Fastboot saying "Unsupported command" Hey guys i just rooted my Motorola Droid RAZR (HD) with kingroot and i want to install CM 12.1 nightly. Before i proceed, i need to unlock my bootloader. After sitting infront of PC for 3-5 hours now, i finally give up.

I downloaded Android SDK + fastboot. Enabled USB debugging and booted phone in fastboot mode. The problem is, when i try the oem commands, get_unlock_data for instance, it says "unsupported command". I am really sick of it, i need serious help.

Any alternatives to get unlock data or unlock bootloader would be appreciated.

The Droid Razr HD cannot be unlocked using the standard Moto unlock procedure from there website, the only known way of unlocking the bootloader after root is achieved is via Motopocalypse written by Dan Rosenberg and available from his blog site here.

The basic jist of it is from the link above is:

Instructions

The tool may be downloaded here. It may be used as follows:

Extract the entire contents of the zip file.
If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Motorola USB drivers available for your phone.
Ensure your device has been rooted and you have a working installation ofsu.
Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device.
If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute run.bat. If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute ./run.sh.

You may also be interested in the RazrHD Toolkit 5.0 which can automate some of the processes involved, but I generally recommend doing it manually, so if something goes wrong you can see what happens and potentially correct the issue. All in one tool kits tend to mask the processes, which if they work is fine, but if there is a failure it can be very difficult to diagnose and correct.


How do I stop my phone from disconnecting from discord calls? My phone is a LG K40+ and sometimes when I'm on a call with my boyfriend it'll disconnect from the call. The quality is fine so I don't think it's an internet issue. I'm not very technically literate so please be super specific with instructions if you can help, I'm kinda stupid.
Edit: I'm connected via Wifi

I'm having the same problem, try disabling battery optimisation for discord only, eventually that will work.


Wrong reply-to header in emails (tine20) I have two different servers with two different user names

foo@mailserver.example (valid mail address)
bar@tine-server.example (not a valid mail, just for tine20 login)

I created an Exchange-Connector on the android device and if I send mails the message is from "foo@mailserver.example" but has a reply-to "bar@tine-server.example" set.

This is broken, since bar@tine-server.example is just a login for the tine20 server. It is not a valid email address.

Sending mails with the tine20 GUI works and there is no reply-to header set.

I use the default mail application on my android 4.1.2 (Samsung S2)

How can I tell the android mail app to stop adding the reply-to header?

I found the solution:

If you use two different servers for mail and tine20, you need to use the mail address if you create the Exchange Connection on the android device. The automatic set up will fail, and in the advanced settings you can enter the name of the tine20 server.

If you use the tine20 login on the first screen, the stock mail app will add a reply-to header to the tine20 server. And that's not valid, if you run two servers.


Pulling dbdata file with not rooted device The screen of my Galaxy S is broken, so I can't see anything and the touchscreen doesn't work. After a while, I managed to get everything I needed from the /sdcard folder with adb.

Now I have some very important things in my Memo app that I would like to save, but the problem is that my phone is not rooted, so I can't pull anything from dbdata folder.

So, long story short: I need to pull a file from /dbdata but I have no root permissions on my phone, and the data I need to save is not from a debuggable app (it's the .ab data of the original Memo app). Is there any way to do it? If not, is there any way to root my phone without having to interact with it, since my touchscreen doesn't work anymore?
(I already tried with run-as but as I already told, the app is not debuggable)

You don't mention which Android version is running on your device. With < 4.0, chances are close to zero: without root access, you cannot access those places.

With 4.0 and up, you theoretically would have the possibility to use adb backup (see e.g. our backup tag-wiki). Thing is, you have to approve that from your device by tapping "OK" on the authentication popup – which is not possible with a broken screen.

TL;DR: It's not possible.


Intermittent failure to receive SMS and MMS messages I noticed an issue in mid December where a few messages in a row that were sent in a group MMS were never received on my phone. A few days ago, I had the same issue with an SMS message sent to me. There may have been other instances as well that I'm unaware of. In December, my default messaging app was QKSMS. In the instance a few days ago, my default SMS/MMS app was Signal.
I'm using an Asus Zenfone 6 on Wing's AT&T network (for those don't know, this essentially means Wing bought AT&T contracts in bulk and is reselling them individually).
I don't know of any issues with outgoing messages. The intermittent nature of this problem makes it difficult to troubleshoot. What steps can I take to ensure I don't lose any incoming MMS or SMS messages in the future?

In my case, the issue with the two non-stock messaging apps was the battery settings. Android was throttling the apps when they weren't in active use to save on battery. For whatever reason, incoming text messages would be directed to the apps but the apps would never wake up and the message would fall into a black hole. The stock messaging app was set to never be throttled in the Android battery settings. Changing Signal to also never be throttled seems to have resolved the problem. This is a known issue for Signal: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360027913252-Troubleshoot-receiving-messages


Copied files folder structure via usb not showing properly in Gallery (moto-g + Kitkat) I have recently purchased and updated my mogo-g(16gb) with Kitkat. When I copied some photos, songs & videos on my mobile via USB, the files not showing properly as per their folder structure in mobile Gallery.

Please suggest if you have any solution to it (Files structure totally looks distorted in Gallery).

Thanks.

The built-in Gallery app doesn't show photos in a tree structure: it just has albums. When you copy files in directly, it normally just puts each folder of photos in an album with that photo's name. When another app adds photos to the gallery, it can specify what album(s) to put it in, according to what the app knows about the picture.

If you want to browse photos by their folder structure, don't use the built-in Gallery app. There are a lot of third-party photo viewing apps on Google Play, so pick one you like and use that instead.


How to see other partitions using the Terminal Emulator and mount them? I just installed Android on my netbook and it caused it to not see Linux Mint on my machine and I'm assuming it removed it from the GRUB.

Now the first problem is how do I see the contents of my Linux Mint partition and explore them in Android? Can I use a Terminal or Mount manager?

I dont see anything called /dev/sda as expected. How do I mount the Mint and the Windows partition within Android? What commands would be helpful? What are the names of the hdd device file?

If possible please let me know how to edit the GRUB also!
I think I can see them in /dev/block/sda5 - What exact command to mount it? I have superuser access.

The Android's linux kernel would not have the SATA/IDE hard drives drivers installed into the kernel, all it can see is flash cards MMC, understands ext3fs and ext4fs, vfat filesystems so the answer to the question is no you cannot see other partitions outside of the domain of Android itself! What you can do though is this, build a new linux kernel with the appropriate drivers installed in place, then the mounts would work :)


How can I set Android Galaxy Ace to only use 3G network? I am having a little bit of a hard time with my new android phone for the reason that it doesnt always connect to certain services (such as Angry Words, or Whatsapp). Sometimes I get the message "unable to connect", when I am using a fairly good network provider and strong enough wifi when at the office.

What I've noticed is that the 3G sign keeps changing to H every now and then. I dont know if that is the issue. Anyway, how can I make the phone only use the high-speed 3G service and why is that that even with strong wifi signal it is giving me a hard time?

Note: Wifi is turned off all the time I am not at home or at the office.

I was in trouble getting my 3G to work, and I did these steps, that solved my problem:

Go to the dialer and type *#*#4636#*#*
Tap "Phone info"
Scroll down, you will see GSM selected;
Open the list and select WCDMA only;
Turn the radio off and turn it on again (there's a button for that on the screen)
Press Home Button, not back button

If you still can't get 3G, reboot your phone and that's it ;)

Enjoy! :)


SD Card keeps getting unmounted on my HTC Desire The SD card in my HTC Desire keeps getting unmounted every now and then and it's very annoying. From what I'm seeing, the SD card is removed only when some kind of multi-tasking with the files on it happens.

Example - Listening to a song that's stored on the SD + Using an app that's stored on the SD.

I haven't rooted my phone and don't intend on doing it. The phone is currently on the official Android 2.3.3 build.

I've tried another SD card but the problem still persists.

It's still under warranty, but I thought I can fix it myself with some help from you guys. :)

I had a problem with cheap sd cards from ebay doing this, I spend a little more these days on them.

There isn't much you can do here if you don't intend on rooting the phone or anything. If it was mine I would wipe the thing and re-install a fresh stable rom and test that for a few days.


Nexus 5 overheating problem I saw a video on YouTube, where there's a guy who puts thermal paste between the CPU and a metal plate he installed on his Nexus 5. He says that reduced his CPU temperature.
I was wondering if it would be a nice idea to try it on my phone as well.
I would like anyone out there to please help me explain the good and bad for the process.

Here's the link to the video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hZDNpp--E0Y

Thermal paste is, as you probably already know from the video, is a glue-like substance that conducts heat fantastically well. It is used to dissipate heat from processors into heat sinks as well as other heat generating objects to their heat sinks.

What the person in the video did (at least what I got from quickly scrolling through and your description) is he added some metal to the phone and used thermal paste between it and the phone's processor. This will lower the temperature of the processor and make it run a little bit better.

In my opinion, in a phone, this isn't a good idea. In PCs where there is a dedicated heatsink already with a cooling system on it, there is room for this to be effective and for the heat sink to dissipate the heat. In a phone, the heat will not have any more room to dissipate than it previously did. There is no method of cooling the heat sink. I'd actually be concerned that areas of the phone that were not designed to experience such heat could become problematic when the makeshift heat sink becomes hot, such as the plastic coated ribbon cables that likely have low melting temperatures. In addition, phones are not designed to be tampered with like this. You are far more likely to damage the phone than help it.

That's my 2 cents.


Where does Lollipop stores notification policy? Unlike its predecessor Android versions which saves notification policy in the file /data/system/notification_policy.xml (the file which saves the package name of apps you've selected to stop giving notifications by unchecking "Show notifications" from Settings → Apps → your app name) Lollipop doesn't seem to follow that concept.

I have a Oneplus One running rooted CyanogenOS 12 (CM12). I also tested Paranoid ROM (AOSP) running Lollipop and the behavior remains same i.e. disregard for that file.

In the logcat's output the entries I see when I uncheck and later check "Shows notifications" for an app (e.g. AutomateIt) is:

[ 08-24 15:46:43.441   899: 1966 V/NotificationService ]
enabling notifications for AutomateIt.mainPackage

[ 08-24 15:47:01.361   899: 1966 V/NotificationService ]
disabling notifications for AutomateIt.mainPackage

Surprisingly, the source code of Notification Manager Service doesn't seem to disregard the said file.

So, where does Lollipop keeps notification policies which are effectively executed by system?

Edit: Compared to Android Kitkat or below, how Lollipop uses that file? Can a user simply change the content in that file and expect the notification policy for an app to be changed after a reboot. The process is very simple in Jelly Bean though.

Since this commit notification policy settings were migrated from the separate /data/system/notification_policy.xml file to the generic AppOps subsystem. Now they are stored in /data/system/appops.xml together with other AppOps settings.


Windows doesn't show device in Explorer After updating my Nexus 7 to the latest version of Android (4.4.4 at this point), Windows decided that it would no longer show the device in Explorer in MTP mode. PTP worked fine, but obviously this is no good for putting files into the device. How do I solve this?

So there are many different threads and posts all over the internet trying to solve this issue for various Android devices. It seems that sometimes these work, but not always. I think I've finally found a step that works most of the time (it excludes hardware issues for example). Start off with your device connected.

Essentially, there is an issue with the driver on Windows. To fix this open the device manager (see here for how to do this on Windows 7 or Vista, here for XP and here for Windows 8). Now, at this point most posts and threads advocate finding anything mentioning your device (in my case the nexus 7) and uninstalling the driver. This seems to be the right thing to do, but first there is a very important step. At the top, click "View" and then select "Show hidden devices". Now, you can find all mentions of your device. Right click, and select "Uninstall driver". If there is a tick box for deleting the driver as well you should select this.

After completion, disconnect your device. The device manager will flash. Give it a few seconds and then plug your device back in. Windows will now reinstall the driver. At this point, it should work correctly.

Note that if you use ADB, you will have uninstalled this in a previous step and will have to reinstall it using your preferred method.


How can I connect to a number with a conference-call code via Google Voice? I have a phone number for a conference-call service. Under ordinary use, I call the number, and when the automated system answers, I enter a 10-digit code for the conference I wish to join, and then press #. I have the number assigned to a contact like this: 800-555-1234,1234567890#.

When I call that contact without Google Voice enabled (either "do not use Google Voice to make any calls" or "ask every time I make a call" and then answer no), it connects fine, but when I enable GV for outgoing calls, a dialog box appears saying "Google Voice could not connect," and it gives me options of retrying with GV or to call without GV. Retrying fails in the same manner, and the latter choice allows the call to connect, but it waits for me to enter the conference code myself. It's as though GV isn't providing the conference code.

As a workaround, I can use Voice Plus; I have it set to use GV for all contacts except for those in the "No Google Voice" group, which includes the conference contact. I'd prefer not to have to do that, though, because I'd like my conference calls to show up in my GV call history, and I'd also like as few exceptions as possible to my dialing rules.

How can I get my phone to call the number through Google Voice and enter the conference code automatically?

Evidently, the Google Voice app doesn't support conference codes or other extensions. (At least not yet.)

To call an extended number through the Google Voice service, dial as though the GV app weren't installed, or as if you were calling from something other than a smartphone:

Dial your own Google Voice phone number.
If voicemail access isn't enabled for the number you're calling from, press * to access the GV menu.
Enter your PIN, if required.
Press 2 (to tell the GV service you wish to place a call).
Enter the conference phone number, and press #. GV will connect you.
Proceed as normal for calling the desired number (i.e., enter the extension, the conference-room number, the passcode, etc.).

So, the contact is programmed with a number like this: 612-555-4321,[PIN,]2,800-555-1234#,,1234567890#. (As I understand it, this is a limited application of the process Flex Dialer uses.)

If you have the GV app installed, then use another app like Voice Plus or Voice Choice to exclude this contact from GV. (This is a consolation to what was originally asked for, which requested fewer exceptions to the phone's GV dialing rules. Shouldn't be a big problem, though.)

If you have your GV number associated with a contact for yourself or your voice mail, then that's the contact that will appear in your phone's call history. However, the "real" contact will show in your Google Voice call history.


Unrooting Galaxy Nexus - dies when plugged in I rooted my Galaxy Nexus (Verizon) in order to get Jelly Bean. I got more than I wanted. The issues that have come from this are horrible. Whenever I plug my phone into a computer - it dies. It won't boot until I unplug it. I installed what I thought was a stock ROM of Jelly Bean (it was AOKP which has no way of installing apps), and now I'm completely stuck. I can't boot into recovery mode. I can't flash any ROMs to it and I can't plug it into a computer to run the Nexus Toolkit.

I just want to get back the official Jelly Bean OS. Please help.

You'll need to have the Android SDK installed, particularly the fastboot tool.  (You probably have this already if you've rooted your phone.)

Go to Google's factory images page, find the section called "mysid" near the bottom, and download the 4.0.4 file.

Turn your phone off, then hold both the Volume Up and Down buttons, and press and hold the Power button.  You should see the phone's bootloader screen, which looks like a green droid with its front panel open, and an arrow at the top that says Start.  Don't press any buttons here, but plug in your USB cable.

Extract the factory image file that you downloaded.  Inside, you should find a file called image-mysid-imm76k.zip.  Open a command prompt, cd to the folder with that file, and run fastboot -w update image-mysid-imm76k.zip.  That'll reflash the phone's factory software image, which should put it back to normal.  (You'll be running ICS at this point, but you can do the Jelly Bean OTA upgrade afterward if it's available to you.)

This may wipe all your phone's data — including the "SD card" internal memory — so make a backup of anything important first.

If your AOKP "has no way of installing apps", it sounds like when you installed it, you forgot to install the "gapps" add-on, which includes the Play app as well as other Google apps like Gmail.  But the other problems you described shouldn't happen — I've put AOKP on my Galaxy Nexus and it works fine.  If you still have problems after flashing the factory image, you'll need to provide more detailed information about what's happening.


How do I send a GIF in a text message with version7.0 I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 running Android version 7.0
How do I send a GIF in a text?

The Gboard will help you at this....
it has the feature of sending GIFs,
but that wont work if your messenger doesn't supports that.....
Gboard on Google Play


Where can I get the QR code for an app on the Play Store? Possible Duplicate:
  What’s the easiest way to create a QR code for a link?

I searched the site, and I've searched google with no answer. Posting QR code images on a webpage is convenient, because a person can just point their phone at their screen to download a new app. Where can I get the QR code for an app on the Play Store?

The QR codes are not provided on the play store. You can create the QR code yourself by pasting the url to the app in a generator like goqr.me.


1GB/8GB advertised versus 967.5 MB / 5564.6 MB actual .HELP just recieved new android phone which should be 1GB ROM AND 8GB RAM.
ANTUTU tells me the following

memory               840.2/1008.3 MB
RAM                  175.7/967.5 MB
Internal SD card    5558.3/5564.6 MB

I'm new to Android and smartphones and am not sure exactly what these figures tell me nad if they are correct or acceptable for an 1GB/8GB phone ? Can anyone help me with this ?

Thanks .John.

It is a general rule of thumb that all phones have less space than their advertised capacity. Can't be helped. It's never that big of a difference though.


Recover media after factory reset (One Plus One) I've recently done a factory reset on my OPO. I though I didn't need anything on it anymore but now I do actually need some pictures who were on it before the reset.

I'm trying to get those pictures back. However, recovery programs do not work because the OPO does not get recognized as a USB mass storage device, since it only has internal storage and there isn't any SD card to find.

Is there anyone with similar problems or does anyone know how to solve this?

Android version 4.4.4

CyanogenMod version 11.0-XNPH38R

You can try DiskDigger undelete (root) or Undeleter Recover Files & Data app.
I had more success with DiskDigger though.


Can Android differentiate between headphones and headset? Regardless if I plug in a headset or headphones (without a microphone), I get a headset icon in my notification bar.

I would expect Android to use the builtin microphone in case normal headphones are connected, so I do not have to unplug my phones when someone calls.

Alternatively, is there an app or widget to manually toggle between headphone and headset mode?

I have an HTC Desire with CyanogenMod 7, so I am not sure if it is a problem with CM7 or Android in general.

You can see the details of this at the Android developer documentation, but an app can definitely tell if a wired device plugged into the audio jack has a microphone or not. I will tell you that this information is not always accurate or consistent across devices though, as I have experienced with my own app Hearing Saver. Sometimes different phones send different codes for this particular bit of information, so if you are experiencing difficulties with certain apps not recognizing your headset, I'd get into contact with the developer of that app.


Send audio using bluetooth I have an Acer Liquid Metal with Froyo and an Alpine Car Stereo (bti 114).
I can use the stereo as headset perfectly and I've noticed that I can also hear the phone notifications when using it.
Can I stream phone mp3s to my car audio?
Any detailed information is very welcome :)

The stereo supports bluetooth hands-free but not bluetooth audio, which is used to stream music, so no, this is not possible. For more information see Bluetooth profile on Wikipedia and compare Hands-free Profile (which the stereo supports) and A2DP (which it doesn't).

Theoretically, you could stream music through the HFP but the quality would be terrible, like listening to music in a phone call.


Change privacy settings on Hangouts Hangouts shows a green phone icon when someone is on a voice call.

Is it possible to hide this indicator to other users so nobody knows if I'm on a call?

Yes, press the 3 bars on top left, choose Settings, under Account Settings select your username (username@gmail.com), select "Share your status" and uncheck Device

Keep in mind, this will remove the little mobile icon when you're chatting as well. I have found that some of my friends message me more if they think I'm on my computer.


How to unblock the caller phone number? Or: how to stop forwarding calls from given phone number?

Current state

I have two phones, A and B. From A phone I can call whoever I want. From B I can call whoever I want except A -- when I call A, the call is forwarded automatically to voicemail.

It is not about network range, or something, or not enough money. It is most likely B phone number is blacklisted on phone A and such call is blocked (forwarded).

How to unblock it?

And what happened

I suspect that some call blocking app made that mess -- to test it, I actually block phone number A on phone B, and made a call. With the exactly same results as described above.

After that, I removed that phone number, than I uninstalled entire application, I rebooted phone, I checked the system settings (stock blocking: off, blacklist: empty). There is no other blocking app installed (just in case I removed related calling apps, like Skype).

Yet, once blocked, the phone number remains blocked.

How to undo this?

Phone A (the one with such permanent block) is Galaxy Ace 2, Android 2.3.

Updates

Update 1: On phone A in logs I can see all those "unreachable" calls. So they are received. Also there is small tooltip on phone A "forward call" (when call is received).

Found it!

The culprit is this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vladlee.easyblacklist Calls Blacklist

Listen to this: if you add any number to the blacklist of this app, and UNINSTALL this app after that, the number will be kept hidden and block.

I.e. there is no way you can unblock the number, you can only do this by installing this app again, and removing all phone numbers, and then uninstalling the app.

To be of more general use -- if something similar will happen to you, go to Google Play website, check the history of installed apps (which blocks calls). Install all of them back, and then check their blacklists. Clear the blacklists, and then, with clear list, uninstall them. It should do the trick (hopefully).


Mobile data turns on automatically I am using Moto One power mobile and android version is 9.0 pie. I have two sim cards in my device, and one is used for data. The other one's data switches on automatically, and there is no active data pack on that sim; so it deducts from my main account balance. How can I stop that?

It has been fixed in the Feb patch Update,

just Go Settings -> About phone -> System updates -> Now update


Manage Emergency contacts remotely I'm looking to manage multiple Android devices and put ICE Contacts on all of them. Unfortunately EMM/MDM solutions are prohibitively expensive, and all I've looked at don't actually do any contact management (that i can see).

I realize we could just setup a bunch of gmail accounts, and set the contacts that way, but most of the phones have Google contact sync turned off, and there would be quite a few accounts to login to.

We are using ActiveSync with them, but i've not been able to get ActiveSync to actually push Emergency contacts the right way. That may be the easiest solution if we can do that.

Are there any good inexpensive/free solutions to push out emergency contacts?

Alternatively is there a way to manage from a central location, sync settings for gmail accounts? So we wouldn't have to touch each phone directly.

So i figured this out, and it was deceptively simple. It seems to be an 'undocumented' feature that if you set up a category within outlook with the name of ICE, it will automatically (at least on samsung phones) set contacts tagged with that category into the ICE group on the phone.

I ended up writing a script that ensures whoever has outlook gets the category, and then contacts tagged with that category.


Is there any way to disable the "connect charger" dialog? When I unplug my phone from the charger, it pops up a dialog that it's low on power.

Is it possible to disable that? My charger isn't that good so it looks like it's going in and out the whole time. The phone is still charging but I can't use it because the dialog is model and steals control the whole time.

Its time you should replace your charger... or you may lose your battery in some days. Because when a charger seems to behave like this, the voltage fluctuations so frequently, might degrade your battery life.


Different volume level for new email notification and new SMS notification? I have lots of emails coming in all day. For this reason, my notification sounds level is low. But I need to be alarmed when I have a new SMS. Currently I don't always notice new SMS messages because they, too, have low volume level.

How would it be possible to have a different volume level for new email notification and new SMS notification?

One simple method would be to use a custom ringtone for SMS where the audio itself is louder.  You coould use a loud audio clip or edit one to be louder.


Complete action using When I click on a doc file it directly opens with OfficeSuitePro. I don’t anymore have the choice between OfficeSuitePro and QuickOffice because once I have replied Always to the message: Complete action using” that gave me initially the choice.
This happens for my files stored in DropBox and GoogleDrive.
I went to the apps settings to try to clear the default but found out that there were no defaults set therefore the clear default button is greyed.  I uninstalled and reinstalled the apps but the problem persists.

If you've tried to clear it from the apps settings for Dropbox and Google Drive, you'll find there are no defaults set, because the default is set with the app that opens the file, not the app you open it from. From Apps in the device settings, go to Office Suite Pro's settings, and click Clear defaults there.


Reducing bandwidth while using Facebook chat I live in place where the data charges are extremely high (~0,70€ per MB in Ethiopia, for example.)  If I wish to chat on Facebook, data charges rack up quickly due to the standard Facebook app's bandwidth use: always updating the stream, downloading all of the images and profile pictures, etc.

Is there a way to restrict or minimize bandwidth utilization while using Facebook chat, basically only transmitting the text data?  3rd-party apps would be fine as well.

PS: I already tried to download imo.im from the Google Play market - but this one is not available in Ethiopia.

imo has a direct download link on their Android webpage.  There also seem to be quite a few other apps to try: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=facebook+chat&c=apps


How to prepare myself & smartphone/tablet in the event it goes missing or is stolen? I would like to know what measures or steps etc that should be performed, in order to protect & safeguard whatever "data" is on my Android Smartphone or Tablet, and indeed the device itself, in the event it goes missing or is stolen. So that if it were to happen "all data" would hopefully still be preserved remotely, e.g., via online login - if possible (furthermore if the data cannot be preserved, it can be wiped before it is utilized in every manner possible to access confidentiality by "the wrong hands"). Also give me the best chance of getting my device back (or in the event of theft, that the perpetrator can be photographed & hopefully apprehended as well).

(I am not merely looking for a list of anti theft apps to be named, but a comprehensive step by step instruction to what should actually be "applied" to the device and how to prepare it, before the event occurs and then exactly what should be done by myself immediately after the event occurs, as I believe this to be of grave importance, that applies to everyone who owns an Android device, be it a smartphone, tablet or indeed the new range of Android powered cameras that have recently come onto the market.)

There are multiple things which can be done:

Device encryption (to assure all your data is stored encrypted)
Install anti-theft software (to track and, if necessary, remote-wipe a lost device)
Activate Google's Device Manager on your device (and make sure it works, as it not always does)

To photograph the "perpetrator", you might want to take a look at ☆ GotYa! Face trap !, which fires at failed logins (but requires a front-facing camera to do so):

One of the most well known anti-theft solutions is e.g. included with Lookout Security & Antivirus, but the playstore offers a lot of alternatives to this.

For keeping a copy of your important data off-device, you might use some cloud synchronization service (or a similar thing to sync with your own machine(s) at home). When storing data in the cloud, you might prefer using encryption; Wuala is one possible solution which encrypts your data before it is transfered into the cloud.


Cloud app to handle grocery list over Android/iPhone & Windows/Mac I am looking for an app or service that would let two different users view & update a shared shopping list from an Android phone (Galaxy Nexus running 4.1), iPhone 4S and laptops (Windows and Mac).

I was originally planning on using a text file via Dropbox, but I don't think that can be updated on the iPhone (maybe I am wrong).

Any other ideas?

Google Drive (née Google Docs).

Just create a simple document. There's a Google Drive app for Android, of course, but even without the mobile web version works pretty well (which I'd expect you'd use with the iPhone). Windows and Mac can use the desktop browser version of the web app.


Resize digital clock Is there any way to make my digital clock smaller on my T-Mobile ZTE Zinger cellphone homepage?  In the widget app, it shows 3x2.  I would like to make it 1x1.  There is a white box with dots, but I can't resize it.

As already mentioned by others in the comment that the Clock widget can't be shrinked less than 3x2 size dimensions. You can alternatively try a third party app from the Play Store. Ony such example is,

1x1 Clock widget in which you can have clock widgets in multiple sizes with the customization options available within the app. You can find the source code of this app on this GitHub link.

Or if you want analog clock, you could try Simple Analog Clock - Widget from the Playstore to create a 1x1 clock widget.


How to update my galaxy s? Possible Duplicate:
  How do I update the OS in my device?

I have a samsung galaxy s GT-I9000 and I want to update it. I have android 2.3.3 but I read there's an update to 2.3.5 or even 2.3.6 with a value pack. I plugged my phone on my pc and I installed Kies but it tells me I have the latest version. Is android 2.3.3 the latest version for my device? What can I do ?

Thanks!

ps: in that case I want to remain using only official updates.
ps2: the OTA updater tells me theres' no update available...

If Kies isn't giving you an update then more than likely your operator hasn't released the update. You could still install the value pack but it will more than likely void your warranty. Details on how to install it are here.


No Command Error on Nexus 5X, even in recovery mode I used Wugfresh' root installer before and it worked like a charm. You can't get any OTA's with it though. Since I wanted Android 7, I wanted to unroot, install the OTA and reroot using Wugfresh' client. I already did this before when I wanted to upgrade to Android 6. Then everything went well and I was done in an hour.

This time however, I'm stuck. When it needed to reboot after succesfully installing Android 7.1.1, I got set to the No Command screen. After some googling I found out that you had to go to the bootloader first, and then go to Recovery. I got that far, but now I have no clue on what to do.

Rebooting from there doesn't work (obviously). It seems logical to me that I have to install TWRP, but the zip file is not there anymore to install it. Is there a way to still get this zip file on my phone while in recovery mode, and is this the solution to my problem? I also found the format option in TWRP. Does that get rid of all the TWRP stuff and bring me back to complete stock, so I can go back to rooting everything again? I'd be happy to do so, since right now I'm sitting with nothing but a dead Android.

Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Download the latest TWRP image.
Download Android SDK platform tools and extract the zip file.
Move the TWRP image inside platform-tools folder.
Boot your phone into bootloader (keep holding volume up + volume down + power until you see the bootloader screen).
Connect your phone to PC / laptop via USB cable.
Navigate to platorm-tools folder which was extracted on PC / laptop.
Hold shift and right click inside empty space in the folder and click Open command windows here.
Type fastboot devices and press enter. You should see your device being listed.
Type fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.1.1-0-bullhead.img and press enter. It should finish flashing in a few seconds.
Press volume down two times on your phone to select Recovery.
Press power button and it should boot to TWRP recovery.


Download Mode. What does this mean? RP SWREV B:3 K:0 S1

Searching online, I haven't found any clear information.

download mode is related to recovery where your device is ready to accept a new system image from the computer.

It is used to flash a new OS to the device.

In download mode, you can inject and install the OS (flashing).

but be careful while using this


Huawei U8160 cyanogenmod support? I've seen people have tried cyanogenmod on the Huawei U8150 and someone suggested to give it a try on the Huawei U8160 (Vodafone smart in the UK). What is the level of compatibility I should expect from the Huawei U8160 with cyanogenmod?

http://android.modaco.com/content/other/340961/vodafone-858-smart-huawei-u8160/

There are two places to look for more information on this.  That would be the actual CyanogenMOD website and the xda-developers forum.  A search of both places shows that there isn't anything readily available for the U8160.  This means that you would need to do a significant amount of hacking to get it working.


Android App - Same phone - Different versions on App Store I'm using an Android application called 'Out of Milk'. I have it installed on two identical phones (hardware and software). However on one phone it is version 4.2.2 and on the other phone it is version 4.1.7.

Looking at the Google Play app store on both these phones, they each say there are no updates available. Looking at the info page of the application in the app store show that latest version is 4.2.2 on one phone and 4.1.7 on the other. Both phones are running the free version only - the unlocker (pro) app is not installed.

How can I make both versions identical?

[Android version is 4.1.2 on both.]

App developers have the ability to do a staged roll-out of updates to their apps through Google Play Store.  This means that a small percentage of users (chosen randomly) receives the update first.  The developer can gauge the feedback, and then proceed to a wide roll-out until they reach 100% of their install base.

It's possible that the latest version of this particular app was recently released in such a staged roll-out. One of your phones was randomly selected to be in the initial stage, while the other was not.  There is nothing for you to do, other than wait for the roll-out to complete.

As comments suggest, you can also attempt to sync the app manually by retrieving it from one phone and installing it on the other.  This requires installation of USB drivers for your phone on your computer, and a copy of Android SDK.  If you are rooted, you can get the APK of the app using adb pull /data/app/<app_package_name>.apk c:\ command, and then connect the other phone and do adb install -r c:\<app_package_name>.apk.

On unrooted devices you may want to look into adb backup utility which allows you to generate an .ab file which contains the APK of the app, along with its data.  For example, the command adb backup -f c:\Skype.ab -apk com.skype.raider creates "Skype.ab" file on my C: drive that contains the Skype app and its data.  I can then use adb restore c:\Skype.ab command to restore the app with the data. Optionally, you can clear the data for the app from your other phone in Settings -> Apps.

The difficulty is locating the package name of the app you want to back up.  Although package names are usually descriptive enough, sometimes they can be quite cryptic.  Fortunately, Play Store itself has the package name in the URL.  In your example, the app Out of Milk is located at the following URL: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.capigami.outofmilk. The portion of this URL after "id=" is the package name. In this case it's com.capigami.outofmilk. So your backup command becomes adb backup -f c:\OutOfMilk.ab -apk com.capigami.outofmilk.


How do I close all, or many at once, Chrome tabs on Android on a phone? I'm on Google Pixel 2, Android 11, Chrome 87.0.4280.101.
I have 494 open tabs, as I explain in my answer here on how to count them. I need to selectively close about 450 of them, or just close all of them then re-open about 20 to 50 of them.
How do I mass-close many or all of them at once?
The last time I mass-closed hundreds of tabs manually I sat there for like 30 minutes swiping until they were all closed. I don't want to do that again. That was ridiculous. (Compared to full computers, phones are garbage. :))
This tablet-specific answer doesn't seem to apply to phones, or to apply anymore to the latest versions, so it does not contain an answer that works for me: How do I close all tabs in Chrome for Android?.
Here's what I see in my Chrome menu when I click on the 3 dots in the top-right corner:

This is in French. Translation:

New Tab
New Incognito tab
Favorites
Recent tabs
History
Downloads
Translate
Share
Search on the page
Add to welcome screen
Version for computer
Settings
Help and Feedback

Closing all tabs in Chrome is very simple with the recent version and works on smartphone and tablet:
First press the button that shows the tab count:

Then open the three-dots-menu

And finally select "Close all tabs".

Tested with Chrome 87.0.4280.101.


Android Lollipop not displaying H or E symbol when Data is on I just updated my Moto G (1st gen) from KitKat to Lollipop. Everything is great except two days after loading the update, the symbol displaying 3G (H) or 2G (E) stopped showing either even when data is up and running. Any suggestions?

For Moto G (1st Generation):

Goto "Settings". Under "Wireless & networks" select "...More", then select "Mobile networks". Select "Access point names", click on "+" to add new APN.

Name: Aircel GPRS

APN: aircelgprs

Proxy: not set

Port: not set

Username: not set

Password: not set

Server: not set

MMSC: not set

MMS proxy: not set

MMS port: not set

MCC: 405

MNC: 803

Authentication type: not set

APN type: default,supl

APN protocol: IPv4

APN roaming protocol: IPv4

Bearer: Unspecified

==============

MCC MNC for different states:

404 17 WB

404 25 Bihar

404 28 Odissa

404 29 Assam

404 37 J&K

404 41 Chennai

404 42 TN

404 91 Kolkata

405 800 Delhi & NCR

405 801 Andhra Pradesh

405 802 Gujarat

405 803 Karnataka

405 804 Maharastra & Goa

405 805 Mumbai

405 806 Rajasthan

405 807 Haryana

405 808 MP

405 809 Kerala

405 810 UP (East)

405 811 UP (West)

405 812 Punjab

==================

Save it, and select it as your default APN. After this, 'H' symbol gets displayed.


Google Play Store No connection Why when I enter Google Play Store using my LG-P875 phone, it shows only "No Connection Retry"? A few days ago I was deleting some apps and other stuffs to save up my storage space, and I wonder if I actually deleted sth that relates to the connection to Google Play Store. Please help me find a solution!

Many people right now have been experiencing this issue over LTE networks. As we speak I am also experiencing this issue and I am only able to use any google application over wifi using a Samsung Galaxy S5 -> Tmobile

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Play-Gmail-Maps-and-other-Google-services-hit-by-global-outage_id56208

http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/16/google-services-experiencing-issues-how-are-yours-acting/

EDIT: After about a day without google services unless on wifi, they have been restored on my device.


No difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.2, why? I have a doubt about USB type declared by smartphone manufacturer.
Some smartphone declares USB Type C 3.2, for example Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The new Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro is declared as USB 2.0 on Type C.

I try to check the real connection, and when I connect to my Mac the Samsung I have 480 Mb/s negotiation.
Looks like even if Samsung declare USB Type C 3.2 the max data transfer is 480 Mb/s, and I can prove it with a benchmark.

I connect the Xiaomi, the same. The Huawei P30 Pro, the same.
Is not the cable: I use a very good cable and when I connect my Oculus Quest to the same port, the connection is negotiated at 5 Gb/s.

So my question: why a lot of smartphone manufacturer declare USB 3.2 port but the data transfer is capped to 480 Mb/s?

tl:dr; You aren't doing an apple to apple, real-world comparison and missing out on many other factors

You are looking at speeds at the USB controller end on PC, further, it is shared between the ports attached to it drawing incorrect conclusions (because you aren't considering other factors)

Firstly, USB 2.0 is half - duplex, which means that while the maximum speed is 480 megabits per second, the actual is roughly half of that. In practice you won't exceed 240 megabits per second speed

In contrast USB 3.0 is full - duplex so, in theory, you can get 10 times higher performance. In practice you aren't likely to get that because of

Type of memory used: Actual data transfer is a function of the USB protocol AND the memory used (protocol may provide high transfer speeds theoretically but the actual speeds depend on the read / write speeds of memory). You mention three devices - Galaxy S20 Ultra,
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro both of which have UFS 3.0 memory while Huawei P30 Pro has UFS 2.1. All other things being equal UFS 2.1 gives roughly half performance of UFS 3.0

Memory and protocol combination

On the far right of the graph, the Galaxy S10e and Honor View 20 provide results indicative of what one can expect from a USB 3.0 and UFS 2.1 hardware combination

To the left of those results, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro and OnePlus 7T Pro indicate peak performance from a USB 3.1 and UFS 3.0 memory setup.

Note that the second set of phones have better standards but poorer performance compared to the first!  In other words, latest is not equal to best

As if this wasn't confusing enough, it is said that faulty MTP protocol implementation is the reason why Pixel 4 phones perform poorly in  the above comparison. For more, see Tested: The Google Pixel series has a strange USB-C transfer problem

To sum it up, consider all factors before comparing and do a real world comparison as explained in link above.


Just found my SD card was corrupted. Just found my SD card is corrupted.  My internal memory is almost full so was checking to see if it was going to the SD card yet and saw that it was corrupted.   Bought a new SD card. Now what do I do?  Can I just transfer the same memory into the new one?

Why did you decide it is corrupted? When my phone can't read my SD card I usually do the following.

Insert the corrupted card in PC and blindly copy its content in some HD directory. I usually specify option ignore errors. It may cause issues with some files, but usually it is recoverable
I format the corrupted card with option check media for errors. If it got formatted with only few or no errors, I usually reuse it. Otherwise I take a new card
I copy all copied content from hard drive back to the new or old recovered card
I return the card back in the phone and usually it continues working as before

Note that SD card usually holds only certain number of rewrites, therefore if you do writing a lot, then a new card will be always a better solution.


How do I effectively use offline documents on a WIFI-only tablet and other connected devices? This is more of a usability type question. I have a wifi-only tablet. I also have done a lot of documents online using Evernote, Google Drive, etc., and have tried to store them in various places like box.com.

Because wifi is not always available, I'm trying to find an effective way to be offline on my tablet, but have things sync up once I have connectivity again. I spend most of my time creating document either in M$ Office, or Google Documents. Evernote works okay, but I'd like something a little more full-featured; it just doesn't quite feel right.

I'd like to have quick and easy access to everything on my phone (sorry, can't hotspot), tablet, and desktop, regardless of my internet availability. What solution can handle all of these use cases? Does anything work well for anyone out there?

Try Autosync. There might be extra charges for syncing files larger than 8MB. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.drivesync

Another option is FolderSync Lite (no file size limitations as far as I know):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.lite


Google Voice forwading failover Is it possible to have a Google Voice call, which is forwarded to my phone, forward to another user's phone if i am unable to answer the call?

Thanks for any and all replies.

You could do this just like with any other call via Call Forwarding.  From Dummies.com:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Touch the Action Overflow icon.

    On some phones, touch the Menu icon instead to see a list of commands.
3. Choose Settings or Call Settings.
    The Call Settings command might be found on a second screen; choose Settings first, and then choose Call Settings. Eventually you’ll see the call settings screen.
4. Choose Call Forwarding.
    If the option isn’t available, use your cellular carrier to forward calls.
5. Choose one of the following options:

Always Forward: All incoming calls are sent to the number you specify; your phone doesn’t even ring. This option overrides all other forwarding options.

Forward When Busy: Calls are forwarded when you’re on the phone and choose not to answer. This option is normally used to send a missed call to voicemail, although you can forward to any number.

Forward When Unanswered: Calls are forwarded when you choose not to answer the phone. Normally, the call is forwarded to your voicemail.

Forward When Unreached: Calls are forwarded when the phone is turned off, out of range, or in airplane mode. As with the two previous settings, this option normally forwards calls to voicemail.

6. Set the forwarding number.
    Or you can edit the number that already appears. For example, you can type your home number for the Forward When Unreached option so that your cell calls are redirected to your home number when you’re out of range.
7. Touch Enable or OK.


Can I use a external Bluetooth Adapter on an Android Tablet without internal bluetooth? I bought this Android 4.0 tablet but apparently it doesn't have internal bluetooth. I would like to ask if its possible to connect an external bluetooth device so that I can transfer my files from my laptop to the tablet.

To add to the other two responses, I'd venture that if the tablet is low-end enough to not include Bluetooth internally, then it's not going to be able to handle an external adapter well or at all.  I'd also second the recommendation for airdroid.  Wifi is much more ubiquitous as a form of connectivity for devices, be they laptops, tablets, or desktop PC's.  Why futz with Bluetooth when you already have a workable solution?


How can I assign a picture for a name-only text sender Occasionally, you receive SMS messages that have a company name rather than a reply number.  The network provider, for example, might send texts from "T-Mobile" or "Vodafone" whilst banks might appear as "Barclays" or "Halifax" etc.

I recently got one of these messages from a system at work and was wondering if there is any way to add a contact photo to them?

I tried to do this in the normal way, by adding the message sender as a contact.  I thought this had been successful, however the phone simply created a new contact with an email address of "Sending Company Name", which isn't associated with the texts sent so the picture I added to the newly created contact doesn't show in the message thread:

Yet if you click the view contact button from the message thread:

Then the picture shows - it's really strange!  Has anyone been able to get this working in the past?  I'm using an HTC Sensation on Android 4.0.

I know the types of messages you are talking about. I do not have HTC Sense, but I have had Touchwiz, LG (don't know what they call their version of Android), AOSP (CyanogenMod) and here is what I found and have been able to add a picture to these contacts this way.

When these message come in, they do in fact have a number. They have a Short Code. I get messages from T-Mobile every month from 456 to tell me they are going to take money from me.

I added a contact, then set the number to be the Short code. Then I edit the contact as I see fit. Change the user profile image, add additional numbers, websites, etc.

122 & 129 are message that are sent by the T-Mobile Visual Voicemail service


Configure Android for ONLY IPv6 on T-Mobile I figured out how to configure a dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 "Access Point" for T-Mobile connectivity on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, with stock Android 4.2.2. For some reason, when I visit http://myglobalip.com, I'm still getting an IPv4 address returned in addition to the IPv6 address.

Question: How do I configure the "Access Point" so that it only gets an IPv6 address, and not an IPv4 address?

My current IPv6 "Access Point" configuration looks like:

APN: epc.tmobile.com
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: Not set
MMS proxy: Not set
MMS port: Not set
MCC: 310
MNC: 260
Authentication type: Not set
APN type: Not set
APN protocol: IPv6
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
Bearer: Unspecified

Update [2013-04-30]: I believe the reason I am still able to access IPv4 websites, is because of DNS64+NAT64. The public IP address I'm getting from http://myglobalip.com is the public IPv4 interface of the NAT64 gateway.

I think the answer to this question is: T-Mobile uses some sort of transitional technology called 464XLAT to provide IPv4 connectivity over an IPv6-only GSM wireless network. There is more information about 464XLAT at this URL: https://sites.google.com/site/tmoipv6/464xlat.

Ultimately, it doesn't seem possible to disable IPv4 functionality altogether. Obviously, doing so would break a lot of applications from functioning properly, but I really wanted to do so entirely for testing purposes, to see what would and would not work.

The part that confuses me is that the 464XLAT RFC requires a "CLAT" daemon, which I don't believe exists on my stock Galaxy Nexus 4.2.2 Jelly Bean ROM. With this in mind, I'm not entirely sure what sort of configuration I'm running.

Here is the 464XLAT RFC.

If I use an app called Network Info II to view network interface information for rmnet0 on my Galaxy Nexus, I can see that I have ONLY an IPv6 address configured. In fact, the app even has an IPv6 "tab" specifically designed for viewing IPv6 information. I cannot see any IPv4 information when I have selected IPv6 as the APN.

More T-Mobile IPv6 information can be found:

T-Mobile IPv6 is Here and Now
Top Free Apps on T-Mobile IPv6-only Network


Copy contacts from iCloud to Android phone Just went from an iPhone to an Android phone. How do I get my contacts that I have on iCloud on to my Android phone?

I looked at SmoothSync, but what's the point in paying for that when I know there is a free way such as as doing it manually.

Assuming you still have the iPhone in order to get the contacts off of it - There are free applications such as "my Contacts Backup" for iPhone that will export all your contacts. This particular one exports them as .VCF (i.e. vcards) and / or .CSV and then emails them to you. I'm sure there are other apps out there too to use, but I went with this one as it's free.

You can then import the vcard file into your Google / Gmail contacts via PC and then sync your contacts from Google onto your device.

Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes end to end.


"Vendor image does not match the system" message at boot I flashed Pure Nexus on my Nexus 5X and I'm enjoying it. But every time I boot my phone I get the following message:

Is it possible to get rid of this message?

Yes. Do as the hint says: grab the corresponding factory image (in your case MTC20F) here, extract vendor.img from it (you might need 7-Zip), then flash it in fastboot mode via fastboot flash vendor PATH_TO_VENDOR_IMG. Reboot and you should be fine.

Be sure to also update the bootloader (fastboot flash bootloader PATH_TO_BOOTLOADER_IMG) and baseband (fastboot flash radio PATH_TO_RADIO_IMG) too. This should be made a routine as you update your ROM afterwards.


Is there an app/tool/setting for reading tiny websites? I hate visiting websites that lack mobile views. Two examples are Phoronix and Gamasutra. They have huge amounts of navigation/advertising on the sides, and the actual article text is ridiculously small. Even zooming in does not help.

Is there something on Android similar to iPhone's reader feature? I'd like to strip a site's bad layout and read just the main text (larger font, wrap-around based on my screen width, etc.).

For what it's worth, I'm on a Galaxy S III.

The best I have for now is the app Readability available from Google Play Store:

  Readability turns any Web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer or Android device. With the Readability app, you can catch up reading you've saved with the free Readability add-on for your Web browser. Already a favorite on Kindle e-readers, now you can enjoy the benefits of Readability on your Android devices.


Why has the delete function disappeared from my Gmail app? I cannot see a delete function on my Gmail account for my inbox.

I have a Galaxy smartphone.

This post should (or might) help: GMail's delete button is not gone, it's just hiding.

Edit:
As per the URL, follow the steps below:

Hit the menu button, and go to settings. Then, go to general settings. You should see the option below at the top of the list - Archive & delete actions. Right now, it should be set to "Show archive only"
Tap it, and you get three options - Archive only, Delete only, and Archive & Delete. The third option gets rid of the 'Move to Folder' action. Choose the one you want (probably the second or third), and you're set to go - your little trash icon will return.

Note: If you still want to swipe to delete, you must select 'delete only' from the actions menu above.


How to access files transferred to device using SimpleSSHD? I am using SimpleSSHD and doing scp to transfer files from my computer to my Redmi phone.
My question is that after I have copied files to data/user/0/org.galexander.sshd/files, how do I access them, such as with a File Manager?

Don't ever copy files out of /sdcard/, for this task you should leave the files where they are. In order to copy files using SimpleSSHD, simply connect and copy: assuming you've left the default port of 2222 you can do this,
SCP File Transfer
host=192.168.1.228
scp -r "scp://root@${host}:2222//sdcard/DCIM/OpenCamera" .

RSYNC over SSH File Transfer
host=192.168.1.228
rsync --progress -ave 'ssh -p 2222' "root@${host}:/sdcard/DCIM/OpenCamera" .


How to avoid or track phone usage overnight I have an unrooted Samsung Galaxy s10 that I need to find a way of keeping myself from using overnight or at least track what I do.

The problem here is that I sleepwalk on a fairly regular basis, I have ended up at the bus stop a few times, made breakfast, just generally some pretty scary things. My fear is that at some point during the night I will turn on my phone and text someone or something similar (eg. snapchat someone or something) and I would like a way of making that impossible, or at least know if that does happen. My current procedure is pulling up my activity logs from every social media site I'm on and going through my phone log, but this isn't ideal as A) it takes a really long time and b) theres still a chance that I sent a text and then deleted it, therefore making it invisible from my end. Is there anyway that I can set a mandatory shut down time on my phone, like tell it to not let me turn it on until a certain time the next day or something like that? Or even better is there a way of tracking my activity? In my research it didnt seem possible to generate a log of when i power my phone on or off, but maybe theres another way of going about this.

Also worth noting, I have tried puzzle lock type things in the past (like where I have to solve a math problem to unlock my phone) but apperantly my subconscious is just as good as I am at problem solving so that wont work.

Ok so I answered my own question, I found this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hash.ar.systemlog that generates a readable log of every event that happens on the phone. This, partnered with the app mentioned in a comment by @Natsu Kage achieves both things that I hoped to achieve


Microsoft Exchange Server no longer updates via WiFi after upgrading to Lollipop I had my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (as well as several other Samsung devices - such as two tablets) set up to sync with my Microsoft Exchange Server all without problems before upgrading to Android Lollipop. After upgrading to Lollipop, I am no longer able to sync (refresh) via wifi.

How to fix it?

You have to erase the proxy number in the APN network. This is something that Lollipop retrieves from your Data provider, but trunks the communication with the server.


How to search for files and folders? I'm looking for the Dropbox folder on my Phone and I can't find it with my file manager. If I only had access to the find command it would be easier.

It should be noted that the Dropbox app doesn't actually sync the files to your phone, it just presents you with a list. Whenever you select a file in the Dropbox app, then it downloads it to your phone. On my Incredible, the dropbox folder is just in the root of the SD card.


How to display my calendar on the lock screen? What is the best way to show (non-interactive) widgets on the lock screen?

I have bought WidgetLocker, but it forces me to unlock the screen twice (using both WidgetLocker and native slider).

(Using Android 2.3.2 on a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc.)

Lockscreen Calendar is a fairly lightweight app to display your next few upcoming events on your lockscreen.

Unfortunately, it does not currently support recurring events.


How to access Genymotion files from desktop? I want to access Genymotion file from my desktop. Is it possible?

What I find every where is about accessing desktop file from Genymotion!

check this out

C:\Users{username}\AppData\Local\Genymobile\Genymotion\ova


Android Lolipop broke my enyrpted nexus 7 (2012) I just received the update and now my device does not boot any more.
I comes to the point where I have to enter my encryption password.
The first  time it did this it said:  “Unfortunately your password is correct but your data is corrupted, would you like to do a factory reset” I did not want to do this and powered the device off.
Is there any chance to recover some of the data, before wiping?  I figured out to come up with the bootloader by pressing down power button and both volume keys, but did not get further from there.
Perfect would be some kind of USB mass storage mode while connected to a computer.
Please help

I wished this lolipop update would never have poped up!

When doing updates, be it from OTA or flashing, you will need to wipe/clean the cache and dalvik-cache (They retain information that could cause problems as well as bootloops.) Just remember to leave system, data, and other partitions alone.


How do I get Youtube Links to open in the YouTube app and not a browser? Everytime I click a link to a Youtube clip I have to choose which browser to open it in. I'd like them to open in the YouTube android app. Is there a setting somewhere that I can change ...?

If you have YouTube installed, the YouTube app should be one of the options you get to open the video. When you see this prompt, checking the "Set this option as default" checkbox will make every YouTube link open with the app (you might have to check the option again when opening from multiple browsers, I've had this happen).


To configure tethering as two step login in CM13? I have given my password of wifi stations to group of people.
However, I want to allow only specific people to login at specific time.

Attempt

I could not enable a basic MAC filtering for devices. Without it, I think this is not possible without a third-party application or without a change in the default options of settings.
I could not find anything that is designed for the purpose.
I did not find an option in the settings which could enable such a feature.
You can

see which devices are connected to your network in the settings, and
to signout all devices from your network at once

but you cannot determine

which devices are allowed to be in your network at specific times.

How can you manually decide which device can connect to my network?  I am running Cyanogenmod 13 (Android 6.0), unrooted.

How can you manually decide which device can connect to my network?

hostapd, a deamon that manages access point in Android (supports Linux and FreeBSD) is controlled by the configuration file hostapd.conf located under /data/misc/wifi. At least in my device, the configuration file inter alia notes:

# Station MAC address -based authentication
# Please note that this kind of access control requires a driver that uses
# hostapd to take care of management frame processing and as such, this can be
# used with driver=hostap or driver=nl80211, but not with driver=madwifi.
# 0 = accept unless in deny list
# 1 = deny unless in accept list
# 2 = use external RADIUS server (accept/deny lists are searched first)
macaddr_acl=0

# Accept/deny lists are read from separate files (containing list of
# MAC addresses, one per line). Use absolute path name to make sure that the
# files can be read on SIGHUP configuration reloads.
accept_mac_file=/data/misc/wifi/hostapd.accept
deny_mac_file=/data/misc/wifi/hostapd.deny

The configuration defaults to

0 = accept unless in deny list

while you need

1 = deny unless in accept list

To do just that, change the value from 0 to 1 in macaddr_acl, mention the MAC address of the target(s) which should be allowed to authenticate with your hotspot in the file hostapd.accept, start or restart the hotspot and see the magic.

Example of hostapd.accept:

# List of MAC addresses that are allowed to authenticate (IEEE 802.11)
# with the AP. Optional VLAN ID can be assigned for clients based on the
# MAC address if dynamic VLANs (hostapd.conf dynamic_vlan option) are used.
60:XX:YY:ZZ:AA:BB
8c:BB:AA:ZZ:YY:XX

In above example file, only the machines with those MAC addresses are allowed to authenticate with my hotspot. Any machine with MAC address other than those two would repeatedly failed to authenticate.

Unfortunately, you may not be able to make any good use of this solution without root access.

Note: this solution is tested on an unofficial build of CM13.


Change to and from 4g using Tasker I downloaded Tasker for Android and I'm trying to do the following:

Condition1:

On Chrome browser startup, go to "mobile network connections" and change from 3g to 4g.

Condition2:

On Chrome browser exit, go to "mobile network connections" and change from 4g to 3g.

Can you write the steps down for me to do the above please?

Your GSM carrier might have different APNs for 3G and 4G service. If so, you might be able to find a way to use Tasker to automate the modification of your data APN between the two. I've looked, but all I can find is using Tasker + APNDroid to append "apndroid" to the APN name to disable mobile data entirely. Useful in its own way, but not in your use-case. If anyone else can figure out a way to make it happen though, I think the potential is there.

Otherwise, I found a forum post describing how to use Tasker to toggle 4G data. They list instructions for toggling LTE; I don't know if it will work for toggling HSDPA/HSPA+ 4G on your Note II but it might be worth a shot. Here are the juicy bits, modified slightly for clarity:

  You must be rooted and running a custom ROM that supports 4G toggling (i.e. AOKP).

  Step 1: Download Secure Settings
  Step 2: Open the app, go to Options and scroll down to Custom ROM Actions and ensure that "LTE" is checked
  Step 3: Open up Tasker and create a profile entitled "4G On" and choose your first context (App = Chrome)
  Step 4: Click New Task at the top of the tasks list and name it 4G On.
  Step 5: Click the + button and scroll to Plugins and you will see Secure Settings. Click it.
  Step 6: You will see edit configuration; click edit
  Step 7: Now you will see a list of the options you have enabled in Secure Settings. We care about 4G, so scroll down to LTE and click it. Then it will ask you what state you want LTE to be in. This is the 4G On profile, so click On. Save and apply the task.
  Step 8: Repeat steps 3-7, but now choose the context you want for 4G to be off, name your profile and task 4G Off, and when you get to the configuration settings in Secure Settings, make sure you check Off for the state of LTE. Save and apply the task.


Rating an App in Android TV I've been searching around for any official docs and some 3rd party sites but I can't find a way to rate an app via the Android TV itself, without installing a 3rd party browser app to browse Google Play Store.

When using the Google Play Store, selecting My Apps then selecting the app you want to rate, it only shows four buttons:

 Update
 Uninstall
 Full Description
 Flag as Inappropriate

I've also seen this Hidden Android TV Browser thing, maybe it'd be possible to just rate the app by using a internal browser then going to the Play Store site, but it doesn't seem to work (maybe it used to, but not anymore), it just shows:

  Restricted Access. No browser was found.

So I'm wondering if this is even possible? If no, is there any reason as to why they wouldn't allow users to rate an app via the Play Store when using an Android TV? Or is there any feature request for this (wasn't able to find one, maybe someone already did and I just wasn't able to find it)?

PS: I did try using a 3rd party browser app to rate an app by going to the Play Store site, but it's not a good experience for a user to go through all that (installing another app to go to Play Store, login again, then find the app to rate).

It looks like currently, it is not possible to rate an app via Android TV Platform. However it looks like the feature will be coming soon as mentioned in this blog post:

  The team is working on the feature, but there isn’t an ETA.

Credits go to @MattLane and @NickFelker for providing the information in this post.


DualBoot CM7 and CM9 for HTC Desire Z? I want to be able to switch from CM7 to CM9 and vice versa without losing my apps and data everytime. Is it possible to make a dualboot?

Making a dual boot is possible, there's a nice app for that end available from Google Play Store.

Boot Manager Pro (2,17€) and the Boot Manager Lite (free), both from Init 2 Winit Apps.

  Boot Manager is Android's first multi-boot application. It allows you to install boot ROMs from your sdcard and boot between then with just a reboot. The application acts as your recovery for your sdcard slots. Install your kernels, themes, and ROMs all through the app and use your normal recovery for your phone ROM only.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any supporting information if this will or will not share apps between ROMs, but at the very least it solves the dual boot problem.

Ps:
Since apps when installed on the SDcard still leave a portion of their code on the main installation directory of the current ROM, it doesn't seen possible to have apps shared across different ROMs.


Can I factory reset my tablet remotely? QUESTION:

I just won DUFUS prize of the century!  First I sold my Galaxy Tab 3 Lite on Ebay.  Second - I mailed it out to buyer - Great!  Third - I awoke the next morning to remember (only AFTER I mailed it) that I'd forgotten to erase it first!  The problem is NOT sensitive information.  The problem is (still using my Google Password) the buyer might not be able to get into, and use the tablet.

You can use Android Device Manager to remotely wipe (or other tasks) with your android.

Just login with your google account (should be same as the account on your device). And then select the Erase option.


Does the Google Authenticator app negatively impact a fully charged device I have the Google Authenticator installed on my phone. I notice the codes are generated constantly. It appears the app is running constantly in the background.

Does this app has a major impact on a fully charged android device?

The app is not running in the background.  When you start it, it generates codes based on an algorithm tied to your original configuration.

It for sure will not impact your battery, and is not running in the background (the time based codes it creates, are constantly changing though - every 60 seconds - or however long).

But the app is only using resources when it is running, and servicing out the codes to you.


Can there be problems if I leave my old android phone alwys plugged to electricity? I have an old Android phone. I want to use it as small router and media center.

I don't want to be pluging it all the time to charge, plus the battery is close to dead.

Is it ok  to leave it always plugged to electricity?

I am not worried with the battery life or even the device. I am mostly afraid of overheat, short circuit, or anything else that may create a risk other than the phone (fire, electrical circuit break, etc).

Almost all concerns with phones remaining plugged in indefinitely stem from the health of the battery. Mentioning that the device is old and has a worn battery (and odn't want to deal with charging it constantly) means we can ignore those potential challenges. Refer to the question that user "dr01" linked if you want more info on that.

As for damaging/overheating your phone - that depends on your device and what your usecase for it is. Using it as a mini media centre and router will make sure it's at least warm all the time - but shouldn't cause any damage to it if the device doesn't have a history of being hot under normal use.


How to partition the Internal SD Card using CWM Recovery? How to partition the Internal SD Card using CWM Recovery to use with link2sd. I am using Sony Xperia SL.

I don't recommend using CWM Recovery for this, but if you're going to this video demonstrates the process -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLfjeKq_PY

See also -- http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/ClockWorkMod_Instructions#Additional_Commands

My recommendation is to use Minitool Partition Manager on a Windows machine as it's quite clear what's going on & it allows much more control


Cannot connect to Facebook, hosts file seemingly ignored I have a Motorola Atrix.

My country used to block Facebook, so I decided to add its ip to the /etc/hosts file about 3 months ago and it worked in the browser, but the Facebook app did not.

Now my country has unblocked Facebook so I would like to clear my hosts file and use Facebook as normal. However, my phone cannot connect to Facebook normally even after I performed a factory reset. Other devices still work without the modified hosts file.

Also, if I add some test lines to the hosts file such as:

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 test

then try to ping test in a terminal emulator it returns unknown host.

Is my hosts file being ignored? Did I miss something? I have OTA Root Keeper and it seemed to keep root after I did a factory reset. Did it keep something related to networks, too?

Go to the Applications menu in settings -- at least that what I think it's called on Gingerbread, on on ICS it's just Apps -- select the Facebook app and clear the cache as well as the data. Then go to the /Android folder on your SD card and delete anything starting with com.facebook.

Finally, reboot your phone. If your problem was related to the Facebook app it should now be fixed.


Enabling USB OTG on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos I am planning to develop an Android application which uses USB On-The-Go.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy Y Duos. Is there any way that I can enable USB OTG in this phone?

There is no way to enable USB OTG on Samsung Galaxy Y Duos. Thats all I know so far.


What's in Chrome's data? I'm running stock 4.1.2 on a Wolfgang AT-AS43D4 (not rooted). According to DiskUsage, I have about 755 MiB app storage in total, of which I have currently around 100 MiB free space left, so I try to keep the internal storage as empty as possible.

I see Chrome taking up 94.4 MiB, (134 MiB after the latest update) of which about 24.3 MiB is data (up to 28 MiB by now).

My question is twofold:

What is in there? What does Chrome keep there that's almost over 25 MB big?

How can I selectively clean that? I can delete the data wholesale, but I don't want to. Is there any other way? I tried various options in Chrome, but couldn't find anything useful.

Edited: a previous version of this question mentioned an insufficient memory error. This had little to do with the question; I was conflating RAM and app storage.

Well, "insufficient memory" sounds like you're having problem with your memory(RAM), not your storage space.
DiskUsage is a very good tool, but it only checks disk space and not your memory(RAM) usage.
I just checked out the specs on your phone, and you have 512mb memory(RAM). That's 1/6 of what i have got on my phone, Samsung Galaxy note 3 with 3000mb memory(RAM).
I know it can be confusing with the terms when reviewers and everyone use memory, sdcard, storage and ram very loosely. I use the same terms people use on computers.
My chrome application is currently using 91mb of storagespace as "data". I believe that chrome is just storing pictures and tempfiles for the open webpages in data, along with your settings, passwords and so on. You can at any time go into the settings on your android menu, choose "applications", find "chrome" and delete data. Your Chome application will then act like you just installed it. You can try to see if this helps. and it might help for some time.
I think the main problem is that you don't have enough memory(RAM) on your device, and running a almost new os(4.1.2).
If you compare your phone with my previous phone, Samsung galaxy S2 as it was released in 2011 and has twice as much memory(1000mb RAM) as your phone. This phone came with Android 2.3. which does not require as much as newer versions.
I looked up on your os, Android 4.1.x, and the minimum requirements are as following:

7.6.1. Minimum Memory and Storage
"Device implementations MUST have at
least 340MB of memory available to the kernel and userspace. The 340MB
MUST be in addition to any memory dedicated to hardware components
such as radio, video, and so on that is not under the kernel's
control."

Source: http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/source.android.com/no//compatibility/4.1/android-4.1-cdd.pdf
This won't give you much left to other applications.
Well, i think that Chrome also have a share of the blame, as this is no lightweight browser. To solve the problem then I'd first try to set for another browser that is lighter. I would, for example, try "opera browser", which is designed to use as little data traffic as possible and to run on slow phones. The browser also has a feature that allows when you're phone is asking for a webpage, it will fetch the entire page onto Opera's servers and compress images before the webpage is sent to your phone. This means that the images are not displayed in full quality, but since the screen of a cell phone much smaller than on a pc, its just as well. Since the images is compressed, and use less data traffic, it will also use less space on the cellphone's storage-temp-space. Hopefully, this will solve your "insufficient memory" problem.
I hope this helps :)


Dead spot in android screen - can't press some keys There's a dead spot on the right of my android device(nexus4) , it interferes with pressing some keys. Is there a solution.

The solution that i've found is to use sthe swiftkey keyboard, but choose "compact" layout.  it looks lik the right section in [1]

Than by pressing on the arrow shift it to the other side, and resize to maximum.

Works pretty well.

[1]http://fs01.androidpit.info/userfiles/4471351/image/Switfkey/thumb.png


Firefox for Android doesn't autofill saved/synced paswords since installing and uninstalling external password manager Firefox sync was working on all my devices as my logins and passwords were perfectly synced. The problem started when I was offered to install the Lockwise app on Android. Where logins were available in the Firefox for Android app they wouldn't sync with the Lockwise app, the syncing went in an infinite loop and did not sync anything. Reinstalling or rebooting did not help. From this moment Firefox for Android offered to fill in the passwords from the Lockwise app, but since there were no passwords synced, there were none to fill. So I decided to uninstall the Lockwise app and go back to Google Autofill service for my global Android password management. But in the Firefox for Android app (which I use the most) I still like to use the build-in Firefox Sync autofill feature like I used to before installing the Lockwise app. Firefox for Android does not offer to fill in any password information anymore. When I look in Tools > Logins all my passwords are there, perfectly synced.

After some research I checked if the following about:config booleans were enabled: and yes they were.

signon.autofillForms
signon.autofillForms.autocompleteOff
signon.autofillForms.http

Firefox for Android version: 68.2.0

External autofill apps change a certain boolean in the Firefox for Android configuration variables, this "setting" can only set back to the old setting by completely uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox or (better) by changing a variable in: about:config

goto about:config
search for: dom.forms.autocomplete.formautofill
set it back to true
refresh your login window and... fixed!


Replacing the system partition without touching the kernel? So I have an android phone that I'd like to put a clean rom onto, but it looks like there aren't any good kernels ported to it yet. I've done some reading into the android architecture, and come to the conclusion that it could be possible to simply leave the kernel as-is, and flash a new (standard) system on the device.

Is this idea at all viable, or am I missing something? And if it is viable, does anyone have any tips to how I might go about it?

It is viable, as there are custom ROMs I've seen that contains the original kernel but different system files.
There is a catch though: If for example your device ships with CyanogenMod and you want to put PA on it, you'll have to get your hands dirty with the ramdisk as each ROM needs slightly different init* files to boot.

As for installing the ROM, you'll need to put it in a ZIP file and include a META-INF folder which will contain the files responsible for the correct ROM flash, e.g. updater-script.

The full procedure is too long to mention here, so I'd say you should head over to XDA to get the info you need.


How do I get a camera icon on my lockscreen? I've seen screenshots from Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) that have a camera icon besides the unlock icon on the lockscreen (see below).

My Nexus 4 (latest Jelly Bean, 4.2.1) has a camera widget on its lockscreen instead, but I find it sometimes hard to open. (As long as the lock symbol is pulsing, the swipe has to be started from the very edge. If you are already widget selection mode, it is easier.)

Is there anyway to add the camera icon (or any other icons) to the unlock circle? In stock, with apps, or with any mods?

You could try WidgetLocker Lockscreen. It lets you add app shortcuts on your lockscreen.

It replaces your lockscreen though.


htc g1 cannot discover/connect to a 802.11 n/b/g wifi My G1 was able to connect to a WiFi (not sure about its mode). But after I moved to a new house, I found it cannot discover/connect to the WiFi in the house, but it can discover the WiFi signal from other house.

My laptop is able to discover and connect to the WiFi in my house, so does my Galaxy P1000. I checked my WiFi setting of my router, and the WiFi mode is 802.11 n/b/g. I then checked the HTC G1 specification, and it says it supports 802.11 b/g. Do I have to change the WiFi setting of my router to b/g? I think the device should be able to detect the mode and choose the best available one.

Thanks!

I had the same issue with my HTC Hero.  I never got around to fixing it but I remember reading that the router needs to be forced to stay in b/g mode.

Check this post seems to confirm that idea:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-492536.html


not able to recieve incoming calls Myy phone model is HTC desire 526 g plus.when I rang called it from another phone  in showed ring is going but on the phone message appeared,"Unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped. Very confused. I remember I installed an app call name announcer. First it worked but after few minutes this problem has risen.NEED UR HELP pls do reply

If the call name announcer did in fact cause a crash, try removing that app first, and have someone call you again. If it is still crashing, follow @Firelord's advice, clear the data and cache of the phone app, and perhaps try turning the phone off and on again.

Lastly, if you are STILL getting this problem, try doing a factory reset. If THAT doesn't fix the problem, go back to wherever you got the phone and ask for a new one.


How do you import CA certificates onto an Android phone? I want to connect to my University's wireless using my Nexus One. When I go to "Add Wi-Fi network" in Wireless Settings I fill in the Network SSID and select 802.1x Enterprise for the security and fill everything out.

The problem is that our university's wireless uses Thawte Premium Server CA certificate for certification.

When I click the drop down list for CA certificate I get nothing in the list (just N/A)

Now I have the certificate (Thawte Premium Server CA.pem) and have moved it to my SD card, but it doesn't look like Android automatically detects it.

Where should I put the certificate so that the Android wireless manager recognizes it. In other words, how can I import a CA certificate so that Android recognizes that it is on the phone and displays it in the CA Certificate drop down list.

Thanks for any help,

Tomek

P.S. My phone is not rooted

EDIT: After doing some research it looks like you are able to install certificates by going to your phone's settings > Location & Security > Install from SD card

Unfortunately it looks like the only accepted file extension is .p12. It does not look like there is a way to import .cer or .pem files (which are the only two files that come with the Thawte certificates) at this moment.

It does look like you can use a converter to convert your .cer or .pem files to .p12, however a key file is needed.

https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-converter.html

I do not know where to get this key file for the Thawte certificates.

I've used RealmB's Android Certificate Installer to great success.  You simply upload your PEM encoded (.cer or .pem) file and then point your phone's browser to the link that is provided.  No need for a private key.


Temporarily read an encrypted file I want to store an encrypted .txt file (encrypted with a password, with AES for example) in the interal SD memory or µSD card of my phone. I want to be able to read it every now and then, but:

I don't want the unencrypted plain text file to be extracted and stored in the SD card (even as a temp file).
I don't want the unencrypted plain text file to transit via network (internet, etc.)

Is there a solution / app that would display an encrypted text file?

PS: I already tried full encryption of the phone, it's not what I'm looking for (other reasons, off topic here)

PS2: I don't want to use an online service

Thanks to this list of encryption apps, I found Encrypt It MkII which does exactly when I need:

The only problem I still have, is that I don't know how to decrypt it on Windows. (Does anyone have any idea for this?)

As an example the plain-text

COUCOU
COMMENT CA VA?

was encrypted by Encrypt It MkII with password abcdef as:

9XWIf05d8m2+1lhdJa+mzhChq6+8SmMu6D5UsWNFNcCNmE0fcPZghaR3C7VZVlTDxHcqazBUwBcs
6Ts2R81cfCo=


Changing default behaviour of the Phone app in Oreo Each time when I open the Phone app, I see Favourites tab (first one) as default.

This is completely useless for me, because Google uses its weird logic to tell me which contacts are my so called favourites and this logic produces completely wrong results -- i.e. I see "favourite" contacts which aren't truly my favourite ones.

This tab is also useless, if your contacts have more than one phone number, because instead of showing a list in this case and letting you pick the number, it always calls the default number. This isn't working in my case, because I have a lot of contacts which I contact both privately (i.e. during weekends and evenings; using private phone number) and on business grounds (using company phone number). So using the default phone number and Favourites tab is pointless in my case.

For the above reasons, I am not using Favourites tab at all and I am always forced to switch manually to recent phones / call history tab.

Is there any way to make that tab displayed as default each time I open up the Phone app.

My stack:

Motorola Moto Z2 Play,
Android 8.0 Oreo.

I am using the default, system Phone app. No 3rd party solution.

A possible solution is to automate the process of clicking the Call history tab when the phone app is opening. It is not elegant but may help you.

Using Automatem create the following flow:

In the Apps section, select App start. Click it, in the Package option select the Phone app from the list. Click Done.
In the Interface section, select Interact. Click it, set the Proceed option to When UI element appear, then click Record Interactions. A small widget will appear. Open the Phone app, then click on the call history. Click the check mark on the widget. It will take you back to Automate, and many parameters of the Interact block will be filled for you. Click Done.
In the Flow section, select Flow stop.
Click the Flow beginning block, give the title a name; then click on "Install home screen shortcut".
Link the blocks as seen on the image, then save and give the flow a name.
Give the required permissions when asked.

On your home screen, there will be a shortcut created with the label (title) you inserted in step 4. Clicking it will open the Phone app, then show the call history,

It is not elegant because for a fraction of a second, you will see the Favorites tab before the call history is shown.


What is the use case for the Google Wi-Fi Assistant? The Google Wi-Fi assistant is available on the Pixel and Nexus devices running Android 5.1+, in some countries. The description at Settings->Google->Networking is

  Wi-Fi assistant:
  Automatically connect to Wi-Fi at select locations and other open networks determined to be high quality

Why would I want to use Wi-Fi assistant? I am not accessing anything on Google's network that requires authentication, and if an application requires secure data, it should already be using an SSL/TLS connection.

From a privacy point of view, this seems to trade the wireless network's ability to monitor all traffic with Google's ability to monitor all traffic through the VPN.

The Google Wi-Fi Assistant is designed to provide a seamless always-connected experience using Wi-Fi. If, for example, you do not have a mobile data connection, the Wi-Fi Assistant will connect you to "high-quality" Wi-Fi whenever possible, and provide security through VPN.


All of my texts disappeared, what can I do? All of my old text messages disappeared. What might I be able to do to recover them?

Unless you have a previous backup, there's no easy way to recover them.

Use Handcent or GoSMS - they have in-built scheduling to backup SMS to your SD card or to send the backup to an email mailbox you specify.


When Flashing New ROM onto Device, Can the Original Still Be Used? I've recently rooted my phone and I was thinking about adding a custom recovery and ROM. However, my original OS still must be accessed. Is this possible?

MultiROM should be what you're looking for, though it's only limited to a few of popular devices that support it / has it ported over, e.g. Nexus series, Redmi, etc. Look up in XDA-Developers if your device has a port.


Does orientation of a USB Type-C cable matter when quick charging? Is it normal that quick charging only works when plugging the (original) USB Typ-C cable in orientation 1 into the phone and not in orientation 2? I mean it is symmetrical, I would have expected that both ways work. Is there a problem with my phone or is this the intended behaviour? I read that article about USB PD but it could not answer my question.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#USB_Power_Delivery

  USB Power Delivery uses one of CC1, CC2 pins for power negotiation up to 20 V at 5 A (or whatever less the source can provide). It is transparent to any data transmission mode, and can therefore be used together with any of them.

Representation of USB-C Pinout:

GND     TX1+    TX1−    VBUS    CC1  D+ D−  SBU1    VBUS    RX2−    RX2+    GND
GND     RX1+    RX1−    VBUS    SBU2 D− D+  CC2     VBUS    TX2−    TX2+    GND

So I'm thinking that both the phone and the power brick that is providing power will only use one of the CC1/CC2 lines and if you twist the cable the negotiation line won't be able to connect.


Recovery partition on Pixel 2 'does not exist' I'm trying to get TWRP on my new Pixel 2 so I can get stock android with Magisk for root. My issue is according to Fastboot (just re-downloaded) there is no recovery. When I hit tab recovery does come up still. Here's my command and results:

gido5731@gido-desk:~/Downloads/platform-tools$ sudo ./fastboot flash recovery ../twrp-3.2.1-0-walleye.img
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'recovery' (32768 KB)...
OKAY [  0.098s]
writing 'recovery'...
FAILED (remote: No such partition.)
finished. total time: 0.098s

Quoted from TWRP's landing page for Pixel 2:

If you already have TWRP installed: Download the latest zip and install the zip using TWRP.
If you do not already have TWRP installed: Download both the img and the zip. You will need to have fastboot binaries and the correct drivers installed. Power off your device completely. Hold volume down and turn on the device. Your device should now be in the bootloader. Connect the device to your PC. Open a command window and run the following command from the proper location:
fastboot boot path/to/twrp.img
This will temporarily boot TWRP on your device. Use adb to push the zip onto your device:
adb push path/to/twrp.zip /
Go to install and browse to the zip and install the zip. The zip will install TWRP to both boot slots. Installing TWRP at this time will remove root if you are currently rooted.
If you accidently flash TWRP to your device using fastboot instead of temporarily booting the image, you will need to download the latest factory image for your device and reflash the boot image.


Retrieving text messages from stolen Android phone My Samsung Galaxy Nexus was stolen the other night. Is it possible to retrieve my texts and save them to my computer if I know the phone number and IMEI? I have a Gmail account set up on the phone but, haven't installed any backup app.

Yes, its possible, from your desktop PC, go to Play Store, and install AndroidLost remotely to your handset.

At this point, a caveat emptor is needed:

Provided you have 3G Data switched on, it will remotely install on to the handset and also
There is sufficient battery power

Read the starting page by visiting the main AndroidLost.

Send the text "androidlost register" (without the quotes) to your number of the handset that is stolen.

There's a box in the upper right hand corner of the page, Click on sign in, using your Google Account, if doing this for the first time, you will be prompted for AndroidLost to have permission to access your Google Account, as they are both tied into it together.

The message will appear - "Waiting for phone to be registered.", please be patient.

Wait for a while, sign out and sign back in, eventually, from there, you can remotely control the handset via that same website and fingers crossed it will have a happy ending.

Good luck :)


Why am I getting multiple Gmail Notifications? Ever since the 2.2 update, I'm receiving multiple Gmail notifications without accessing the Gmail app and with the setting "Notify only once" active.

I've tried a factory reset, but it still does this.

Any thoughts? I do have my Gmail auto-popping another account, could this be it?

It sounds like maybe you added your GMail account to the regular Mail app.  So you are probably receiving notifications from both apps.

If you are only using the "GMail" app then find the "Mail" (not "GMail") app in your app drawer and run it and see if your mail is in there too.  If it is just delete the account from there and then you should only get notifications from GMail not Mail.


After upgrading my Nexus 7 from Android 4 to 5.1, it is so slow as to be unusuable. What can I do to make it usable again? I've seen reports here and there online where users have reported similar frustrations. Has anyone had success fixing whatever issue is crippling the tablet after upgrading to Android 5 (Lollipop)?

I did a factory data reset and everything is running much more smoothly:

Settings > Backup and Reset > Factory Data Reset

I had to log back in and reinstall my apps. This wasn't too onerous in my case since my tablet usage is limited mainly to the Amazon Kindle and Pandora apps.

For a more nuanced approach, see this Tuning Guide for the Nexus 7.