How to use *.img file instead of *.gz (or *.pit) file with Heimdall? I have downloaded .img file for TWRP recovery. How I should use it with Heimdall? It seems that Heimdall accepts .gz files (or .pit files in older versions), not .img!

I've tried opening an .img file and Heimdall complained

  Tar header contained an invalid file size

Opening a .tar file led to

  firmware.xml is missing from the package

Newer versions of Heimdall will accept a .img file for the --RECOVERY parameter and automatically download a PIT from the device to add the img contents to.

$ heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img
Heimdall v1.4.1

[trimmed some output here]

Session begun.

Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.

Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful

Ending session...
Rebooting device...
Releasing device interface...
Re-attaching kernel driver...


Is there any way to block permissions on apps? I read about being able to revoke permissions on CyanogenMod, but it seems the devs took that ability out.

I found some app out on the market for 6$ or so, but it doesn't look like it would be worth its price. It is called Permissions Denied. Any other way to block some permissions for some apps?

Thanks.

There are at least two different solutions available for it: LBE Privacy Guard (careful when you're already running JellyBean: do not use the Playstore version then, but rather check with XDA-Developers, as the playstore version causes boot-loops with JellyBean and the dev did not even place a note for it), and PDroid Privacy Protection / PDroid Manager. The latter is more difficult to install, but often preferred: being implemented at OS level, it offers more security.


How can I transfer SMS messages from my old iPhone to my new Android phone? I think my previous SMS are stored somewhere in iTunes, can I get them back and store them in my new Android?

You can import SMS from iTunes backups using SIM Manager. The program can then save the data to an INI file, you can use that source file to transform the SMS into whatever format is used by Android, and upload them.


unable to connect samsung galaxy s3 via usb cable I have a Samsung Galaxy s3 and I wish to transfer some audio files from it to my PC, running Windows 8.

When I connect the phone to the computer with the USB cable, the phone beeps and begins charging but displays no USB connection notification. Likewise, the computer doesn't register the connection at all. I have googled the problem but only seem to find partial solutions, which don't fit my situation.

any help?

So there are several things that could be happening.

Bad cable: it happens, not too often but often enough. Try a different cable if you can.
Improper drivers: you don't have the necessary drivers installed on your computer. Look here: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads
Phone is in the wrong mode. When the phone is connected, there may be a notification telling you that it is connected, touch the notification and change the mode from MTP to PTP (or visa verca).

If those aren't it leave a comment with a few more details and I can try to help you out


Edit hosts file from terminal IDE with root accessed My terminal IDE accessed root but cannot edit hosts file.

root@172.16.0.151:/system/etc #vim hosts

But vim just opens hosts file as readonly. Where do I missed here?

You've missed that the /system file system is mounted read-only.

mount -o remount,rw /system
cd /system/etc
vim hosts
# edit, save, then make /system read-only again:
mount -o remount,ro /system


Method of typing input while the screen is off Does anyone know a way to enter text input (either in settings or as an app), while the screen is off? I want to use my phone to take notes while reading (with a bluetooth keyboard), but I don't want to leave the screen on or unlock my phone every time I take a note. I don't need any features, except maybe a tone whenever I start typing to confirm everything is still working.

Here is a way to do it but it will waste a lot of battery power if you don't have an Amoled screen:

Install No Screen Off. This allows you to always keep the display on (although it doesnt look like its on since it will be on a black wallpaper).
Install Draw on Screen. This will allow you to draw on any surface on the display.
Open Draw on screen and get used to the controls so you know how to use it.
Download a black wallpaper and open it using your photos app in immersive mode.

Now you should be able to draw on the black screen as if the phone was turned off. Considering you have an amoled display, this won't waste much battery. If you ever want to go back to the normal screen, simply tap "shut down" on the top of Draw on Screen and go back to the homescreen.

For more reference to how to use Drawonscreen, check this link:
How to draw on any screen on android device


How to run a script in background from adb shell? I have a problem with USB tethering on my rooted Nougat phone (LineageOS). After some time phone stops USB tethering. To fix that I run the following script like this:

adb shell
su
nohup sh tether.sh &
exit
exit

tether.sh

#!/system/bin/sh
service list
while true;
do
  if ! pidof -s dnsmasq > /dev/null
  then
    echo -n "Connectivity lost at "
    date -u +%FT%TZ
    echo "Waiting 3 seconds..."
    sleep 3
    echo "Calling ConnectivityManager.setUsbTethering(false)"
    service call connectivity 33 i32 0 2>&1
    sleep 3
    echo "Calling ConnectivityManager.setUsbTethering(true)"
    service call connectivity 33 i32 1 2>&1
    echo "Waiting 3 seconds..."
  fi
  sleep 3
done

Problem: If I use nohup my call to service call connectivity fails with service not found. And I put service list on top of the script which returns Found 0 services:. However the same commands work when ran directly from adb shell; su.

Why service call doesn't work inside this background script? Does it need the same tty to work?

Processes receive signals from other processes or kernel as a warning or as a request to make some change in state. Receiving processes can block, ignore or catch signals, except SIGKILL which does what the name says. A process receives SIGHUP (hangup signal) when its controlling terminal (virtual or pseudo) disconnects or its controlling process (which is usually a shell) terminates. Quoted from adb shell source:

  PTYs automatically send SIGHUP to the slave-side process when the master side of the PTY closes

* See Terminals and Shells on Android for details on PTYs

Process can then handle the signal to continue its execution or just gets killed by the kernel.

nohup makes a process run (usually in background) by simply ignoring SIGHUP even if the controlling terminal closes. Additionally if FDs 0, 1 and 2 of the process are attached to the terminal, nohup redirects STDIN from /dev/null and STDOUT/STDERR to nohup.out file.

Android's built-in /system/bin/nohup has some bad implementation like many other applets of toybox. It replaces STDIN with nothing and leaves STDERR attached to the terminal. So all shell commandline tools which are related to system_server behave unexpectedly because of no FD 0.

Solution is to use nohup e.g. from busybox or do:

nohup tether.sh </dev/null &

Or without nohup:

tether.sh </dev/null &>/sdcard/usb.log &

In order to make sure a program ignores SIGHUP, add trap '' 1 to script above the program to be executed. But it's not required with Android's default MirBSD Korn Shell (/system/bin/sh) which doesn't send SIGHUP to all jobs (children processes) in the same session i.e. attached to the same terminal. So nohup or trap isn't essentially required, whether shell exits or gets killed.

Secondly mksh doesn't detach from terminal(s) completely because in addition to STDIN/OUT/ERR, it attaches to /dev/tty directly (ref). So detaching FDs 0/1/2 doesn't suffice. However there's a daemon mode which completely detaches the command from terminal:

/system/bin/sh -T- tether.sh

Also mksh unblocks all signals, though not relevant here.

bash provides better job management; user can configure with huponexit whether or not to always send SIGHUP to all jobs on exit (ref). Bash's built-in disown command can be used to exclude jobs from receiving signals.

To keep script running in foreground, a multiplexer like tmux or screen can be used. That's what I do, particularly with su binaries from rooting solutions which don't detach (due to limited implementation of pseudo-terminals), when a program is running in background. See this issue for details.

RELATED: How to run an executable on boot and keep it running?


How to prevent Nexus 7 of charging the battery every time when connected to a USB? Hello fellow Android enthusasts,

I recently bought a Nexus7 that I want to use for development. The thing is, every time I connect it to my USB, in order to test some apps on it, it starts charging. Now, i know that this is absolutely normal for every device, but I am also concerned that the constant charge/discharge cycles can shorten the life of the battery. What do I do?

Do I need to get concerned at all? I mean, if it reduces battery life with something like 1% per year, I am totally fine with it. Yet, if it is a significant drain, how can I prevent it from charging unless I am charging from a charger?

Charge/discharge cycles are mostly irrelevant for li-ion batteries.  The main source of capacity loss is simply time.  A li-ion battery sitting unused in storage will lose 15-20% of its capacity per year (see charts on page 4).  Any minor losses from cycling is going to get drowned out by that.


Are GPS-tracking apps data dependent? Are GPS-tracking apps data dependent or will devices use GPS signals alone, to notify their locations?

I am looking for a GPS-tracking app to track family members on a trip where we gonna have limited network coverage, and in some areas no coverage at all.

I am not sure if these apps need data connection to send the location to another device, or they would only use GPS signals.

While a data connection might prove helpful for a faster fix (see: AGPS), it's not strictly necessary to have one. There a a lot of "Offline GPS Apps" available. I personally e.g. used Locus Maps successfully for that in the past, but there are plenty of similar apps available.

Tracks can be stored on the device, of course, and do not need to be sent to a server for the tracking process itself. Most apps allow to export them later in GPX or KML formats.

If, however, you want to now the position from a "remote device" (as your updated question shows, to e.g. know where your kids are at the moment), that cannot work via GPS alone, as GPS signals are only received by our devices, not sent. So this requires at least some kind of coverage: solutions are available to exchange data by different means, e.g. via internet (requires mobile data) or by SMS (still requires a network signal).


Galaxy S4 - Viber answers my phone. Viber answers my phone since yesterday(Dec 3, 2014) after an application update. I would like to know what setting to change so I can answer my calls using my regular phone?

Thank you

Go to Settings>Apps>Viber>Clear defaults. That's it. You're good to go.


Drive sends an almost-daily "1 file is now available offline" notification On my second device (Nexus 5), I keep getting the same notification from Drive almost every morning. When I click on it, the app opens its main screen without marking the file that I was notified about. Funny thing is, I haven't received such notifications on my main device (Pixel 3).

What is this notification about? Can the notification be triggered from the update of a some backup file?

I had the same problem and I think unchecking the "make recent files available offline" setting in the Google Drive app did the trick.
I'm using Google Drive v2.20.261.01.40 on a Google Pixel 3a with Android 10 (build QQ3A.200605.002).


Where are the .apk files of currently installed apps stored on my Android device? Possible Duplicate:
  Where in the file system are applications installed?

How can I view the .apk files of currenly installed apps on my android phone?

Use a file manager to look in the following locations:

/data/app
/data/app-private
/system/app/
/sdcard/.android_secure (shows .asec files, not .apks)
On Samsung phones: /sdcard/external_sd/.android_secure

You need to be rooted to view the first three.


Mobile data in notification toggle I upgraded my Moto G 2 mobile to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop and I have been using Clean Master notification toggle. After this upgrade mobile data is not working by pressing on the mobile data symbol in notification toggle. Pressing on that is taking me to Settings > Data Usage.

Since Lollipop, 3rd-party apps can no longer toggle mobile data without root. However, there's a handy new data toggle in the stock quick settings; tap the signal icon, then tap the toggle in the top-right.


Samsung Galaxy S4: Get files from broken & locked screen I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. I broke the screen a few days back and it was locked at the time. The phone is working because it can charge and I can hear the alarm and incoming calls and messages but I can't see a thing because it is all black. I can't possibly unlock the phone because the touch is not working too. I need to retrieve my files from the phone. So when I connect my phone using a USB to my MAC, it shows me absolutely nothing except this error:

 If your device's screen is locked, disconnect its USB cable, unlock your screen, and then reconnect the USB cable.

Like I said, I cannot unlock the screen. I can't use Samsung's Find my Phone application because I never added a Samsung Account to it and so my device is not registered for remote data recovery.

When I connect my phone to my HP laptop via USB, it shows nothing, not even an error.

Is there any way I can unlock my phone remotely and retrieve my files?

I believe the S4 supports USB On-The-Go. If you get yourself an OTG adapter, you can use it to plug in a USB mouse and unlock the screen that way. A mouse click/drag works just like a screen touch in Android.


If I can access bubble of Messenger like apps from home screen then does it not mean any other app can also access that app? Is Android safe then? In Android phones, we can access Messenger and many more apps similar to it from home screen ( like bubble-heads, lyrics etc). With this we let one app in your phone access another app, (we can use messenger chatting from every app in an android phone).

So if the other app running uses this information taken from a app which is running through bubble-heads, won't that be dangerous?

Does android have any security measures to prevent this?

Messenger bubbles are an overlay. Messenger isn't actually interacting with the app running in the background, it's just drawing over it. Even this is a permission that can be denied.

Android as an operating system is secure, but like all systems, it's as secure as the code running on it. Android sand boxes apps and only allows them to interact with each other through the system in predefined ways ( ex: intents to share or open with another app), and has a robust permissions model to boot.

However if you use an app that wants permission to read your messages (like an SMS app), and you grant it that permission, then if the app does something malicious with that data, or the app itself is not secure, then it's not really the operating systems fault.

Like I said, a system is as secure as the code and applications you choose to run on it.


Error: "Operation not permitted", when attempting to remove su binary placed by KingoRoot I rooted my P8-Lite ALE-L21 (Android 5.0.1) with supersu.zip through TWRP recovery. After that I installed KingoRoot and KingoRoot replaced  su binary with some other su binary which is obsolete for my Android version and not working. So I modified supersu.zip and placed su binary into another directory in /data/local. Now my working su binary is in /data/local and it works fine with adb, but does not work with SuperSU and other applications which use root privilege.

To solve that issue, I tried to remove these old su binaries:/system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su, with the following commands unsuccessfully:

$ adb shell
shell@hwALE-H:/ $ /data/local/su
root@hwALE-H:/ # mount -o remount,rw /system
root@hwALE-H:/ # rm /system/xbin/su
rm: /system/xbin/su: Operation not permitted
1|root@hwALE-H:/ # rm -rf /system/xbin/su
rm: /system/xbin/su: Operation not permitted

What is this error: Operation not permitted?
How can I remove those su files?

Given this link about mount's output, it is at least confirmed that system partition is mounted in read-write mode, so we can exclude that from the list of possibilities that may be restricting rm from deletion. Plus, the error would be different too.
Since you're running the command with superuser privilege, different file owner or group owner of that su file shouldn't the cause here. It most likely would have something to do with file attributes.
To check file attributes we need lsattr tool. Android doesn't come with that tool, so you're left with no choice but to install busybox or toybox. Since your standard root is botched, you cannot install busybox binary using an app. It would fail. In that case, download the binary of busybox or toybox appropriate for your device, rename the binary to busybox or toybox, push it into /data/local/tmp/ and set executable permission on that file. Permission can be set using chmod. Do:
adb shell /data/local/su -c chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/<FILE>  # replace <FILE> with toybox or busybox

Test the binary using
adb shell /data/local/tmp/<FILE>   # replace <FILE> with toybox or busybox

If it works then execute
adb shell /data/local/tmp/<FILE> lsattr /system/xbin/su

Per the output in chat, the file attributes are
-----a-A----- /system/xbin/su

According to manual of chattr,

When a file with the 'A' attribute set is accessed, its atime record is not modified. This avoids a certain amount of disk I/O for laptop systems.
A file with the 'a' attribute set can only be open in append mode for writing. Only the superuser or a process possessing the CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capability can set or clear this attribute.

atime → last access time.
A file with 'a' attribute cannot be rename, delete, or overwritten, but can only be append. So that's the reason rm was throwing the error operation not permitted. (I'm surprised KingoRoot didn't place i attribute.)
Anyhow, we must remove that attribute first. Do:
adb shell /data/local/su -c /data/local/tmp/<FILE> chattr -a /system/xbin/su

It may not give any output unless an error occurs. Now, check the file attributes again using lsattr:
adb shell /data/local/tmp/<FILE> lsattr /system/xbin/su

It should now be
-------A----- /system/xbin/su

That attribute has been removed and you're free to rename, delete and overwrite that file. To remove the file, simply do
adb shell /data/local/su -c rm -f /system/xbin/su

Follow the process for any other file, if it cannot be deleted by rm at once. If lsattr reports i as well, then remove it using -i in chattr.


PDA, CSC, MODEM files in Custom ROMs The ODIN utility for flashing Samsung phones needs different files like PDA, MODEM, CSC etc. Custom ROMs though are always provided as a single zip file.  Why is that? Do custom ROMs already contain these components in the zip file?

First off, the Odin utility doesn't actually need all of the files in every category.  Usually only a single file is flashed via the "PDA" option, and it will contain any of the necessary components.  However, Odin provides for an option to flash components separately.  For example, you can flash only the "Modem" portion to update the cell firmware.

Custom ROMs are usually designed to not touch critical components like bootloader, modem firmware, or recovery image.  These ROMs usually write to OS-level partitions, such as /system and /data (on most phones they can't flash modem firmware even if they wanted to.)  The idea is to not touch the critical components, so that even in an event of a bad flash (e.g. power failure, corrupted download, etc.) you could always get the phone operational in some way (recovery, fastboot.)  Also by making ROMs not contain firmware for specific hardware, the authors make it easier to create ROMs that work on several similar devices, in many different regions.

For example, CyanogenMod produces a single unified ROM for 9 Qualcomm-based Galaxy S4 models, regardless of carrier or country.  The ROM will only replace the OS, and leave the device-specific modem alone.


Looking for an MP3 player with playlist I am looking for an MP3 player that has a playlist and that automatically loads MP3 files from a given folder.

I'm using Winamp, but it's not loading my files.

PS I've asked this question so I don't lose time searching and testing software

I've found Meridian Player Transcend and it's what I needed. I can play all the mp3 files from a folder (all songs in an album)


SPlanner birthday reminders for Samsung contacts I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 and I use the S-Planner app. I have my contacts NOT on Google (and I don't want to share them with Google). My contacts are saved as "Samsung account" contacts.

I have contacts with a birthday, and the birthdays are correctly shown in the S Planner app. I also have notifications for all-day events on in the S Planner app. Still, I'm not reminded for birthdays.

How to get reminders for birthdays like for all other calender entries?

There are similar discussions for the Google calender here.

Even there is not a real solution named just workarounds.

However there is recently also an app Contact Events & Birthdays referenced, which I found quite usefull and solved this problem for me. Basically the reminders are then created by this app (and upcoming events can be listed). The app is designed to scan the adressbook for Birthdays and other events.

As you saved your contacts as "Samsung Contacts" I'm not sure if it will work for you, but maybe it is worth a try.


My Android phone screen is un-usable, how do I transfer all my data to a new phone? My current phone (Samsung Galaxy POP) running Andoid 2.2 has all its data including contacts and messages stored in the SD card + SIM card. However the touch screen of that phone has been damaged and so the phone is unusable now on it's own. I have purchased a new phone (Xperia SL) online which which runs Android 4.0 and does not have an SD card slot, it only has an internal memory. My question is, how do I transfer all my data including contacts and text messages from my old phone to my new phone. Since my old phone is practically unusable, I'll have to connect it to my PC and prob back up my data and thereafter transfer it to the new phone. Could somebody suggest me some resources which will guide me on how to backup my data between phones by using the PC as a medium. I tried looking up on Google for help and could not find any good solutions for this issue.

This is one of the reasons a Smartphone without a SDCard slot is an absolute no-go for me: If you cannot access the device anymore (e.g. the device no longer powers up), and don't want your data "in the cloud" -- you can say Good-bye to your data...
But to your issue:
SIM card
As you state all your contact data are on the SIM card -- no worries for those. As soon as you stick the SIM card into the new device, those contact data are there. Unless you've used a miniSIM until now and the new device only supports microSIM (or any other reason you cannot simply put the SIM card into the new phone). So in case of that, you can...

open your contacts app on the old phone
tap the menu key
select Export/Import
Export all contacts to your SDCard

Then, we handle those data together with the other SDCard stuff.
Text messages
They are a completely different issue. Here you would need a special backup app to retrieve them. As with the contacts "export", this would also require you to at least be able to use your old phone somehow.
If your PC runs Windows, you might want to take a look at MyPhoneExplorer, which comes with an Android Client (the link points there) and a PC component. Not running Windows myself, I can only report hear-say -- but it should be able to synchronize your Android device with your PC, including contacts, text messages, and more. It even lets you remote-control your device to a degree, according to the comments. A similiarly powerful tool for Windows users is Moborobo, also worth a look (see AddictiveTips for a description).
Not being on Windows, but being able to use your old device's screen at least basically, Message Sync can export your messages on the old and import them on the new device; SMS Backup & Restore would be an alternative choice.
SDCard

Take out the SDCard from the old phone, put it into a card reader, and attach it to your PC. Your PC should show this as a new drive.
Attach your new phone to your computer using a USB cable. It should offer you to select a connection mode. Depending on what's available, chose either USB Mass Storage or MTP. Again, your PC should now offer this as a new drive.
Use your favorite file explorer on the PC to copy all the data from the SDCard to your new device
Safely remove and disconnect both devices from your PC
If you had to export your contacts on the old phone via the contacts app, use the same procedure to import them to your new device


Restore mmssms.db without root? So I have managed to get this file from a broken install, I'd like to restore my sms but I don't want to root my phone. How can I manage this ?
I've thought about converting to xml and using sms backup and restore but this will be tedious because of the format converting.
What else do you suggest ?

So I decided to export the SQL data as CSV and then imported in Excel.
I then checked the XML format from SMS backup and Restore, made it match, exported it as XML from Excel.
And finally you can just restore it.


Exchange calendar syncs to Android, but not to Google I feel as though I am missing a simple configuration change on my Android device.  I recently setup my work Exchange account on my Galaxy S4.  My calendar entries from Exchange show up on my Android calendar just fine.  However, I want those entries to actually get pushed to my Google calendar.

Is there an easy way to have my Android device push those events to my Google calendar instead of keeping them local to the phone calendar itself?

Share the ICS URL of your Exchange to Google Calendar.

From an Oregon State University HOWTO:

Click on Calendar in the lower left corner
You should see all your calendars in front of you. On the left side of the window, you should see the list of calendars and their names. Under My Calendars, right click the one you wish to add to your Google account.
After right clicking your chosen calendar, right click, go Share > Publish This Calendar (Publish This Calendar to the Internet)
A new window will pop up. Select the options for which best suit you.
When complete, press Start Publishing in the lower right corner.
A couple of urls will show up for you to copy. Find the one that ends in .ics and copy that whole url.
Go to Google Calendar
When logged in to view your calendar, go find Other Calendars on the left side of the window
After finding Other Calendars, there should be a box with a triangle in it to the right of the text. Click that box and find Add by URL.
A popup will show up. In this popup, you want insert the .ics URL from your Outlook here.
Press Add Calendar below.


How to turn Gmail notifications back on after uninstalling Google Inbox? I already use the Android Gmail app. I installed Google Inbox and was receiving double notifications. Inbox offered to stop receiving Gmail app notifications. I agreed to this.

Then, I no longer wanted Google Inbox so I uninstalled it. Gmail notifications did not turn back on. I checked settings, apps, Gmail, notifications checkbox (yes), but still no Gmail notifications.

Settings - Accounts - select Google - make sure sync for Gmail is turned on.


Heimdall errors, "ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device." When trying to flash a Galaxy S3 (ATT), I get

  ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.

below is the log,

$ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img
Heimdall v1.4.0

Copyright (c) 2010-2013, Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.

Start off by making sure that you're plugged into a USB 2.0 port. Then,

put the device in download-mode,

  $ sudo adb reboot download

continue flashing with heimdall,

  $ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img

That should work,

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Attempt failed. Detaching driver...
Claiming interface again...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.

Beginning session...

Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!

Session begun.

Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.

Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful

Ending session...
Rebooting device...
Releasing device interface...
Re-attaching kernel driver...


Problems with syncing emails on Galaxy SIII I recently did a software update to 4.3 and now my email account loads emails in as unread and I go in to mark them as read but within 5 minutes they change to unread and I get new noticiations.  Can someone please tell me how to fix this problem.

I think software update has reverted all your settings, follow the steps :

If you are using gmail app ,  then you should go to settings and check the concerned setting and also go to phone settings and under Accounts click Google and sync now.
If you are using stock email app follow the above procedure but im accounts select email and sync. Also check the email app settings.

Reply if problems persist.


Internal memory issues So I have a ZTE obsidian (z820) running lollipop 5.1 and I have a 16gb micro SD card in it.  There is no way to root this phone that I have found after weeks of searching,  and I need to move my apps or at least install new ones to my SD card.  Under "default write disk"  I have the SD card checked off, but the phone still tries to install the apps to the phone.  I've rolled back all the apps I don't use that come stock to their stock versions and disabled them to free up some space and I use the apps I have (not many) but I still get insufficient storage error when I try to install apps.  Even internal memory has over 300mb free yet apps only a few megs refuse to install until I delete stuff.  Is there anything I can do to remedy this situation??

I've searched around any have no idea what to do.

For insufficient memory over 300 mb has a reason of storing space for images and videos captured by camera.It is specially allotted to them as for camera internal memory is default as storage. There should be an option for changing default write disk for camera. By changing it might help you.

For the rooting your device you also willing to try these -->

1. Rooting tutorial.
2. Upgrade to Marshmallow.


My J5 refuses to update to 6.0.1 It says: "The latest updates have already been installed."

I have 5.1.1 and I'm pretty sure I can update to 6.0.1...

Fix?

TL;DR: With F/DS model you are out of luck. Better stay with 5.1

In case of Samsung devices, there is a system called Customer Sales Code (CSC). It allows Samsung to provide updates sooner or later, depending on this code. For example, if I bought my phone in Poland, my CSC = XEO. It ends with "O", meaning Open. However, it's not that simple when you got your phone from carrier, because most of them have individual CSC to provide their bloatware. For example, if I get a phone from Orange Poland, I would get CSC = IDE. In that case, it would be my carrier that decides when I get an update, so even if entire world would already have 6.0, I may have to use 5.1 because someone at carrier HQ would be too lazy to confirm an update.

However, it's not a lost cause. With this app you can check your CSC (and many telemetry data used by Samsung, like how often you charge you phone, how many times you used headphones, etc. (they are almost worse than Microsoft)). Then check this list to see if it's Open version (it will have an asterisk). If your CSC is not Open and you see another CSC for your country that is Open, remember that CSC. If your country doesn't have Open, check neighbouring countries' CSC. If they also aren't open, google if any carrier in your country provides 6.0 update and google its CSC. Or even use CSC from Germany or Poland, it's not recommended but many people do it.

Then, when selected CSC, you have to either:

find ROM with selected CSC - this way you won't lose your warranty, but with F/DS model you are out of luck. You can browse http://samsung-updates.com/ and http://www.sammobile.com/ and compare your firmware IDs with the ones on website, but I don't guarantee they work. Then use Odin to install it.
install Cyanogenmod - F/DS=nope
root your device with KingoRoot apk so it won't trigger KNOX, and then: a) use CSC Changer app (go there and search for "S4"), b) use Root Browser or ES File Manager and do like this tutorial says (scroll to ES File Manager and follow up to point 8). Then after reboot search again for updates. If somehow KNOX triggered and you've seen triangle during boot, use TriangleAway and try searching again.


How the device (that is off) decide how to publish itself for USB: "MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM port" or "MediaTek USB Port" device? How the mobile phone (that is off) informs the Windows PC (with installed drivers "MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM port" and "MediaTek USB Port") how to identify itself: as device
- "MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM port" or as
- "MediaTek USB Port"?

When I plug the phone to USB, Windows PC connect it sometime through "preloader USB", sometimes through "just USB" ports, sometimes both  in sequence  (I see it from WMI events). I don’t see any pattern related to "time after next attempt" or "volume buttons pressed".

P.S This is "the phone off" state when battery is inside. What are correct names for those states (battery "in" and "outside")? When battery is extracted - device is not recognized as USB device by PC.

I can't see the question here ?

Are you asking what the driver is for ?

Please have a look at this video to understand what the preloader is, MTK Backup & Restore

The Mediatek Preloader is used for flashing new image's to your device.

Their is two different boot loaders on Mediatek device's..

MTK DA USB - For flashing the Preloader
MTK Preloader  - For flashing all other image's

How does it register as a device while it's off ?
This is so you can fix your device when it won't even turn on, it need's to be before the boot of your system.

I hope i somehow answered the question here.


HP Slate 21 Won't Boot and Recovery Doesn't Work My stock HP Slate no longer boots.  It stops at the HP logo / Powered by Android splash screen.  I've tried all of the solutions typically available to this device like resetting with the power turned off button combination.  I've tried all the options (start, Recovery Mode and Restart BootLoader) but they all freeze on the same splash screen.

I now have a really nice brick.  Any suggestions / recommendations on what I can do to restore or recover this device?

I've found that if you unplug it, plug it back in and hit the power button it will boot. But, any time you shutdown again and try to restart, same boot issue persists. Unplug, plugin, power on, repeat...


force headphone mode When I plug in the 3.5mm jack and play back media, headphone mode keeps toggling, resulting in audio cutting in/ out every second or so.
Is there a way to force headphone mode or disable the 3.5mm jack detection?

I tried a couple of apps and searched the web but people seem to want to force speakers rather than headphones, so no luck.

(Android 4.2.2 Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite)

First off, you require root. Then Install Xposed Framework and Install an app ( forgot the name but do a quick google search for it and you will find it ) which lets you override your deafult actions when certain things happen like  plugging in the headphone. Then you can set that action to anything you want.


Is it possible to lock the bootloader without losing data? Is it possible to lock my phone without losing the system data it has? I had previously unlocked my Nexus 6p to get root access, and have since despised the big yellow warning sign reminding me that my device is unlocked every time I restart my phone. I have downloaded over a hundred apps as well as movies, music, and other files that I don't want to lose, so factory resetting is not an option. I am running Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a TWRP custom recovery.

On Nexus 6P the bootloader relocking method is contains the Factory Reset, there is nothing to do.

If you are trying to relock your device you should see a screen like this: image.

If you want to keep your files and data you should make a backup and when your device bootloader agian locked you restore it.

This is a normal behaviour but for example on OP2 there is a method to keep your data in save during the bootload relocking procedure.


WhatsApp chat export not working Exporting WhatsApp chat doesn't work from Android (WhatsApp v2.21.1.16, Android 11).
When exporting a chat, it exports only partially (circa 20MB+/- 3MB). Exporting the same chat from an iPhone works fine.
Any ideas?
Can't wait to be rid of WhatsApp. Telegram all the way.

On Android, WhatsApp has a limitation on how many messages you can export.

When exporting with media, you can send up to 10,000 latest messages. Without media, you can send 40,000 messages. These constraints are due to maximum email sizes.  https://faq.whatsapp.com/android/chats/how-to-save-your-chat-history/?lang=en

You might be successful in transferring your chat to an iDevice or accessing the database of the backup on your computer.


Lock down 'receive text messages' setting I recently got a shock on my phone bill when it showed over a hundred texts received by the standard text messaging app. I had been receiving these solely through Google Voice, specifically to avoid such charges.

I checked the Google Voice settings, and somehow the 'Receive text messages' setting had been switched to 'Via the messaging app'. Ack! I switched it back. But: Is there a way (or a utility app) that will lock this setting in place?

[EDIT] All right, I was a bit vague in the original description of this problem. Let me walk through this step by step:

Last month, my phone bill was about $25 more than the month before. Comparing it to the previous bill, I found that the difference was due to over 100 texts having been received on the phone through the carrier.

I checked my phone settings, and found that in Google Voice, the setting under Sync and Notifications >> Receive Text Messages was set to Via the messaging app. All the recent text messages were listed in the standard messaging app. I changed the Google Voice setting to Via the Google Voice app, and had a friend send me a new text message. It appeared in Google Voice, but not in the standard messaging app.

What I seek is a way to lock down that Google Voice setting so that it cannot be changed. (I suspect that it was altered somehow by a recent Google Voice upgrade.) Does such an app exist, or is there a way of doing this that I am overlooking?

Thanks...

JGB

If you don't want to receive text messages on your actual phone number and only receive them via your Google Voice number, just call your carrier and tell them to disable text messaging.

I used to do that, back when I had a plan that charged for messages. Just tell them to disable incoming and outgoing text messages, and you won't have to worry about any future charges.

The Google Voice app sends and receives text messages as standard data, and it doesn't use the carrier's texting abilities. So disabling texting through your carrier won't inhibit your ability to use Google Voice for texting.


How can I access my SanDisk sdcard from Linux Deploy How can I access my SanDisk sdcard
I would like to know how to see it contents and set it RW property, ejected it copy,delete and so on from the command line using JuiceSSH and vnc file manager going though  Linux Deploy on android 4.2.2
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS [running via Linux Deploy]
Last login: Tue Dec 15 16:16:47 2020 from localhost
$ su
root@localhost:/home/android# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0781:558a SanDisk Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
root@localhost:/home/android#

Thank You

properties - Allow to mount the Android resources
properties - Edit the mount points list

$ANDROID_ROOT
/cache
$ANDROID_DATA
/su
$ANDROID_STORAGE/emulated
$ANDROID_STORAGE/4D47-9860

this result in
ubuntu@localhost:~$ df -a
Filesystem                                                     1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/block/loop1                                                 3030800  1858236    998896  66% /
proc                                                                   0        0         0    - /proc
sys                                                                    0        0         0    - /sys
tmpfs                                                            1010636      740   1009896   1% /dev
tmpfs                                                            1010636        0   1010636   0% /dev/shm
devpts                                                                 0        0         0    - /dev/pts
/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11120000.msdc0/by-name/system     2483744  2045332    422028  83% /system
/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11120000.msdc0/by-name/cache       245679     2165    226311   1% /cache
/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11120000.msdc0/by-name/userdata  11608792  8786360   2789664  76% /data
/dev/block/loop0                                                   92656     8064     82628   9% /su
/data/media                                                     11608792  8786360   2789664  76% /storage/emulated
/mnt/media_rw/4D47-9860                                         31150720 25943968   5206752  84% /storage/4D47-9860
ubuntu@localhost:~$

on android 4.2.2 the paths differ
$ANDROID_ROOT
/cache
$ANDROID_DATA
$EXTERNAL_STORAGE
$SECONDARY_STORAGE

this will bind mount all android partitions into linux chroot container
(the latter one is your external MicroSD card)
/system
/cache
/data
/storage/sdcard0
/storage/sdcard1


Why are disabled apps still running? I've noticed that apps (such as Google Contacts Sync) that have been disabled using the stock Android (KitKat) app manager still show up as running when using process observer tools.  This is true even after the device has been rebooted.

Why are disabled apps still running?  Is there an effective (and safe) way to actually disable them?

Solutions requiring root privileges are acceptable.

(Note that for the specific example above, you can tell Android not to sync your contacts, but it still runs the Google Contacts Sync process.  But let's not dwell on that example... it's just an example.)

Your Android need not to have root access for truly disabling an app, if you've version 4.4.x or above.  All you need is adb setup in PC and USB debugging enabled in a non-rooted device, or a terminal emulator app for a rooted device (you can use adb too).

If you check Package Manger's (pm) usage, you would see

pm block [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT")
pm unblock [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT")

For Lollipop, it would be

pm hide [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT")
pm unhide [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE_OR_COMPONENT")

In order to block or hide a package (it is safe), simply do

pm block PACKAGE # for KitKat
pm hide PACKAGE  # for Lollipop

To unblock or unhide the package, do

pm unblock PACKAGE #for KitKat
pm unhide PACKAGE  # for Lollipop

PACKAGE → package name of an app. To know the package name of an app:

For KitKat, follow View app's full package name?
For Lollipop, open Settings → Apps → All apps →  your app → click here

Append adb shell before very command to execute them from PC.

The function behind hide has the following comment inside the source code

  Puts the package in a hidden state, which is almost like an uninstalled state, making the package unavailable, but it doesn't remove the data or the actual package file. Application can be unhidden by either resetting the hidden state or by installing it

Similar commenting is done for  block here.

In order to verify the claim, you can use some system services such as meminfo, procstats and activity using the dumpsys tool or even list all the processes using ps. You won't find an active presence of the blocked/hidden app.

The same goes for a lot of system apps disabled using GUI or pm disable but not for every app since even a  disabled app can receive broadcasts it has registered for, which can only be done if it is loaded into the memory1. Nevertheless, a disabled app cannot act on its own, neither can it be executed by any other app.

I've argued some of the differences between  hide/block and disable on my question pm hide VS pm disable -- the identity crisis. It provides only supplementary info to this answer so you may skip it.

EDIT:

It appears that the technique doesn't work for all apps on Android KitKat. In that case, simply revoke read permission from app's APK or remove the extension .APK from the file name of the app (latter suggested by Jaskaranbir once), followed by a soft/full reboot. This is same as deleting an app from system, with only difference that all files would remain at their place.

Both of the steps can be executed using any root file manager app. The command line way is:

adb shell su -c 'chmod 000 /data/app/PACKAGE*'             # 000 means no read-write-executable permission to user,group and others.
adb shell su -c 'mv /data/app/PACKAGE* /data/app/PACKAGE'  # doing renaming by moving the file
adb reboot

1: Lacking technical evidence to support the fact


android won't factory reset so, i've been having trouble with my phone lately so i decided to back up my data and factory reset, but every time i wan't to do it the ''reset phone'' button does not work, i can't even press it, i have also tried to hard reset but when i get to the screen where i choose factory reset (the screen where there is a android guy saying ''no commands''), there are no commands to choose so that is also a negative for reseting, thanks in advance...

don't worry. Do just what I say:

Turn off you Motorola Moto G 2nd Gen(I mean moto G2).
Afterwards press and hold the Volume Up and Volume Down for about 2-3 seconds.
While still holding these keys press the Power button for a short while and release all buttons.

Then select option Recovery by using to navigate Volume Down, and to confirm Volume Up.
In the next step hold down the Volume Up for a few seconds when an Android logo appears on the screen.
While holding the Power button, press and release the Volume Up key.
Press Volume Down to choose "wipe data/factory reset", and then push the Power button to confirm.
Select "Yes--delete all user data". Use Volume Down button to scroll and Power button to select.
To restart the phone, select "reboot system now".

  Success! The hard reset is done!

  Source : All credits go to hardreset.info


What am I supposed to do with Bug reports captured? From time to time I get a notification on my phone which says:

Bug report #1 captured
Tap to share your bug report

When I tap, it warns me about the possibility of sensitive information being in the report.  I tap on "Ok" to continue.

But now, instead of the report being submitted somewhere automatically, like it would under something like Windows or Mac OS X, it pops up a "Share with" prompt, asking me how I want to share it.   I have no idea, I don't even know what caused the bug report!

The choices I see are Gmail (who am I supposed to send it to, especially given that I don't know what the report is even about?), Add to Dropbox (what good would that be?), Android Beam (never used this, but it sounds like maybe I would need to be in the same room as Android developer for this to be useful), and Save to Drive (again, seems about as useless as adding to my Dropbox).

I'm not even sure why I'm being prompted to do this, given the complete lack of instruction on what I should be doing.

Update: I tried e-mailing the report to myself. The bug report contained an empty (black) image, and a zip file containing a 16.4MB log file (which appeared to just be a dump of various process info - I didn't look at the whole thing due to length, but I couldn't find any obvious indication of what the problem was) and a FS directory containing a path FS/data/tombstones containing 10 separate files ranging between one month and one year old (nothing from today!).  The newest of these files appear to be system related (/system/bin/rild, com.android.nfc, system/bin/netmgrd, ...)

Where you share the bug report depends entirely up to you. A bug report can be generated regardless if there is an issue/error/crash or not.

Usually, bug reports are needed by developers and/or supports in order to find more details in pinpointing a specific issue. The bug report is essential since it provides a lot of details about the device from which the error/issue is occuring.

How you share it depends on how you are communicating with the developer or support, it's usually just through email, but it's also safe to save it via your own Cloud Storage account (e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox), then share the download URL.


Is there a way to combine settings (Mobile/GPS/Bluetooth/etc) into profiles? I'd like to setup some combination of On/Off settings and create profiles.  For example, when at home, I'd like Bluetooth/Wifi On, but Mobile Off.  When going to work, I want Mobile On and everything else off.  Is there an easy way to do this?

Check out Locale. It's not the cheapest app, but it is very well made and will allow you to do this. It switches to profiles automatically based on certain conditions too.

For example, when it detects that you are at home it can automatically switch to your Bluetooth/Wi-fi profile and turn off the mobile network.


Is it possible to see numbers I typed in previous call? Here's the thing, someone called me today and during the call I pressed a few numbers, then the call ended before I could save them somewhere. Is it possible to find them somewhere?

Yes you can do it by using this Number Saver App.
App description is as follows:

  Save a number while you're in a phone call, and dial it right after.

  Access during call from notification bar, or from app icon

  To pull notification bar in the call screen, press HOME first (Android limitation)

  The app has two modes for number or note:

  Save it to the clipboard (which later you can 'paste' it wherever you like)
  Save it in the internal app memory

  On both you can later access the last saved number or note and create a contact, dial or SMS.


Installing app from google play in my SD Card I like hearing to songs through tuneQ app (Scosche), which I had downloaded from Google Play. tuneQ is a music player.

Unfortunately the player lists songs present in my Internal Memory. I want to install the tuneQ player in my SD card so that I can have access to all the songs in my SD card.

Have you tried the "Apollo Music Player"-app by the CyanogenMod team? As far as I know you cannot read and play music from the external memory if the application is not able to. So you won't fix it by installing the app on the external SDcard.

The Appolo Music Player is:

Free
Great
Equalizer
High Quality

This cannot be downloaded from the Google Market, but you might grab it from XDA (just be sure to enable to permit installing from unknown sources):

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2196385


Why are Google Maps 9.5.1 running slow/freezing? My Google Maps tend to freeze whenever I interact with them. Sometimes I can move around the map and it loads fine, but as soon as I do something else, like picking a location, like a restaurant or a bookmarked position, it freezes, which ends in either app completely crashing, or it unfreezing after ~15 seconds. Sometimes it even crashes the SystemUI. Even when I exit the app, the whole system runs slow and laggy until I remove it from recents.

I believe that the issue is not related to phone performance, as I've ran games like GTA III and Need For Speed Most Wanted on it smoothly (It's an Xperia T). I'm using CM12. I've tried deleting the data and cache, but that didn't help. The version of the Maps is 9.4.1.

The Google Maps App is dependent on the Google Play Services app. Whenever you point out a location or a route, or even load a particular area of the map regularly, it records your actions so as to provide a better prediction the next time you access that particular app.

Those recorded actions are linked to your Google Account through the Google Play Services app, which runs in the background. This might overburden the RAM, and to free more space for it, the system terminates other activities which might be linked to the SystemUI. When they terminate, the SystemUI crashes.

When you deleted the data and the cache, it just made the app rebuild its data. The records would be with the Google Play services, which would be relinked with the app again.

When you wiped the data, all previous records would be erased even in Google Play services, so there would be much less data for the app to read while it loads. Hence the speeding up after a data wipe.


Booting into twrp unsuccessful Followed the steps mentioned in
http://www.droidape.com/install-twrp-and-root-moto-g-2014-2nd-generation/

installed twrp successfully. But as  I try to get into the recovery the screen shows the android guy lying on its back(no command). Please help

Moto devices with a stock ROM have a facility to replace the recovery with the stock image, TWRP handles this but you have to reboot into recovery once before starting the phone normally. Flash TWRP with fastboot and boot into it, allow changes (or first, say No, then do a backup!) then within TWRP do a Reboot -> Recovery, this will "set" the recovery so it will not be replaced.

fastboot boot twrp.img (replace twrp.img with the actual filename for your TWRP image)

TWRP should load. Do not allow changes and perform a full backup (keep this safe so you can restore to known good point if needed at some time). Once this is done, go to Home - Reboot - Bootloader

Flash TWRP with fastboot flash recovery twrp.img and then reboot into the bootloader with fastboot reboot-bootloader and start Recovery, TWRP should start.

In TWRP, allow changes and go to Reboot and select Recovery, the device should reboot and TWRP will start again. Select the option to allow changes, go to Reboot and select Recovery, this will "set" TWRP as the static recovery image.

You can now Reboot - System and the phone should start with TWRP left in place.


Will android market work (update app) after I install a new mod in my phone I am going to root and install cyanogen mod 7 on my samsung I5801 (Having froyo).

Will the android market work in cyanogen mod i.e. will I be able to use and update all the applications (whenever updates are released) that I installed from android market as I would do previously?

CyanogenMod is not permitted to redistribute Google's proprietary apps packaged with the ROM, but they make them available separately. As long as you download and flash the latest Google Apps package from your recovery system, you can continue to use the Market as you normally would.

The newest versions of CM are (according to the wiki, anyway) designed to actually backup your Google Apps during the install and then re-install them for you, but I've had mixed results with this so I typically just install them manually after installing CM.


Android is ignoring my choice of lock screen I have bought a Samsung Galaxy S5 and I was so excited about the fingerprint feature.
So when  I got  the phone I tried to set fingerprint as my unlock method, but it didn't work.
The lockscreen now has a pedlock and there is two ways to unlock the phone.

First way:
Drag over the screen (the default option).

Second way:
Drag over the pedlock to get to a new screen from which I can only open with fingerprint.

How can I fix this?
I want to unlock the phone only with fingerprint, not with drag.

Solved it! The problem was that when I connected my Samsung Gear Fit to my phone via bluetooth the phone was told to bypass lockscreen. The solution was to go to Settings > Security > Trusted Agents and then turn Smart Lock off :)


AFWALL+ doesn't block apps when on WiFi I'm currently running AfWall+ on LineageOS (Android 7.1.2) and seem to have a problem with this app. When I'm on WiFi it doesn't stop anything it's supposed to (works just fine on mobile).
Can someone please advice what cold be the problem?

I came across your question because I had the same problem, and I just figured it out (although it might be a different cause in your case).

Details of my case (to see if it applies):
I'm also on 7.1.2 (LineageOS 14.1), and I'm using a VPN with AFWall+ v2.9.8. AFWall+ is supposed to only allow connections through the VPN. It's actually been working fine for a while, but it suddenly started allowing connections through my WiFi even when the VPN was off (it still worked properly on mobile data).

I eventually came to the conclusion that this was caused by the fact that my ISP provider started switching to IPv6, and it seems that AFWall+ doesn't support IPv6 by default (by that, I mean it doesn't apply the rules to IPv6 traffic). This is, of course, a wild guess, because I couldn't find any manual for it that explains the details of the slightly cryptic/confusing settings (e.g., not sure what the "Only Control IPv6 Chains" option means and why it is mutually exclusive with the "IPv6 support option).

Solution:
Having said all that, the solution that worked for me was to go to Preferences > Rules/Connectivity and under "IPv6 Chains", check the option for IPv6 support ("Enable support for IPv6").

When I applied the firewall rules after doing this, it applied twice as many rules as it was before I enabled IPv6 support. This is what led me to believe that previously, it was only applying my rules to IPv4 traffic, while now, it's applying my rules to IPv4 and IPv6 traffic (hence, twice as many rules).

Of course, even if I'm unclear on the AFWall+ settings, the main reason I believe this is the cause/solution is that everything works as expected now!


Running android apps directly on ubuntu or gentoo I wonder if is it possible to run android applications DIRECTLY on a Linux distribution like ubuntu or gentoo?
I mean running the apps on linux without the help of virtualbox,simulators like genymotion, on google chroom...

is it possible to compile a linux kernel in such a way to do this?
if so, is there any guide to to describe the process step by step?

any help is appriciated

Yes, there is, though right now it's still experimental. It's called Anbox, and it uses kernel features to share the kernel between the distro and the Android system.

Oh, and no need to recompile the kernel at all.


Delete member from a Viber group I have created a group for chat on Viber and one person joined the group.

How can I remove that person?

Viber doesn't provide facility to delete or remove member from group even if your are group admin.

Only option is you leave and delete group and recreate the group without that member.
Sorry


Google Now in other languages? What plans does Google have to support Google Now in other languages. This would be especially important for people who need to use the device without looking at the screen.

On my Samsung Galaxy SIII, Android 4.4.2 KitKat, if I change the Settings app | Controls | Language and Input | Language setting then the user interface language changes but the Google Now speaking voice is still in English.

I have also tried Settings app | Controls | Voice Control but those settings are limited to voice control for answering or rejecting calls, stopping or snoozing alarms, shooting with the camera or video software, or controlling the playing of music.

Also under Settings app | Device | Accessibility there are several useful user settings such as TalkBack, but nothing related to Google Now.

Finally, in the Google Now application there are several useful functionalities but nothing to set the input and output languages in Google Now.

It appears google already does, if you open the app Google Settings, Then Search and Now. Then Voice, at the top you can pick from a bunch of languages. I added Espanol (Mexico) since I know a little and it recognized my voice in spanish. Hope this is what you are looking for.


Does Flashing Stock ROM in Odin Clear out the System Partition First? Does Flashing Stock Samsung ROM in Odin Clear out the System Partition First?

Options Used:
No repartition,
ROM put inside PDA slot

I'm wondering because I suspect there may have been some malware in the previous ROM that was flashed.  So I want to be sure all the Files that were in the System Partition Previously are deleted.

If you use Odin then I am asuming you have a samsung device. Depending on what Stock rom you use, I mean if you will flash using 1 file or 3 file rom, if you have a 3 file rom then you have to put in the pit file to, and then you can enable the re-partition.

If you use 1 file rom in odin, i think it will re-partition by default so you do not have to check the repartition check box in odin.


Is it possible to run flash applet with microphone support on Android? I have an applet with microphone support which works fine in all desktop browser. But on Android it says "can't obtain microphone".

Is this obstacle principal or can be overcame?

No, you cannot use a microphone on the mobile version of Flash Player.
From the Action Script Reference Documents:

Runtime microphone support
The Microphone class is not supported in Flash Player running in a mobile browser.


"System" using 342GB storage? I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in which I put a 400GB SanDisk micro-SD card to expand its storage space. Seems that didn't work though. The space is not available to me. And I can't really figure out why or how I can make this space available.

When I inserted the SD card, I selected that this SD card needs to be adopted as internal storage (I don't intend to take it out any time soon). And I had Android reformat it as it likes. However the storage app seems to be confused or the partitions messed up.

Bottom line, I'm not able to take more photos or transfer more music onto the phone because it's running out of storage.

Here's what the "Storage Settings" settings menu says about my disk usage:

367GB total used of 728GB

Internal shared storage: 366GB used of 367GB

Apps: 845MB

Images: 483MB

Videos: 0

Audio: 19.50GB

System: 342GB

Other: 3.17GB

Cached data: 112MB

SanDisk SD Card: 0.96GB used of 361GB

Apps: 2.71GB

Cached data: 40.42MB

Bold is my highlight. I don't understand why System is using 342GB or why it's counting the SD card double (the phone itself comes with 32GB built-in storage). Why is it not letting me store these files on the SD card?

I have Termux installed and here's the output of the df command:

Filesystem       1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
rootfs             1680128     4560   1675568   1% /
tmpfs              1816220      448   1815772   1% /dev
tmpfs              1816220        0   1816220   0% /mnt
/dev/block/dm-0  378585556  1006608 377562564   1% /mnt/expand/612126b2-7bab-4bf8-8a24-ebacec5b0c23
/dev/block/sda14   4233152  1095448   3121320  26% /system
/dev/block/sda15    197472      188    193188   1% /cache
/dev/block/sda18  25772320 25243840    512096  99% /data
/data/media       25772320 25243840    512096  99% /storage/emulated

So I understand that this /storage/emulated is the one that's full, but somehow in this /dev/block/dm-0 there is this 377.6GB of space being unused. How can I make that space available to me? I've got ADB installed on my computer if necessary. It seems that the only thing saved on the SD card is several apps.

The answer was found through a comment by Irfan Latif here: "System" using 342GB storage? While I'd found this question prior to posting my own, I had dismissed it as being inapplicable since my df output is very different, and I hadn't found the menus shown in the screenshots there.

What I had to do is to go to Settings -> Storage -> The (almost empty) SD card. Then click on the grippy 3-dot menu in the top right, and select Migrate. You then get into the menu mentioned in the above answer (which was apparently supposed to show up when first installing the SD card, but didn't show for me). I moved the content, which took 15 minutes or so. And since then my phone indicates:

Internal shared storage: 344GB used of 367GB
SanDisk SD card: 26.32GB used of 361GB

When plugging in the phone, it now also indicates 334GB available space, and I can load more music and take more pictures.

Thank you for the suggestions, everyone.


Nokia phone has pre-installed survey: how can I remove it? I just bought a Nokia 6.1 phone. On the whole I like it, but today this popped up:

The app is called "NPS" ("Net Promoter Score"?) version 9.0010.50. I found a discussion of it here, but the only way mentioned to disable it doesn't work (my "User Experience Program/Diagnostic Report" option is already off).

I don't like my time being wasted, but I like even less the idea that the phone is "phoning home" to yet another company.

Any suggestions for how to disable or get rid of this app? (I'm tempted to respond as negatively as possible to every question the app poses...)

It is a 5kB app, with the package name com.evenwell.nps.
It is a system app, which i can't find an option to disable, if you have root your mileage may vary.

You could try opening up Digital Wellbeing (system > Digital Wellbeing), and setting a block on it that way, I have turned off Digital Wellbeing though, so i can't vouch for it

I have a Nokia 3.1, and from experience it pops up a day after setup, and hasn't come back to me for the past 7 months.


How to quickly lock the screen? If you leave the android phone idle it will lock the screen, so you need draw lines in the dots to unlock it.

But I need quickly lock the phone when I will put in my bag, by example. Basic phones I simply hold the # or * button and the keys will lock.

How do I do to get this in android phones?

Press the power button on the device. All phones should have them and they are usually the buttons that lock the screen as well. If you happen to not have a lock button you can change how quickly Android will lock the screen on idle in settings. The way to change this varies from different flavors of Android.


Is it possible to update CyanogenMod from within CyanogenMod? Is there a way to update CyanogenMod from within CyanogenMod without going though the whole flashing process? I'm looking a for one press update button.

Depending on the version of CyanogenMod ROM you have currently installed, this can be easy or impossible.

If you already have CM7, and simply want to try out the nightly builds, ROM Manager and ROM Manager Premium unlock automate the entire process.  With a single button tap, it can download the latest version of the ROM, reboot to Recovery, take a backup of the current system, flash the new version, and reboot back.

If you are on an older version of CM (4/5/6) this cannot be done in one click, because of the drastic differences between the ROMs.  A full wipe of the device will be required, which means all of your settings and downloaded apps will be deleted, and will need to be re-installed manually (or in batch via Titanium Backup or AppBrain.)


Is there any way to use one Whatsapp account in multiple device or is there any tracking system in whatsapp? I want to use one Whatsapp account for multiple devices. Actually I have two kids and I want them and my wife to use same whatsapp account in order to keep a track of their chat. I am also ready to give them separate phone numbers/accounts but I should be able to use their accounts in my device along with my own account. Is there any way to use one Whatsapp account in multiple device or is there any tracking system in whatsapp to keep track (chat history) of other numbers in one device?

You can use WhatsApp web on other devices. It is the secure way but the active internet connection on primary phone is necessary.

Please make sure you visit desktop site on the phone to use WhatsApp web. More details can be found here on Quora.


Display turns on at midnight? Every day at midnight the display on my tablet (Asus Transforer TF101 ICS) turns on for a few seconds.  Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I am using the Screebl application, which keeps the tablet awake when it's vertical.  Thus, the device turns on in my bag and then never goes to sleep, draining the battery.

Is there a way to find out what application (or system component) is waking the device up at midnight, and how does one stop this behavior?

try to trigger it manually.

Root reqired:
Install BetterBatteryStats to view 'alarms', aka programmed low level device wakeups (you can find a free .apk on xda here, search for 'Attached' http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809 ). set your clock just before midnight and reset bbs' logs.

If you can trigger it, you should see which app has caused a wakeup in BBS' log.


Alternatives to a hard reset when screen is frozen on Android Froyo? My Nexus One has been freezing up a lot lately, particularly in Settings. Are there any good alternatives to pulling the battery when this happens?

This may not apply to the Nexus One but when this happens to me on my droid I turn the screen off wait a couple seconds and turn it back on. Sometimes it comes back fine other times it comes back with an option to force close the hanging program. Either way I never have to pull the battery just force close the process.


ICS: how to get to browser home page? Newbie ICS question: how do I get back to my browser home page?

My Nexus S was OTA-upgraded yesterday to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 from 2.3 (Gingerbread), and I'm still finding my way around.

On Gingerbread's stock browser, I could hit the "search" button and it would show a list of frequently-visited sites. This wasn't exactly my home page but was close enough.

That list is gone in ICS, so I'm trying to figure out how to easily get to my browser home page without a lot of clicks. What's the trick?

If you're looking for a way to quickly view frequently visited pages, I would bookmark them and then add the "Bookmarks" widget to your homescreen. A few more steps involved, but pretty. And you don't even have to go into the browser to get to them!


Phone gets stuck after charging My phone is somewhat older sony xperia v. still running on android v4.1 jelly bean.
recently it behaves abnormaly. whenever I put it in charge (wall adapter or usb plugged into a laptop) , it only sometimes very slow to respond while chargin and almost always slow to respond after i remove the charging cable. its usually working very much fine but in only these situations it acts abnormly.

i don't have many apps installed and i usualy force-stop them after i use them. and also phone works very much fine in normal situations. only after charging this happens.

why is this happening and what can i do to avoid this? please help

Your device is very old and contains dozens of vulnerabilities. Therefore one very likely scenario is that malware has infected your system using one of the vulnerabilities and now uses your CPU to do something, e.g. Bitcoin mining or something similar.

As on Smartphones heavy CPU usage results in high battery usage (which is usually easy detectable by the user) this malware only abuses your device while it is charging.

As it is so old I assume it has only one CPU core and if the malware is active the CPU operates at full capacity and hence the device is nearly blocked.
The detection if the device is charging or not is a bit slow therefore this effect continues some time after you have disconnected the phone from the charger.


New contacts added to my phone get deleted after sync with my Google account Any time I add a new contact to my Google contacts, the second I turn on my WiFi it gets disappeared. It's been for over a month on Android 4.3 and 4.4 I have tested. This is new and I have not had this before. I guess the problem lies with the synchronization with Google account.

Note that this is not the case with Phone or SIM card contacts. That's why I am sure the problem lies somewhere in sync.

Is there any official issue that I'm not aware of?

solved!

I had the problem for a while, I now tried to add the contact to another google account (I have 2) - this time to the main account the phone is registered on.

The contacts have yet to disappear!

hope this will continue working (I know this isn't the best solution, cause what if you don't have 2 accounts?!)


Why is screen sometimes unresponsive when receiving calls On occasion, my Droid Bionic (4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich) does not react to screen touches when the phone is ringing.   The swipe to answer icon appears, but does not respond.   After the call goes to voice mail, I can turn the screen off and back on and the phone behaves normally.

I believe this has only happened when the phone has been locked with the screen off when the call arrived.

I don't receive a large number of calls on this device, so I don't have a very large sample size, but it probably happens less than 1 time in 20.   The most recent was within a few hours of rebooting the phone, so I don't think it is due to memory consumption by another app, etc.

This problem is quite known for sometime for touchscreen devices. Most of the times this happens when the screen is under some pressure during touchscreen recalibration after being woken up by the incoming call (maybe being inside pocket, etc.).

The only solution for you is to disable the option, power button instantly ends call by going into Settings -> Accessibility -> System

If your screen becomes unresponsive to a call, just press the power button (to lock your screen), press it again and unlock the screen (with your pattern or PIN, etc.) Then you will be able to answer the call.

This solution is applicable to any situation where the screen is unresponsive.


Do prepaid phones have issues with downloading certain Apps in the Android Market? My company has written and published some Android Apps on the Android Market. A couple of times now we've had complaints from customers who are not able to download and install the App - I believe the Android Market website is not letting them download it to their phones.

We're still trying to get more details from the customers but one thing I've noticed in common is that these customers are on prepaid providers (specifically, Boost Mobile and Cricket).

One of our App's requirements in the store is "full Internet access" (the android.permission.INTERNET intent must be doing this). I have no idea how these prepaid providers tend to handle data usage. I can't imagine that they have unlimited data but they have to have something, right?

Has anyone run into a problem with using a prepaid Android phone and trying to download Apps from the Android Market?

I highly doubt it's to do with being 'pre-paid' or not.

More likely, it could be from a number of reasons. Such as internet connection where carriers can limit the download file size.

I personally know that DL'ing larger files over the carrier network will fail unless it has a 'resume' or some sort of authentication feature.


OnePlus 3 - 2G (GSM) network not working - Selected network (o2 - cz) unavailable I have a weird Issue with my brand new Oneplus 3. It's not connecting to 2G network, or it connects, but calling/data does not work.

when switching from 3G to 2G, it registers to network, even shows Edge sign, but calling and data is not working
when switching from 4G to 2G, it even does not connect
It can be seen on a video I made - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPlk8EEQsPE

What I have tried:

5 SIM cards from 3 different operators. All have the same problem, except T-Mobile, which was able to make a call once in +-10 attempts
flashing various versions of Oxygen OS (3.1.x, latest 3.2.7); flashing CyanogenMod latest; eflashed whole phone by Oneplus support using MSMDownloadTool
hard resets, ##4626## menu settings etc...

Nothing works. Could not find anywhere on the internet much more solutions to this.
Guess it's hardware issue fro RMA?
Anyone else encountered this issue?

This has all the symptoms of a hardware issue. I would get in contact with OnePlus customer support and ask what they can do for you. Since the device is new, they will likely replace it.


How can I install MySQL on my Android device(s)? There are good and bad choices available for the design of my system and MySQL seems to be the best available.  I need it to run client/server and support stored procedures & triggers and a host of other features.  But I also need a database that will run single-user on mobile devices when off-line, then synchronize with the on-line server when reconnected to the Internet.  The only database provided with Android is SQLite - which doesn't even come close to providing the features required.  Also, installing MySQL on Android devices would mean that I wouldn't have to support any incompatibilities between two different databases.  I do not need other features installed (HTML server, PHP, etc)... just MySQL.  How can I get that installed (and with my apps(s)) and have it work easily and efficiently (and not have to root or install a new ROM on the device)?

A search for "mysql" on the stores can answer this: there are several packages available, usually together with a web server and PHP. Best candidates are probably AndroPHP and Palapa.

My list of web servers with scripting support also have some of them (e.g. the two I mentioned), together with links to reviews, video demos, etc – which might make your decision easier.


Download purchased APK from play store I am using CyanogenMod on my Android devices without Google Apps (and consequently without the Play Store). Nevertheless, I have a Google account bound to my device ID and have purchased various apps with the account.

I want to download the APK files of the purchased apps and install them via ADB. About a year ago that was no problem using Real APK Leech or the APK Downloader extension for Chrome. Today Real APK Leech is seemingly unable to download any APKs, and the Chrome extension can only download APK files of free apps, even though the used Google Account has purchased the apps.

Are there any currently working ways of downloading purchased APK files without using the Play Store-App on the device itself?

(Similar questions I found on this site suggest outdated answers)

There are multiple possibilities for this. One is using the appropriate counter-parts from the µg project (pronounced "micro-G"; formerly known as NOGAPPS) – in this case Phonesky (the inofficial Google PlayStore Client) or BlankStore (same thing, basically). Each of these two would run directly on the device, no Google-Apps required (hence the name "NOGAPPS", or "micro-G(oogle)"). Check with FakeGApps, which has a good ReadMe to get you started with that on a Google-free device.

Blankstore (source: XDA; click for larger variant)

Then there's Raccoon, available for Linux, Mac, and Windows, see the article Raccoon is a desktop downloader for Google Play Store apps at AndroidCommunity. Raccoon can be used on your computer to download the APKs, which you then would need to install by other means (adb install, or copy to your Android device and manually install there). Raccoon also keeps track of updates available for apps you "watch". I'm not sure if it can deal with apps already bought (didn't give it a try yet), but as it works with your normal GPlay credentials, it should. As with BlankStore, just the process of bying apps will not be available – but you can do that using the Google Playstore with your web browser.

Raccoon (source: Tutonaut; click image for larger variant)

With payed apps, trouble often is they use Google's license service to verify their "legitimacy". That would fail with Raccoon if you've got neither GApps nor NOGAPPS on your device. BlankStore and Phonesky, on the other hand, were reported to take care of that as well (though I've experienced BlankStore to fail with payed apps recently, which might be caused by some API changes on Google's end – I didn't dig deeper into that yet, so I cannot tell for sure, but I don't seem to be the only one).


How can I bypass stock tethering app? I have a rooted Coolpad catalyst with no cwm. I plan on creating a workaround for cwm but, that's another project. Anyway I have MetroPCS I've tried apps like barnacle, but I get WAN interface not found. It seems newer phones have a guard against root tethering methods, I thought about changing the settings app but can't risk it yet. I am running Android 5.1.1


Samsung Galaxy Note 4 goes standby when idle, pauses apps Hello Android enthusiasts,

I have the following issue:
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and I have not turned on any power saving setting, however I cannot figure out for the life of me how to prevent my phone from automatically going into stand by mode (screen powers down, apps pause, GPS stops working, etc) when I haven't interacted with the phone for roughly 15 seconds or so.

I would like only this to happen when I press the power button. This greatly interferes with any app I use when I'm on the move (Pokemon Go, for example) and I don't want to poke the screen every 5-10 seconds or so so the app doesn't just stop functioning normally.

Please advise me on how I can prevent this. Thank you for your time!

I figured it out on my own.

Settings -> Display and Wallpaper -> Screen timeout - set it from whatever seconds to 10 minutes.


Change Galaxy Tab 3 from Finnish to English My Galaxy Tab 3 is showing the Finnish language and I need to change it to English. I can't read Finnish so don't know what choices  to choose to do this. Help.I can get to Settings and that's it.

Identify the "Settings" app by its icon (gear), it should read Asetukset
Scroll down and find "Language & Input" (Kieli ja syöttö). There should be a globe icon
Tap on "Language" (Kieli)
Scroll down and find English


How do I reverse "sync turned off" in my Google account? Under the Settings -> Accounts -> Google, there's an account in the Accounts section and under that it says "sync turned off."
When I tap on it there is a list of services that can be synced (e.g. App Data, Calendar, Gmail, Google Play Books, etc.) and I can manually tap one of those to sync it now.
How do I enable automatic sync?
I don't see any option to "sync automatically" (only "sync now") from within the account nor from the Google Accounts page.
It used to sync automatically, and I'm not sure what happened or why it doesn't anymore.
How do I get that back?

Go back to the Settings menu, and in the Wireless and Networks section tap Data Usage.  Then press the menu button and in the popup menu check the Auto Sync Data box.

You can then return to the Google account page mentioned in the question, where the list of services is, and select the newly visible checkmarks next to which ones you want to automatically sync.


Wi-Fi connects but can't browse I'm opening a virtual router through my laptop, and my Galaxy S2 can see and connect to it fine. However, when I try to do anything that requires the network, it doesn't work (for example, I can't browse). The top bar shows the wireless icon and the connection appears perfect. What is causing this?

What do you mean "do anything that is connected to a network"? Like access //mycomputername?

Connecting to a share on a computer connected to the same network is not part of wifi, it is another protocol called SMB or CIFS. Android does not support connecting to cifs out of the box. There are apps that allow you to browse for files on network shares, like Astro File Manager (with the SMB plugin).

There are Custom ROMs that do have built in support for CIFS, like CyanogenMod for example.


Deleting unsent WhatsApp messages What will happen if I do a "Delete for me" option to a WhatsApp message that doesn't have any ticks? Will it reach the recipient or will it be never sent?

messages with no tick will not be delivered to the recipient as it is not moved from your device to server.

However if it have single tick that means it is delivered to server but still if you delete that message than it will be deleted from your device as well as from the server as it is not delivered to the recipient.

If message is delivered and have two ticks that it is delivered to the recipient and you have to delete that message for both to remove messages from both devices, but that is limited to some time frame, limited to 8 seconds i guess from the time it is delivered to the recipient device.


Google Now voice calling feature only searching local contacts, not businesses In Google Voice Assistant on ICS I could, for example, say "Call the closest Dominos" or "Call CompUSA West Palm" and Google Voice Assistant would start to dial the correct business almost immediately.

Since I've upgraded to JB, Google Now only seems to search my contacts and sometimes brings up map locations of businesses I wish to call. This is extremely disappointing and would really like to know if anyone else is having this issue and if it can be resolved.

I don't know whether or not this is going to help in your case, but a friend told me that if you set your language to English US (as opposed to English GB, CA, AU, NZ etc.), you get a different/better voice recognition engine.


Installing ps2pdf command-line program in Android I just bought a Nexus 7 2013. It's very good and I'd like to use it to (in case of emergency) edit some of my latex documents using TexPortal.

Some latex documents of mine get compiled properly only by Latex and not by PDFLatex.
As a result, I get a valid .ps file.

I'd like to install somehow ps2pdf (or even better, ps2pdf13) by some tool like, e.g., apt-get. And use some terminal emulator to run it.

Is this possible without rooting the device?

No, even though Android is based on the Linux kernel, programs for GNU/Linux need to be ported to the Android user-space environment. They usually require some source code changes, and to be compiled linking against the appropriate runtime libraries. You can find some command-line programs that have already been ported to Android on open-source sites like GitHub, but there's nothing like APT.

The closest thing to an APT repository is F-droid, but that's mainly for GUI apps: it's an alternative to Google Play for downloading open-source apps. I've already searched there and there's nothing like ps2pdf.