Inputting Japanese characters? I am not a Japanese speaker, but I know a few words, mostly Pokémon names... In fact, in many cases the Japanese name will pop up in my head before the English one.

But I want to be able to type アブソル instead of "Abusoru" because the Romaji makes it look silly.

However at present the only way I can do this on my phone is to find an online converter and copy the result from there. Hardly ideal. But I can't find Japanese input methods anywhere in the keyboard settings. Plenty of other writing systems like Greek, Arabic, and I think Chinese, but no Japanese. Am I simply overlooking an option, or is there something I need to do to get such support on my phone?

Please take a look at Google Japanese Input: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.japanese

Swype keyboard has Japanese language built in as well: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.swype.dtc


Last 10 days missing after I transferred WhatsApp messages to new phone I've tried to transfer all my Whatsapp messages from an old Android phone to a new Android phone. I followed all the instructions at Whatsapp's website and previously on Stackoverflow, but am missing the last 10 days of messages in my phone. I've redone the process twice, but have had no luck.

Interestingly, the backups on my old phone grow larger for the first 4 days of backups, but then get smaller in the last two days. But this might just be because they changed from .crypt7 files in the first four days to .crypt8 files for the last two days.

Are there tools available to import specific .crypt* files, or to merge archived backups?

I have just got this very same problem here and got it solved. Here is how I did it:

I got my previous phone that still had all messages on it and did a new backup on WhatsApp settings. Unistall WhatsApp on your new phone and remove the WhatsApp folder from it. After that, copy the whole WhatsApp folder to SD card and transferred to the new phone.

Here comes the difference: I deleted all the last backups from the copy I just made and left only the last one. Now I have only these two files on the database folder: msgstore-2014-12-26.1.db.crypt8 and msgstore.db.crypt8

Now copy the folder back to internal memory and install WhatsApp again.

To simplify: I just deleted the previous backups and kept the last one I just made and made the default message restoration process again


How do I get my keyboard back? I recently got an Android Polaroid tablet and I noticed it was incredibly slow so I disabled and force stopped a lot of the apps that were pre-downloaded onto the device because I knew I'd never need them. That seemed to help and for a few weeks everything was cool and way faster until I started getting this notification every two seconds that said, "Unfortunately, Android Keyboard has stopped."

A little bit after that, I went back to college and I tried to connect to my school's WiFi and it wouldn't work because you need to type in a username and password to connect, and you can't type without a keyboard. So, I know you can install keyboards onto your tablet to replace the old one, but

I can't connect to WiFi without typing,
I can't connect to Google Play without WiFi, and
Even if I could, how would I search for keyboard apps without being able to type them in?

It is possible to connect your device via USB to push an apk from the computer. There are a number of sites that allow apk files to be downloaded to a pc and file transferred this way. Search google for "android keyboard apk download" for an acceptable one. Once the file has been placed in a folder on the device, double click it to run "Package Installer" to install. You will have to enable the setting "Unknown Sources" in the security panel to install this way.


delete gmail account without resetting my android phone I mistakenly set my gmail account on my mum's phone the a few months ago  because I wanted to avoid the whole process of having to sign up on Google. But now I have created an email for her and actually added it on her phone. UNfortunately I dont see how to remove my account from the phone using android 4.4.2.

You should go to the phone settings, and go under accounts and then select the gmail account that you want to remove and click on the menu button in the top corner to remove the account. This process might be a little different based on the OEM of the phone, since they might theme the operating system.


Internet doesn't work with apps without using vpn here's my problem :
in normal situation my Internet only works with browser (firefox) and not any other app like markets or Duolingo . But , when I use DroidVPN it starts to work with other apps as well . I suspect Google setting and Google market . I have uninstalled both of them because of some problems that they have . recently when I reinstalled them , this problem appeared . ( But I'm not sure , cause I think a while after installation it was working . )
by the way I am using my home wireless . my background data is on . I need my Internet back without any VPN app and I DON'T want any factory reset or any kind of reset and those stuff .
I've read all other similar question and answers . non helps !
can you help me ? PLEASE ? any help would be appreciated !
p.s. I'm using the wireless with my laptop to . and every thing is ok with it .

I just had this issue on my Nexus 10 running Android 5.1.1.

I could not connect to the internet via my Wifi access point (AP) but I could connect to my VPN (Private Internet Access) and then connect to the internet. This only affected one device, all my other devices (laptops, phones, other wifi gadgets) had no issues connecting to the same AP.

The issue I found had to do with the DNS Leak Protection from Private Internet Access (PIA). The solution was to set a static IP address and DNS settings.

Disconnect form your VPN
Long press on your wifi network in the wifi settings
Check Advanced Options
Add your IP address and gateway (the IP address of your router)
I added 209.222.18.222 as DNS 1 and 209.222.18.218 as DNS 2. These are the PIA DNS settings.
Save those settings and test your connection

This fixed the issue on my device. Curiously this issue only affected my Wifi AP, when I connected to another access point I did not set have to set a static route.


changing the lock screen time and date display lg l5 How do i change the design and look of the time and date display on my lock screen?  Where is the option that lets you change the design/way the time and date is displayed?

You can customize these clock and date styles only if the screen lock is Swipe.

Even you can choose between Analog and Digital clocks and much more.

If screen lock option is Pattern/Password, this clock/date styles can not be changed.


How do I play videos in a loop in the Samsung stock player? I want to play a video repeatedly in the Samsung stock video player.  Is there a way?

Samsung Galaxy S3
OS: 4.1.1

The stock video player on the S3 doesn't have this functionality. You can achieve it by installing another video app such as VLC for Android.


Micromax A110Q shows blank screen after waking up I am using Micromax A110Q. It turns on perfectly and displays
 everything fine. But whenever I turn off the screen or it sleeps
 automatically, the next time I press the power button to do something
 screen doesn't display anything, although the button icons on the
 touch-pad lit up.The device was working fine before I made the following changes.

I rooted the device and installed CWM and uninstalled some of the default apps offered by Micromax. Then after installing a few things I made a backup using CWM and then again flashed my device with v2 of the stock ROM (I was learning the basics of flashing).

I then used CWM recovery to undo the changes i.e.I restored the backup which I made just before flashing. Now when my mobile boots it sometimes display:

  Unfortunately, com.google.process.gapps have stopped working

but the problem persists even when the error doesn't occur.

How should I resolve the issue? And let me know  if you need other  details.

I didn't understood the logic behind it but I followed the following steps out of instincts and now the cell phone is working fine.

  Reflash the android with v2
  Boot in recovery mode.
  Go to recovery and backup
  select advance restore from sd card
  Select all images except boot
  Start restore
  After restoring reboot

The system works fine after this.

If anyone can explain the logic behind this kindly reply.


Alphabetize Apps Screen (not Home, maybe App Drawer?) I have an Archos 32 with the 2.2.1 (or Archos 2.1.18) version of Android installed. When I press the onscreen button to show all installed apps, I noticed that some downloaded apps are out of alphabetical order. There seems to be no option to alphabetize them. Does anyone know an app or other solution that can correct this?

Note: Is this called the app drawer?

I don't have an Archos, but when I view all apps on my phone I can press the Menu button and select a view type from in there (including alphabetical).  Do you have anything similar?

You could also try another launcher, such as ADW.

And yes, it's often called the app drawer :)


Galaxy S3 heats up while using net or data My phone gets very hot while using internet or data and it starts going slow. Can you tell me if something is physically wrong or give any advice on how to rectify the problem.

There have been several reports of the S3 experiencing heat problems.

  Many users have reported problems with their Galaxy S3 overheating and
  sometimes even freezing or crashing as a result. The S3 is very thin
  with a big screen, a big battery, and a powerful set of internal
  components, so the more you use it, the hotter it will get. This
  generally only rears its head as an issue after prolonged gaming or if
  you do something else that’s graphically intensive. If your Galaxy S3
  is getting very hot and crashing without intensive use, then you might
  have a hardware problem.

  Solution: The obvious solution is to take a break for a few minutes
  and let the phone cool down. If you’ve been running something for
  hours, then it will inevitably heat up. If it is heating up on standby
  or with low levels of usage, then you should contact the seller or
  carrier and check if the hardware is faulty. You should be able to get
  a replacement handset if they confirm the problem.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/galaxy-s3-problems-what-users-complain-about-the-most/#ixzz3XabgupCo
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook

If you use a case for your phone, make sure the case is appropriate for the phone so that any heat can dissipate.  You may also want to try an app like Clean Master that can warn you if the phone is experiencing a heat problem.  Beyond that, you may have a rogue app that could be responsible.


Connect android emulator to lan I try, to connect my android emulator (from sdk) to the lan via a network bridge and a tap interface and with the -qemu option. I need it to use multicast addresse in native library code for communication with IoT devices connected to the lan.

But depending the image version an achitecture (x86 or ARM) I have different behaviours.

For ARM image (Android 7.1.1 armeabi-v7a) the bridge work perfectly. Dhcp client work automaticly after boot time. I can ping the lan gateway, google ... and the multicasting work. But the nic add to the emulator is not present via ip link or ifconfig, it is hidden, and default route is not present !! strange thing. The emulator is no pingable from the outside.

For X86 image (Android 7.1.1 google_apis/x86), the bridge work perfectly. Dhcp client work and the guest nic is configured. I can ping the lan gateway, google ..., the multicasting work, and the nic is visible (eth1). But to ping the gateway or other host, I must use ping -I to specify the nic interface, the emulator use slirp network and it is not pingable from the outside.

It is possible to make the emulator pingable from the outside ?

It is possible to use ping in x86 emulator without to use -I option for ping ?

It is possible to see the network nic attach in the ARM emulator ?

thank for your help.

I think  that if you add the IP of the server on you LAN network that will  allow you to access it from the emulator.
So a fight with iptables is required in your case

useful links https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-networking.html

and there is a hole bunch of documentation of how to redirect network traffic to a new IP address using iptables

Good luck i hope my answer was useful!


Setting an external keyboard to the Colemak layout I have found soft keyboard applications that provide the Colemak layout for the virtual keyboard. However, I need the layout when touch-typing on a physical keyboard.

In my case, I'm using a regular USB keyboard plugged into an Iconia A500 tablet. The keymap should be freely customizable by modifying system files, but I'd prefer to do this without rooting.

How can I remap the keys of a physical keyboard to the Colemak layout?

Looks like the External Keyboard Helper app lets me switch layouts of an external USB keyboard on my Nexus 7, no root access needed.


Is there a technical reason Android update story is so bad? Is there a technical reason why Android phones general lag a lot behind the stable released version of Android?

This applies to both new phones, for example a recent trip to the phone shop everything was 4.0 to 4.2.1, KitKat could not be seen. And also old phones, my girlfriend's iPhone 4 had an OTA update to the latest OS, this is a July 2010 phone, whilst a July 2010 Android is basically a paperweight.

Presumably Android itself doesn't concern itself with the actual hardware, and thus talks to the OS via abstractions? I guess then the handset maker just provides the drivers for the specific hardware, thus I can't see the issue with pushing OTA updates if the ABI remains stable (my phone doesn't grow new hardware features).

See this image released by HTC. It describes the update process in a very detailed form:

Image resized (click to see the full size)


forgot my pattern for lock screen I'm locked out of my tablet because I can't remember what my screen lock pattern is. How do I reset factory settings if I can't get into the tablet?
please help this is all new to me

Boot into your Recovery in this way:

Shut down your device
Google for "(your device name) recovery"
In your recovery you can perform a factory reset.


Lineageos + opengapps: remove gapps, dirty migration to lineageos-for-microg fails I've got a motorola g4. Bootloader unlocked, twrp installed, lineageos installed, opengapps installed, non-rooted. Been using it for about a year.

I want to try lineageos-for-microg: https://lineage.microg.org/

I want to keep my current data/apps (including some enduser google apps like their pdf viewer) as much as possible and migrate to microg, removing only the "core" google stuff a user doesn't generally care about directly that will be replaced by microg. So, I'm following the dirty install process.

--

I have none of the listed apps installed.

I have tried removing opengapps, but it doesn't seem to work. Using the aroma installer to choose settings until the config at the end is "Include" with no apps listed, some google apps are still installed (notably, the play store) after rebooting. The opengapps installer process also mentions removing existing/obsolete apps for only a short time, then moves to the next step "installing gapps" which takes a long time. This seems to contradict the settings I gave it, namely to leave none installed, but is consistent with the fact that they don't seem to get uninstalled.

I have also flashed https://github.com/CHEF-KOCH/Remove-Gapps to try to get rid of them but some gapps (like the play store) still survive.

--

After any combination of attempts to follow the instructions and remove the gapps, I flash the key migration zip followed by the lineage-microg zip for my device (athene). I also make sure to wipe the dalvik and cache partitions before rebooting.

After all this, every time I reboot, my system is almost exactly like it was before I did anything: google services installed (though the play store does not actually work, it's still there), the microg settings app is not installed, etc. A few things are broken (some notifications of apps crashing) but overall nothing noteworthy has happened.

I've resorted to even wiping /system before a migration attempt, but even this achieves nothing.

--

I got a partial success once by manually going through /system/app, /system/priv-app, and /data/app and removing anything that looked google-y, then performing the migration. Upon rebooting, the microg settings app was present and the self-check section looked like it should look on a clean install, but the play store was still present. I don't know to what extent this migration was a success.

I'm not familiar with the android/google ecosystem's insides and app politics, just the userland, so when I'm manually going around deleting files I have little knowledge of what I'm doing, so I don't consider this attempt a success.

--

Now that all the info has been laid out, could someone please help me cleanly perform the migration to lineage-microg, without excessive butchering of my system or leaving things that should not be left? Why does the dirty install procedure laid out by the lineage-microg team fail? Why do the gapps removal tools fail? What exactly is necessary to correctly and cleanly migrate lineage to lineage-microg?

You can do this:

Flash the "microG unofficial installer" (Disclaimer: a flashable zip created by me) that remove the base of GApps from all partitions in addition to installing microG
Wipe /system to remove traces of the installer
Flash LineageOS for microG


Android 5 memory usage for Nexus 5 Before Android L update my mobile(Nexus 5) used to use around 1GB RAM.
Now, it's using around 1.6GB RAM leaving me only 250MB free memory. When I look into device memory, it's showing System is using around 1GB RAM.

Is it normal for Android 5 to use 1GB for System and why is that? If not, what wrong with my device? I updated my device using factory image from android download page.

Android, just like Linux variants, use as much memory as they think they need for optimal operation. Because of this, more stuff may be preloaded, so apps load faster or the interface is more fluent. So, if your memory is almost full, that doesn't neccesarily mean that you don't have any memory left.

On the other hand, Android L uses a lot of animations, so I can imagine it using more memory than before. Nothing to worry about however.


My HTC One X seems to be self destructing after Jelly Bean update I upgraded to Jelly Bean on my AT&T HTC One X last month, and ever since then it's like my phone has just given up on life.

I had to upgrade through the installer package from the HTC Website and was walked through the process by HTC tech support.

Things that have been happening:

HD Widgets would stop working off and on, the widgets I've had on the screen would simply disappear
Tasker crashes constantly and profiles don't work. I have used this app on my last 2 phones as well as on the HTC One X since I got it back in Nov.
Swype is no longer my keyboard and no matter what I do I can't seem to get it back.
most importantly : My microphone quit working on phone calls. It still works on speakerphone, but no longer works normalls.
Other various weird happenings here and there. I swear it's like my phone is haunted or has become sentient and given up on life.

These are all apps I have used for a very long time and have never had issues with. At least 2 of them are very popular and respectable apps.
(I would link to them, but Google Play is unfortunately blocked at work)

My phone is not rooted. I have not dropped my phone in water or even dropped it on the ground. Literally nothing major has changed in the past 2-3 months except the Jelly Bean update about a month ago.

If you need any more information to help me get pointed in the right direction to resolve my issues, please let me know.

If those problems started right away after the update: did the update process include a factory-reset? If not (and nothing else helps), this might be your chance:

Backup all things you can backup (luckily on JB that's not too big an issue, see Full Backup of non-rooted devices -- but I recommend to have all your apps into separate packages, as otherwise a full restore might bring back your problems). Then do a factory-reset.

Before restoring anything, check if your problems are gone. Then restore your apps one-by-one (just to make sure to not bring back the problem).

As for the backup process: check with Helium - App Sync and Backup, this is the easiest way to go. You can mark all your apps, make sure to check that .apk files are included (by default, Helium only backups data), and give it a go. Helium creates separate backup archives per-app, so you can restore them separately. Make a copy of the backup folder to your PC, just in case -- if restoring via Helium should fail for any reason, this still gives you the chance to use adb restore via USB.

Background: It might very well be that some settings got messed up on update. A factory-reset will erase all your apps and data, plus the Dalvik-Cache (optimized app code -- this might be the culprit if it doesn't 100% match the new Android version), so all settings revert to "default". Your Android system ROM (JellyBean) will not be reverted to what you had before, so no worries for that :)


Block a device from connecting to a specifix router There is an ISP in my town that connects to my phone all the time, but it wants to sign in to be used. It is not my ISP so that all I get is my Wi-Fi blocked.

There are many spots from the same ISP in town, because a couple of ISP give their customer a router with two Wi-Fi outputs, one private, normal, and another one open for their customers use with their site password wherever they exist. One of them (not my ISP) sticks to the devices, so I get blocked in many areas.

I have tried to change autojoin=1 to autojoin=0 on /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf, but that didn't do anything. This file also mentions another one, ctrl_interface=/data/misc/wifi/sockets. Will that control I need be here?

I am almost sure there will be a way to disallow a device from connecting to a specific Wi-Fi, but I don't know how. Maybe somebody can help me and teach me how, please.

If you go into Settings and choose the option to Reset Network Data, this will erase the phone's memory of ever connecting to the many millions of these open wifi hotspots that are around. Then just go into Wifi settings and toggle the switch to "disabled" on the option that says "Automatically connect to high quality public networks" and you'll be good to go. I personally do this and it seems to yield results.

OR

If you have root access you can try the following:

Install Termux from Play Store (not some other terminal emulator, must be Termux)
Type apt update && apt upgrade -y && apt install nano tsu -y
Become root via tsu
Turn off Wi-Fi
Now you'll be editing a file, which will require the use of arrow keys, theres another app called Hacker Keyboard that has arrow keys you can use. This file may be called something else on older versions of Android, so YMMV.
Type nano /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml
The file contains history of all previously connected Wifi networks. The XML is structured by , so you'll need to scroll through and find the network you don't want your phone connecting to anymore. It will be preceded by a  tag, and will also contain several other  inside of it; just continue scrolling until you find the VERY next occurrence of , signifying the entire configuration for the unwanted network.
Erase the unwanted network configuration by deleting everything from  to , ensuring that you are only removing the configuration for specifically unwanted network.
Now just do a Ctrl+O, [Enter], Ctrl+X to save, confirm, then exit the file.
Type chown $(whoami) /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml to change the owner to root
Type chmod 640 /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml to allow the group member (System) to still have read access to be able to retain normal functionality, but disallow write access to be able to re-write the unwanted wifi configuration back into WifiConfigStore.xml.

Please note that this will mean you can no longer save any additional wifi networks to be automatically connected, and your device will only remember the networks that you left in the file before running steps 10 & 11. If you ever want to revert the changes and re-allow typical access to the file just undo steps 10 & 11 via the following:

Open adb shell or Termux again
Gain root via su (if adb shell), or tsu (if Termux)
Type chown system /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml
Type chmod 600 /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml

Cheers


Disable emoji suggestions when using gesture typing with the default Google Keyboard I use gesture (swipe) typing on my phone to enter text.

However, sometimes when I enter certain words, the keyboard suggests emoji icons instead of the word I typed.

For example, when I gesture type the word 'man', I am suggested the male symbol, but if I tap type the word 'man', it works fine and I am suggested the word instead. See images below.

As you can imagine this is frustrating when typing quickly.

This happens in all applications.

I'm using a Nexus 5 running KitKat 4.4.4.

How can I disable emojis from being suggested when gesture typing?

It worked for me to go into the Text Correction section of the Google Keyboard settings and then to Add-On Dictionaries.  Emoji for English words said it was available so I installed it and then removed it.  The auto correct of emoji icons has stopped for me since.


Why does Speedo On app does not show on Galaxy Store? I have a Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit2 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy Note9. I installed the Speedo On app on the phone, which requires a companion Speedo On app from the Galaxy Store for the watch.

  Samsung - If you have a Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro watch or a Samsung Gear watch, please ensure that the Speedo On app is installed on both your smartphone and your watch. To download the watch app: Select “Settings”, Select “Samsung Galaxy apps”, Search “Speedo On”, Select “Install”

However, when I search for this app in the Galaxy Store, it does not show up in the results.

I called Speedo and they assured that the device is supported and I saw reviews in the App Store with people saying they are using it the Fit2 Pro.

Does anyone have this issue? Is there a way to side-load the app to the watch?

I contacted Samsung and they said this app is not supported on the Gear Fit2 Pro.


Samsung Galaxy Grand is running out of space I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Grand and I have not much apps installed: in fact just about 3 apps besides the pre-installed apps, but still I have no space when I'm downloading apps like Skype and Candy Crush.

On the process of updating my phone I get this message, that there is an insufficient space; the phone too shows a lot of used up space. I have an 8GB microSD card, which is hardly used.

Please help me on this.

You can clean junk data from mobile:

Clear App Data

Some apps store a lot of temporary files on the internal memory which can build up over time.  Apps like Facebook, Google Maps and web browsers are particularly bad for this, due to the massive amounts of data they have to manage on a regular basis. Clearing out these temporary files can free up a great deal of memory for your smartphone and can be done by following these simple steps:

Go to Settings

Select 'Applications'

Select 'Manage Applications'

Find the application you wish to clear and press on it

Press the options for both 'Clear Data' and 'Clear Cache'

Another simple way to free up storage space is by deleting all the log files in the device memory.

Just dial *#9900# on the tablet and

select option 2 “Delete dumpstate/logcat” in the prompted menu.

Hope it helps you!!


does call forwarding work with the cellular provider Android has a feature to set up call forwarding. Does this send a command to my cellular provider or is it something the phone does?

It's something done at your ISP's server side.

To make a test: Configure it, and shutdown your phone. Grab another phone and call, you'll see you don't get a "User has shut down" prompt but directly connect to someone (you've set).


How do I get my mobile data to work again, after the new Android 5.1 update? I am having an issue with Mobile data no longer working. Mobile data WAS working the day after updating to Android 5.1 on my Nexus 5. But now (1 day later) it is not connecting to Mobile data. It just has the cellular icon, with an exclamation point. I've tried toggling data, airplane mode, wifi, rebooting, factory reset, and reseating the sim card. I've even tried hopping on one leg while chanting this new update blows!!! The last thing I tried is to call my carrier and go through 2 hours of troubleshooting. They said the only thing left for them to do is send me a new sim card. It makes no sense. Everything else works fine. I can make and receive calls. Texting works. And Wifi works as well. Just not the mobile data. The weird thing is that it stopped working on the first day of my mobile data cycle. But the carrier swears that all is well on their side. Someone, please rescue me!!!

Try a different sim card.
Check if the APN settings are right.
Check for a bug fix OTA update.

If the steps above didn't help please leave a comment.


Resizing Android partition from dual-boot Windows OS I have a Chuwi Hi8 Pro and I don't use the Windows side, so I deleted the Windows partitions to get more space following this tutorial - Chuwi Forums - [Other] How to Delete Windows Partitions with GParted. But when I went to resize the Android data partition, it won't let me. It goes
/dev/mmcblk09 android_data
/dev/mmcblk10 android_persistent
/dev/mmcblk11 android_config
/dev/mmcblk12 android_efi_system partition
unallocated  17.78gb

I'd post a screenshot but I can't figure out how to save one to USB while in GParted.
How to give the data partition the rest of the unallocated space?

Since it once ran Windows it must be based on Intel x86. Get a Windows again, preferrably a Windows To Go. Get AOMEI Partition Assistant Windows PE Edition. Move other partitions one by one so that the android-userdata partition (not android_data) is adjacent to the unallocated space. Turn to gparted and merge the partition with free space.


Android Verified Boot and generation of vbmeta image I'm in the process of unofficial device bringup, and I'm stuck unable to progress due to Android Verified Boot. As per specification Android Verified Boot can be disabled with the --disable-verity and --disable-verification flags. The device I'm working with does not conform to specification and hence is unable to disable Android Verified Boot. One of the solutions is to build a vbmeta image myself which will then be used to verify my custom generated boot image. The question at hand is how to properly generate such an image. The documentation on the topic is exceedingly scarce and looking up similar community made files with a hex editor yields little in terms of information for me. As mentioned here, I should be able to generate one with the avbtool, which I did, very likely wrongly, as it still refuses to even flash it via fastboot. The only way I've found of allowing such a thing is to flash a blank vbmeta image, which in term fails to verify the kernel and fails.

In this page there is a section called 'Disabling verified boot' that mentions a commands to create an empty vbmeta.img that can be used to disable verified boot : https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Android_Verified_Boot_(AVB)

That command is,

$ avbtool make_vbmeta_image --flags 2 --padding_size 4096 --output vbmeta_disabled.img

To ensure this, I searched for 'make_vbmeta_image' in AOSP repositories and found a similar command in here.

I have an Android Q AOSP source tree with me. So I used avbtool from it to create an empty vbmeta image by issuing following commands.

$ cd <aosp_root_dir>
$ ./external/avb/avbtool make_vbmeta_image --flag 2 --padding_size 4096 --output ./vbmeta_disabled.img
$ ls -l ./vbmeta_disabled.img

As instructed here, to flash vbmeta image you can first boot your device to fastboot mode, unlock device's bootloader, and use following command.

$ fastboot --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_disabled.img


How to backup all notes from the stock notes app in Froyo? Is there an easy way to backup/export notes from the stock notes app in Froyo? Alternatively, I'd like to know where said data gets stored, so I can manually copy them over to my PC.

Edit: I'm pretty sure the app came pre-installed on my device. The name of the app, as it looks from the app drawer is "Note pad."

I did some research and found out that this was pre-installed either by Huawei, or my telecom, as it resided in /cust/tata/in/app.

The notepad app is too bad as it doesn't allow anything else other than adding and deleting notes.

I solved my problem by manually opening each and every one of the notes, selecting all of them, tapping "copy" and then going to a file manager to open a text file. I then pasted it there, and saved them one by one.


How to determine which application is blocking microphone usage? Is there a way to determine which currently running application is using the microphone? I suspect the arrow launcher but would like to try and confirm this. I'm looking for a method which would provide logs / debug info to add to a bug report.

Android version 7.1. Rooted Nexus 5x.

I am not looking for another app to provide this functionality. I am a developer (though not Java) and would like to understand the processes involved in gaining access to and blocking the microphone.

here's the dump from dumpsys audio as requested by first answer:

 adb shell dumpsys audio

MediaFocusControl dump time: 12:43:52 pm

Audio Focus stack entries (last is top of stack):

 Notify on duck: true

Stream volumes (device: index)
- STREAM_VOICE_CALL:
   Muted: false
   Min: 1
   Max: 7
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 5, 40000000 (default): 5
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_SYSTEM:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 7
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 5, 2 (speaker): 4, 40000000 (default): 5
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_RING:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 7
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 5, 2 (speaker): 4, 40000000 (default): 5
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_MUSIC:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 15
   Current: 4 (headset): 5, 8 (headphone): 5, 40000000 (default): 11
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_ALARM:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 7
   Current: 40000000 (default): 6
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_NOTIFICATION:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 7
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 5, 2 (speaker): 4, 40000000 (default): 5
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_BLUETOOTH_SCO:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 15
   Current: 40000000 (default): 7
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_SYSTEM_ENFORCED:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 7
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 5, 2 (speaker): 4, 40000000 (default): 5
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_DTMF:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 15
   Current: 1 (earpiece): 11, 2 (speaker): 9, 40000000 (default): 11
   Devices: speaker
- STREAM_TTS:
   Muted: false
   Min: 0
   Max: 15
   Current: 4 (headset): 5, 8 (headphone): 5, 40000000 (default): 11
   Devices: speaker

- mute affected streams = 0x2e

Ringer mode:
- mode (internal) = NORMAL
- mode (external) = NORMAL
- ringer mode affected streams = 0x1a6 (STREAM_SYSTEM,STREAM_RING,STREAM_NOTIFICATION,STREAM_SYSTEM_ENFORCED,STREAM_DTMF)
- ringer mode muted streams = 0x0
- delegate = ZenModeHelper

Audio routes:
  mMainType=0x0
  mBluetoothName=null

Other state:
  mVolumeController=VolumeController(android.os.BinderProxy@2e64f54,mVisible=false)
  mSafeMediaVolumeState=SAFE_MEDIA_VOLUME_INACTIVE
  mSafeMediaVolumeIndex=50
  mPendingVolumeCommand=null
  mMusicActiveMs=1500001
  mMcc=234
  mCameraSoundForced=false
  mHasVibrator=true
  mControllerService={mUid=0,mComponent=null}
  mVolumePolicy=VolumePolicy[volumeDownToEnterSilent=true,volumeUpToExitSilent=true,doNotDisturbWhenSilent=true,vibrateToSilentDebounce=400]

I have also tried:

adb shell dumpsys activity broadcasts | grep -i microphone

This gives no output.

Using logcat extreme and monitoring per app set to WhatsApp , it shows

mediaFocuscontrol: Audiofocus*request*Audiofocus() from Android.media.audiomanager when microphone is activated

And

mediaFocuscontrol: Audiofocus*abandon*Audiofocus() from Android.media.audiomanager when microphone is de-activated


How to tell if an SD Card is already internal storage? I have a Nokia 6.1, and Android One phone, running Pie.  Is there any way to tell if my SD card is already formatted for internal storage?

Thanks

When you go to settings>device maintenance>storage (it might be a different path for you I'm running 8.0) does it list your inserted SD card? If not then it's not available.


How to set Android home screen grid size to 6*6 I use Samsung Galaxy S9+, My home screen grid only allows till 5*6 grid. Is there any way to set customise grid layouts?

You can try using another launcher. Nova Launcher for example allows to set 6x6 grid.
After installing, long-press on the home screen, select settings. When the settings open, click Home Screen -> Desktop grid, set it to 6x6.
There are other launchers that can also do it. Just search on your favorite app store.


Broken recovery mod! My Sk17i phone(Mini pro) is rooted. And used CWM to install a custom "Unlimited" Rom, then restarted after installation.

And now my handset keeps boot-looping.

After I tried to fast boot, before opening/unlocking boot loader.

PC companion can not find software, SEUS does not update the ROM, as SEUS says its already up to date.

The CWM Recovery saved my data, How can I view it?

I am not sure what you ask for but

  The CWM Recovery saved my data, How can I view it?

if you mean backups, they'd be in your SD card.

  Fastboot cmd>Fastboot flash system system.img < Waiting for Device > !!

that usually means a driver problem IF you can boot into bootloader properly.

Interesting link with un-bricking guide


Is there a log of permission requests/grants? Does Android keep a log of permission request from apps?

I don't know whether a hard copy is stored somewhere in system but the one in memory can be looked by this command:

adb shell dumpsys appops

This would give a dump of apps (recognized by package name and UID) having granted or rejected runtime permissions requested by them.


How can I disable voicemail notifications? I have a prepaid T-Mobile line that I use for development purposes only. I do not really use it for calls. However, some 800-number company has been calling me constantly (which I have already added to a "block" contact which directs all calls to voicemail via Contact app menu option). However, they leave voice mails which creates this notification on my phone:

Click the image for larger variance

But I cannot swipe away this notification. It is a constant and persistent notification.

Is there a way I can either:

Never show voicemail notifications (without having to call T-Mobile and disable my voicemail box)
Swipe to remove the notification or hide the notification (via an app or similar?)

I am rooted on a stock Nexus 5.

I would have just used Google Voice as my voice mail box but apparently T-Mobile prepaid lines cannot have call forwarding so I can not use that option.

The only thing that worked for me is to stop the Phone Application. It restarts itself again, so you don't have to worry for missing calls or anything.

Steps:

Settings -> Apps -> ALL -> Phone.
Click Force stop

Source:
Clear Voice Mail Notification Icon


Unable to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy S7 If I swipe with the edge of a palm, it is very unreliable -- sometimes screen is pressed and I do some operations instead of screen shot.

Pressing Home + Power simultaneously doesn't work.

What else can be done?

UPDATE

I am trying to take screenshow of an application, which I am debugging. When I run debug, it requests to close device monitor, so the third way of taking screenshots via device monitor also doesn't work.

UPDATE 2

Disabling swipe didn't help. Now it is impossible to take screenshot from within device at all.

If taking a screenshot with hardware keys don't so seem to work for you, you can use gestures to take a screenshot instead:

Activate gestures: go to Settings > Motions.
Inside the Motion menu, look for Hand Motions.
Check the Palm Swipe to capture.

Once you have activated the gesture, you can now grab a screenshot:

Go to the screen that you want to take a screenshot of.

Now swipe the edge of your hand from right to left and vice versa, horizontally.

This edge-to-edge swipe gesture may take you a few tries to master, but it makes taking screenshots so much easier and quicker.


How do I stop my note 4 from activating the screen when it is done charging? When I charge it at night and its finished the screen will stay on all night unless I plug it out. How do I stop this from happening.

Do you have the Developer Options settings enabled on your phone? If you do, go to Settings >> Developer Options >> Stay Awake. If that option is checked, then your phone will never sleep while charging. Uncheck it.

Also, in Settings >> Display >> Daydream >> When to Activate (at bottom),do  you have Daydream set to activate while charging? It's possible Daydream is triggering.


USB Debugging in Brick phone Is it possible to enable USB Debugging in a bricked phone? my phone is not started so for Fastboot mode it requires usb debugging mode enable. but i didn't enable it. Is it possible?

Its impossible...

Everyone should enable debugging mode....
Otherwise if anything happens to your  phone its impossible to recover.


Root Samsung Galaxy S3 with broken USB port I recently purchased a Sprint Galaxy s3 on ebay with a broken charge port, and have revived it with a wireless charging reciever and charger. I want to root it but there is no way to connect it to my computer. i have looked into the framaroot/one click root but am unsure how reliable it is and my firmware version is 4.4.2 so it is probably not an option anyway(as it doesn't support higher than 4.2)

Is there a way to do this? could i possibly connect my s3 wirelessly to my computer? I want to root my s3 but am stuck with no idea. Any suggestions?
Thanks

You can try and use towelroot, which should support all phones < jun 3 2014


Can I download folders from Google Drive to my Android device I have recently saved a lot of music and pictures onto my google drive and now I would like to save them from there straight onto my SD Card (in my S4). I know if I press on the file for a few seconds it gives me the option to save it but like I said I have a lot on there (roughly 4000 pictures and songs) so to do it all individually will take a lot of time I don't really have...

So my question - is there a way to download everything in a folder at once or is there a "select all" option in google drive?

Okay I have found a third party app that lets me copy everything from Google drive in one easy step - Astro File Manager - it's a free app on play store, works brilliantly for this as you can select everything in the drive and simply copy it over to your SD Card.

This app will also work with dropbox and other cloud services.


How to remove the white frame around icons on Mi Pad 2 running MIUI 8.5? I've noticed my Mi Pad 2 running MIUI 8.5 has this ugly white frame (certainly a poor design choice from Xiaomi's under-qualified design director). I can use a different launcher but when the share menu (for example if I like to share a Youtube video on Facebook) pops up, the icons on the menu still have this ugly white frame (and the icons look very tiny as the result). I tried using the theme manager (link: http://en.miui.com/thread-563883-1-1.html) and it does not show any theme in the store (because there is no theme for Mi Pad 2) and I tried to import themes (.mtz files) via both theme manager or theme editor (link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mixapplications.miuithemeeditor), but when I chose the theme, the theme manager will show an alert and tells me it has failed (likely because the theme doesn't work on a tablet or because they are designed for the ARM architecture). Is there a workaround to this?

You can download this ROM here (http://en.miui.com/thread-358607-1-1.html), it does not have any frame. Use DNX fastboot method to flash.


Galaxy Tab 10.1 with unmodified Honeycomb (ie no TouchWiz) I'm thinking about buying the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. It will have a modified version of Android Honeycomb (TouchWiz). Is it possible to install original Android from Google on it?

As soon as someone unlock the bootloader(I don't know if they already done) someone will come up with a stock default theme ROM. You can stay tuned at XDA-Developers for news about this.


TWRP Not Flashing Correctly on Note 3 (SM-N9005) I'm trying to install the TWRP Recovery on my Note 3 SM-N9005 (which currently has stock ROM running Android 5.0) using Odin v3.13. I have downloaded the TWRP 3.2.3 (hlte) .tar from the official TWRP website and I have imported it on the AP section of Odin. Despite the fact that Odin says that everything went ok, when I'm going on the Recovery Menu, the stock recovery appears. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, any advice would be helpful.

Solution by @beeshyams that worked in my case:

On Odin in the options tab; Uncheck the Auto Reboot option.
When Odin finishes the flashing procedure; use the suitable key combination to boot into TWRP Recovery Mode.
From the TWRP menu; boot into system.

Tip : In some cases, if a problem occurs try to flash an older version of TWRP

From TWRP

  Note many devices will replace your custom recovery automatically during first boot. To prevent this, use your preferred search engine to find the proper key combo to enter recovery. After typing fastboot reboot, hold the key combo and boot to TWRP. Once TWRP is booted, TWRP will patch the stock ROM to prevent the stock ROM from replacing TWRP. If you don't follow this step, you will have to repeat the install.

Hope this solution help others too.


'Languages and Input' sub-setting crashes Settings, need to enable it to install keyboard Alright so I try to get into the 'Language and Input' sub-setting on the 'Settings' menu, and when I click on it a message appears saying: "Unfortunately, Settings has stopped working".
This only happens with 'Language and Input'.

I have Android 4.2.2 installed, on an Acer V370 (Liquid E2) phone.

So far I've tried clearing data from the 'Settings' app and fixing permissions using ROM manager, both didn't work.

What I'm really trying to do is get a working keyboard on my phone, as for reasons unknown I have no keyboard to type on the phone. So, I don't really care about fixing the 'Languages and Input' setting as long as there's a way to put a keyboard app in my phone again.

Note: the commands in this solution requires adb setup in PC and the solution is tested on Android 4.2.1, 5.0.2 and 5.1.1.

If you don't have any keyboard app installed in the system, then either use web version of Play Store to remotely install a keyboard app in your system (requires active internet connection in your device) or obtain the APK of your keyboard from somewhere somehow and install it in your system. You may either install it:

using your file manager app. You may follow: Can I install apps on phone without using the Android Market?
using adb. Do:

adb install FILE_PATH    # replace FILE_PATH with the file location of APK in your PC

Once the app is setup, execute this command on PC:

adb shell ime list -a

It will list all the available (enabled or not) IME (Input Method) services in your system.

Demo output:

com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME:
  mId=com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME mSettingsActivityName=com.android.inputmethod.latin.settings.SettingsActivity
  mIsDefaultResId=0x7f070000
  Service:
    priority=0 preferredOrder=0 match=0x108000 specificIndex=-1 isDefault=false
    ServiceInfo:
      name=com.android.inputmethod.latin.LatinIME
      packageName=com.android.inputmethod.latin
      labelRes=0x7f08003a nonLocalizedLabel=null icon=0x0 banner=0x0
      enabled=true exported=true processName=com.android.inputmethod.latin
      permission=android.permission.BIND_INPUT_METHOD
      flags=0x0
net.zhdev.ctrlvkeyboard/.CtrlVKeyboard:
  mId=net.zhdev.ctrlvkeyboard/.CtrlVKeyboard mSettingsActivityName=null
  mIsDefaultResId=0x0
  Service:
    priority=0 preferredOrder=0 match=0x108000 specificIndex=-1 isDefault=false
    ServiceInfo:
      name=net.zhdev.ctrlvkeyboard.CtrlVKeyboard
      packageName=net.zhdev.ctrlvkeyboard
      labelRes=0x7f0b0015 nonLocalizedLabel=null icon=0x0 banner=0x0
      enabled=true exported=true processName=net.zhdev.ctrlvkeyboard
      permission=android.permission.BIND_INPUT_METHOD
      flags=0x0
com.touchtype.swiftkey/com.touchtype.KeyboardService:
  mId=com.touchtype.swiftkey/com.touchtype.KeyboardService mSettingsActivityName=com.touchtype.settings.TouchTypeKeyboardSettings
  mIsDefaultResId=0x0
  Service:
    priority=0 preferredOrder=0 match=0x108000 specificIndex=-1 isDefault=false
    ServiceInfo:
      name=com.touchtype.KeyboardService
      packageName=com.touchtype.swiftkey
      enabled=true exported=true processName=com.touchtype.swiftkey
      permission=android.permission.BIND_INPUT_METHOD
      flags=0x0

The highlighted strings next to mId= are the IDs of the keyboard apps available in my system.

In any ID, the string before / is the package name of the keyboard app. Example: for Swiftkey keyboard, the mId is:

com.touchtype.swiftkey/com.touchtype.KeyboardService

The string com.touchtype.swiftkey is the package name of Swiftkey app. Package name is what will help you to find the appropriate mID that you should use to enable a particular keyboard app.

To know the package name of an app, follow View app's full package name?

Once you've the appropriate ID, use it to make your app the default keyboard in your system. Do:

# Note that it doesn't matter whether the IME is added into enabled input methods or not. Consider this a direct override.
# Replace ID with mId of your keyboard app

adb shell settings put secure default_input_method "ID"
adb shell content update --uri content://settings/secure --bind value:s:"ID"  --where "name='default_input_method'"  # alternative to above command
adb reboot  # optional

Try opening an app which requires input from a keyboard. You would be seeing your keyboard app.

(Click image to enlarge; courtesy of OP)


How can I test the NFC capability of my Android? I got a Nexus 7 last week, and I love it! It has NFC functionality, and I was wondering how I could test it?

I don't actually have any NFC tags that I can use (have you seen the price of them?!?).

So, how can I test NFC without NFC tags?

The only solution for you is to use another NFC enabled device. Turn on Android Beam and try to beam something to the other device and vice versa. You can find how to use android beam here.

You cannot use apps to check it as they are only capable of checking whether NFC is turned on or not. Also the service menu tests is of no use without a tag.

And by the way, NFC tags are not that expensive. Try eBay and nfctagstore.com


Can't lock onto GPS. Flash/Root possibly related I'm really hoping somebody can help me out here because this is frustrating me. First off, I have a Samsung Infuse 4G with AT&T. I was able to lock onto satellites indoors pretty quickly before. So I rooted my phone with SuperOneClick last night, and everything was good. No problems. However, I was having trouble replacing my recovery file with a modified recovery file. So after some research, I came across Odin on XDA Developers(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1092021&page=8), that was supposed to do exactly what I wanted: Flash me to a stock ROM with root and modified recovery. It was a successful flash, except for one little problem. Any application that used the GPS hardware would fail to initialize. So "luckily" for me, the thread I flashed to root+modified recovery also had a 100% stock ROM to flash my hardware with, so I did that. However, I had the same issue still of not being able to run GPS dependent programs. So I did a manufacturer's reset, and now every application will initialize and run, however I can't LOCK into satellites now! I've tried using GPS status to clear and download AGPS data with no luck. I've tried several different supl servers, including google and nokia, no luck.

I know this is my fault, but can somebody help me out of this mess? The only sort of location that works on my phone is mobile/wifi location.

Thanks in advance for any help I get.

Edit: It appears that even though I flashed a 100% stock rom to my device, there are GPS locking issues with the rom. Damn..

It sounds to me like the flashing wiped out all the info your phone had about local satellites -- the good stuff it retrieves itself, not the aGPS crap :P. If that's the case then hopefully this will help; this a process I've used on my Samsung Vibrant.

Ensure GPS is disabled
Go to LbsTestMode
Hit Delete GPS Data
Go into Application Settings
Change Start Mode to Cold start
Back out to the home screen, then reboot your phone
Enable GPS
Go to LbsTestMode
Hit Get Position Test.  Let this run to completion (normally a good 15 minutes or so) — the lat/long info will get filled in and you'll see [*] next to several of the satellites it finds, the more the better.  This will work best if you go outside and walk around.
Back out and go into Application Settings again.
Change Start Mode back to Hot start.
Reboot and, hopefully, enjoy your functional GPS.


Can't connect Samsung S7 to Mac Basically I'm trying to run my application on a Samsung S7 but my Mac isn't recognizing the device. I've tried installing Android File Transfer and it doesn't recognize it either. USB Debugging is enabled as well. Any ideas? The device OS is 6.0.1.

Go to Settings -> SYSTEM(last tab in settings) -> About Device ->Tap on " Build Number" 7 times, this will enable developer mode.
Go back one screen and you have a new menu option for "Developer Option" tap that and turn on USB debugging.

Google for "Android File Transfer". Install and open the app, connect your phone to the mac.

a directory browser will show up and copying files is as easy and drag and drop.


Google Hangouts - Can not send or receive MMS About 2 weeks ago, I updated CyanogenMod on my device, and Google Hangouts, and began experiencing this problem. I did an immediate restore from before my update, and there was no change. I can not send or receive any MMS's on my device. When I get an MMS, I am shown a message containing the details of the message, like the time stamp, and the size of the message, along with a prompt to download the message, however it downloads forever.

When trying to send picture messages, via MMS or Hangouts, connected to either 4G LTE, or WiFi, it sends forever, and never goes through.

In Hangouts, I click Menu -> SMS -> APNs, and the list is empty. Clicking Menu -> Reset to Default does absolutely nothing.

Is there anything that I can do to get support back for sending MultiMedia Messages?

  Device: LG G2
  Network: Verizon
  Hangouts Version: 2.0.303
  Android ROM: CyanogenMod 11
  Kernel: 3.4.0-CM+
  Android Version: 4.4.2

A family member also has the same device, and also uses hangouts, so I was able to copy the APN information from him.

For any future reference, I got MMS to work again by adding these recods to the Google Hangouts APN List.

  Name: LTE - Verizon CBS
  MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
  MMS Proxy: not set
  MMS Port: not set
  MCC: 311
  MNC: 480

And

  Name: EHRPD - Verizon CMS
  MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
  MMS Proxy: not set
  MMS Port: not set
  MCC: 311
  MNC: 480


Where and how do I read logs for a specific app? I know there are a lot of threads about android logs but I can't find an answer to this:

Where and how do I read logs for a specific app?

I have installed the Android SDK, connected my device and launched Eclipse and choose DDMS. Now, the Logcat is being generated but it does not seem to contain logging for specific apps. The colomn Application remains empty. I've tried different apps and different filters in logcat (debug,error etc) but I don't see application names appear.

"Application Name" when it comes down to DDMS and adb means the package name of an Android application. Therefore when creating an DDMS logcat filter, you have to enter the applications package, for example for Google Maps com.google.android.apps.maps.


Android not loading JPG files Nexus 6 (Android 5.1)

I downloaded a JPG file from androidwalls.net.

When I try to open the file via Download manager it doesn't let me open it as it says 'Can't Open File'.

Why does android not support this?

Thanks for the help

I've downloaded a APK,and it won't be installed via Download manager.However,you can enter the File manager,then locate the APK and install it.So,you may go to File manager to see the pic.But I'm sorry I can't explain why that doesn't work.


Do not trap home key for TV PC I recently changed out several android TV PCs to TX92 hardware with android 7.1.2. I use them to remote into Windows as a thin client among other things. The last nuisance remaining is the home key. If using Windows and I press the home key on the keyboard, android goes back to the launcher screen. How can I disable this? The units are rooted.

I doubt this is possible.

From Android Developer Center (Google's official site):

  Key code constant: Home key.

  This key is handled by the framework and is never delivered to applications.

And the Home key on a generic QWERTY keyboard is mapped to the Android "home" button, so it's treated the same as the real home button.

You can try modifying /system/usr/keylayout/qwerty.kl but as per my attempts, it doesn't work. Just in case it would work for you, for what it's worth, I changed

key 102   HOME

to

key 172   HOME


Client-side encryption of messages across apps Is it possible to encrypt any message (part) across apps?

I'd want

client-side encryption
using pgp keys (asymmetric public/secret)
integrate into multiple apps (like WhatsApp, GoogleTalk, ...), independent of their support
integration via some kind of overlay box
apps would send pgp encrypted block, recipient would then read decrypted (after inserting pass-phrase)
pass-phrase to secret key could be remembered / empty (for seamless/more comfortable decrypting)

does anybody know of such an app?

Motivation:

I want to be able to encrypt messages, but don't want (to have) to convince messaging partners to switch to just another messaging app just for me. Instead we'd both install the encryption overlay and would have a trustworthy chat. With people not using encryption I still could communicate via the same app.

No. Apps on Android can't interfere with each other's operations to the extent you describe. I can think of two options that come close to what you describe:

Use a standard PGP app and copy-and-paste ciphertext between that and the chat app.
If the chat app you're using uses direct client-to-client transmissions, instead of every message going via a server, then you could set up a VPN and ask your partner to join it before starting to chat with you.

To be honest, neither of these options, nor the ideal circumstance you describe, sound like an easier sell than simply asking your friends to use a secure chat system. I suggest to you that Jabber offers this functionality while allowing a choice of clients, some of which can also use different chat systems, so it might be the easiest transition path.


Is it possible to pull data using Android Debug Bridge on an N7 while soft bricked I've tried countless fixes for my N7 being softbricked (No idea how it was done). I've resorted to using Android Debug Bridge, however I cannot get access to the device (device not recognized from CMD using "adb pull").

The last time the device was used it wasn't set to USB debugging mode and now that it is always stuck on the nexus loading screen I can't change the options. Right now I'm stuck on what to do from here is there anyone out there with the time to help.

The only reason why I'm so eager to not just send back the device is because I have photos on the device I cannot afford to lose. Both Google and Asus, have stated they would not recover any of the files for me and that I have to do it myself if I want them.

Alternatively Could I Wipe/factory reset then use a photo recovery software on the nexus to get the images back. Just to state, my Nexus is stock nothing modified in anyway.

Any advice would help me greatly thanks

Anya~

It's alright I found a more simple method. I just wiped/factory reset the tablet that made the nexus boot up to the welcome screen again. Then I used an image recovery software program to retrieve the photos so now I have a fixed nexus and memories back, good times. The recovery program is called Recuva. –


My Nexus 4 shutdown randomly? I'm living in India. Last year I bought my Nexus 4 in the US.

For a couple of months now my device is getting quite hot, and shuts down randomly. I have done a factory reset 2 times, but no use of that: the shutdown continues.

This mostly happens when I'm on 3g, but not when I lock the device to 2g. The problem started about 5 months after purchase, so it didn't exist from the start.

Has anyone experienced this issue? Can anything be done to solve it?

its an hardware issue because of network kernal...
When I replaced the board and now the phone works fine.


How do I stop Google Play Services from being automatically installed? I've an old rooted Android 2.3 phone which comes with "Android Market" that is obviously updated with latest "Google Play Services". There is no "Google Play Services" installed on phone and strictly speaking I don't need it. But recently I've found that "Google Play Services" is automatically installed when connected to internet!

The problem is that phone becomes very slow (no issue with free space but I don't know why it becomes very slow after having play services). So, I've to uninstall "Google Play Services" but it is not the solution as it is automatically installed without prompting (say secretly).

As far as I know it is the "Google Play Store" which can do this as it has power (aka back door).

So, How do I stop or prevent "Google   Play Services" from being automatically installed? Or I've to uninstall "Google Play Store"? Or you can suggest the work around for the issue of phone's being slow down with "Google Play Service".

You can check this thread over at XDA-developers. You'll want patched GSF to skip self-updating.

Please note that sticking to older GMS versions (or not having them at all!) might prevent some "modern" applications from working correctly.

p.s. your slowness issue is more likely about low free RAM than disk space.


Is Google Voice susceptible to hacking like regular MMS or Whatsapp messages? I have been using Google voice in a public facing way so as to reduce the chance of receiving malware messages over SMS/MMS or Whatsapp.
But is it just as susceptible for someone to be able to sneak something in over a GVoice MMS or SMS?
I am worried because I received a photo from an unsolicited phone. Is there a chance that having clicked on that photo (which just enlarged  and presented information about itself)  compromised my phone? For context:

95% of Android phones can be hacked with one just MMS | Kaspersky official blog

Jeff Bezos phone hacking explained: What you need to know for your own security

Google Voice, aka Hangouts, is fully encrypted point to point.  If you've posted anywhere with your Gmail account, you could have a message pushed to you.  Unless you have OS 6-10 you'll need an "anti-spam" app HIYA is a very good one. The newer OS have been given the ability to flag calls & SMS - MSMs as spam.
Good luck.


LG G2 is not showing up in ADB even if I check USB debugging I can't find my device in ADB for my LG G2 phone running Android 4.2 ICS. I have enabled USB debugging.

What did I miss?

Make sure "USB Debugging" option checked and your driver has been installed properly.

You can try following step command:
1. adb kill-server
2. adb start-server
3. adb devices

Hope this help.


Recovering a video that was deleted from a micro SD card after a factory reset I have an LG G5.  I recorded a video interview I had with Bruce Campbell.  The video was slightly over 20 minutes long recording at 1080p at 60fps.  I noted while it was recording that the video was automatically split into two separate videos.  The first video is the lion share of length at about 20 minutes long and around 4gb in size if I recall correctly.  The second video is about 17 seconds long.  A few days after the interview the audio on my phone stopped working.  I was googling around how to fix the issue and I saw that factory resetting the phone was a common fix.  I did a factory reset, it said that it would not affect data on the SD card.  After the factory reset the 17 second video appears to be intact and working.  The longer 20 minute video seems to show a file size of 0kb in the file manager.  Whenever I try to play the video I get a message that says Android does not recognize the video file type.  I have been doing some googling around and thankfully there does seem to be ways to recover lost data from an Android phone after a factory reset.  What I am looking to do is recover the lost video that was in the Android Phone after the factory reset.  Thank you for your help, I will gladly provide any further information or screenshots if you need them.

NOTE: I am not sure if this will work, this works if file is deleted or when sometimes files just dissapear(It has happened to me).

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE YOUR SD CARD TO STORE ANYTHING NEW, IT CAN/MIGHT OVERWRITE YOUR DELETED/LOST FILE

Put it on your computer and use a specialised software for file recovery(try Recuva by Piriform, here: https://www.piriform.com/recuva). It will the SD card for any deleted/lost files it can find and you can recover them.


How to avoid leaking private data to apps without rooting my phone? The majority of apps on the Play Store require access to things like location, contacts, call log, identity, SMS, etc., even when the app functionality clearly doesn't need this information to work.

I read somewhere that for rooted devices there's an app that can provide fake data to other apps, thus protecting the users privacy.

But I don't want to root because of security issues (I haven't really researched it much, but I don't think there's much control over what goes into the modified system images).

Is there a solution to this? At the moment I just don't install apps that require too much, which leaves me with very feel options in some cases.

Ideally there would be some way to block the access to certain data, even when I install apps that want that access.

Thanks.

Simple answer is no.

Also, I'd like to point out that there's many, many reasons apps will ask for these sorts of permissions, and I can promise you, they're not all stealing your private information. For instance, the SMS permission is commonly used to detect conformation codes that an app may send you.

If you are installing calculator apps that require your call log, contacts and SMS, then just download another app.

People these days are getting far too scared over nothing.


How can the battery get discharged while Ampere is showing that it is charging? How can the battery get discharged while Ampere is showing that it is charging?
Example:
At 1:06 PM, the battery indicates 2%.

At 1:08 PM, the battery indicates 1%, even though Ampere says that the min mA was strictly positive (40 mA).

How is that possible?
I use Android 10 on Samsung Galaxy S9.

As said in the comments, the issue is that Ampere doesn't take into account the battery consumption when showing the charging current.
Example:
AccuBattery, which takes into account the battery consumption when showing the charging current:

Ampere:


Strange chinese menu on Lenovo IdeaTab S6000 Context

I just Skyped with my mother (far away) because her Android tablet (Lenovo IdeaTab S6000, running on Android 4.2) showed a strange menu with Chinese characters, almost like a bootloader. My short troubleshoot history looks like this:

When pressing the volume-keys, the displayed content changed, at one point the text contained "GPS", so I assumed it would be some kind of "hidden troubleshoot menu" for showing system information.
A restart was possible after pressing and holding the standby-button, after restarting everything seemed untouched.
Just to make sure, we changed her passwords.
She did not visit any suspicious websites, nor did she install any apps recently.

With my little knowledge, so far I do not feel able to rule out an attack or a trojan app, from what I can see she could have activated the strange menu by accident. Via internet research I only found one individual with the same problem, but no solution at all.

Question(s)

What can I do to determine the cause? Should I contact the provider/manufacturer? Is it safe to assume that her data & accounts are not compromised?

I know it is little information, so please bare with me, I just want to prevent damage.

Thanks for any advice.

TL;DR

Lenovo IdeaTab showed strange chinese/asian-symbols-menu, gone after reboot, do what now?

What can I do to determine the cause?

The user just accidentally accessed the Factory Mode on Lenovo tablet.

It can be accessed by:

Turn off the device
Hold "Volume Down", then connect the USB

(Image courtesy of XDA)

As a proof, there is a text containing "GPS" like you mentioned.

For the translation of each menu, you can refer to the post on XDA forum (also, source of this information).

  Should I contact the provider/manufacturer?

If the user didn't do anything on this menu, then I believe you don't need to contact the provider/manufacturer since nothing happens.

  Is it safe to assume that her data & accounts are not compromised?

I believe no data are compromised. Factory Mode is usually related to device testing/configuration, but not individual user data.


Odd mark at the top of the screen of my new LG V30 I just got a LG V30, and noticed an odd mark at the top of my screen:

I'm guessing this is some kind of factory defect. Does anyone know if indicates deeper flaws in the screen? Considering I mostly have a black theme, it's usually invisible. I just don't want this to lead to other problems down the road.

There doesn't appear to be any kind of responsiveness issues in the area when I touch it, so it's not problematic in that regard.

I have the same type of defect on my LG V30 but it's on the bottom right corner of the screen
.  LG wanted me to send in my phone for repair, they said it would take 2 weeks, and would not offer a loaner phone in the meantime.  Decided to check with Verizon, and they are sending me a replacement phone by end of week.  Love this phone, and happy that it's a simple swap process.


What's it mean when my phone vibrates without showing a visual alert? I've just got my first Android phone (Galaxy S7) and so am still learning the ropes.

Occasionally, when I am using the phone, it will vibrate quickly twice, like I am receiving an SMS. However, there's is no visual information along with the vibration.

I thought it might be reminding me of unread messages, but this happens regardless. This also does not happen when the phone is locked, but does happen whilst I'm using other applications, like games, am on the home screen, or immediately after I unlock.

Would anyone know what my phone is trying to tell me?

Samsung Galaxy S7 has vibration patterns, which can be attached to, and most importantly changed, for many triggered system events. It is impossible to define exactly what your double vibration is attached to, since it is modifiable, and may be already changed from its default. However, you may find out what your notification vibration is by going to

  Settings->Sounds and Vibration

and searching for what sounds to me like "Heartbeat" (defined as pulsing, double vibration). There are other vibration patterns you can set instead defined from the following list:

Basic Call (continuous, even vibration)
Heartbeat (pulsing, double vibration)
Ticktock (two long, even, vibrations)
Waltz (long, quick, quick, vibration pattern)
zig-zig-zig (three, even vibrations)

This, and other settings can be searched using the term "vibration pattern", and of course, by reading your device's User Manual. Here is a quick link to the relevant section of a guide (Thanks, Sprint! ).


Running TRIM from shell Is it possible to run fstrim in stock android 4.3 from adb shell?

I understand it runs every 24 hours when the device is plugged in and idle but I would like to run on demand to test a few theories.

WARNING: I have not tested this procedure.

You would need to have fstrim in system/bin. This XDA post has a DropBox download link.

start up adb and then switch users to root.

$ adb shell from your os terminal.

$ su to switch to the root user.

To copy fstrim to your /system/bin path you first need to mount the system path as Read/Write from adb or some other file manager

# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system to mount /system as R/W

Then copy fstrim to the system path.

# cp <pathtofstrim>/fstrim /system/bin

Next you need to change permissions of fstrim to include execute.

# chmod 766 /system/bin/fstrim to make fstrim executable by root

After setting the correct permissions on fstrim you can run these commands from adb (as root):

# fstrim -v /data
# fstrim -v /cache
# fstrim -v /system

OR, you could go the EASY WAY. Install the LagFix app, and trigger fstrim on demand, provided your device has fstrim support!


remove locked by android device manager message I have played with Android device manager and I have blocked my phone. I have deblocked but everytime my phone enters into standyby it apears me the message "locked by android device manager" and I have to enter the password again.

Do you know how to remove this message?

Remove "locked by android device manager" without factory reset.

Here are the steps:

Ask the owner in order to get the passcode or password
(Once you have the passcode or password) Go to settings > Lock screen
Enter passcode or password
Select none or whatever you choose to use
In order to see it, swipe down from the area at the top (Notification panel)
You will see a new (android device manager icon) at the top of your screen. The icon looks like a raindrop (green in color) with a bullseye (white in color) icon inside the circle
Tap and hold the ADM (Android Device Manager) icon
Tap app info
Tap Manage Space
Tap clear all data

Now the icon has been removed.


Samsung Galaxy Exhibit - Email Photo Problem I have a Samsung Galaxy Exhibit. When my husband sends me photos in email I can see the small preview picture but when I click on it it reverts to an older picture that he sent me. I think I accidentally locked it to that older picture. How do I unlock it? I can see others pictures with no problem. Thank you!!

I think the original Samsung application is not good enough and has some bugs.

So you can use apps from your mail service like Gmail and Yahoo applications or use applications which support multiple email services like Aqua Mail.


Jabber client with old SSL support The company I'm working for is using a Jabber server which is kind of old. It doesn't support SSL/TLS with SASL but only plain old SSL.

I tried a dozen of Jabber clients for Android but none of them supports this setup.

Are there any alternatives?


Cannot see pictures and cannot hear audio on Galaxy Y; package data not signed properly I don't know what's wrong with my Galaxy Y. When I take pictures or download pictures, they cannot be viewed. Audios can not be played. I tried downloading Facebook, Viber and Wattpad, but it keeps on saying package data was not signed properly.

Actually galaxy y default player doesn't support much formats.
Check which format it is. Then try downloading the player which supports the format.For eg: if it is 3gp format videos you will need 3gp player.


Using Droid as a computer microphone via USB? Is it possible to use my Droid as a computer microphone (for Skype, Teamspeak, etc) via the USB cord? If not, does anyone know of a Teamspeak client app?

Any help would be appreciated.

There are all sorts of apps that enable you to use your phone's camera and mic on your PC over Wi-fi or USB.

Here are some examples:

DroidCam
IP Webcam


Which filesystem should I use on my USB stick to have interoperability with Android and Windows? I wish to use a USB stick with both my Android device and my Windows 10 PC.
My requirements are:

No file size limitation
No root required on the Android device
The filesystem should be natively supported by the Android device

My Android device is a Samsung Galaxy S10. I would like a solution that would work with all modern Android devices, but I don't mind if I'm limited to the Samsung.
Which filesystem should I use?

Based on your requirements there are not many file-systems left: ext3/ext4 or exFAT both are file-systems that are natively supported nearly all Android devices.
My recommendation as file-system to use is exFAT as long as you don't want to store a large number of small files.
partitions size to cluster size:

7 MB–256 MB -> cluster size 4 KB
256 MB–32 GB -> cluster size 32 KB
32 GB–256 TB -> cluster size 128 KB

The other option ext3/ext4 may cause problems if you ever want to connect the USB-stick to an Windows PC as Windows does not support it.
exFAT has no relevant maximum file-size (the file size limit of exFAT is 16 Exabytes and therefore larger than the largest disc for the next decades)
Regarding the exFAT support Android should support this file-system if it has an SD-card slot and supported SD-card with 64 GB and beyond.
To my experience the exFAT read support usually works, but the write support can be buggy on some devices (permission problem). Therefore the only way is to format an USB-stick with exFAT and test it on the devices you want to use it.
For more details see also this question and it's answers: Since which Android version is exFat supported?


Why is Android app not compatible My son's got a Kurio 7 tablet. I've installed the Amazon App Store on it and noticed not all apps are compatible. Bad Piggies for example won't install. The Amazon App Store says its not compatible with his device. Why is that? Bad Piggies is supposed to support Android 2.2 and the Kurio 7 has Android 4. Other than that it doesn't say anything about the requirements. What other things can make an Android device incompatible with some apps?

There are a few different things on Android that specify whether or not an app is compatible with a device:

The author can specify minimum and maximum supported versions.  Meaning that even though 2.2 is supported, 4.0 may not be.  (Probably not this in your case). Reference
Apps may require certain features to be available, another thing that the author puts in the manifest.  This specifies things like needing a camera, needing an accelerometer, needing internet access, etc.  If your device doesn't have one of the features, it may show as not compatible. Reference1 Reference2

Here is a list of possible features that may be required by the app's developer.

As an example for #2:

  When you declare "android:required="true" for a feature, you are specifying that the application cannot function, or is not designed to function, when the specified feature is not present on the device.


How do I cancel a half completed email configuration? Phone is trapped trying to encrypt my device against my wishes.

On my Nexus S I was recently upgraded to 4.0.4 and decided to try adding my work email to my personal phone. This previously didn't work because Android didn't have the proper security settings. I previously did not have any other email accounts setup.

Did an manual setup for an Exchange server and it prompted me to give the email app additional permissions (enforce lock screen, full device encryption etc.) I accepted and configured the lock screen as requested. The full device encryption page popped up and it informed me that once encrypted I would not be able to decrypt the device without a factory reset. I was not interested in that, but there is no cancel button on the encryption warning page.

I quit to the home screen, but now the phone constantly reminds me to complete the account setup.

Is there a way to cancel the account setup? What are my options? I'd prefer not to have to do a factory reset.

Did Google really place the warning page in a time where it's already too late to do anything or have I missed some other way to cancel? Every time I open the email app it says that the email account requires I change my security settings. I can cancel and the app closes or accept and the encryption page appears.

Reposting answer for future people!

Naturally, I figured it out 10 minutes after posting.

Can't answer for another few hours because I'm a new user. Under the security section of the settings, there is a Device Administrator page.

I deactivated the "Email" app as an admin. It warned that it would delete all my mail and stuff and I accepted. No factory reset required.

Thank you Stack Exchange for allowing me to express my question so I could figure it out myself :)


How do I remove my credit card from Google Play? I want to remove my credit card from Google Play because a random money glitch in a game is worrying me.

Google Wallet isn't compatible with my phone.

Please follow the following steps

Login to Google Wallet
Click on Payment Methods
On the card which you want to remove, click Remove
Confirm the prompt for card removal

This should remove the Credit card from Google play store.


How do you find the detailed app data usage in android7.0 Before I was able to go into data and on the list of apps pick one and get a chart comparing the global use and the apps use:

Has this detail view disappeared in Android 7.0?

No. You can try wiping your cache partition as suggested here:

Turn off your device
Press a combination of Vol +  + Vol - +  Power key buttons and hold them down.
Release only the Power button when the device vibrates
Release the other buttons when the Recovery Menu screen appears
Using the Vol +/Vol - buttons to navigate, select Wipe cache partition
Press the Power key , which will act the enter key on your keyboard.
Wait for the process to finish.
You can then reboot the device and see if your problems are fixed


How can I determine if my device supports MHL? I'm an Android novice.  I want to determine if my Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2017) supports MHL.  Two obvious ways of doing this are:

Consult the manual.
Connect the tablet to an HDMI display using an MHL adapter, and try it!

But, I don't see any mention of MHL in the manual, and I don't have an MHL adapter.  Is there any way I can tell from within the Android OS if my device supports MHL?

Perhaps you should try checking here first: MHL Devices

Another way is using a third party tool: Checker for MHL (HDMI)


Connecting to X11 on linux I used to connect with SSH to school server on iPad with iSSH, which can work as X11 server, and remotely work through SSH and X11 with iPad as a server.

I thought since it is easy with iPad, it will be easy with Android. But silly me! It is not, as I see.

In this SE question and on other places, people are telling "don't use X11, just use VNC!". However, I can't see how can I remotely start x11vnc on a machine where I am not a root on.

The situation is as follows: I am NOT a root on the server machine. There is linux running on the server machine. I do NOT have physical access to the server. I can connect to the server through SSH.

When I log in to the server and I try to run x11vnc like this:

x11vnc -forever -shared -rfbauth ~/.vnc/passwd -create

I got this scary looking error message after trying to connect with AndroidVNC application (the error is displayed on the server and the x11vnc immediately crashes). If I don't use the -create option, x11vnc shows this scary message and x11vnc crashes before even waiting for the client.

So. My question is quite easy. What should I do to connect to the linux machine and do something simmilar to what I did with iSSH and X forwarding?

edit: aha, it seems like in our school we use outdated X11vnc version, so that's why it breaks. Awesome. Well, I probably can't persuade the admin to actually update it, so I will need another way of remotely running graphic applications, if nothing like iSSH exists.

I found out that it's possible to just run vncserver on the client - and it "just works".


Rooting already unlock phone without losing data, possible? As far as I have understood it's the unlocking part that requires wiping, and the rooting part doesn't. So, if I am already unlocked, can I root without losing my data? I've got a (red) Nexus 5 16GB Unlocked running Android 5.1.

Yes, you can root as many times you want without losing data if your device is unlocked. I've done that on my OnePlus One.

For further clarification, it's the default mechanism in the device set by the OEM, that whenever the bootloader's default (locked) state is tampered it would issue a data wipe (a Factory Reset), most probably to protect the user's data from a possible compromise.

Rooting on the other hand is moving a binary (su) under system (usually at /system/xbin and placing symlinks at locations like /system/bin) which with proper files permissions can be executed by an ordinary user  to gain supreme rights on the system.

It is possible that the rooting method you attempt in your device isn't the standard (via Recovery) one but needs a one-click tool, and some users have reported data loss with the latter, so you may take a backup to be on the safe-side.

Further reading:

Bootloader States
Why does unlocking the bootloader wipe phone?
What does to a "to root a phone" mean?
How does rooting work?


Do all android phones have to reload their home screen? I have had my EVO 4G for coming on 2 years.

Lately it has developed this ever so annoying habit of reloading the home screen for 60 seconds any time I return from a memory intensive app such as the Amazon Market or Dolphin Browser, or after I clean up memory.

I have tried cache cleaners, app killers, and periodic rebooting, but it just keeps happening.

The EVO 4G is pretty light on RAM, and I am wondering if I upgrade to a bigger Android device (considering an Epic or Photon), if that will cure the problem?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks, Victor

No not every android phone does this but it is done in many HTC phones. The reason is simple: memory usage.

Here is the breakdown:

When the system is running out of memory, the inbuilt task killer of the system automatically kicks in and checks to see if it can stop an application and recover some RAM. HTC Sense devices employ a launcher that is "heavy" and often uses up a lot of memory so when the task killer sees you are not using your launcher and knows it needs the RAM for another app, it kills the launcher. Thus, when you hit the home button or quit the app, the launcher has to re-initialize.

Tips:

DO NOT use a task-killer if you dont have a low end device. Android already has a built-in one that kills apps and does it safely. Using apps such as "Advanced Taskkiller" actually mess with the way the system kills apps and actually can cause more Force Closes and system instability in the long run.

Additionally, the more RAM the system has, the more the launcher uses to cache stuff it needs. This is good because the launcher becomes more responsive and fast as its using a cached copy instead of grabbing it all over again. If you clear the cache constantly, it needs to re-cache the items and so it will be less responsive.

Use a lighter launcher. Sense might be good but there are more rock solid and light launchers such as Launcher Pro that wont experience this problem. You dont need a new phone with more RAM. Trust me, 1GB of RAM is more than enough with the right system. :)


Install application in sd card by default using Linux I've seen plenty of tutorials related to installing applications directly to the sd card instead of using internal memory but none relate to using linux as a method to tweak the system and I'm not managing to understand it by myself. I have android studio installed and consequently the sdk and development tools aswell as my device is in developer mode but I'd like to understand what I should do next to directly install into the sd card.

It is as simple as running adb install -s someapp.apk. However, the app should be ready to run from external storage.

adb resides in the path to ADT/sdk/platform-tools directory.

Related question: Move to SD Card doesn't move everything


Use fixed keyboard for a given app I would like to tell my Android that when I'm in a given app it should switch to a given keyboard. My use case is that I want to use Hacker keyboard with Connectbot.

You could use Tasker for this. In case you don't know it: Tasker is the most complete automation tool for Android, combining "conditions" with "tasks" to so-called "profiles". For your case, the Profile could look like this:
Condition: App (select Connectbot)
Task: Input Method Select
From the Tasker manual:

Show the Android Input Method picker dialog.
If some methods you have installed are not shown, make sure they are enabled in Android settings.
Note: unfortunately Android does not allow changing of the input method without user iteraction.

So from the last sentence you see, your final goal cannot be achieved. All you can get is the picker popping up, but you still have to pick your desired IME yourself. If you first want to try out whether that works for you, there's a 7-day trial version of Tasker available at their homepage.


how to take a screen shot and send it via MMS? can I somehow take a screen shot of a google maps in a easy way and then send it via MMS?

HTC Desire on 2.1 (not rooted)

Only if you're rooted. See this answer: How to take a screenshot with an Android device?


Can widgets with settings be moved from one launcher to another? I want to switch from ADW.Launcher to GO Launcher Ex but want to maintain my desktop layouts and widgets. Is there any way to move or copy widgets from one launcher to the other so that they have the same configuration?

I've found that my Circle Launcher widgets could be copied easily as they have their own configuration backup and restore mechanism, so I could back a widget's config up in ADW.Launcher then simply add a new widget in GO Launcher Ex and restore the configuration and the widget was just as it was in the other launcher. Unfortunately other widgets don't provide a nice mechanism like this.

As you mention GO Launcher EX as your target launcher, you are lucky: There's a complete description on how to migrate your screens, which you can find at AddictiveTips.

Basically, this involves an app called Desk Migrate, which claims to copy home screens from one launcher to another launcher. According to the linked article, it seems do do a nice job. Just one thing to keep in mind:

  Desk Migrate has been developed to work only with GO Launcher EX and supports copying from only a handful of launchers.

OK, another lucky point for you: Looks like ADW.Launcher was one of the 7 launchers the addictives successfully tested to migrate from -- lucky you!


Storage space in SD card My phone is Samsung galaxy j2 prime, Android 6.0.1.
When I try to move app from internal storage to SD card, it shows 'Not enough storage' even there is 4.6 GB free in my SD card. Anyone please help me.

Try this: temporarily put in a new sd card.

If the problem stops, then the old sd card has a problem.

If the problem still continues with this new sd card also, there may be a problem in Android system. You may try apps which help in moving apps to sd card without root access. If they too fail, take your phone to a service centre.


How to use Windows 10 headset as Android call headset I have a Windows 10 PC with USB headset. I want to connect it to Android phone, so I can make calls using my computer's headset. Can I do so with usb, bluetooth, minijack or lan?

Yes, this is definitely possible - but not without special connective devices. You can actually use a variety off available connectors to extend comopatibility to the device, such as USB to 3.0 headphone adapter, and if your device will support the connection type, you could also use the MICROusb to USB 2\3.0 adapters.

Do a search online for one of the above mentioned devices, and learn more about them and your phones compatibility. You may also purchase of from almost any online electronic supply chains, as well as finding information regarding where to purchase one of the adapters locally.


backing up apps for firmware upgrade I really don't want to have to re-install all apps and sign into them after I upgrade firmware. Is there a way to back them up? Any tips that may ease the process are appreciated (I have my photos/videos backed up through google and a lot of apps do sync after I sign into them). The main problem is typing in all the passwords for the various apps is going to be a pain.

Is there a way I can export a list of all the installed apps and automatically download them again?

Titanium Backup PRO Key ★ root(available in the Google Play Store, by developer "Titanium Track") is the easiest way to back up your apps exactly as they are. The pay version ($5.99) should be pretty close to what you're looking for, Titanium Backup PRO Key ★ root.


Is it safe to swap SIM cards when the phone is turned on? On my Galaxy Nexus, I can remove the SIM card without removing the battery. I'm travelling abroad and will find a need to swap SIM cards several times in my phone. I would like to know if it is safe to simply pull one SIM card and put a different one instead, without shutting down the phone?

Safe = without damaging/locking/corrupting either the SIM card or the phone.

According to Verizon, at least, you should not install/remove the SIM with the battery in. Also, every picture I've seen of a SIM card has the text 'do not install with battery in phone' or similar.

I think that the SIM card standard wasn't built with hot-swap in mind. This may be one of those things that you can get away with, but if it wasn't made for hot-swapping, then it's likely that there's going to be trouble if you try it. The question is - does phone off and battery in count as hot swapping?

Edit - I had been thinking that one should remove the battery because I don't know if the SIM gets any standby power. But Eric's comment below reminds us that some phones have fixed batteries, and therefore it MUST be safe to insert/remove the SIM in at least these phones with the battery installed.

I'm still going to pull the battery whenever possible for doing SIM swaps, but since I only swap SIMs once every never, it's hardly a hardship for me.


Text message with pictures: "Download" button does nothing I have a Galaxy S2 running Android 4.0.4.  When people send me text messages with a picture attached, I receive the message but it says something like this, with a "download" button:

Message size: 1KB
Expires: 8:52AM, Mar 12
[Download]

When I press the download button, it changes to the text "Downloading" for a moment, and then it changes back to the download button and nothing else happens.  I was expecting the picture to open, or something.  Is there some way I can download & view these pictures?

[Update]: I have seen other suggestions to turn on mobile data.  I went to:

Applications => Settings => Data Usage

and verified that Mobile data = ON.  As an experiment, I toggled it OFF then ON again, then pushed the Download button on my text message again, but got the same result (it said "downloading" briefly then nothing).

I have also turned off auto-retrieve here:

Messaging app => Menu => Settings => Multimedia message (MMS) settings

Auto-retrieve  is unchecked & still no success.  I'm pretty stumped.

Update #2:
Suggestion to check APN settings.  I went to:

Settings => Wireless & network

But there is no "mobile" choice.  There is a "more => mobile networks" but it only has "3G data" and "connections optimizer".  Is there some other way to find/set the APN settings?

I just solved this issue on my phone, mms only works through 3g or 4g.  It doesnt work over wifi so turn your wifi off, turn your mobile data on and it will work! Or at least it did with mine anyway. That's had me stumped for a veeery long time haha I hope ive helped someone with this :-)


Can't seem to configure my phone to download to SD card by default Well, I have a Motorola Razr I and, as expected, my internal storage was pretty limited (only 5 gbs). Of course, I already had a SD card which I inserted into my phone to expand it's memory to 25 gbs (more or less), but ran into a couple of problems.
First of those problems was that I had to specify to my Razr that, from now on, my default install and download location would be the aforementioned SD card and, in order to do that, I had to run the following command line: ... set-install-location 2.
After a couple of failed attempts, I managed to make it work. I wrote such line in the command prompt and managed to verify that, indeed, the default install location was "2".  Unfortunately, when I tried downloading an app off Google Play, I still got the Not enough memory available message. The worst part is that I went through the process over and over again and could not find where my mistake was.

Any ideas?

If you're on Android 4.4, write permissions to sd card for apps have been disabled. If you're rooted, you can try SD Fix to permanently fix permissions.


Motorola Z Play having unusable screen I dropped by Moto Z play a few days ago, and when i dropped it, the touchscreen just stopped. I can see everything that is happening on the screen, like the time, notifications and other things on the lock screen, but the touchscreen, as well as the fingerprint reader, is dead. I have tried accessing my data in multiple ways, but nothing has worked.
If anyone can help, please i would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance, and regards.

I found out that if i get a dongle, and attach the dongle to the USB-C, and attach a mouse to that dongle, then i can operate the phone a bit hard, but it works!!