What is the name for a non-owner user profile? I have an Android tablet with two user profiles. One is designated the "owner". How do I refer to the other profile (for example, when posting questions here or logging tickets for an app)?

I'm looking for a short (and preferably official) term that Android experts would immediately recognize.

Suggested tag (based on answer): secondary-profile

On Android 5.0+, there is an option for multiple Users & Profiles, which is under Settings > Users and is titled Users & profiles. It is initially populated with a Guest User as well as the Owner User. To refer to non-owner Users & Profiles I would use and recognize Secondary User/Profile (unless specifically asking about the Guest User, which I would call Guest User)

User accounts provide full access to Apps & Services.

Android 5.0+ Tablets (this feature does not appear to be on Phones) allow for User Profiles, such as the Restricted User Profile, which can be set up to restrict what Apps and Services can be used by this user.

Accounts is a separate setting within Android's Settings. Each User Profile can have any number of Accounts set up (Emails, Pushbullet, etc.). These accounts are unique to each User.


What's the downloaded_rom folder and what's its difference from the Download folder? I have a Redmi phone with Android Nougat 7.1. In the file explorer I found the downloaded_rom folder, next to the Download folder. The first one is empty. What's its purpose?

To view, both Download and Downloaded_Rom folders, you may need to have file manager applications such as google's files go, es file explorer, default file manger(for mi devices -> Mi file manger/Explorer) on devices.

Download

Folder created on internal storage of android device by default. This folder is one among the other internal storage default folders such as Android, DCIM, media, Movies, Music, Pictures, Ringtones etc
It is used to store files that are downloaded from internet using mobile browser apps like chrome, firefox, and default browsers of each manufacturers.
Some devices provides Download access through Downloads app which is placed on app launcher. (Eg: Pixel, Xiaomi etc)

Downloaded_Rom

This folder is created on internal storage, which is commonly seen in xiaomi/Mi devices.
This folder contains the OTA update zip file(Stock ROM), which is downloaded using Updater application in Mi devices. stock ROM is the OS of the device which is released by the device manufacturer(Xiaomi).
Note: After, completing updation, the zip file will be automatically get cleared. So, this folder may be empty, until next OTA update notification and started downloading.
If you download OTA/update zip from xiaomi's website which is opened using browser application, the file is available on Download folder. Copy and paste zip file, to this folder and you can install this update through updater app.


What Percentage of Android Devices Run on a 64-bit Architecture? How many Android devices are using the ARM64 or x86_64 architectures, and how many are using 64-bit versions of Android that can run 64-bit apps?

My assumption right now is that it's still worth supporting 32-bit versions of Android for mobile apps, but these days more and more devices are 64-bit and make use of several GB of RAM. As of this month, Google is now requiring that new Android apps have 64-bit versions, so I'm wondering for how long it will be worth supporting both architectures.

Additionally, how powerful are average high-end 32-bit devices? Even if the marketshare of 32-bit devices is high, it could be worth dropping support if most 32-bit devices won't run any intensive apps or games anyway.

This question is related to another question about x86 usage.

I have not yet been able to view recent statistics, but
according to this article published end of 2017:

  The ARMv8 instruction set architecture rolled out 64-bit hardware support in 2014, and now almost every new Android device can run 64-bit code (but only 40 percent of active devices)

From this ARM's blog post:

  Nearly 90 percent of today’s Android devices deploy a 64-bit capable version of the OS (version 5.0 and above).

Statistics on the percentage of OS used can be checked here and here.


Detail information on running scripts on the recovery screen I am looking for more detail information regarding the process mentioned here:

1 https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2058944

2 https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2307355

(1) says that selecting "apply zip from sdcard" in the recovery screen will run the script and perform the mentioned commands. I suppose at this point there is no concept of  android OS's root user? Is this correct? Am I allowed full access to all the files and folders in the sdcard and phone memory at this point?

The script in (1) also mentions BusyBox. I know there is an app called busybox which provides some tools, but since the android OS has not loaded up to this point, I guess the busybox in the script represents something else? Wikipedia says busybox is an old set of linux tools, so does this mean it is present by default in all android phone firmware?

The zip file containing the script in (2) contains a file called "busybox" in the zip file root (no extension, binary file) and the one in (1) doesn't. What does this mean? (1) and (2) seem to be for different phone models, but shouldn't all phones have the run_program() and delete() commands mentioned in those scripts? Would these scripts work on a different phone model? How much chance is there of the phone getting bricked? (I have stock firmware + Odin for my test phone and I am ready to format and reinstall if needed, I just want to know if there is a possibility of bricking it so badly that even Odin wouldn't recognize it)

Regardless of whether I am able to mount the sdcard/phone memory and run programs on the sdcard or not, I suppose the commands in the script such as ui_print() should work on any phone. Where can I find more commands that can be used in such a script file, and more details on how such scripts actually work? The answer can be limited to samsung phones if there are no general answers.

Yes, from custom recovery there is generally a high risk of deleting everything in theory. Your data security is completely dependent on the developer's coding ability and your trust in him. Luckily a full backup should be sufficient enough to restore everything in case of damage.

A flashable zip is usually pretty generic. in your example it's only purpose is modifying device specific things, so the reason is not the script language itself but simply the content of which apps will be removed. The first link is for indian apps, the second link is for samsung apps. Samsung is a good example because it has a separate partition for its bloatware - you need a flashable zip which delete apps from /preload instead from /system.

linux executables doesn't have file extensions like *.exe - busybox/toybox/toolbox are just such executables. busybox is a multicall binary wich emulates most of linux commands like (ls cat dd grep find ...) in a single file. it's main purpose was to safe disk space. if you see any busybox app in Playstore it is always just a install helper for this binary.
android default is toybox (same as busybox but under apache license)
http://landley.net/toybox/faq.html

Edify is a very limited script language only used in flashable zips
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/nonab/inside_packages


Batch file for android that runs at startup On my windows laptop, I have a batch file which checks for a specific file and deletes it. My question is, is this possible on android, to make a file that runs at startup (without root), checks for the existence of a directory called "thumbnails" in /storage/sdcard0/DCIM", if exists, delete. Answers greatly appreciated

Sure that is possible. Many automation apps (see our automation tag-wiki) offer that. I e.g. use tasker (see: tasker tag-wiki) which offers to perform actions on device boot, and can execute shell commands. So a typical Tasker profile could be fired "on device boot" to "execute shell command" rm -rf  /storage/sdcard0/DCIM/thumbnails. No check needed for the existence of that directory: If it existes, that command would remove it – and if it not exists, result is the same :)

While Tasker is not free (there's a 7 day trial, though) there are other free automation apps you could check with. I don't have a list of which ones provide on-boot command execution, so you had to look that up yourself.

In case your device is rooted, you'd have additional possibilities – e.g. utilizing init scripts. If your device doesn't support them as-shipped, there are some apps which could help adding that feature.

Disclosure: the linked app lists are my product, so those links go to my website.


What is the cause of this toast message starting with 文件耗时? Since this morning I have on my phone this weird toast message, that keep appearing.

  文件耗时: 477 ms/number: 118

Does anyone have an idea what is this and how to remove it?

As I saw, it came from the app ES File manager


Is it possible to get photos from device without screen? I have Sony Xpreria Z3 with broken screen which. I need to retrieve all photos from that device but when I try to connect it to the pc I get message that first I need to unlock the screen but I cant do it as the screen is broken...

If your screen still works, but can't be controled, use a computer mouse to unlock your phone


Disable Display Standby when in Developer Mode missing in Android 2.3 I'm a little bit confused about the missing Option to deactivate the Display Standby in Developer Mode.

In 2.2 there was a switch in Application --> Development. But in 2.3.3 this switch is vanished and it is really annoying if the Phone gets black every 10 minutes.

So my Question, how can I override the Display Timeout in Developer Mode, is the switch at another Place or is it outpatched?

Phone is a Samsung Galaxy I9000.

Thanks.

Try this app: StayAwake, worked for my stock I9000 (now running a custom rom, still works most of the time but a bit buggy).


4.3 Galaxy S4: how do I prevent keyboard backspace from deleting whole word? I've just updated my Galaxy S4 (T-Mobile, in case that matters) from 4.2.2 to 4.3.  Now when using the keyboard (default settings), if I get to the end of a word -- either strictly on my own or via one of its suggestions -- and then backspace, it deletes the whole word.  Before, backspacing at that point deleted one character at a time.  Often it's faster for me to correct a suggestion (or notice and fix a typo of mine) this way than to start over with that word.  I'd like my phone to stop being so aggressive in cleaning up after me.

I don't remember setting something for this in the previous version (though it's been a while).  I've walked through the settings for the device and in Twitter and Messaging (the apps where I've noticed this behavior so far), but haven't found anything that seems relevant.  I have not rooted my phone and don't plan to.

Current settings, under Device -> Language & Input:

Default: Samsung keyboard
Samsung keyboard settings:

predictive text: on
auto replacement: off
auto capitalization: on
auto spacing: on
auto punctuate: off

Keyboard Swipe:

SwiftKey Flow on
Cursor Control off

Aside from auto punctuate (which I turned off), these settings are as they came after the upgrade.

If I may, I suggest KK Keyboard. I'm not advertising, but I use it myself, because my keyboard did this too.


How to root samsung galaxy J5 sm-j500h? How to root Android 6.0.1 on samsung galaxy J5 sm-j500h?

Please.

The easiest method is flashing a modified recovery with Odin.

Download :

Chainfire autoroot
Odin
Samsung USB Drivers

Open Odin then click on AP, go where the root file was unzipped and select it.
Go to Settings > About >  Hit 7 times on Build number > Back in Settings > Developer's option then Disable OEM unlock
Switch off the phone, connect it in download mode (Volume + Home + Power buttons)

Click on Start and wait until the phone reboot with Odin showing PASS.


How to use my voice instead of default voice in Text-to-Speech android I am Enthusiasts about this thing very much
I want to use my voice instead of default voice.
Any idea ? bcoz i dont have
Any specific library or method or class or anything that can be usefull are most welcome

You can not replace the voice in default TTS, but you can use external engine and add your voice there.

For example, you can use Flite TTS with your own voice. To add your voice, record voice samples from the existing database (500 samples) and build your voice with the build scripts, then add your voice into TTS. That will take some time though.


How does rooting affect full disk encryption (Oneplus 3T)? My oneplus 3T running Oxygen OS 9.0.6 (Android 9) came with full system encryption by default.

I want to install root but also keep full system encryption.

Will root disable encryption?
Does root allow to bypass encryption / lock screen with adb or some other method? (I. e. in any case)
I am familiar with the half-baked Android system backup feature. is there a way to root the phone without a factory reset? if not, what is the best way to create a system image or similar so I don't have re-install and configure  everything over again?
what is the difference between system and systemless root?

no, rooting does not affect encryption
encryption remains safe. depending on user (who is responsible for granting root access) it is not vulnerable as long as malicious app has no root permissions
rooting does no factory reset. once rooted, the simplest straight forward backup method is (FDE)
adb pull /dev/block/dm-0
rooting system is outdated. systemless root does it's stuff without modifying system (to preserve functionality)

However, the answer becomes invalid when we are talking about unlocked bootloader

attacker can flash modified boot or recovery
TWRP may able to decrypt userdata partition without asking for credentials when FDE uses default_password (which seems the case for you)
attacker can inject scripts without having access to encrypted userdata, which can wait for the user unlocks it's device and then gain access to decrypted userdata. for FBE it is possible to modify credentials (not the case for you)
unlocking bootloader requires factory reset. your only chance for full backup would be a rooting method without unlocking bootloader, which is afaik only available for Mediatek devices and for the Galaxy S9 and Note 9. you rely on common (non-root) backup solutions


How to disable the Lollipop notification popups while in a game? I know there are fixes for a rooted device  with Android 5.0+ to stop the notification popups for like text messages and apps like facebook. These I've found tend to be perminant and not so easy to do fixes so can't be used as a 'toggle' on / off.

What I am looking for is some way that I can toggle off those notifications at the top of the screen that can interfere with seeing the screen or worse, if I'm drawing a picture it can totally damage the drawing by blocking where I'm working while I'm drawing and because I'm touching the screen there flips me out of the app I'm using and into the other app and sometimes even causes the original app to crash losing all the work.

By default, I have found NO built in option to turn these on or off. I like them when I'm just doing everything else and find them very useful so don't want them 'perma off'.

Anyone know of anyway or anything that may help with this? Is this hard coded in all editions of Lollipop?

EDIT: The model of phone in question is a T-Mobile Note 4 with Android 5.0.1. Model: SM-N910T. This is a rooted Stock rom.

I know of an app called Greenify that can hibernate apps to prevent notifications from popping up.

You can also simply tell it to hibernate with the screen on with the push of a button. Just open up the main screen and if any activities are awake that you want to hibernate, push the zzz button.


"Cannot add/update network before store is read!" when trying to save a WiFi network on Android 9 I cannot connect to WiFi on Android 9.

This is the error log

D/WifiService( 1941): recentFailure: Association Rejection code: 0
D/WifiService( 1941): uid=1000 name=android.uid.system:1000
WifiConfigManager( 1941): Cannot add/update network before store is read!

I had this issue after an updating of an Android 9 Pie custom ROM.
When trying to configure my wlan, I had error messages:

Failed to Save Network/ Wlan Netzwerk kann nicht gespeichert werden
Failed to connect to Network / Netzwerkverbindung konnte nicht hergestellt werden

Reset of network / WiFi / Bluetooth functions did not help.
Toggling static and dynamic IP address configuration did not help. WiFi manager did simply not accept and store entered WLAN configuration including password, etc.
Logcat brought up:
E WifiConfigManager: Cannot add/update network before store is read!

Further research brought up, that since Android 8 Oreo configuration of WiFi is, passwords, SSID, etc of known or configured networks are stored in /data/misc/wifi/WifiConfigStore.xml (previously wpa_supplicant.conf).
Owner is system:system with chmod 0600 privileges.
Checking this file with vi brought up garbage as contents in my case.
If the WifiConfigStore.xml file is damaged, the described error ensues, that the WifiConfigManager cannot read and update configuration.
Deletion of the file in this case recovers the situation, and Android spawns a new xml template. After a reboot I could enter wireless configuration data and connect.
Note that the config file may also be located in folder /data/misc_XX/wifi/ on some systems, with XX being some combination of two letters.


Unfortunately Google Play Services stopped I am using Xiaomi Redmi 3. All of a sudden, I found it continuously displays 'Unfortunately, Google Play Services has stopped'.

It happens so often, that I can't do any other work. I uninstalled that, then installed again from play store. But after installing, again that error message shows up

What can I do?

If your Google Play Services Has Stopped. You can short out your problem by following this steps:

Restart your device
Wi-Fi and Mobile data - Ensure that there is proper internet connection on your device.
Clear Google Play Services cache and data
Remove Google Services Framework cache and data
Update Google Play Services
Factory data reset


shutting down takes ages (HTC Desire 2.1) I wanted to reboot my HTC and it was shutting down for more than 10-15mins so I removed the battery...

What can I do next time? Is that ok to be shutting down for ever?

The mobile is almost new one. Not much stuff installed. Primarily used for web browsing.

Has every subsequent reboot taken just as long? If so take the phone into a local store or call your carrier support line and ask them to wipe your phone so you can start out fresh. See if a fresh start helps.


Galaxy Tab - How to keep alerts visible until the screen is unlocked? I've noticed that when I get an alert (an incoming email, or a notification from an app (cough Words with Friends cough) and the screen is locked, I'll hear the alert sound but, when I wake up the tablet, I won't see the alert.

Is there any way of having the tablet leave those alerts on the screen until I wake it up?

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 wifi-only, running Honeycomb 3.2.

The Samsung flavor of Android (and possibly others?) keeps the alerts accesible, but very well-hidden. Click on the section of the bottom menu bar with the time, then slide up where it reads "Settings". The alerts are visible there.


MAC Address Spoofing Neuropad Ultra I'm out visiting some family at the moment and my dad has found some cheap Android tablets from somewhere, the Neuropad Ultra.  They are not great, but they do the job and you can give them to the kids to play with as they're nice and cheap.

Anyway, a new one got delivered today so we have two in the house now.  We tried to connect it to the internet without much joy.  A little digging around and I find that they both have the same MAC address!

So I've been searching Google trying to find a solution but nothing I find seems to work.  I tried some commands I found including some busybox stuff, but nothing is working.

Has anybody any ideas or managed to get it changed on a similar device?

It's using Android 4.0.3

Thanks in advance!

Your mentioning of busybox use let's me assume your device(s) is/are rooted, so you could give the Wireless MAC Changer a try. Didn't try it myself, though, as I have no need to ;)


Cannot log in to google account when on data (works on Wifi) Device: Lenovo A806 with Android 4.4.2

Problem: Cannot log in to google account while on data (works on wifi)

Description:
Cannot open google play (connection failed, retry) or add a new google account to the android settings (signing in, may take minutes). Also cannot eg log in to PokemonGO with google account while on data, but can log in with non-google account. The game keeps playing if later I go off-wifi. Wifi is required only for sign in. If I disconnect and allow some time to pass then cannot log in again on data.

Tried:

Date and time settings are automatic and I verified that the difference to atomic clock is under 1s.
Different SIM in different country has the same problem (network operator-independent)
Cannot add new google account (account independent, not related to 2-step verification or wrong password etc)
Hosts file contains only 127.0.0.1 localhost.
Uninstalling/Reinstalling, clearing cache, clearing data, forcing to stop the app and restarting does not seem to help because more than one app have the same problem.
Captured the HTTP/S traffic using Drony but didn't manage to understand which is the call to the google account, and see its status.

I know the question may seem a duplicate, but I haven't found any solved question about having this problem ONLY on data (wifi works so that rules out many solutions)

Do you have background data restricted? Usually I can't login to my Google account with background data restricted. Try with removing background restriction.


Back up not only games, but also game progress before flashing ROMS I have a Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100) And I'm about to flash a custom rom on it. I've done it a bunch of times but what really irritates me is that I lose all progress made on the games that I have on my phone!

I backup the actual games and other applications using Astro file manager, but when I star my phone up after flashing a rom and re-install the game, I have lost all progress.

How does one backup a game, with game progress intact?

Thanks for any tips!

The best are backup methods that backup and restore app data. Titanium Backup is excellent for this, and easy to do, especially with the pro version. It allows you to backup the apps, including the relevant app data, which holds the game progress. The pro version lets you restore them seamlessly, while the free version requires manual re-install, like Astro. You can also sync these backups to online storage spaces like dropbox or Google Drive.

If you have multiple devices (I have a tablet and phone that I like to sync progress on, for example), DataSync is by far the best option. It can sync to dropbox or strictly device-to-device, but can sync all the app data with game progress to another device for subsequent use, or resyncing back to the original device later.

Let us know what you choose!


Applications are greyed out I have a samsung galaxy Y with android 2.3.6(Ginger bread) installed.
I connected my mobile to a computer infected with virus and my sd card contents were moved into another folder.
I restored the contents to the previous location but I do not see any applications installed in the sd card in my mobile now.

You most likely forgot to restore the "hidden folders". Apps moved to SDCard are placed into a hidden folder called .android_secure. Check whether you can find that anywhere, and then restore it as well to its original location. After that (and another reboot), your apps should be back.


how do i get out of safe mode on htc desire s? Just put music on SD card, started up phone after re-inserting SD card, but it came on in 'safe mode'. Any ideas on how to switch safe mode off?

Turn the phone off
Turn it back on and hold the up volume button

Let me know if it works or not. There are also other solutions.

Source.


Why can't my phone find pictures or music files suddenly? I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace with its official CyanogenMod nightly build. And suddenly, it doesn't "see" my pictures, videos or music files. They don't show:

while selecting a notification/ring tone & default music player,
while viewing pictures in QuickPic or the default gallery, and
on Go Launcher Ex's videos and music finder feature.

However, ES File Explorer, the default File Manager, and PowerAmp clearly show the said types of files. I've done a NANDROID backup, wiped the partitions then restored the backup, still no go.

Ah, cripes. I don't know what on Earth put this .nomedia file on the root of my SD card. Problem fixed.


Root Samsung Epic Galaxy 4G (SPH-D700) on FC09 Gingerbread? I have been searching for a while and am trying to figure out if I can root the SPH-D700 on the FC09 update. I just cant find any information regarding that.

Id like to Root the phone, either if I have to update or downgrade, and even preferably be able to flash CyanogenMod 9, and update to ICS.
I know this is possible on the phone, I just dont know if this FC09 update will prevent this or something.

I am trying to familiarize myself with this phone as its my freind's phone, and I am trying to root it for him, as he is still sitting with stock, and needs root for a few features.

So what do you guys believe would be the best way to go about this? Should I just get a root image of an earlier update to downgrade? and then just do the updates after I am rooted?

I am just not sure where I should start. Been searching this for most of the day, I just cant seem to find a definite answer yet.

Thanks for your time guys, Hope we can work this out.

Just about every Samsung device can be flashed with Odin, regardless of what firmware is installed on it at the time. For specific instructions you can refer to this XDA thread, which explains how to flash a rooted FC09 image:

  put your device into Download Mode
  Connect to your computer and make sure ODIN recognizes your device
  Flash the Clockworkmod.tar.md5. Make sure EVERYTHING is unchecked INCLUDING AUTOREBOOT!!!!
  Once ODIN does its thang, unplug your phone and pull the battery
  Now reboot into CWM Recovery by pressing and holding the power button, camera, and volume down button until the capacitive buttons at the bottom show
  Now locate the ROM.zip. It should be called DeodexedFC09.zip
  Wipe Data/Factory Reset, Wipe Cache Partition, Wipe Dalvik Cache, and if you want Wipe Batt Stats
  Now reboot, and you should be running Stock Rooted FC09!

  ODIN: http://www.mediafire.com/?66csfeo1ce95ysw

  CWM TAR: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357655

  Stock FC09: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1580931

You should be able to get the Epic into download mode by doing the following:

  You enter download mode by shutting device completely off. Then open
  the physical keyboard press and hold the 1 key and then press power
  for a few seconds.

Downgrading, rooting, and then updating seems unnecessarily complicated. The updates probably wouldn't apply on their own once the device was rooted, so you'd need to install them manually anyway. You might as well just install the image you want straight away instead, whether that's a stock one like the above linked image or CyanogenMod.


When you lock down a Lollipop device to disable Chrome's incognito mode, this creates an XML "restrictions file". What actual XML is inside the file? Note: If this post is too long to read, please see the summary in the last paragraph.

I own an aging Samsung Galaxy S Relay cellphone. It's running Android 4.1.2 and has a built-in physical keyboard. I don't want to upgrade to newer hardware. They say in the XDA Developers forums that, if I want a built-in physical keyboard, the Galaxy S Relay is still the most powerful option available — even though it uses technology which is more than two years old.

I want to help prevent myself from viewing pornography. (I've already joined a twelve-step program for sex addicts, but I still want a second layer of protection.)

I've installed the Qustodio web filter. This web filter only lets me choose between two web browsers: the Android stock browser, or Google Chrome. But it's easy to get around Qustodio. Oddly enough, all I have to do is to enter my browser's incognito mode. Qustodio claims that, when I enter incognito mode, it can detect what I've done and stop me from surfing the web; but, in practice, I've found that it can't.

In a help center article, Qustodio LLC does admit:

  Please note that our incognito blocking feature is still experimental.

Fine. Well, I want to reliably stop myself from entering my browser's incognito mode.

I suppose I could switch to a different browser. I could choose the K9 browser. But their (Firefox-based) browser is poorly rated and hasn't received any security updates in the last two years.

Google Chrome for Android is now open source. I suppose I could modify the Chrome source code to disable incognito browsing. But it would be a hassle to keep the browser up to date.

So I guess I'd like to set the relevant Chrome policy instead. I'd need to set the IncognitoModeAvailability policy to 1 in order to disable incognito browsing.

On recent versions of Android (and definitely on Android 5.0 "Lollipop" and newer), you can use an app such as Google's BasicManagedProfile sample app. This will call the DevicePolicyManager's setApplicationRestrictions method (see documentation or source). This method will eventually call the UserManagerService's writeApplicationRestrictionsLocked method (see source). The latter method will, in turn, write some XML to a "restrictions file" in a place where Google Chrome knows to look.

Because I'm running Android 4.1.2: I doubt that I can run the sample app. And I'm sure I can't call either of the two methods.

I suppose I could upgrade the phone to a newer OS. T-Mobile doesn't offer any updates newer than Android 4.1.2. On the XDA Developers forums, "Magamo" points out that CyanogenMod seems to have withdrawn official support for the device a while ago -- even before any stable Lollipop-based ROMs were released. I could choose and find some other ROM. But I've never installed a third-party ROM before, and would rather not learn how to do so.

Dear users of Android 5.0 or higher:

What actual XML does this "restrictions file" contain?  Where does it get saved?

(I suppose I could fire up Lollipop in the official emulator and find out for myself, but it's simpler to just ask here.)

Perhaps I can simply create a "restrictions file" in the correct location on my Android 4.1.2 device.

TL;DR: When you reconfigure a Lollipop device in order to disable Chrome's incognito mode, your action will cause an XML "restrictions file" to be saved to disk. What actual XML is inside the file? Where is the file stored? I want to try manually creating a "restrictions file" on a Jelly Bean device in order to see if it will do what I want.

The XML file alone will not help you. Chrome doesn't read the contents of that file directly. Instead, it accesses it via Android's UserManager.getApplicationRestrictions. In order for this to work, you actually need to set up a "work profile" on your device. In order to do that, you actually need to run the BasicManagedProfile app you have mentioned; this also requires encrypting the device.

Android 4.1.2 is kind of old. From searching at http://www.androidxref.com/, it looks like it lacks UserManager.getApplicationRestrictions. Luckily, there's another way to disable incognito browsing in Chrome. Try that way instead.


Grey Wifi and mobile data icon after upgrading to CM 10.2 20131102 I had intermittent issues before with my Google syncing not working as it should (although I've always been able to go to google.com in the browser), rebooting usually solved it. However, after upgrading from an older 10.2 version to the latest one (via CMs own update functionality), both the Wifi icon and the mobile data icon stay completely grey. As usual, I have no issues with going to Google in the browser, so I'm suspecting this is a Gapps issue or something with the ROM.

Any ideas on what I can do to troubleshoot and/or solve this? I'll go ahead and try upgrading Gapps now and let you know how it goes.

This is not a duplicate with any question asking what this greyed out icon means, I'm asking specifically why the sync functionality stopped working with the upgrade (if anyone knows), and how to fix it (if possible).

edit I just realized I might be running 10.1 gapps on a 10.2 CM build, I'll update this if upgrading gapps solved the issue.

Upgrading gapps to the correct version (I was running 10.1 gapps on a 10.2 CM build) solved the issue. I did not have to reinstall the ROM or anything like that, simply flash the new gapps over the old.


How do I disable the 'click' sound on the camera app? When I take a picture it makes a 'click' sound. As this is default behavior, I would like to turn it off. Is there a setting to do so; or if I find+delete the sound file, will there be repercussions?

**Please note I am looking for a basically permanent solution rather than one that I would need to set/unset with each use of the app. I like the idea of a root solution, or an app solution; but for the sake of non-root memory-hog slow-camera-app-starting people who can't afford to run another background service, let's make a...

  Clarification: let's clarify that this is to do with the Motorola Droid (per the tag, sorry). I'm glad it works for other phone models, however to the best of my knowledge it is not a stock option (if I am wrong please point the way) from 2.0.1, 2.1, or 2.2 on the Motorola Droid. That is to say, unless you are referring to the overall volume controls, there is no volume control/mute for the camera application. (Settings options for camera are: zoom|flash|white balance|store location|focus/exposure settings).

I'd like to really tie this question's answer off with a bow: aside from the root option and app option, is there an option to turn off sound in the camera/system settings? [Temporarily muting the phone is a poor option.]

You'll need root to delete the sound file, but this should be it:

Delete /system/media/audio/ui/camera_click.ogg

Repercussions?  It won't play the sound anymore? :)

Alternatively, you could download another camera app that does not produce a camera sound.


Sound too low when making calls on Moto G smartphone Everything is perfect, except that the call volume is way too low. I can barely hear it when it is completely silent, and if I'm at a coffee shop or something, no chance.

Now, this would seem to be a hardware issue except that plenty of people seem to have the problem and it has only occurred since the latest Kit-Kat update.  Solutions seem to vary, from hitting both volume buttons at once, to resetting the device to factory settings.

Suffice to say, none of these have worked for me and has really put a damper on my otherwise awesome Android.

So my question is, does anyone have a solid solution to the problem, or should I just wait around to see if Google deigns to fix it at some point.

If the volume while a call is full and you still think it's low then, try use any voice boaster app from playstore  it will help you to hear voice more louder but distorted


Memory is filled with nothing (dumpstate/logcat?) I have a Nexus 5 that says that I don't have enough space on the phone. I have checked the storage settings (see screenshots) and it is missing half of the space.

I have searched and people recommend deleting dumpstate/logcat with *#9900# command, but when I enter the command nothing happen.

Any ideas?

Click image for larger version

As izzy deleted my previous answer (Hard reset isn't just a power off, I cant even take my battery) I repost the answer

Hard reset do the trick, link of "How to do a hard reset"

http://www.smartmobilephonesolutions.com/content/how-to-hard-reset-an-android-phone


When selling your phone, what steps should be taken to make sure that all personal data has been removed? I am getting rid of my Samsung Galaxy S4 and want to know what steps I should take to make sure that private information has been deleted from the phone.  I have removed the SD card and cleared all of the gallery files as well as music.  What other steps can I take to make sure that the phone is as sterile as possible?

Remove the SD Card and SIM Card, and then do a Factory Reset.

If your device doesn't use full disk encryption, and you are worried about someone using advanced forensic tools to recover your data, you might want to overwrite the internal storage area with random data. You can do this by creating a file containing random data that fills up the entire free space. Once you've done that, do another factory reset.

If you've flashed and/or rooted your device, you would want to flash a stock ROM, and restore the default boot loader.


Calendar and contacts sync using "Server" account type Device: Galaxy S4
Android: 4.2.2

I have been looking through the Settings  > Accounts > Add account menu and found there is an entry called "Server" that seems to allow you to sync calendar and contacts from a private server. Does anyone know how this works? I have tried pointing it at my OwnCloud server but cannot seem to get it to work.

This is an account for syncing via SyncML, a protocol used by (e.g.) funambol.

In a test, I've already managed to sync some events using syncevolution as http-server, but currently I'm not sure, wether SSL connections work as well. (I've even started a question on that topic.)


Using Google voice number without data So I know similar questions have been asked, but I feel my situation is a bit unique to everything I've read.  So I transferred my old number that everyone knows to Google voice, then I got a new phone with a new number that only has calling and texting.  I took the SIM card out of that phone and put it into my android phone, effectively giving me an android that has calling and texting, but no data plan.  I set up google voice to recognize my new number and call forward and everything seems to work while I'm on wifi, but I don't seem to receive text messages when I am not on wifi.

Is there a way to tell google voice to send all text messages it receives on my gv number to my carriers text plan with my new number (even if I don't have access to data)?  Also can replying to these messages without being near wifi show my gv number instead of my new phones number?  I can call Google voice and have it call the number I want to have my old number always show up, but with texting I haven't seemed to find a way yet.  Anyone in a similar situation have a good solution?

I figured it out.  If you navigate to this page, and tick the receive text messages on this phone box all texts to Google voice will be forwarded to your phone via SMS.  This generates a new number for each of your contacts that will travel between Google voice before delivery, making it so you will always show as your Google voice number to friends, even if you are outside of wifi.  So just need to save the new number for each contact and be sure to text that instead of their actual number and it works perfect.  More info here.


Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc randomly reboots I realise this might be a repeat question, or discussed at length in some related posts, please don't hesitate to discipline me if I'm being redundant.

I just really want to know not only if anyone else is experiencing random reboots on their Xperia Arcs (or any similar phone), but also if they've successfully resolved the issue? This is driving me completely insane, and I'm really disappointed because I really love my phone!

I've done a hard-reset, deleted everything off the SD card, and updated the phone to the latest available software from Sony Ericsson (Android v2.3.4). I've installed only 1 application, the logcat application mentioned in this answer, but that was after my phone rebooted TWICE today, and I also have no idea what log information I'm looking for...

I've read this post by Zano, as well as this one by ninjaPixel with no avail.

I refuse to believe that 'jimmy-ing' in a piece of paper to make the battery make contact better is the solution - as the battery in my phone is pretty tight already, and I've witnessed my phone reboot while simply lying on the desk - but I've tried that too and will continue to monitor...

ANY help will be greatly appreciated, and I'll continue to research and post back any additional information I find. Thanks in advance!

UPDATE #1:

So far so good, no additional apps have been installed, and I've removed the logcat app that was on there as it wasn't helping assess anything. I've also installed a very professional piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover to help keep it more secure than usual. Holding thumbs..!

UPDATE #2:

Almost 2 weeks after my previous update, and still no reboot. It seems that although I wouldn't believe it to be as a result of the battery not connecting properly, it didn't mean that it wasn't the battery...I'll make this the last update, and say, in my case, the problem was because the battery wasn't connecting properly and adding a small piece of paper between the battery and the outside cover has done the trick. Thanks all for reading, and for your time and patience!

You need to update your phone to the latest firmware 4.0.2.A.0.62. I bet yours is 4.0.2.A.0.58

If you can't update the phone over OTA or PC Suite, use WOTAN to update the phone to 4.0.2.A.0.62. The reboot problem occurred on nearly all SE Xperia Models.


Is there any contact information on the SD card? I found an sd card that was definitely in someone's android phone. Is there any file within the card that would have it's owner's info, so that I might contact them somehow and return what they've lost? Just going out of my way to be a good samaritan here....

Not by default, no. You can export contacts to the sdcard, but that would only contain "the owner" if they have themselves in their contacts. But you would also probably have no clue which one is them.

While it is a grand gesture on your part, I think you are the new owner of a used sdcard.


SIM card is not working on Sony Xperia Z (Android 4.1.2) My friend has a problem using his micro-SIM card on his new Sony Xperia Z (Android 4.1.2)

The problem is: when he inserts the SIM card, the phone display a message that the SIM card has been inserted, and restarts... then after the restart, displays 'SIM card removed' and restarts!

Notes:
1-The SIM card works perfectly on other phones.
2-The shop where he bought the phone has installed apps (mostly games) before he received it.

Any solutions?

Can you take a look at the SIM and phone SIM socket if they are oxidized/dirty/greasy?
If that is the case, you can clean it with a cotton cloth dipped in ethylene alcohol.
If the SIM socket pins are somehow are pushed down, that could be also an issue.


sdcard appears empty for sshdroid, samba fileshare etc, but not for total commander I have rooted lenovo p780 with VIBEUI 2.0 (not sure that this matters). The issue is well described in subject. When I enter /storage/sdcard0 directory via remote terminal it appears empty. It's all the same for samba - I can see nothing. But in Total Commander I can see that there are actually a lot of files. What could be the reason? I thought it is not mounted but could it be unmounted only for certain apps?

130|root@P780:/storage/sdcard0 # ll /storage
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jul  7 10:02 sdcard0
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jul  7 10:02 sdcard1
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jul  7 10:02 usbotg
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jul  7 10:02 usbotg1

,

root@P780:/storage/sdcard0 # ll -a /storage/sdcard0
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jul  7 10:02 .
drwxr-x--x    6 root     1028             0 Jul  7 10:02 ..

,

root@P780:/storage/sdcard0 # ll /sdcard
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            16 Jul  7 10:02 /sdcard -> /storage/sdcard0

,

root@P780:/storage/sdcard0 # mount
rootfs / rootfs ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0
none /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=750,gid=1000 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/secure tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=700 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/asec tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /mnt/obb tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
/emmc@android /system ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0
/emmc@usrdata /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,discard,noauto_da_alloc,data=ordered 0 0
/emmc@cache /cache ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,discard,noauto_da_alloc,data=ordered 0 0
/emmc@protect_f /protect_f ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,nodelalloc,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0
/emmc@protect_s /protect_s ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,nodelalloc,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0

Just three words: 'supersu namespace separation'. I use SuperSU as root access management tool on my device, which has an option for "namespace separation". I missed the point that this option must be disabled for my firmware.

Open SuperSU application (if you don't have it, then the solution is not applicable to you)
Go to Preferences tab
Scroll down to 'Namespace separation' option and uncheck it
Reboot the device.

This solved the issue on my device.


Can you charge a Qualcomm Quick Charge device without a supported charger? I have a laptop with a 20V 2.25A charger and a phone that supports QC 3.0. In theory, 3.0 has support for up to 20V, but I am not sure if I can use the laptop charger with the phone given that the charger is not necessarily QC approved. Both devices are USB C.

Phone

Charger

Quick charging is not just about Voltage or current in isolation. It is about varying both to deliver the right amount of power ( = product of voltage and current ) as required. Read more here Fast Charging by Qualcomm 3.0- impact on battery?

Besides, the device detects if the charger is quick charge or not. If it is not, then it acts as of it is connected to a normal charger, which is rated 5V, 2A , far lower than the one you want to try

To answer your question - NO, not advised


How remove prompt messages on nexus 4 root? Is it possible to make warning messages not appear? Example, when I try to turn off 'Cellular data' in data usage, I get the stupid question "turn off..?"

Is it possible to force the phone to do as you tell it without it playing smart asking you before executing?

You can toggle cellular data from quick settings.

Swipe downwards twice to bring up the toggles.
Tap on the mobile network icon, which will open up another screen
which shows the total data usage.
Then switch on/off the cellular data from this screen.

When you use this navigation, it won't throw a confirmation dialog.


Incoming call notification that supports landscape mode With my HTC One V in the car dock in landscape mode, incoming call notifications still appear in portrait mode. Is there a way I can configure or replace this with something that will display properly in landscape mode?

Unfortunately, this isn't something that can be done natively (as far as my research has turned up). The next best thing I found were car dock apps, like Car Home Ultra, which force everything to rotate into landscape and/or display a driver-friendly UI. I'm not sure if it will work for all versions of Android and what other limitations there are but it's worth a try, I guess. If all else fails, try Rotation Control.


Is it possible to use 2-step verification with multiple accounts on a phone? Using 2-step verification with Google Authenticator on an Android handset provides good security for accessing Gmail and other Google services.  What I am curious about is whether Google Authenticator can provide support for all Gmail accounts on the phone (multiple Gmail accounts can be added to a single handset under the Accounts menu in Settings).  Will both accounts authenticate using the same codes?

Yes, the Android as well as Blackberry versions of Google's Authenticator app supports multiple accounts.

Press MENU and choose SCAN BARCODE after you've set up your new Google Account for 2-factor auth to grab the displayed barcode or enter details manually.

Details: https://code.google.com/p/google-authenticator/


no sound alert to let me know i have a text message received I can't seem to get an audible sound when text message received.

Things to check include:

You have configured a sound for your SMS app
The notification volume is reasonable (in line with the ringer volume is probably good)
You don't have either silent or vibrate silent mode selected
You've enabled notifications in your SMS app


Cannot upgrade Samsung gt-i5800 firmware from 2.1 Hi I cannot upgrade Samsung gt-i5800 firmware from 2.1 using kies, it tells me that the phone requires 3000 mb (or 3gb) but it doesn't even have this as internal memory as far as i know!

Has anyone else had this problem?

Also the storage space is always getting full and won't save on my external sd card - will the update change that?

Any help would be great as I don't know what I'm doing and I'm sick of a phone that can only have 5 extra apps or so on top of the ones it comes with :(

The error you get is via Kies and relates to the PC that is running the Kies - it checks to see if you have 3GB of space on it (do not know why). It does not relate to the space on the phone internal memory.


How to delete Images on Android 8.1.0? Android is complaining of dwindling storage space. I regularly delete personal files to comply with its demands and can now use but 20 Gb of a 32 Gb storage unit. Recently I noticed an item called Images in the Storage -> Photos & videos dialogue:

The trash bin of the Photos application is empty, and so far I could not identify these "images" in the system. How can I delete them?

Update: I have wiped the system cache, follow the procedure described here. This had no effect, the phone still reports 3 GB of images that are nowhere to be found.

These are the caches Images which Android stores it in itself. To delete these Images, go to your File browser and allow the File browser to show Hidden Files and then Go to

Phone Storage > DCIM > .thumbnails

There are image more than 100 image and some waste files stored under this folder. Delete whole folder. Doing this can help you in some Manner to get out of dwindling storage.


Need to press power button three times to turn screen on using Screen Off and Lock I'm using the Screen Off and Lock 1.7.1 application on Android 4.1.1. The phone model is Huawei G510-0010.

After I turned off the screen using that application, I have to press the power button three times to turn the screen on. Using the power button to screen off/on, it is ok.

I uninstalled 1.7.1 and installed 1.10 which already works perfectly in other devices, but still facing the same issue.

I changed my mind to use Gravity Screen - On/Off.

  This app turns automatically your screen off when you put your phone
  into your pocket or onto a table and turn the screen on when you take
  it out or up. No need to touch any button and you are ready to go.


How do I disable the data usage warning and notification in ICS? I'm running ICS on a Galaxy Nexus and my data plan is grandfathered in from the days of unlimited data with my carrier- so I don't need any warning or notification for the amount of data I'm using. However, ICS on this phone has an annoying warning and notification when I hit either 2 or 4 gb before the month is over. The notification persists in the background and will not close. How do I disable this?

In Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Data Usage you should be able to uncheck the "set mobile data limit". The limit will stop data usage when you reach the limit. (You probably have this unchecked already).

On this screen is where you can move the "warning" levels up so you will not reach them and you will not receive the notification.

One thing to note: If you have mobile data disabled, the checkbox to set the limits will not be visible. Re-enable it temporarily and you can dispatch the annoying notifications for good.


Determine hardware-age of an Android device How can I get information that gives indication of the age of hardware in an Android device. I would look for lifetime information like how often has the battery been charged, how long has the screen has been turned on, how long has the flash memory been active.

In a traditional computer I would mainly look for SMART data. I would prefer solutions with basic android system information, and definitely want to avoid rooting the device.

The background is that I have bought a new Sony Xperia Z4 tablet  (5.0.2), but the condition of the packaging leads me to believe that it is not brand new. The package was secured only with a single unevenly cut tape and the plastic pocket is somewhat dirty. the screen protection is not quite centered and has a few bubbles. I don't really care if it has been been slightly in use and is still in new condition, but I am curious and definitely want to avoid a device that has been under more than minor use.

Find the tag which is attached to your device where serial number and manufacturing details are encoded. This resides beneath the back cover on most devices. Sony provides the manufacturing date as eg: 16W10(W stands for week) which is 22nd March 2016. This might help you find the Hardware age of your device. Thank you.


How to stop Whatsapp messages coming in lock screen I am using a mobile which is having Android Marshmallow. Whenever someone is sending a Whatsapp message to me when the phone is locked. The message is showing up in lock-screen as plain text.

So anyone can just pick up my phone and press the unlock button and they can see what someone texted me without unlocking the phone.

How to stop this from happening?

After the update.. the location of the lockscreen notification settings changed..
MIUI 10: It is located in Lockscreen > Advanced settings
MIUI 11: It's located in Settings > Notifications
If you're still stuck.. search for "notifications" from the search bar in the settings..
Hope it helps..


Locate phone without GPS I was thinking what would be the best way to locate a stolen motorcycle. The simplest solution I tough of was to hide a small smartphone inside the bike and use it to locate it. The problem is that thieves often transport stolen motorcycle insides shielded vans to avoid GPS tracking. But GPS signals are "easy to be shielded", GSM less easy. So my question is: can a phone (tuned on) be located by law enforcement only with IMEI and phone number after having pressed charges (European jurisdiction)? I'm talking about grid location, even in case internet connection isn't available (no google location services).

This is not accurate at all, although network based positioning in a very congested urban area can be accurate down to a sub-100m radius with a sufficient concentration of cell sites, in most cases of suburban areas it is more like 1-2km radius at best, in rural areas can be in excess of 10km, and in some areas where cell sites maybe 30km+ a part and none or minimally overlapping, you can only say it's within a 30km-60km circle.

Source plus personal experience working in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years

But that is just the technical aspect of it, the other aspect is the legality of it... You can't just call the local police and say "My phone/motocycle/car was stolen, but you can cell site position it from my phone that the GPS isn't usable" and they flip a switch and get the information, this requires a court order, and in non-life threatening cases this can take several days to weeks to obtain, and to be honest, some carriers don't track cell site positioning data that long, not to mention your stolen bike has probably been striped down or shipped a thousand miles away by then. Again, this comes from my experience in working in the telecommunications industry, both in the wireless industry and PSAP infrastructure.

So, is it possible, yes... is it viable, almost always no.

There are devices meant especially for this type of situation on the market, but to be honest unless your wheels are extremely rare the cost of them would likely make it a better decision to lower your deductible on your insurance and in the rare chance a thief does make off with your ride, let him have it, pay the deductible and get a new one and you will be money ahead.


Notification icon that looks like "b" with segmented rings and a circle I have this strange icon that appears in my notification bar (on the right hand side) every once in a while. I have only seen it when running an app in fullscreen, and then checking stuff in the notification bar. It disappears after a few seconds when quitting the full screen app.

(I have HTC One M8 with Android 4.4.4)

It's HTC BoomSound. It shows when sound is playing.


How to use SP Flash Tool to install a new Recovery? My friend has a Chinese phone.

I want to install a new Recovery, and I have Lineage OS on my computer, SP Flash Tool, and a recovery image.

How do I use SP Flash Tool? What files do I have to put on the download tab? I have a scatter file. What do I have to do?

Information about the phone:

  Board: MediaTek MT6589 A replic of Moto G 3rd generation

I want to install TWRP recovery, and then install Lineage OS 6.0.

From my notes when I first used it (which was the only time I did):¹

Download and unzip the package , Open SPFLASHTOOL EXE and Load the Scatter file (Click Scatter Loading)
Uncheck all the boxes
Go to / click RECOVERY box from list and load recovery image according to your device/choice (load image from the separate window -->open)
Now you can see RECOVERY box is checked and you can see the recovery image location (uncheck all other boxes)
Switch off your device
Connect your device and Click DOWNLOAD button on top (not the tab) , If it ask click "yes"
It is done and MTK flashTool will do the rest. If you have problem with flashing tool or drivers install MediaTek USB VCOM drivers.

Further readings:

How to setup SP_Flash_Tool_Linux
How to root MTK based mobile devices using a Linux PC?
How to use SP Flash Tool to fix MTK devices
How to Root Android and install recovery on any Mediatek device
How to use the flash tool
flash tool

¹ As the steps speak "Windows jargon" (e.g. "EXE"), I must have copied that from some other place.


Synchronize google apps with private server? Is there a way to synchronize google apps with my own server? Does Google offer something like that? Maybe for business use?
Or is there maybe an unofficial way of doing it?

I couldn't really find anything about this. All I could find out is that you can use your own domain when creating a google account, but I don't think that this affects the data sync.

Yes and no. It's not possible to use your own server, but Google does offer a hosted platform for businesses called Google Apps for Work. It gives you a Gmail interface (both the webapp and the Android app) and Google accounts in your own domain (which you can register through Google or independently), along with a private Google Drive for your domain and some other of their apps.

All the data are still stored on Google's servers, but because it's an enterprise service, you have service level agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality.


Why does only the German (Switzerland) Gboard layout have umlauts? I was looking for a way to add umlaut keys to my German keyboard and found this workaround. I can't imagine why Google did not manage to include them in 7 major versions (I am using 7.1.1). Especially considering that Germany has a population 10 times the size of Switzerland.

Is there a sensible (technical) reason why only the Swiss variation of the German keyboard has keys for the umlauts ä, ü and ö?

As of the latest version (8.0.5), Gboard supports dedicated keys for umlauts on all German keyboards.

However, they will only show on the German variant of the keyboard, instead of the default QWERTZ variant on some locales (e.g. Germany, Austria), excluding the exclusive Swiss variant on the Switzerland locale.


How to compute all space taken up by an app and its associated files (Using Android 6)
While trying to determine the size in memory taken up by a given App I got two widely differing values.
    Settings. Applications. Application manager. Whatsapp.
gave 134 MB (App 63.90 MB, Data 71.18 MB), while Total Commander gave 900 MB.

How can I get the size taken up by all files that reside in my cell phone associated with a given App, which would otherwise not be there? I am pretty sure it must be closest to what TC gives, but I am not sure everything from WhatsApp is within its directory, and even less sure that it applies for a general App.

Why does Settings give such a low value?
What is it counting as App and Data?

Related questions:

Similar (old) question (but not the same):
KitKat - How to identify the REAL size of apps (app + datas + ...) to be able to install other ones

Related (very old) question: what is my personal data storage as opposed to program storage  and how can I reduce it?

Questions related to the issue that inspired this one (I am constantly running out of space):

Missing space/Storage space running out Galaxy S2 [tried almost every solution I can find!]

Why am I constantly running out of space on my Galaxy S2?

Microsoft apps always eating up space with data, for apparently no reason

I can't find files taking up space in my android phone

Later versions of Android do not count cache data when showing the app size. So you can f.e. see that Instagram takes 150 Mb of your storage while there are more than 2 Gb of Instagram cached data (true story!)

As for Whatsapp, the size of media sent and recieved via Whatsapp (images, videos etc) is not shown in Settings. But since these media are stored in Whatsapp folder, their size is counted when you look at folder properties in any file manager.


How to protect my files from the Mobile repairers? I'm using Samsung Galaxy Core GT model. I have some problem in my Mobile. I want to have my Mobile serviced, so I want to protect my photos and other data from the Mobile repairer/technician. I've heard that now a days those people are hacking the personal photos of the Mobile users. They are using the photos for illegal purposes.

So how do I protect the photos from those people before giving my phone for servicing?

If your really paranoid about your data then backing up all your information to your PC would be one thing - syncing your contacts to your Google account.

If you have a later version of Android then should have encrypting software to encrypt your device and data. But to be safe, anything personal backup to your PC.


"Unfortunately xxx has stopped" My Symphony Xplorer W85 running JellyBean v.4.2.2 suddenly began showing the following errors, making the phone unusable:

"unfortunately ikeyboard has stopped"
"unfortunately systeminfo has stopped"
"unfortunately adobe air has stopped"
"unfortunately measure has stopped"

I first tried factory resetting the phone, then rooted and uninstalled Adobe Air, systeminfo, and ikeyboard using Kingroot but the phone still displays the errors. What might be causing this and what can I do to fix it?

Download the stock Rom and re-flash

Here is the link:

http://firmwarefile.com/symphony-w25


Stuck at "Verifying Information" when updating to ICS I've been trying for a few hours to update my Desire S running Android 2.3.5 to the newly released official ICS rom "RUU_SAGA_ICS_35_S_HTC_Europe_14.01.401.2_Radio_20.76.30.0835_3831.19.00.110_release_275068_signed".

Running XP, I've installed the latest HTC Sync from the HTC website (to get the drivers). No matter what I try I always get stuck at the screen "Verifying information on your android phone. Please wait...". I've let it sit there for over an hour without it ever continuing, I'm not getting any kind of error message.

When using the HTC Sync program the phone shows up as connected without any problems. I've tried running the installer both while having the program on and having the phone in "HTC Sync mode", and having the program turned off and having the phone in "Charge only mode". USB debugging is of course turned on. I've also tried turning the AV and firewall off, just in case. I've also tried resetting the phone to factory settings, just for the hell of it. No change.

The phone is not rooted and is S-ON. I've tried restarting both phone and computer a number of times (phone both using fast boot and regular boot) but I just can't seem to get it working.

Any ideas?

Edit: I also found a log file from the RUU, containing the following:

    <LOG>
    <T170112><INFO><VERSION>1.0.6.2012</VERSION></INFO></T170112>
    <T170112><DEBUG><PAGE>====== WelcomeDlg ======</PAGE>
    </DEBUG></T170112>
    <T170117><DEBUG><PAGE>====== VerifyingMobileDlg ======</PAGE>
    </DEBUG></T170117>
    <T170117><DEBUG>strPath = C:\Program\HTC\HTC Sync 3.0\
    </DEBUG></T170117>
    <T170117><DEBUG><CMD>adb devices</CMD>
    </DEBUG></T170117>
    <T170118><DEBUG><OUT>adb <T170118><DEBUG><CMD>fastboot devices</CMD>
    </DEBUG></T170118>
    <T170120><DEBUG><OUT>fastboot

Found a solution myself. The problem was that the adb and fastboot tools in the HTC Sync program didn't work. I solved it by downloading the Android SDK, installing platform-tools, removing HTC Sync from the path variable and adding the platform-tools directory in its place.


Building a simple, background app What I have to do is very simple, I want to use Tasker to ping my Raspberry PI unit when I get close to home.

What I have:

An Android 6.1 Phone
An ssh server I can reach from everywhere
A Raspberry PI unit behind a router at home

I have downloaded tasker, so I can trigger applications on my phone and I have an app to connect to my remote ssh server. My idea is something like:

Have the Raspi periodically check a file on the server.
File is updated with a flag on whether I am close to home or not by Tasker + SSH application on my phone
????
Profit!

I need some help on how one can achieve 2. or similar. Essentially, I would like to set up tasker so that on triggers it will make my phone execute a script on the server, any hint?

So, I've managed. It's a bit clunky, but it does what it should.

Here's whatis needed:

Tasker app (2.99$ on the Play Store)
Connectbot
An ssh server you can control

Tasker checks my position every two minutes, connects with connectbot which triggers a shell script on the ssh server.

Generate a public ssh key without password from Connectbot. Go in the key section, long tap and copy the key. You can then send the key to your ssh server so that connectbot can authenticate passwordlessly.

Create a profile in connectbot with a meaningful nickname (in my case "homeflag"). Select post-login automation and insert which command you'd like to run. In my case I have a very simple script called I_am_home:

echo 1 > /home/user/home_flag

so in connectbot post-login automation I would put

/path/to/I_am_home; exit ⏎

this ensures the command is triggered automatically at login and then the connection is closed.

In tasker create a task to send intent (use the search bar to find it), with the following fields:

Action: android.intent.action.VIEW
Data: ssh://user@host:port#homeflage
Target: Activity

Information on how to do this have been found on this dedicated reddit containing a lot of other info and different way to achieve this.

It is then easy enough to have tasker check your location periodically by making an appropriate profile.


Wiko UFeel phone won't restart after logo screen Recently my Wiko UFeel (using Marshmallow Android) restarted automatically and won't pass from the UFeel logo image. I know I problaby have to do a factory reset, however I need to backup some files to my computer, both from the phone and the SD Card which, unfortunately, is mounted as internal storage, meaning I can't plug it to a card reader or any other Wiko device to copy the files. What I'd like to know, please, is:

1) If I execute the factory reset with the SD card in my device, will the data also be erased or just the data from the internal storage (or both) ?

2) If I execute the factory reset without the SD card in my device, will I be able to use it as is after the phone is reset or will I need to format it ?

3) Is there any way for me to plug the phone to a computer so I can backup the files ?

4) Is there any way I can backup the SD card through some other means ? I  tried ADB but it doesn't recognize my device.

Thank you very much

As you formatted the card as internal storage, it will most likely be formatted at a factory reset (as it represents internal storage). Even if it wouldn't, you no longer were able to access it, as the encryption key will be lost after a factory reset.
definitely not, as your encryption key is lost after a factory reset (see previous point).
if you've got the encryption key extracted (which requires root-access), yes – see our adoptable-storage tag-wiki.
maybe, if you have a custom recovery installed or can boot into one (fastboot boot recovery.img). But that would require the device's bootloader to be unlocked. If you haven't done so already, the unlock process usually implicitly performs a factory reset / data-wipe itself; so this approach only works if the bootloader already had been unlocked before (see: bootloader-lock).


How many devices don't run Google Play I've recently integrated AdMob into my app.  AdMob requires Google Play Services, which requires the Google Play app.

How many devices do not have Google Play available?  I'm worried about losing potential users.

According the google's developer page here, google play is not required for AdMob to work.

From the Site:

  The Google Play services library supports even devices that don't have the Google Play store. To update such devices, download and bundle the latest Google Play services SDK; then relaunch your apps to propagate updates to your users. Devices that do have the Google Play store are automatically updated to the latest version.

There's also an answer here which explains that Google Play Services is not required to be able to have ads served to android devices. If Google Play Services is not on the device, the version you compile with your app will fetch the ads instead.


How to make F-Droid hide data about incompatible packages? In 2019 with F-Droid v1.22 running on an ancient DROID Pro about 95% of the much newer software is incompatible and grayed out.  When browsing by category, these grayed out apps consume most of the screen.  On this hardware F-Droid would be much more usable if there were some setting that would just hide all those grayed out apps.

Can F-Droid hide data about incompatible packages?

Failing that, is there some Linux-based app that can browse an F-Droid repository and filter out incompatible cruft?

DROID Pro version number data:  System version: 4.7.3.XT610.Verizon.en.US, Android version: 2.3.4

Usually, this should be what the corresponding toggle on the Option page is for: If you untick "include incompatible apps", they should be hidden (and if you tick it, they are shown but grayed out – just as you describe).

As this doesn't work for you, you might be plagued by a long-standing bug. Unfortunately, there's nothing we at Android.SE can do about it but suggesting you to chime in there and rise awareness, so it might finally get fixed. As the issue is still open, it seems so is the bug – though updating to a more recent version is worth trying (v1.2.2 is not quite up-to-date; ATM v1.6 should be the current stable) if your Android version permits.


What would it take to turn my Android phone into a full-fledged TV gaming console? I recently found an app called DroidEmu which basically lets me play any GBA, GBC, GameGear, Genesis, Nes, or Snes game I want on my phone. I also discovered a way to connect PS3 controllers to my device so I can play those games with a physical controller.

This got me thinking; what would it take to turn my Android phone into a full-fledged TV-based gaming console? Is that even feasible right now? I know that's its fairly easy to connect Android devices to TVs using an HDMI adapter so that shouldn't be a problem, but what about native Android games that work with a controller, are there many of those? If so, are there any that support split-screen gaming with multiple controllers or online/lan-based multiplayer? What are the chances of this situation improving in the near future?

Nice idea, now I think about it, too.

I found a little list here (please feel free to edit/add):

GTA3
Muffin Knight
Pool Break
Riptide GP
ShadowGun
Shine Runner
Sonic CD
Soulcraft THD

If I find some time, I will add controller support to my game Orc Genocide. ATM, it's playable head-on-head with multitouch (useless for TV, but awesome for tablets). I will let you know.


How can phone companies detect tethering (incl. Wifi hotspot) Mobile network operators (also: telephone companies, telcos, providers) sometimes offer low cost data packages that are usable only on the phone. Or so, they say.

How can they distinguish between a user browsing the web with a browser on his Android phone and a user using a browser on a laptop tethered to an Android phone?

In early 2012 I was in Paris and I was using an Orange mobile data package with a Nokia E51 (Symbian S60). Indeed, I could only access the Internet using the phone's browser, not from my laptop tethered to the phone. Now, I a have an Android 2.3 phone, and I am thinking about subscribing to a similar data package in Spain (operator Más Móvil).

How they detect that someone is tethering a device isn't something that network providers often want to talk about, for the obvious reason that the more consumers know about how this is being detected, the easier it is for them to find ways to hide the fact that they're doing it, and avoid the associated extra charges (1). However there are certain known techniques that will give away the fact that you're currently tethering, if your Service Provider happens to be running the right tool to check for these indicators:
Your Phone asks your network if tethering is allowed
The first and easiest method is that some phones will query the network to check whether the current contract allows tethering, and then totally disable the tethering options on the device in software if not. This generally only happens if you are running an OS version that has been customized by your Provider, example 1 example 2.
Your phone tells your network that you are tethering
It's also rumoured that some phones have a second set of APN details saved in them by the phone network, when you enable tethering they switch over to using this second APN for all tethered traffic, while using the normal APN for traffic originating on the phone. However I haven't found any concrete evidence of this, other than people finding odd APNs and wondering what they're for (bear in mind that an unlocked phone bought off-contract may have hundreds or thousands of APNs stored on it, ready for use on whichever network in whichever country the eventual owner decides to use it).
Inspecting the network packets for their TTL (time to live)
Every network packet travelling across a TCP/IP network, like the internet, has a built-in time-to-live (TTL) set on it, so that in case there is a problem with that packet reaching its destination this will stop it travelling around the network forever clogging everything up.
The way this works is that the packet starts with a TTL number (say 128) set on it when it leaves the sending device (your phone, or laptop), and then every time that packet travels through a router of any kind (like your home broadband router, or a router at your ISP or phone company) that router subtracts one from the TTL (which would decrement the TTL to 127 in this example), the next router it travels through will in turn decrement the TTL again, and so on, if the TTL ever reaches zero then the router it's at discards the packet and doesn't transmit it again.
When your phone is tethering it acts like a router so, as the packet passes from your tethered laptop through your phone and onto the phone network, your phone will subtract "1" from the TTL to show that the packet has passed through its first router. The phone networks know what the expected TTLs from common devices are (for instance packets from an iPhone always start at a TTL of 64), and so they can spot when they're one less (or totally different) than they're expecting.
MAC address inspection
Devices on a TCP/IP network, like the internet, all have a unique MAC ID set on their network interfaces. This is made up of two halves, one half identifying the manufacturer of the interface, and the other half being a unique identifier assigned by the manufacturer (like a serial number). Every network packet that is sent out will have been "stamped" with the MAC address of the originating device's network port. The MAC address of your laptop's wifi card will have a very different manufacturer and serial code than the MAC address of your phone's 3G interface.
TCP/IP Stack Fingerprinting
Different computer Operating Systems (eg Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, etc) set up their TCP/IP stacks with different default values and settings (eg the Initial Packet Size, Initial TTL,  Window Size...). The combination of these values can give a "fingerprint" that can be used to identify what operating system is running on the originating device. A side-effect of this may mean that if you're using an uncommon OS, or an OS that's similar to your phone's on your other device, your tethering may not be spotted.
Looking at the Destination IP/URL
You can learn a lot by what a device regularly communicates with.
For instance, many OSs these days do Captive Portal Detection when they first connect to a wifi network (such as your wifi tether connection), they do this by trying to connect to a known web server across the internet, and checking to see if they get the response that they're expecting. If the expected response is not received, then it's likely that the wifi connection you're on is a "captive portal" and may need you to log in, or pay, to connect to it. As Microsoft OSs (like Windows Vista and Windows 7 check with a Microsoft server by default and other OSs like Android, MacOS and so on all connect to their parent company's servers to do these checks, it can be used as a good indication of the operating system just after the initial connection is made.
Additionally, if a device regularly contacts the Windows Update servers, then it's very likely that device is a Windows PC or laptop, whereas if it regularly checks with Google's Android update servers, then it's probably a phone. Or if they can see that you're connecting to the Apple App Store, but the IMEI of the device that your SIM card is in indicates that it's not an Apple device, maybe you're tethering an iPad to an Android phone?
More sophisticated systems can look at a whole range of data seeing who you're communicating with (eg are you connecting to the Facebook app's API servers which is more likely from a phone, or to Facebook's web servers which is more likely from a PC) and add a whole load of these indicators together to create a fingerprint that indicates what sort of device you're likely to be using. Some of these fingerprints can be caught out when new device types and services come out, for instance there are reports that just after tablets with built-in 3G came out, some owners of these on the AT&T network received mails warning them that they'd been tethering when they hadn't, as the fingerprint from this new style of device didn't look like a typical phone.

(1) Obviously before trying any methods to by-pass tethering detection please remember to check your phone contract and your phone company's policies on tethering. They may have penalty clauses buried in their contract, Fair Use Policy, or Acceptable Use Policy for people who try to bypass their restrictions and limits.


Why does Kingo Root app need network access? I installed the Kingo Root (aka KingoRoot) APK on my Android device and launched the app. My phone was on airplane mode and I saw the screen

Kingo ROOT
Please make sure your network connection is stable and try again.

What exactly beyond the app itself does the app need to root the device that requires network access?

Not sure entirely, but this may be the reason why

KingoRoot was banned from the XDA Developers forum along with vRoot in November 2013 due to concerns with the information collected by the app during the rooting process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingo_Root

Ragnar (Retired Forum Moderator)
Nov 6, 2013 at 3:02 PM
Be aware that as of this moment XDA has deemed the Kingo root method and Vroot method are not allowed on XDA. There are concerns with the information which is collected during the root method by the exploit. It is not about a continuous malware which may affect your device but about important information shared about your device, serial numbers etc during the root process which could be huge securities issues.
You have all been warned
Thread closed. If you have any questions regarding this please contact myself or any other moderator via PM
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/kingoapp.2503591/page-3


How to find truly NEW apps on the Play store? How can I find new apps on the Play store?  It seems that everything that is returned is just the popular stuff all the time.  I'm interested in locating and trying out new apps (mostly games) outside of the popular stuff.

When looking at the "new and recently updated" that always is flooded with the popular apps that are at the top of the charts already that I've seen a million times.

Appbrain, considered front end of Google Play does that. You can filter apps by various criteria as shown for example forgames → Action→ New


App is obscuring a permission request settings can't verify your response, can't turn off Overlay I need to use DroidCam in my phone and PC, it's an app that lets you use your phone cam as a webcam in your PC. Other programs don't work. Since my internet connection is really slow I have to use it via USB. Since my phone screen is mostly not responsive I have installed a pointer type overlay that "draw over other apps".
Because I have that app running, when I try to run DroidCam, it gives me the error message: "Because an app is obscuring a permissions request, Settings cannot verify your response".
But I can't disable my overlay, my mouse pointer, because then I wouldn't be able to use my phone or run that app.
Anyone comes up with a solution?

I tried all the straightforward options like turning off the ability for other apps to override, but none worked. Finally got around the problem by using the super power saving feature on my tablet that shut off all apps other than those selected. I selected the app I was trying to get the permissions to work for to be the only app running. Opened it, and was finally allowed to enable it without getting this message. Turned off the power saving mode so all other apps were available again, and my new app now seems to be working fine. Would love to know what app was causing the issue but just glad to have it solved.


How to get rid of Christmas Animation from mobile screen I am seeing a Christmas animation on my mobile screen from 25th Dec 2012. I have no idea how did it come to my mobile. Because I rarely use internet on my mobile. And I used Internet last time at least 2-3 months before.

It automatically appears after some mins and eats my battery. I have checked all running and installed application. But none of them giving me any clue about this animation.

I am doubtful that this is the animation from Go launcher or Go SMS. but not confirmed.

I also have scanned my mob for spyware and antivirus. But nothing found.

Welcome to the club -- it's from the launcher, I've got that one as well since about that time. As GoLauncher also started spamming my notification area, I used LBE to forbid it going to the network, which worked fine -- but the XMas stuff stuck since then.

So, common issue: GoLauncher not going to the net (I forbid it, and you don't have network connection often). Solution: Enable network once again, update the GoLauncher. At least here, Santa seems to be gone.


change the position of google search bar in Google Now Launcher I am using Google now launcher on my Moto G3 phone. I have set up wallpapers on my home screen but the Google search bar(which is situated at top of my home screen), seems to be always overlapping the wallpaper content.

Ideally, I should be able to get rid of that search bar from my home screen of Google Now launcher, but it looks like there is no easy/working way to do it, beside installing another launcher, which I do not want to do.

So, as other alternative, I want to adjust the position of Google search bar by moving it around the home screen. But I am unable to drag/move it and hence unable to change its location

Is there a way?

If you're into rooting and Xposed Framework, this module called Xposed GEL Settings has a bunch of Now Launcher-related settings, among which you can disable the permanent search bar. You can then put a search bar widget on arbitrary location of the screen.

Note that this app requires a compatible version of Now Launcher / Google App to work at all. Supported versions are listed on the module description page.


SD card formatted to ext4 and permissions I'm using CyanogenMod 7.1.0 RC1 on HTC Desire HD. I've formatted SD card to ext4, because I wanted to use Fedora through chrooting  into it, and Fedora ARM image requires FS which can do symlinks.

Now, when various applications try to save data (reading works fine) on SD, they get permission denied (so, for example, downloads don't work, camera can't save images, etc.). I've chmoded everything on my SD card to 777, but that didn't help (I don't really understand why, as a guy with strong Linux background I've assumed that this would make it readable to everyone).
I've also tried fixing permissions through ROM Manager, but this feature seems not to care about SD card.
All files on SD card seem to be owned by root:root.

Now, how do I make my SD card usable again? Should I format it back to FAT?

You can't have the full SD card formatted as ext4.  Android only natively supports FAT / FAT32.  The primary partition should be FAT, and you can use a secondary partition with ext4 only if you install an app for it like Simple2Ext.


Can you show advanced settings in android by default? In almost all settings sub-menus in newer android versions, there is a item in the list called "Advanced" closest to the bottom, that shows additional settings when pressed. This is apparently a design goal called Progressive disclosure, according to Android Settings Design Guidelines

I am wondering if the "Progressive disclosure" feature can be disabled somehow, so that I am shown all settings in sub-menus by default.

It is how the developer of that Android ROM designs the settings screen. There is no user-end setting to decide how the settings show up and /or to sort them in different ways. As it is a Google instruction to hide less used settings inside the "Advanced" menu, most developers will decide on pushing additional settings behind that menu item. In fact my current phone did that even when there weren't at least 3 items in the advanced menu.

Short answer: It  is not possible to show the settings outside of the "Advanced" sub-menu. There's no way for users to disable the use of Progressive Disclosures.

Root and modification can help in adjusting the priority/place of that setting item. But that's probably too much effort to achieve much lesser.


Bootloop issue and can't go to recovery mode I am using Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL, it got hang and then i tried to restart the phone but it get stucked in, Also I can't get in to recovery using standard method. Generally I keep USB debugging mode off that's why my device not listed in adb devices list but, i can go into CSC Fastboot mode.

Text in the image.
csc fastboot mode!!! long time press power button to restart
I tried below solutions

Used Asus Flash tool as per its help doc the process takes 10 to 15min but i wait around more than 2 hours it shows "Uploading OS Version"
I downloaded Firmware zip file from asus official site, but in zip file only boot.img is present other two requried files are missing recovery.img and fastboot.img

Kindly suggest me some workaround.

The Asus Zenfone Flash Tool is no official Software, furthermore it looks like this tool is using fastboot (which usually works on previously unlocked bootloader only)

for fastboot.exe download platform-tools and open cmd.exe. navigate to platform-tools folder with cd now you can type

fastboot reboot

if bootloader is already unlocked, you can also wipe cache partition and see if this fixes your boot problem

fastboot format:ext4 cache

you can also boot into recovery from fastboot and then install firmware update.zip. this should even work from TWRP as long as you don't flash recovery.
do NOT allow modifications of system. just wipe cache partition. try to reboot into system from menu. if still not booting, install firmware update.zip

fastboot boot C:\platform-tools\twrp-3.2.3-zenfone3-20180806.img

for locked bootloader you can download Factory_Phone-userdebug.raw emmc image which contains GPT partition table and all partitions. (from linux it is possible to loop-mount this image with kpartx  and split into partitions, but this is out of scope)

WARNING: all data lost
this will flash the entire device, be aware this deletes all your personal data. make sure this is the right phone model.
download CSC_ZE552KL_13_13_1_36_M2_6_7_P7_userdebug.zip.
it seems no flash tool is needed, it is maybe working from fastboot directly.
connect usb cable in fastboot mode and just run flashall_AFT.cmd

Qualcomm Devices usually can be flashed from EDL mode with QPST.
found a site with some Qualcomm EDL Programmers maybe one of this works for your device
Qualcomm_Factory_Loader_MSM8953_Lenovo.mbn
Qualcomm_Factory_Loader_MSM8953_Xiaomi.mbn
Qualcomm_Factory_Loader_MSM8953_Xiaomi_2nd.mbn

for EDL mode install Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 Driver

for EDL mode you need to find Test Point

The following is just an example to illustrate the process and not valid instructions

For further documentation refer to alephsecurity there you can learn how to flash devinfo which unlocks bootloader and gives availbilitiy to flash custom recovery TWRP

basically you need the following files (most of them are included in QPST)

fh_loader.exe
QSaharaServer.exe
prog_emmc_firehose_8953.mbn
rawprogram0.xml
patch0.xml

the xml file has instructions for flashing partition, for example TWRP (not the right size/offset)

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<data>
 <program SECTOR_SIZE_IN_BYTES="512" file_sector_offset="0" filename="recovery.img" label="recovery" num_partition_sectors="131072" physical_partition_number="0" size_in_KB="65536.0" sparse="false" start_byte_hex="0x1c200000" start_sector="921600" />
</data>

QSaharaServer.exe is used to initialize firehose with on the already to COM port connected device in EDL mode

QSaharaServer.exe -p \\.\COM10 -s 13:prog_emmc_firehose_8953.mbn -b tmp\"

fh_loader.exe is responsible for flashing the instructions from xml file

fh_loader.exe --search_path=tmp --port=\\.\COM10 --sendxml=twrp.xml"


VoIP on wifi not working in sleep mode My calls don't come in, with voip on wifi, when my nexus 5 is in sleep mode. I went into settings to put "always keep wifi on" but no result.

When screen shuts down, my voip app seems to disconnect and even after reopening the phone i have to reactivate the voip app.

Android lollipop was installed the day i got my new phone so i can't tell if it's the new android version. Thinking about returning the phone to google.

I verified all the options in my app and on the phone itself. Does anyone have a solution to this, thanks for your help.

Try this:

Open your Settings.
Select Wifi (not the toggle option, but in the blank space). Note: The following option may be under Networks>More Settings, depending on your phone.
Open the Advanced Settings after pressing your menu key.
Activate Best WiFi Performance mode.


Can Google assistant on one device be commanded from another device both of which have been signed into the same Google Account? User has two android devices(phones). User has signed into the same google account on both devices.

Device01:
 - Work Device
 - Has a sim card
 - Mobile data enabled
 - Is not used much, kept away while at home
 - Hotspot is switched on while at home.

Device02:
 - Play device
 - Doesn't have a sim card
 - Always used by the user while at user home
 - Gets data connection through WiFi of Device01/Public WiFi

Consider the following senario:
 - The user is watching YouTube on Device02 in another room / goes out to buy a pack of chips,
 - User wants to send a SMS real quick,
 - Now can the user ask his google assistant on Device02 "Okay Google, Send SMS to Mr. XYZ" and set up google assistant such that SMS is sent through Device01 instead?

Is this currently possible? Or will we need Google Nest/Hub/Home etc...?

I think you can not do that, because device 1 has a simcard and device 2 has internet connection only, but you can text device 1 using whatsapp or telegram


TWRP 2.8.7.0 -> How secure does WIPE erase your personal data I need to mail my Sony z3c smartphone to a repair shop.

It is rooted and I have a recent TWRP backup that I moved to my PC. I removed the sdCard and booted into recovery.

If I go to wipe -> factory reset is this sufficient enough to prevent a   nosy repair shop employee from reading out my sensitive data.

I could not find any information about how the wiping process erases your data. Does it just delete the partition table or does it write new data over every single bit.

Does anyone have some information on what commands will be executed when using TWRP to wipe the phone ?

From official TWRP

  For instance, if you're getting ready to sell your device, then it's a good idea to wipe everything on the device so that the new owner doesn't get your private data. Note that these wipe options may not be completely destructive. If you store especially sensitive information on your device or are really concerned about your private data, then you may need to look into other options to ensure that your data is fully destroyed.

So, TWRP wipe isn't the best way of you are especially sensitive to personal information being captured

Recommended way is to encrypt and factory reset. A factory reset by itself is supposed to overwrite information but it has been shown that it is not 100% true always - some parts of storage are marked as overwritten but in reality aren't. If the phone is encrypted

  ....If the phone's hard drive is encrypted, any unerased data will be scrambled and effectively useless

This was established in a study two years ago , details here

Edit Thanks to Izzy who pointed in comments another important aspect of FRP(Factory Reset Protection)- make sure you are signed out of your Google account before doing factory reset. Else, this protection will kick in and you will have major issues at hand. Also refer to tools in his curated collection linked in the comment for secure deletion


gallery and music player are not working My gallery is not showing pics and videos of SD card
So I installed quickpic which is showing every thing
My music player is also not showing my music
I have restarted the phone my times after this but it won't help
Pls help

go to settings>Apps>all>Gallery
a)click on force stop

b)click on clear data

c)click on clear cache
now again go to settings>Apps>all>music
a)click on force stop

b)click on clear data

c)click on clear cache
now again go to settings>Apps>all>Media Storage
a)click on force stop

b)click on clear data

c)click on clear cache

7.Now,restart phone

note:- wait for 2-3 minutes to allow gallery and music player to build their database again.


Why don't my adbkey fingerprints match? When I attempt to connect to my phone via adb it tells me my public key's fingerprint is this:

But on my computer, per this post, my public key's fingerprint is

will@linux:~$ awk '{print $1}' < ~/.android/adbkey.pub | openssl base64 -A -d -a | openssl md5 -c
(stdin)= 3c:be:86:c7:68:f4:36:7f:f9:d7:29:92:2d:d0:3b:0d

which is different, and also much shorter than the fingerprint displayed on the phone (32 characters long vs 64 for the one displayed on the phone). Does android now use a different method of generating the fingerprint than the one in the linked thread?

I'm running android 5.0.1 with adb 1.0.36, revison 7.0.0_r1.

This is the full public key for reference:

  QAAAAJXI4EVDPeAUk18A1RBUobHqLB2V+syZaJxs3XDwX9aaIurNRF4gmmVUFo8CLYeteGVta2q/enn4HrSCw5VEJ2V2ByyhN9Obl2jhU3jJtQmiLUUkDOjHriJ7c8WQOfqkq5/DJPpAxIzI3Qlalr6Jrb9SIE0iEoIlNl5xd9tIYQgBcECMHodciV0qG8hlDkY3vXQyMJfNQ5Y1EkPf2eyeRS+h/8kViz1tLbcxoCoBwQehDeaQzCb3ACY8KV4If02i/wWy0La5m5CVvGsGCGZfoU7klPxzYqkA5fGJ03OTWI1SxsIqjwGzM/xlS40Vz6gfCODJxWq6WL5qTJgTusKbx77zJQqwj6nt5cvLOZVxVCIqticF9njcIDr1XIi79JnuBaZfr2X/IX1VJyj30T8npEFyR7IN//pY1knM6YPfmwQ6K2ynFW7id8uUbrxxqKW0aBypzPC9y4vzbFxAaQI3Ck6dpqNjvI4M+BAVPK3PdgEtxwVOU6z//oLUVsygEOtfyl5ttwd2Ni/EcQLp9zIYskwIkETHcBR56G4tv+vuL6qq7lH95IInA8sUjuz3+5daSCXFSfEkXsAobSa1EmYy3gwuBwpO1tLH+wjIH7M2w40KNu4YxRb2TW+YqPGw6c2/l5CdpEdXmCzbRN1ZjtfhEOH+WRTsdAwigx/uw/t5YjFZNj3TMAEAAQA=
  will@linux

With try-and-error (actually on first attempt, which shows it was not pure lack): your fingerprint shown on android device is one that can be created using sha256 hash-function, that is awk '{print $1}' < ~/.android/adbkey.pub | openssl base64 -A -d -a | openssl sha256 -c.

Adb enhanced security (sha256 much better and modern than md5).

$ cat test.pub | openssl base64 -A -d -a |openssl sha256 -c
(stdin)= bc:67:e2:fc:24:0b:69:17:c2:34:cd:16:49:0d:8a:f0:af:d7:28:1a:1e:75:6c:d0:20:65:1f:77:94:a5:0a:53