Clear or reset my lock screen password/PIN I have a similar problem as the one described in this question, but that question doesn't solve my problem. Summarized here:

I recently installed CyanogenMod 10 on my Galaxy Nexus. I enabled encryption. The first time I rebooted the phone, I was able to get past the lock screen with no trouble. I tried to change the screen lock PIN, but the settings app wouldn't accept my PIN.

Later, the screen locked due to the timeout being reached, and I wasn't able to unlock it. My password kept being rejected, and the "Forgot password" button that I read should come up never appeared. I rebooted my phone, and though I can easily decrypt it, I can't unlock it.

This answer suggested going through adb to fiddle with an SQLite database. However, I can't seem to access /data on my phone. I get the following error when I try to do an ls:

opendir failed, Permission denied

I tried to use su, but again, I got a Permission denied error. The phone is most definitely rooted, as I regularly use several root-only apps.

I really don't want to have to wipe the phone. Is there any other way to unlock this phone?

Edit

After posting this question, I came across this answer. I was able to get my phone unlocked by exploiting the phone hole mentioned (involving calling the phone and mashing the keys repeatedly--though instead of hitting the non-existent home key I swiped up Google Now). I deleted the password using the SQL mentioned in the answer I cited earlier. However, upon rebooting the phone, I'm back in an non-unlockable state.

In other words, I can exploit a hole to unlock my phone, but I can't reset the PIN, and I have to make sure to turn my screen on before 30 minutes elapses and avoid rebooting, or I'm toast.

I got it fixed. Here are the steps I took:

Use the exploit here entitled "Phone: Use a hole to disable your lock". For me, it didn't work exactly as documented, though. I had to mash the password keys for a long time (calling my phone was unnecessary), then swipe up Google Now, mash the password a few more times, and hit Enter. With that, Google Now pops up and the phone is unlocked. I didn't test to find out how much of this is necessary and how much isn't.
Fire up a terminal app on the phone. I can't get root access from adb. Type su to become root. It should go without saying that this method will not work unless the phone has been rooted.
Enter the following commands to clear the password (source). Each line represents a command to type, one at a time.

sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db
delete from secure where name='lockscreen.password_type';
delete from secure where name='lockscreen.password_salt';
.exit

Tip: These commands will be easier to type if you use Hacker's Keyboard and type with the phone in landscape orientation.
Reboot the phone.
The screen will still be locked and non-unlockable. So, repeat step 1 to unlock it.
Go to the security screen and hit Screen lock. You will be asked to confirm your PIN. The new password is null. That means that instead of entering a password, just hit Next with a blank password.
Now, you're in, so go ahead and change your PIN to whatever you want.


Contacts app disappeared I've got a rooted Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean).
Since a week I can't find the contacts app. Seems like it disappeared.
It is NOT disabled (I've already checked).
I also tried to re-install it, using the .apk placed in /system/app, but the installer fails ("Application not installed").
Does anybody know how to fix, or should I better factory-reset my phone? I know this is a solution, but I'd prefer to fix it...

Thanks in advance

Giacomo

The install fail is likely due to your system being read only. If you use es explorer, select tools and root explorer, and remount system to rw and try to install again. Also make sure your launcher (if it allows hiding icons) isn't hiding your contacts app


Can I make eBuddy be the default instant messanger? Was wondering if anyone knows of a way to make eBuddy be the default instant messenger. I'm running on a Galaxy S Captivate. When you click on a contact's icon, it pops up a little toolbar with actions, such as: Call, View, Text, Email, IM, Navigate. Clicking on IM launches the built in IM client from AT&T. I'd like it to message the contact using eBuddy instead.

Normally you should just be able to do:
Menu->Settings->Applications->Manage Applications
Select the AT&T Messenger App.
Then scroll down in the app Settings and there is a button labelled 'Clear defaults'.
Clicking this will clear any launch by default settings.

Next time you click the text icon on a contact it will ask you what App you want to use.
However maybe AT&T have hacked the phone to prevent this.


Partitioned sdcard not working with link2sd I have a 4GB SD card which is partitioned into 3GB and 1GB (Well it's not 1GB it's approx. 750 MB) (I used it through my phone 'cause i didn't have a reader and i used mini tool partition wizard) then I put my data back onto the 3GB partition. Link2SD showed me a screen titled :"select the file system of your SD card's second partition" which has 4 options:

ext2
ext3
ext4
FAT32/FAT16

The 1GB partition is ext2 so I choose ext2 and restarted my phone. It showed the same message every time and it tells me "If you're getting this message after reboot it means that the second partition cannot be mounted automatically at boot"

My phone is a rooted Vodafone 858 Smart / Huawei 8160 it's running CM7.2

I tried to reformat and repartition but nothing worked.

Requirements:

have a SDcard with a second partition that is ext2/ext3/ext4/... formatted.
be sure /data/sdext2 exists
be sure that mount-scripts are in place (menu->more->recreate mount scripts in link2sd)

If unsure, do as root via adb:

df | grep sdext2 should show you a mounted ext2/ext3/... mmcblk0p2 partition


Eye-Fi card: Where does it store data on Android? I'm developing an app that works in conjunction with an Eye-Fi card (Pro X2 - which I understand will work faster over a wi-fi connection to Android) Question is, Android has so many memory locactions, (internal: private to app and not user readable, "external" storage which can be the fixed internal storage or SD card)

So I'm seeking the help of Eye-Fi users to discover WHERE the device stores its data, and also if a folder is selectable by user.

For example, if I create a folder on the internal fixed memory, would an Eye-Fi user be able to set up the device to send data to that folder? Or does Eye-Fi set it's own folder that the user cannot change, and if so, where is it?

Alas, I can't test it myself at present as I have an OLD camera that uses an XD card!! (Eye-Fi being SDHC)

According to this article you must be able to select the local location as well as remote service (which is default setting):

  Settings of the Eye-Fi card such as wireless network access, selecting
  upload location on local computer and configuring photo sharing sites
  is done through software called the Eye-Fi Center which is available
  for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Recently mobile access (in
  beta) has been added via a browser.


Find My Phone shows "No Active Devices" I have a Moto G5, running Android 8.1.0 (the latest available version for this device). I previously used "Find my phone" and it worked.

I had to factory reset my phone.

Recently I wanted to use Find my Phone again, but I noticed that when I went to google.com/android/find it shows "No Active Devices".

Luckily I found my phone, but I wanted to make sure it would be findable by find my phone so I walked through the steps at https://support.google.com/android/answer/3265955

Confusingly, the device is turned on, it's signed into a Google account, it's connected to both mobile data and wifi, it's visible on Google Play, it has Location turned on, and it has "Find My Device" turned on.

If I go to (on the phone) Settings > Google > Device Phone Number it says "no number available", but the device correctly shows up on the webpages when accessed on pc. Also, if I go to Settings > System > About Phone > Status > Sim Status I expect to see my phone number listed, but it says "unknown" for My Phone Number. If I open Contacts it correctly lists my number, although I had to add this. If I go to https://myaccount.google.com/phone it correctly shows my number, and that it has been verified. I'm not offered an option to re-verify it.

I have downloaded the android app "Find my device" to my phone, and the app will show my phone as an active device and will ring it.

What do I need to do to make sure my phone is shown as active in the "Find my Phone" webpage?

(I don't know what appropriate tags would be).

I was able to install the app "Find My Device" to the phone. I then used the app to "secure my device". This caused my account to be signed out from the device. I had to sign back in. My device now appears in the Find My Device webpage.

This didn't fix any of the "phone number not available" settings, so I guess they're not relevant.


Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet Pen: Palm Rejection in Android I recently bought the Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite Tablet (Android). It has an S Pen included which works great and I get palm rejection with the in built Samsung app and also in Squid.
But when I use other popular apps such as Adobe pdf viewer, or zoom or Evernote the palm rejection does not seem to work.
Any idea if there's a fix for this?
Further more, the S Pen does not need to be charged (unlike say the Apple pencil); just curious how the active palm rejection etc. works if the pen is indeed passive and not active?

Not sure if they have any software incorporated that can do the palm detection.
However, you can use an hand glove (buy one or make a DIY from an old sock) to prevent your palm to be detected as input.
Hope that this can help you somehow.


How to access BTsync files in Pebble with Gadgetbridge? I would like store only some most critical files as encrypted in my Pebble, stored in BTsync.
Pin code protection of Sync files is not possible in Android 5.x-6.x because files are stored in a file system access to which Sync cannot close (BTsync).
The storage of critical files in Pebble should be now technically possible with BTsync 2.3 of Android >=5.0 but I am using 6.0 Marshmallow.
I received answer from the BTsync support

  If yes, then this shall be possible with Sync 2.3 released recently. You just need to save Pebble app files to a Sync's folder either via android's document provider feature or a file manager. This is already done in Sync and now it depends on the Pebble app - whether it'll let share or access its files.

Motivation

some security keys in Pebble
some critical documents only locally in Pebble (BTsync is working for Bluetooth connection for local network devices)

Pebble and BTsync

The work which they can make is to consider how the development plan of the BTsync App in Pebble assuming that Bluetooth connection exists in BTsync.
There can be other limitations. The front-end of BTsync Pebble must be limited in selective sync. I think its control center can be in your phone.

BTsync

  [Y]ou need to save files to a sync share. You can either copy them from Pebble app folder to sync share, or add the Pebble add folder to Sync - however this might be not allowed if pebble app exclusively locks the folder.
  [T]o sum up: if you want Sync to sync files from Pebble app on your phone, you need to add a folder with these files to Sync.

Development Plan

BTsync Bluetooth support for local network etc between Pebble - Android/PC. So the BTsync app can detect Pebble and sync selectively files there. (here about the development of bluetooth 4.0 in BTsync)
Some Pebble app OR system feature to allow access to Pebble's files, so in that can you can simply copy them back and forth after syncing.

OR copy files back and forth in Pebble after syncing.

Plan

Use Gadgetbridge to make the connection te Pebble. Maybe, it can allow the read of files on the gadget.
....

Phone: Oneplus 3
OS: Cyanogenmod 13 stable
Pebble: Classic
Connection client to Pebble: Gadgetbridge

Pebble no longer maintained, so the development stops.


Recorded video visible on device, but not other media players once uploaded When I record videos with the rear-facing camera on my Archos 43 Internet Tablet, I am able to watch those recordings on my device, but when I attempt to upload them to online video sharing sites like youtube or blip.tv, they aren't properly recognized or converted.  Likewise, when I transfer them to my computer, I can't play the video file correctly.  If I transfer the file back to my device, it plays just fine.

I know that the device produces *.mp4 video files.

How can I convert these (corrupted?) videos so that I can see them on my computer and upload them to video sharing sites?

Thanks.

MP4 is a container that can contain different video codecs, it sounds like your device is creating its videos using an unusual codec that not many other devices have loaded by default. As Seth and Hcpl have said VLC Player can play almost any format and should be able to play your videos.

If you want to know what codec is being used, then try opening the video in a codec identifying app like GSpot, this should tell you exactly which audio and video formats and codecs are in your videos.


Contacts phone numbers disappeared after sync to google After synchronising with Google, all contacts that have phone numbers associated with them disappeared.

I tried to enter a new contact just to test this. If I sync again the new entry disappears as well. How can it be recovered?

My phone is a Galaxy Note II

Did you clear Contacts Storage?

Settings > Applications > General Applications > All (at the top) > Contacts Storage >  force stop   > clear data

then
Bring up "Contacts" you will then see "You don't have any contacts to display" > press Menu button >  Accounts > choose account to sync (your gmail account) > Sync


Make call remotely from one phone through bluetooth using other phone? I have two mobile phones:

Samsung Galaxy S3 i9305 with SIM card
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005

I would like to

connect them with Bluetooth,
start my phone calls from Samsung Galaxy Note 3 remotely through Bluetooth,
the voice should go through Bluetooth to Samsung Galaxy S3, using its SIM card to make the phone call.

There is a remote Bluetooth sim solution named rSAP (Bluetooth Remote SIM Access Profile), which is used to remotely connect to car mobile.

http://www.android-rsap.com/bluetooth-sim-access-profile.html

But the developer of the app said, it will not work for the task I need:

  I don't think you will find a solution for your use case. It may be
  possible to do it by using the "Handsfree" Bluetooth profile but I
  doubt that the Android programming interfaces make a Handsfree client
  possible. You will most probably have to create your own Android
  firmware, e.g. based on LineageOS.

Is this possible to solve in some other way?

I'm also trying to achieve a similar task with two handsets.
I use unlimited data as my primary home internet. (trying to save money going without broadband) but to do this I have to USB tether my phone (Pixel 3) to my home network.

I want to instead use my old Android handset (Galaxy s3 mini) USB tethered to my home network and bluetooth remote SIM access from my Pixel 3 to act as a virtual 3G modem.

Currently I have to either swap out the SIM card or just leave my Pixel plugged in by a window with good signal.


Why doesn't Android compass react to magnet? I downloaded Compass program for Android and tried to bring strong magnet close to it. The pointed remained stable, as if there was no magnet nearby.

Here is the video proof on YouTube.

I have checked other devices, including iPad Air 2 and they showed similar behavior. This is drastically differs from conventional compass behavior. Also, neither device show correct cardinal directions, except conventional compass.

Why doesn't Android compass react to magnet?

UPDATE

Note, that magnetic field value definitely increasing when magnet is approaching.

So, the actual question is how do they try to distinguish between Earth magnetic field and magnet's magnetic field?

Also, note, that direction shown by compass is INCORRECT relatively to conventional compass.

The sensor algorithm people worked hard to make sure that the "compass sensor" is not affected by stray ambient magnetic field. If you want to see magnetic field data, use the magnetic field sensor instead.

The common way to know that the device is subjected to an external magnetic disturbance is by comparing the magnetic sensor data with motion sensors (accelerometer and more importantly the gyroscope), if there is no motion, the algorithm will suppress any change to compass heading, because it is trying to reflect reality that compass heading did not change. For more details, look under the subject of "sensor fusion."


K9 not showing all mails in unified inbox I noticed recently that K9 is showing emails in individual folders, but no longer in the Unified Inbox. That still exists but has had no new entry in the last few weeks.

I have changed nothing in configuration, although it is possible that I got a new version of K9 in a bulk update.

Any idea what I might be doing wrong, or how to get it working again?

Look at the icons at the bottom of the screen. The middle of the five looks like three bars of different lengths:
-------
------
----

that is the sort key and I must have accidentally "pocket dialed it".
Sorting by date made it clear to me that all emails are being shown in the unified inbox.


Are JS apps effectively running through 2 VM's? When using Google Chrome mobile (or any other android web browser) is the Javascript VM running on top of the Java VM? Or is the JS code compiled to Java bytecode?

I ask this because JS seems to run obnoxiously slower on Android using Google Chrome vs a PC. Granted a PC is much faster, but I have a Galaxy S3 which should be on par with a 2yr old netbook right?

The Javascript engine in Android's Browser/WebView can be either JavaScriptCore (lower end phones) or V8 (higher end phones). Chrome also uses V8. Both engines are written in C++.

Javascript is never compiled to Java bytecode, instead it is interpreted and/or JIT compiled into ARM bytecode.

My guess on why V8 on PC is much faster than V8 on Android is probably because JIT compilation to x86 is more mature than JIT compilation to ARM.


Automatically load a text file a few minutes after the alarm goes off - is there an app for that? Is there a way (presumably via a 3rd party app) that I can set a particular text file to open at a set time, i.e. something I need to read on a daily basis can be set to load at 6.03 after the alarm has finished going off?

You should be able to do this through an app called Tasker.  Check out Useful or cool Tasker recipes, you may be able to modify one of those scripts to do what you want.


Is there any SSH OS support in Android? I am reading the article Jolla and SSH push Sailfish Secure as “European alternative” mobile OS.
I have used third-party applications for SSH in my phone but would like to have OS supported.

How can you get OS supported SSH in Android?

You seem to be a bit confused about the article you read. It's about an Android-compatible clone, which has nothing to do with the SSH communications protocol. The company mentioned has SSH in its name, and was founded by one of the original inventors of the SSH protocol, but doesn't "own" the SSH protocol or name, or the OpenSSH server.

As you've already found, you can have SSH in Android now simply by installing a SSH server or client on any Android device. It's "OS supported" just as much as HTTP is "OS supported" because you can use a web browser or a web server in Android. This new Android clone won't be any different in that respect.


Can I configure Google Play to see App Reviews in several languages? By default Google Play is configured to display reviews only in my native language (not english). But there are a lot of reviews in other languages, especially in english and I want to see them also. As a workaround I can change language to english but it is not perfect solution. Can I see reviews both in my native language and in english?

If You browse Play store via a web browser, then you can add &hl=en at the end of the URL and it may show English comments.


How to change alarm volume without making sound? It's night, everybody is sleeping but I realized that my phone's alarm volume is at 1. This isn't enough to wake me up, but I know that if I change it, it will make a sound and wake up everybody. Is there a app that lets me change this volume without actually playing a sound, or a completely different alarm app that doesn't do this?

There are certainly simpler solutions, but I use Tasker and it is also possible with it.

In Tasker simply create a new task there you can set the different volume (alarm, ring tone, ...). Then execute the task manually and the set volume is accepted.


Stream audio source to hearing aids I just started wearing hearing aids (ReSound LiNX Quattro). My audiologist says that the Android developers are working on a solution that would allow me to stream audio content (music, calls, etc.) directly to my hearing aids. I am surprised that IOS has allowed this for years and Android doesn't have it yet.

Presently, my hearing aid app silently connects to my aids via Bluetooth and allows me to control them. I am able to use the Bluetooth control panel to pair the phone (LG Stylo 3) to the aids, but then my app can't pair to them. Even when the phone is paired to the aids, I can't stream audio to them.

What is the status of this feature for Android? Will it be rolled out as part of a new version of the OS (such as Q or R)?

So from what I can determine:

Google announced native support for hearing aids with a specification called ASHA
Based on this article on XDA Developers, it appears that only Pixel devices are enabled in AOSP, but that doesn't mean that manufacturers can't enable it for their own devices.
Looking at the ASHA specification it looks like a new service on top of the Bluetooth Low Energy specification with additional implementation details for Bluetooth 5.

So what does this mean to the average user:

Google Pixel devices with Android P and up would be the first set of devices which would support the ASHA protocol.
Hearing aid manufacturers would need to support it via a software update or would need to release devices with compatible Bluetooth chipsets/firmware.
Bluetooth support has always been a problematic area for Android (just search for pairing/disconnect issues in your favorite search engine) due to the variety of Bluetooth radio chips used by manufacturers.

So what should you do if you are looking for this feature:

Wait for your hearing aid manufacturer to officially announce which devices and phones are supported as they would have done the testing to make sure the feature work. If you have both that means it should work. If you have a non-listed phone that has Android P and up, and you have a hearing aid with the new software, it may work or it may not.


Disable opening app in app When I am in the file browser and open a PDF, the PDF viewer will be shown as the file manager in the list of the apps. When I press back in the PDF viewer, it will go back to the file manager eventually.

Is there some way to make the app open on its own, with the given file as a starting point?

There is an Xposed module that does this, it's called ActivityForceNewTask.

Assuming you're rooted, install the Xposed Installer, install the framework from within the app, reboot, download the module, enable it, reboot again.


Can I use a Pebble with CyanogenMod I can't seem to find an answer to this question using my favourite search engine.

Is it possible to use a Pebble watch with an Android phone running CyanogenMod, assuming that it is possible to install the Pebble App via an APK file?

I'm wondering whether anyone has got this working, or knows that it definitely won't work because CyanogenMod does not include 'features' which are in the normal Android operating system it's expecting to be there.

I can provide more information about which specific phone and CM version if this is necessary to answer the question.

The answer to this question will likely vary from device to device because CyanogenMod focuses their efforts on popular devices, and older phones don't get as much love and attention.

From my research, success with the Pebble also then varies per device (source 1, 2, 3). Some people have had success and never encounter a single issue. Others have connectivity issues (not connecting, connection drops, etc.) or battery draining problems.

Suggested solutions are:

Flash a different Kernel
Try any other aftermarket Android project (AOKP, PacMan, SlimRoms, Paranoid)

Conclusion: You will probably need to flash the ROM(s) and test it yourself. ALWAYS BACKUP FIRST. Copy that backup to an external device, just in case. It more than likely that it will work without any hiccups. If for whatever reason you're not satisfied, then you can always restore to your backup.

Sidenote: your statement that "CyanogenMod does not include 'features' which are in the normal Android operating system" is incorrect. From CyanogenMod's About page:

  Based on the Android Open Source Project, CyanogenMod is designed to increase performance and reliability over Android-based ROMs released by vendors and carriers such as Google, T-Mobile, HTC, etc.

They use the same Android source code as any other vendor, except that they actually improve and enhance the Android user experience. They do not remove standard features and services. I think of CM as what Android should be, but thats debatable.


How to track a androids location using phone number? Okay so my phone was stolen and is off locations off whatever can't track. But I do know who stole it and I do have his number is there a way to track his phone?

There is no way for a law abiding citizen to track the location of a phone by using the phone number.

Your options are to report the theft to law enforcement and see what they can do. Or contact the person on your own, and hope they give it back.

Both options will work better if you have some proof that this person stole the phone.

(I don't want to let you down, but the chances of law enforcement putting too much effort into a lost phone, are very small. They will most probably not be able to go as far as getting a warrant to search for the location of the thief, as pointed out by @acejavelin in a comment)


Is there a music player can display the song words and scrobble to Last.fm? Currently, my favourite music player is Winamp for my HTC Incredible S. Because it supports scrobbling with the Last.fm app and syncs with my Winamp in PC.

However, some of my mp3 files saved the song words and I can't find how to display those words (of the playing song) in Winamp. Likes the music player in iPod Touch / iPhone.

Is there a music player that supports those 2 features? Thank you.

Just from the Market description, Astro Player looks like it might.


Where is the factory reset button on Android 4.0.3? I would like to do a factory reset of my Android phone. All guides on the internet I read show a factory reset button under the Privacy tab in Settings. However I don't have this button.

Where is it hidden?

I have Android 4.0.3 on an HTC one phone.

The actual setting is:

Settings
Storage
Towards the bottom is the factory reset option


Will the 2015 Nexus phones (5X, 6P) work with any US cell provider? I'm pretty geeky, but I haven't really followed all the tech behind LTE rollouts and wireless bands and whatnot. I barely know the difference between CDMA and GSM. I know Verizon didn't use a SIM and generally phones weren't interchangeable, but that now they do use SIMs... Overall, I'm confused. But, confused or not, I want to buy a new Nexus phone.
The Google store web site for the 6P just lists a bunch of bands and says:

GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
UMTS/WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8
CDMA: BC0/1/10
LTE (FDD): B2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/30
LTE (TDD): B41
CA DL: B2-B2, B2-B4, B2-B5, B2-B12, B2-B13, B2-B17, B2-B29, B4-B4, B4-B5, B4-B13, B4-B17, B4-B29, B41-B41
Phone is carrier-unlocked with wide-range band support for service providers worldwide. Check with your service provider for more information.

That last bit is not very promising, since such information is generally buried in knowledgebases and forums on carrier websites, and anyway the carriers mostly want to sell me a phone directly and aren't highly incentivized to make this simple.
Does this big long list mean that everything in the US — or, at least, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon — will work? Will they all work everywhere that they have coverage, or might it depend on certain bands being deployed in some areas?
To make things worse, the 5X has a slightly different list — under LTE (FDD), 30 is gone but 1 is added. CA DL becomes LTE CA DL, and includes B4-B7 and B4-B12. Does this make any practical difference?

All major US carriers and Project Fi:  Link to Android Police

So that means any US-version Nexus 5X and 6P unit will work on Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Boost, MetroPCS, Cricket, Google's own Fi Network, and more.


does ART use dalvik bytecode? I know dalvik vm use dalvik bytecode. does ART use dalvik bytecode or something else ?

ART uses Dalvik bytecode but unlike Dalvik which would only create an optimized version of its bytecode before all of it is interpreted by the VM, ART can compile some Dalvik bytecode to native code while other code gets interpreted.

Regardless Android APKs still contain DEX files which is Dalvik bytecode.


How to remove Measure/mobileOcr/engriks malware? My phone is attacked by barrage of error dialogs every 1 second:

  Unfortunately Measure Has Stopped
  Unfortunately mobileOcr Has Stopped
  Unfortunately engriks Has Stopped

It makes the phone so laggy until it restarts by itself. Some other apps also don't work, and it's hard to use the keyboard due to the error dialogs.

I have tried:

Disabling and uninstalling the apps from Settings
Installing antiviruses (NQ Mobile Security & Antivirus), but it didn't help either
Factory reset

I found out that turning off the WiFi (or internet) and restarting the phone prevent the error dialogs to appear, but as soon as I turn it on, they appear again.

Is there a way to remove these malwares?

*This scenario is written based on the post from AndroidCentral forum and Cafe Arjun blog. Original poster didn't face this malware personally

I also have an idea!

Buy an SD card (a new one), put it into the mobile phone, and go to settings. Then go to apps and select engriks ... move them to the SD card, and then remove the SD card.

Maybe it works. I still did not try it.


How can I edit/remove my pictures in Android -devices on desktop? I want to remove a bunch of images and it is extremely slow in Android. I want to edit things directly in Desktop, maybe such services with something like Google Picasa (?). In other words, how can I edit my images on the memory card of the Android device on Desktop?

The Desktop and the Android are linked with the same Google account.

You can do this via WiFi, using a remote management app like e.g. AirDroid or, when on Windows, MyPhoneExplorer. There are a lot more apps like this, and they give you the added benefit of being able to manage a lot of other things remotely -- as e.g. reading/writing SMS, managing apps/contacts/ringtones, copying files between your device and your computer, and sometimes even backup stuff.

Most of them (like the mentioned AirDroid1) start a web service on your device, which you then can access with your browser. This often looks like a "virtual PC" (see screenshot below). Others (like here MyPhoneExplorer2) have a native PC-Client, which can even do more (like here: synchronizing with Outlook and others).

AirDroid managing pictures

MyPhoneExplorer Windows Client


Android 4.4.2 add a new page understand that the process to create a new page is as follows : drag new app to right of screen until the new page appears however no success it just keeps rotating through my existing pages. can anyone help ?many thanks

(Based on comments)

  I currently have 7 screens 1-e pages home pages is there a limit

Yes. Thats the limit of default samsung launcher (touchwiz). You cannot add more than 7 pages. A workaround for this would be to use a third-party after market launcher (here are some examples of android launchers you can use from play store). However, just for future reference, you can follow the methods below besides dragging the app icon to home screen to add a new screen:

Perform a "zoom out" pinch gesture on home screen which should take you to screens editing mode/page. You can press the + button there to add new screen.
Go to launcher's menu (by pressing the menu key (the key to the left side of home button) while you are on homescreen). Then in the menu that appears, select Edit Page. This should again bring you to screen management page as above.
Press and hold a blank area in your home screen. This should also take you to screen editing mode where you can press + button to add more screens.

About android launcher:

  Launcher is the name given to the part of the Android user interface
  that lets users customize the home screen (e.g. the phone's desktop),
  launch mobile apps, make phone calls, and perform other tasks on
  Android devices (devices that use the Android mobile operating
  system).

For more information about android launchers, you can refer this and this.


lock screen always toggles between two variants Galaxy nexus, CM10.1, standard lock screen/ cLock.  If I repeatedly turn the screen off and on it goes back and forth between the two screens below.  Super annoying...

Edit to include a question mark:

How do I make it NOT switch between the two different lock screens every time?  I just want one lock screen; the one with the calendar and weather widgets I added...

Unfortunately I don't think you're going to find a setting change to fix this. It's likely a bug in the ROM, or the lock screen or cLock apk(s). I'm also running CM10.1 on my phone (LG Nitro HD) and I can't even get the cLock app to change to using an analog clock (vs. the Digital). Even after multiple reboots and confirming that indeed I have the right settings in Settings->Lockscreen.

Some rudimentary net searching and you can see issues with the lockscreen on CM10.1 is not unusual.


How can I see the fingerprint of my adbkey? You should know that Android 4.2.2 (or just before) introduced RSA key checking for adb access. – The device asks now if you want to allow access.

To avoid asking every time, the computer presents an RSA key, which can be permanently accepted.

The dialog on the phone shows the RSA key fingerprint. – On Linux, the public/secret key pair is here: ~/.android/adbkey(.pub).

How can I show the fingerprint of that key file? (I’m looking for a command line to do that on the Linux system.)

This line will do it (found here):

awk '{print $1}' < ~/.android/adbkey.pub | openssl base64 -A -d -a | openssl md5 -c


Text multiple people on Nexus 5 - KitKat / Hangouts 2.3 I have been unable to figure this out. I have seen multiple instructions online but none of them describe what I see on my phone. I am running the latest KitKat and Hangouts and I want to create a new SMS and add multiple recipients from my address book.

I start by typing a name, for example "Bob", and then choose Bobs number from the list that pops up as I'm typing. It then jumps to the current SMS conversation I am having with Bob. There is literally no where for me add another person to send the text to. I don't seem to be able to start a fresh SMS conversation with multiple people.

So basically how can I send a text message to several people?

EDITED: Added some screen grabs below to show y'all what I'm seeing. Yellow marks are me tapping that area and the next image is what happens after the tap.

According to Google, this functionality is no longer available unless you enable group MMS. Unfortunately, MMSs are much more expensive for me and aren't displayed correctly on some older feature phones.

Once again, Google doesn't care about non-Google communication protocols, possibly in an attempt to force people onto Google products or out of sheer ignorance. They did the same with the mail client in Kitkat which is unusable to me because of severe IMAP bugs, so I switched to K9. Seems like I have to find an alternative SMS app as well.

Edit: Google now offers an SMS app called Messenger (yeah, like the Facebook app) that supports group SMS. It looks similar to Textra which I used before, but now this is my default SMS app.

Edit: This feature has been reintroduced in Hangouts version 3.


Linux on Dex - Can you install additional programs? R? Vim? Linux on Dex is on an Arm processor, not Intel processor. Does this mean I can't install most normal programs? If you have Linux on Dex could you try and install these two programs, run them, and confirm this will work? I know it just came out, but would like to know before laying out a grand on a Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

R Statistical Package

apt-get update
apt-get install r-base
R

Vim Editor

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vim
vim new_project.c

And to quit Vim press Esc then press :. The cursor should appear at the lower left corner of the screen beside a colon prompt. Enter the following q! and Vim will quit.

Both of these Linux packages load and run fine on Dex (Note 9):

R:

vim:


How do I backup my website homescreen shortcuts? I have many websites which I constantly access thru my phone, but they aren't bookmarked on Google, they're just added to my homescreen as a web shortcut.

Of course Windows is something else entirely, but I could just go to Desktop folder and copy everything *.lnk, right? Thing is, now I'm migrating phones. I already migrated all apps I wanted to keep. I feel there should be an equivalent easy way to do this, even without an app. Is there?

Everything on the home-screen is organized by the configured "launcher" app. Therefore it depends on the used launcher.

Some advanced launchers include a functionality to export the complete launcher configuration including web-links and all the other launcher icons.

The default launcher is usually modified by the manufacturer hence it is difficult to say what it supports.

As a fallback mechanism you can try to create an backup of the launcher via Android Debug Bridge (adb). However this requires to

Enable Developer menu
Activate in the Developer Menu the Android Debug Bridge
Connect your Android smartphone to your PC via an appropriate USB cable
Install the ADB drivers and ADB on your PC
Identify the package name of the used launcher
Perform the backup on the command-line/terminal of your PC via adb backup <packagename of launcher app> launcher-backup.ab.
Check the created file launcher-backup.ab if it is larger than a few kilobytes then the chance if good that the backup was successful

On the new device (or after a factory reset) you have to more or less perform the same steps. Just execute adb restore launcher-backup.ab as the last step.


Firefox for Android: blocking images? I would like to prevent Firefox from loading images, due to 3g data limit.

I was googling for an anwser, but it seems that option is not available, and, to my surprise, I did not find any posts mentioning it does not exist.
There is no option in about:config that looks like the one permissions.default.image in the desktop version of Firefox.
No extension (in particular, the Image Block) seems to be installable in Firefox 16.0 for Android.

Can you suggest a solution, or a browser, which supports this feature?

The Dolphin browser has an option to turn off images.  I believe most versions of the stock browser have this capability as well.  The 4.0.4 version can disable images via Settings ->Bandwidth management -> Load images, and I'm pretty sure that the Gingerbread browser had this capability as well.


How do I configure ADB for the Samsung Galaxy Y? How do I configure ADB to recognize my Samsung Galaxy Y? I have installed the USB driver. but when I run adb devices it does not list anything. Following are the steps I followed.

Declare your application as "debuggable" in your Android Manifest.

Turned on "USB Debugging" on your device from Setting->applications-> development

I have my Google USB Driver installed.
I use windows 7 so to install driver I did these

Connected my Galaxy Y computer's USB port

Right-click on Computer from your desktop or Windows Explorer, and select Manage

Select Devices in the left pane.

Locate and expand Other device in the right pane. Now I just don't see my device listed there
I am new to the forum and cannot post images so here's the link for the screen shot what device manager looks like

http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/66454912/file.html

Is your USB Debugging mode enabled? Go to Settings->Applications->Development, and check the "USB Debugging" mode. This will help the ADB detect your device.

You may refer to the Android Developer Documentation: Using Hardware Devices for further information and details.


How to be woken up when receiving a text message with an Android phone? I am on call sometimes and I am getting SMS and email from our systems. The sender is an email to SMS gateway that is unique to this and always the same, the messages start with the same words. I need to be woken up by them, but right now, that isn't happening.
I use Locale, and the Locale "Inbound SMS" Plug-in, but that does not seem to be working yet (with a test account, it does not go full loud and alt ring tone).
I would like it to do something like have a song start playing loudly. It would also be nice if it sanely handled getting 200 pages in 10 min (probably just disable Locale).
I have T-Mobile G1 on Android 1.6. I could root it if it is needed, but really rather not.
Any tips or thoughts?

I went with Tasker, it is a bit cheaper (especially when you realize that you are less likely to need plug ins with it, though it can use Locale plug ins it seems), it is trickier to get running, but allows for a much wider range of options than Locale.

So when it sees an SMS come in with "PROBLEM" in the subject, it turns music playback to maximum volume, and then starts playing a song in a loop, until you click on the stop button. I need to add the feature to not trigger again for a few minutes (to deal with the flood issue).

I looked at Setting Profiles web page, but have not tried it.


Will other members get notified when an admin makes someone a group admin in WhatsApp? In WhatsApp groups, I don't want other members to get notified that it is I who made them group admin.

Will other members get notified that 'certain person has made you admin' when an admin makes someone group admin in WhatsApp?

On WhatsApp, anytime someone joins/leaves or there is a change of privileges, in the chat there is a green notification in the middle saying that X person made Y person an admin.

There is a notification for it, although if you don't want your friend to see it you might be able to get away with it by spamming a bunch of stuff afterwards, although I wouldn't necessarily call that foolproof.


Can I install sudo/su with the signed apk exploit? The BlueBox Security Scanner says that my Nexus 4 is still vulnerable to two signature exploits.

As far as I understood the exploit can circumvent the apk-signature-check so that any apk posing as an update for a system-apk will be installed as system app.

Is there a known way to install sudo/su with this exploit?

I would like to do so before my Nexus gets patched...

Update 2013-07-22:

What I am looking for is a step by step guide along these lines:

get sudo-apk
choose one unused system-app
remove updates for this system-app
download latest update for this system-app
integrate sudo-apk with system-app-update-apk
install
have joy

The Exploit (& Fix) Android "Master Key" article describes the process of using the “Master Key” exploit to get elevated privileges with lots of technical details. The main point is that the exploit by itself does not give root privileges — only arbitrary code execution as the system user, and another privilege elevation exploit is needed to get root privileges (one well-known example shown in the article is writing ro.kernel.qemu=1 to /data/local.prop, but this attack is blocked in most Android 4.1 and later versions).

The article also provides download links for the Cydia Impactor tool which automates the “Master Key” exploit (currently only up to getting the system user rights, not all the way to root). There are versions for Windows and Mac OS X.


Is removing an app any different from disabling an app? One of the main advantage of rooting is removing bloatware [I guess]. Is removing unwanted brand-based or operator-based app any different from disabling it from All Application in Settings? I don't find any improvement in memory too since these apps were pre-loaded in OS and you can't use those space any way.

As it has already been said: the main difference is that disabling an app simply marks it unavailable (which can easily be reverted), while removing physically removes the app and all connected data from the device.

What was still left open is: What do you gain from removing an app, that you didn't get by disabling it – so it would be worth the risk of not being easily reverted?

Space: You're probably talking about system apps here. Those are usually installed on the /system partition, which is mounted read-only, and cannot be used by "normal (user) applications". So removing the app itself doesn't give you space to "simply install other apps". But still:

Almost all apps have data, which is stored in /data/data/<app_package_name>1. While pressing "clear cache" and "delete data" from Settings→Apps resets those, it doesn't completely delete everything. Removing the app does. So you gain at least some space here.
All apps are being "optimized", which results in Dalvik/ART cache data residing on the user partition (inside /data/dalvik-cache). If you delete an app, this cache is removed – if you disable it, it remains (see the comment of Death Mask Salesman below).

Performance & battery: If you disable an app, it becomes invisible to the user – but the files are still there. Also, the package manager still knows it exists. Plus the app's "intents" are still available: if another apps directly calls them, the disabled app still responds to the call. It also seems to listen to some broadcasts it previously had registered listeners on (example: my LG Optimus 4X has those bloated LG stuff I've disabled. Nevertheless, after each boot I receive prompts from their "remote service" app to approve).
That means, a disabled app can still be running in background, if called from some other place – and consume battery plus CPU, even bandwidth and other resources. A removed app obviously can't.

1 Some apps also store (usually "huger chunks" of) data on SDCard, but almost all apps have at least their central data below /data/data.


Archiving old photos to Google Plus (off the phone, but accessible) I have an EyeFi in my camera. The client on my phone polls it and downloads new photos. My phone automagically backs them up to Google Plus Photos. So from taking a picture, I can access them from any browser or computer syncing my photos with G+. That's really handy.

But this takes up a lot of space on my phone (which has no SD card support). When I attempt to delete a photo from the Photos app, it tells me it's going to die everywhere.

I would like to "archive" my photos in such a way that:

I can access them through Google Plus
I can access them through my phone (in the Photos app)
They aren't taking up space on my phone
I don't have to delete them from "everywhere". I want a copy on G+ until I delete it from G+.

I have some photos from ~2006 in a Picasa web album that are automatically pulled into the Photos app. They aren't on my phone, but I can still see them. This is what I'm after.

How do I achieve this? And bonus points if I can batch this so every month I can run something to archive photos over 3 months old.

If you have a built in gallery app or file explorer delete the photos (locally) on the device via one of these apps (if not install an app to-do so) and then they should stay in the cloud if auto-backup is enabled and ran before deleting them.
This "should" work as it's worked with my phone... But I don't have a lot of experience with smart cameras...


Can my father's smartphone be compromised? My father said to me that he allowed installation of apps from unknown sources when he was asked to do it to go further with something (he said that he don't remember when or what he was doing).

In android 8.0 (the version of his smartphone) we can allow third-party installation in individual apps, so I went in this tab and I saw that only Google Chrome was able to do this type of installation. So, I navigated through my father's apps and found nothing suspicious.

When I went to files, I found a folder called didi. Inside, a file with no extention called psnger_encrypted or something like that. When I went to select the file to see details, I accidentally clicked on the file. Android said to me that it didn't find any app to open that file.

Could a file have been executed even when Android says that message? If this file is malicious, is it possible that it was executed and so infected the phone?

Doing some research, I found that a Chinese app called "DiDi" that have a file called "psnger" too. Also, I found a file in my father's phone called .omega.key, and this file is also seen in topics related to DiDi app. The fact is that I can't find this app on the phone, and I'm looking for ways that can indicate if the phone have any malicious content. I executed AVG, and Malwarebytes but both detected nothing. What else can I do?

The correct approach in case of a virus/malware infected device (even if it already had been clean-up by e.g. Google) is to totally erase the device (user and system data) by performing a factory reset and re-flashing the complete firmware.

Virus scanner apps are next useless on Android as they usually don't have system access. And even with system access it is still easy to hide from Antivirus software.

The main problem is that the security patches are more than one year old. Therefore a malware app could have exploited the device and installed itself into the system. Therefore there may be still active components in the system that are invisible to you and any antivirus software.

I would also not to hurry up to get the device back in a usable state. People (especially relatives) learn better not to click on everything they see when there are negative consequences.


What media formats are supported in Android? I am new to Android, and I'm learning. For example, most of my old music files were FLV and SWF files, which my phone and tablet won't play, and I can't seem to get extensions for Chrome to play them.

The file manager on my tablet seems to play MP4 files just fine, although I can't make a playlist like I could in VLC. I tried VLC for Android, and it doesn’t work for anything.

I haven't tried my WEBM files yet. I am just wondering, what are supported in Android 4+?

As Matthew Read noted, the list of supported media formats is device specific. More or less, it's actually specific to the default video player app your device has.

I'm not aware of an app that can show a list of MIME types supported by an installed app, so here you go with the command-line way. Make sure you've adb setup in PC, USB debugging enabled in the device, and the device is connected to PC.

Note: I needed root access to access "dumpsys" on Android 4.2.1 but Kitkat and Lollipop allows access to it without root access.

You would have to first determine which app (pre-installed) in your system  is responsible for playing videos.

In my device running Android 4.2.1, Gallery app does that job (don't be surprised, it even manages the Camera as an standalone app, not to mention the Gallery itself). Its package name is com.android.gallery3d.

There are numerous ways to find the package name of an app. You can use apps like App Browser or Elixir 2 or OS Monitor or ES File Explorer and whatnot. Also, see View app's full package name?

You can use command-line too. Launch the app whose package name you want to determine and let it remain in foreground. On PC, enter the command:

adb shell dumpsys window | grep mCurrentFocus

You would see something like:

mCurrentFocus=Window{41d5fd10 u0 com.japanesecrackers.appbrowser/com.japanesecrackers.appbrowser.activities.AppDetailsActivity}

com.japanesecrackers.appbrowser is the package name here. The part of string after / is the activity in foreground.

Note that if you can't find the OEM's video player app under Settings → Apps → All apps, then most likely, the video player is just an activity of an app. In that case, simply play a video file and then run the aforesaid command.
Now that we have the package name <PKG_NAME>, enter the command:

adb shell dumpsys package <PKG_NAME> | sed -n '/Full MIME Types:/,/Base MIME Types:/p' | grep -o "video/[a-zA-Z0-9].*" | awk -F 'video/' '{print $2}' | tr -d ':'

It gave me the output:

avi
3gpp2
mpeg4
3gpp
3gp
webm
mp4

Now that was a too localized command and most likely, it would give you nothing for your particular app. The key command is adb shell dumpsys package <PKG_NAME>. It holds all the information you need to sort. The MIME types are listed between the lines with string Full MIME Types: and Base MIME Types: respectively.

I don't have to tell you anything anymore. You would be able to identify the media formats rather easily now.
Alternatively,

Grab the APK of the app,
Extract AndroidManifest.xml from the APK. An APK is simply an archive file so extraction is easy.
Open the XMl (binary) file on Android using Axel or on PC using AXMLPrinter (requires Java Runtime Environment).

App Browser can show the Manifest of an app without requiring the XML separately.

You have to look for the lines containing the string android:mimeType=. For example, for MX Player the relevant strings I saw were,

android:mimeType="video/*"
android:mimeType="*/rmvb"
android:mimeType="*/avi"
android:mimeType="*/mkv"
android:mimeType="application/sdp"
android:mimeType="application/mp4"
android:mimeType="application/mpeg*"
android:mimeType="application/ogg"
android:mimeType="application/x-ogg"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.rn-realmedia*"
android:mimeType="application/3gpp*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.3gp*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.dvd*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.dolby*"
android:mimeType="application/x-mpegURL"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.apple.mpegurl"
android:mimeType="application/x-quicktimeplayer"
android:mimeType="application/x-shockwave-flash"
android:mimeType="video/*"
android:mimeType="*/rmvb"
android:mimeType="*/avi"
android:mimeType="*/mkv"
android:mimeType="application/sdp"
android:mimeType="application/mp4"
android:mimeType="application/mpeg*"
android:mimeType="application/ogg"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.rn-realmedia*"
android:mimeType="application/3gpp*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.3gp*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.dvd*"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.dolby*"
android:mimeType="application/x-mpegURL"
android:mimeType="application/vnd.apple.mpegurl"
android:mimeType="application/x-quicktimeplayer"
android:mimeType="application/x-shockwave-flash"
android:mimeType="audio/*"
android:mimeType="application/flac"
android:mimeType="application/x-flac"
android:mimeType="application/ape"
android:mimeType="application/x-ape"

Google Chrome and Firefox can play the WEBM and MP4. For FLV and SWF, your best bet is to find a third-party app.  And, you need to dive into Play Store and on web. There are numerous apps which can play variety of media formats or allows you to create playlists or provides better file management options.

Have fun!


unlocking a cracked phone through the computer? I cracked the screen on my Samsung Galaxy s6 Edge and now I can't unlock it. I have looked all over for a way to unlock my phone using a computer but to no avail. I have tried droid screen, some tools on xda forums and a google chrome app. None of them seem to detect my phone. I distinctly remember turning on usb debugging on my phone but I am not certain. Is there any way to check if usb debugging is enabled on my phone without actually opening it? Also if usb debugging is not enabled, is there still a way to control my phone screen through my computer? I have unsuccessfully tried to install ADB but after the first few steps of the installation I get lost in the  technicality of the language. My phone is not rooted. I am running windows 10 and I posses almost zero technical knowledge about the workings of android and how it connects to a computer. I would appreciate if somebody could point me in the right direction or explain what I need to do in simple language. Thanks!

Once the adb files are on your pc, all you have to do is run the command to list adb devices. If no results show up, your device does not have usb debugging enabled. If you get a result, an 8 digit number.. that means you have it enabled and the phone is connected. There is a way to enable usb debugging via command line but then, that is even nore technical. Save yourself the headache and unlock your phone with a usb mouse.


Can Android tablet read external hard drive and if so which formats? Can an Android tablet read external hard drives and if so which formats?

I have a Samsung Note and tried accessing a hard drive but failed. I've been told that if I format my 1TB hard drive to FAT32 then I can. Is that correct?

Assuming an Android version of 3.1+, external drives should be supported via USB host mode by most devices -- see Compro01's comments below:

Not all devices support USB host mode, 3.1+ or not. Chainfire has a nice app to test compatability (and an extensive database of reports from that app on which devices work and which don't).
Also, if we're talking about an actual hard drive, rather than a flash drive, power is likely to be an issue unless the drive is self-powered (has a power brick of its own). If it's bus-powered drive and it fails to spin up, you'll need another source of power, such as a self-powered hub.

Of course they must carry a supported file system. You assume correctly that FAT32 definitly should be supported. Some others might be supported as well, depending on what was compiled into the kernel for your ROM. In many cases, this also includes extfs (EXT2/3/4). If you're either re-formatting the drive, you can simply try-and-err in case you prefer one of those.


Google maps doesn't have data connection Ever since upgrading my Nexus 4 to CyanogenMod 10.1-20130304, Google Maps behaves improperly.  I have not noticed the problem with any other app.

I can open the Maps app, and it will show me where I am, but when I try to search, 95%+ of the time, it will just sit there as though it's searching, but it never finds any results.

The only way I have found to resolve the issue is to completely remove the Google Maps app, and re-install it.  Doing this will allow search to work--once.

The next time I need to search again, I have to remove and re-install.

This happens whether using mobile Internet or wifi.

Is there anything I can do short of restoring the phone to factory settings and starting over?

Eventually I resorted to restoring my phone to factory settings, and now this works again.


Can I create a wifi network on my WiFi-only Nexus 7? I have a Nexus 7 on which I'd like to create a wifi network, so that I can have my laptop connect to it. The goal is to transfer files back and forth (I have a server running on the Nexus 7).

I'm not talking about tethering — the Nexus 7 is wifi-only. I'm aware that what I'm asking for will mean that neither device will have an Internet connection.

The device is not rooted, and I'm not willing to root it. I'm looking for something that be installed from the Play Store without rooting. Thanks.

I know that I can do things the other way around (create a wifi network on my laptop and have my Nexus connect to it) but let's exclude that for the purpose of this question.

For transferring files between tablet and computer via Wifi there are a few methods.

For file transfer between Android devices I personally use Superbeam. They also have a Windows app. On one device you select the files you want to send and it gives you a barcode and a Wifi name. On the other device, you scan the code or connect to the Wifi name and the file transfer will start.
FTP. There are different apps that turn your Android device into a FTP server. For this, I personally use Solid Explorer (has a free 14 day trial). It is a file explorer with FTP possibilities, but there are more than enough standalone FTP Server apps in the Store. With Solid Explorer, I go to Menu > File Sharing > Start. If you're connected to a Wifi network, it uses the IP address of your device (something like 192.168.x.x). If you're not connected, it will ask if it should set up a hotspot. Connect to the hotspot and enter the URL given for access. In windows you can make a shortcut in Explorer, so after you make it the first time you can just click on your shortcut.

Click image for larger version


Is it always possible to recover from a failed installation of a ROM? in the past I changed the ROM from my phone and the installation was correct. Now I'm currently working in a custom ROM, where I'm doing some alterations on Android Source code.
So, my question is: if I flash my phone with my custom ROM e something goes wrong, is it always possible take a stable ROM (that I already have) and install back to my phone? Or my phone can break without having how to recover it?

Once the installation failed on the middle, and I just start it again and everything worked fine, but the ROM were stable and now I'm customizing it. Or even in that time I had luck!

Thank you for now
Pablo

As long as you have recovery installed you can flash another ROM, stock or custom. The kernel/boot.img would be dependent on the ROM and they would most likely come with the ROM package. So if you have a complete ROM, with all necessary parts, you will be able to to recover from a bad flash.

  Always make a backup/nandroid


Keyboard Settings on Emulator revert on restart My Android 2.3.3 emulator has four different keyboards:
Japenese keyboard
Chinese keyboard
Android keyboard
Sample Soft keyboard

I uncheck all of them so that I can use the hardware keyboard. After a few seconds, it gives an error message saying that the process com.android.inputmethod.latin not responding, with a Force Close button. Moreover, I close and restart my emulator to find all the keyboards checked!

The reason why I want all unchecked is as follows:

When click the cursor to a position where I want to insert some text (at least on Whatsapp, I face this problem), the cursor remains there for 3 to 10 seconds (!!)  and then the keyboard shows up on screen and the cursor goes back to where it was! This is not the case when all the on-screen keyboards are disabled.

How do I make the keyboard disabling setting permanent?

UPDATE: This was beyond my imagination and very annoying. The input methods other than soft keyboard are back and even enabled once I rebooted the emulator! Why does the sdk just refuse to retain the settings??

DONE: I backed up all my contents of my old emulator, created a fresh emulator using

android create avd -t <TargetID> -n <EmulatorName> -a --abi <CPU/ABI-Used>

To aid finding out the correct value of <TargetID> and the admissible values <CPU/ABI-Used> corresponding the same as per your choice of the API level, I used

android list targets

You will then find that the Snapshot option is available, when you edit the same AVD from the Android Virtual Device Manager. So check the snapshot. And when you launch, be sure you have checked "Launch from Snapshot" and "Save to Snapshot" options. Now use the rm commands in the adb shell to remove the IMEs. (I will make it clear soon how one does that) You close and next time you open it through emulator command, it loads from snapshot and the permanence of the IME settings (or for that matter any system settings) is achieved!

(P.S.: Only when you change the hardware configuration will you need to actually reboot, in which case you cannot launch from snapshot as it was saved for a different hardware configuration!)

As the question indicates, all I want is that my hardware keyboard is active and I really don't care about the 4 input methods there. It never occurred to me that I could simply remove all IMEs: Here's how:

Mount the /system folder. Retrieve the apk names of the IMEs by going into /system/app and displaying its contents:

aneesh@nb-14:~$ adb shell mount -rw -o remount /dev/block/mtdblock0 /system
aneesh@nb-14:~$ adb shell
# cd /system/app
# ls
Phone.apk
Development.apk
Email.apk
Calculator.apk
...
..
etc.

Next just do

rm <IMEapkname>.apk

For instance in case of the Japanese IME one executes

rm /system/app/PinyinIME.apk

Since this trick, for me, didn't work thus far for the sample soft keyboard:

I came out of the adb shell and did:

adb uninstall com.example.android.softkeyboard

UPDATE: Once you ensure that the snapshot has saved properly (try launching from snapshot via terminal/AVD manager, it must not produce errors) and don't want to make further changes to the system applications or hardware configurations, do launch the emulator with the -no-snapshot-save option:

emulator -no-snapshot-save -avd Andreud

so that you can launch from snapshot like before and avoid aberrations that occur while saving to snapshot (lest it should produce error saying it was saved for a different hardware configuration). Moreover you can save some valuable seconds it takes to save the snapshot. So this way your overall android emulator experience improves!


What is the HTC account you sync on the One X? I just got my HTC One X and was just going through the registration process of the HTC Account in the 'Accounts & Sync' settings, when someone asked me to show them something. Without thinking I pressed back and now when I try and register again, I'm told I can't as it exists.

I'd like to know, is there a matching web service for this which I can use to get my password back? What account is it? I had assumed it was for HTCSense.com but it doesn't seem to be.

Anyone have any idea's please? Otherwise I'll just have to try and login to it repeatedly which I'd like to avoid.

I have rebooted my phone and when I tried again it let me register. The account is linked to htcsense.com which seems odd as there is a message there saying that it's closing down its services!


Do some running apps not show in Task Manager? I was using the Navigator app and I was still hearing voice directions even though Task Manager showed no apps running. How can Task Manager show no apps and there could be an app still running?

Not sure which task manager you are using -- but some devices/Android versions distinguish running apps from services. On my Droid2 running Gingerbread, I find running apps at Apps->Apps in the "Running" Tab, while services show up at Apps->Active Services. Parts of Google Maps (which is the navigation app you probably refer to) are implemented as services, as e.g. the "location service" which keeps checking your GPS or Wifi based location in the background. I never used navigation itself, but I imagine this is handled similarly.


What happens when I wipe the internal storage of a device using TWRP? When I wipe the internal storage using TWRP recovery, does this fully wipe the contents of the phone's hard disk, leaving a blank, unformatted space? After doing this, will I be able to restore the stock firmware? I have two devices: a Nexus 7 2013 WiFi (flo) and a Moto G 2014 XT1068 (titan).

As for your first question: no, wiping data from the recovery just wipes the content of the partitions, not the partitions themselves. So your device's disk will still be divided into /data, /system, /cache etc., but those partitions will be blank.

As for your second question, yes, you will be able to restore the stock firmware, as long as you make a backup in the recovery onto an external SD card.


Can Maps run without a data or wifi connection? I was just wondering, if you get Maps to load directions and start navigating, then turn off the data access, can Maps function fully, or does it need to constantly pull data to run directions?

Using offline map data, you can definitely run navigation without a data connection, either mobile or WiFi. I verified with Maps 9.31.3.


Custom notification for whatsapp group I'm in a whatsapp group which requires some sort of quick reaction. I'd like to set a special (custom or at least non-standard) notification tone or sound specifically for that group (and only it).

Some clarifications:

I know how to disable and mute a group, that's a different case
I know how to set a notification for whatsapp, but it wouldn't me differentiate among many groups I'm subscribed to
I know how to set specific sounds/tones for specific contacts in whatsapp, but this is a group, not a person

If anyone is aware of a [hidden] setting or a hack, I'll be glad to hear. Thanks.

The best way to do this is to do the following:

Open WhatsApp
Long press on the chat that you need to set the custom notification for
Press Group info
Press Custom Notifications
Tick the checkbox at the top right
Change the notification tone, vibration pattern, LED light colour as required.

For what it's worth, I am using WhatsApp version 2.12.367, on an Android 6.0 device, but I doubt that it is dependent on Android version.


Android tv box MAC address keeps changing I had a MAC address when I was using IPTV on my android tv box in Turkey but since I've returned to the UK and plugged my it in here the MAC address keeps changing and now I can no longer access my IPTV service as it's tied to the other MAC address. The supplier wants me to change my MAC address back but I can't find anyway that actually works.
Why would my MAC address keep changing?

I faced for a similar issue.

However, i was not able to get the my old IPTV network on my Mac.

Therefore i had to go for another service.

Then i tried several apps like Cinema apk and all. However i ended up with using Cyberflix TV. this might help you https://techslott.com/cyberflix-tv-apk/ if you have not yet sorted the issue.


What should I backup before installing a new ROM? What do I need to backup (using Titanium Backup) if I want to have the 'same system' after applying new version of a ROM?

Is it better to set up everything from scratch or restore my data from the backup?

I have a HTC Desire and I'm upgrading from CM rc2 to CM rc4

Jumping between ROMs in the same development series is usually safe without backing up or wiping the data partition (although the cache and Dalvik cache should always be wiped), unless the installation instructions specifically tell you to wipe the data partition (which seems unlikely in this case; if such a drastic change were needed, it shouldn't be a release candidate any more).  I would nevertheless back everything up just in case, both application backup like Titanium Backup and Nandroid backup from the recovery partition, but then I'm paranoid like that.

Jumping to a different series (say, CM6 to CM7, or CM to aosp) you should always back up everything and wipe everything.


Does Android 2 support swap space? With Android 2.3 being Linux-based, can Android 2.3 use a swap partition without being rooted?

As using swap is a system-wide thing (even on Linux/Unix, you need to be root in order to activate/deactivate swap), this cannot be done without having root access to your device.

If your device is rooted, however, there are several apps available to help you manage swap space. You might want to take a look at e.g. Swapper 2 (for Root users) (free) or ROEHSOFT RAM-EXPANDER (SWAP) (paid, and not really cheap). Both seem to have quite good reputation. Of course there are several other solutions available as well.


Fastboot commands are not working I have tried to relock my Zenfone Max pro m2,but after installing stock recovery when I tried to run relock.cmd, it is not working showing that

write to device failed(invalid argument)

Even when I have tried to find the device info using fastboot command, but I'm getting the same error as

write to device failed( too many links)

Please help me with this.

I don't know if you are running relock.cmd as a file or a command, but the usual way to lock the bootloader in Fastboot is

fastboot oem lock

Try

fastboot devices

And wait until you see your device is found, then do the lock

fastboot oem lock

Please tell me what errors you get ?

Try also,

  fastboot flashing lock
        fastboot flashing lock_critical


How to export a single WhatsApp chat? I'm trying to export the complete chat between a user on WhatsApp. I have tried using the "Email Chat" option, but it seems this feature does not export the complete conversation. I believe it has some sort of size limit. I experimented with several large conversations (dating back to 2 year ago) - they should definitely be 4 MB+ in file size when exported, but when I export them via Gmail, the file size is always 2 MB. The messages before that are ignored.

I also tried using web.whatsapp.com and scrolling upwards using iMacros and then selecting the text using jQuery  but that is proving to be difficult. Browser crashes after a certain point.

I don't believe the database backups in /sdcard/WhatsApp/ are of any use - they're heavily encrypted.

Any interesting work-arounds or solutions?

Requirement: rooted device.

Download WA Tweaks and install it.
Close WhatsApp process, open WA Tweaks inside the WATweaks App and there you would find a "Conversation" tab. Load conversation.  As your chat sizes are huge it may take alot of time. From there you can get complete conversation backed up / emailed.

You can see demo video of the app here on my channel.
This should solve your issue. If you have a low end phone it will get stuck.


Activating a new phone that is the same as my last phone on google account i'm not sure if this question has come up yet. If it has, i've yet to come across it.

I've got a new phone and the same old phone number.  My new phone has a new sim card too, though i don't believe that has anything to do with apps...

My new phone is identical to my old phone and my google play account is so smart that it thinks i've got all these apps installed that i don't have.  that includes "google play."

Since i've got these things installed, i'm unable to do it again so i can't access google play setting to remove the "installed" apps in order to re order them.

What's a good solution besides never buying google products?

DO you not have the Google Play application then? you could try using the Web version of google play or you could just do a quick google search for "Google Play APK" and install that - note you will have to tick the box in your settings that allows apps from an unknown source to be installed on your phone

Jayden


Broken graphics on some games On my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime VE, running Android 5.1.1, the game's graphics are not displayed, but the sound plays. This happens as soon as the game starts.

What might be causing this and how can I correct it?

This happens with me every time I play Clash of clans with charging. But usually it happens after an hour of charging. So try to cool down the device. If this happens on starting the game then thanks for reading.


Android VPN (PIA) and Location Settings I am currently using a Private Internet Access (PIA) vpn on my S7 Edge.

If I leave the location/GPS function on while surfing the web "anonymously", will having the location feature on make my VPN useless by providing my location?

I also use PIA for Android. Through my experience and also from my knowledge of networks, yes, the location of your phone is still your actual location. The only difference using the VPN would have is that the location would be associated with whichever external IP address that has been assigned to your session by PIA.

The only way to hide your location would be to turn it off or spoof your location through developer options. There is currently no option in the PIA for Android app to hid location.


Open file on tablet from smartphone How do I view the files on my tablet from my phone? Do I have to connect wirelessly? I am working on a translation and would like to see the original on one tablet and the file I'm working on on the smartphone or other tablet.

Do I need an app or is this service part of the OS? I would like to just use Bluetooth.

Thanks.

You can create an FTP server on your tablet, then connect your phone via a browser to your tablet.

Download an FTP server via Google Play Store. I use FTP Server - Multiple FTP users for the demonstration below, however you are free to use other apps of your liking.

Enable WiFi hotspot on your tablet. Connect the phone to the WIFI hostpot.
Open the app, click on User management. Create a new user. Add the name, username and password. Click Add new, select the path of files that can be accessed via FTP (SD card, internal storage, etc). Click OK. (If you don't want to create a user, you can just enable Anonymous and add the path to your files).

Click Home, then Start.

Open a browser on your phone, enter the URL of the FTP server as seen on the image above. You will then be able to view the files stored on the tablet from the phone.


Nexus 4 fails to mount with mtp mode My Nexus 4 fails to mount with mtp mode. All other modes work (ptp, adb, fastboot). Three months ago I was able to copy the /storage/emulated/0 directory from the Nexus 4 to my pc for backup so all worked then. I was running the same systems then as now, Ubuntu 13.04 and Cyanogenmod CM11 M12.  I have rebuilt the phone with no success. I have tried two other PC's running Ubuntu 13.04 with no success. There is no change in the response to "mount" before and after connecting the phone. The phone correctly shows "Connected as a media device". The response to "lsusb" correctly shows the phone connected:

jim@Toshiba-Satellite-M35X:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c00c Logitech, Inc. Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 18d1:4ee1 Google Inc.

Using "mtp-detect" I get the following response:

jim@Toshiba-Satellite-M35X:~$ mtp-detect
Unable to open ~/.mtpz-data for reading, MTPZ disabled.libmtp version: 1.1.6

Listing raw device(s)
Device 0 (VID=18d1 and PID=4ee1) is a Google Inc (for LG Electronics/Samsung) Nexus 4/10 (MTP).
   Found 1 device(s):
   Google Inc (for LG Electronics/Samsung): Nexus 4/10 (MTP) (18d1:4ee1) @ bus 1, dev 3
Attempting to connect device(s)
Android device detected, assigning default bug flags
USB low-level info:
   Interface has a kernel driver attached.
   bcdUSB: 512
   bDeviceClass: 0
   bDeviceSubClass: 0
   bDeviceProtocol: 0
   idVendor: 18d1
   idProduct: 4ee1
   IN endpoint maxpacket: 512 bytes
   OUT endpoint maxpacket: 512 bytes
   Raw device info:
      Bus location: 1
      Device number: 3
      Device entry info:
         Vendor: Google Inc (for LG Electronics/Samsung)
         Vendor id: 0x18d1
         Product: Nexus 4/10 (MTP)
         Vendor id: 0x4ee1
         Device flags: 0x08008106
Configuration 0, interface 0, altsetting 0:
   Interface description contains the string "MTP"
   Device recognized as MTP, no further probing.
Device info:
   Manufacturer: LGE
   Model: Nexus 4
   Device version: 1.0
   Serial number: 00364595560f4a2f
   Vendor extension ID: 0x00000006
   Vendor extension description: microsoft.com: 1.0; android.com: 1.0;
   Detected object size: 64 bits
   Extensions:
        microsoft.com: 1.0
        android.com: 1.0
Supported operations:

..........etc.

Does anyone have ideas on what to do next?

It seems you're on linux. If you're on debian or a derivative of it, try sudo apt-get install mtpfs. If you are on some other distro, try installing the mtpfs or libmtp package. Then reconnect your phone and it should work. This worked for my Moto E2 and G2 on Ubuntu 14.04


Recover Whatsapp Keyfile I have a backup of my whatsapp database, however i accidently wiped the keyfile from the system partition when i tried to recover my phone that did not boot any more.

Does anyone know if there is any backup of this file somewhere on the internal storage of even in the cloud at whatsapp, or if it is somehow possible to decrypt the database without the file?

Thank you!

It is not possible to decrypt the database without the keyfile, and WhatsApp make a point of not having your messages in the clear (they are encrypted end to end)

So unfortunately you have no chance of getting your data back without that keyfile.


Insufficient space when downloading Go Launcher EX? Possible Duplicate:
  “Insufficient storage” when trying to install anything on htc thunderbolt

When I download the Go Launcher Ex App from the play store, it downloads okay but shows "Insufficient memory"(The internal memory) when it tries to install it. :/

It is a 6 or 7Mb app, where as my internal storage has 25Mb free and the SDCard has almost 1Gb free space. I don't get what the problem is.

My Android version is 2.3.6 if that helps.

Would really appreciate it if someone helped me. :)

The "Insufficient memory" error is triggered when internal memory drops below the 25 MB limit. Though you initially might have 25 NB free, after the download (which happens to be stored in internal memory, in /data/local to be more precise) you've already dropped below 20 MB -- so the error is triggered before the installer itself can start the installation, and it aborts.

So what you first have to do is to free some more internal memory, e.g. by moving apps to sd, clearing apps' caches, uninstall some apps you do not really need, etc. There are several questions with useful answers around here on our site. You can check the "Related" section to your question, or follow the internal-memory tag to find them.


Gmail won't retrieve emails automatically after lollipop 5.1 upgrade I have a Motorola Moto 4G 2nd gen and since purchase I have used google's gmail application for my email. Everything worked fine. I would receive emails very quickly without having to do much.

However, after some problems with my phone I upgraded to lollipop (5.1) and what a disaster. The biggest problem is it now doesn't automatically download my emails. I seem to have to visit "Social", or "Promotions" and then click back in to "Primary", which seems to trigger a sync and find my awaiting email.

How on earth can I fix this? I cannot spend my day having to do just between Primary and Social to check whether I have an email or not.

Your setting for Sync is disabled. Enable the setting for Sync in Status-bar.
Hope your problem may be solved.
thanks


How to skip welcome page after factory restore? I don't have access to Google I'm from China and I can't access google without setting up a vpn/vps.

I recently got an update to 5.0.2 for my Nexus 7 2013 (WIFI) tablet.
I got stuck at the Welcome page. I think I'm supposed to enter my Google account, but I don't have access to Google. There was a "skip" option in previous versions.

I'm now able to restore the tablet to previous versions of Android. Does anyone know which version doesn't require account at Welcome page? Is there any walk-around for this issue if I want to update to 5.0.2? I tried proxy for WIFI, it didn't work, though I think it's a promising way.

I solved the problem by using a HTTPS (not HTTP) proxy located in the US. :)


Multiple USB Storage Devices on Honeycomb I just got an Acer A500 tablet, which has a full size USB port and supports FAT32 USB storage devices.  What I would like to do though, is hook up a hub and connect multiple, so use the tablet as a way to copy photos from an SD card reader to an external USB hard drive for backup during a trip.

I poked around and found that when I have two devices plugged in you can actually see the device entries listed under /dev/usb although only one of them (usually whatever was plugged in first) will actually show up under /mnt/usb_storage (apparently the default).

Anyone know of a way to get it to make both usable?
I'm guess I'll have to root it so I can run the mount command? (Unfortunately, no one has figured that out yet that I know of.)

The critical failure seems to be the use of a USB hub.  On my transformer I can mount two different thumb drives and an SD card at the same time.

The left port us USBDrive2, even when only one thumb drive is plugged in.  So it appears to me that it is a honeycomb thing mapping each port to a specific directory, ignoring the possiblity of USB hubs.  Unfortunately I no longer have a USB hub to test this theory on since my wife has watched one too many hoarders shows.

The A500 only has one USB host, but it also has a MicroSD reader in additon.  So an alternative solution you may want to consider is using a micro SD card in your camera in a SD adapter and then popping that into the A500.  A microSD card is quite a bit cheaper than a Transformer + dock.


Phone makes sound when waving a credit card near it I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and the phone was in my pocket. I forgot that my credit card was also in the same pocket and just out of nowhere my phone played the notification sound, so I pulled it out of my pocket and there were no notifications; no new email or SMS, nothing.

So then I pulled the card out and swiped it near the back of my phone, and then the sound played again. I did it like 20 times and it always happens. Why does my phone play the notification sound when I wave the credit card at the back of it?

Does your credit card have an NFC chip? The phone can read and write NFC data. It is probably activating Android Beam or S Beam.


What is the difference between these sound icons in the notification bar? When I want to change the volume on my phone, I can press the icons in the notification bar to toggle between vibrate only, silent and normal volume.

However the latter one appears to have two possible icons with only a very subtle change:

Given that they can't both do exactly the same, what is the difference between them?

The one on the left signifies "ring and vibrate" mode, the one on the right is "ring mode". If you choose the first your phone will vibrate as well as ring for an incoming call. If you choose the second, it will ring only.

I'm not sure if this is documented anywhere, but you can match up the icons with their respective .png files in the CM source as a confirmation of this. It's somewhat hard to see in a browser since they're white icons, but nonetheless:

ic_qs_ring_vibrate_on.png
ic_qs_ring_on.png

The name is intending to convey (for example, using the second icon) icon quicksettings ring on.


CM7 Launcherpro Changing Dock Icons I downloaded some icons in extracted them to the SD card under a directory I made called icons. I've been trying to get launcherpro to change the dock icons, however whenever I click change icon the gallery always opens up. No matter what I do I cannot get the icons to show up in the gallery. I've tried deleting the gallery cache and deleting the gallery default actions as well as placing the icons in various different places on the SD card.

I would prefer the icons do not show up in the gallery at all so I could just use a file manager to choose the new icons. However, I cannot get the file manager open when I click change icon. The only program that will open is the gallery.

Can anybody help me?

Sounds to me like you only have one "Image Chooser" app installed, and you would need to install another.  I know ES File Explorer registers itself as one, so if you install that maybe it will show up in the menu and then you can use it to browse to your icons.


itel phone unable to switch on I bought a new itel phone yesterday. I charged it a bit then added apps and photos and music. I played some music during the night. I tried rebooting does not go on, it vibrates but screen is blank.

According to what you said,

  played some music during the night

Its most probable that your phone is out of battery juice, given that it must have been drained overnight. That's why you're only able to get a vibration and a quick blink on the screen and nothing more.

So charge your phone mate, and you're good to go


How can i move my installed apps in SD card on Sony Xperia Ray I can't install new apps, it says that my phone memory is running low. And I can't move my apps on SD card.

I also want to uninstall unnecessary apps on my phone but its says that "this can't be uninstalled". How to uninstall it?

You may want to try this blog post.

There's a bit of coding/tweaking involved, but you don't need root for it.

To summarize, you need to run this inside plat_form-tools folders, command prompt

  $ adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2

Here's a video, if you prefer that.


WhatsApp away from Wi Fi? When I am away from WiFi, I do not want to receive nor send messages or media on WhatsApp.  Where on my Moto G can I make this setting?  Thanks !!

There is no standard way, on Whatsapp, to disable send/receive messages. When I want to save my internet, I just go to the phone's configuration and disable all internet conections (leaving just Wifi on, since it is "free") - but it would affect all apps.

The best you could do on Whatsapp is to not download media - go to Configuration -> Storage Data and disable all automatic media download.


How to explain SSL cert validation discrepancy between Chrome and WebView on a modern Android? (original title: Do some Android vendors ship their own SSL stack implementation?)

We've been having (in production) a peculiar HTTPS-related issue lately in our Android app.

All calls to our domain from within a WebView fail in our Android app, due to an SSL certificate validation issue. But this happens only in very specific combination of circumstances:

only on Androids (desktop browsers, iOS are fine with our cert)
only inside a WebView (works fine in Chrome, default Android browser, and when doing HttpsURLConnection from Java code)
only on some devices (Samsung Galaxy Edge S6 with Android 6, HTC One M8 with Android 5); other devices (Sony/Android 4.4, Lenovo/Android 4.4, Motorola/Android 5, Huawei/Android 6, Nexus/Android 6) are not affected

Other important info:

note that the issue happens on Android 5/6 which have an auto-updating WebView. For example, I reproduced issue in a fully up-to-date Samsung Galaxy Edge S6 (non-ISP-branded), Android 6.0.1 with security patches from 1 October 2016. The webview is very modern (Chrome 53)
note that I checked the CA store and the root cert that signed our cert is in the store of the affected devices, with the same name and sha1 fingerprint.
I used to have custom (user) CA certs (generated by Fiddler and installed manually by me to be able to decrypt HTTPS for debugging) on my devices, but for the sake of test, I removed them, and now the user CA store is empty on all devices, but issue persists
I tested some 60 high profile websites, and the issue is reproducible for several of them too (including https://www.amazon.com) on the two affected devices (the set of websites rejected by Samsung and HTC is overlapping, but not exactly the same). Some of those affected websites have the same VeriSign cert as the root cert of the chain as we do, but this root cert is present in the CA store of the device as mentioned previously.
Our SSL cert is quite good according to SSLLabs, and the issue happens on amazon.com which apparently has very good server/cert config (click)
While we reproduced the issue in our device lab, we also got quite a few negative Play Store reviews that look like the same issue (all from Samsungs, but this correlates with our user base). However the app works fine for most of people, as we get mostly 5 star reviews every day.

Next steps that we're taking:

We're trying to embed the cert inside the Android app and make Android explicitly trust it, but since WebView and HTTPSUrlConnection behave differently, we're not sure if this will work
If this doesn't work, as a last resort we'll also probably try to override WebViewClient.onReceivedSslError with a custom implementation which will inspect the cert and trust it if it has the same fingerprint as our cert
any better options?

Theories:

some Android shipping customized SSL stack in their versions of Android? (but why Samsung and HTC would exhibit a very similar behavior)
does Chrome have separate CA store than the Android device?
some other apps installed on the affected Android devices that mess up with the WebView in my app?
anything else?

Edit:

I reproduced the issue on the following websites:

www.microsoft.com (Symantec cert)
www.amazon.com (Symantec cert)
mail.ru (GeoTrust cert - Symantec subsidiary)
two others with Symantec or GeoTrust certs
www.theguardian.com (cert doesn't seem to be Symantec-related)

So most probably the issue comes from webview bug that EricLaw pointed. Guardian case seems to be some another issue however.

Edit 2:

I confirmed the issue was due to the bug mentioned by Eric. We changed our SSL cert provider and it solved the issue.

My bet is that the CT log expired. See https://www.chromium.org/developers/androidwebview/webview-ct-bug and https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/m/#!topic/net-dev/d3bHcocG-NM


link2sd not linking properly I have a galaxy ace s5830i .I have done rooting and linking the sdcard after partitioning .But in the beginning it was working fine from few days back when i downloaded  apps and link it to the (ext2) sdcard,it shows me the that it has got linked.But the internal phone memory(i.e just 180 MB approx) decreases .also i have tried remounting the script and relinking the new installed apps but still not able to solve..
.please help me solve this problem.

Link2SD can't put the whole app to the ext partition. There's always a little part that takes the memory.

Use simple2ext. There you can select which folder to move to ext. After rebooting the whole dir will be placed at ext, and linked (mounted) to the internal memory. (mount has a mode when you write into the shared folder it will be mergred into the mounted folder) It seems like it's internal but not. :)


Is There Any Way To Increase Internal Memory? My internal memory is 1 GB. After I reboot it changes to 64 MB. When I check the space on internal storage, I only see built in apps and shows no free space.

No, there is no way to increase internal memory; this is installed at the factory and is fixed.  You can, however, free up existing space on your internal memory by removing apps, cleaning out caches and deleting end user files that are stored there.  Modifying stock apps (ie, removing bloatware) usually requires a rooted device, and will prevent you from receiving over the air updates as well as most likely voiding your warranty.


Alarm Controller is sending me unwanted notifications, ads From many days I am getting unwanted ads and notifications. I uninstalled many app, and also did a factory reset also, After searching, I found Alarm Controller may be the culprit. As I lock my screen and the then try to unlock it again, the on-screen ads blinks all the time. I had a screenshot of the app

Please help me to get rid of these ads. Let me know if any more information needed.

At last I got a solution or workaround, I installed NoRoot Data Firewall and then created a VPN on my own mobile and now I am having full authority to whom to give access to network and whom to not.

This is just the workaround I found, it doesn't remove the Malware. But it worked and get me out of the frustration.


Dial phone, screen blanks -> can't hang up My Nokia 4.2 (Android One 9, security patch for December 5, 2019) is lately exhibiting a very weird behavior. If I dial a number, either using the keypad or from history or a contact, the screen blanks. I don't mean the autoblank when it's held to my face, I mean it goes black immediately. As a result, I can't hang up a call (or conference a third person, or anything).

If I tap power ... nothing happens. If I hold it to my face and remove it ... nothing. If I hold Power down, the phone doesn't turn off. When the other person hangs up, the screen turns back on. Sometimes if I press Power repeatedly I can get the screen on. Sometimes not.

Of course, I can plug in earbuds and use the earbud button to hang up, but for a quick call I hate having to do that.

Otherwise the phone mostly works OK. No other obviously incorrect behavior.

Odd. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Please check if it happens in safe mode too:

If the problem is not resolved, factory-reset is next step.
If it is resolved, it implies one of the installed apps is the culprit. First step could be to remove all apps having telephony related permissions and then check. Add apps one by one and check. Painful process, yes, or go nuclear and factory reset after backing up your data.


How to recover an Android phone if the Launcher has been mistakenly quarantined? I am using an Android phone with Root access. I have an app called App Quarantine ROOT/FREEZE, which can freeze or quarantine unwanted apps in Android. I mistakenly use this app to quarantine the Launcher.

As soon as I quarantine the Launcher, the Android desktop becomes black. When I try to reboot, it stuck at the boot up screen with logo.

How to recover an Android phone if the Launcher has been mistakenly quarantined? How to recover the Launcher?

Some phone models have an emergency factory reset button at the back(inside the back cover) of the phone. It looks like a pinhole. Try inserting a pin there. I hope it would work.