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Cannot set default app for some files (PDF, TXT...) select "always" has not effect, Complete action using keeps popping up
Android 10 on Samsung s10e.
Every-time I open a PDF or TXT file I am prompted to select which app I want to open the file with.
It does not matter which app I select, the setting is never remembered, I am prompted with the same question next time I try to open the file, despite clicking "always".
Already cleared the default for all apps in Settings, problem is still there.
edit : it turns out the problem also happen for other file types like .txt or even .png files, but not for .docx
My guess is problem arises only when there is more than one app capable of handling the file type.

See this https://android.stackexchange.com/q/175710/131553

I did the accepted answer (install Better Open With app and select default for PDF) but still same problem, It is actually worse as I now have a also Better Open With app among the possible options xd

Among the possible apps listed for both .pdf and .txt there was Mylio (a photo manager app). Thinking this might be the root of the issue I uninstalled it and could then open .pdf or.png files straight away (after selecting "Always" once more)...
As for .txt file it still prompts me "complete action with" if I try to open it with Firefox or Amaze text editor (and select Always afterwards). but if I chose Chrome it does not prompt me anymore for some reason...
I don't know if this should be the accepted answer because this is more like a workaround as it does not work with all apps. plus I don't want to uninstall Mylio as I use it regularly.
edit : turns out that if I disable Chrome (could not uninstall it) it then works for .txt file (meaning I can chose any app, select always and it will not ask me "complete action with" again)


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Android lock screen audio controls (8.1.0)
I'm using Hi Locker screen locker because my Moto G5 was pocket entering the lock pin (super annoying). I use Audible extensively. Now the issue is it is pocket jumping through chapters and pausing my audiobooks from the lock screen audio controls. I've looked for hours and see no way to turn these audio controls off (Android 8.1.0). Is there anything I'm missing that will turn off the audio controls located on the lock screen? The Galaxy S8 has a setting for Facewidgets. I need that. It appears to just be an S8 thing. Note: Turning off all notifications does not accomplish this.
Too many generic search terms to search for this issue. Can anyone recommend a screen lock app that requires a pattern to unlock, and no controls work until I actually enter this pattern? Or an app that disables the lock screen audio controls like the Galaxy S8 Facewidgets settings?
You just get all kinds of unrelated stuff trying to search for this.
I'm almost thinking about getting an S8 just for this one issue. Thought I would ask on here first, though.
Thanks,

Apparently, after changing some of these settings, they do not take effect unless you reboot your phone. Days after turning off a bunch of stuff and still having the audio controls on my phone lock screen, I must have rebooted and now the audio controls on the lock screen are gone. The frustrating thing is that I turned a bunch of things back on when turning them off did nothing. And even though I turned all notifications to the lock screen back on, I am getting zero notifications for any app. I have to get into my phone to see notifications.
But at least it quit pocket skipping chapters forwards and backwards in my Audible books and pausing it due to the stupid audio controls on the lock screen.
Still thinking my next phone may be a newer Galaxy that at least has a built in menu option to do this.

In your lock screen preferences there should be an option to choose what apps to hide from the lock screen. If you set it to "Hide sensitive content", you can then go into your system notification settings for Audible and set the play controls as sensitive.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


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How can I set the clock app linked in notification center?
In the notification center I can click the clock to open the clock app. How can I set the clock app which should be opened?
Currently MIUI11 default clock app is used but I want Google Clock which can run Spotify tracks.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Getting data of phone with dead battery
I have to get data off an old Zuk Z2 Plus that was working when it got replaced by a new phone and left lieing around for a year or so. Now it does not boot any more. When I plug in power, the screen briefly lights up, shows a 0% charge, vibrates, turns off and then repeats the same thing.
If I press the power button, the boot screen shows up for about 1-2 seconds (about the same time as the charge indicator), then the phone vibrates, turns off, and repeats the charge indicator loop.
I figure, the battery is deep-discharged (0V), so the charge circuit powers up, finds that the battery does not have any voltage at all and then resets.
I could replace the battery, but spending €30+ on a new battery for a phone that will be discarded afterwards is a bit of a waste.
It has a very proprietary battery connector, so attaching some random lipo to the battery port is a bit hard as well.
Do you have any good ideas on how to fix the situation?

Maybe something here may help https://android.stackexchange.com/q/133851/131553

i would try to charge battery with external charger. or leave it in loop over night

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219810


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What does grayed-slashed icon in Google Hangouts mean?
I tried to text a person in Hangouts whose profile icon appears like the image below.

There is some peculiar info related to this. When I tried to text that person, it showed 'Failed to send... Tap to retry'. I couldn't send any messages. I could see their last seen but with this thumbnail only.
Does it mean the person has deleted the Hangouts account or signed out?

I'm not using Hangouts so I don't know if it's the same or not, but other Google services (e.g. YouTube) uses the same avatar for deleted accounts. Is there any info when you tap the account, compared to normal users?

Yes there are some peculiar info related to this. When i tried to text that person it shows 'Failed to send...Tap to retry'.I couldn't send any messages. I could see their last seen but with this thumbnail only

What does the Grayed, slashed-out profile picture mean on hangouts? from Google Hangouts help says, it could be any of these:

Signed out of hangouts or is inactive
Account was deleted or suspended.
It might also mean the photo was deleted.


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disabling data roaming on Nokia 6.1 (Android 10), service provider o2 (UK)
I'm in Japan with my Nokia 6.1, running Android 10.  My service provider is o2 (in the UK).
I've done everything I can find to disable data while here:

Settings / Network & Internet / Mobile network / Mobile data: OFF
Settings / Network & Internet / Mobile network / Roaming: OFF
sent o2 a "NOTRAVEL" SMS on their 23336 number

I can no longer find my "Data roaming" option, but believe I have also turned it off.
Nevertheless, when my wi-fi fails, my phone has been switching to data over 4G, incurring hundreds of pounds of charges.  I have therefore selected "2G" for "Preferred network type". o2 are not helpful.
Is there a simpler way of killing data over the phone networks?  If it's "Data roaming", where should that option be?

Selecting 2G as preferred network is the wrong decision as AFAIK Japan has no 2G network anymore (has been switched off some years ago). The minimum is 3G.
Because of VoLTE the definition of "data roaming" is become a bit complicated. If your device connects to LTE and has VoLTE enabled it starts a data connection. A lot of providers fail to identify those connections as "Voice" and charge them as data roaming. Therefore VoLTE connection start-up are charged as data roaming.
Hence it is very important not only to disable data roaming but also disable VoLTE feature!
I also run into this problem on two-day trip abroad where my provider wanted me to charge data roaming for a few bytes every time when I switched on my phone or disabled Air-plane mode. Back from my trip I found a few mobile data roaming charges on my bill even with mobile data roaming disabled (phone has VoLTE capability). After complaining at my MNO they removed them from my bill by goodwill.

Thank you Robert: I had no idea about VoLTE.  (1) Do you know how to disable VoLTE in Android One's Android 10? (2) If I set my network preference to 3G, does this do the trick?  (Yes, at 2G, I receive no signal.)


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Block app internet acces on Galaxy S7?
Is it possible to block an app from accessing internet (both wifi and data) on Galaxy S7 with Android 8?
Without using any external firewall app.
Thanks.

With root access, run iptables -I OUTPUT -j DROP.

Sorry, I don't have root access on the phone.

I notice -2 on my question. Can someone help me understand what I did wrong? I want to do better in the future. Thanks.

Because what you are asking is already discussed in many questions: https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=block+internet+access

Got it. Sorry. Hopefully better next time. Thanks.

without root access, a good firewall seems to be the only option.
i think netGuard will be good for that.
but if it's possible, I would recommend update your android up to 9 - then, it will be simple for you to block your apps from accessing the internet.

If you have a relatively new smartphone with Android 9 Pie (or newer), open Settings and go to Wireless & networks.
In the Android settings for networks and Wi-Fi, tap on Data usage. Next, tap on Network access.
Now you see a list with all your installed apps and checkmarks for their access to Mobile data and Wi-Fi. To block an app from accessing the internet, uncheck both boxes next to its name. If you want to turn off the WiFi for certain apps, uncheck the Wi-Fi box for those apps, and leave Mobile data checked.
If you tap on System apps, you are going to find out that you can block access only to Mobile data for those apps, and not to Wi-Fi.
This is a restriction designed by Google that ensures your systems apps get connected to the internet, at least when you are connected to WiFi.
When you are done blocking apps from accessing the internet, close the Settings. When you use an Android app which has its internet access blocked, you see a notification like the one below. Do not tap Remove because you are going to remove this restriction.

Hi, I am assuming Galaxy S7 can't be upgraded to Android 9.0 in any way right?

Well...The S7 will not get Android 9 Pie from Samsung officially. :( If you want Pie, you need a custom unofficial ROM, but that's the beauty of Android.

Thanks for answering. I am assuming that will permanently and irrevocably disable Samsung Pay, right? Just want to clarify.


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How to turn WiFi on with a non responsive screen?
So I own a Moto G4 plus
The touchscreen on this phone has stopped responding.
Since I'm in midst of a lockdown for a long time. I can't buy a new phone or get this one repaired.
I do want to keep using Whatsapp Web till then.
A couple days ago the wifi on my phone turned off for no reason and I can't use Whatsapp web anymore
How can I turn on the wifi again in this case?

I think Moto G4 Plus has support for OTG, in which case, you can use a mouse to interact with your phone provided you have an OTG adapter already! Otherwise, if you have had USB debugging enabled, you can use scrcpy tool to interact with the display.

You will need an OTG cable. It allows you to connect various devices to your phone.
The way to control using the OTG cable via USB is to connect one end to the phone and the other to the keyboard.
All keyboards may not work, just like not all smartphones support the OTG cable (all tablets do).
Instead of a keyboard, you can use a regular computer mouse by connecting it with an OTG cable, via USB.
You can even write text using the virtual keyboard. The cable itself is inexpensive.
Of course, this is not a 100 percent solution, because it is unlikely that someone will carry a mouse with him, let alone a keyboard, but at home or at least to copy important data, this is a great way. Recommend. The main thing is that your phone supports it.


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Unable to access internal SD card in Redmi 6 pro
I am not able to access the internal SD card of my Redmi 6 Pro mobile which runs MIUI version 11.0.5.0 and Android Version 9 PKQ1.180917.001. In settings it is showing storage 64 GB. However when I try to access the files, it is saying that /sdcard is not mounted. The "df -h" command in a terminal emulator shows that "/dev/block/dm-2" is mounted on "/data". But I am unable to access it. My applications are running smoothly except that it is unable to support any storage requirement and not able to retrieve the data already stored in the internal storage. Please note that my issue is with the internal memory and NOT the external memory card. In fact, I am also not able to access any external SD card, if provided.
Edit:  As per the suggestion by @beeshyams, I installed "Storage Isolation" app from the given link and it gave the following warning. "Incompatible storage structure detected. The storage directory of current user is /sdcard instead of /storage/emulated/0........". It seems that if I mount the sdcard to the correct location, the problem may be solved. But how to do it?

Install this app and see if you can access storage https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ianhanniballake.localstorage

@beeshyams Tried it but not able to access the storage!

I assume your device is rooted and you have changed something in the system? Because a non-working internal storage on a generally working phone is very unusual.

@Robert: The device is not rooted yet. It was not detecting an external SD card and when it asked for format SD card, I went for it. But I ma not sure whether I accidentally give permission for formatting internal SD card. But when I go to Settings->Storage, it is showing "Available: 5.00 GB Total : 64.00 GB", which is correct. But I am not able to access it. Is there a possibility that it is mounted in a different location than expected?

@beeshyams As per your suggestion, I installed "Storage Isolation" app from the given link and it gave the following warning. "Incompatible storage structure detected. The storage directory of current user is /sdcard instead of /storage/emulated/0........". How can I mount it to the correct location? I will update the question with this info.

just to clarify: your device does not have internal SD card. '/sdcard' is a symlink to '/storage/emulated/0' (which is real location '/data/media/0') - therefore it is not possible to accidentally formatting internal SD card (it is only possible to format whole '/data' partition - factory reset)

@alecxs Thanks for the info. I was just trying to give a rough picture about what I was doing just before malfunction of my phone. The OS and other installed applications are intact, except that the internal storage space is not accessible!

i am afraid you can't fix anything without root permissions (at least, i don't know any other method than factory reset)

@alecxs Do you think that the factory reset will solve this issue? Is there any option to manually mount it by connecting to a PC and take a back up of data?

yes, factory reset will solve any problems (as long as your device is still in official state) - no, there is no solution for full backup to PC

adb backup will help you at least for some apps. there is a tool Adebar and for SMS MyPhoneExplorer you can modify apps to allow backup https://android.stackexchange.com/q/210545

it is possible to by-pass bootloader lock and install TWRP from EDL mode (but this is for experts only)


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Are there any downsides to encrypting an Android device?
Besides requiring a lock screen, are there any downsides to encrypting an Android device (using the native encryption)?
For example:

is there a performance decrease?
is there a temperature increase?
is there a battery consumption increase?
are there any data integrity issues?
does it make anything more difficult (besides requiring a lock screen)?

What kind of encryption? FBE or FDE? In one you need to enter your password to even access your basic phone functions

@beeshyams I'm open to both possibilities.

Theoretically there should be somewhat impact on performance, temperature and battery. But that's negligible, and even unnoticeable even if you try to observe. A downside is difficulty in data recovery when password/key goes wrong or phone is dead. It's obviously a trade-off between security/privacy and data recoverability.

@IrfanLatif Recovery on a dead phone is an interesting concern I hadn't thought about sufficiently.  Is there no standard way to accomplish this, given that you have the correct password?

@RockPaperLizard no. Password isn't of any use due to hardware-backed encryption. See How to get data off a completely dead Android phone?

@IrfanLatif Upvoted! Even if you can get in to a bootloader, it sounds like the password would not help, since the encryption is hardware-backed.  Is my understanding correct?

@RockPaperLizard correct. But there are some proof of concept hacks that worked in past for brute-forcing the encryption when the device was able to boot into bootloader stage at least. But such possibilities are near to none. // Also an accidental factory reset over encryption makes data recovery nearly impossible. See https://android.stackexchange.com/a/214496/218526 and https://android.stackexchange.com/a/216410/218526

please note hardware-backed encryption is not a protection for unlocked or by-passed bootloader - once you get in, the only protection is screen lock password! even worse a lot devices do not even use screen lock credentials (they simply use default_password for FDE)


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Is it possible to disable the interlocutor's video in BlueJeans Prime?
I use BlueJeans Prime for videoconference on Android 10. When in a videoconference, is it possible to disable the interlocutor's video?
The motivation is to reduce the network usage.

For BlueJeans (not Prime), one can swipe up, which will activate the "low bandwidth" mode, and swipe down to go back to the normal mode. That doesn't work for BlueJeans Prime.

Have you contacted support? If the app really does not support it you can still place a adhesive sticker on the front camera. Less changes in the camera means less data to transmit.

@Robert thanks yes I reached out to the support and will post their reply as an answer if they reply to me. I was referring to the interlocutor video, not mine :)

BlueJeans' tech support told me it is not possible. They don't have any plan to support the option in the future.


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Can't boot into recovery or fastboot and not going to EDL completely (Redmi Note 4)

Please read the full text and help me if anything can solve my problem. Also I can't go to Mi help center due to this lockdown, so can you suggest ways the help center person would do to fix this issue?

I have Redmi Note 4 (SD).
I flashed MIUI 11.0.6.0 port for mido (ROM discussed in this video.)
It had many bugs so I was trying to flash back to stock ROM using Mi Flash Tool (old version).
I was using linux for fastboot and adb commands and for Mi Flash Tool i was using win 7 in virtual box
I selected clean_all&lock.bat
But after systerm image processing it gave me error

error message said something about partition not been empty(sorry cant remember the exact error and log file also doesn't exist anymore)

Now my phone was on fastboot mode for atleast 5 hours so I used
fastboot reboot

via linux terminal.
But phone didn't boot and gave me black (empty screen)
I thought might be battery is low but when I connected it to charger nothing happened.
I couldn't boot to recovery or fastboot mode (and can't do it now too).
I searched on internet more for help and found about EDL mode.
I tried that but Virtual Machine wasn't loading the Qualcomm driver so I installed windows 10 .
ALSO
I searched about the error on internet and found the solution to use latest mi flash tool.
So I tried with that. BUT I AM NOT SURE IF IT IS CONNECTED BY PROPER EDL MODE BECAUSE MI FLASH TOOL INSTEAD OF SHOWING COMX AS DEVICE NAME, IT IS SHOWING MY INCOMPLETE FASTBOOT DEVICE NAME .
I clicked to flash by selecting clean all&lock but it gave me this error

The volume does not contain a recognized file system.Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.

ALSO THE DEVICE IS SHOWN IN LATEST VERSION BUT NOT IN OLDER VERSION IN EDL MODE
Then after many attempts to flash
Now it shows this

$fastboot -s 34564c88 getvar product   2>&1  | findstr /r /c:"^product: *MSM8953"   || fastboot -s 34564c88 getvar product   2>&1  | findstr /r /c:"^product: *mido"   || echo Missmatching image and device

It was stuck at this for like 1000+ seconds.
I searched about it and tried this solution. In this it tell to delete line 10 and 11 but in mine file it was present at 4 places so i deleted them all.
But then it got stuck at next command in clean_all&lock.bat file

[9:39:38 PM  34564c88]:start process id 8956 name cmd
  [9:39:38 PM  34564c88]:info1:$rem fastboot -s 34564c88 erase bk12 2>&1
  [9:39:38 PM  34564c88]:info1:$if not 0 == 0 exit /B 1
  [9:39:38 PM  34564c88]:info1:$fastboot -s 34564c88 oem device-info   2>&1  | findstr /r /c:"Device unlocked: true"   || echo Device oem locked

To give a try I deleted this line too but then it got stuck at next line.

ALSO TO ACCESS EDL WE NEED TO SHORT JTAG PINS BUT MY LAPTOP (WITH WIN 10) ACCEPTS IT WITHOUT DOING THAT

read Mediatek or Qualcomm

@alecxs I tried qfli tool and it gave me this error Download Fail:Switch To EDL FailUnable to load DLL 'QMSL_MSVC10R.dll': The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E)

where have you posted the link because  using this qualcomm i tried qfli tool and it gave me this error Download Fail:Switch To EDL FailUnable to load DLL 'QMSL_MSVC10R.dll': The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E).      I am unable to boot to edl mode (i think!)

look at page 3 there you will find test point. after you managed this, there is a nice answer with link to pure Linux Qualcomm USB flashing tool

i just switched from linux for just my phone to work. Can I run it in kali linux live usb or any other bootable usb for linux distro with persistence because virtual machine doesn't seem to accept  this device with port ( i tried with linux as main and win as virtual)?

you can run in any linux as long as persistence is large enough for compiling. if you have Laptop with Windows, use QPST instead

I have tried qpst and qfli but everytime i get some error like fh loader failed or sahara failed. Mi flash tool also gives me errror i.e. cannot receive hello packets. So I will be using Linux Method but I have one doubt How would I know that I have successfully enabled edl mode? because in windows device gets connected to COM10 in non-EDL and COM3 in EDL mode. So, is there a similar way or linux will directly accept device in EDL mode only?

you can see in device manager if it is named Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (COM3) then it is connected in EDL mode. for linux i don't know. you have a 30 second gap after connecting, after this Sahara fails with timeout https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219810

@alecxs is 10gb persistence enough? my rom size is 3.37gb

@alecxs I tried flashing MIUI 9 using mi tool and it worked perfectly. Just want to clear something up! I selected clean_all&lock.bat while flashing but my bootloader is still unlocked. So is it OK or it can cause any problem in future or it is imperfectly unlocked?

it is recommended to keep bootloader unlocked, this way it is easier to rescue data (in case display is broken)

What do you mean by display is broken?         2. But I selected clean_all$lock.bat so is it unlocked the correct way? or in edl mode that thing is not considered?

Alecxs helped me with the solution so I am posting the solution that worked for me.

Install MIUI 9.6.8.0 fastboot ROM (it works with this only) and extract it to C drive.
Run MI flash tool and select the extracted folder.
Now boot the phone to EDL Mode and immediately click refresh and then click flash.
Because if you are even 2-3 seconds late then process fails.
Wait for flashing to complete and then the phone will reboot.
If it doesn't reboot then just check (press them a little bit) all the connectors on motherboards of phone (display, fingerprint and battery) and then connect to charger. Battery icon will appear and now you can power ON the phone.

BOOTING TO EDL MODE

Don't remove battery. Not required.

To boot to EDL we need to short JTAG pins that are present on right side of fingerprint connector. (And not the 1st and 4th test points shown in many videos on internet).
And while shorting it insert the usb cable immediately.
You will see red led light blinking.
Phone will be shown as COM4 (probably).

For more information search google with test points for Redmi Note 4
You will be forced to update to MIUI 11.0.2.0 because you will face
  various bugs like

mi cloud won't sync
fingerprint won't work

OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

If you decide to update to MIUI 11.0.2.0 then don't install RedWolf or ** OrangeFox** recovery because when you enable OTA updates in them and flash MIUI 11 rom you will get *ERROR 7 * message and and when you reboot you phone will stuck on MI logo.
When stuck on MI logo then don't try flashing rom again using Mi Flash Tool by booting to Fastboot mode (if you can boot to it) because you will get System flashing error.

FIX FOR STUCK ON MI LOGO

Requirements

unlocked bootloader
adb and fastboot tools
fastboot extracted rom (can be MIUI 11)

If you are stuck there then don't worry. Try if you can boot to Fastboot Mode (Vol - with power key). If not then try recovery mode or repeat EDL method. If yes then read ahead.
If you can then install adb and fastboot tools in your PC. And paste all images folder files of MIUI 11 fastboot rom to adb folder.
Now type the following:
Check if phone is accepted by
fastboot devices

Now flash system.img by
fastboot flash system system.img

After completion flash boot.img by
fastboot flash boot boot.img

After completion flash recovery.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

After completion flash cache.img
fastboot flash cache cache.img

If you want to completely erase user data and make the device a newly
  bought then type
fastboot erase userdata

After completion type
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img

Flashing is completed
Now just type fastboot reboot. Phone will boot properly now.

If you are using MIUI 9 or 10 rom to fix stuck on mi logo then when
  the flashing is done you will face numerous bugs in rom like

mi cloud won't sync
fingerprint won't work properly


text:
Nexus 5 signal drops immediately when making call
My Nexus 5 running on Marshmallow and it has Last ota security update provided by Google at the time of end of support.
I’ve a perfectly working SIM card. Using this sim card to make calls from nexus 5, but before the call gets placed the mobile signal drops to zero.
When the call is disconnected the signal resumes back to normal.
I tried soft reset, hard reset and airplane mode on/off. But nothing works.
Any help would be appreciated.

No signal at all or no data signal? Meaning are you able to actually make the phone call but the internet doesn't work, or is it that the call hangs up as soon as you try calling?

The second case. Network signal drops off and call hangs up the moment I place the call.

In that case i would suggest trying the sim card in another phone, that way you can find out if the problem is with the phone or sim card.

As I mentioned the SIM card works perfectly in other mobiles and able to make calls.

Recently I have installed Lineage OS Android 8.1.0 (Oreo) custom ROM in Nexus 5.
It has resolved the issue and I'm able to make calls successfully now.
I believe there should be some issue in Android Connectivity Services application and it might have got resolved by the OS upgrade.


text:
System not mounting as rw
I wanted to copy an app to the system folder so I tried it using es file explorer but it said read-only so I looked up online and tried mounting it using this command mount -o rw,remount /system  but got this error, what should I do? btw I am using a rooted oneplus 7 with magisk
:/ $ su
:/ # mount -o rw,remount /system
mount: '/system' not in /proc/mounts
1|:/ #

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/220370
https://android.stackexchange.com/q/220892
https://android.stackexchange.com/q/223872

If you have magisk than don't bother with modifying your system partition. Try App Systemizer Magisk module. Easiest solution I see to make an app a system app.

Thanks for the help I tried doing it but it didn't seem to work so I downgraded to android 9 and rooted again it seems to work perfectly now and android 10 sucks for rooting.


text:
How to get started with Droid Explorer
I've downloaded de.zip and unpacked it, although it came up with an error about something wrong with the header.
Now I have a folder with lots of things, but I have no clue how to get this app started. It doesn't look like a Windows program. I have no experience installing something on other platforms. Which platform is it meant for? Can someone please send me a link with installation info for that platform?
Keen to get started investigating the contents of a backup.ab file.
Many thanks!

For extracting Android backups use Android Backup Extractor (see section Releases and Usage). It is a Java command-line application. Hence you need to have Java Runtime (JRE) installed. For example this one: https://adoptopenjdk.net/installation.html?variant=openjdk11&jvmVariant=hotspot#x64_win-jre (The JRE from Oracle is also fine).

Did you see the tag wiki (click on that and see learn more) of the tag you used and the frequently asked questions in that tag. Please read those and ask if it is not already covered there

@beeshyams You have to add that you have to click on the very small link "Learn more..." (IMHO a "design disaster" of StackExchange).  It took me ~10 years to recognize this link.

you click for releases see  https://i.stack.imgur.com/XJ4xu.png or https://github.com/camalot/droidexplorer/releases   I still can't get the program running though because https://github.com/camalot/droidexplorer/issues/77 (though seems to work for troynoks, though he is on win10 and me on win7, but maybe some other reason why it works for him and not me.. though anyhow the program has some issue and his answer while it works for him, is a workaround, and doesn't work for me)

I liked this program for a long time. Once installed, but over time it stopped working. The reason is the SDK update !!!!!!!!!
DroidExplorer.0.9.0.4 does not work with the new SDK at all.
But you can set the Android SDK path manually in Windows Registry. On Windows 10 64bit you have to edit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\DroidExplorer\InstallPath

Keep in mind that afterwards you should NEVER UPDATE SDK FROM THIS PROGRAM!
If you do as I use symbolic links in addition to critical files, then updating the main SDK will update the Droid Tools files.
But you can’t update sdk from the program anyway!

didn't work for me,  i'm on win7, I don't quite have the reg location of  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\DroidExplorer\InstallPath
I have HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node  and I have  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DroidExplorer\InstallPath which I used here https://i.stack.imgur.com/vLkka.png and just got the error of https://i.stack.imgur.com/3yOBz.png  ""  And if I make the path in the Wow6432Node location of the registry and set there then it still doesn't work  https://i.stack.imgur.com/bn1Cn.png


text:
How to share via mail always to the same recipient in one touch
I frequently share things by sending me to my gmail address. So I make 4 steps:

tap share icon
tap Gmail icon
type my own address
tap send

Is there a way/ app that automatize all these things : one tap on this app on share popup send directly "the thing" to a pre-parametrized recipent(s). ?

If you are on Android 10 and have an app that supports share sheets, it is possible but not with Gmail. FairEmail supports it. I use that. All frequently mailed recipients turn up for sharing

Above only reduces one step - combines 2 & 3. That is the key. 1 is the start and 4 end. If you want to automatically do this, IMO, not possible

Finally, I have founded an app wich makes exactly what I want : share in 2 taps (not 1, it's true) : it's named InboxIt
With the free version, you can only quick share to your self gmail address, but it's largely sufficient for my usage !


text:
how to install and run AR Cut & Paste?
I found this interesting thing - AR Cut & Paste, but I don't know how to install and run correctly(on pc and android)?
On rooted android (s7 edge) I have installed termux, pyhton 3.8, nodjs (to run npm commands).
On PC windows 7, my video card is old but it has support of CUDA - nvidia GT 9500.
Of course, I have read "readme" files but I need more detailed steps if it's possible. for example, what command is written in app section "npm install" - what/how to install...?
Here is link about AR Cut & Paste - https://www.androidauthority.com/ar-cut-and-paste-1114757/
and here is link of app - https://github.com/cyrildiagne/ar-cutpaste

The GitHub project states that it not a consumer-app. Which means effectively that you need to compile the app yourself. Hence you need the Android SDK and usually Android Studio (compiling via gradle is also possible the you don't need Android Studio).

can you tell me how to do it?

Sorry but the app is based React Native - an ugly framework I won't touch. Please read the install manual yourself: https://github.com/cyrildiagne/ar-cutpaste/tree/master/app plus the server: https://github.com/cyrildiagne/ar-cutpaste/tree/master/server (ssem you need both).


text:
How to turn on Wi-Fi Calling in Google Pixel 1 (not XL)?
As a preliminary question to Wi-Fi Calling feature on Pixel - How do I tell if it is using it?, how and where does one enable it in the first place?
Should it appear in the phone app's settings or in the general settings? Can you post a screenshot?
And does it only appear in either of them if the phone company supports it for this phone?

Yes, for the last Para

Yes the Mobile Network needs to support Wi-Fi calling.
From Settings -> Network & Internet -> Mobile Network -> [tap on]Advanced and scroll down a bit you should see something similar to the following which was taken on a Pixel 2 with Android 10.

I've accepted but are you sure Pixel 2 is identical to 1 in this case? I don't see this option at all so I must assume it's due to the mobile network.

You should then tell us what carrier you are using (and perhaps what region), otherwise this is what I see with Google/Android software.

Israel/Partner.


text:
How to Override Google Play's Compatibility Check
I own a mid-range Android phone with pretty decent specs,yet I find many a times that certain games and services are shown to be in-compatible with the phone.However when I download the apk from the internet and run it,the application runs with no snags.
Of course I could continue with my MO,but I was just wondering if there was a method to circumvent the compatibility check that takes place,even if it involves rooting.

I don't see a way to do so without massive system modifications (rooting and more) because the "compatibility check" is done on Google (server) side.
When using your phone with Google PlayStore your phone registers and identifies itself with a certain brand, name and version at Google.
Furthermore a list of available system libraries, device features and device characteristics (screen size and resolution, ..) is sent to Google.
Last but not least the country and mobile network operator is also sent as some apps country and/or MNO restricted.
If you now search for an app or try to access one specific app Google compares the app specification with your device spec and then decides if you get access to that app or not.
Note that the app developer can (optionally) manually select the devices the app is compatible with. Google has a large list of each and every Google Android device on the market.
Hence if you want to bypass the compatibility check your phone would have to pretend to be a different device and model that it actually is. This can get complicated as Google has a list of every Google Android device with every firmware version ever available. Hence forging the data to pretend to be a different phone model can be pretty complicated as Google exactly knows how what data to be expected.
Furthermore there is the problem that sometimes you don't know why the compatibility check fails. Some years ago Google was "so friendly" to exactly send back to the device why your device is incompatible (e.g screen too small, system library xyz not present, feature xyz missing). But that changed at some point and now you only get back the info "hardware incompatible".

Thanks a lot for the answer.However I didn't understand what you mean in the penultimate paragraph.Since there are methods to change(at least temporarily)your MAC address and other details,can't the firmware number sent to Google be altered?


text:
Android Manifest File weird location Tags
I've started to read about the AndroidManifest.xml file and the network_security_config.xml.
So if I want to include the network_security_config.xml then I use this:
android:networkSecurityConfig="@path/to/config"

Yesterday I reversed a APK and inspected the AndroidManifest.xml.
The file-path to the network_security_config.xml is /res/xml so if I thinking right, the Path in the AndroidManifest.xml should look like this:
android:networkSecurityConfig="@res/xml/network_security_config"

instead I've found this:
    android:networkSecurityConfig="@7F140000"

What does this number mean and how is it build? Is this some sort of obfuscation? If not: for what is it used?
Kind regards,
Tyr

@res/xml/network_security_config means that the file containing the network security configuration is included as file into the APK. If you open the APK file using a ZIP tool you will find the file in the path /res/xml/network_security_config.xml.
If you use a decompiler like Jadx you can open the item /Resources/res/xml/network_security_config to see the content of the network_security_config.xml.
The decompiled result android:networkSecurityConfig="@7F140000" should mean more or less the same, but the decompiler just shows the resourceID as it is saved in the AndroidManifest.xml file instead of resolving the resource name. You can use the automatically generated R class (the package name of the R class can be found in AndroidManifest.xml <manifest package="...") for looking up the name of the resourceID (thanks to Andrew T. for pointing that out) . Depending on the used decompiler you may have to convert the resourceID from hexadecomal to decimal to find it.

For official reference: Accessing your app resources: "When your application is compiled, aapt generates the R class, which contains resource IDs for all the resources in your res/ directory. For each type of resource, there is an R subclass (for example, R.drawable for all drawable resources), and for each resource of that type, there is a static integer (for example, R.drawable.icon). This integer is the resource ID that you can use to retrieve your resource."

Thank you both, now this gibberish is more clear!


text:
Dead phone and lost data
Few weeks ago,my phone has suddenly dead and entered in an endless restart loop.
All data saved in the phone is gone. What I care for the most is  WhatsApp chats and attachments.
I remember I have backed up my WhatsApp chats few months ago ,but I do fail to remember what e mail I have used as I installed WhatsApp on my “late” phone 4 years ago and have changed my emails several times since then.
Is there any method to know the email on which I have backed up the info.
Or is there any method to retrieve the lost data ,escpecially Whatsapp Chats to my PC for instance ?
Another question : Can I find the messages sent through this period.
Note: I don’t  know if my problem resides within the speciality of this website

Partial answer: How to get data off a completely dead Android phone?

a friend of me didn't even know SIM pin because she never switched off her device for one year. the email (google account) is bonded to device (FRP) and therefore important security attribute, you should be more careful with credentials (without email password you can't use device anymore after factory reset)

Try replacing the sim to a different phone and downloading whatsapp in it. Log into the whatsapp with your phone number. It will prompt to retrieve saved data. Make sure you retrieve it otherwise it will be difficult. Whatsapp automatically backs-up the chats.

As far as I know WhatsApp is deactivated on a  phone whenever installed on another phone with the same number. I am afraid the data would be lost forever then.

I don’t think chats would  be retrieved as simple as that as the same SIM card might be owned by another person (if one cancels his SIM card it is given to another person) This would be a huge hack to privacy . What I know is that the back up and restore process is related to an email address, which I ,unfortunately ,  fail to remember

@user261947 Whatsapp deletes everything after 45 days. But if you manage to get access to the phone number before that... https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/android/24068052/?category=5245246

https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/android/20887921

If you want to use a local backup, you'll need to transfer the files to the new phone using a computer, file explorer or SD Card.
Note:
Your phone will store up to the last seven days worth of local backup files.
Local backups will be automatically created every day at 2:00 AM and saved as a file in your phone.
If your data isn't stored in the /sdcard/WhatsApp/ folder, you might see "internal storage" or "main storage" folders.


text:
Moto X4 - Stuck on black screen
I was flashing Pixel Experience ROM with TWRP (fastboot boot recovery.img) recovery. The OS did not install on the device:
Installing zip file '/external_sd/PixelExperience_payton-10.0-20200130-0358-OFFICIAL.zip'
Checking for Digest file...
Step 1/2
Step 2/2
Updating partition details...
...done

I decided to reboot my recovery and my phone stuck on a black screen, I had about 30% charge left, the power button isn't working. how to boot into fastboot?

Have you followed complete installation steps? after installing rom zip, you need to install twrp zip (need to repeat this for each rom installation/update), then boot to twrp recovery. I need to know that you missed adding twrp zip.

Actually I found that I ripped off my bootloader, now I have to blankflash, I have the blankflash files but it's not executing


text:
How do I copy the entire system root to an SD Card or USB Flash Drive?
I am trying to make a direct 1:1 clone of my Android 9 system. I have the device rooted and I am running 'Terminal Emulator' as super user. Now, if I am in the root directory (IE: ":/ #") and I feed it a "cp" command like this "cp / /storage/external_sd" I get an error saying "skipped dir 'storage/external_sd//' Cross Device link".
Note, I cannot use 'ADB' because my Android device is a USB host only and I'd need to reverse engineer the circuit board to find the solder points to allow me to connect as a client so I'm trying to do it via the software on the device itself.
Reason I am trying to clone the system is because I am trying to find a particular splash logo which comes up when the device has power, but I'll need to reverse the files once I have them dumped to see which one contains it exactly.
Thanks.

NOTE: "cp -a -v / /storage/external_sd" has worked, but I am getting "Operation not permitted" errors on most files. I assume some simply cannot be copied so the best method would be trying to get 'ADB' to work and do a full image backup.

You can edit your question at any time. For adding new info you therefore don't have to use the comments...

If the logo is displayed at a very early stage it might be located in the bootloader (changeable via hboot/fastboot) or the system/kernel image. Then you won't find it in the file-system.

Do you have any reference links on how to edit the hboot/bootloader logo on power up?

Nothing useful in English just google for splashscreen hboot and splashscreen fastboot.

Note that by cping to external_sd will NOT get you an "exact clone" – but a broken copy, as all permissions will be lost. external_sd uses a FAT style file system which doesn't support much POSIX. So you'd better use something that can take care of that, like: tar czf /storage/<disk>/system.tar.gz /. Further, as you see "operation not permitted": are you sure you run as root?

As Izzy mentioned, simply copying using cp is no way a workable way for backup/restore. All you get are the contents of mounted filesystems including /data, /system and /vendor (if applicable). Also there are a number of (usually more than a dozen) kernel's virtual filesystems (like /proc and /sys) mounted in rootfs or in subdirectories like /mnt and /storage. Backing up volatile/virtual filesystems isn't needed and would certainly throw errors. Instead you should dump whole partitions if needed.

As Robert said, splash screen at very early boot stage is shown by bootloaders. Usually there's a dedicated raw partition (usually named splash or something similar) to hold the image file(s) in very specific format which is not always editable. After kernel and init are loaded during boot process, a boot animation from /system/media/ is displayed until zygote and apps are up. Usually OEMs replace the stock boot animation with their own.

Correct, I'm trying to replace the bootloader image. Not the boot animation after the kernel and init are called. I ran the command df but unfortunately this only shows mounted partitions and even so, I don't see anything named splash (or anything similar).

@t0rxe df is meant to show mounted filesystems. For all other partitions in your flash storage (e.g. eMMC or UMS) you need to look at your partition table using some partitioning tool. Some basic concepts about partitions and filesystems on Android devices: Android Device Partitions and Filesystems

Okay, I managed to hack it out and get a custom bootloader image in (more info: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/224916/change-android-bootloader-splash-screen-image)


text:
Allowing mixed (insecure) content on Chrome for Android
Is it possible to enable insecure content explicitly for a site in Chrome?
It's possible in desktops by going into site settings and allowing "insecure content", but when I checked the same in Android, it only has one option called sound in site settings.
Use case: streaming m3u8 files and the browser keeps blocking them, I want to enable insecure content for phones as well.

Try pasting this in search bar chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure and toggle settings followed by restarting it browser. If it doesn't help, type Chrome://flags (don't get put off by the warning) and search for secure and experiment

I am copy-pasting @beeshyams comment as it worked for me.

Try pasting this in the search bar chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure and toggle settings followed by restarting its browser. If it doesn't help, type chrome://flags (don't get put off by the warning) and search for secure and experiment.

The above answer doens't work for me. Someone has another? I really need this


text:
Gmail Opens Last Read Email
I've noticed an occasional problem using Gmail on my Pixel 2XL running Android 10.  At times, when I open the app, it immediately opens the last email I viewed.  The only work around I've found is to close the app and restart it.  I've seen a similar reported problem, but, it was for IOS.
I'm using a Spectrum email account with with a "mobile.charter.net".  I looked at the settings, but, there was nothing that appeared to be a problem.
Can anyone shed some light on this problem?

Gmail remains in it's last state unless you close it or it gets killed unless RAM is needed for another app. Hence one could say that the main reason for this behavior is that your device has a lot of RAM...

Using Nexus 5 on Android 7.1 (LineageOS 14.1), Gmail always opens the main page (list of email) provided that I close the app using the back button. However, if it's only "paused" (by pressing the home button or switching to other apps), then Gmail (and most Android apps) will reopen the last state.

Thanks for the replies.


text:
export multiple WhatsApp conversations to .txt or .csv format
I need to export a lot of different conversations, they are not very old, maximum 1200 messages. However, the WhatsApp export tool only allows me to do it one by one, is there any way to do it faster?
regards

The manual way of doing that is
> To email your chat history, follow these steps:
> 1. Open the chat you want to send by email.
> 2. Touch More options.
> 3. Touch More.
> 4. Tap Export chat.
> 5. Choose NO FILES or INCLUDE FILES.
> 6. Select the onedrive application and load. The email will be sent as a text. When the history is sent with attachments, only the most
> recent 10,000 messages are sent. Without files, you can send up to
> 40,000 most recent messages. These restrictions are due to the maximum
> size of the email.


text:
Ainol Novo 10 Hero and Tesco Hudl - can I update the OS?
I've got a couple of old tablets that don't get updates from the mnaufacturer any more.
Are there any options for a new OS on them - Android, Linux, LineageOS or whatever?
Tablets are

Tesco Hudl
Ainol Novo 10 Hero quad core

See LineageOS devices page. Additionally use your favorite search engine for CustomROM plus the device type and you will see if there are alternatives available.

My tablets aren't listed, is there anything I can do  ?


text:
If using dual sim on Huawei P20 Pro would changing sims show in either Google Activity or Huawei Data Download
I have a Huawei P20 Pro with dual sim capability. If I used (signed into) the second sim with another Google account, would My Google Activity on the Google account of the first sim show the switch, backwards and forwards, between the two sims? OR if not.. Would the switch be shown on the Huawei download data for my phone, if at all?

What do you mean with "Huawei download data"?

Hi Robert, sorry if I was vague. I meant the personal data that can be requested and downloaded from HUAWEI through Data Management in Manage Your Privacy in the Account Centre on a HUAWEI phone.

I do not own a Huawei device, hence I don't know what is recorded. But if it tracks your IP address (and changes of that) or the used MNO/IMEI for mobile data, switching between SIM1 and SIM2 should result in an IP address change. However enabling/disabling Wifi or entering an area with a configured Wifi would also trigger an IP address change.

I never thought of that. Thank you Robert.

Google accounts are independent of the SIM card, you just need Internet for accessing Google. If this happens on your device with SIM1, SIM2 or Wifi is irrelevant to Google.
Note: Usually in dual-SIM Smartphone only one SIM can be active for Internet access at a time.


text:
Setting Protonmail on default email mobile phone app
On my android samsung edge s6 I added a new protonmail account. The phone alerts me saying the server doesn't answer.
Here the configuration I tried:
IMAP server: 127.0.0.1,TLS,port: 143
SMTP server: 127.0.0.1,TLS,port: 587
--------------------------------------------
IMAP server: 127.0.0.1,SSL,port: 993
SMTP server: 127.0.0.1,SSL,port: 465
--------------------------------------------
IMAP server: 127.0.0.1,SSL,port: 1143
SMTP server: 127.0.0.1,SSL,port: 1025

I has been always alerted that "it is not possible to connect with the server".
The app email manager is the samsung's default one.

The server address can not be correct. 127.0.0.1 is always your device, hence the Protonmail server would have to be located on your Android phone - which is not the case unless there is a ProtonMail app that redirects the data to the real server. Hence it looks like you understood something wrong how to set-up a Protonmail account.

I was confident about 127.0.0.1 because I saw https://stackoverflow.com/a/56554287. I was wrong. Thank you.

Protonmail does not work on Android in third party Mail applications (because the ProtonMail Bridge application is not available for Android). You have to use the web interface or the ProtonMail app.
Cite from the ProtonMail help pages:

At this time Protonmail does not integrate with third party email clients (IMAP/SMTP) on Android due to the technology ProtonMail utilizes within web browsers to encrypt and decrypt your messages. [source]

One convoluted solution would be to have a Linux-based server running Proton Mail Bridge that is available to the phone on the Cloud or through VPN (say available at home if using a robust firewall like OpenVPN).
If more details are required, please ask.


text:
Tracking Android Device
As a common man, we can't track Android devices with a mobile number but all apps cheat us which are available in-app store in name of tracking, tracker, etc… that apps will simply answer state which mobile number belongs too.
We can track an Android phone given constraints that the phone has “find my device” as device administrator ( Most of the times its already is you need to do nothing but you can check at settings>security>device).
Then go here to track location Sign in - Google Account
For Xiaomi devices, we can go to Mi Cloud for tracking mobile and various other things.
We are not bothered about the life-saving apps until we lost our Smart Phone or PC. Once something happens badly, we will run behind the apps to track the device.

What do you do if you don’t have any tracking apps installed on your device or your device is not able to communicate with these apps? Is there are any solutions to track your device

Short and simple - NO

@beeshyams any savior recommendations to feed into the existing android devices??

Sorry, AFAIK, none

@Pluviophile for my enlightenment, what in your opinion/imagination can possibly be a way to communicate with a lost device which doesn't have a software/framework to respond to your communication request?

@IrfanLatif Without tracking apps installed on the device. No, I don't know.

So there is no way to track the device if we lost.

Apparently, installing a phone tracking app would be the only way? I've read about some services and tools like this one https://www.mspy.com/current-gps-location.html, maybe it would work. Although, there are two sides of the coin actually. Finding a device without additional tools installed would be great, but that can be considered kind of privacy violation, wouldn't it? Like...vback mirror much


text:
WhatsApp - Auto Creates thumbnail images in DCIM Directory - Impossible to stop
Hope someone can help with this.
Handset
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
Precondition
Ensure that Internal Storage/DCIM it totally empty.
Or that the Internal Storage/DCIM/.thumbnails directory is totally empty.
Clear all other caches where possible including WhatsApp cache.
Description
Launch WhatsApp
Enter a conversation
Click the camera icon to launch the camera
Camera is launched and allows a picture to be take.
A gallery of recent pictures is displayed
Issue
A number of pictures appear in WhatsApp recent pictures that i do not want to appear.
In Internal Storage/DCIM/.thumbnails,  a set of thumbnails matching the pictures as displayed as recent by WhatsApp are now displayed. How do i prevent this?
When i take a new picture with the camera app. This image will appear under the automatically created ones from the .thumbnails directory.
I have deleted the DCIM and .thumbnails folder many times. When the camera is launched from within WhatsApp the folder and thumbnails is automatically reacreated
Questions
How do i control what pictures are displayed to me when i click on the camera icon in WhatsApp. Whats App call these “Recent”
    Can it point WhatsApp to only look at the DCIM directory on my SD Card?
How do i prevent the old thumbnails reappearing the in Internal Storage/DCIM/.thumbnails directory when the camera app is launched from WhatsApp?
Other suggestions.
Kind Reagrds
Richard

In chat settings of whatsapp there is an option to disable media showing in gallery. Did you disable that?

Thumbnails are created in .thumbnails folder, so it's hidden from normal users why do you want to disable this. It makes the images and videos load fast and be stable. If they are occupying like more than 500MB of space then you can delete them. But when you open any image again the thumbnail of that will be saved there automatically. It like a safety type features in mobiles.

How do i control what pictures are displayed to me when i click on the camera icon in WhatsApp. Whats App call these “Recent” Can it point WhatsApp to only look at the DCIM directory on my SD Card?

After installing WhatsApp, you allow it the permissions to use the camera and your files. Pictures are usualy saved in the DCIM folder. Thus, when you want to take a picture with WhatsApp using the camera, WhatsApp, due to the access to your storage, displays pictures from the default folder where pictures are stored (even though that is not the folder where WhatsApp stores its pictures) plus other locations. What follows is the creation of thumbnails (if they were not already created) in case you would like to view/use other images.
Unless you deny both camera and storage permissions, you have no control. Plus denying the storage permission will also prevent you from using other files not just pictures.

How do i prevent the old thumbnails reappearing the in Internal Storage/DCIM/.thumbnails directory when the camera app is launched from WhatsApp?

Whether it's WhatsApp or another app, as long as they have permissions to your storage and/or camera, you can't prevent it. I think MediaStorage will re-create them any way if not immediately at least during the next reboot or next time you use the camera.


text:
My phone is unlocked, but I don't remember pin code. Recover from Google somehow?
There's plenty of directions for those who forget their pin code and can't unlock their phone, but there's no explanation for those who have their phone UNLOCKED, but don't remember their pin code to change it.
I can use my phone right now, but I don't remember my pin. That's why once it's off or the screen is locked, which will happen at night, I suppose, I won't be able to access it anymore without wiping the data.
Is there an easier way for me to deal with the problem?

I think you can turn screen timeout off, if possible (may vary by OEM).
Most times, Google has no control of your phone lock, as far as I know.

If you really want you data I suggest you install a custom Recovery while you still can... Enable Developer Options  (OEM AND USB debugging ) then when you think you have the required files to Install a working recovery for your phone you can go ahead and power it down .  Once you have a working TWRP or CWM recovery you can go ahead and delete the password or pattern lock screen from the recovery while phone is off..
If it seems complicated I think backing up your files would be reasonable enough


text:
Is there any way to block people, who use GBWhatsApp, from messaging me on WhatsApp?
Pretty much the title itself. I don't want to block them by simply using the block option in WhatsApp because they will know. I don't know if it's possible or not but if you have any idea on how to do so, please help me out.

The more important question is: do you already know who uses GBWhatsApp? Because, unless the official WhatsApp app can identify GBWhatsApp users, then there is no way to block them without them knowing. The only feasible workaround is to mute them forever, and possibly archive without opening the chat instead.


text:
How do I automatically add all existing apps to my home screen?
When I got my first smart phone years ago, there was no app drawer. Every app I had was represented as one button in one app menu, so I didn't have to look in two places if I couldn't find an app. To me this was ideal, but now that I use Android phones I have to deal with both the app drawer and the home screen.
I just got a new Moto g7 Power (Android 9 "Pie") and backed it up from my old Android phone, so there are over a hundred apps on it. I want all of my apps to show up on the home screen so that there aren't apps lurking in the app drawer that I can just forget about, and so that the apps I want to use are easier to access. Is there any way I can automatically add all of my apps from the app drawer onto the home screen so that I don't have to manually hold and drag over a hundred apps one after another? It's fine if they don't automatically get sorted into folders etc. because I'm happy to do that myself.
When I looked up my question in the Play Store, I found an app called Smart Drawer but it's not even smart enough to know what a game is. Are there any other apps I should try?
It's maddening that it's so hard to find information about this. I would have expected this to be an extremely common thing for Android users to want to do.

Use an launcher app that imitates the behavior of an iPhone (on iPhones all apps are always shown on the home screens): search Google PlayStore for launcher iphone

Thanks, Robert. I tried the first one and it worked, though the apps were invisible until I restarted. I'll see how it goes: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xos.iphonex.iphone.applelauncher

I want to mention that the iPhone launcher is not ideal so I'm still looking for solutions. The main problem is that I don't want to have to continuously use a whole new environment. I want the equivalent of moving the apps out of my app drawer manually, but I want it done automatically. It would be nice to have a run-and-done action rather than an ongoing process.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. I guess my idea of a "home screen" is specific to any given launcher. If there's no way to do this without regard to the launcher, is it possible to automatically add all existing apps to the home screen in Moto App Launcher specifically?

@beeshyams - I think I might as well accept that as an answer, if you mention that the functionality isn't available in most launchers. As an Android user, what do you do with a bunch of pre-installed apps in your app drawer? Do you manually add every app to your home screen or do you just leave the apps off your home screen and access them some other way?

Android launcher(s) is a dedicated app that serves as an UI to the underlying OS. There are tons of launchers available with features catering to the tastes of needs of users. If one needs features to be added to the existing (OEM or third party), they cannot be provided by yet another app because the launcher is so closely tied with the Android OS. Either the developer of the launcher, provides the requested feature or one uses a different launcher with that feature.
Case in point is the requirement of OP to add all installed apps with the OEM Moto launcher (instead of having
 installed apps in the app drawer). OP is looking for the functionality of ABC launcher to be added to Moto launcher. This isn't possible for reasons explained.
Android users, usually, let pre and subsequently installed apps be in the app drawer and choose the apps, they access more frequently on home screen, organized in the manner of their choice. Launchers let you search for  apps, even when they are not on home screen. In the app drawer, they may be sorted alphabetically, or organized by functions (e.g.games) or user created panes (e.g. shopping /banking apps) etc. The possibilities are endless and there are launchers available for different needs. Nova launcher is famous for exactly this - letting the user customize practically each element of the launcher interface (the reason I use it)
tl:dr; You choose the launcher that works best for you

ABC Launcher does not allow you to make folders, I think. Also, the functionality of having only a home screen and no app drawer (which would be a persistent state) is different from the functionality of automating the process of adding all apps from the app drawer to your home screen (which would be a one-time action).

TBH, I didn't test ABC for all features. Was concentrating on all apps on home screen aspect // I get the distinction you are making regarding adding apps to home screen but I don't think it is feasible for the same reason of a launcher being so closely integrated with Android OS. Thanks for accepting


text:
how can i use google voice instead of native phone app for receiving calls?
I've discovered that when I dial out through my android/samsung phone app, there is a lot of latency, and the call is often dropped or goes silent for a few seconds.  I do not have that problem when I call out with google voice.  However, when I receive a phone call, it seems to be coming through the native phone app since it has the same latency and dropped call problems.  I use a google phone number, and it is routed to my cell number.  How can I get my phone to receive calls through google voice, not through the native app?  I have a Samsung A10e.  Thanks.

There are two settings you should change in order to receive calls in your Google voice app instead of your native phone number.
In the Google voice app, go to settings and press on "Making and receiving calls", in there make sure you change the setting to "Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile data" (if that setting was already selected, just leave it that way)
Next, go back to settings and press on "Call forwarding" and deselect your phone number as the forwarding number, but make sure that "Android Device" is still selected.
That's all, now try calling your Google voice number from a different phone and see if it calls your Google voice.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.


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Is TWRP OS-version specific?
I have a Vsmart Joy 1 phone, running VOS/Android 8.1.0
I found a port of TWRP recovery for Vsmart Joy 1s here (translation), but it says "Android 9.0 VOS..."
Does this mean that I should/have to upgrade to VOS/Android 9.0 to be able to use TWRP properly (the end goal is to root the phone)? Or, can I flash it on my phone as is, without upgrading?

Recovery is an independent OS and it works even if there is no ROM (main OS) installed on device. The code used to build TWRP must have been taken from AOSP 9.0

Does that mean that I can install it, and it'll work?

If it's legit then yes, but I found that ported recoveries and roms rarely work, I may be wrong tho.

Thank you for the response, in the case that it isn't legit, will my phone be soft-bricked or something like that?

You don't have to install TWRP for starting it. Via fastboot boot <image name> you can boot TWRP directly. That greatly reduces the possibility to cause trouble for your device.

Ok, thanks, I'm going to try that

yes, TWRP is built OS-version specific
the reason is changes in android versions may differ in

encryption type
file system type
partition layout
mount point

most (if not all) updates are backwards compatible. that means the TWRP is ready for android 9 but you can still run android 8 on your device

Could that be why I TWRP is telling me that my password is incorrect?

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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myTv+ app returns error code 101 when running on Android TV box
I have installed an IP TV app, myTv+ (https://mytv-plus.com/mytvws/) on my Huawei smartphone and it worked fine.
I tried to install it on the Android TV box (MXQ Pro 4K), but it's simply not working, just getting error code 101. It appears when running the app. The install just goes smoothly, but the code appears on the splash screen.
I contacted the developer and he said this app is designed only for the smartphone.
Is there any way I can force the app to work with the Android TV box?

Looking at the decompiled code there is some error method that is called with 101. It looks like this code is only executed when the parameters sent to the app on startup are not as the app expects:
On Android TV apps are started using a different "parameter" (android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER) where as a regular Android app is started via android.intent.category.LAUNCHER.
I have not checked it in detail but it looks like the app tries to process the parameters and fails as it does not understand the parameter used by Android TV and then displays the 101 error message.


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Samsung 20 delete phone contact
Brand new samsung 20 will not allow me to delete a contact without phone # and stays on recently added and home screen

If your device is connected to your Google account and the contact is synced to the cloud you may succeed to delete it via Google Contacts web site.

quite a strange thing, considering the fact that your phone is new.
well, there are basic steps to deleting contacts:

From a Home screen, swipe up from the center of the display to access the apps screen.
Tap Contacts Contacts icon.
Select the desired contact.
Tap the Menu icon Menu icon (upper-right).
Tap Delete.
Tap Delete to confirm.

maybe if the phone is required for content to be deleted, you could try add some random number just to refresh the contact? vfwbe then you will manage to delete it...


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how does disabling 'password at startup' works before file-based encryption?
Android 6 (before file based encryption):
after encrypting device and setting screen lock, i can choose an option 'require the PIN, password, or pattern at startup' or can i choose 'no thanks'. in the latter case the phone will boot correctly without asking for password but will ask for password just for screen unlock.
how does it work? how can android boot from fully encrypted disk without getting password (when the screenlock password is set)? does it effectively disable encryption (by using default password)?

Actually Android 6.0 had Full Disk Encryption as specified in the Android 6.0 Compatibility Definition Document - Section 9.9 Full Disk Encryption with exceptions if the hardware was insufficient to perform the operation.
So your case of a not specified lockscreen password is actually called out:

If the user has not specified a lockscreen passcode or has disabled use of the passcode for encryption, the system SHOULD use a default passcode to wrap the encryption key. If the device provides a hardware-backed keystore, the password stretching algorithm MUST be cryptographically bound to that keystore. The encryption key MUST NOT be sent off the device (even when wrapped with the user passcode and/or hardware bound key). The upstream Android Open Source project provides a preferred implementation of this feature based on the Linux kernel feature dm-crypt.

So there 'SHOULD' be a default passcode in your scenario, however individual manufacturers may avoid it, most probably on hardware with poor encryption performance which were released with a prior version of Android.
If you are asking what happened before Full Disk Encryption was introduced in Android 5.0, the answer is that the manufacturer would have had to modify Android to support encryption. Samsung would be an example as they have their own Knox API for device management going back to Gingerbread/Honeycomb (2.x/3.x)
Update regarding boot sequence for Full Disk Encryption
I think your question is
If the disk is encrypted, how does it boot?
The Android framework documentation on Full Disk Encryption does actually cover the on boot behavior:

In order to encrypt, decrypt or wipe /data, /data must not be mounted. However, in order to show any user interface (UI), the framework must start and the framework requires /data to run. To resolve this conundrum, a temporary filesystem is mounted on /data. This allows Android to prompt for passwords, show progress, or suggest a data wipe as needed. It does impose the limitation that in order to switch from the temporary filesystem to the true /data filesystem, the system must stop every process with open files on the temporary filesystem and restart those processes on the real /data filesystem.

From what I recall, for devices with Full Disk Encryption, upon boot once the user password/pin was entered, the device took a while for everything to get setup. This is implied by the fact that all of the running processes had to switch from a temp filesystem to the encrypted filesystem.

no no. i have the screenlock password. it's required when i unlock the screen. i just not required when the device boots up. how it can boot up when the password is set?

@piotrek See my update.


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Copy URL with unicode symbols without percent-encoding in Firefox
Methods used on Desktop version don't work. I have both browser.urlbar.decodeURLsOnCopy=true and network.standard-url.escape-utf8=false and URLs are still encoded.

Thank you for the suggestion. While it's perfectly valid for a lot of users my greatest problem is that it's much harder to edit these URLs: any non-ASCII char takes three times more space and really hard to distinguish. Also, I personally dislike URL shorteners because it's much harder to know what you are opening. However I don't think that any other solution is coming any time soon so I'll accept your solution if you post it as answer until anything better is found.

This seems to be an old bug as reported here. I did not find any other bug report that specifically relates to Android for this problem (Edit:OP has created a feature request)
A url shortner such as Tiny url add-on may be an alternative, till a better solution is found, keeping in mind the reservations of OP in comments

Created feature request here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1637502


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How do I change the USB mode with a keyboard?
How do I change the USB mode and select an option such as MTP, PTP, MIDI or charging with only a keyboard?
My screen is broken and I am trying to change the USB mode blindly using a keyboard?
What keys do I need to press to select a USB mode?
I will post a picture showing the USB mode pop up that shows when you press the "USB for charging" notification here:

The solution to this problem is to instead open the Settings app and then click on Developer options, make sure you enable Developer Options at the top by pressing Enter on the Keyboard, once that is done scroll down the list with the down arrow and select and click "Select USB Configuration", after selecting that a pop up window will appear where the user only needs to select the desired USB mode they want by pressing the up or down arrow keys and then Enter on the keyboard. This will create a connection with your computer for the desired USB mode.
A Helpful Tip: You might want to enable Google Talkback in the Accessibility settings to give spoken feedback on what is being selected by your keyboard on the screen. Accessibility is located in the settings app. Talkback helped me throughout this process since I was navigating my phone blindly (without being able to see what was on my screen, since it was broken). Talkback helps to mitigate navigating your phone blindly to a certain degree if you have a broken screen that doesn't display properly or at all.


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Replacing Malware System Apps with Clean Versions of Apps
I have many times found devices or ROMs that have malware installed as system apps.  This thread is intended to define a recurring problem and discuss and determine solutions.
Background:
In many cases malware apps can simply and directly be removed with root privileges.  A complication, however, arises when the app to be removed is: a rather important app, necessary to run or boot the operating system, or an app of its kind is necessary to run or boot the operating system.  Only removing such apps may resolve the malware problem, but creates other major problems such as an inability to meaningfully operate the Android environment or an inability to boot the Android operating system.  A few typical examples of such apps are the Settings app and the Package Installer app.
Wherefore, to perform a proper repair, a malware app must instead be patched to remove the malware or replaced with another clean and compatible app.
For basic Android apps, such as the Settings app and Package Installer app, that are malware infected, I would think that the best course of action would be to replace the infected app with a clean AOSP version or clean OEM version.  Using the OEM version of the app would only be acceptable if the app were available and the OEM is believed to not have or be the source of the malware.
The Problem Being Considered:
For a malware infected system app to be replaced with a clean AOSP version, my impression of the most obvious option that would be most likely to work would be to build Android from source against the target device and for the same architecture and Android version as the malware-infected system, and then donate its apps as replacements for the malware-infected apps and replace the malware-infected apps.  Unfortunately, while the method should be effective, it comes with considerable costs.  The sizes of the various Android source codes are quite large and it can take a rather long time to acquire and process it.  It is worth considering other options.
Questions to Resolve or Related to Problem:
Instead of building Android from source against the target device and for the same architecture and Android version as the malware-infected, AOSP-based system to use as a source for donating replacement apps:
Should it be sufficient to use apps from an AOSP or AOSP-based build of Android, such as LineageOS, with the same Android version and architecture as the build of Android of the infected device?
Should it be sufficient to use apps from an AOSP or AOSP-based build of Android for a different device, but with the same Android version and architecture as the infected device?  Is the matching of the SoC or processors of the donating Android build and the target Android build important for donation app compatibility purposes?
Is it acceptable to use a build of Android of a different minor version to acquire an app for donation to the malware-infected app build?  (For example, malware-infected build may be of Android version 7.0, but other, clean Android build may be of Android 7.1.2)
Can just single Android system app be compiled?  If so, would it still require acquiring the source code for the entire Android version?
Are there any generic, pre-built offerings of Android that may be used to donate replacement apps?  If so, where?
Any other recommendations or things I may not have thought of?

If the malware is smart enough to enter /system  and infect system apps, it may be capable of hiding itself in other places in system too. Therefore, IMO, it's better to format the entire system partition and flash the original ROM for the device. That takes care of the infected apps as also eliminates the possibility of it being hidden and not detected in the system partition. This is much easier than the alternatives you present

I agree with @beeshyams here, who but might have missed one fact: that "original ROM" (referred to by OP as "OEM version") might actually be the infected one – in which case it would require a complete 3rd party ROM of trustable source (e.g. LineageOS) for the exact device. But yes, a full ROM flash is recommended: where there sits one evil, another one usually sits close to it.

I would clarify (I had forgotten to separately and explicitly reemphasize it in my initial post) the following assumptions/considerations with regards to the questions I had posed:
With regards to the possibility of using the original ROM or OEM firmware to repair:

The original ROM or stock ROM has the malware. Simply wiping the current ROM and flashing the original ROM would restore the malware.
If the original ROM does not have the malware, the original ROM is not available.

While both the above possibilities are of interest, I am most interested in the first option.

Flashing malware-free firmware to replace malware is preferable, but the option is often not reasonably available.  Even where a third-party ROM is available to flash, it may lack necessary features present in the original ROM.
The definition of malware includes spyware.

Common examples of malware infected stock systems:

OEMs agree to include a suite of Google Apps spyware and provide it as part of the system.
OEMs (oftentimes Chinese) that produce Android devices directly for ODM clients include malware in the ROMs on the devices, though not necessarily by client request.
OEMs, otherwise may include (knowingly or not) malware to spy on the user, likely via deals or interaction with other parties such as governments.

Of the common malware-infected systems examples above, at least option 1. is reasonable to attempt repair.

The questions I had posed have more to do with Android build compatibility.  They are to determine whether other Android builds may donate system apps to replace a build's systems apps.  Creation of such builds and cost management of such is also explored.  Malware removal (particularly uninstalling Google Apps, while retaining a working system) is thought to be a typical scenario where these things are considered.


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How do I add a Google Assistant command to a button on the homescreen?
I'd like to add a widget/shortcut/whatever to the home screen that would allow me to execute a google assistant command as if I had said it.
For example, "Turn off the Livingroom TV".
This would be extremely useful, as it would allow me to dedicate a page in my launcher to home automation tasks. Sometimes it's not reasonable to use my voice (baby on lap for example) and while I'm aware I can hold the home button then click the keyboard icon, I was hoping there was a quicker/easier way.
Although I'd prefer a general answer, I'm using an LG V30+, running Android 8.0.0 if you have any more specific ideas.

Since asking this question, Google has release an app called Action Blocks which does literally exactly what I'm asking for in this question.
With it, you can create "actions" which are either from one of the predefined examples or you can type in arbitrary text which would be parsed as if you typed (or said) it into google assistant directly. These actions can be attached to the homescreen as widgets.
It's not the fastest application in the world, and it's still a bit buggy at time of writing, but it's also only about a week old so I imagine it'll get more solid over time.

Another new alternative that has come to the surface since writing this answer, is the Home Assistant integration. Those with a technical inclination will likely prefer this method. For me, it's been vastly more reliable than google's action blocks and far more customisable and was easy to set up seeing as I already run a home assistant server (though admittedly not as easy as action blocks).

There is Assistant Shortcuts app on Google Play. I haven't tried it myself, but I think it is a possible solution to your request.

I appreciate the idea but reading the description it looks like the app you mention is deprecated in favour of one with pretty low reviews. I'll give it a try if no other answers come to the surface.

I had a bit of a look at this application - and it does handle some phone automation tasks, but I couldn't find a way to trigger google actions that aren't related to that specific device.

If you create a routine in the Google Home app, you can then add that routine to your home screen on your device.  No need for extra apps other than the official Google Home app.


text:
My android phone as a Bluetooth relay
I'm a teacher. I use a portable personal amplifier in my class to make me louder. I was wondering whether it is possible to connect a Bluetooth mic and a Bluetooth speaker to an Android device and then redirect the input from the Bluetooth mic to the Bluetooth speaker. If it's possible, how to do it? Thanks.

Thanks, I'll try them. Did it work for you ?

I'll test when I have time and I'll share the results

I started testing them today. I tested 3-4 apps. All of them had a considerable lag, which I thought was useless, then I stopped testing the rest.

Try this app to connect to amplifier, it may work. It works for me in a different context

@beeshyams No issues in establishing connection. The lag makes the use of the apps in the above answer impractical. That's the issue. Thanks for the suggestion.

Surprised. I see no lag at all in recording videos. Are you sure you set it up right?

@beeshyams Nice! No I didn't try it. Let me try

@beeshyams I tried this app- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wimlog.com.myandroidtest4  to get audio from my phone's mic and to transmit it to bluetooth. I turned on bluetooth mono router and then used the app I've mentioned above. The lag is still present. I think getting audio and routing it to bluetooth introduces this lag. Thanks for you suggestion though

[Use Android device as BT speaker - see Victor's answer]( (https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/5796/can-an-android-phone-be-used-as-a-bluetooth-headset-speakers)

@beeshyams thanks, will check it out!


text:
My Android projector is missing a status bar, how do I get it back?
So I have this Android Projector I bought from ebay, it's one of those cheap Android pico projectors that come with some Chinese ROMs. The issue I have with it is that it's really restrictive. The custom Android ROM they have pre-installed on this projector wants to pretend it's not Android.
It tries to hide elements of typical Android as much as it can, it has a launcher that I have to set as my default launcher because it's the only way of accessing the settings of the projector and the source (i.e. switching to HDMI, etc.) and one thing that really bugs me is that it feels like they've taken the stock android settings app and stripped loads of settings from it.
It bugs me that the status bar is missing because I like to see what time it is, how much battery/wifi I have etc without having to sluggishly tap the "back" button until I reach the home screen (the launcher has a few icons that tell me the battery/wifi status and time.
I've tried installing a status bar app, but they ask for permissions, one permission they ask is "accessibility service" but the ability to enable accessibility services has been stripped entirely from the settings app (you can't access "accessibility services" at all) and enabling permissions using ADB for apps does absolutely nothing.
I don't want to flash a custom ROM, because then I lose the ability to use HDMI and that sucks. If I can't do it, then fair enough, but I'd at least like to see a status bar in some way. I've tried messing around with "SettingsEditor" and attempting to grant permissions with ADB, but I've run out of options.
The name of the device according to the ADB shell is "rk3128_box" and that's about as much information as I have on the ROM, it uses a launcher called "com.hotack.hotackcommlauncher" which has the same name as it's package name. That's all the info I have, if there's no solutions, that's no problem, but I was just wondering if maybe there's some solution. Thanks .

When using a different launcher was the status bar visible as you want it?

@Robert Nope that doesn't fix anything

Then you would have to modify the ROM itself. Not sure what may have been changed to hide the status bar. Sorry but I can't help you on that.


text:
Why are YouTube downloads being deleted from my tablet but not my phone?
I have an Oppo AX5 phone and a Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet. If I download the same youtube video to both devices, within 48 hours or so something deletes it from the tablet but not the phone. It must be a setting or an app on the tablet, but I have exhausted every lead I can think of without finding the culprit. Probably something obvious ...doh! Any clues will be gratefully accepted. Bandwidth is slow and expensive in my part of the world,  so I need to be able to download a resource once and not have it disappear!
Thanks in advance for suggestions.

May be the automatic Samsung storage optimizer? https://www.samsung.com/in/support/mobile-devices/samsung-phone-optimise-clean-storage-and-memory/

There can be various reasons. For starters do you have the same rom version and apps installed on both and are the settings the same?

@Robert That was my first thought too. Automatic optimisation has been turned off so it does not happen on a schedule, but I wonder now if it happens at boot up whether I want it to or not?

@CFCBazarcom as the devices are from different manufacturers, I doubt they share a rom. Those apps common to both devices share the same settings.

Try this: https://www.howtogeek.com/442976/how-to-automatically-delete-your-youtube-history/

@CFCBazarcom how does that affect the problem of videos being deleted from my tablet? They are not being deleted from my phone so it cannot be a YouTube issue surely?

If the option to delete your activity is selected, that can delete the videos that were downloaded previously from youtube.


text:
App not loading content on WiFi
I have a problem with an app not loading content on WiFi. If I switch to mobile data it works normally. I disabled battery optimization for it, set the WiFi network to be treated as unmetered but with no success. It works whenever it wants. I didn't disable any important system services or apps (chrome, wellbeing, files go, google, lens, moto help, moto notifications). I have a Motorola One. My last phone, LG G6 had no trouble with it, I am using the same router/network. It's misbehaving on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Does the content loading while the app is in background or does the problem occur when you use the app and it is in foreground?

Foreground, there isn't supposed to be background activity.

May be this is an incompatibility of the App because of a newer Android version? The LG G6 had Android 9 and the new phone Android 10? The only chance you have is checking adb logcat for errors to understand what is going wrong.

Yeah I think it's something to do with the Android. I've just updated to Android 10 and it's working now only that it's freezing now instead of not loading pictures.

Have you checked the Google PlayStore comments? Usually if an app does not work on Android 9+ you will find that info there. Additionally you can check `adb logcat  if it displays error for the app. Third as it is a problem of a specific app you can name the app (including PlayStore/download link). May be someone knows a workaround for that specific app.

You're right. The app hasn't been updated in 2 years, at least that's what it shows on my Android 10 play store. I remember updating it on my LG G6. Could it be that it received updates only for the G6, ie Android 9? I'm not sure how app development works.

Different app versions for different devices are possible in PlayStore. Check the app detail page and scroll down to the Current Version section. If there is no concrete version named but Varies with device then this app has different versions for different devices (but you don't know what device gets which version it may be just a split because of ARMv7 ARMv8 and x86 cpu or may be other device features).

Firstly, check the performance of other devices on your same WiFi. Are you getting the intended speed on it? Might be an internet issue at its core.
Secondly, there might be other WiFi from your neighbors that "overlap" with your WiFi and causing the issue. Use an app like this and see which networks are the same channel.
Depending on how overlap, just change the WiFi channel in your router and see if it does the trick or not.


text:
What bootloader/recovery firmware can it be?
I have a Wiko Jerry phone, after some bootloader install has already happened on it.
Volume down + poweron gives this:

It looks like some test firmware, but it has no name/version info.
What is that?

This is the factory test menu (test all device features before it leaves the factory) which can be triggered by a pressing certain key combination at start-up. On most phones it is shown in Chinese language like shown here: https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219469/2241

As comment says, it is the factory test firmware of this specific model (wiko jerry 1). There is no documentation, or practically anything for it. It is used mostly by the manufacturer, to initially test/setup the device after production; although it is also an useful test tool in the case of mysterious hardware problems.


text:
Transfer contacts and data from non-smart device to a smartphone
How can I copy data (contacts in particular and then media maybe) from an ordinary phone to a new smartphone?
The old one is Nokia 105 (the dinosaurs one), a new one is Meizu c9
i know the difference is insane but that's for my gran, so..

Usually the stores that belong to an Mobile network Operator offer a migration service for phone contacts, sometimes free or for a cheap price. I would check this out.

What type of media are you talking about? Does the older phone not has a memory card where this media is stored, or does it not support storing/moving media into the memory card?

There are multiple versions of Nokia 105 available. The oldest I found is from 2015 does that match the phone? Feature phone, no card slot, no Bluetooth, no USB data connection. Then the only possible way left is the SIM card address book.


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Protect your Android phone from loss or theft
It's an unfortunate fact that the pricey pocket computers we carry around with us at all times are prime targets for thieves—as well as very easy to leave behind in subway cars or on coffee shop tables. Now that we all rely on our smartphones for so much, having one stolen or misplaced can feel like the end of the world.
We are not bothered about the life-saving apps until we lost our Smart Phone or PC. Once something happens badly, we will run behind the apps to track the device.
But, by taking the correct Preemptive Measures/precautions beforehand, we can reduce the likelihood of crooks accessing our data, and make it easier to find our phone’s location. We can even make the phone itself pretty much useless to the thieves or anyone they sell it to.
And my question is what are the Preemptive Measures You Should Do Before—And After—You Lose Your Phone?

Safeguarding android device

Secure your device (before it is lost or stolen)
Set a PIN or password
The most important security measure on an Android Smartphone is to set an PIN or password.
An unprotected device is directly accessible to every one if you have lost it while it was running.
For a the length of the PIN/password at least five or better six digits are recommended.
A pattern lock is also possible but not recommended as it is easier to crack and in case of an broken display it will will prevent you from accessing your device as it can't be solved with an attached keyboard.
Set or keep the PIN for the SIM
If your SIM allows for unlimited calls and does not have a PIN, someone might use the SIM even if he/she cannot use the phone.
So it's better to keep the default PIN, or set one.
You would have to unlock the SIM once after powering on the phone.
Disadvantage: You'll have to remember it (Only three attempts allowed).
Do not unlock bootloader or root the device
From the perspective of an attacker that have found or stolen your device an open bootloader simplifies a lot of attacks. Hence the general rule for secure devices is not to unlock the bootloader or root your device.
Know the device IMEI
If your device has been stolen you may want to complain this to the police. In such a case you need some device details like Phone brand and model number and the most important the device IMEI (most mobile network operators have IMEI blacklists of stolen devices). Usually the IMEI is printed on the boy the device is shipped in. Hence as long as you keep this box everything is fine. If not you can use your phone to display the IMEI by entering *#06# in to the Telephone/dialer app. After entering the last dash immediately a dialog show pops up showing your IMEI.
After the device is gone
Worst case
To say the truth if your device has been stolen and the thief is not an idiot your device is gone. No GPS/cell tower/Wifi location technology or whatever can locate the device or send back the location it the device is in a electrostatic shielded bag. Hence if your device has been stolen and you were unprepared it is now too late.
Other cases
If you just lost your device or the thief is a complete idiot you may be able to use one of the location trackers. Regular Android devices that are "Google enabled" (Google Play Services and Google PlayStore installed and equipped with an active Google account) can simply use the Google Find My Device functionality.
Note that in case you have enabled two-factor authentication on your Google account make sure you have some backup codes in place. Because if logging into your Google account requires you to have access to your (now lost/stolen) Android phone you can't login and hence not locate your device.
I strongly recommend to test Find My Device while you still have access to your device just to ensure the functionality is really working.

Note on IMEI: Once a phone of mine had been stolen, and I went to the police telling them the IMEI, hoping it would help to get my phone back. It did not. Maybe that information had just never been used...

@U.Windl The IMEI is only useful if the police by chance finds your phone. In such a case they can use the IMEI to identify that the phone is yours. But they usually do not actively search for your phone.

OK, I thought they'd pass it on to the telecommunication providers, so if it joins the network...

@U.Windl I am not sure if they still pass IMEI to MNOs. But I know that MNOs do not do anything because forged/wrong IMEIs are so common that blocking theft IMEI does not work.


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What does the "2 arrows inside a broken triangle" notification icon mean on Samsung devices?
Since yesterday, I am seeing the below icon on my Samsung Galaxy M30s that looks like 2 arrows inside a broken triangle.

I have gone through the official user manual and found nothing related to this.
What does this icon mean?

It is the data saver
 icon - switch it off from your settings and it will vanish (Thanks to OP for the link of Data saver)
Source: Personal experience

You need to go to settings and then
Connection >data usage> data saver
and turn off the data saver if you would like to remove the sign