Can a Terminal Emulator on android do everything that a terminal on linux or mac does? I downloaded a couple terminal emulators onto my android phone and wanted to know what the limitations on them are. Is there anything that a terminal can do the emulators simply cannot?

Not really.... they are no more limited than the tools that Android has installed, remember that Android is not Linux, it is based on it but it's command line interface is very limited by comparison due to the fact that all the tools needed for a full Linux implementation are not needed with Android. The capabilities can be increased significantly by installing BusyBox though.

Don't be confused by the term "emulator" all terminals you are comparing it to (like Linux terminals) are all terminal emulators. Technically, a "terminal" is a physical device, like a Wyse 60 or Televideo 955 terminal, which contained no intelligence for processing data, it just displayed the information as a "terminal" to the mainframe. The terminology has stuck, and we use the term "terminal emulator" to mean any piece of software that is used to emulate a physical terminal.


Pervasive Kingroot app avoids uninstall I managed to root my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet with Kingroot, but I'd like to remove it and switch to using SuperSU (because of KingRoot's aggressive practices and somewhat shady reputation). Even after uninstalling it and deleting everything labelled kingroot or superuser in /system, I still get Binary Occupied from the SuperSU app.

I believe there is a hidden process somewhere monitoring attempts to delete it and replacing the binary. For example, in system/usr there is a directory called iku (kinguser?) which replaces itself immediately after being deleted. Similarly, in system/xbin there is ku.sud and start_kusud.sh, which I can delete but instantly reappear.

This may be a quirk of the Samsung system, or some kind of hidden or inaccessible process. I've followed numerous online tutorials, and tried to run the Replace_Kingroot_With_SuperSU.zip method, but to no avail. Anybody know of a workaround?

Edit: here is part of the stdout form a script I ran. Note where it says operation not permitted:

rm failed for /system/xbin/ku.sud, Operation not permitted
rm failed for /data/data/com.kingroot.RushRoot, No such file or directory
rm failed for /data/data-lib/com.kingroot.RushRoot, No such file or directory
rm failed for /data/data/com.kingroot.kinguser, Directory not empty
rm failed for /data/data/com.kingroot.master, No such file or directory
rm failed for /system/bin/.usr/.ku, Operation not permitted
rm failed for /system/bin/rt.sh, No such file or directory
rm failed for /system/bin/ddexe, Operation not permitted

You did it wrong I guess. Despite all the tutorials you found online, I wonder how you missed the right one : There's a "safe" uninstall feature within Kingoroot app. This removes completely the app and the binaries from your device.

Open the app
Click three dots upper right, find settings menu.
Click "Remove Root".

Your device will be rebooted and root should be removed.


Android System [UID] 1000 Root Permission Request Is Android System [UID] in your list of SU Root Permissions?

I just reloaded the stock rom then installed SuperSU (otherwise blank system)

Upon the next restart, one of the permission request that popped up is Android System [UID]. : system_user_1000

I don't remember seeing this before...

This is normal? Could this be malware?

It may due to Wanam Xposed 2.4.7. An XDA post states:

  the new Wanam Xposed v2.4.0 did Auto activate "Disable Knox notifications" when Knox Apps are installed. With 2.4.1 he Removed "Knox disabling at boot".


Can not recognize Nexus 7 2013 version with USB I am using android version 6.0.1 kernel 3.4.0-gad29d11. I have tried a laptop with windows 8.1 and desktop with ubuntu 16.04. I have tried installing ADB software and google drivers, using different usb cables, putting the device into developer mode with usb debugging on and MTP active, a galaxy 3 phone also is not recognized on either computer. Linux does not show a new usb connection when N7 attached and windows does not show any unknown/android device in device manager. All other usb functions (e.g., OTG operations, charging, etc.) work with the N7.

What can I do?

I have had this problem on a labtop of my mom's. Maybe there is some security feature on the mainboard, I could not try it on this labtop because it is not mine, but that might be the issue. Look out for secure boot for example. (it would be interesting to know if it is a Dell, if yes this could be an issue referring to the company or kind of bios/uefi) I have tried it on another pc, desktop this time and I did not have any trouble. So if there is no option to fix it in the bios, just use another pc, (preferably a desktop) and flash on this system if you can.


My phone stopped detecting custom notification sounds (but custom ringtone sounds still work??) I installed some custom notifications sounds on my android a few months ago and they've worked fine for a rlly long time until when recently all my notification sounds went back to default so I try to change back to any of the old custom sounds that I'd been using they won't show up in the options
My custom ringtone sounds didn't change and still work fine, but my notification sounds just won't show up I've tried rebooting, renaming, changing the location of the file(s), and clearing cache but nothing works idk what to do anymore
its getting really annoying.

My phone is a BLU Advance 5.5 on Android ver 6.0

Any sound files stored in a folder named

Notifications

will be found by the system and displayed as an option for a Notification sound

Any sound files stored in a folder named

Ringtones

will be found by the system and displayed as an option for a Ringtone sound

Note that it doesn't matter where in the system your Notifications or Ringtones folders are stored, Android will still find them. Notifications in /media/notifications will be found, and so will sound files in /Music/Notifications. You can also have more than one Notifications or Ringtones folders.


Is it possible to set an encryption password different than lock screen pin? I set up phone encryption using a numeric password. android 4.4.4 on One plus one (Cyanogenmod 11S).

now on the lock screen I'm asked for the same numeric password (but instead of a text input field, an on-screen  numeric pad is shown).

I would like to understand :

is it possible to set a different PIN for lock screen than the one I set before encrypting the phone? (without changing the current encryption password)
is it possible to change encryption password without wiping phone memory?

Thanks in advance

Please, keep in mind -- one problem, one question here. Two questions in one post is a bad idea.

Now:

first question: take a look here or here or in many other places,
second question: no, encryption is irreversible!

Once applied the only way to disable it / change password is to do factory reset (loosing all data / wiping phone memory -- as you write) and perform another phone encryption after that.


Can i make a phone call at my Lenovo A5500-H tablet? I have a Lenovo A5500-H tablet with a sim card slot and i want to know if i can make calls on it.  I hope you can help me fix this.

According to some sources, the H variant cannot make voice calls, instead it supports Wi-Fi and data (2g/3g) hence the sim slot.

As stated by one user on XDA forums:

This tablets comes in 3 ROM variants; the F, H and HV.

Lenovo H variants are made with the same hardware as their HV variants but a different ROM. H's have 3g data & wifi but not voice calling, HV's have 3d data & wifi & voice calling.

Some users have found a workaround to enable voice calling using some unofficial means:

  With most a Lenovo's recent tablets, if you have the 'H' model (3G
  data only), you can load the firmware for the 'HV' model (3G data with
  calling) and it will work.

In case you wish to understand more on this topic, read detailed instructions provided on XDA


How to turn on the wi-fi hotspot using ADB? Do you have any idea how can we configure and turn on the wi-fi hotspot using the command line (ADB console)?

You could try this:

  adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.TetherSettings
  adb shell input keyevent 20
  adb shell input keyevent 66

The first command opens the Settings page for Tethering and Hotspot while the latter simulate key presses: Down and Enter respectively.

Note: For different Android versions you may have to adjust the simulation of key presses depending on where the hotspot setting is located under settings.

Special Credits : Firelord and Kristopher

Firelord originally posted this as a comment, so I put this as an answer as comments are easily deleted or difficult to find


I can't connect my Samsung Galaxy SL GT-I9003 via USB I can't connect my Samsung Galaxy SL GT-I9003 via USB. When I try to connect via usb mode the phone doesn't respond, it only charges. I tried restarting and restoring my device, but it still won't connect. I want to update my Android OS from Froyo to Ginger Bread.

Go to start.
Type device manager.

Do you see some icon with a yellow triangle exclamation mark in it?
If so, you probably did not install any drivers. Install the
Samsung USB driver or the Google USB driver.


What is the basic functionality behind the Odin buttons & checkboxes? ⚠ EDIT: Note that there's now a slightly different but highly related, relatively newer question on the same subject. See "What do the terms “BL”, “AP”, “CP”, and “CSC” mean in Odin?".

There's a good question on what the Odin tool is. I understand now that it's an internal Samsung tool for flashing firmware, which explains why it's so hard to find info on the (rather cryptic) options and buttons. Can anyone here perhaps enlighten us with a basic description for the following:

Options:

Re-Partition (checkbox)
F. Reset Time (checkbox)
Phone EFS Clear (checkbox)
Phone Bootloader Update (checkbox)

Buttons and files:

PIT (button to select a *.pit, *.xml file)
PDA (button to select *.tar, *.md5, *.smd file)
PHONE (button to select *.bin, *.tar, *.md5 file)
CSC (button to select *.tar, *.md5 file)
ETC (button to select ???)

For reference, here's a screenshot of the App showing these various options and buttons:

Looking at this Odin 3, don't forget, there are variant versions of Odin in respect to different Samsung devices. But this particular one is what's used to flash, from my experience, Samsung Galaxy 5 and Samsung Galaxy tablet P1010T.

In short, for Odin to operate, there can be .bin, or .tar or even .tar.md5 files associated with a ROM for flashing. Odin knows how to handle them in the appropriate manner. (Have not seen .bin used, its more of the .tar.md5 which is  a tar file with MD5 check-sums contained in the archive, in which Odin will automatically verify each file within it)

Re-Partition does what it says - re-partitions the layout.
Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time - when the flash is done, auto reboot and reset the timer of the flashing when done. Usually can leave those two checked.
PIT - this is a file that describes the layout of the partitions involved, this will be very specific to the device in question, use the wrong PIT file for the device, and its... well... face the consequence!
PDA - an all in one archive that contains the .img's MD5 sum, boot, recovery, system, userdata, cache and movinand. Those .img's are different to the normal ones that is out there, they use Samsung's RFS (Not sure what R means, but its File System and is proprietary to Samsung) - this is optional, the clue would be in the name of the file - if it contains PDA in it, use it, if not, uncheck this and follow on, if using this to flash the device...
Phone - When flashing a ROM for Samsung device, depending on the model, there will be usually, a file similar to this XXXX-REVnn-ALL-low-YYYYY.tar.md5 Again, this will be an all in one archive as explained for the PDA, the distinction and big clue, is the former is for tablets, the other is for smartphones (That's what have played with - just doubly check and make sure this is correct, have a wifi-only tablet here, and it uses the Phone when flashing - O_o).
CSC - This is some country code used for the region to flash the ROM against, XE is Europe, AU is Australia, and so on, this part can throw you off, its more then for tracking what region this is based of, in terms of localization and language support. And more importantly, for Kies to recognize the region and to determine if there's firmware update available. It is quite possible to have a CSC that can be limited to one country.

Another aspect of the Phone and CSC is, some would expect the name of the file for the Phone to be near same as CSC,  for example, P1010XWKC1 is the froyo firmware, but does not have a PDA in the filename... just to highlight that firmware for Samsung devices can be inconsistent at times.

So with that in mind, here's the general guidelines for flashing a ROM,

Re-Partition - do not check, unless you have the appropriate PIT file for your device. This will wipe all your data.
Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time are both checked.
PIT - mandatory, ensure you have the right file for your device.
If its smartphone, ensure Phone is selected and the appropriate file is picked from the file browser.
If it's non-smartphone, ensure PDA is selected and the appropriate file is picked from the file browser.
CSC - ensure you have the right region for this.

Before doing any flashing business on Samsung, ensure it is in Download mode, And away you go, Odin will extract the archives and performs check-sum first to ensure integrity of the files within the archive and start, ambiguously, uploading to device, or from device's viewpoint downloading!

If there is a kernel update, similar principle to flashing ROM, but with one notable exception - Un-check the Re-Partition, specify the kernel file which would go in under PDA or Phone as well, that depends! Omit the CSC as its not really used for the kernel flashing.

Phew, this Odin can be confusing, armed with inconsistent filenames so to emphasize, double-check around first before doing anything with Odin.

In all fairness though, Odin is actually a lot more safer than Kies from the flashing business viewpoint, be prudent and happy flashing :)


Export all WhatsApp Chats at once how can I export all WhatsApp Chats at once, without having to click every single one of them to export it.
Can someone help me with that problem?

BR Sarah

The only solutions I've come across for this specific question:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/15427040/6728517
Disclaimer: the answer is old and I haven't tested it.
Having researched this a little, it looks like exporting chats individually is the only other option.


text messages beginning with '!' trigger automated responses? Whenever I send a text message to my friend with an Android phone (further testing has shown this happens with iPhones as well, though not blackberries) that starts with '!', I get an automated response. I've detailed it in full, but to summarize:

Me sending an SMS to my friend:
"!test"

results in me receiving an immediate response:
"message test to XXXXXXXXXXX succeeded"

and my friend receives:
"test"

XXX is where the destination phone number is. I find it concerning because I suspect it is the phone itself that is sending this automated reply, and for anyone who has to pay for outgoing text messages this could be an avenue for a third party to inflate their bill without them even knowing.

Does anyone know what this is, why it's happening, or how to disable it?

That appears to be your carrier's delivery report code. Many (but not necessarily all) carriers implement it in some form or another, but the exact method can vary pretty widely. It's briefly mentioned on the SMS Wikipedia article.

I don't recall exactly when the network sends the delivery report, but I'm fairly positive that it wouldn't be originating from the phone, and therefore wouldn't count against any SMS limit it may have. The device may respond to the provider when it receives the message (though it may not since the carrier may send the report at some other point in the process), but the actual SMS you get back should be originating from the network's SMS gateway, I believe. The phone's OS (or SIM) may have some bearing on whether or not it "honors" the request, but I'm not sure.

I found a (probably incomplete) list of some of the various carrier codes here:

UK
T Mobile: *0#
O2: *0#
Orange: RCT followed by a space
Virgin: *0#

US
T-Mobile: *noti#

Germany
T-Mobile: *T#
Vodafone D2: *N#
O2: *N#
e-plus: *N#

Sweden
Telia: *KV#
Comviq: KV#
Telenor: ##

Brasil
Claro: *N#

Switzerland
SWISSCOM: *N#

Turkey
TURKCELL: *N#

Poland
PlusGSM (Polkomtel): XYZ

Croatia
T-Mobile: *r*

Portugal
Vodafone: *NOT#

Hungary
T-Mobile: *A#

India
Voodafone: *NOT#

Qatar
Qtel: *N#

Belgium
Proximus: *R*
Base: *N#

Greece
Vodafone: *#
Wind: *0#

Serbia
MTS: *!#
Telenor: *!#

Romania
Orange: *NM#

Israel
Orange: *NM#


How can I disable Kies in Samsung Galaxy S2? Whenever I connect my S2 to the power outlet (not to a computer), the Kies application pops up. Where do I disable this auto-activation?

Go to Settings > Applications > Development > and check USB debugging

After that if you connect your S2 to a PC it will connect in USB mode and you won't get the KIES application popup.


Why 'am start PACKAGE' cannot launch some apps and shows an error? I keep having an error trying to start some apps using am start command. It works for many, but for some apps I get the same error mentioned below:

#adb shell am start com.amazon.venezia
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] pkg=com.amazon.venezia }
Error: Activity not started, unable to resolve Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] flg=0x10000000 pkg=com.amazon.venezia }

#adb shell am start com.whatsapp
Starting: Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] pkg=com.whatsapp }
Error: Activity not started, unable to resolve Intent { act=android.intent.action.MAIN cat=[android.intent.category.LAUNCHER] flg=0x10000000 pkg=com.whatsapp }

use this:

adb shell am start -n com.whatsapp/.HomeActivity


What happens when I tap an NFC tag which contains a URL? I don't have an NFC 'phone to try it out. A colleague absolutely insists that if you tap an NFC tag which stores a URL then that URL is launched automatically by the operating system.

That doesn't sound right to me and the developer docs says

  Reading NDEF data from an NFC tag is handled with the tag dispatch
  system, which analyzes discovered NFC tags, appropriately categorizes
  the data, and starts an application that is interested in the
  categorized data. An application that wants to handle the scanned NFC
  tag can declare an intent filter and request to handle the data.

That sounds like what I expected (a BroadcastReceiver - or possibly a listener?). Can I tell him categorically that he is 100% wrong?

The reason being that he wants me to develop a small system for him and, while I see that I need a minimal Android app to listen for an NFC Tap event and then launch the browser, he insists that no app is needed and that any NFC enabled Android device, fresh from the factory, when tapping an NFC tag containing a URL will launch the browser to that URL.

From trying it on two devices:

Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition: Lollipop 5.0, with multiple browsers. Once tagged the prompt to choose my browser comes up, and then once chosen opens the URL in the selected browser. The device was factory reset that morning.

HTC M7: Stock 4.4 up to date, no reset done, one browser. Opened straight in the browser.


How to stop Android from switching between Wifi APs automatically? I have several WiFi APs for different purposes. One is for printing, one is for smart devices with access to the internet, another for devices with no access to the internet for security concerns, and some others like repeaters, guest APs or streaming devices.
Android 7 always switches between these APs without asking for permission. The only time it asks for confirmation is when switching from WiFi to mobile data.
Using the wrong AP, is not only annoying but has unwanted consequences. Any idea how to stop Android from such nonsense move?

Ps: there is no smart wifi option but wifi plus which is off.
Ps2: Imagine an app does not have access to the AP or internet it needs or when setting up a device and the WiFi is switched to another AP or connecting to a server with the wrong IP, just because Android decides it wants to use a different WiFi AP.

In Android 7.0, you can actually disable wifi auto-reconnect. Go to Wifi Settings, then tap on one of the AP. Uncheck the Auto-reconnect.


Is there an Android equivalent to iOS's "CallKit"? This actually seems like a very Android-like feature. When I heard about it, I thought there might be an Android equivalent.

It lets VoIP apps use the standard phone app to call/receive calls, integrating with the phone's contacts and recent calls list. Basically, it turns VoIP calls into regular phone calls (at least for apps that support it).

If there is nothing like this on Android, is there any indication that Google will add something like this to a future version?

Android does, but it's not very well documented. The ConnectionService class was introduced in Marshmallow and allows an app to register itself as a voice service, the user needs to manually enable the voice service through the phone settings (same place you would enable/disable SIP accounts).

Once this is done you can choose between registered voice services when placing a call using the native dialer, or set one as the default. Incoming calls to your voice service should also trigger the native dialer.

Side note, but also interesting, Marshmallow also introduced the ability to register your app as the default dialer too.


Do most phones default to Automatic Date and Time being on? I guess this is really a question about carriers in the US since I suspect they control these types of default settings.

Do most Android phones default to have "Automatic" Date & Time setting on?

Someone reported SSL certificate failures in an app and the root cause was the phone's clock was set to 2004. I'm trying to figure out if this is a common occurrence. If most phones are set to automatic date & time I won't worry too much. If phones don't automatically have synchronized clocks, I suspect these type of error would be more common.


Phone won't reflash or won't let me install a rom (Galaxy S5) I forgot the password to my phone, and I didn't have anyway to restore it, so I tried to do a factory wipe, but it made my phone stuck in a bootloop (with the samsung logo), and the thing is -
I tried to reflash the phone, and even tried to make a firmware upgrade and initialisation, but the phone won't let me do so. I finish downloading, everything is fine, the phone starts to install the firmware or something (it's has a loading bar and says install... charging... and then it says erases and everything is the same again).
I got it in a video so you can see it clearly and understand what I mean:
https://youtu.be/QxZ-mEo4sRg
so, what should I do in order to not let the phone erase upgrade or reflash I am trying to do.
Thanks so much in advance!

If you can acces the Recovery Mode and acces the storage via usb, you can try to flash a new rom, like a Custom Rom. You can search online, there are plenty of them. Or if you do not stole that phone, you can contact Samsung Support, i'am sure that it's gonna be helpful.


How can I Have Separate Alerts for Email and SMS? I am using a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Android 4.2.2. Currently both SMS and Email notifications have the same sound. Before I was on this phone I was on an iPhone and this was easy to change. I cannot find a way to distinguish between alerts.
In browsing this site for an answer I came across this question which had this answer:

You can customize the Notification settings for both Gmail and Messaging in each of the apps separately.
In Gmail press menu and go to More->Settings and look at the Notification settings section.
In Messaging press menu then Settings and look at the Notification settings section.

I assume this answer is out-of-date because it doesn't work on the Galaxy S4.
I am using the Stock Gmail App for email and I use GO SMS PRO for messaging.
How do I change to separate alerts?

In order to change the notification sound on the GMail app you can do the following:

Open the GMail app and press the menu button (the one to the left of the Home button)
Press Settings and then choose the email address (not general settings)
Touch the word "Inbox sound & vibrate"
Click "Sound"
Then there is a popup for the choice of notification sound you want for your email.

For GO SMS PRO:

Press the same menu button
Settings
Advanced
Notification settings
Default notification settings
Select ringtone


Repair a failed root galaxy ace So here is my problem.

I've been formatting my Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S5839i) and it worked pretty much, but then i got mad and tried to root it, which i failed, and now my phone won't turn on anymore, it just stays on the start menu (The one where Samsung GALAXY Ace is printed) and it never goes any further.

I can access the recovery menu, but each time i tried to just wipe data/factory reset or wipe cache partition, it didn't help, so right now i'm stuck with a non working phone, which is not really funny !

Just so you know, before my phone stopped being useful, i tried to install some "ClockWorkMod", and i guess i didn't follow the steps as i should've.

So i'd like to know if anyone can offer a solution ?

I can still put files on the SD card, i just don't know how to go back to the gingerbread version i had before.

Thanks in advance ! (And sorry if i made any english mistake in my explanations)

EDIT :
I kept searching and i found a guide about ODIN and flashing the phone, and it worked very well ! My phone is now working like it never died !

You can find the guide i followed right here (The guide is in french, but if you look for flashing a phone with Odin, i think you can find a guide in english)

If you have rom manager before, then you can install any rom which you will find on different sites


Disable Wi-Fi @ Boot time Due to the Android Wi-Fi Driver issue, I like to disable the Wi-Fi during the boot time. Even if Wi-Fi is enabled in the setting, it should be disabled forcefully. User have to enable it after booting the device. Is there any specific property setting is available? If yes, how to disable during boot time?

If you've got root access and you're running a custom ROM you should be able to run scripts at boot time. Here is a thread on xda that discusses boot time scripts.

Then you'd just need to figure out the commands to disable wifi. On my Desire HD the wireless interface is called eth0. This command should disable wireless:

ifconfig eth0 down

Whether or not that will disable it permanently i.e. the system won't just do the equivalent of:

ifconfig eth0 up

in the background, I do not know... I'm afraid I don't know much about how the android system handles networking, or at least not enough to help more directly with what to put in the the script!


How can I fix the "incompatible data" issue when flashing Cyanogenmod onto my Xperia Z3 Compact? I have a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and I am trying to install Cyanogenmod 12.1.

I followed the guide on the Cyanogenmod Wiki for my device.

The process went smoothly initially but it fails at 40-50% completion with the message: "Install failed. Can't install this package on top of incompatible data.....E:Failed to install /sideload/package.zip..."

I've tried:

Performing a factory reset
Flashing an older version of Cyanogenmod

But I receive the same message when I try to flash.

When I restart the phone, it hangs indefinitely on the Sony loading screen and doesn't boot.

How can I resolve this issue and successfully flash Cyanogenmod?

EDIT:

I installed TWRP 3.0.2.1 and it start to reboot the phone in loop, but I manage to install 3.0.2.0 version. I was trying this time to install from usb memory, but it faild to error 7:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_77SKdWXozZ1NVUDIwOEFSZGM

I manage to get terminal open and I found out that I have linux version 3.4.0-cm-g28a6663

Usually just wiping /data from the recovery and/or installing the package again immediately after first failure should get you through.

However if it doesn't, then you might want to ditch Cyanogen Recovery (that comes with the boot.img you flashed) and use TWRP. Find some here at XDA-Developers - basically any one that integrates TWRP should work, because you will be substituting it with CM's boot.img later when flashing, but it's advised that you choose one that's built for the same Android version you were on before flashing.

This sounds a bit hard to swallow and it is, but it's essential flashing skills and you will need it. With TWRP you can also put the package in internal storage and flash it from there, instead of relying on your PC to do a sideload.


How to get Feitian MultiPass FIDO U2F working with OnePlus 3T? Feitian MultiPass FIDO has 3 ways to work as a hardware token: BLE, NFC and USB. I'd like to use it either with NFC or BLE because the USB input can be occupied, and I have a feeling anyway that the USB usage would require some udev rule modifications (https://github.com/Yubico/libu2f-host/blob/master/70-u2f.rules) just like it did with my other token for my Linux desktop.

NFC: simply didn't work. I held the key to the back of the phone, moving it around a little (not sure where is the NFC sensor exactly). Since I read somewhere that the NFC is very weak in the key (which can be an advantage for security because an attacker would have a harder time to pick the signal up from distance), I even stripped my phone of it's thin OnePlus carbon protective cover, but didn't help either.
BLE: I press the button long and the BLE pairing icon starts to blink on the key. The Google U2F BLE setup page shows the device. Here you'd click on the device and you'd need to enter the 6 digits on it. When I select the device from the list though, the app errors out with the very descriptive "Something went wrong" error message. (That's what the Linux desktop Chrome did as well, extremely descriptive error message for sure).

So how can I get this to work? Here is some logcat: https://pastebin.com/X6HLK7a0

Two errors I see:

Not sure how related it is:

E WCNSS_FILTER: do_ioctl,tty_clock_flag=USERIAL_OP_CLK_OFF,clock=USERIAL_OP_CLK_ON
Related for sure:

E BluetoothEventManager: Got bonding state changed for 78:8C:EB:56:23:F1, but we have no record of that device.

D StatusBarManagerService: manageDisableList userId=0 what=0x0 pkg=Window{3d9a72b u0 Something went wrong} token=android.os.Binder@20e9287 which=1

E BluetoothEventManager: Got bonding state changed for 78:8C:EB:56:23:F1, but we have no record of that device.

The debug entry wedged in between the two errors might be accidental. I don't see it always. Any help is appreciated, I'd like to transition to hardware tokens to be protected against SIM hijacks.

One more thing: my OxygenOS is rooted because I had to use a hack to be able to run DayDream apps. Because of that I cannot use Google Pay. I hope rooting is not the reason why I cannot pair the key.

The "Something went wrong" error message was an indirect result of the fact that the device was rooted (+ I have custom bootloader (TWRP), although I'm using stock ROM). I also couldn't use Android Pay in the past because of the rooting although I tried SU Hide techniques for SuperSU. Tonight I reflashed and this time I used the latest beta 14.3 Magisk, which has auto hide feature.

This Magisk could successfully cloak the custom boot loader and the rooting from SafetyNet, which framework+API is used by Android Pay to see if the device is stock. I assume that the U2F key addition uses the same library as well, because now I could get the BLE part working. NFC is still no bueno. Also, after many tries it become clear that I had to add the MultiPass key first on my desktop using a Chrome browser, and only after that I could complete the rest of the procedure (BLE pairing, ...) on the phone.

The workflow on the phone is weird, because at some point the Bluetooth pairing view got into the background abruptly. I thought something failed again and kept retrying, until I realized that the view is there in the background.

Overall it wasn't an easy ride, but now I removed the phones from my 2FA configuration, and I only have the security keys and the Google authenticator app. You cannot remove that latter one, it's needed for 2FA.

I assume other devices than OnePlus 3T would experience the same thing: if you don't hide the custom bootloader and rooting adequately, software which query SafetyNet will be trippin'.


What does aspect ratio has to do with the megapixels? See this pic, and why 4:3 AR has more MP than 16:9? This is my Moto G4 Plus's default camera app.

The aspect ratio has nothing to do with megapixels. Part of a 4:3 image are removed to get a 16:9 resolution, that is why a 16:9 image has less pixels.

The purple rectangle is your 4:3 picture, and the green rectangle is the 16:9 picture cropped out of 4:3 by the software. 2 megapixels are just removed from an original photo.


Duplicate video files in WhatsApp Sent items Is there any scenario where WhatsApp copies video twice in sent items (with different sizes) that was sent to the single recipient? I had a scenario where I am sure I have sent the video to single user, during the sent operation I got Retry options for few times ( due to disk was full and/or for network) so I remember I have retried 3-4 times to deliver that message, but now I can see two copies of the same video with different sizes. Is this scenario possible to occur or have I sent to another user by mistake. Cant check because later I have changed by phone losing all messages history.

It might be possible that the file failed in the middle of uploading for some reason and the uploaded part remained as an incomplete file in your sent items. Then when you sent the file again, instead of resuming the upload, a complete file was resent seperately. I'm not a 100% sure but it is possible.


Why can't I save new contacts to my phone or SIM? I just bought the quite new Moto G4+, which comes with Android Marshmallow (6.1) preloaded, without any layer added by the constructor.

Upon the first use of the phone, I linked my Google account. When I want to add a new contact (via the Contacts app), there is no choice for the place where the new contact will be saved. Normally there are (at least) three choices: save (sync) to the Google account, or to the phone (internal memory), or to the SIM. Whatever I do, the contact will be saved in the Google account only. When I disable the synchronization with the Google account, the contacts are saved to the phone, but I have no option to sync a particular contact. How can I do to enable these three choices upon the creation of a new contact?

Thank you for your help.

As you've already found out yourself, this is a well known issue. Looks like your device lacks a separate "local account provider".

To work around that issue, there's an app named MyLocalAccount (from the makers of MyPhoneExplorer) providing such, but it seems no longer maintained (last update in 2013) – but after my comment with that, you were able to confirm it still does its job.

Unfortunately, I'm unaware of any alternatives to that. On a second thought: Using a CardDAV provider might work, but most likely will require a valid counterpart to configure. If you want to try that approach, you can find some in my corresponding app listing.


Android Tablet (stuck in loop?) I need to know if there is any way to backup files before I reboot my tablet. It has frozen on startup.

Nextbook 7P12

Stuck in infinite loop during startup.

Was getting to the third load screen (the flower)

Now, it rests on the second load screen (girl with headphones)

Pretty certain I'm going to be told there is no way to save my files, it's too late. I'm here to know and then move on to fixing it so it can, in the least, be usable again.

Thanks in advance!

You could always try to boot the tablet into the bootloader and pull off the info via adb. Just search on google for how to put your tablet into bootloader mode then look up the commands for adb and then you can pull off the info. The other option if you can get adb access, is to install a custom recovery. Then you can pull off the recovery files and go through them like that. Most recovery backup options put them in a compressed archive files.


How safe are my passwords at after-sales service? My phone is currently inoperative. Samsung asked me to drop it at an approved repair center, which will handle shipment and reception to/from Samsung.

Being unable to boot my phone, it was impossible for me to remove personal files from it.

I am aware all my files will be accessible to anyone handling my phone, once repaired. But what about my passwords ? I know it's possible to get saved WiFi passwords with root access. Is it possible too for passwords from applications ? (Gmail, Dropbox, Website passwords from Chrome, ...)

Bottom line: How safe are my data/passwords on an unencrypted device ?

General information
As The Andro Nerd pointed out in his answer, most apps store passwords (and other sensitive information) encrypted. Some even don't store them at all (they use a kind of "tokens", as is available with most Google apps -- or they don't store anything like that).
Unfortunately, only most apps seem to care this way. Some store everything plain text (the stock email app on some HTC devices is known for that, for example: Storing passwords and even directory information plain text for Exchange services. Sources for this allegation can be found in the book mentioned below).
Which apps are safe?
It's hard to really know which apps are save, though some services help you figure it out -- see e.g. ViaForensic's AppWatchdog, where they thoroughly investigate apps for things like that (but with limited ressources are far from covering everything). Some security blogs inform about found issues as well -- and if some well-known app is affected by such a security hole (as e.g. mentioned email app, or Skype), all the blogs in the world will spread word.
How to check it on your own
Knowing the structures how data are saved, you could investigate yourself (if your device is rooted, that is). Andrew Hoog's book Android Forensics and Mobile Security is one good source teaching you how to do that:
Apps store their data below the /data/data, in a directory with the apps package name as name (for skype, this would be /data/data/com.skype.merlin_mecha/). By default, that directory is accessible by the app alone (and, of course, by root) -- which is why it requires root privileges to dig deeper. The basic structure below is as follows:
/data/data/com.example.demoapp
├── cache                Directory
│   └── webviewCache     Directory
│       ├── 027e59a0     Cache file
│       └── 057606c4     Cache file
├── databases            Directory
│   └── example.db       SQLite database
├── lib                  Directory
└── shared_prefs         Directory
    └── example.xml      Config file

Obviously, there are two major places to check:

the shared_prefs directory, containing XML files. As those are plain-text, they should be easy to investigate.
the databases directory. Database files are usually in the SQLite standard, so you can investigate them with either an SQLite command line client, or with a graphical frontend like SQLiteMan.

A thorough information on this topic would go too far here -- but you got the idea, I hope.
Conclusion
I wouldn't be that much concerned with Samsungs official service (though "bad guys" could sit everywhere -- but one should not go paranoid about it. But of course it is a generally good idea to be careful of which apps one uses. Too late for your current case, might be -- but there's always a tomorrow.


Use Google's location service? When I turn on my device's GPS, Android issues the following:

  Use Google's location service?
  Let Google help apps determine location.  This means sending anonymous location data to Google, even when no apps are running.   [  ] Don't show again

That seems like a bad idea.  So I click 'Disagree' each time.  If I select the 'Don't show again' checkbox and then click Disagree, will Android interpret that as a permanent Agree or Disagree?

My experience is that sometimes what you think will happen with these sorts of options is not what really happens.

I can't tell you if it's a good idea or not, that really depends on the type of user you are, but what I can tell is the following:

That feature's main goal is to improve some of Google's services, which means, you may get location based ads, and if you have Google Now, location based cards, among others. Besides, many apps use Google to retrieve your location in a more efficient way.

Now, if you are still concerned about your privacy, do not worry. You can always enable/disable it later. How? Well, it depends on your device's configuration, but I think it's pretty safe to say you'll find the option by opening the app "Google Settings" and then in "Location".


Changing the ringing volume when pressing volume keys The volume buttons of the HTC Wildfire S only changes the media volume, rather than ringing volume, even though I'm on the home screen.

Is there any way of changing the ringing volume when I click the volume buttons?

You probably played a game or something and didn't close it correctly. You probably just pressed the home screen.

So, just restart it, or go back and close it properly.


How to play FM Radio app without earphone? I would like to play my default FM Radio app. But it always asking to connect an earphone.

Is it possible to play FM Radio app without an earphone ?

No. You need an earphone, or anything that can plug into the earphone jack, with a trailing cable.

This is to provide the phone with an antenna. Because space inside the phone is highly limited, it's usually insensible to have a built-in FM antenna.

Usually, you can still instruct the phone (or at least the FM app) to output audio to its speaker, even when earphone is plugged in, as it's primary function is to serve as antennae.


How do I transfer my whatsapp messages from old phone to new phone? I've been using Samsung Tab and the USB cable is not usable. I've been seeing answers like backing up my messages to my SD card from my old phone and insert it to my new phone, but the problem is my new phone ( Samsung Alpha ) doesn't have the SD card slot. So is there any other way to transfer my Whatsapp messages without the use of USB cable and SD card?

You should upload the Whatsapp folder (to google drive, etc.) on your old device and download it again on your new device. Then copy the directory to /sdcard.

Hope I helped you!


How to associate alternative app to stock Gallery app when launched from stock Camera app I am running Android on a Samsung Galaxy SIII Neo (Android KitKat 4.4.2). I would like the stock Camera application to launch a different application than the stock Gallery application when the small square icon in the upper-right hand corner of the camera screen is clicked. Presumably, the stock Gallery app is opened via an intent, and I would like to associate a different app with the intent used to open the stock Galley app from the Camera app. I tried going to Settings -> General -> Application manager -> ALL and for both the stock Camera app and the stock Gallery app it says that there are No defauts set.

The reason I would like to launch another app instead of the Gallery app from the Camera app is so that I can use an app capable of adding EXIF data (which would allow me to enter EXIF memos alongside any picture's EXIF data).

How can I accomplish this?

the answer is you can't ,because the "preview" button action is hard coded in the stock camera app as a link to the right activity in the stock gallery app it sends an intent with the path to the jpeg image to the stock gallery ,the link is not an intent that can be received  by third party apps ,even if you try deleting the stock gallery app the preview button will have no action and in some phones your camera app will force close.


Should i be worried of these permissions from an app? I was going to download an app ( not giving its proper name because there are many other apps who wants same permissions) but when i was looking for what  'app permissions' it needed. I saw permissions 'camera' , 'identity' , 'send sticky broadcast' and 'request install packages'.

Why an app actually needed to take permission of camera when there is no need of camera anyhow within the app ?
And what are those settings permissions under other section ?

From what I have found, a Sticky Broadcast is a broadcast from an application that stays hanging around after it has been dealt with. It helps for things like battery level. I found this here.

As for Request Install Packages, it

  Allows an application to request installing packages

Source: Android Developers

As for why an app would need permissions to something that it seems like it has no business using, there could be a few explanations. I am a developer and can say that there might be something in the API for Camera that is used, but the actual camera is not. Without know what app you are wanting, one could not say definitively.


Motorola Defy+: Black Screen and no BootLoader. How to discover what firmware version my device supports? I did a terrible mistake. After some tentatives of installing cyanogen, I replaced the kernel with wrong version.

I have a Motorola Defy+ (MB526) and I'm trying to use RSD Lite to reflash the firmware.

I'm trying with the Retail Version from here http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_jordanplus/list.php.

The cellphone does nothing, only black screen. When I insert the usb cable and open RSD Lite, they recognizes and all the process to send the flash is done, the cell phone is booted automatically but I can't turn it on. When flashing, the cellphone screen show the message that the SW is being updated. The process seems to be done right, but at the end I can't start the operational system.

After finishing the process successfully, I can't turn it on. It's like nothing got flashed. Even the recovery mode was erased.

I don't know if I need some kind of boot loader (like some linux does) or other sbf file. Anyone knows if do I need to flash more files?

Edited

According here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1216982 It seems I downgraded the version, that's why I'm getting a black screen.

How do I know what is the version I need to use?
Can I try Chinese version? It seems that is the newer, but I'm afraid if I would face no English language option to set after installing it.

After months trying, I solved flashing the DEFYPLUS_U3_4.5.1-134_DFP-2311_BLUR_SIGN_USADEFYEMARAB1B8TFDE004.0R_PDS03C_USAJRDNGIBRO2DE_P020_A025_M002_Service1FF.sbf


how to have two applications play sound simultaneously? I want the music to keep playing in the background while I practice Spanish on this DuoLingo app.
The music player stops while the duolingo is trying to play sound as of now. Is this possbile?

As for my device, whenever I play duolingo and music at same time then the audio fades slightly with CM 12 built-in player

Now if you are OK with any third party application. Here is it what you need to do.

Install Poweramp Music Player .
Go to its settings.
Then click on audio.
Select Audio Focus.
Uncheck Short Audio Focus Change.

(Click image to enlarge)


What is best practice for charging galaxy tablet? Will charging for long periods 24/ 7 damage it? Will leaving my galaxy pro tablet plugged in 24/ 7 cause any damage?

It's true that the underlying technology behind Lithium batteries cannot stand being overcharged (batteries that are overcharged may overheat and explode); however all consumer grade Lithium batteries have a chip that controls the optimal charging strategy and automatically cuts off the current once the battery is full.

Barring manufacturing defects, yes, it is safe to keep your device charged all the time. Keeping the device in the charger as much as possible is, in fact, the best practice to prolong the battery lifetime.

If you're in situation with heightened risk of having devices with manufacturing defects though, for example if you are running an application development shop that have dozens of continuously plugged devices in a small space, you may want to minimize your risks by switching the charger off when the device are not being used. This is good for saving energy anyway.


Is there a way to have 2 devices on a single Google account My Mom has a Samsung tablet that she uses 90% of the time. I bought her a Chromebook before I knew my brother had gotten her the Samsung. She uses the tablet for quickly looking at Facebook and Gmail because she can walk around with it and the Chromebook at the table for Internet browsing because the Chromebook has a much larger screen.

Recently she wanted to be able to check her bank account so I thought it best to put it on the device used least and less likely to be lost, the Chromebook. But when I try and install the app from Google Play only the Samsung is listed.

Is there any way to add a device to that Google account. I already have it so the Chromebook logs in automatically to Facebook and Gmail for her, that way she can be up to date on either device because it is the same GMail and Facebook account. Is that the same as logging into the Google Account? If not how do I get there?

I do not want to copy paid apps to 2 devices or anything that would be seen as cheating, I just want it easy for her to check e-mail and Facebook from either device without having to teach her to log in and out.

Thank you for your help
Philip

Google Play is only for Android apps. Android apps do not work on the Chromebook, which is why you only see the tablet listed in the Play Store. The Chromebook is basically the Chrome Web browser wrapped in a keyboard and screen and that is it.

You can check the Chrome Web Store for an app for her bank, but even if there is one, it is likely just going to be a shortcut that loads the bank's website. If there isn't an app for it in the Chrome Web Store, just bookmark it for her.

And to answer the overall question, you can have as many Android devices tied to the Google account as you want and it isn't a problem having a paid app on more than one device, as long as it is signed in to that Google account.


Making Tasker write into the external SD card I'm using Tasker on Android Lollipop (5.1.1). I've come to know that applications now can write to external SD card in Android 5.1.1 update but with the use of an API, for which the user needs to grant permission to the application. I have successfully  done this with ES File explorer.

But, how do I give Tasker the permission to write to external SD Card?

(Click an image to enlarge it)

Have a look at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/tasker/zuY21R_bvyU
where Pent said:

Here's a nice link explaining the situation:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/eyes-free/rspqjlmu_ss

As I understand it, if on lollipop or 'portable' mode on marshmallow are used, access is required via a special API. I've looked at this API (DocumentFile) and it's going to require rewriting huge chunks of code used for the file functions, plus some awkwardness with the user pre-accepting file operations
on external SD (and I don't know how long that preacceptance stays valid, potentially making it
useless for later automation)

Summary, I'm not going to be doing this in the near future, if more mainstream devices start to get SD I may reconsider.


Kies: Firmware can not be upgraded? Possible Duplicate:
  Samsung Kies: 'This version of the device can not be updated'. Never?

Have Galaxy SL (GT I9003). Had given mobile to Samsung service center for upgrade to Android 2.3, stupids installed Android 2.2 (Froyo) again. And now my Kies, give message that

"This Firmware can not be updated". Is it because of wrong Kies version or the issue is with OS install itself?

Any solutions to this?

Kies can and do say that which is quite annoying, due to different regions and the roll outs, some go by carriers as in comes with carrier branding, others by actual region. Its frustrating - I know! :D

Go to samfirmware, and use odin to flash it yourself if that's what you want to do.

Don't trust Kies in respect to flashing. :) The necessary tools are available on that site if you want to go down the unofficial route.

If you're on Linux, use Heimdall which is a lot more safer than Kies and is cross-platform friendly.

The onus is on you to read, read, research and more reading if you want to do this by yourself :)

Caveat Emptor: No virtual machines (virtualbox/vmware) with windows running Kies in there - otherwise your handset is a nice paperweight!


ADB Shell In Recovery Mode - Error:Closed I smashed my display pretty good today and am unable to use the digitizer. The upper half of the screen is barely visible and the lower half is black. I have debugging enabled on the phone but I can't push the button to accept the key when the phone is connected to the computer. So, I am unable to gain access to my data/texts while I wait on my new phone. I found a blog post where the guy walks through a whole series of commands to permanently enable debug mode on his phone through use of adb in recovery.

Fortunately I am able to use the volume, home and power keys to boot into recover. I am also able to read enough of the screen to make the selection to "apply update from ADB". Once I select this I run...

adb devices

...where my device is listed with a status of sideload. All seems good until I attempt to do anything else. Issuing...

adb shell

... returns error:closed as does pretty much any other command.

Any thoughts as to what I may be doing wrong?

You're not doing anything wrong. You're most likely using a stock recovery. Access to shell can prove to be  potentially dangerous when it comes to userdata so a lot of OEMs or vendors (I don't know the correct term) prefer to ship a locked-down stock recovery which would do what OEM wants them to do, such as flashing OTA updates, sideloading updates from OEM, doing factory reset and in some cases, some hardware testing options. That's the scope they follow.

If you want unconditional shell access, you would've to flash a custom recovery.


How can I remove the SIM lock from my Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G T-Mobile? I got an Galaxy S Blaze 4G as a gift from USA. The phone is locked and did not accept any SIM card in my country (just for T-mobile). Instead it ask for a unlock code.

Ts there any software way to unlock the phone (maybe with help of root)?

T-Mobile Support page contains a thread that covers your issue:

SIM Unlock your phone

Last updated on: Jul 3, 2013 2:43 PM

  If you purchased an eligible device, the device has been programmed with a SIM Subsidy lock that will prevent the device from operating with other compatible wireless telephone carrier’s services.

  If you wish to use the device with the service of another wireless telephone carrier, you must enter a numeric SIM Subsidy unlock code to unlock the device.

  Understanding SIM Unlock Requirements

  As an active or former T-Mobile customer, you may request a phone unlock. T-Mobile will unlock your phone (as long it is not reported as lost, stolen, or blocked) if:

  You have purchased your device from T-Mobile or an authorized T-Mobile dealer and activated it on T-Mobile service;
  You have Postpaid service, have not requested an unlock code in the last 90 days;
  You paid for your device in full;
  Your account is in good standing;
  You have a minimum of 40 consecutive days of active Postpaid service since purchase (or for Prepaid service, have used your device within the past 60 days );
  You are under a 24-month service contract, you have made monthly payments for at least 18 consecutive months on your plan or have paid a migration fee for the device;  certain exceptions may apply please call Customer Care for details;
  You are on a Prepaid plan, you have had more than $50 in total refills on the device;
  You are a former customer, your account balance is zero and you did not port out a line associated with the device during the buyer’s remorse period;
  You provide proof of purchase if T-Mobile is unable to verify purchase.

  Note: Exceptions to some or all requirements may apply in certain circumstances, including for Military Personnel and Business and Government Accounts.

If you qualify for the above list, give them a call and they will help you out!

Success Case:

A user from XDA Developers forum answered to a problem similar to your own, you can read about it here:

  I just unlocked mine a few days ago. If you meet the requirements you should be fine, http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588

  I bought my phone from ebay from a guy in Florida (I'm in NY), I had it on my account for a few months. So I had no reciept or anything, or history of the phone. When I called they asked for my phone number, account passcode, the phones model name and IMEI. Then I gave them my email, and recieved the code via email in about 24hrs. So it was pretty painless and free.

Alternatives:

There's a XDA Developers Thread with lots of users claiming to have successfully unlocked their devices either by changing their IMEI or by means of truth manipulation:

Answer #4:

  Yup. I got mine unlocked through T-Mobile for free. Just tell them that your going to travel during soon or something and they'll give you a pin in about 15 days.

Answer #10:

  FWIW I've successfully sim unlocked my T-Mobile Galaxy Blaze at the cost of  ERASING THE IMEI!

The step by step is found here:

  Turn off the phone. Insert a SIM from another provider into your phone.

  Click "DISMISS" on the Enter Unlock Code screen after the phone starts up.

  Wait a minute for the phone to power on and settle down.

  Go to the dialer screen. Enter *#197328640#

  The screen will change to the hidden menu as soon as you hit the last # key in the dailer

  press 1 DEBUG SCREEN
  Press 8 PHONE CONTROL
  Press 5 SIMULATION
  Press 6 NETWORK LOCK
  Press 3 PERSO SHA256 OFF
  Wait exactly 30 seconds
  press the menu key on the phone and select back option. This will take you back to NETWORK LOCK screen.
  Press 4 NW LOCK NV DATA INITIALLIZ
  Wait exactly one minute and reboot the phone.
  Your phone should be unlocked.
  I tried this on T-989 UVLE1 original ROM with root ON.
  I haven't tested it on any other version or ROMs or any other phones.

  Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anything you do with your phone.

Read the entire thread here.


Unable to add account on android 6.0.1 I have an old android tablet - Asus/Google Nexus 7 (2013) - which I would like to use with Touch Portal. The tablet was factory reset several years ago and has, I believe, the latest release of Android (6.0.1) that was officially released for it.
I've tried a couple of times to get signed in to my Google account on the device. It prompts me for my username and password and then appears to hang - currently over 24 hours as I write this.
I have a feeling that this is caused by 2 factor authentication which I have enabled on my account - the default of which is a security key, specifically a Yubico Yubikey 5 NFC.
I once saw a message about using a security key so I have attempted to use it via USB and NFC. When I tried this last time via NFC, I saw a new login in my Google Account at the same time but the screen still hangs.
I'm not prepared yet to disable 2 factor authentication (albeit temporarily) quite yet but may consider it if there really are no other options.

UPDATE Here's the confirmation that my Yubikey was used during the attempt to login despite nothing showing on screen prompting such action and nothing happening afterwards.

Thanks to @Robert who pointed me in the right direction.
Unfortunately Google Play services didn't update itself automatically even though it had been on for a couple of days. So... I resorted to downloading a recent version from apkmirror, found the right version for the 2013 Asus Nexus 7 (armeabi-v7a, Android 6.0+, nodpi).
It took a minute or so to install but it was successful, after which I attempted to login again. This time, after entering my password, I was prompted to choose how I wanted to use my security key to login. Chose NFC, and I'm in.


How to prevent removing notifications from the lock screen in Android L? I can remove notifications on the lock screen without unlocking. How can I disable this?


I cannot remove Administrator Rights from any app I gave admin rights to two apps I have on my Motorola Moto G5 Plus (Android 7.0): Find My Device; Greenify Automator. The first one I mean to keep it as admin, but I would like to remove Greenify. When I try to do so, it simply won't let me.
I try selecting "Deactivate this device administrator" but nothing happens. And nothing happens either if I try selecting "Cancel". It seems like these two buttons are just deactivated.
I then also tried doing the same for Find My Device, and it also doesn't work. So I guess it's some kind of bug when removing Device administrators.

Someone know how to solve this?

It was blue light screen filter that was causing the problem and deactivating that fixed the problem as confirmed by OP .Tinted screenshot lead me to suspect this :-)

For additional details on what such apps do see What does "Drawing over other apps" mean?


External SD card is not working in Android phone I used 8GB external memory card. Suddenly all data inside it is corrupt. Which means cannot read any data.It shows only it has 2GB size.

For a solution :

1.Unmount it and insert it.

2.I format the SD card.

Still I cannot insert any data into that.

You can try to wipe the first sectors of the SD-Card. Afterwards the OS should detect again the correct size.

The simplest way to overwrite the first sectors is to use a disk wipe software on your PC that overwrites the SD-Card with zeros (one pass is sufficient).
It is important not to just overwrite one file or the free disk space but the while drive.

In general you can stop the disk wipe after about a minute as you don't need to overwrite it completely, the first blocks are sufficient. Afterwards eject it from your PC and re-insert the SD-Card and format it. The correct size should now be recognized.


How do I sent an "over-sized" video via my Anrdoid? When I try to e-mail my 10-minute videos to my gmail account, but when I try to attach the videos the phone gives me this error: 'File is too large and cannot be attached'.  Can't reproduce because my Android is hooked up to USB, but I'll edit--

S3x--

What's any convenient way to upload/send a video without having to get out the USB?  Can I do it without using any 3rd-party apps, or at least using safe 3rd-party apps?   Youtube is an option, I believe, but I want to have a hard copy on my PC for editing.  Attachments are more convenient.

The majority of web based email providers have a limit of 10MB for the size of the attachment of every message sent.

Since an email message will often pass through several mail transfer agents to reach the recipient, some or probably all of them impose size limits due to the storage capabilities they have to deal with. This is due to the fact that every message needs to be stored before getting forward.

Applications tend to follow this type of ruling. Although nowadays users tend to use an email like if it was an ftp, thus "forcing" application developers to suppress such limits but given no guaranties that the message will in fact get to its destination.

To resume, you can safely send files up to 10MB between any email providers without the fear of message not being delivered.

My advice to you is the usage of free online services that allow you the transfer or backup of large amount of data between locations:

No payment and no registration:

wetransfer (~2Gb for each transfer)

No payment, just registration: (for the free package)

DropBox
Google Drive
SkyDrive
yousendit
DropSend


How do I change from "Unknown" to show who is calling me? I'm using Samsung Galaxy Mini S3. When one of my contacts calls me I see "unknown" on the screen.

How do I change it to show who is calling me? It used to be something that has changed.

Normally, it is the person calling you that chooses to call as unknown. Even if it is someone you know and that person is in your contacts, if they have their caller ID turned off, they will appear as unknown on your device.

However, if this happens for every single one of your contacts calling you, I doubt that it is them having their caller ID turned off. If their number appears, but not their name, then caller ID is turned on and it is your phone that is causing problems. Check if your accounts are synced and your contacts have their names set to the correct phone numbers.

If no number appears, no caller ID is coming through. I've heard about this problem before, and probably the problem is not your phone, but your service provider. Try contacting customer support and explain your problem to them. They should be able to help you further by enabling caller ID from their side.


Searching for installed App by name I used to have a HTC Hero with had it's own search button. When being in the application selection menu I could press the button and then search for an app by typing it's name.
Is there similar way to access apps in Android 4.x without a specific search button?

The Google Search app is able to search the applications on your phone. On 4.1+ this can be done through a Google Now search. On many devices, this is accessible by swiping upwards from the home button in the navigation bar.

When you search for the app on your phone, you can use the bar along the bottom to scroll to "Phone" to search your phone rather than the web.

You can also search "start " so for example if I had an app called (in your case) "Battery", if I typed into the search bar "start battery" it would give me a card showing the app name and icon with a button below saying "Open App"


How many clients can be connected to a WiFi Hotspot? I want to create an application which hosts a sever in my phone and many people can use it after connecting to my wifi hotspot.

Suppose I want to implement it in a classroom with 50+ students, is it feasible?

I want to know how many clients can be connected to the wifi hotspot. Are there any limitations?

Note: Partial answer regarding no. of hotspot connections that can be connected to a device.

Google on the page "Set up tethering or portable Wi-Fi hotspot" has stated:

If your device has mobile data, you can turn it into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 10 other devices, like laptop computers[.]

See also,

These features depend on your mobile device and your carrier. You may be charged extra for tethering or Wi-Fi hotspot connections. If you have issues, check with your carrier to see whether tethering can be enabled.

As Andrew already mentioned in the comment, the results on web usually tells the limit to 5,6,8,10, but not more than 10.

I could not find any content that states that hotspot could connect more than 10 devices. One person mentioned(I asked) a limitation vaguely here(in the comments).
IMO, you can't connect more than 10 devices, not without a hack. And to hack, you need to know why you can't connect more than 10 devices?

Please, do ping here if you(reader) come to know the reason.


Problem installing Facebook and other apps How can I download apps to my Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 after I reset to its factory settings? A message keeps on popping: error while retrieving information from server. What should I do, or what is the solution? I already tried downloading Facebook, but same message occurs.

Basically the error while retrieving information from server is due to the problem with the play store (settings might be invalid or some other issue with the play store) on your device. You can easily solve the problem with the following steps

Go to "Settings" > Applications
Tap Manage Applications > Select "All"
Scroll to Google Play Store and tap it.
Tap Force Stop > OK > Clear data > tap "OK".
Tap the Back button to get back to the applications list>tap Google Service Framework from the list
Tap Force Stop > OK > tap Clear data > tap "OK".
Now power off wait for few while and reboot the device. Try installing it. Now it should solve the problem.

Note: Please follow the correct sequence of force stop and then clear data in order to solve your problem


Changing TF300 keyboard dock to Icelandic I have a Asus TF300 keyboard dock that has an American-style qwerty layout. Is it possible to change it to Icelandic, so that I can type in Icelandic letters from the keyboard dock?

Try External Keyboard Helper.

  A non visible soft keyboard (Input Method) intended to be used with hardware Bluetooth and USB keyboards. It automatically brings up the Input Method dialog when Bluetooth keyboard connects or disconnects (on some devices this can also be made to work with USB keyboards). It supports a lot of different keylayouts also provides a lot of configuration options.


Is there a definite way to know if my phone supports USB-OTG or not? I have a Samsung Galaxy Win phone, rooted and with adbd insecure installed (using the link here).

This is the information shown by the USB OTG Checker app:

I have added the android.hardware.usb.host.xml file into /system/etc/permissions folder and the USB-OTG app says that my phone is now OTG capable (before, it showed that OTG is not supported only due to the missing xml file).

When I connect OTG cable and a USB drive, nothing happens at all. Same with a USB mouse. The USB Device Info app says nothing is connected. It's possible USB OTG hardware itself is missing from this phone, but it is very difficult to find any information about this model at all (it was really difficult to get this phone rooted in the first place).

Is there a definitive way to know whether the phone supports OTG or not? Is there a Java function that I could call which would confirm OTG, or is there any function that would crash if OTG is not present at the hardware level?

EDIT 1:

Output after doing the procedure mentioned in the comment:

"Do with root privileges: cd /sdcard && find /sys | sort >1. Connect USB. Then: find /sys | sort >2 && diff 1 2. This will let you know how kernel treats USB hardware."

--- 1
+++ 2
@@ -17357,10 +17357,15 @@
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/failed_transaction_log
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/19015
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/19034
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/21683
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22063
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22112
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22152
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22166
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22185
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22197
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22212
+/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/22224
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/2788
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/2796
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/2797
@@ -17402,12 +17407,7 @@
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/5383
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/5972
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6076
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6343
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6358
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6370
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6382
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6397
-/sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6410
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6423
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6439
 /sys/kernel/debug/binder/proc/6479

USB OTG is a hardware capability. Software can't tell if the hardware has this capability or not if it's not configured to do so. The app you show is just confirming the presence of host.xml file that you have put yourself. Also you can confirm that form adb shell:

~$ pm list features | grep usb.host
# OR
~$ dumpsys package features | grep usb.host

For USB OTG to work, first your kernel should create a hardware entry in /sys as per device-tree mapping when you connect USB drive.
Secondly a device should be populated in /dev/bus/usb/... (and /dev/block/... if it's a storage device). It depends on uevent configuration on your ROM. Or you may also manually create device using mknod.

Thirdly you need to place host.xml file so that OS and apps can know that USB OTG support is present on device. Now apps can access USB device directly (provided that proper permissions are set on device path and node) by making use of host mode APIs.
Lastly if your ROM supports auto-mounting USB Storage devices (available on Android 6+), you should have an entry for vold in fstab. See How to disable USB OTG on Android 8.1?

As suggested, your Edit 1 shows that the changes in sysfs after attaching USB are only in debugfs, no hardware is detected by kernel.

One last thing you can do is to use a powered USB hub as suggested by @Robert in comment. Also check dmesg log for kernel messages and logcat for USBManager and USBHost messages in Java stack. If no hardware is detected then your hardware or at least kernel doesn't support USB.


Saving a contact shared via text message How do I save a contact that was shared with me in a text message?  I have the Droid Maxx, Android version 4.4.

You just have to long-press the number (underlined).


How to reduce Apps memory After Updating Whenever I update my apps it gets double the size. For example, the Facebook app has around 27-31 Mb of space on Android. But once I update this app it's showing 50Mb and above.

Currently my phone's Facebook app showing 115MB size. I updated this app for six times. So I want to reduce that size as app's original size. And if I uninstall the app and reinstalling it still shows 115MB Size.

Please advise me on how to reduce the app size after updating it?

I would click "clear data" under the app manager settings for this app, but kepp in mind it will rest your app back to when you very first installed it E.g Your not logged in,changed back to default settings etc.

I know this cant be your only solution, as I would hate to put everything back the way I like it but this can help reduce sizes.

Alternative: Use Links2Sd to move apps to a second partition on your SD card (Give this partition a decent size) and you wont have to worry about your phones internal memory filling up.


TWRP decrypt password TWRP 3.2.3 asks for a decrypt password at startup, which I never set.
Ignoring with 'cancel' leads to the main menu, but then the internal
storage is marked as 0 byte (e.g. when trying to backup), which is not the case.

I understand this is related to default encryption of the data partition
(correct?) by Android (my phone has Android One).

Is there a default password?

The PIN/password used to login into the regular OS do NOT work.
I've seen many answers saying so (e.g.
here or
here
),
it is not true (at least for my version of
Android). I tried with numerical PIN, password, or nothing (each time going
back to factory reset), and nothing worked in TWRP.

I know there are other related questions, but none of the answer provides
details or seem confident enough:

here
here
here

This answer refers to a misterious "disable force encryption"
package, which I've also read about in other posts.

Is it really the way to go? What exactly is that package? And what does it do?

Can I not completely disable encryption in Android OS?

Extra:

I want to mention that I manged to circumvent the problem temporarily, by recreating the data filesystem within TWRP. This of course wipes out your data, but at least afterwards TWRP sees your internal storage and one can do a backup of the system. However, upon reboot the phone gets stuck in the initial loading (white screen with color bar in Android one), so I have to reboot again to the stock recovery and do a reset. Which brings back encryption, and I am back to square 1.

It's a issue with TWRP and the ROM you are using. TWRP is able to decrypt till Android 8.0 but if you're using a ROM above it you'll get this error and after flashing your data partition to ext4 it will let you use that space till ROM boot up and encrypt again. There isn't a solution yet. TWRP releases updated version 3.2.3_1 for few devices only which has this bug fixes.


Where is Emulator settings is Android Studio 1.5.1? I take on-line course https://class.coursera.org/androidpart1-011/ and have many troubles with setup.

IDE (on Linux host) uses /opt/android-sdk-linux/tools/emulator which after some checks run emulator64-x86 which doesn't work! 32-bit version work great.

Also PulseAudio code in Emulator purely written and leads to 100% CPU load.

Also official docs suggest add -qemu -enable-kvm options.

So I need a way to change path to emulator executable and/or pass additional options:

-force-32bit -noaudio -qemu -enable-kvm

Intellij have special tab for this settings: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/help/run-debug-configuration-android-application.html

But I can't see Emulator tub in Android Studio 1.5.1:

Where is Emulator settings is Android Studio 1.5.1 (shame Google for frustrating GUI)?

PS Can any high score user add android-studio tag to question?

Hm... I need to downgrade to version 1.4:

http://tools.android.com/download/studio/stable

or wait for fix to:

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=195031
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33909062/no-emulator-tab-in-edit-configurations-in-android-studio


my Samsung phone says it doesn't have a rooting system, in laymens terms, how do I fix it I installed a memory booster/ security device on my Samsung recently. I have always wondered if I actually need all this hardware and apps in my phone. Now it tells me I can uninstall some apps , when I go to do it my phone says unable to no root system. What do I do?

Firstly, I agree with @user2813274. You should be very careful about what you try to uninstall as things can go badly wrong.

To answer your question of what to do:

You need to grant the app root privileges.

To uninstall system apps root access is required, which is in basic terms, elevated permissions. The app you have installed is unable to remove some of the apps because they are system apps and it lacks the necessary permissions to do so.

If you need help rooting your device I would check on XDA Developers for instructions specific to your device.


Current leaks while charging. Is the device defective? During charging(first charge), there is a vibration sense(on my fingers) with my moto x4's metallic sides. Is this shows that the device is defective? What may be the reason?

Issue: Tingly feeling on hands while touching metallic parts of device.

Test1: Firstly noticed at home during charging. Tried different sockets. [tingly feeling]

Test2: charged using usb with a laptop. [Worked Normal]

Test3: Connected at Office with UPS. [tingly feeling]

I have googled this, and everybody told it was normal(due to no earth pin for charger) and found one comment that, some chargers have capability of removing leak current, while they are connected in right manner. Then, I tried with plugging the pins in right order(its written Turbocharger on adapter which should be faced up ) the issue is solved.


Can Google Voice Search be configured to confirm name before calling? When making a call using Google Voice Search, I would like my phone to ask for name confirmation.  So, if I say, "call Gina...", I want it to ask me if I meant "call Tina" before dialing.  (suddenly, I feel like I'm in an old Sprint commercial...)

I would like it to confirm ONLY when using voice dialing and would strongly prefer audio prompt.

Have you tried 3rd-party solutions?  Call Confirm app on the Market seems to do exactly what you need.  I just installed it and can confirm that it works in conjunction with other apps (Voice Search, Google Voice, etc.)


How do I make my wallpaper scroll on my Android? To be specific, I have one page on my homescreen. How can I have just the wallpaper scrolling in the background and the icons staying still?

Check out http://novalauncher.com/ for a great Launcher if your device does not natively support wallpaper scrolling; it's possible to force it with Nova Launcher.

I'm not sure it's possible to implement wallpaper scrolling with a single page; you could try duplicating the page and removing the transition animations to achieve a similar effect.


Install OpenGApps in Android Studio Emulator (Marshmallow) I wanted to install OpenGApps in an Android emulator (created in Android Studio). The emulator is running with Marshmallow. There is enough storage space available, so this is not the problem. I tried everything which I found on Google, but it just wont work.

While the emulator is booting up, and I keep spamming adb remount, first it shows remount succeeded, and just after the desktop shows up, it suddenly says remount of /system failed: Read-only file system and remount failed.

So it doesn't work either when I try to push an OpenGApp .apk using adb push. If I try after booting up, it says: adb: error: failed to copy 'Phonesky.apk' to '/system/priv-app/Phonesky.apk': Read-only file system (or whatever the .apk is).

I can't remount /system with rw either: When I make the following:

$ adb shell
> *some remount command*

Following shows up: mount: Read-only file system. I tried it with various commands (substitute one of them with *some remount command*, the output is always the same):

mount -o rw,remount /system
mount -o rw,remount /system /system
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/vba /system
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mtdblock0 /system
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock0 /system

I also tried to run su after adb shell, but it had no effect either. I also tried to remount rootfs to / first with rw. This worked without an issue, but the remount for /system gave the same error as without remounting rootfs.

Could anyone help me with this struggle?

Edit 1: I also tried it with various different emulator settings, it didn't change a thing either. So I guess this problem is not depending on the emulator itself...

Please note: A bounty was offered to resolve this question, but I don't have much time for this at the moment. I would be grateful if you would ping me on twitter if an answer worked for you, so I can eventually accept it after I have tried it by myself. But this would save me a lot of time. Thanks

I suggest using Genymotion for all your emulator needs.
After getting Genymotion set up with emulated device of choice, download ARM translation and GAPPS.
Those files come in a .zip format, do not unpack them!

I would have normally installed ARM Translation which will let those ARM apps be able to run on this x86 virtual device. Afterwards Install GAPPS (make sure to use appropriate version for the system you are building).
To install the above mentioned files I have used the drag and drop technique. Restart the device when done.
 Hope this helps


How to access the calculator history on AOSP Android KitKat? The native calculator app for Android has a "Clean history" option, but I have no clue on how to see this history.

I've tried swipe movements, clicked on every possible button and even to held down the menu button as described here, but I could not make the on-screen keyboard show up.

Anybody had more luck trying this? I am running Android 4.4.

Screenshot: http://m.imgur.com/LiSogE5

There is currently no way of accessing the history without a device that has a scrollwheel. For some reason, Google didn't implement any UI or touch screen functions with the history, and therefore the only way to access it is to scroll down with a scrollwheel. There's a bug report here.

There's an improved calculator app from CyanogenMod called CyanogenMod Calculator, which has a history. (The link should work but is untested since Google Play throws an SSL certificate error on my current connection)


Where can I find a widget to enable or disable GPRS in my Spice Mi-270 Android handset? I have a Spice Mi-270 Android phone. There is no touch gadget to enable or disable the GPRS connection. Every time I have to select settings -> wireless & networks -> data communication sim and have to select a SIM to turn GPRS off.

How can I do this in one touch?

Widgetsoid will allow a user to create a bar of toggles - add the MOBILE DATA toggle in the network section. Then tapping that will toggle the data connection.

Of course - a search turned up many other dedicated options. Try and use whichever you like best.


Low call volume on Nexus 5 Lollipop After upgrading my Nexus 5 to Android Lollipop, the volume in call is extremely low. I've compared it to my girlfriend's exact same Nexus and she hasn't got any problems. Is there a solution to this? I searched everywhere and couldn't find a solution.

The volume was perfectly fine before the update.

Backup your data and reset the phone.

I had the exact same problem, the way I fixed it is by doing a factory reset. To nail down the problem, I booted up the phone into safe mode (Long press the 'Power Off' on your power menu). There, it was better, so I decided to wipe my phone and recover my data afterwards using TWRP. Also, you should note that 5.0.1 sort of improved the speakers - both of them, the earpiece and the actual speaker.


search somebody from contacts with the numpads My old phone Motorola Defy had the option by calling to search for a contact just typing a number. Not sure how that feature is called but I'll give an example:

If I want to call "Alex" i need to press 2(a bc) 5(jk l) 3(d e f) 9(w x yz) and I press the call button.

Now I got the Nexus 4 and there is not such a feature, which is really annoying. Is there a custom dialer that support this feature? Or is it possible to enable it from somewhere?

There is no way to do this with the stock dialer. There are a number of apps that you can install that do support this. Search the play store for 't9 dialer' (or click here). Pick one that you like the look of :)


How to delete ROOT APPS from Andoid jelly beans? I am using Galaxy s3 dous, Whenever I turn on my wifi my phone itself start downloading google apps, and I am unable to uninstall them, In application manager there is no option to remove but to update only. And same in playstore>>My Apps. Any suggestions??

That's not possible on stock ROMs. And it's not possible on other ROMs either when you want Google Apps. As long as Google Apps are installed (and a network connection is available), they will update automatically.


Did I get a virus? (Galaxy S4, 5.0.1) I was just normally using my S4 when it restarted, and when it turned back on, it said Android is upgrading. The last time I saw this, I was notified of a software update, and I manually clicked install, IIRC. This time, it was sudden and unprecedented. I think this is a virus, though I don't know how I got it.

As it only optimised one app, and not all, it means that this app had to be recompiled. It is possible that this app had just been updated, and failed to get compiled at installation, but it's more likely that some file(s) needed by the already compiled app had been corrupted. As your phone rebooted, this app was probably a critical system app, the failure of which caused the kernel to panic (strictly speaking, a panic isn't a crash, but an active decision by the kernel to shut operations down immediately).

Data corruption shouldn't occur on a healthy storage device, but nothing is perfect, and it occasionally does. If this doesn't happen again, you needn't worry, but if it does, it may indicate that the internal storage in your phone is starting to fail. This eventually happens to all storage devicees, flash storage as well as magnetic and optical media. Back up your personal data as often as you can, and consider getting a new phone. If it does not only happen again, but does so more and more frequently, you should definitely get a new phone as soon as possible.

Theoretically it could be a virus that corrupted the file(s), but a virus that infects apps in a way that the apps or the kernel can detect, wouldn't be very cleverly designed, so I seriously doubt that this is the case.


Is it possible to backup settings and apps for SGS with Samsung Kies? I want to backup my phone (Samsung Galaxy S) before having the carrier upgrade the Android version.  I don't want to root it because then the carrier won't upgrade it for me.

Is it possible to backup all the settings, SMSes, phone contacts (i.e. not those on google contacts), apps etc using Kies?

Kies allows backups, but not the application settings, only limited content such as contacts, bookmarks, music, photo and videos. You can see the Kies tutorial on backup : Open Kies v2.0, "Help menu->Kies Tutorial->Backup & Restore mobile phone data" section for details and a movie. You can also try MyBackup free from market, which does not require root. Wish you luck!


The link APK Downloader is not working. Is there any other convenient method to download the APK file to my notebook? The link APK Downloader is not working.

Is there any other convenient method to download the APK file to my notebook ?

I take it that your phone/tablet doesn't have Google Play. To directly download apps why not use Amazon Market to download apps from your phone.

Other than this, I'd recommend you to Google out individual apps by name for their APK or wait for the service to return.


Can Nexus devices be SIM locked? I have Nexus 4 from Fido (Canadian provider). I want to use with another provider, but I don't know if it's locked by Fido.

I read this discussion and see opposite points of view:

  NEXUS devices are never locked, period.

but:

  Indeed, all Fido phones are locked to Fido.

Which is true? Can Nexus phone be locked?

For your case, posted by Fido's rep,

  I wish to clarify something. All phones sold by Fido are locked with the exception of Nexus phones.

But for general case, apparently, yes, Nexus devices can be SIM locked. These articles proved that even Nexus 6 (which can be considered as quite new at the time of writing) on AT&T are SIM locked.

Extreme Tech

  The uproar truly started when it was confirmed that the AT&T Nexus 6 is SIM locked to that carrier. This is the only Nexus phone that’s ever been SIM locked (the Galaxy Nexus LTE wasn’t locked, it just didn’t have the hardware for other carriers).

  ...

  That SIM lock and the tethering check are a bit trickier — these are both deeply ingrained in the core of the device.... The SIM lock, which keeps the phone from working on other networks, is included in the baseband software. Again, there’s no way around that without major hackery.

Android Police

  It appears that the carrier's Nexus 6 variant is SIM-locked, won't let you tether without verifying your subscription status, and has AT&T's suite of ringtones as well.

  ...

  The SIM lock is stored independent of the ROM, somewhere that factory images don't touch. Presently, the only way to get rid of it is to get the unlock code for your device, which can be obtained by AT&T after your contract is fulfilled or the device is paid in full (assuming you bought it on a payment plan). If that doesn't work for you, there is also the option of purchasing the code from a 3rd party.

Also, a user manual from Vodafone for Galaxy Nexus, a forum thread by Verizon user and XDA forum proved that Galaxy Nexus could be SIM locked too.


How to sync non-picasa folder displayed in Gallery app? I often use Instagram to add effect and frame to my photos.

Then, there is a folder named instagram appearing in Gallery; but that folder won't be synced with my Google account i.e. on another Android device signed in with the same account, I don't see that folder.

So my question is that how I can have it synced?

The gallery is showing the Instagram folder cause it scans the whole device and external storages and grab all folders with images. You can't sync that folder but can share once in a while with Picasa so that process will upload images on that folder to Picasa. And then Picasa will sync that folder to your rest of the devices.


How can I run Flash on a Pandigital novel hacked to run Android 2.1 (Eclair)? I have a white Pandigital novel that I hacked to run 2.1.

I followed these instructions to the letter(except I don't have the market so I got Apps Installer elsewhere), but when I finished, nothing was different. (yes, I remembered to reboot.)  www.whatismyflash.com says my current flash version is "None or Disabled".  Anyone know what's happening?  There was also nothing related to flash in the launcher.  Should there be?  However, Apps Installer insists that my flash apk is installed.

Note: I am aware of this similar question but that question asks for a flash app and my question asks "Why isn't my flash app working?"

Other Note: I tried some games in Skyfire and they didn't work so please no "just try Skyfire" answers.

Those instructions are BS.  Flash does not work on 2.1.  However, there are several devices that run Flash Lite (it came on my Galaxy S Vibrant, for example).  Someone with Flash Lite tried that and thought they had real Flash when really they just had Lite, and it spread for a while before being debunked.  Just read the comments on that post.

Edit: According to Lie Ryan's comment below, full flash is compiled for ARMv7 chips, and so won't work on other processors even with 2.2.

Edit 2: Adobe now has a list of devices that run Flash: http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/certified_devices/


Manual Update: Exclude a certain apps from notifications I have an application with a manual update available. I do not want to update it (I prefer the older one).

In the previous Google Market app (it changed, sorry I do not remember older version number) it was possible to exclude the app from further notifications.

With the current Google Market app I'm not able to do it anymore, and I always have the "You have 1 SW update available" notification on top screen (I have auto-update feature set).

How can I configure the Google Market app not to bother about that app anymore?
(or at least until further updates, in the future).

Thanks in advance !

There's no real solution -- but depending on how much this annoys you, a work-around is available:

install AppBrain App Market. You can think of this app as an "alternate frontend" to the Google Playstore (and yes, it is no stand-alone market, as all updates/installs are re-routed to the Playstore-App).
log-in to the Appbrain Website with your browser and your Google-Account to initialize your account with Appbrain
now login with the Appbrain App you installed, and synchronize your installed apps.
Appbrain now shows you available updates to your apps. You can run them in a batch, or one by one, or can decide one by one whether you want to skip just this update, or skip this (and all future) updates to this app -- so it will not annoy you with updates you are not interested in.
start the Playstore App again, go to your apps list, open the settings, disable all update checks, updates, etc., and close it again.

Now the original Playstore won't ever notify you about any update whatsoever. Instead, you use the Appbrain App for updates. When looking for some new app, you can chose to use either of them. You might also decide to install the AppBrain Ad Detector along, and then probably will use the Appbrain App only -- as it helps you avoiding apps with excessive ads.


Samsung s7 only asks for fingerprint scan not giving option to enter password My new Samsung S7 was restarted today with an android update from T-Mobile.
When it turned on, I unlocked it using a password. After few uses today, the fingerprint scan failed and each time I try again, the lock period increases and does not allow me unlock with password. I do have a password, but it does not give me an option to type it in.

I had this exact same problem on my Galaxy S6 recently.  No matter how many attempts I made in different positions, the fingerprint reader decided, as it often does, that it simply wasn't going to accept my fingerprints.  Frustrated, I had no option but to continue trying (and failing) to scan my fingers with ever-increasing timeouts because it wasn't giving me the option to type my backup password.  With only a few attempts left before it would erase my phone, I remembered that sometimes text to the effect of "Swipe to enter password" appears at the bottom of the lock screen.  Even though this text wasn't currently visible, I tried swiping (up from the bottom, if that matters) and a password prompt finally appeared.

TLDR - The problem: finicky fingerprint reader meets poor UI.  The solution: swipe on the lock screen.


I can reverse tether now by using alias but it stops on adb shell command I made some aliases to quickly reverse tether.

alias t='r && sh && n'
alias n='netcfg rndis0 dhcp'
alias sh='ad shell'
alias r='ad kill-server && ad start-server'
alias ad='adb'

I want to enter t (which turns on reverse tethering) but the aliased command doesnt do anything past sh

How to automate this better?

(I guess its because its not in first shell anymore but android adb shell)

UPDATE: I edited the .bashrc as answered by Stephen Schrauger but the command enters me into adb shell and when i disconnect usb cable I get netcfg: command not found

  The aliases are now:

alias t='r && sz $n'
n='netcfg rndis0 dhcp'
alias sz='ad shell'
alias r='ad kill-server && ad start-server'
alias ad='adb'

What is wrong now?

UPDATE2 moved here:Help with this ADB REVERSE Tethering Script?

This is more of a linux question, and it may need to be moved to superuser.se, but I can answer it.

On linux, you string commands using && (or || or just ;). With &&, the first command must finish executing and have no error codes in order for the next command in the sequence to run.

In your setup, it looks like you want to open an ADB shell, and then run netcfg rndis0 dhcp on the adb shell. However, Linux doesn't do that. Instead, it is waiting for the ADB shell to exit without errors, after which time it will run netcfg rndis0 dhcp on the desktop computer's shell.

If you want to run a command on the Android device, you don't start an interactive ADB shell (the default); rather, you pass the command like so:

  adb shellnetcfg rndis0 dhcp

You'll need to change your alias for n to be a variable instead. Remove the alias directive so the line just reads n='netcfg rndis0 dhcp'. Then change your alias for t to be as follows

  alias t='r && sh $n'


How to get root access on Android 2.2 with HTC Magic? I'm using an HTC Magic and upgraded the OS to 2.2. Build number of the phone is FRF91. How can I get root access to the phone?

Have you tried the SuperOneClick root method?