Are wildcards available in setting up MiXplorer AutoTasks? I want to set up an auto-task in MiXplorer to delete two types of files that another application creates -- one appears in two different folders, and another is in one folder but has different numeric strings appended to it each time it's created. Is it possible to set a task for each with a wildcard that will work on either, like /internalstorage/$/.crap.tmp and-or internalstorage/backups/system/crap_$ (where '$' is some wildcard character or string).
I tried asterisks, but that didn't work, and tried figuring out if there was something to the regex renaming format that I could understand and use, but couldn't.
I'm using android 8.0.0, MiXplorer 6.46.1.
Thanks much.

I am using version 6.54.0 of MIXplorer. Autotask does not have regex (widcards) options when deleting files. They are available for copying, moving and archiving files.
What you can do is:

Create a .sh file with for example the following command to remove files:

#!/bin/sh
rm -f internalstorage/backups/system/crap_*

Create a autotask, select Execute. Then on the File option, select the file created earlier.

The command above assumed that you know the path and part of filenames. Notice that I did not use the directory  /internalstorage/$/.crap.tmp as using * will lead to check all directories for .crap.tmp file.


Can't find music purchased Had a Motorola x phone which was defective.  Lost over 100 songs purchased through Google  play. I now have a Samsung  7 edge.  How can I find these purchases and download  them on this phone?  Please, please, please  help.

You use the Google Play Music app available from the Play Store.  You should be able to sign right in to it and access all of your songs and playlists right away.


How to setup Google+ to instant upload pictures which take from Camera Zoom FX? I like Camera ZOOM FX, but I want Google+ instant upload. How can I make them work together?

I just did a test and got it to work. Thanks to Trebor Rude for the clue.

You need to save your Camera Zoom FX photos to the same place as the default camera. You'll end up with the untouched photo as well as the photo with the applied effects in your Instant Upload on Google+.

To change where Camera Zoom FX saves its photos...

Choose Settings | All Settings
Choose Save
Change the "Camera folder:" to Default. (It's probably on CameraZoom.) It will now show a save location like "Folder = /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera"


Can my tablet connect to a 4g pocket wifi? I bought my tablet in lazada and i am planning on buying a pocket wifi, so i want to know if my tablet can connect to a 4g pocket wifi. after reading articles about data connection hotspot something like that, it made me more confused. please help and explain and elaborate. Im gonna buy it at lazada.

MY tablet - Cherry Mobile Superion Probe Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (White)

POCKET WIFI CHOICES:
1.) 3G - Huawei E5330 21Mbps 3G Mobile WiFi Hotspot
2.) 4G - Huawei E5373 4G Mobile Wifi

Before buying pocket WiFi, switch on the 4g hotspot in your mobile and try to connect to it through tablet. If it works then proceed to buy what you are planning.

Note: while connecting be sure the SSID, security type and password are correct or not.


Where's the best place to report bugs with the GMail app? I want to report a bug / RFE with the official GMail app, but I'm finding it hard to find the right place to do this - all the forums / discussion groups I've found so far seem to be moribund (eg not much activity since 2008).

What's the recommended place?

As per this comment, the place for bug reports seems to be via the About -> Send Feedback link within the GMail app - this links to this survey page:

http://www.google.com/m/survey/mail_ca


Where do I get Android L iso for x86 environment? My question is much similar to this question: Download location for Android 4.4 x86 (64bit)

Basically, I want to get Android L(a.k.a Lollipop, 5.0) iso for x86 architecture, so as to run it in VM. But I can't find anything newer than 4.3 anywhere on the web, so how do I get it?

I'm not sure why all the answers are giving you the run around, it's very easy to download the source and get the iso generated.

Here it is : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4VR-WNTOX0qVnkyWExEZHdLTms/view


Remote control with htc evo 3d via bluetooth? Can i conect my htc evo 3d to pc via bluetooth, so i can use the remote control feature? i tried unified remote, and it says it supports bluetooth connection, but is ot possible to conect the phone to pc using bluetooth?

It works with usb cable, but i'm interested in something more cableless :).
I'm using android 4.0.3, and the phone is not rooted.

It seems that I've  solved the given problem.
In fact, it wasn't actually a problem - the application i used had some problems with bluetooth.

I tried setting BT up, and it worked. I was able to send files from my PC to my phone without any problems. On the other hand, the application didn't work - i was unable to control my PC via my phone using BT.

Checking their website i noticed that the BT feature is actually pretty bugy.
(The app is Unified Remote).

Then, just for testing purposes i tried Windows Remote Service, and it worked, without problems.
So, basically, it seems the problem was somewhere in the app. I changed the app and manage to achieve what i needed - to remotely control my PC from my phone.

Just one note - it's recommended you use Windows' default drivers for your BT device. You can use this freeware - bluetoothinstaller.com to install the BT device with MS dfeault drivers.


Chrome keyboard shortcuts, external Bluetooth keyboard, Samsung Galaxy Tab There are a lot of Google hits in which people report that the usual desktop Chrome keyboard shortcuts (e.g., ctrl+t for a new tab) work fine on Android Chrome with an external Bluetooth keyboard.

However, none of the shortcuts seem to work in my system. I am using the following setup:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Android 4.0
Chrome web browser
Microsoft Wedge Mobile Keyboard
Nothing strange configured or installed; I have recently reset the tablet

For example, these things work OK:

System-wide shortcuts (e.g. win+l for Calendar) work.
If I tap on the address bar in Chrome, I can use the keyboard to enter a URL.
I can also edit the address as usual when the address bar is active. Arrow keys work, ctrl+a works, ctrl+c / ctrl+v works, etc.

However, these things seem to do nothing:

Using any of the usual keyboard combinations in Chrome: ctrl+t, ctrl+n, ctrl+l, ctrl+w, etc.

Installing External Keyboard Helper Pro seemed to fix the keyboard shortcuts in Chrome.

(I have no idea why it helps; this was completely unexpected. I was just installing it to get rid of the onscreen keyboard.)


Custom ringtone not working on Nexus 5 since OTA Lollipop I've updated my non-rooted, vanilla Nexus 5 with an OTA update to Android 5.0 Lollipop and since then my custom mp3 ringtone stopped working. Here are the symptoms:

When selecting it via the ringtone selector in the Sound & notification settings panel, it plays properly.
When someone else calls me, the default system notification sound is played repeatedly.
Re-uploading the custom ringtone via AirDroid as an .mp3 file didn't work, nor did uploading an ffmpeg-encoded .ogg version of it.
The same applies to my custom notification sound.

I'm currently using one of the ringtones bundled with the system, and I'd love some help in solving this problem. Thanks!

A friend suggested clearing cached data (via Settings > Storage > Cached data) and then rebooting, and it seems to have resolved the issue.


Tablet radiation (RF vs EMF ) I own a tablet without 3G/phone functionality but equipped with Wi-fi
There is a lot of mixing up RF (radio frequency) with EMF (electric magnetic field) when looking for health issues arising from radiation.

So :

if there is no 3G functionality, am I safe from RF ?

if there is Wifi then there should be RF too. If Wif-fi is enabled but not connected to a network, does it emit RF ?

EMF is another one, but a property of all electrically powered. In what case is it more emitted by the tablet ie when wi-fi is on ?

Which one is dangerous to health , RF or EMF RF vs EMF ? I see that there are cases that reduce radiation but all are concerned with RF and not EMF. Is there a solution that works for reducing EMF emission?

There's a lot of mixing up because the "aagh tinfoil hats" brigade are very mixed up themselves. There's no evidence that any radio emissions from mobile phones have any health effects whatsoever. You get a larger radio dose from your local TV transmitter than the phone in your pocket.

To answer your specific questions: yes, you're safe from RF if there's no 3G functionality, or if there is 3G functionality for that matter. If you turn on Wi-Fi, it emits radio waves (that's how it works!) regardless of whether it's connected to a network or scanning for networks.

As you say, EMF is just the "spill-off" from any electrical appliance or even cable. The EMF from tablets is almost too little to measure: it's several orders of magnitude less than from anything with an electric motor, such as a hairdryer or fan.

Neither RF nor EMF emissions from tablets or mobile phones are hazardous to health at all. A case to reduce the RF emissions is a bit pointless. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G protocols all feature methods for the transmitter to change its transmission strength as necessary. Blocking the transmission just makes it transmit with more power, running your battery down faster.


How to take backup of all installed APKs from Phone to PC? How do I take backup of all installed apks from my sgs2 to PC using android sdk/ 3rd party tool etc? My phone is not rooted. I can install/uninstall apks using adb, but is there any similar command line tool to take backup of the same?

This is one of the things that are far easier with a rooted phone: you could just type in:

adb pull /data/app C:\Users\User\Desktop\Apps

and your apks would magically appear on your desktop. In your case this isn't possible because accessing the data partition is only allowed for root users. (And this is a good thing. Imagine what would happen if any app could read your email or text messages.)

There are several apps in the android market play store that can back up your apps.
My favorite is App Backup & Restore. It's a pretty simple app that even has an option to automatically back up all new apps.
Than you can just copy  the apps to your computer using your preferred method. I use Foldersync Lite to upload it to my DropBox.


How to delete Group Contact that is greyed out without an access to menu or drop down box? I deleted my What's App Group Contact in error before deleting members first, however, several Admin members were automatically assigned by What's App to my created Group (now deleted by me).  Two of my members had full access to exiting group/deleting members and then deleting group. One member is still seeing Group Contact in What's App Contact List, has access to open Group Contact, under my group name created saw this "you're no longer a participant in this group", just below this, message sent by me and members numbers, but they have no access to anything to delete as its all greyed out.

Q1: What can be done to delete this Group Contact?

Q2: If they delete Group Contact from What's App Contact List, would this mean What's App would assign  three other Admin? As this was the original step done by me, hence why it got assigned to the three other members above.

I anxiously await your response.

I was the sole admin on a group that I created in WhatsApp. I had to delete the group for some reasons. I removed the members one by one. At last I exited from the group. After that I deleted the group by clicking the options button by the side of menu button. It took sometime and disappeared.


How to install Google Play Services without through Play Store in Redmi 3? A bunch of my apps ask me to install Google Play Services but my Play Store won't start since the service is missing.

Just install Google Play Services from a trusted website. You can download it from apkmirror.com, but it is important to choose the right version for your smartphone. Read the minimum Android version and architecture (arm/arm64/x86).

After that you need to install the APK. Well, sometimes the Play Services don't work after the installation.

In my experience, it's caused when the Android doesn't have Google Services Framework, Google Contacts Sync, and Google Account Manager app. If your phone doesn't have all the Google apps (usually with MOD ROM or MIUI ROM) you have to install them first. Just find them on the website I mentioned above.


How can I recover files from a phone that won't boot? I have a Galaxy SII, and it is stuck on the boot screen. How can I recover the files on the phone?

I had the same problem with stock Nexus 7 2012 GSM.

The relevant documentation for this is

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4596836?hl=en the Recovery mode section
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images section Flashing instruction (it helps you get familiar with adb and fastboot)
https://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html ADB manual

First of all, the bootloader has to be unlocked.

fastboot oem unlock

Unlocking the bootloader deletes user data on the device (as a security precaution). If you haven't unlocked the bootloader before, you are now out of luck. Try to find if you have backups. (Contact data may be synced with your Google account, you might have Dropbox installed, G+ backups photos and so on).

Assuming unlocked bootloader, you can flash a custom recovery which will allow you to access data on the phone.

I tried ClockworkMod, but after I booted into it, adb listed my tablet as unauthorized device, similarly as this person describes. He solved the problem, I did not.

Therefore I next tried TWRP recovery.

fastboot flash recovery path_to_twrp.img

With TWRP, adb devices listed my device with recovery permissions (whatever it means) and I could copy out my data

adb pull /data .

In addition TWRP seems to enable MTP on the device. That is another possible way to get data out. I haven't experimented with it, because I did adb pull first and I got my data that way. Additionally, in my experience, MTP clients for Linux are rather flaky.


How do I delete this read only file? In order to enable USB mass storage mode, I placed a file in the /system/etc/init.d/ directory. My situation has changed, and now I want to remove that file. I know it is safe to remove because I put it there.

However, I can not delete it. I have a rooted phone, and I have tried using ES File Explorer and also su mode in a command line emulator, but every time I try to delete it, I get an error that says rm can't remove 'MassStorage': Read-only file system.

How do I delete this file?

As su, do this :

# mount -o remount,rw /system

You will now be able to delete it.

As said in comments, don't forget to

# mount -o remount,ro /system

or just reboot when you have finished. :)


Re-enable Disabled App (Enable option greyed out) I disabled my default Messaging app some time ago, but now I need to Re-enable it, but when I go to the Disabled tab under Apps, the option to Enable it is greyed out.

Navigate to Settings > Application Manager > All  Then select Reset App Preferences from the menu. Try if this works, it worked for me for some other apps.


Remove Gapps from cyanogenmod 11 people

I just installed Cyanogenmod from the installer on my Samsung galaxy s4 and it came with Google-apps Pre-installed.
Now i'm not a big fan of Google so i want to get rid of Google-apps how can i do this i know i can flash free-cyan this removes Google analysis and stuff but does not remove Google-apps can someone please tell me how i can remove them.
I got root so hopefully someone can help me.

Greetings,

Nick

The apk files for each are in /system/app (all your installed "system" apps and their odex files, if they're not deodexed, are there). You can rename them, move them, freeze them with the right software, or just delete them.

Also data/data probably has a matching directory with the trash files from those apks (xml, cache, etc) that you can toss.

Note: I've noticed more utilities "uninstall" system apps (does all of this for you if you're rooted): SD Maid, Titanium Backup are two I know of off the top of my head that have added the "uninstall" features since I bought them years ago. That might be your best bet: see if you already have a root tool that does this for you!


Recover Data From Pattern-Locked Galaxy Nexus A colleague's relative passed away and left behind a Galaxy Nexus phone. It is pattern-locked and we don't have the pattern nor his Google email account password (or access thereto). All my colleague wants off the phone are the photos. I have tried the following without success:

Use adb on both Windows and Ubuntu Linux to attach to the device connecting through USB.(USB debugging is definitely off.) -- always unable to attach the device (though on Linux lsusb is able to list the device)
Use apps Moborobo and Holo (Simple ADB Backup) -- neither can access the device
Attempted to use the emergency dialer hack (dial 0, use back button; does not work)
Booted into recovery mode, but there is no backup option (which seems ridiculous unless this is because of security)
Connected the phone to Windows, shows up as "Galaxy Nexus" drive, but is empty. "Import pictures" reports "no new photos"

Incidentally, the screen-saver shows these desired photos, but there seems to be no way to share them without unlocking the phone.

Any suggestions for how to get at the photos?

Try taking it to the carrier and explain the situation. They often have ways of getting around passwords because people come in regularly having locked themselves out and because many carriers also refurbish and/or resell used devices, which inevitably means they will come across locked devices (of course in the latter scenario I imagine they just factory reset but no matter... They still have the former situation to contend with).


Copy data from phone to wifi network USB port on my phone broke (can't transfer data). My phone uses built-in memory, no memory card.

It works, I connect to wifi, etc. Is there any software or easy way to copy all my files from phone to network? Mostly I need to get pictures and videos out. Using email will be tooo slow.

You can use an app such as WiFi Tiles transfer. All you have to do is to download the app and clicking the start button. Then you can go to the server page you're given (on the app screen) and you can access all the files and folders of your phone memory.


Why did the panorama option disappear? When I got my phone, I could take panorama pictures.

Then the option disappeared. What gives?

If I remember correctly, there was simply an option on this tool tray:

(click screenshot for larger variant)

On my S4 with Verizon's version of Lollipop, this option isn't in the settings menus; it's one of the entries under the "Mode" button on the actual viewfinder screen.


I stop an option to use ringtones or another source how do l re-instate the other source I pressed the alway use button on ringtones and now can not use any other source how do I reopen this option?

If you set some app to be "always used" for an operation, you can easily revert this:

Open Settings
Navigate to "Apps"
Scroll to the app being defined as default, and tap its entry
On the details page that's opening, you can "Reset defaults"

Next time you chose that operation, you will be asked again.

As the above steps might be cumbersome (especially if you do not remember the name of the app to reset), there are also several helper apps out there organizing defaults for you. Take e.g. a look at Better Open With:

Better Open With (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

In addition to letting you configure the defaults, this app gives you an enhanced menu where you still can chose to pick a different app (unless you set the timeout too short, that is ;)


Help controlling the cursor in swype? I've got swype pre-installed on my Epic4G, and after a recent update (which also introduced an exasperating auto correction "feature") I'm finding that my cursor won't stay put -- it pops to the end of the word instead of staying where I set it. Say I type twowords and then realize I need a space -- I go set the cursor between two and words thinking that I'll hit the space bar and separate them, but the cursor, which definitely landed where I wanted it, hops to the end of twowords. If I try again it stays, but the first time it consistently hops to the end of the word.

Is there a setting for this anywhere?

I don't know if a preloaded version of Swype can be updated with a Beta or not, but  beta.swype.com is the starting point for downloading the Swype installer, which will then download the actual Swype keyboard (you must register on beta.swype.com first).

Swype also has user forums, this page lists their Samsung-specific boards.  I took a quick look under the Epic section and didn't see anything applicable, but you may find more on a deeper search.


How do I unlearn words? I just got the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and I was texting and I accidentally held down one of the words that pops up when I start texting and this box popped up saying that whatever word will be removed from learned words. So now every time I type the word "the" it changes it to their or them or anything similar and its really annoying. Because this is a new phone I have no idea where to go or what to look for. Please help!

Click on the right-arrow ">" at the top of the keyboard.  This will pull up a list of words.  Long press on a word and it will say "___ will be removed from learned words". Then press OK and it's gone!

Unless you are trying to remove an email address; then it doesn't disappear! :(  Really annoying.  Anyone know how to fix that?

On a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.


Where are the Game save files located in PC? I have installed Bluestack on my PC and I began by installing a game called Townsmen and I played nicely. However, I want to backup the files that are created by the Bluestack program since I regularly restore my PC due to it get infected with Adwares and Malwares. I do not want to start the game again from scratch.

I know the default location for the installation is C:\Program Files\BlueStacks in Windows XP and some of the settings are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data. But I can't find that particular file with the name Townsmen.

Where & how can I access them from the PC?

You can do that manually from the Bluestack app player by doing the following
1 - Backup the game saves :

Download ES File Explorer from the app store/Play Store

Open ES File Explorer and go to the Root Folder (click on "/" in the navigation bar)

Go to /data folder, and then open the folder /data inside it (final path: /data/data)

Now you can see a lot of folders name like com.android.something or com.something.somethingelse. Scroll down and look for a folder named com.hg.townsmen6. Long press on it and then click on the three dots (on the bottom right corner of the screen) and choose Copy to.

After clicking OK, you will get a toast notification that the copy went successful.

Now go back to your desktop (Windows desktop) and go to this path C:\ProgramData\BlueStacks\UserData\SharedFolder, you will find your folder there. Save it somewhere safe.

2 - Restore the game's progress after a fresh install do the following :

When fresh installing, use this tutorial to get a prerooted Bluestack application Latest Bluestacks 0.9.14.4604 With SuperUser March 2015
Install the app Townsmen from the app store along with the ES Explorer app (do not open the app Townsmen before finishing the next step.
Copy back the folder we backed up earlier in the /data/data folder
Now open your game and enjoy.


How to recover stock firmware on the Galaxy Note 3 How do I restore stock firmware.  I have firmware upgrade encountered an issue.  Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again.  I am using KIES 3 because I have a Samsung Note 3 N900A and it won't connect.

Restart your phone in ODIN mode by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power
Register and download your stock firmware from sammobile.com
Unzip the downloaded firmware
Download ODIN from xda-developers
Don't uninstall Kies as you'll need the driver
Open ODIN and connect your phone to computer (Phone should be in ODIN mode)
When your phone is detected it will be listed under comX
Under PDA select the extracted firmware you downloaded (Select the file with .tar.md5)
Only the checkbox for PDA, Auto reboot and F. Reset time should be checked
Click start to start your flashing
Your phone should reboot with stock firmware

Note: You'll lose all the offline content from your phone


Delete search history from android settings app In Android, it's possible to search for a specific setting by tapping the magnifying glass icon at the top right corner of the Settings app and typing. However, I haven't found a way to remove earlier search queries.

There is a question how to clear this but it only works until android 6 marshmallow.

Is there a way to clear the search history, or, better, to remove a specific search in android 7 nougat?

I can't find search_index.db in the data folder of settings app. Where is this located now? I know it can be fixed by clearing data of settings app but I want to find the location of the search_index.db

You can delete the files "search_index.db" and "search_index.db-journal" located in, data/user_de/0/com.android.settings/databases/


How do i recover my wifi pass from android using adb? I'm connected to a wifi spot with my android, but i'd like to connect with my laptop aswell. I don't want to root my phone (warranty and stuffs) nor reset the router, as it has complex settings on it. I tried recovering the password from /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf using adb, but i get an error, which sent me on a rabbithole of solutions until i met a dead end.
I'll post the steps i followed bellow, i would like someone to tell me if i goofed on any step.

(I wanted to post images, but i need 10 reputation, sorry)

So i enter on adb and i check if my device is recognized using

  >adb devices

Everything seems fine, i proceed to try to pull out the config file with

  >adb pull /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf c:/wpa_supplicant.conf

At this step i get this message:

  failed to copy from "...." to "..." : permission denied.

So i searched for a solution for this and i found that i have to use "adb root" to restart adb with root permissions. I try it, but i get this message.

  adb can't run as root on production builds.

So again, i went down the rabbit hole, and i found someone else with the same problem, who says that solved it using ">adb shell" and then "$ su".
I'm getting tired, but i try it, i go to shell, and everything seems fine i get into shell@android with no problem, now i only need to access as su, but as i try i get this message:

  system/bin/sh: su: not found

Now this may or may not have to do with this (i'm a noob), but if i used "adb devices" while on shell, or right after exiting it, no devices would appear listed, even if i checked before doing all the above.

I'm very noob at this and i'm sure i'm messing up somewhere, but i can't find where and its getting late. I've spent 2 hours aready looking for solutions and every step deeper i get, less results i get because any of the above solutions worked for other people. Does anybody have any idea on how to access that damned file without rooting my phone?

(I can use my phone as router usb while i'm connected to the wifi, but i'd rather have the freedom of knowing the password, as i'm going to stay here for the whole summer)

Using this method won't work for you, since /data is not accessible except after acquiring root permissions. But if you can root your device, try this afterwards:

adb shell
su         # allow it from phone if required
cp /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf /sdcard/
exit
adb pull /sdcard/wpa_supplicant.conf

Sorry but AFAIK this can't be done without root.


Android Icon meaning I have an RCA tablet with Jelly Bean 4.2.  When I power on the tablet, the start up screen comes up, then the screen goes black and then the jelly bean android comes onto screen, laying on its back with a red triangle that has an exclamation point inside sitting on top of the android.  I cannot get into the tablet at all.  Does anyone know what the icon means?

(source: howtogeek.com)
If you are getting this screen, that means your Android has booted into "recovery mode".


Want data off broken phone. Possible? The screen of my samsung S6edge is showing black but the rest of the lights work if i push the hardware buttons. I don't seem to be able to get my touch screen to respond at all.

The autobackup wasn't able to work while I was away because it never had access to WiFi.

Is there any way that i can pull my photos off it? I have a mac with dual boot windows and am happy to add a linux boot if that will make my life easier.

It might depend on whether or not you enabled Developer Options in Settings before you lost use of the touch screen. Try downloading Samsung USB drivers for PC and install on computer or laptop, turn phone on and connect to PC with data cable. If it installs, you can list folders from your phone and copy files.


How do I connect a PS3 Controller with Xperia P? How do I connect a PS3 Controller with Xperia P?

If your android is rooted  you can follow the steps

Install Sixaxis Pairing tool in your pc
Install Sixaxis Controller app in your android
In android app Tap the start button and wait for bluetooth to initiate. If you
get an 'Error: Missing required protocol' message, your device is
not supported.
You must manually pair the controller with your
phone. This can be done using SixaxisPairTool in yor pc.Your phones bluetooth
address should be shown at the bottom of the main application window
and will look something like 1A:3C:13:00:21:C2; you need to enter
this number into the SixaxisPairTool
Once paired, unplug the USB cable and press the power button on the
controller. If successful, the lights on the controller will stop
blinking and a single light will remain on.
Tap the 'Change Input Method' button and select 'Sixaxis Controller'. You should now
be able to use the controller in any games or applications that
support key bindings, such as many emulators.

Source: http://www.dancingpixelstudios.com/sixaxiscontroller/instructions.html

Youtube video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI3t-h390rc#t=22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBcO_Gt0fd4


Make fonts larger in Galaxy Tab How can I enlarge all texts in galaxy tab for an old man, specially in contacts and more specially numbers of contacts?

Thank you.

edit galaxy tab version 2.2

Individual apps might have settings for font size, but I don't think Android 2.2 included any system-wide settings for changing the default font size.  Check the Market for a third-party contact list app that allows you to change that setting.


How can a lost locked phone in airplane mode be unlocked? I lost my Android phone on vacation that was in airplane mode (Moto G5, v7 updated). It was protected by fingerprint and swipe. I almost always use the fingerprint to unlock, but do very occasionally use the swipe.

I locked it online remotely and remotely logged out of it when I realized it was lost several hours later. The timeout interval should be only 1 or 2 minutes.

I was hoping to recover it in some fashion, so I didn't remotely wipe it, secure in the knowledge that it couldn't be unlocked.

So I was surprised to be contacted two days (!) after I lost it on my other devices and accounts via an instant messaging app on the phone by someone who claimed to have found the phone and was looking for the owner.

In shock I didn't reply and quickly used Device Manager to remotely wipe the phone immediately. I also changed all my Google passwords for the accounts on the phone. I checked the Gmail logins and noticed none outside of my possession. I also checked Google Maps timeline and didn't see anything outside of my possession. Oddly, though, in Device Manager I clearly did see the phone located in the city I lost it, but a distance away from where I was.

A few questions:

How could a locked phone with a recent Android OS be unlocked, taken out of airplane mode, and home screen accessed?
How could the remote lock not work, assuming somehow someone opened up the phone within the lockout interval?
I saw the phone in the city I lost it on Device Manager (where I executed the remote wipe). How could it be there, but nowhere visible in my Google Maps timeline or Gmail login history?
Is there something I might be forgetting to do security wise?

Thank you.

How could a locked phone with a recent Android OS be unlocked, taken out of airplane mode, and home screen accessed?

It wasn't. The person simply pulled out the sim card from your device, added into some other device and installed WhatsApp on it. WhatsApp doesn't have any login authentication, it will simply let anyone use it as long as they have access to sim card. This also explains why he/she could post in one your groups and not directly PM some contact (he/she doesn't have any of your contacts).

  How could the remote lock not work, assuming somehow someone opened up the phone within the lockout interval?

Not possible in the 1-2 minute lockout interval you mentioned. Any kind of exploit will require at least few hours of work.

  I saw the phone in the city I lost it on Device Manager (where I executed the remote wipe). How could it be there, but nowhere visible in my Google Maps timeline or Gmail login history?

Maps timeline isn't 100% accurate and up to date. Device Manager pings for real-time location. GMail login history shows only places where you actually logged in. You were already logged into your accounts when you went to that place, unless you didn't remove the account and added it back, it won't show login attempts in GMail.

I don't see any signs of breach in security of your device from the information you have provided.


How to make SELinux permissive on a Knox Samsung device? I have a Samsung note 2014 which I rooted following this tutorial. However I now have problems with SELinux which (apparently) is preventing me from installing a Linux virtual box. I backed up and uninstalled KNOX using Titanium backup but still no success. When I type setenforce permissive in a terminal, if get no error message but when I type getenforce, I get "enforcing".

Is there any way I can change this? The device is running Android 4.3.

You need to open a local terminal shell, by using a "Terminal Emulator" like app. Otherwise you will not get an su'able shell. Since AOS 4.2.2, ADB is not letting you use "su", to get root shell, on stock "Enforced" SELinux devices.

Then do this:

su 0 setenforce 0

If you need to make this permanent to last between re-boots, you need to find where this is originally set in the various init.*.rc files in boot.img and change it, and reflash...

EDIT: 2015-09-22

The above trick no longer work on Stock devices using AOS 4.4.4 and above, even with insecure kernels. (Such as those provided by cf-autoroot.) That you can blame Google who made Enforcing permanent. Your only option, other than re-compiling your own ROM, is learning about SEAndroid and context changing using SuperSU's supolicy command to inject the policy files.


By accident deleted /dev folder on android (LG G2 phone). how can i bring back system to life? Hello good people of universe!
Someone asked before on this website "what will happen if i delete /dev folder on android?", its kinda funny, but i really deleted it, but it was by accident while installing custom rom using TWRP recovery. Im really messed up now, system stucks at LG Logo screen. I dont know what to do, seems that PC can't detect my phone at all. But i can enter to firmware update by pushing up+power button. Can someone help me with that question ? Thanks in advance.

A hard system reset would reset all existing files of the device.

Backing up your files before you committed to the hard reset would be the best course of action for you.

There are step-by-step instructions to assist you in performing the hard reset on the verizon page, but this will work for all carriers as it is the same device: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-104173/.


Enable software menu without virtual keys I have a broken touch screen at the bottom of my Jiayu G45 (Android 4.2.2) phone. Thus the capacitive buttons are not available any more. I've found a program (Soft Buttons) which enables software menu in apps but as a side effect it occupies a part of the screen at the bottom and renders virtual buttons there (back, home etc.). Those buttons don't work for me and I don't want to dedicate a part of screen for them. So I wonder whether it is possible to enable the software menu without virtual buttons?

I have root access.

Soft Buttons does almost what I need. When "enable virtual keys" option is selected it sets two properties in /system/build.props

# added by Soft Buttons
qemu.hw.mainkeys=0
ro.show.navigationbar=yes

and asks to reboot. What I expected that setting

qemu.hw.mainkeys=0
ro.show.navigationbar=no

will do exactly what I need. But it looks like the second prop value is just ignored in case first one is set to 0, as navigation bar is still shown.

Here is a screenshot (just an example, not a screenshot from my phone)

(Click the image to enlarge).

LMT Launcher

Requires root access.

I won't go into the details, but know that it doesn't replace your home launcher but gives you PIE navigation among other things, which comes down to this:

(Click image to enlarge)

You can set a PIE to Menu/Overview action from LMT app → PIE → select a PIE item → Menu
Make sure you activate the LMT service from the Settings and then you can test the navigation.
For starters, PIE can be navigated from left, right and bottom of the screen. Swipe from the edge towards the screen and you'll see the PIE.
It has support for some limited gestures too. You would have to manually activate the feature from its Settings → Set Active Features.
And don't tell anyone: it even has a PIE pointer.


samsung galaxy s5 screen blink problem I am using Samsung Galaxy S5 android 6.0.1, after marshmallow update i am facing screen blinking problem. when i unlock screen it started blinking. and when i open hayday Game, it stopped blinking. so anyone tell me what should be the issue for this problem?

Try this solution:

Go to settings >> system >> About device.

Find "Build number" and click 6 times fast on it.

It will enable developer options menu in settings.

Come back to Home Screen, and then go back to Settings >> system >> Now you will see the Developer Options menu

Now go to Developer options >> Drawing Section or Rendering Section >> Find "Turn off hardware overlays" or "disable hardware overlays" >> This will force the phone to always use GPU for screen adjustments.

Restart your device and see no more screen blinking.


Are Android tracking apps legit? I'm wondering if the apps, which claim about tracking a phone number and giving you the exact location of the caller really work. Is this really possible? If so, how? And what's the name for the app that could do this?

Say I have the phone number 1-123-456-7890. The 1 is the country code, 1 is the USA. In the USA phone numbers are split geographly into area codes (123). Area codes are split into central office codes (usually also geographic)(456). The last four numbers (7890) are either randomly assigned, assigned in order, or chosen by the customer from a list of available numbers. With area code and CO code, you can get what state and city they phone number is (or what city it was registered in the case of a cell phone). My Samsung Galaxy S5's OS (Marshmallow) tells me what state the number is from. There are some special area codes such as 800 and 710.
Other countries may have different telephone numbering plans, and even base cost on area codes you are tying to call:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbering_plan

More info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-free_telephone_numbers_in_the_North_American_Numbering_Plan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_710

If you are worried about others knowing what state/city you live in you can type *67 before the number you want to call. (ex *671234567890) You will show up as private number. They will not have your number, so unless you tell them your number they can not call you back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_service_code

The only legal way (in the US) to get your location, is to get a warrant and the cell company has to give up your location. The only exception is when you call 911, they will have your location without a warrant.


Tablet as a secondary monitor Do I have any option to use my Galaxy note 10.1 (2014 edition) as a secondary screen? I want it to use for photoshop, which runs on the pc, but i control it in the tablet. I know I can draw with the tab, and there are apps for drawing, and i've already used Sketchbook (Autodesk) but it has a lot of limits with the layers and brushes.
I have already tried applications like "Splashtop" via internet but it was very laggy and I also gave a chance to "Slide" (cause of the USB connection) but the installation didnt work.
I dont really trust apps which works via internet cause it might be very slow and laggy, and its a big deal in computer drawing, so i look for a solution which work via HDMI or USB cable.
Do anyone has an idea how can I make it work?

You can try :

Air Display by Avatron
iDisplay
Splashtop


"Sim Empty" and cannot make calls after upgrade I have a WileyFox Swift which I recently updated to Nougat. Wileyfox runs Cyanogen natively. I have not rooted it or hacked it in any way. I installed the update by clicking on a reminder that kept popping up telling me to update. So everything has been done in the official manufacturer-defined way.

It has two sims. When I reboot it asks for the sim lock PIN for one of the sims (the other does not have one) so I know it is detecting the hardware. Also I am able to receive SMS on one of the sims. But I cannot make calls, receive calls, or send SMS. When I go to "Settings -> SIM cards" it says both sims are empty.When I try to make a call, instead of giving me the choice of sim, it only offers emergency call.

I have tried rebooting, re-seating the sims, going into recovery mode and clearing the cache partition.

I am in exactly the same situation, Wileyfox upgrade to Nougat, and have not found a good fix.

However what has worked (to a point) is as below:

Turn off remove sims and battery for at least 5mins
Insert 1st SIM, battery and reboot.
At this point 1st Sim should be recognised.
Turn off remove battery for 1-2mins.
Insert 2nd SIM, battery and reboot.
Both Sims should now be recognised.
Set and check preferences for Calls, Data, SMS etc.
Leave phone on!!!! <- A new problem

As soon at the phone is turned off and on again its back to square one :-(.

I guess it could be a specific problem with Cyanogen >>> Nougat, and the firmware handling 2 sims on boot up.

For reference my Sims are o2 and EE.


Smart Phone Flash Tool Remain 0 percent I have a Lenovo A3000 tablet and I want to flash it (Reinstalling firmware?). So I download my tablet driver and MT65XX Preloader drivers for Windows. After installing all of them, when I click on Download button on in Smart Phone Flash Tool it successfully detect the COM port number, but it doesn't start to send data. Why?

P.S: I tried above steps with Win 7 32&64 bit, Win 8.1 64bit and Win XP!

Answer compiled from comments

The SPFT version you are using is probably incompatible with your device or firmware, and it is failing silently. Try downloading the latest version of SPFT and the correct firmware, and it should probably work.


VZW Galaxy S5 can't use Wi-Fi (DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET) My Verizon Galaxy S5 can connect to my home's Wi-Fi, but I can't load anything once I'm connected. The error message I get is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET.

Other non-Galaxy smartphones work fine on the network, as does my laptop.

Is this an issue with the phone or the router? Things worked great up until a few weeks ago so I'm not sure what changed.

I have this same issue also with an S5 on Verizon, but I've narrowed down when it happens. If I enable the hot spot then after I disable it, I will get this error when using the browser (Chrome) and apps that need internet are also unable to function.

Once it starts, nothing seems to allow a wifi internet connection to work. The only thing that seems to get rid of the error is restarting the phone.


Bluestacks: Where are my apps? I am using the new Bluestacks 0.8.7 build 3069 and the home screen only loads the searching for channels and lots of apps that can be downloaded are shown. I also downloaded the MultiTool 1.06r and rooted with it. After it I installed many apps from the MultiTool one by one and they installed perfectly and could be open by the notification in the task bar. But then I restarted BS and then opened the all apps option but there weren't any apps. Where are my installed apps, though they show up in the apps section in the settings menu.

You need a custom launcher to see all of your apps. A launcher is what displays your home screen and everything on it.

Method 1 (recommended):

Go to the Play Store, and search "launcher"
Pick one you like, and download it (I recommend Nova)
When you press home, it will ask you to select an app. Choose Nova Launcher, then click always.
To see all of the apps, click the icon that looks something like this:

Method 2:

Search Google, "android launcher apk"
Choose from any of them, and open the link.
Click download. Be careful, sometimes there are advertisements that look like a download button
It will start downloading. To see the progress, open the notifications
When it is done, click on the notification
A screen comes up that tells you the details of the app and it's permissions. Click install
When it is done, press the home button
It will ask you to select an app. Choose Nova Launcher, then click always.
To see all of the apps, click the icon that looks something like the icon above


How can I allow my friend to see my screen using a web browser without requiring installation of any app on their or my device? I am specifically not looking for an App. The reason is that I want to just be able to send a link to a friend without them having to download an app.

Also sharing part of the screen, for example a tab on a browser would be super useful!

If this is not possible please recite the source. I am curious mainly about the mainstream browsers(since they are usually already installed on most phones) - Chrome(and other Chromium browsers), Firefox, Safari(I know this is not Android), Samsung Internet. I would still also appreciate information on any other browser!

If you know anything about plans for the future of this feature if it does not exist I would also be interested in that!

Maybe there is there a website I can use to share my screen on Android or do phone browsers not support screen sharing? a really good example for this is Screen Meet which really goes half way, but still requires the user which shares to download an app but not the users who view the screen sharing unlike Facebook Messenger and Skype which force both users to download an app and even register. A good example for The PC is Kosmi.

The W3C spec that covers screen capture for the Media API:

https://www.w3.org/TR/screen-capture/

is in Working Draft and as of May 2020 does appear to have some support on Desktop browsers but is not supported by any of the main Mobile browsers:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Capture_API


How can one move the position of the application inside the launcher? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I arrange the applications on each page of my app drawer?

When I click on the launcher icon (shown on the bottom right corner of the LCD screen as illustrated by Picture A), it will display the list of applications which are installed (as shown in Picture B).

However, I notice that when one boots up the phone, some of the applications are shown and later when the SD card is fully mounted, the rest of the applications are then shown inside the launcher.

So, I was wondering if it is possible to move the location of the applications inside the launcher to another page (assume if there are pages for one to move the applications) or other location in the same page.

Please note that I am not referring to the applications shortcuts or creating applications shortcuts onto the screen of Picture A.

Picture A

Picture B

It looks like you are using TouchWiz.  If so, go to the App Drawer (Picture B).

The directions below will vary slightly based on the version of TouchWiz you are running.

Hit the Menu Button, and select View Type, then select Customizable Grid.

Then, hit the Menu button again, and select Edit.  In this view, you can move your icons in the App Drawer.

For what it's worth, you can also edit your dock icons.


What's the "Thumbs up" setting in Motorola Camera app I have Motorola Moto Z Play phone. When switching to front-camera in Camera app, there is a setting that I haven't figured out it's purpose. It has three possible options:

Off
Manual (shows a slider which its value can be chosen from 1 to 7).
Auto

Here is a screenshot of this setting:

There is no reference to this setting in the official manual and I haven't found any resources that explains it. Does anybody know what's it for? There could be a similar front-camera setting for other phone brands too, but I haven't much experience about that.

I believe it is the beauty mode

  The 5MP front-facing camera adds one extra control to this menu and that is for beauty mode. There are three options: auto, manual, or off. The manual option lets you move a slider like most other smartphones that offer a beauty mode which blends the skin tones to hide imperfections

Also called beautification mode

  We start off with self portraits, which include a Beautification mode, which is a first for Moto, but not a first for Lenovo at large. It mainly enhances clarity and colors while smoothing out lines on the face, to varying degrees of success.

Off would be to disable the mode, manual would be adjust the beauty effect and auto would let the camera decide

Edit: It's not a thumbs up, it is a silhouette of a female face sideways - you can see that clearly from Lenovo feature, with the 7 step sliding scale. Moto seems to have added auto feature in addition


Android Market or Google Play Store for black Pandigital Novel I'm looking for an easy way to get the Android Market or Google Play Store on my black Pandigital novel. I've searched and searched, but I couldn't find any ways to get either of them. If anyone knows an easy, simple way, please let me know!

You can try and install the Google Play 4.1.10 shared on droid-life.


Nexus S 4.0.3 (OTA) missing icon in the phone app How can I solve missing icon issue? Restarted couple of times doesn't help.
Note: It was fine for a couple of months back. When it start happening, I just need to reboot, but now it's permanent.
The action buttons in the phone app should look like this:

But instead my phone app screen look like this:

Are you sure that that isn't the way it should be? Today I recived a 4.0.4 system update for my Nexus s. Try updating yours from 4.0.3 to 4.0.4.

Edit:
That is the way its ment to be. Me and many people I know have it like that. Where did you get the first image of the dock bar from?


Android Device not detected by adb on Xubuntu 14.04 My phone (Micromax A092) running stock Android 4.3, has recently got factory reset by mistake. Using Photorec, I was able to recover all my files stored in the part of the phone memory, used as an sd card. However, to recover my contacts, I need to access the partitions which I believe, need root access. However, trying to root it is a challenge altogether in itself, as my PC doesn't detect my device in any mode except in "sideloading" mode. I've edited 51...rules, with info from lsusb, but it still has not worked. I run Xubuntu 14.04, and am in desperate need of my contacts.
To clarify my earlier statements:-

$adb devices
returns a blank line
$adb {anything else}
returns device not found et al.
In "fastboot
mode", only the Micromax logo is displayed on the screen, and nothing else.
My USB Debugging is enabled I've tried using it as USB, PTP, MTP, and in charging mode to see if anything happens, but it has all been in vain.
Even fastboot does not detect my device
In USB/MTP/PTP, it mounts as usual and I've tried the commands, with the device mounted and unmounted.

Can someone please help me recover my contacts? If not, atleast in rooting my device?
Thanks in advance.

[Solved]
I had to edit my ~/.android/adb_usb.ini file; it was written with something else.
I found the vendor id from lsusb and replaced the contents with 0x{vendor id}

0xlc9e

in my case


How do I disable auto-sync in HTC Sync 3.3? Where in HTC Sync is the option to disable synchronization upon connecting the phone to the computer?

There used to be plenty of options in the old versions of HTC Sync. By old versions I mean versions like 2.0 that came with my phone. This is the version I have been using for two years now. I just thought I would update to get all the latest bells and whistles. But little did I know that the newest HTC Sync version is just one big splash screen with a picture of my phone on it and one big SYNC button. And it is very resource hungry.

I am downloading the new HTC Sync Manager right now. But I don't think it's compatible with HTC Desire or other older HTC devices. I think it's mainly made for the HTC One series of phones. So I don't expect much from it, but I'll give it a try anyway. Are there more sync options in Sync Manager than in the regular Sync?

What's a good alternative to HTC Sync that I can use with HTC Desire? Which ones are popular? I don't want anything too fancy. I don't need anything that's too much resource hungry and media focused. Just plain sync tool (PIM).

Update: HTC Sync Manager doesn't even start

The first time HTC Sync Manager started it was scanning my computer for media files. I aborted the operation and went to settings to change the language. It prompted me to restart the program so I clicked OK. It restarted and got stock at the splash screen. Now it does that every time and the only way to close it is to terminate the associated process.

Great software indeed... it should not stop working just because the user changes the language in the settings. Looks like I will have to install it all over again to erase any conflicting config files and such.

According to the download page of HTC Sync Manager, HTC Desire phones should be supported.

In my case when I first started the application it started loading all my media files from my pc (which took some time). After everything was loaded, the music etc was stored in my Media gallery of the HTC Sync Manager.

If you want to disable the synchronisation of your phone on connect, disable the option "Automatically start sync when device is connected" under the More tab. In my case that tab was only available when you connect your phone (probably to be able to use different settings for multiple phones).

So maybe you should just try to reinstall the latest HTC Sync Manager, because it should work for your phone too. Just be a little patient.


What Tasker tasks require root access? I'm thinking of installing Tasker on my phone, but I don't want to root it.  Is it worth my while?

What Tasker tasks require root access?  What can it do without root access?

Edit:

Here are some examples:

I would like to turn on the GPS whenever I start certain apps (various driving directions apps, for instance), and turn it off when I exit them.  I understand that apps can't turn on the GPS (otherwise the apps in question would do it themselves instead of directing me to the settings).  Tasker claims to be able to do that.  Does it need root for that?
I remember seeing somewhere (lifehacker maybe?) that Tasker can disable the lock screen based on location, such as when I get home, and turn it off when I leave.  Can it do that?  Does it need root access for that?

The simple answer is that it requires root to do things that would require root if they weren't automated by Tasker and you were doing them manually.  Tasker is irrelevant.

Edit: Turning on/off GPS does not require root.  Apps must be able to do it, because Power Widget can.  As for the lock screen, I think what you read must have actually referred to the keyguard (the "swype to unlock" screen).  The phone is not locked the same way as it is with a pattern/password when the keyguard is on; it's just to prevent accidentally keypresses, not for security.  Tasker can disable the keyguard.


How to get the "check" next to text messages without being notified? I have an HTC Incredible 2. The default is NOT to notify you when your message has been delivered.

I can go into settings and tell it to notify me. After doing so, it puts a checkmark next to the message when its been delivered -- That I like. However, it also "alerts" me with a notification in my notifications bar that it has been delivered -- I find that annoying.

Is there anyway to get the checkmark indicating it was delivered without the notification alert?

John as @thunsaker states this a HTC Sense mod and unfortunately cannot be changed.

You could look at rooting your phone and putting a vanilla ROM of Android on or the fully customisable Cynogen Mod 7, that way you can take back the control HTC stole ;-).

A place to start would be http://www.android.modaco.com


How can I update my HTC Desire when the OTA update is missing? I have an HTC desire and have Orange as a provider in the UK. The software information displays my firmware version as being "2.1-update1".

I discovered that my phone is not up to date, because after hours of searching I discovered that the reason I cannot find the google app 'phone to chrome' is because the version is not recent enough. There are no updates pending as I have the system software updates check box for schedules updates checked. On checking for updates a message states that there are no updates available for my phone. Is the reason that other users are able to update because they have different devices and service providers? From looking around for update news, my phone should be updating.

From various webpages (example) it is said that this update can be done manually by using HTC sync; is this safe? Are there risks from not getting the update automatically? Or are you only bypassing the service provider in this way and not much harm can be done? A warning that this removes all previous saved data is given, but this will not equate to rooting and voiding any warranties though?

Yes, it's up to the carrier whether to distribute the update over their network, but it looks like the update did roll out on Orange.  Strange that you didn't get it and can't see it.

That said, updating via HTC Sync is perfectly safe and will not void your warranty.  It's nothing like rooting.

I would think you should be able to take it into an Orange location and they'll update it for you, but I would just do it with HTC Sync myself.  Your link is for the 2.3 update, rather than the 2.2 update; I don't know whether you can go directly from 2.1 to 2.3 with that update, but it shouldn't hurt to try.


Laptop doesn't get IP address when tethered via WiFi I'm trying to get an internet connection from my laptop via my SGS2. The phone is rooted, and I've tried two different WiFi tethering apps. I don't have a tethering plan (they want to charge me more than my home broadband!) so that's why I'm not using the native tether.

When my laptop connects to the WiFi hotspot, it fails to get an IP address. I guess this is due to the phone not running a DHCP server. I've tried the following:

Setting the IP of the interface to 192.168.1.99 and 10.0.0.99 (in case of standard /24 and /8 ranges) with x.x.x.1 as the default gateway.
The same as above, except with the public 3G internet-facing IP as the default gateway.
Setting the IP of the interface to the phone's public 3G internet-facing IP.

I've been unable to send ICMP pings to any IP address. I've also tried setting various DNS servers (private IPs, 8.8.8.8, etc.) but can't resolve any host names. It's like the traffic just gets black-holed at the phone.

Any ideas? I'd be happy to go with a USB tether, but my plan doesn't cover that and I've yet to find an app that'll allow me to get round it.

You should first check which IP address (and network) your hotspot is using. From the command-line (e.g. using a terminal app like Android Terminal Emulator or adb shell) you can figure this out with the command

ifconfig wlan0

If you rather want to avoid the command line, or your device uses womething other than wlan0 for the interface and you want to avoid guessing, OS Monitor is an app which tells you all the necessary details for each interface as well.

Once you've found out the correct data, you can specify those on your laptop: Use the IP of the interface for the gateway, and take network and mask accordingly.


Use Automation App to Detect if Keyboard is Active I would like to have a trigger on an app like Macrodroid (or any other similar app) that listens to whether or not the Keyboard is active (Specifically, Google Keyboard).

Is there any way to do this?

You can use "UI element focused" in "UI actions" in AutoInput plugin.
It not exactly what you want but it's best alternative AFAIK


Factory reset: will home screen order, file, and folder layout, and account usernames and passwords be restored after adding Google account back? I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII device. I would like to know:

if I configure a Samsung account and factory-reset my device, then when I add the Samsung account back will I get my Android home screens, default home screen, and all the folders and free as well as paid apps they contain be restored so that everything looks exactly the same as it was prior to resetting my device, or do I need to add support for a separate cloud service in order for such configuration to be preserved?
Also, once I add my Samsung account back after the factory reset, can I also restore all other accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc..., including these services' username and password) by restoring a single Samsung account?

As you can see, I have both Samsung account and Google configured under Settings | General | Accounts, but I'm not sure which does what:

I am not sure with samsung account but I am sure it works with Google account, if you have backup and restore enabled from day 1 of the account setup. Then you will get everything back.


How can I disable the button on the earphones? I keep accidentally pressing the button on the earbuds when it's in my pocket.

Any of these would be great for me:

Disable the button only when the device is locked
Disable the button always

Headset blocker will disable those buttons.  It's a widget, not an app.


samsung xcover 4, has no internet access while connected to a specific wifi network It seems I'm facing a strange problem with my smartphone.
After the last update, I can't connect to my office's wifi. All the other devices connect normally. However, I tried resetting the router many times.
On the other hand, my phone connects perfectly to all other networks. I think I did everything possible, even a hard reset, but the problem insists.
 I've tried changing the IP settings to static and typing my IP etc, but nothing worked.
Any other ideas are welcome.

thanx

Update : When I walk 15 meters away from my desk to another office and try to connect again, my phone connects normally to the same network but from a different router. So, I suppose the problem is between my nearby router and my phone. Is there any way to fix this? It worked till last Friday, so there's no chance of incompatibility.

Perhaps you should upgrade your Android OS version, most of the time this method work for me.


touch screen and usb not working: any way to remotely control my phone? I recently had my phone water damaged during my vacation. The phone still boots up but it doesn't respond to any touch input. When connecting to PC, a notification would appear on my PC that the device is not recognized.

So I'm wondering if there's still another way I can remotely control my phone. It is rooted but with ADB function not working because of USB damage, I can't use that feature anymore.  My phone is an Asus zenfone 2, looks like it doesn't have otg. Another option I thought was AirDroid, I can install it from google play. But then I would still need to input my udername and password to run the app.

Help! I just need to recover my data :(

You said that the phone is rooted. Does it has a custom recovery? If you have a custom recovery you can boot to that by using the hardware buttons and you can operate most custom recoveries with the hardware keys. If you are able to do this you can make a Nandroid backup to an external SD card and after that you can extract your data from the Nandroid backup to another phone. I didn't tried yet but with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h3r3t1c.bkrestore&hl=nl, maybe you can extract the data to another phone.


is there a way to reverse whatever happened to my phone today? I went snow shoeing today. Before setting out I turned off my phone. It's a Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon. After snowshoeing I turned it back on and everything was gone. it looks like it did some kind of reset:

All of my apps were gone.
my launcher was gone.
my pictured were gone.
my accounts were gone
Everything was in Vietnamese

The only things preserved were my contacts. This might be because I use Backup Assistant Plus.

Does anyone have any idea what happened and if I can reverse it?

It does look like it did a factory reset, I'm unsure why, but that appears to be the case. Did it get wet? or very cold?

Unfortunately, there is no way to recover all your data (unless you took a full backup onto your PC). However, as you probably know, many apps sync with the cloud, so it isn't that much of an issue.

If this happens again I would recommend contacting Samsung (if your phone is still under warranty).


Where did the SIP settings go to on my LG Optimus 4X? About 3 months ago I bought my LG Optimus 4X HD (aka P-880), which shipped with Android 4.0.3. I searched the settings up and down, and was quite surprised there were no SIP settings available. I'm very sure SIP support was added to AOSP with Gingerbread, so it had to be there with ICS!

Did LG remove them from their Android installation? Is there any way to get them back?

That sip settings are hidden in "activities" below "Telefon", it took me a while to find it. Creating a SIP Account was possible but it was not stored permanently. After closing the sip settings and opening it again it's gone. Still using Vimtura Vimphone as sip dialer.

LG P880 fw v.20b, Android 4.1.2


How to change the default alarm sound? It seems to me that it is impossible to change the default alarm tone. Does anyone know if it's possible to do that?

I am using Sony Xperia Z2, if that matters.

Oddly enough, Android doesn't provide (as of the time of writing) a way to change the default alarm tone: if you navigate to Settings > Sound & notification, you can pick "Alarm volume", "Phone ringtone" and even "Default notification ringtone", but there's nothing about an "Default alarm ringtone".

The solution that worked for me came from this post. It requires using the ES File Explorer (install it if you don't have it yet, you can remove it afterwards). The steps below are to pick one of the existing alarm sounds as the default one, but can be used for any sound in your SD card. Here's what you do:

Using the ES File Explorer, navigate to /system/media/audio/alarms
Click on the file you want, and in the "Open with" prompt, select "ES Media Player"
Open the menu in the top right, and pick "Set ringtone" (the entry with a bell icon)
In the dialog that appears, pick "Set alarm"

After doing this, all applications that use alarms will use the chosen sound if they're configured to use the system default. The stock clock app will also use this.


Will disabling LTE extend my battery life even if I'm not using it? I was just wondering, if disabling LTE will improve my battery life even if I'm never using it (there's no LTE in my country).

It might marginally increase your battery life, since if the network selection is set to Auto, it will periodically poll the networks to see if LTE is available. Since it won't find it anyway, why not disable it and restrict it to your available networks?


Turn on Mac with Tasker Is there any way to tell my iMac to turn on via tasker. If so, would both devices have to be on the same network? Is there a way to do this without being on the same network? Would my computer have to be plugged into the router or can this be done wirelessly? I guess I am trying to use wake on lan. So for instance, when I come home and tap my phone to a NFC sticker, my computer would turn on. Is this possible?

Yes, you are talking about Wake-on-Lan. And as far as I know, the device to be awoken this way must be plugged-in via an ethernet cable (how else? when it's turned off, so is its WiFi).

As for the network: either both devices have to be in the same network, or you have port-forwarding enabled on the router connecting the different networks (otherwise your target cannot be reached).

Now for the remaining part: How to use your Android device to trigger this? You were asking for Tasker -- and yes, that should be possible. There is a Locale Wake On LAN Plugin (and Locale plugins do work with Tasker. I cannot see that Tasker natively supports NFC -- but there's e.g. a Youtube video, so there must be a way -- hm, maybe this Locale NFC Plugin?

So now there should be everything complete, and you can start testing :)


Will reseting my device to factory setting unroot and remove superuser? As the title says, if I reset my rooted nexus 4 to factory settings will it be unrooted relocked and superuser uninstalled?

No, root won't be removed by factory reset. If you want to remove it, then you should flash stock ROM; or delete the su binary from the system/bin and system/xbin and then delete the Superuser app from the system/app.


Removable drive connected over OTG disconnects when screen turns off I own a tablet with Jelly Bean installed. I usually connect a pen drive to it using an OTG cable and it works fine (except for NTFS file system and the below problem too). The issue is when the screen turns off after the time out while the storage device is connected, it disconnects itself. If I turn the screen on, it will be mounted automatically.

It is annoying to change the time-out now-and-then and keeping it on for a long time by touching the display.

Is there any solution to this?

Check if you have any option in Settings (maybe Settings->Storage) to keep OTG connected in sleep mode.
If you don't find anything related to that, it means there's some bug with the ROM.
Maybe you can try this app: USB Autosleeper
This app doesn't allow the phone to sleep when USB is connected.
Whenever you connect OTG, run that app and do whatever you want :)


Android headset connectors/adapters for a wired headset, what do I need? I need to get a wired (not bluetooth) headset for my LG Aristo 2 Plus, but I don't know what I need to make it work.

I imagine there are only two components I need to worry about: (1) type of connector on headset and (2) type of connector on adapter. Adapter may not be necessary, but probably is for wired headsets.

I've wasted a lot of money on adapters to make a cheap wired Plantronics headset work on my old work iPhone, but none of them worked. Maybe Android-based devices are easier?

To be clear, I need a headset for talking on the phone, not a pair of headphones.

Any nudge in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! If there is a canonical answer out there somewhere, please point me to it.

Android has two standards OMTP and CTIA/AHJ, whether it is a headset only or a headset with built in mic. Details in answer Why external microphone doesnt work on some Androids (like LG G5) (this likely covers the issue you had with iPhone)

OMTP is practically extinct and all headphones with or without mic are CTIA. This distinction is useful to know just in case you decide to buy an accessory that follows older standard. For all practical purposes, just check it has three black rings - see picture (OMTP comes with two rings r(without mic) and three (with mic) but practically all headsets or earphones have switched to latter standard)
Coming to the device side, 3.5mm port into which the headset is plugged is being phased out by manufacturers (regrettably) in favor of USB - Type C. Luckily for you, your device has 3.5mm jack (device specs linked by you) , so you needn't bother with an adapter.

In case, you have a phone with only USB port, you would need to buy an adapter like in the picture below.

(Click to enlarge)

Lower end accessories have only one button that can be used for connect/pause/end call. Others have more buttons for media playback like next track, skip etc.
In case you buy a Bluetooth enabled accessory, the first two points are irrelevant.

tl:dr; You can buy any headset that meets your budget. Just make sure it has 3 black rings and released in last three years or so. It's a good idea to check out your device forums on XDA or other sites for recommendations if you are an audiophile. In case of doubt, check with seller or in reviews if it is compatible with smartphone


How can I bypass the pattern lock screen of a Samsung Edge S7? Summary
My cousin passed away last week and my aunt is asking me to unlock his Samsung Edge S7. He had the fingerprint scanner enabled but his phone hasn't been unlocked for more than 24 hours so it requires the pattern to be entered. I've tried several of the patterns and I've also tried both Samsung find my phone and Googles device manager. Neither of them allow me to unlock the device. They only allow me to lock the device.

Questions

How can I bypass the pattern code?
How can I figure out what pattern my cousin set his phone too?
Can I flash a custom recovery partition to have root access?
Can I root the phone without access to the phones internals?
Are there any other options?

I got the answer. As per your question you have access to Android Device Manager which allows you to lock the device. Simply click on lock and enter the new password. It will replace the current password and you will be able to unlock the device via the password you added.As simple as that. There are more methods Here


How to revive crashing market app? My Android 2.1 tablet crashed while the marked app was installing some apps. If I open the marked app now, it always shows that two apps are installing right now, and crashes immediately. Any ideas on how to fix that problem? I already removed the apps the market thinks it is installing, but that did not help. :-/

The way I generally deal with truculent apps is by following each of these steps until it starts working again.

Force stop
Clear cache
Clear app data
Restart the device
Uninstall/reinstall (this may be tricky with the Market app)


Record android screen Droid Razr I've been trying to connect my Droid Razr running 4.0.4 to record its screen, but have had no luck. I've tried VNC server, Tight VNC, and just tried the android adk using the adb or monitor tools, and nothing. I did list devices in adb, checked see devices in android debug monitor, and noticed that my device was not there. I have USB debugging and connected as media device when USB is pluged in.

Can anyone help me with this, so I can use something to record my screen?

Vmlite vnc server will work for you:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vmlite.vncserver&hl=en

You connect via vnc viewer, then record the screens


How to disable "reject call with an SMS"? ICS introduced an option to reject incoming calls with an SMS.

Is there a way to disable this function. If yes, how?

Sony Xperia S handset running JB

Unfortunately, there is no way to disable that. Sony is using a proprietary Dialer that has that function hard-coded into it. Without using a custom ROM, there is no way around it.

I know this because I have experience with this on Samsung devices (they also have a bar near the bottom that allows to Reject with Text), and having heavy proficiency with Android, outside of somehow recompiling the Dialer apk and using your knowledge of Java to find the entry, remove it, and recompile, there is unfortunately nothing you can do.


The 10.1 tablet charger Does the 10.1 tablet have a special charger.
The one for the phone says adaptive fast charging with a electric symbol. It doesn't appear to work properly on the tablet. The tablet shows a symbol with a red x in it whilst the special one for the tablet is plain and shows the correct symbol while charging. The 2 different chargers are a puzzle unless you are aware and use only the dedicated one which is nearly identical to the others. Thanks Samsung for this hidden tidbit.

A little bit more information would have been nice e.g. charger models.

Anyway since the phone charger isn't charging your tablet i suspect that the phone charger does not deliver enough power. The Samsung adaptive charger i know of does support up to 2A although the website only list support for new samsung smartphones. I guess it will not recognise your tablet as a fast charge compatible device and it will charge it with the standard usb 2 power (500 mA) which isn't enough.

I recommend you to simply label your different charger to recognise them easier.


With the stock Gallery app, how can I open an arbitrary image file by specifying its filesystem path? I would like to know whether it is possible to open an arbitrary image file with the stock Gallery app (as distributed with the Samsung Galaxy SIII) by navigating the filesystem and drilling down the path to the image and clicking on the image to be opened. It seems to me that the only place it allows its users to select files from are the folders found under /storage/emulated/0/DCIM (normal pictures), the folders found under /storage/emulated/0/Pictures (screenshots), /storage/emulated/0/PhotoEditor for pictures created with the Samsung Photo Editor which can be installed from the Gallery application by clicking on the edit picture icon on the top-right-hand-side when viewing a picture, /storage/emulated/0/Download for images downloaded from the web via a web browser, and other albums taken from Google Picasa Web.

Right now I'm guessing that when the stock Gallery application is opened, it just traverses the entire filesystem and for each directory which it finds which contains an image it displays the directory name along with the last image in such directory (and switches to a grid view for the images in that directory if clicked).

In any case, I would like to know if there's an alternative way to open an image directly form the stock Gallery app, e.g. Gallery could launch a file explorer application upon request once a picture is selected? Thanks.

You're not limited to using the Gallery app to view your images.  I've loaded a file explorer app called ES File Explorer File Manager that allows me to traverse not only the local content of my phone, but, also, any network drives I may have access to.  When selecting an image file, you are presented with a list of programs that are registered to open the image.  The program can use the Gallery app, or, its own built in image viewer, or, any other registered image viewer.


Should I let Windows "Fix" my SD card? Windows is popping up a message that my card may have been improperly ejected and is offering to fix it. Should I let it?

Is your card working? Can you put it back in your phone and access it? If yes, don't "fix" it.


How to stop dialogs telling me to turn on the ability of Google apps to access my location? This phone I have been using for years and flashing it with different ROMs, mostly CM. However, I think at the switch from CM 10.2 to CM11 it started giving me this insanely annoying message:

  In a previous version of android, you turned off the ability for
  Google apps to access your location. Turn it back on for all Google
  apps ?

Sometimes it just keeps throwing it to my face at every 5-10 seconds, making my device quite hard to use (as if it was not already).

The only options are "Not now" and "Yes". I have root, so, if anyone knows how to blast this nuisance away please let me know.

Note: Choosing "Yes" is not an option. Only options for me are either "No, never" (missing from the UI popup) or delete the Google bloatware from it altogether.

I believe that the text in the dialog has been changed with newer versions of Google Play Services, but it still pops up, annoyingly, if you disable WiFi scanning under location settings. I haven't personally tried this Xposed module, but I think that it accomplishes what you want (Deny Location Consent): http://repo.xposed.info/module/org.brainkiller.xposed.denylocationconsent

Note: Since you mentioned that you use CyanogenMod, I assume you have the ability to install Xposed if it isn't installed already.


How to fix Samsung Note 3 SM-N900 bootloader loop? My Samsung Note 3 SM-N900 got fully discharged and now it's stuck at the samsung logo when I power it back on.

Things that I have tried to fix my mobile:

Wiped the Cache partition from the recovery mode.
Used platform tools for adb recovery, but the device is not recognized in the PC probably because USB debugging was not on.
Soft reset using Home and power button.
Fully recharged the mobile, changed the battery as well.

I have a lot of important data which I don't want to erase. The last option left with me is to factory reset my device which would result in data loss. Is there any other way to fix the device without losing the data?

You have two ways of recovering you data:

Boot into fastboot and try to flash custom recovery (like TWRP). It allows making partition backups, which you can open on PC later.

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

Try to boot into temporary custom recovery and do the same (full partition backup). However, this depends on device and can be not available for Samsung Note.

Check this and this tutorial.

What concerns fixing the tablet in general from bootloop, it depends on what you've done/what have happened, and probably cannot be achieved without loosing your data. To be on the safe side, it's always preferable to do the backup prior to any manipulations.


Reliably accessing public Wi-Fi "Agreement" page on Android This has probably been addressed elsewhere, but I can't find it, so I will risk the ire of the community by asking it here.

When I connect to public Wi-Fi on my Android phone (version 6.0.1 at the moment), it pops open Chrome so I can hit “agree” or whatever the public Wi-Fi provider asks me to hit before giving proper internet access. Chrome always tries to bring up https://www.google.com, which, of course, doesn't redirect properly because it's https. So I manually type in hp.com since it's quick to type and doesn't redirect to https. Then whatever captive portal software is running can “catch” it and redirect me to the agreement page.

My question is: how to make Chrome (or Android) go somewhere else besides https://www.google.com? I assumed it was my home page configuration in Chrome, but it's not.

In case it's relevant, I'm on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

You can create a home screen shortcut that will do what you want. First bookmark your “hp.com”. I use “this.com. Then go to your bookmarks and long press the one you want. At the bottom of the pop up menu should be the option to “Add to Home Screen”. Select that.

Now, when you need to sign in on public Wi-Fi, just start your browser from the shortcut on your home screen. For me… Works every time!


Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 10.x You may note the almost duplicate title from this question. It keeps coming up when trying to solve my current issue.

I created a little web app to help at work. Just some html and javascript, and before Android started enforcing the Scoped Storage I had no issues using it. Now when I try to load the URL (ie: file:///storage/emulated/0/__MyDocs/SignInTracker.html) I get an access denied error.

I could use FireFox but it seems to be because it's not yet using the Scoped Storage standard, which if I understand correctly, will be a requirement in the next Android version, so that means I cannot rely on it working in the future. Also, FireFox just doesn't run as nicely as Chrome.

Is there a proper way for a non-Android-developer to use a local web app like this? Is there perhaps a location on the phone where I can place my .html and .js files that will allow Chrome to access them without issues? At work I'm not online or connected to anything, so loading from another server/computer is not an option.

For reference: My Chrome version is 79.0.3945.116, my FireFox version is 68.4.1, and my phone OS is Android 10; Pixel Build/QP1A.191005.007.A1.

You have 2 options:

You can use a local web server in your Android phone itself. There are many server apps out there in the Play Store, one such app is Simple HTTP Server.

You can put your documents into the folder Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/ in the internal storage. It's absolute path is /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/ or /sdcard/Android/data/com.android.chrome/files/Download/. This is the location where Chrome stores any downloaded files and therefore, this the only location where Chrome can access the files. But remember, uninstalling Chrome will delete this directory.


Galaxy ace - Can't seem to add a contact without adding them as a Google 'contact' Every time I add a contact (via the little plus) it brings up the Google contact screen. It used to give me an option for SIM or phone storage for the contact, but this is no longer an option.

You should check Contacts -> Menu -> Settings -> Default storage (or similar), there you should have the different options, including Phone memory, SIM and Always ask.


broken port on samsung galaxy 3 and tablet wont charge my charger port is broken on my Samsung tablet galaxy 3 is there another way to charge without using the port

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 has no auxiliary charging ports or removable parts - you'll need to get the port fixed or replace the tablet.

However, if you meant the Samsung Galaxy S3 (as this is what you tagged the post with) - you can purchase a battery charging kit to charge the battery separate from the the faulty phone.


Play Store crahes after reinstall in /system/app I've Archos 45B Helium rooted, with 4.4.4 android version.
I've got some problem with Play Store so I backed up it with Titanium and I delete it. I was not able to restore. So I downloaded "com.android.vending-5.3.5" and I instaled it as Phonesky.apk in the /system/app directory and change is permission to 644.
Now Play Store is installed but it crashes all the times.

Could I take Google_Apps wich are in the http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps
and which version I've to take.

Thanks for your support.

On Android 4.4.4 there is no more /system/app but /system/priv-app the main directory of the applications need special access
Following this Link of Android exchange
I checke dthe version of the tols was not removed. I my case I did that with the 4.4.22 version of Google play store

adb shell
shell@ac45bhe:/ $ su
root@ac45bhe:/ # mount -o remount,rw /system
root@ac45bhe:/ # cp /storage/sdcard1/com.android.vending-4.4.22-80240022-minAPI8.apk /system/priv-app/Phonesky.apk
root@ac45bhe:/ # chmod 644 /system/priv-app/Phonesky.apk
root@ac45bhe:/ # reboot

And I installed com.android.vending-5.3.5-80330500-minAPI9.apk from Android thought the internal file explorer, accepting unknown source when the system asked.


CWM: Almost any rom I try to install returns "(Status 0)" [HTC One GSM] CWM version: 6.0.4.3 touch

I tried to update my CM 10.2 to 11, but I always run into this error when installing a zip from SD card:

E:Error in /data/media/0/[filename].zip
(Status 0)
Installation aborted.

This happens for every rom I try to install, except a Kitkat AOSP rom I tried.

Even the 10.2 Rom I still had around on the card threw an error, but a different one.

I can't remember what exactly, but it looked like it couldn't match my phone's type (m7) to m7  or m7ul

I think my phone somehow forgot that it is an m7

Anyone got an idea how I can install roms again?

The problem was, that I had the m7att version of CWM installed. Must have misclicked when downloading.

Updated CWM to the generic m7 version and rom flashing works again.


Lenovo Ideapad A1 , dead, not working, no charge led I was flashing the Lenovo A1 ideapad tablet following the steps here :
http://www.artiss.co.uk/2012/04/installing-cyanogenmod-on-a-lenovo-ideapad-a1

, and I was able to flash the clockwork Mod (and I did a nandroid backup), and then modified bootloader, but after flashing the CM7 , all I would see was the lenovo logo on boot.

I was still able to go boot into recovery, so I tried to restore from the earlier mentioned backup, nothing, and the fastboot was not working anymore (modifed bootloader), so I reinstalled it from clockwork, and the A1 died.

Now it won't show any signs of life, except when I plug it into the computer, I would hear the USB ding (device connect )sound, and then 2 seconds, I hear the USB duh-ding (device disconnected) sound.
The charge LED doesn't light on when plugged in,

Here's what I tried so far (And I ran out of ideas ) :
- Hold the power button for 45 seconds (tried 60, and 120 as well), and then tried to power on
- All other possible button combinations
- One forum mentioned to touch the home button while holding the power button down
- Putting an update.zip on a micro SD , and boot with holding (volume - and power )
- Disconnected and reconnected the battery pack.
- left it overnight (as others recommended until the battery dies, but I can't tell whether the battery was fully drained)

Solved! Found the solution in Lenovo's forum, A1 and A1107 Unbrick fix/full factory restore:

  There have been several instances of people having problems with A1 and A1107 devices. This guide explains how to fix any software issue, including those that "brick" the device, or stop it booting up at all, by restoring the tablet to a completely stock factory state. It can also be used to safely upgrade a Gingerbread A1 to Ice Cream Sandwich, by using the A1107 image that corresponds to the storage space that your device has.


Is 4.0+ Disk Encryption compatible with Custom Recovery/KitKat ROMs? There is a prior question that answers this for Android 3.0 but some stuff I have read elsewhere has said that installing TWRP will not work with encryption in more recent versions of Android, so I wanted to double check and see if anyone here knows for sure.

I plan to unlock the bootloader on my device (Droid Razr HD xt926, there's an exploit and I'm rooted, frozen at 4.1.2 with the proper system version to do this) in order to flash a custom ROM (probably CM11 to start) and breathe some new life into this tiny computer.

I understand most of the concepts involved in this process as far as using adb and fastboot to flash the custom recovery/ROMs onto my device and have found a tool on another site to flash the KitKat firmware directly in order to use 4.4-based ROMS. However, I have not gone ahead because I want to make sure first that I will be able to encrypt my data again, since I know that the unlocked bootloader is kind of a security hazard.

In my understanding (verified by the link above in reference to Honeycomb devices), it should not be an issue so long as the external SD card is not encrypted so that software can be pushed and installed by the custom recovery, because this isn't true FDE and only a partition with your data is encrypted, not the entire disk. Has this changed?

I do not expect to be faced with a very sophisticated attacker, so I am not that worried about someone taking advantage of the unlocked bootloader in order to dump everything and bruteforce my PIN. It's more that I just live in a place where mugging and phone theft is not uncommon and I don't want a "regular" thief to have easy access to my messages and accounts and such.

So: Will the 4.4 disk encryption scheme work with a custom recovery? With all custom recoveries? And do I need to seek out particular ROMs that have fde available, or is it a standard part of Android that remains regardless of other developer tweaks and theming?

As to my experience, TWRP 3.0.2.4+ works fine with Android 6+ disk encryption. TWRP prompts for disk encryption password when booted into recovery.

TWRP 3.0.2.0 and older do not work in this issue.


How to recover your google account contacts I merged my contacts with Google. Later, I accidentally removed my Google account by removing it from contacts the options. There aren't any contacts visible to me now. Is there a way I can get my contacts back?

You could try remove your account at the accounts and synchronisation panel in the settings and add it again so it will sync your full account.


How do I delete a desktop home screen on Nexus 7 2013? Device: Nexus 7 2013
Android: 4.3

How do I delete a desktop home screen on Nexus 7 2013? I tried everything: pinch zooming, double tap, etc. Nothing seems to work.

When I had the original Nexus 7 (now dead), there was no way to delete a page from the homescreen. So, I'm not surprised the Nexus 7 v2 still doesn't have this feature.

On the original Nexus 7, I flashed the CyanogenMod ROM, which uses the Trebuchet launcher. This launcher had the feature to delete a page from the homescreen.

If flashing a new ROM is overkill, you can install a new launcher, as t0mm13b suggested. I personally use Nova Launcher on my Samsung Galaxy S4, which lets me delete a home screen by launching Nova Settings from the home screen (via left soft key), and going to Desktop > Home Screens.


My wifi autoconnects even though i have turned off everything possible in the settings I have a Samsung S6 running Android 6.0.1. There is a guest WiFi at work I signed into one time, and now can't get rid of:

I have tried to "forget" it.
I have turned off smart network switch.
I have turned off all wifi advanced options including "Passpoint" and "network notification" and have tried to turn WiFi off completely

I have done everything possible and it still autoconnects, even if I turn WiFi off within seconds it still tries to connect and drains my battery. When I get home it doesn't auto connect to my house WiFi but sometimes when I'm not even at work it will still try and connect to this guest wifi.

Is this a defect or am I missing something? Is there anything else I can try to get rid of it?

Do you have any app that auto connects wifi, like tasker or Samsung's new application called 'Good Lock'? Because Good Lock creates routines and by default if it gets in some predefined location than it starts wifi and some other services.
(sorry, I don't know if this can be termed as answer or not. But my reputation is low so I cannot comment and I just thought Good lock can be creating confusion)


Try to install Clockworkmod Recovery, always getting stock recovery I'm trying to install Cyanogenmod on my Samsung Epic 4G.  I've tried a couple of ways to get Clockworkmod Recovery on the phone, but every time I boot it into recovery mode I get the stock recovery program.  I've tried the method listed on the Cyanogenmod wiki here and one using Odin here, but every time it boots, it loads up with stock.

Does anyone have any ideas for how I can get around this?

It looks like the key was holding down volume-down, power, and camera buttons until the capacitive buttons (home, search, etc) lit up, which was longer than until the screen flashed (as stated in the CyanogenMod wiki).


Android Google map to provide alternative route Google Map web version can provide 3 alternative routes when routing directions. However, it seems Android Google map can only provide 1 route and have no option to choose alternative routes. Is there any way to get the alternative routes?

To see alternate routes, you need to use Navigation as opposed to Maps.

If you already have Maps open, click the blue arrowhead in the upper right to switch to Navigation, then click the context button on your phone, then select Route Info, then click the third button to the right along the bottom which will have both a dashed and solid line going to a map pin.  Alternate routes will appear, and you can select them along the top of the route info map.


Can you set the colour for contacts in Android 5 Lollipop? I just upgraded to Android 5.0 which made all my contacts' random colours even more prominent.

Is it possible to customize the colour for each contact? For example, if I don't like that Mister Brown got a green background, can I change that, haha?

Go to google messenger app. (The new SMS app from Google) -> go into a conversation with the contact you want to change colors -> press the three dots on top -> pick People & options -> around the end you'll see a small color palette where you can go in and change the color.

It seems that it currently works ONLY for people you texted (only through the messenger app).


Disabled mobile data but some data still transmitted I have expensive mobile data plan so I disabled mobile data in settings. But I still have a little amount of mobile data traffic every day that I paying for. (something near 100-1000 bytes, I inspected it in payment detalisation provided by operator)

I use home wifi for internet access so I need to disable only mobile data but not wifi.

I enabled restrict background data option but still have mobile traffic. (screen1)

In APN menu I can't delete/edit default APN supplied by mu operator. I created and selected fake APN as sugested in How can I disable mobile data completely? but still have mobile traffic.

How can I (but not disable wifi)?

I suspect OS Android or Google services make this traffic.
(screen2)

My phone is LG X style K200DS Android 6.0.1.

Install app like Glasswire and you can monitor your outgoing traffic. Or you can use firewall apps and try to disable the data on every app.