limited free version doesn't help.)

It seems like a very long time (maybe never) that I payed for any software on my desktop where there wasn't a demo of some sort to try out the key features you payed for.

You get 15 minutes trial of all paid apps listed in Play Store. Its Google's policy to refund money if you aren't satisfied but you'll have to claim refund within 15 minutes. After purchasing an app, just look for Refund button on app page in Play Store app.


Text having stroke/outline on Android Lollipop I have an issue in Moto G 2nd Gen running Lollipop. It shown a stroke/outline on the text for the entire display. I thought it may or may not be an OS issue.

I tried searching this option in Settings to change the style, but I didn't find anything about it.

Is it possible to turn this off?

Here with I've attached the screenshot, what the difficulties I faced.

Screenshots - (Click to enlarge image)

You've (accidentally) turned on "high contrast text" accessibility option, an experimental feature on Lollipop. From Google official support,

High contrast text
This information applies only to devices running Android 5.0 and higher.
High contrast makes text easier to read on your device. This feature fixes the text color as either black or white, depending on the original text color.
To enable or disable high contrast text, follow these steps:

Go to Settings > Accessibility.
Select High contrast text.

High-contrast text is currently an experimental feature, so it might not work correctly everywhere on your device.


How to stop this type of service in Sony Xperia MT27i? I have an Android 4.0.4 device Sony Xperia MT27i.
When this device connects in Mac then it looks like this.

(click image to enlarge)

Some services are started and also it displays an unwanted screen.

I've searched all the settings and tried to stop this, but no success.
Please can any one help me?

Those are due the debug settings enabled in Settings menu. Since I am not with any 4.0 device, I am unable to tell exactly what to be switched off.  Probably while switching on the USB debugging, you might have experimented with with other settings. Turn off all other than USB debugging to see these to go off.

Take a look at this similar question with similar answer.


Allow login with multiple passwords Is it possible to setup multiple accepted passwords for the login to Android? Or perhaps an alternative secure login. (Note: facial recognition and fingerprint does not count as secure, but an RSA/NFC key would count.)

Like if I enter MySecretPassword1 it logs in, but it also accepts MyOtherPassword2.

I am looking for a phone (Note 2) solution, not a tablet. I am not looking for a multiple user account solution. My general use case is: I have a relatively simple password that I use day-to-day, but have a more complex password if I think someone is looking over my shoulder.

If you run xposed framework, NFC LockScreenOff Enabler  is your method of choice.


Xiaomi A2 stuck in a reboot loop because of data partition I installed the October 2020 update for my Xiaomi A2, and then it entered a reboot loop, giving me a "Cannot load Android system" message.
Actually, when I boot up the phone, I automatically get to the recovery menu, which only gives me two options: wipe the data partition, or reboot. And rebooting sends me back to the recovery menu.
Here's what I did:

First, using fastboot, I reinstalled the entire OS except the data partition. That ended up in the same reboot loop.
Then, using TWRP and executing it with fastboot boot twrp-3.4.0-1-jasmine_sprout.img I could adb shell into my device. From there I ran an fsck -f which did find a couple inode problem. But fixing those problems still did yield the same reboot loop.
Using TWRP again, I locally cloned my data partition using adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0p69 data.img, then I tried the "wipe the data partition" option. My phone did reboot properly, but of course it was reset to factory settings.

Question: is there a way I can restore my phone to a working state with my previous data? I really don't want to reconfigure all of it…
Also I don't really understand what's the problem with my original data partition. Is there a way to know why Android doesn't want to boot with it and why it sends me to the recovery partition?
More info:

Running fsck on the local data.img says it has no error whatsoever
I can mount the data.img and browse it. It's full of, well, files!

So, here's the best I could do:

Try to boot normally
The phone will crash and try to reboot to the recovery partition.
At that very instant, press volume down and power, so that it goes to fastboot instead
From fastboot, launch TWRP with fastboot boot twrp-3.4.0-1-jasmine_sprout.img
Once in TWRP, get a shell using adb shell
Then from this shell, look at the file /sys/fs/pstore/console-ramoops-0. It contains the previous kernel boot log!

In my case, here's what the boot log contains : init: Rebooting into recovery, reason: enablefilecrypto_faile. So apparently something is wrong with Androi File-Based Encryption…


How to disable the google app in android 8.1.0? I have been looking for the option using the google app itself, but when selecting  the settings button inside,  it does nothing, only stays in the same screen without the options in the second and third panel.
So I dont know how to delete the bar on the main screen.

UPDATE
Besides the method that changes the launcher (that I havent tested yet), all the methods suggesting to disable google app or google search does not work because it does not uninstall or force the stop of the google app/google search inside the installed apps. So the idea its changed to how to disable google app in oreo 8.1.0.

Click and hold on the bar and drag it toward the the trashbin or remove text.

If that does not work then check out this article https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-remove-the-google-search-bar-from-your-android-homescreen