text:
Access Internal Storage without internal SD-Card
In Marshmallow you can format SD-Cards as internal. Android then merges the Internal Storage and the SD-Card Storage. If the SD-Card is removed, the internal storage can’t be accessed without inserting the Card again.
My SD-Card is corrupted (so android says) and can’t be mounted. Windows is able to access the Card which is mostly empty. Some standard files Android created are on there, the data is gone. Deleted Data on the SD-Card has been partially restored with appropriate Programs.
This leaves me without a possibility to access the files on the Internal Storage. However the files still seem to be there. When I accidently re-downloaded a file, chrome asked me to override that file. Either chrome can still access the files in the download folder (however downloading new files does not work, so it might be read only). Or chrome keeps a separate list, detecting duplicates before it accesses the storage.
Things that don’t work:
- Using a file Manager to access /data or /storage/self (Solid explorer sends an “Access denied” error)
- Connecting the Phone to a PC via MTP (Does not display any storage)
- Using an Android data recovery Program (Wondershare) does not display any relevant Files.
- Repairing the SD-Card using Windows, as Windows does not detect any Errors
- Using ADB pull (0 files pulled for /data, special files skipped for /storage/self)
- Using ADB shell (“Access denied” as expected)
Things that might work:
- Telling Android the SD-Card is not coming back (“Remove internal SD-Card”):
I can’t find any information on how Android is going to handle this. Maybe this will result in reformatting the internal data partition. The dialog states that data on the Card will be lost, however it doesn’t talk about internal Data. In case of data loss it might be a good idea to have a good recovery program installed as installing it afterwards might override Data. Kind of the last resort.
- Trying to root the Phone without wiping the data partition (tethered root). I’m not sure I will have access to the folders. Wondershare uses tethered root and does not display any pictures ect.
- Repairing the SD using Linux. However I don’t have a suitable machine at hand.
- Physically soldering to access the storage (I’m not doing that)
Maybe some of you could shed some light on the way the data is stored/ access is blocked / root affects this block or faced similar problems already. Any ideas are appreciated.
Thank you very much!
Device: Moto g 2015 running 6.0.1

Info online is that an adopted card is encrypted and can't be mounted elsewhere. That the SD card could be mounted under Windows suggests that it no longer has the encrypted data, which is probably why Android states it's corrupted.


text:
How do some android apps remember that this is not the first time they are being installed?
Some android apps are can remember whether they were installed on the same device earlier. Suppose you uninstalled an app a year ago. After one year if you install that same app again, that app will be able to recognize that it was installed before on the same phone.
This technique is used by online applications to permanently ban users from ever creating a new account again if they have been banned from using the service once. When such users create a new account by reinstalling the application later, these apps are able to detect their "first time presence" and send this information to servers so that user can be banned again.
How they do it even after clearing their data and uninstalling them completely? It means they keep some file somewhere in the phone, which is not deleted after uninstall. How do I disable this detection?

Why do you want to delete this information? Do app creators have rights? I don't expect this to be a popular comment, but consider whether you have taken the time and trouble to create an app.

@S.Mitchell Today Some app developers and big advertising companies try to access unnecessary details from innocent users. Not only they want MAC Address but they also want to know your wifi SSID.Google gave them a good lesson by implementing which permissions you don't want to give them in android 6. But the advertisers are not stopping here, they always find a way to get around. I want to ensure this privacy system.

@S.Mitchell Hello Mitchell. You might be judging me wrong because of my question. No I'm not banned from any social or online services and neither from stack exchange if you doubt that. But for me knowing is learning. I'm not doing any practical work with the answers I've been received here. But definitely they help one to know how things work. One can't create anti-hacking security if one doesn't know how to hack. The same analogy is here. If I can't learn how apps work there is no point I'll be able to make one.

@S.Mitchell: Do app creators have rights? Actually, on my phone, they don't. I might let them run their code and store their data on my phone, but they don't have a right to and I reserve the right to revoke both privileges at my discretion.

@S.Mitchell i would encourage answers to all questions regardless of why you think they exist. good thing you don't run this site!

There are multiple ways to identify a unique device or its user:

Keep a file in some (non-default) directory: You already said this; apps can often write to the internal storage of a device. This method is easy, works offline and is not the easiest to spot (place the file in some system-like directory and nobody will bother deleting it).
Keep track of a devices unique ANDROID_ID (unique per fresh installation): this method is simple but requires internet access, at least on the first use. It's not very intrusive and does not persist in case of a factory reset. It's also unique per user. See this information.
IMEI: Very intrusive, unchangeable but requires a SIM-capable device. The IMEI is unique for each device, cannot be changed and doesn't follow the user, meaning that if you sell your device, the new owner will be greeted with a screen telling him that the app was already on the phone.
Follow a user's Google account: This is pretty much the same as the ANDROID_ID approach but requires explicit permission (Android 6.0+) from the user to access. Apps that take advantage of the Google account ecosystem (e.g. highscores and achievements in games) can thus follow a specific user and gain more information than just whether the app has been installed or not.

2, 3 and 4 require a network connection and a server on the side of the developer.

I can manage 2,3&4th part using Xprivacy. I'll spoof each of them. But the first one, that is not easy to spot. Is there anyway I can detect this vulnerability?

It's not a vulnerability, just an abused feature. Much like applications keeping files in the registry. There is not much you can do apart from going through all the directories on your phone's internal storage and looking for suspicious files.

Going through all directories will be impossible because you will never know what file name you are searching, what is its file extension, file size. And even if you find one and delete it and then you realize that file was not the actual file you are looking for then you'll end up with system crash. I hope if there's an administrator app that can detect while file is associated to which app.

Good luck finding/making this app. The system can't crash because of some missing file on the internal storage. Generally, apps tend to use the same frameworks that use the same files but, as you already pointed out, those files are impossible to find (not always, but most of the time). Files that contain things like "id", "user" or similar often contain such an ID and those ID's are usually used for advertising.

@S.Mitchell No I'm never been banned from any online services, web applications and online gaming. But I believe that knowing about how system works behind its interface is the right step to move forward in android development.

@user334283 "never know what file name you are searching". This is false. Android, being a linux OS, has the strace utility that can be used to keep track of all system calls. So you have to start your app using strace and check all system calls related to files on the device and you will spot all the files read/checked for existance by the app. Sure: probably quite hard to do on the smartphone but definitely possible.

@Bakuriu Thnx for adding this. I'm able to find the related post of strace command for android on native site. http://stackoverflow.com/q/12166917/6538535
http://stackoverflow.com/q/16247565/6538535

Another way: there is also the android backup service, doesn't that restore the settings of previously-installed apps (at least, if it's enabled)?

@derobert Android 6 allows this: http://stackoverflow.com/a/36471154/6538535

@Bakuriu: It's not hard at all if you have a rooted phone and an ssh server on the phone. SSHDroid makes it easy to install one that runs as root if possible.

It is not connected to storage, but to the cloud. That is how it remembers even though you deleted your data. In order to switch this off, go to your device's settings app, tap accounts google under personal (tap account you want if you have multiple accounts), then switch off the apps you don't want to auto-sync.

Auto-sync is not the root problem. Third-party party servers make sure that their app is capable of collecting your MAC Address, IMEI, Device ID, Advertising ID  and store this to servers for detecting the device again in future. Spoofing these details will keep your privacy but if an app is writing "registry entries" like in windows problem will be undetectable.

GiantTree's answer covers it best, but there is another point to think about. It would clearly be a "dark pattern" but this identification could also be done through fingerprinting certain user data - this can be viewed as a variant on his first point ("keep a file") but it would be harder to detect and less convenient to avoid.
How resilient this is would depend on the data chosen. The most obvious method would be looking at contact details and using some form of fingerprint of this; an alternative might be use of photo timestamps and other metadata.  Clearly these change over time so whatever method was used would need to still give a close answer after modification (so it differs from a traditional hash function).  Also there is no guarantee that a user doesn't simply wipe the tracked data, but in many cases people will prefer not to do this.
You may wish to look at browser fingerprinting to get a sense of how this works, even though it is going to be somewhat different because phone hardware is typically more uniform than PC hardware.  That said, the addition of certain phone details may help narrow the fingerprint down a bit.
Where this approach breaks down in particular is if a user switches phones and takes their details with them to a new phone - in this case (unless phone details are going into the fingerprint) the new phone might be detected as already having had an installation, as the question asked.  However it seems quite likely that in a scenario where an app is trying to ban a user, this might actually be a desired outcome (rather than banning the specific phone itself)
Please note: In no way am I saying this is correct or "good" as a way to operate if you're writing apps, but it seems reasonable to discuss it as it is only through discussion that people will figure out whether they're concerned enough to do something about it and what that might be.

There is a SharedPreferences class - https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.html - that some apps use to store preference data. This data is not deleted when the app is uninstalled. If the app is later reinstalled, any previously saved SharedPreferences keys are still available to it.

SharedPreferences are actually deleted when the app is uninstalled. There are ways for developers to set up backups, but by default they are removed upon uninstall. (Source: As a developer, I uninstall my apps to clear the preferences. Also see: http://stackoverflow.com/a/9815641/1438733)

There's another possibility - use of persistent cookies with a very large "time to expire". i guess that's how multiple apps from same developer used to share credentials traditionally, when stored credentials via the accounts feature was not so open/known to the public.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
Screen after Bootanimation
What is the name of screen that shows after bootanimation ,splash screen ?
Android is upgrading box. How do i change logo like custom roms (ex; tesla rom) where do i find them ?

There's nothing after boot animation - you're already in the normal system UI. Splash screen is before boot animation and is not in ROMs (and worse, usually not alterable). "Android is upgrading" is a part of system UI. What are you looking for?

yeah thanks for the clarification. I have added picture above.And i have decompiled framework-res.apk , systemUI.apk but couldn't spot the files.

Oh that one. Decompile /system/priv-app/SystemUI.apk (might be on a slightly different path) or /system/framework/framework-res.apk to look for the image resources.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
What does this notification icon mean? Samsung s7
I just bought an galaxy s7 edge, and this weird icon is on my notifcation bar. I cannot seem to figure it out.  Does anyone know what it does or means? Thanks.

This seems to be related to the joyn service. (This link goes to the german Wikipedia page, as the logo is not visible on the english version).
Joyn (or RCS - Rich Communication Services) is meant to be a new messaging standard, created by service providers as a response to messaging services like WhatsApp.

How do you take it off? Why would I have a German app notifcation on my phone?

Sorry, I can't help you with these questions - but you might ask your network carrier, they should know ;-)


text:
Lenovo Yoga tablet not automatically connecting to wifi
My Dad has a Lenovo Yoga 2 tablet running Android 4.4.2
He is encountering a problem whereby, if the tablet is switched off, it does not remember WiFi passwords and he has to input the password each time he restarts the tablet. This is true of both his home WiFi connection and other ones, so I assume the problem is with the tablet rather than the router. This is a new issue and he says that it just started happening without an obvious cause.
I have the same tablet with the same version of Android. I have gone through the connection settings on mine and compared them to his, but nothing seems obviously different. However, I am no expert myself so am not really sure what I should be looking for. Forgetting the connection and reconnecting doesn't work.
Any suggestions to fix this would be much appreciated!


text:
Google Play store versus Amazon app store
What is the difference between the Google Play store and the Amazon app store?

If you are targeting Kindle Fire tablets and the Kindle phones, you should release your app through Amazon app store because it is the default app store on those devices and will give you exposure when users search apps. If you are only targeting Android devices, Amazon app store is not a must-do. It is just another distribution channel. It has some promotional features that you may want to take advantage of such as the Free app of the day/week etc. Some white label Android tablets also uses Amazon app store as their default app store.

Google Play Store is the official app distribution method on Android devices with Google ecosystem.  It is not provided for installation on devices that did not come with it pre-installed.  This app store is restricted to authorized partners that have passed Google's GMS certification.
Amazon Appstore is the official app distribution method on Amazon's own devices such as Fire tablets and Fire TV.  This app store is also provided by Amazon for free so that it can be installed and used on other non-Amazon devices running Android.
Both these app stores allow you to install and apps, and keep them up-to-date.

Basically Google Play is your 'default' app store, and Amazon is just a 3rd party store. Google Play can install apps automatically, and gets the benefits of Google Play Services while Amazon can't - But Amazon has the famous 'free app of the day'(Amazon Underground) - So... My opinion is to just keep both :D

What do you mean by automatically? Do Amazon's advantage is just the free app of the day?

@JackMaddington When installing an app from the Amazon store on a non-Amazon device you'll have to manually press the 'install' button every time in order to install the apk. But GPlay just gives an 'Installing' notification and does all the job for you. This doesn't make a huge difference, but it helps. And Free App Of The Day(Now moved to Amazon Underground) is not the ONLY advantage, but it's the most popular.

Can you also answer the question I posed toH. J. Jang in a comment? Namely, is owning a kindle device like the kindle fire useless these days, given that Android has a kindle app?

@JackMaddington You mean Ryan Noles? Well, the main reason why people buy a Kindle Fire over a normal Android tablet is the price and support from Amazon. It might not have the large variety of apps you can find on Google based devices, but many people say it's worth it.

Actually, the Amazon App store is NOT a third-party app store. It comes as a system app for tablets. The most common devices that the  Amazon App store is installed as the main app store is the Kindle Fire devices. Either one can be a FIRST party app store but with phones, it is usually the play store.
I recommend you use the Google Play Store because there are way more apps than the Amazon App store.

Why would done apps in the Amazon app store not be present in the Google Play store, and what apps would these be? Also, what is the point of a kindle fire when there is a Kindle Android app? Thanks.


text:
Cannot start into recovery
I did have dual recovery but after bricking the phone had to flash new FTF file. Ever since, I am unable to reboot into recovery. I've tried turning on the phone and pressing the volume up and volume down buttons but it just starts normally. I tried adb reboot recovery same thing. I have root on the phone. I also tried flashing a new recovery through adb but it fails with an error message.

Doesn't flashing FTF overwrite that recovery you've flashed?

@AndyYan that's a good question, I thought not but was just assuming

It certainly does from my experience (unless you excluded boot or FOTA partition when flashing, which is unlikely). Just flash one again.


text:
Why can't I access my files on my SD card after marshmallow update?
I have a AT&T galaxy note 4 which recently updated to 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
My phone reads that the SD card is in there, and all the file directories are there but when I try to open or view them it'll tell me I can't open/view the file. My music player still reads all the music just can't play them, ("could not play this track") or my gallery still has all the photos but can't display them
All photos show as:

The phone is not rooted but is encrypted along with the SD card. I tried decrypting it but it didn't do anything, along with taking out the SD card, cleaning it, ect.
It seems though I can add data to the card and it will save new data to the card.
What can I do to fix or recover my data? thanks.
Also, my problem is very similar to the one below, except under different circumstances.
Why can't I access the files on my SD card?

You have to provide run time permission for that.


text:
Mobile data is turn on itself
I am using android, it started a week ago. It automatically turns on mobile data. I switched it off but after a couple of minutes it again gets switched on. Please suggest me to solve this problem.
its koreaios8

One of your apps is controlling your data connection. Find it and remove it. You can try clearing app cash. And last you can try factory reset.


text:
How can I safely test custom ROMs on an obscure device?
I have a ZTE Blade A1 with pre-installed malware. I'm only able to identify and remove some of it. So, I want to delete everything on the phone and install a custom ROM. Unfortunately, I cannot find any ROMs which explicitly support the ZTE Blade A1.
I've decided to try putting CyanogenMod on the device (or possibly something else), as it does support older versions of the ZTE Blade. My plan is as follows:

Create a backup of the existing ROM using ROM Manager
Run the device in recovery mode (using the default Android system recovery - CWM or TWRP do not explicitly support the Blade A1, so I won't risk using them)
Use the fastboot commands fastboot -w and fastboot update rom.zip to install the custom ROM
Restart the phone, and if it has stopped working, repeat steps 2 - 3 using the backed-up ROM from step 1

I've read up on using custom ROMs, but have found a lot of conflicting information. So, my question is: Will this replace the pre-installed OS with a custom ROM? Is there a risk the phone won't be restored to its original state?
Update: I haven't been able to confirm whether the phone can be irreversibly bricked by installing a custom ROM. However, if anyone comes across this question wanting to remove malware from the ZTE Blade A1, I have posted a solution here.

Also, in case anyone asks: The device is rooted (using KingoRoot), OEM unlocking and USB debugging will be enabled, and I realise my user data (eg, photos) will be deleted.

Just stop right here. They're all called Blade but the similarity ends there - the hardware is vastly different. Don't even bother trying.

I did a quick search on ZTE Blade A1 cyanogenmod and came up with nothing. DO NOT flash a rom unless it's specifically meant for that particular device. Needless to say, you'll end up bricking it. See what XDA can do for you. Curious to know, what malware are you referring to?

Isn't the ROM entirely separate from the recovery partition, so you can always use recovery mode to replace an incompatible ROM?

Malware included LiuLiangBao Traffic, plus adware downloaded by the OS (I couldn't pin down the adware, but I could see the ads). ZTE Cares was also identified as Trojan.Dropper. I thought I disabled all preloaded malware, but I've since had other adware crop up, so obviously not.

@BenLambell I assume they're not included in the official ROM right?

They were on the phone when I got it, so I assume they were on the official ROM.

To answer your question installing a new custom rom will erase the phone and yes their is a custom rom available and working here is the link Downloaded this rom http://forum.flymeos.com/thread-6638-1-1.html to root of sd card.I installed and works great any question on installing just ask

Thanks, Jim. Sorry for the slow reply. Since the phone's in use (and working for now), I don't really want to try installing FlymeOS myself, but I would suggest anyone reading this question give your link a try.

I had exactly the same problem with my ZTE blade A1. Although I was able to find a stock ROM that suited the phone and contained no adware(or at least less aggresive).
I'd say you give it a try.
This is the link(I downloaded the first option):
http://chinagadgetsreviews.blogspot.it/2016/05/download-latest-android-lollipop-51_77.html
I must say that I wasn't sure about installing it since I didn't know the source, although i had no other option. My phone was already bricked :S.

By the way. I didn't find any Custom ROM.

Thanks for the link. I actually ended up trying an older Blade A1 stock ROM, but it had the same problems and couldn't run Google Play Services. I'd probably avoid using anything from ZTE if at all possible.


text:
How can I check storage I have used on Google photos
I know google photos is giving unlimited storage (for 16MP photos and 1020p videos). I have uploaded around 5000 photos and videos, but I cannot find the storage I have used.

Remember that is you backup photos in "high quality" they do not consume space from your Google Drive allocation, but do if you select "Original". Look in Photo - Settings - Backup & Sync fore this option and available space. Google does not breakdown cloud space used by type, it is all together.

Only @JellyTheBear's answer is useful (though getting the actual number by the suggested method can take a day or more). The other two answers say how to find out about the paid-for photo storage, which is not what the question is asking.

How to find storage requirements of your free Google Photos:

got to https://takeout.google.com/
pick only Photos for download
select parameters of the archive
wait for the process to finish (you will also get email)

You will then see the size of the archive(s) before downloading. As a bonus, you have now complete backup of your Google Photos.

Wouldn't that be the size of the compressed archive? I guess you'll have to download and extract the zips to get accurate size.

This works perfectly. It's slow and it took about 3 days to get the email with the results, but it allowed me to determine I am currently using 93 GB of photo storage, whereas the storage page says I'm using 1.5 GB, which is totally inaccurate.
Zip files won't compress images  or videos, which are already compressed, so the estimates are accurate.

it gave the size of my photos with this approach in approx. 15 min (36 GB total photos&videos) it asks for dividing to zip files and there are options for 1, 2, 5, 10 GB for dividing

Check here:
https://drive.google.com/settings/storage
There under "Total storage" you can see your used storage, and below when you click on "View details" you can see the details:
Storage details

XX.XX GB used
Drive   X GB
Gmail   X GB
Google Photos   X GB

Where's the details?  That is just an overview of each subsection, but if I click on Photos to see which photos are taking up how much, it doesn't show me.

Also, this doesn't tell you how much storage you are actually using in Google Photos, just how much you are using against your quota.

If you use Google Pixel with the unlimited upload of photos perk, you may find this number "inaccurate". My case: I've uploaded tons of photos in original quality and 4K videos, but this "Total storage" tells me that I've only used 0.79 GB of storage for Google Photos.

It is available in google drive as well as from within the photos app.
Photos App

Open photos app.
From the side menu, tap on settings
Tap on Back up & sync
Here you'll find backup account details with the storage analytics.

Google Drive

Visit drive.google.com
Click on the gear symbol at the top right. That's the settings
Under settings you'll find storage which should give you a fair
estimate on how much storage space you've used and how much is
remaining

If you need a breakdown of which google app is using how much storage,

Visit drive.google.com
To the bottom left you'll have a notificiation that says - x GB / Y
GB used.
Click on it and it gives you a breakdown where in you should be able
to see how much data google photos is taking up.

it shows only google drive storage info, not google photos

Everything you ever store on google (be it photos or drive or gmail) is all a common cloud storage. Where exactly did you check? If you specifically only want to check the size occupied by photos in drive, the easiest way is from teh photos app itself.

Firstly update photos app on playstore then,
Go to google photos app - - click on profile icon - - click on account storage option - - click on upload size - - there on the top you will xx storage out of 15gb used!!
Best luck!!

Google very annoyingly refrains from revealing a list of which photos/videos count against your quota.
If it makes your blood boil, I'm with you.
The only tools that I've found (after searching for hours) are:

https://photos.google.com/quotamanagement/large ("Only photos & videos that count towards your Google Account storage will appear here")

and

https://photos.google.com/unsupportedvideos

But those do not fully address the question.

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


text:
How to Tether NordVPN internet from Android to Laptop?
I tether my internet with my phone.
I connect with my laptop to it.
If I keep my VPN client (NordVPN) activet, internet does not work.
NordVPN support says to configure VPN in Settings > VPN.
However, I want to use many VPN servers so manually setting each there is not possible.
NordVPN frontend has a nice map where you can choose which VPN server to use.
Internet works with VPN in my phone but not in my laptop when it is using the tethered source.
Differential condition: NordVPN Android application does not keep VPN active all the time

complication: Client laptop cannot get internet in USB tethering when VPN is active in the phone

I forwarded this thread (26.9.2016, 3.10.2016 and 4.10.2016) to the NordVPN support and stated a deep wish to get a manual about using NordVPN internet from phone with your Debian laptop.
Feel free to ask me more details about the test configuration if needed.
Questions of the tech support

Does [Android NordVPN] disconnect when you are browsing or not launching at all? It disconnects itself when browsing internet.
Can you give more information about our application not keeping connection at all time. How often you are getting disconnect and on what event it disconnects ( i.e. when you lock your phone or when it fall in sleep for not using it). It occurs daily. It occurs when I lock my phone.

Phone: Oneplus 2
Phone OS: 3.1 OxygenOS
Laptop: Asus Zenbook UX303UA
Laptop OS: Debian 8.5 64 bit
Laptop Linux kernel: 4.6 of backports
VPN client in Android: NordVPN (tried many locations)

I use an android device (Samsung J7) with nordvpn active and my laptop tethers fine (wireless). Additionally I use vpn on laptop at same time and it still seems to works fine. As far as I can tell my ip is hidden and on public wifi networks I am not able to be seen.

With root access it's possible to manually add network routes to force redirect all traffic through VPN interface: How to share VPN connection with devices on hotspot?

How to Tether NordVPN internet from Android to Laptop?
Answer from NordVPN support of ID #555274

Unfortunately, when you are using VPN your device automatically becomes unreachable to any other devices due to safety so sadly you won't be able to use usb tether while VPN is active.

I asked further why this is going to be changed in NordVPN.
Why it cannot be guaranteed at the moment?

Unfortunately, it's technically impossible to make a device to be
  reachable when it uses VPN. Maybe someday someone will find how to
  make unreachable device to become reachable when VPN is active but for
  know there is no solution.

I think this is not right because you can create a virtual machine which handles the ports for you.
Please, see

My Apple threads but applicable in Linux How to Mimic Location of Slave VPN for Primary VPN? since you cannot split the tunneling as observed in the thread How to Do Split Tunnelling with Slave ppp0 VPN + 2nd VPN?

Differential solution:
Same security policy is used with openvpn terminal application in Debian OS.
So it can be easier to test it first there and understand the situation better.
Differential condition: NordVPN Android application does not keep VPN active all the time

When you lock your phone the internet might disconnect for few seconds
  because of battery save feature on phone. However it should reconnect
  when you unlock your phone.

I think the battery save explanation is sound here.

If you are rooted you can use tethernet,  hot-spot on the vpn then tethernet then connect to pc/laptop, you can't do Android to Android tho.   it's worked on HTC m8,  m9, 10, u11,  u11+ & u12+ . I would look on xda  if you are not rooted.  https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-2/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3146568
Hope this helps


text:
How can I backup my contacts and get them back?
My question might sound stupid, but I want to backup my contacts, so even when I lost the phone or deleted the contacts, or factory reset the phone, I can still have the contacts. I never backup contacts before, so pls offer a detailed guide, thanks.

Use google contacts sync. to backup online, so your contacts will be safe there.
Read more at
https://www.google.com/sync/index.html

open dialer/contacts
2.choose import/export by clicking on top right corner
3.click Export to .vcf file

I recommend one of these two free Android apps, both of which I find easy to use:

Red Rock Backup Contacts, which exports to Google CSV, Outlook
CSV, or a custom CSV, and has no builtin restore (You can easily
restore using Google Contacts).
OBSS MCBackup exports to vCard
(one file per contact) and does have builtin restore.

Both of these apps export files that can be imported into most contact managers (not just Android ones).
You'll want to export the files created by these apps somewhere off your phone. For that, you have two options:

Use either of these apps to email the exported contacts to yourself.
Use a USB cord to get the contacts on your computer. Steps:

Use one of the above apps to export the contacts onto your phone's SD card.
Restart the phone to deal with a bug in Android.
Plug your phone into a computer with a USB cable.
Open your phone's storage in your file manager (eg. Windows Explorer or Finder)
Copy the backup files to your computer. For OBSS MCBackup, you want the folder com.vcast.mediamanager/contacts. For Red Rock Backup Contacts, the file you want is called Backup.Contacts.*.csv by default.


text:
How do I fix Helium backup/restore over Google Drive?
I am trying to back up all my game saves to Google Drive using Helium. I can backup a few game saves, but eventually I receive this error:
Backup Error
An error occurred while performing your app backup. A log of the error has been sent to ClockworkMod.

Click Backup to attempt to backup the remaining apps.

To fix this, I either clear the cache of Helium on my old phone or reinstall it, which seems to fix it.
If I try to list all the backups I have in Google Drive on my new phone, I occasionally get:
An error has occurred while retrieving your app list.

Once again, I need to clear the cache or reinstall to fix this.
When I can actually try to restore, many apps get stuck on a set percentage such as 93%, and then gives me the same message as above except "Restore Failed".


text:
Limiting google contact sync only for upwards sync
Device: Galaxy grand duos GT-19082
Running OS: CM 13 (Android 6.0.1)

Is there a way that I can disable my contacts Down Syncing with google, keeping Up syncing enabled?
Elaborating the problem, I always customize my contacts by adding their contact images (which often gets replaced by their google plus profile pictures as google syncs my phone contacts with google) and removing some extra fields like Google plus account, Also I don't like all the email id's(without a name or number) whom I have e-mailed once getting synced to my phone.
But I would like to keep the uplink to Google, so that all the contacts are backed up there. I just need to break the downlink ("Downsync" which I referred above)


text:
How do I lock phone phone with OK google?
Unlocking a phone with okay google is useful. However, how can I lock it again using okay google. It's very handy being able to talk to my phone whilst working on the laptop but in the interests of battery power locking it again would help. Particularly if I'm using bluetooth and the phone is in my pocket. Time out is set to 15 seconds but a lot can happen in 15 seconds.

If you want a native (i.e., officially from Google) solution, you can install and use the Voice Access feature, which can also be turned on via Okay Google.  Note that Voice Access allows much more interactions where Okay Google does not (permissively speaking).
While Voice Access is active, saying "lock (the) screen/phone" will lock the phone.

Unfortunately there's no command for this. Google needs to see the use for this and add it obviously

As it stands the Google Assistant which is activated by the OK Google command does not give you the functionality to lock your phone, if you ask it, the Google Assistant will tell you as much.
However there are ways round this, there is an article from MakeUseOf
which details how to do this, it does require the installation of an app and pairing it up with a custom command that you set in the Google Assistant.
My personal set up for screen locking is to lock immediately.


text:
Cerberus not start when mobile restart
Hello I have a Xiaomi redmi 3 Pro with MIUI 8 and I installed the app cerberus and I have made the app is not shown in the menu. The problem is this, I restarted the phone and want to access the app now, I put the code 23723787 for show the app in the menu and I also tried to send a command from the web and I have not received a response. It is as if the app had not started after restarting mobile.
Any suggestion?

After searching some information I found the way.
You have to go to Settings -> permissions -> autostart and check the App Cerberus and other apps you want start automatically. Then I restart the phone and try the code or the web command and this work for me.
I found other way if you want to delete the App and then install it again. This way involves installing the App ROM Toolbox, that lets you delete a hidden App without being root and then install Cerberus again and follow the steps before.
This work for me, I hope this is the best way to do it, but I appreciate it corrected if I'm wrong.


text:
Phone stuck on bootloop ? HTC desire 826
I tried to root my phone using twrp. after i rooted it using TWRP my phone isnt turning on... its stuck on boot logo (HTC)  I cant turn it off ? How can I turn it off ?
Edit : it's solved and the answer is down below.

Can you get into recovery?

No problem. It's solved now :)

Would you mind posting how you solved the problem as an answer?  It could help other users with similar problems.

Done, I'm not very good at English. But I tried my best. Links will be posted later

@IshanFdo1 Thanks for writing it up, but it's no use posting it as an edit to the question. You need to use the Answer your own question button below to post an answer. That way, when you're done, the question will show up as answered, and other users can vote up your answer to say thanks.

Done :) I posted it as an answer :)

I managed to solve the problem. So here are the steps I did to fix my phone. First I turned off the phone by holding power button and volume up button at the same time. As soon as the screen turn off I quickly held the power button and volume down button to get into bootloader(if you don't get into bootloader as fast as u can. Phone will turn on again to normal boot and stuck there automatically). And then as I had already unlocked the bootloader and installed TWRP(there is info on how to unlock bootloader on HTC website, and u can find how to install TWRP a simple Google search), As I was too stupid not to backup my phone before trying to mess with the rooting. I had to download a TWRP backup from the internet (search google "HTC desire 826 megathread " there is a thread on XDA dev). I found a backup for TWRP for my phone and downloaded it. I connected my phone to PC while the phone was in TWRP menu. It gave me access to phone internal storage. First I made a backup in TWRP to find the location on backup files. Then I copied the files and saved it in the exact spot where the TWRP made the backup. I disconnected phone from my computer. And then clicked on "Restore" on my phone and accepted it. Then my phone worked fine after restoring the phone to a backup. So lesson learnt, always make a backup of your phone before messing with the ROM. I was stupid enough to think that everything will be okay when I was rooting the phone -_-


text:
Why setting a 1x1 pixel wallpaper fails on (a few) Android devices?
To set a black or solid color wallpaper on an Android device, one can use a tiny 1x1 pixel image with the pixel set to that color. This works on most Android devices (including Nexus devices and others that run stock Android). The system knows how to fill the entire screen with that one pixel, giving you a full solid color wallpaper.
However, there are some Android devices that give an error immediately after setting the 1x1 pixel image wallpaper:

Unfortunately, System UI has stopped.
Unfortunately, Home has stopped.

Trying slightly larger image sizes (2x2, 3x3, 4x4) also fails.
I just created an open source Android app to test this issue: Minimum Wallpaper. Its source code is available on GitHub.
So far I have a report with screenshot that on Allview P8 Energy the minimum wallpaper size that works is 32x32. From another project I'm involved in, I have some information that a 1x1 wallpaper also fails on devices such as:

LG: G5, Stylus 2
Meizu: m1 note, m2 note, MX5, Pro 6

My questions:

What could be a reasonable reason that (only) some devices are giving errors after setting a 1x1 pixel wallpaper?
What could be the minimum "safe" wallpaper size that should reasonable work on all Android devices?


text:
Are there any background data limits on Android API < 21?
As I know Android has two ways to stop the background networking:

Restrict background data - user can turn off the background data on any application

Power Saver Mode - stops the background data on all processes
As I know Android API 21 introduced a Power Saving Mode and access to a  PowerManager from the code to check if it's on or off.

I have two questions:

Is there something else that can stop the background networking in
Android? Any feature that user can enable?
How does background
data work before the API 21 when there isn't any Power Saver? Does
it have any limits?

From my experience, Battery Saver works in a pretty simple fashion. Its for background data was to simply disable any application that uses background data when the battery falls below a certain level.
In such a scenario, applications such as email, social networking applications will not sync in the background unless they are brought into the foreground i.e. explicitly opened.

Is there something else that can stop the background networking in Android? Any feature that user can enable?

Before Android 6.0, Marshmallow, there was not a clear way for stock users looking to set per app profiles for data control.
The only way to enable the granular permissions were through enabling root for the device. And then with an app like App Ops, users can define permissions for individual applications - e.g. disabling background networking for Instagram.
Other apps such as Tasker, work on conditional logic - e.g. disabling background data for certain apps when the screen is off.

How does background data work before the API 21 when there isn't any Power Saver? Does it have any limits?

Android before Lollipop, before API 21, had no inherent mechanism to limit background data.
There is a thread on Reddit which query the very same question.
The main reasons I managed to gather were:
- Hardware Compliance.
Older models might not have the ability to introduce such a feature without a) impacting performance b) causing software issues.
- Android is built on Linux.
With Linux kernels, there is very little benefit to incorporate power saving features due to the method in which the kernel and system was designed. Linux, after all, was not a mainstream operating system. To many, Linux was only deployed in environments such as server configurations or mainframes where power was plentiful.
- OEM Inbuilt Power Saving.
With most Android devices being pushed out by
   other OEMs and not by Google, the OEM firmware often comes coupled
   with a power saving feature. Google might not have seen the need to
   come out with an inhouse solution then.


text:
Terminal emulator in android just hangs when I type su?
I'm fairly new to Linux so sorry for my noobiness. Anyways I just wanted to check that my phone was rooted since I need an app that requires it to be rooted, but nothing happens in the app. I wanted to double check that it was rooted so I typed su in the terminal emulator but nothing happens. I still type but the next terminal line doesn't appear even after 10 minutes. No error or permission denied, it just skips to the next line and does nothing. If it helps, I rooted using Kingo.

The emulator needs permission to grant the root access. Are you getting a message prompt from Kingo when you typed in su?

No I am not. I uninstalled some of the apps that came with it like the superbattery and kingo link so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it

Thats the problem. You needed those apps because third-party rooting apps have been know to give you "temporary" root access. The best solution is to root the phone again with kingo, install a custom recovery, and then flash SuperSu.     SuperSu is better and gives you a better experience with better binaries.

I installed TWRP, and I granted root access but the window only says "Requesting root access" with a loading symbol. Is there any way to fix this?

Try rooting with KingRoot

I used a root checker app and it says that root access is not properly installed on my device even though Kingo said that it installed correctly. I'm trusting the rootchecker app more though, should I try restoring to factory settings then trying again?

KingROOT will root your phone successfully. Remove KINGO and install KingRoot apk.

Using the Kingo apk worked perfectly. Thank you.


text:
How much power can Android output via OTG?
I'm trying to use my 250GB external USB SSD on my S5. But unfortunately my powered hub broke... So my only choice is direct connection.
The SSD uses 0.9A @ 5V, and I have no clue about how much power my phone can pump out - Please help

OTG devices can provide up to 500mA, but in realistic terms, handheld
  portable electronics don't have 500mA to spare for external loads.
  100mA is a commonly accepted realistic maximum.

Source
So basically, don't expect any device that draws over 500ma to work at all without an external power source of some kind, but depending on your device that maximum may be closer to 100ma in reality.


text:
How to turn note into checklist
In Google Keep, is it possible to convert a normal list into a checkbox list? Equivalently, is it possible to unhide check boxes?

To add checkboxes: open the note, click on the + symbol at the bottom left corner and click "Checkboxes""

To remove checkboxes: open the note, click on the 3 vertical dots on the top right corner and click "Hide Checkboxes"

I couldn't find a way to do this on the Android app, but you can go to https://keep.google.com/ for the web version, click on the note, click on the 3 dots and click "show checkboxes". When the Android app syncs, it will also have the checkboxes.

Just open the note and click on little + under the list on the left side and then select Checkboxes.

Yes you can do it in android phone...!

Select the desire text
Cut it
Activate the checkbox back again
Paste the text

The easy way...!


text:
Problem with earphone jack
I am really afraid of this, but please help me. I was trying to insert the 3.5 mm jack into the slot, and it just stopped midway. All of a sudden. It didn't happen yesterday. I was afraid if something had gone into it. I tried to shake the phone in order to make it come out with no success. With a little harder push, I succeeded and it went inside and the earphone is working fine, and the phone's loudspeakers too. Is something that's wrong? I am afraid. Its my new Moto G4 Plus, and don't want to replace etc. Please help.

Does it still work? Is it possible that you just didn't push it in far enough the first time?

Since you bought it new, have it replaced when it's still hot.

@S.Mitchell It went in completely for the first time. Just yesterday this thing happened.

@AndyYan It has been one month now. They won't replacement it.


text:
Is it possiblchange touchwiz to HTC sense?
I have an s6 edge, and i want to change touchwiz skin to HTC sense. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

They have launchers for the play store. If you want it to be your official launcher, then you will have to install a custom rom.

You can't get the full Sense experience (both TW and Sense are heavily embedded in SystemUI/framework/etc.), but you can install a bunch of ported Sense apps, including Sense Home, weather, music and many you've come to know about, to get a half-complete one.
Get the set of apps here:
HTC Sense™ Home - Themes | New Apps | Sense 7 | for all devices [19/10/2015]


text:
Mobile data disabled notification
After upgrading to marshmallo i get that notification (mobile data is disabled) ,when i swipe it , it appears again,  for sure I know that mobile data is disabled ,i use mobile data rarely. It keeps bothering me.
How to stop it


text:
Too many pattern attempts with no data connection? GS1
So i locked myself out of my GalaxyS1(i9000)
I Have lots of stuff on there that i really need.
I have no wifi or data connection on,debugging is off,no root. only bluetooth on...
I know it seems like a lost cause but i really need a creative way in..
Thanks..

Method 1:
(If you have rooted device and activated adb from developer options on your phone previously. I have mentioned it here so it may help others.)

Download and install adb kits and driver from here
Connect the phone via usb to your pc
In command prompt type the commands below

adb shell
cd data/system
su
rm *.key

Reboot.

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you brick your device by this method. Think carefully before doing it.
Method 2:

Download Aroma File Manager and place it in your sdcard.(Rename it to update.zip if needed)
Go to recovery mode by powering off your device and press Volume up + Home then Power button.
Select update/install zip from sdcard and flash the aroma zip.
Go to /data/system
To remove pattern lock delete gesture.key and If you want to remove password, delete password.key
Reboot.

If these thing doesn't work I am afraid that you have to do a Hard Reset from Recovery.
Suggestion:
If you don't have privacy issue always backup your important documents(like:- contacts, messages etc.) in cloud or sync them with google's backup services.

OP already claims no debugging and no root, so M1 is DOA; M2 is actually very viable, but problem is he doesn't have a custom recovery yet, and if he's still on official ROM (Android 2.x), chances are the custom recoveries available (CWM 5.x) won't support Aroma. +1 for nice try.

If he doesn't have warranty he can flash a custom recovery in the first place.

where woulld i get CWM 5.x zip file?

You can get it  here. Please try to google your prob , in most cases you will find an answer. @joeliy


text:
Watch whether an app uses TLS
I'd like to inspect the network usage of my apps (e.g., a banking app) to determine the security protocols they employ (if HTTPS: TLS layer version, encryption protocol, key size, signature algorithm, if multiple cipher-suits are supported, then suit preference--mandatory/preferred FS support--etc.).
In a browser, that's easy; not so much for standalone apps, which for all I know might not be using modern protocols.
Are there apps that listen to- and analyze network activity for that information?

There could be something like Wireshark for Android but there is also Fiddler that can act as a proxy and even decrypt HTTPS streams, if set up correctly.

@GiantTree I'd be very surprised (alarmed, even) if any setup of Fiddler could decrypt a banking app's stream on the fly (that would require the app to ignore an untrusted certificate), but in essence that's what I want. Does it allow for protocol analysis regardless of the security implementation? (I.e., in the expected case where the app refuses the connection when Fiddler tries to decrypt HTTPS, can Fiddler still identify the cipher suit without decrypting?)

I don't think Fiddler can do that specifically (I have to look into it again). Fiddler generates a custom root certificate, so it can be the MITM and decrypt the connection.

There are Android apps available that can act as VPN service on the Android device itself (even without root). Afterwards all traffic is redirected through that app.
The app captures and displays the proxy, allowing you to detect unencrypted data.
Available Apps:
Packet Capture
On the step "SSL Decryption" select "skip", otherwise your SSL connections will be intercepted and decrypted.
Apps that use correctly protected SSL/TLS connections will fail while Packet Capture is running and capturing the data.


text:
How to ignore a call?
When someone calls me and I don't want to pick up nor reject (sending to voicemail), I silence the ringing and have to wait until the ringing is over before I can use my phone again (the screen is stuck on showing me that I'm getting a phone call).
I want to be able to both silence the call and get back to what I was doing immediately, even if the other side is still ringing. Is this possible?
I'm on a Samsung S7 Edge with Android 6.0.1.

Just an idea - try to press Home button.

@Alex.S I did (along with every physical button on the device) and it doesn't work.

Try "Call Control- Call Blocker". It is on the play store and my friend say's it works like a charm.

Did the Macrodroid solution not help?

@beeshyams Not sure yet :P I'm waiting to see if there's any native solution, which would of course be more preferable. I don't think one is going to come though, unfortunately. I'm a bit wary of Macrodroid being an overkill but I'll try it as soon as I have the time. Thanks a lot for your help by the way. It's very much appreciated.

Macrodroid , easy to learn automation app can help you
You can create a macro as below to

Reject calls
Create customisable SMS to let the callers know reason for rejection

To activate the macro you have two choices :

In Constraints add the condition you want the macro to run, like day of the week or time of day
From the app widget . Select the widget, drop it on to your home screen and assign this macro to the widget. You would then be able to manually enable / disable the macro if the earlier option is not suitable

To understand how MacroDroid works and required settings,  my answer here


text:
How can i divert calls from my phone to a different phone
I want to know if its possible to divert calls from my current phone to a different phone using different numbers.Anybody got help?

It sounds like you want call forwarding, which allows you to send incoming calls on phone number 1 to phone number 2.
You can set this in the standard Phone application.
Phone App -> Settings -> Call Settings -> Call Forwarding

I think i have got the answer to my question;
Setting up Call Forwarding with shortcodes
Dial **21* followed by the number you wish the calls to forwarded to, followed by #
for example **21*13106565655#
Press 'yes/ok/send'
You will either see a message on your screen or receive a text message saying that forwarding has been enabled
Restart your phone
When you wish to stop forwarding your calls, dial ##21# to disable call forwarding
http://www.callforwardinginstructions.com/


text:
Proof for the application XYZ is never installed on a non-rooted Android phone
With adb, we can list the applications. In the documentation, the -u option also lists the uninstalled applications. I'd tested and this is not working!
I need at least one way to prove or at least convince someone that in a non-rooted Android phone the XYZ application is never installed!

There may be residue from that app's temporary files or cache on the internal storage but if you reset the phone, all information about this is wiped. If the app was installed through the Google Play Store, there might be an entry left in My Apps -> All, however, it can be easily removed.

Does Google keep an audit, at least for statistics?

Once it's removed, it's gone. If that app, however, offers to log in with your Google account, that entry about the app's access to your account is kept separately in your third-party accesses (this doesn't track the device, though)

There is the Avast Fronsic, but it is not %100 and may require experts.

Yeah, I'd say if it's not in your Google Play "All" list, then it's plausibly never been installed. However, this would not alone constitute proof. It sucks that you have to prove a negative though, it should be up to this person to prove the app was ever installed!

Does Google Play list the third party apps?


text:
Removing unused google apps
I installed a custom ROM and flashed Open Gapps Aroma. I was excited by the options to remove or exclude various features I never use (such as Google's calculator, Google Books, Google's clock, stock wallpaper etc) but unfortunately the installer had a bug and would only work if I installed everything.
How do I completely remove google apps that I don't need?

Is the custom rom pre-rooted?

Use Aroma File Manager to explore /system/app and /system/priv-app and delete what you don't need, or if it's TWRP, use the built-in file manager. The OS doesn't have to be rooted.

@RyanNoles yes CM 12.1

Did you ever get the apps removed?

@RyanNoles no I'm actually considering reflashing and using mini gapps https://github.com/opengapps/opengapps/wiki/Mini-Package


text:
Nexus 5 + TWRP: Booting to recovery works about 40% of the time
I have a Nexus 5 with TWRP as my recovery.
I've encountered and issue over the past few months.
When I reboot to recovery from the OS, or from Fastboot, it'll stay at the boot screen a bit longer than usual, but then boot the OS as if I didn't try to get to recovery.  I can usually expect this 2-3 times and then it'll boot into recovery correctly like nothing happened.
It's been across multiple versions of TWRP and I've reflashed the current one a few times to ensure it wasn't something along those lines.
Booting to fastboot always works, it's just booting to recovery where I see this.

Try a different recovery. Also, what superuser app are you using?

Why would the superuser app (Phh) matter at all?

Because I have had some people have issues like this when not using an official superuser app (SuperSu). It all depends. I recommend you install a different recovery.

I need to ultimately use TWRP, so using another recovery would be for testing only, so that's not really a viable option.  Second, I said it ALSO happens when I boot to recovery from fastboot.  Considering I can do that with a completely zero'd out system and data partition, there's absolutely no way my superuser app of choice is the issue.  (Additionally, SuperSU is not reputable anymore, so nobody should really be using that)


text:
Is eMMC backup sufficient to restore NVRAM?
Android flashing/backup guides often mention that NVRAM stores IMEI, WiFi MAC, etc., and that loosing it is real bad thing.
What bothers me is following:
NVRAM is, judging by name, RAM, so it sounds like it's not on eMMC. On the other hand, all the backup guides I found make me think that it's not true, at least not entirely.

So my questions are:

If I simply dd my phone's eMMC, will the resulting backup be sufficient to restore NVRAM?
Is it sufficient to just dd this backup back to eMMC?
(bonus) On average modern phone, is there any firmware/etc. that is not stored on eMMC and can be accidentally corrupted? (i.e. not counting e.g. eMMC's own firmware, which is hard to reach in general, even more so accidentally)

nvram.bin is supposed to be a file located in the /efs partition and, therefore, in the eMMC. It could never store data if it was a kind of RAM, since those memories are volatile by definition.

Well, it's NonVolatileRAM, that's why I'm asking. Although you probably are right, it has to be battery-backed or something so not very reliable.


text:
Should you delete apps moved to SD card with new ROM?
Say you move a bunch of apps to the SD card. Then you do something big, like factory reset your phone or install a new ROM. What happens to the apps that have been moved to the SD card? Are they still there taking up space but no longer accessible? Does this mean that apps moved to the SD card should be uninstalled before rewriting the system?

Yes. You need to uninstall or move the app to internal storage
When an app is moved to SD ( in versions before Marshmallow or portable storage of Marshmallow ) it does not move the complete app to SD card. A portion of the app remains on internal storage - that's why when you upgrade to a later version of app it again reverts to internal storage and you need to move it to external SD
When you install a new ROM or factory-reset only that portion of what is on your internal storage is being overwritten. The portion of app on external SD occupies space, though it cannot be used. So to reclaim that space you would need to uninstall the app first or move the app completely to internal storage
If you are using the adoptable-storage feature, then you are treating the external SD as internal storage anyway, so you needn't bother doing this
See Appendix 2 and 3 of this reddit for additional reading

Is there a way to fix this if you forgot to delete apps from SD card in the past before resetting the phone, without formatting the whole SD card?

What do you mean by fix ?  That app data is orphaned. If you want to regain space on SD, simply delete . If you want to use that data, you can restore that app info if you did a backup.

How do you know what to look for to delete on SD card? Is there a particular folder moved apps go to?

Should be here  /sdcard/Android/data/


text:
WhatsApp apk download
I have a new phone, want WhatsApp, but don't want to share data with Facebook.
I am hoping i might be able to get an old apk (Trojan and virus free) that I could install in the hope of being given the option to opt out when I upgrade it.
Does anyone know if any of the many apk sites online are legit?

The thing is, that WhatsApp forces their users to update after a fixed amount of time. Even if you found an old APK, you'd have to forcibly update in a handful of months.

apkmirror.com is legit. It's run by Android police


text:
Will Samsung Pay still work on the Gear S3 if you root your Galaxy phone?
I currently own a Galaxy Note 7 which is running the stock ROM (from T-Mobile) and has not been rooted, yet.
The only major reason I have not rooted the device is that doing so will consequently block access to Samsung Pay, which is a sacrifice I am not willing to make. I understand why this restriction exists, but I still wish there was a way I could "have my cake and eat it too."
After looking at the teasers for the new Galaxy Gear 3, one of the things I noticed that piques my interest most is its support for Samsung Pay, but I am not entirely sure how it works.
A quick search seems to indicate that the Gear S2 model requires pairing with a Samsung phone to utilize it. However, with the Gear S3 now offering built-in LTE support, it can theoretically function fully with or without your phone on hand. In fact, this appears to be one of the new models major selling points.
So tl;dr: If I was to buy the Gear S3 and root my phone after, could I continue to utilize Samsung Pay on just the Gear itself without issues, or would this also block Samsung Pay from running on the Gear as well?

According to the official web page... LTE watches work after an initial pairing with your smartphone & Samsung Pay works after initial set up with your phone and then you only get 5 payments with the watch without a phone before it needs to reconnect and re pair with your phone.
source: http://www.samsung.com/us/explore/gear-s3/?cid=ppc-
1* 4G LTE standalone connectivity only available on Samsung Gear S3 frontier version, a companion for compatible Android smartphones, sold separately. Standalone connectivity requires initial pairing of Gear S3 frontier with compatible phone and separate qualifying wireless plan. Standalone functionality limited if paired phone is not powered on or connected to a wireless network. Network coverage not available everywhere. Consult carrier for details.
2* Make up to five payments on your Gear S3 without a Galaxy smartphone nearby after initial setup. Reload payment capability by connecting to a Galaxy smartphone via Bluetooth. Only compatible with select cards, carriers and Samsung devices; see the Samsung Pay Support page http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/app/samsung-pay#compatibility for compatibility information.

Ah, I think that information may have just recently been added, than you! A bit unfortunate, I'm actually not really sure whether or not it's worth keeping Samsung Pay anymore. With things like the Xposed framework, the benefits of rooting seem to outweigh the usefulness of Samsung Pay. I might get an S3 watch anyways though, as it still does look quite nice.

I currently have an S5 and a Gear S2 with Samsung Pay. While my S5 is not rooted, I cannot even get Samsung Pay for my S5. However, I'm using it with my Gear S2. So, I'm not sure how things will tie together, but I'd like to know this, as well. I want to get away from AT&T ROMs and load something custom. Simultaneously, I'd like to have Samsung Pay. Based on the fact that my current phone doesn't have the app, but the watch does, I think it might work with a rooted phone. The pairing and 5 payment limit refers to the watch communicating with the Gear App (and Samsung Pay portion of that) on your phone. It does not mean Samsung Pay on your watch needs to talk to a Samsung Pay app on your phone.


text:
Why Do I have multiple dirs in /data/app
I noticed that I was short on space so I checked with a disk analyser app.
I noticed that I have 8 instances of com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox-1 in /data/app and each dir is about 130 MB.
The number at the end increments.
Is this 1 app or 8 versions of the same one?
Can I delete all but one?  Which do I keep?

This is the package name of Google App as explained here What is the APK (and package) name of the Google App?
I am not sure why there should be multiple entries unless the app has been frequently updated and older versions have incremented numbers at end
In any case, you can check which is the latest using any root explorer (I use Solid explorer) to check properties of base.apk retaining the newest one ( which should correspond to the one having -1 at end, that being the package name )

+1. OP, there shouldn't be multiple copies (updates) of one app coexisting in there. Whenever an app upgrades that number increments on the existing folder, instead of generating a new one. Delete the ones that aren't currently in use.


text:
Get back lost picture after flashing ROM
I'm guessing I know the answer to this but still wanted to ask. I picture got deleted and I would like it back. It was taken with the stock android camera. I flashed a new ROM and that's how it got deleted. It was the picture for the Owner profile/user/account. Any way to get it back?

Try  Undelete App from the PlayStore. If you are lucky you may see it

@beeshyams is there a way to view contents of a TWRP backup without reflashing it to the whole phone?

Sorry.. Not that i know of

@Celeritas TWRP backups are supposedly generated with tar (they're actually .tar or .tar.gz files) - try unpacking with that in mind. It might not help if you don't know what content to look for in the extracted content, though.

@AndyYan no tar for me, only .win and .md5

@Celeritas I mean they're .tar in nature - try modifying their extension to .tar.

@Celeritas Yes, you can view nandroids with an app called Nandroid Manager. It's free on Google Play.


text:
Google play store not working
I have rooted my LYK-4503 from kingroot and then I uninstall the app and now I am not able to open google play store and I am not able to download or update any app... Please help me

Instead of Restoring the Stock rom, Just download the Latest version of the Play Store from the web and then move it to the System/app folder. Also, I recommend you don't use KingRoot. Instead, get a custom recovery and Flash SuperSu.

Kingroot really is a pain to work with. Only use it if nothing else works.
To fix your problem you should find the suitable version of gapps at opengapps.org. Make sure to select the correct architecture and android version and use a Gapps package micro or higher.
Once you download the zip, copy it to your phone and install it with a recovery.


text:
About Android versions and naming
Android 4.1 was jellybean. Also 4.2 and 4.3. And then, 4.4 emerged - as KitKat. After that, it bounced right up to 5.0 Lollipop!
How does this 'versioning' system work? What makes a 'new version with the same name' like 4.1 and 4.2, and what makes a 'new version with a new name' like KitKat?

You will have to ask whoever at Google decides when the next "name" deserves the "whole number" version bump.  As far as I know, there has not been an official answer to this question.

The names and numbers are decided by Google's marketing department. It's got nothing to do with the developers, who don't even know the name or number until shortly before it's announced: they use an internal name to talk about the release while they're working on it.
The numbers aren't real "major" and "minor" numbers like you get on most software. You'd expect minor releases to be compatible, but in fact they often introduce new features (for example, Bluetooth LE support was introduced in 4.3). Google supplies security updates on a monthly schedule, much more frequently than the marketing version changes.
Application compatibility is dealt with in an entirely different way: every time the Android API is changed, the API level changes. Each Android version (whether it's a new name or not; whether it's a new "major version" or not) has an API level. The Android developer site has some information on API level numbers and how they relate to the marketing names/numbers. It's not intended for end-users but it's quite readable.

The first digit denotes a major, milestone release. Typically this indicates new features or rewrites to filesystems, system applications, security/performance etc.
Minor releases, the digit behind the period, are patches to the major versions where things like bugfixes and security loopholes are fixed.
The Android versioning page on wikipedia has the full monty on the changes between each iteration.

This doesn't explain why 4.1-4.3 are one name and 4.4 is another, though.


text:
Not able to forward GIF as GIF
I am using OnePlus 3.  I am able to receive GIF Images but when I forward it to others on WhatsApp they are forwarded either as Still Images or Videos.
My friend is using Samsung A8, she can receive GIF on WhatsApp and forward it as GIF.

I'm not sure if whatsapp support for GIF is official or whether it's only made available in Beta channel.
Please check  /sdcard/whatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Animated Gifs/ directory and see if you have .gif or .mp4 Since there is a feature in whatsapp where in you may convert short mp4 videos into gifs.
You will find more information on how to share videos as a gif here

Tap the attachment icon in any WhatsApp conversation
Choose Camera, then Record video
Record the video and select OK
In WhatsApp's interface for trimming the video, tap the upper right corner camcorder icon, it'll switch to a GIF icon Send.


text:
Hotspot dropping
Ok guys, I serched all the internet for a solution and couldn`t find...
I found a couple of topics about hotspot problems here and there but none of them were exactly my problem or would fix my problem...
I have a Moto X Play, and when I create an wi-fi hotspot to use the internet on my laptop, every few seconds, sometimes minutes, the hotspot signal is gone, and than it comes back by itself...  after a while it doesn`t come back at all and I have to reset my phone,
When I enter my hotspot configs there's no such thing as "timeout option", as there are in other Androids,
I saw a guy saying that he fixed his problem by removing the screen block pattern and changing the sleep time to 15s. For me it doesn`t work..
What it looks like is that when my 4g signal is a bit low, the hotspot turns off and on again, maybe to try to get a better signal, but I don`t know.
Somewhere I found people saying that it was some config about battery-saving. I tried to change some of those configs on my battery options, as to change Android System for example from 'saving battery' to 'not save battery' but it also didn`t work..
If anyone has a tip or know how to fix it please let me know, Im desperate already. My laptop has few USB sockets and it`d be good if I didn't have to use 1 for USB-tethering.
Thanks in advance,

Scan and clean your mobile using Cache cleaner or Internet booster application may solve your issue


text:
How to disable pop-ups and notifications?
I have Android 5.1. I use my phone as navigation when I`m driving and I need to disable all notifications and pop-ups. I know I can block notifications from settings, but this takes too much time to disable all apps and enable them again after driving. Also, Facebook and other apps have those pop-ups ("Chat heads" ), which are really disturbing.
Is there any app that can prevent them to appear on my screen ?

Does Screen pinning not help here?

Not with "Chad heads".. it looks like facebook is over that feature (in fact over Android) :)) .

If you are looking to disable the heads up notification, you can try HeadsOff app on the Play store which effectively removes any "pop up" notifications from the top.
For something more granular, try Tasker which allows you to control notifications for indivdual applications.

Is there any free version of Tasker or something like this?

Try Automate. It's a great alternative albeit with a smaller toolset of controls.

Thanks.. it would work if it would be able to acces a specific activity from an app.. unfortunately.. it is not possibple :( due to android restrictions

You can try using Automate to set the state of notification to off for all apps when the navigation app is in the foreground.

I tried HeadsOff -> doesn`t work (facebook messages still appearing on my screen)

I tried automate.. there is an option to hide notification bar, but it didnt helped and I cant find any notification state (other than a condition..)


text:
Is it possible to detect via adb if a certain app crashed (and restarted)?
In my tablet Google Play Services crash every often. They do restart automatically.
I'd like to know if it's possible to programmatically discover via ADB whether a restart happened or not.
I tried somehow by looking at the processes with

adb shell ps | grep com.google.android.gms

but I wasn't able to realize
anything interesting - like when the process started, so that I could compare it with a previous poll.
Thanks


text:
How to stop unwanted Nvidia Shield TV wake up?
My Nvidia Shield TV wake up from standby mode undesirably (and wake up my tv).
So my first question: Is it possible to get a log to see what awakens it?
On a more empirical approach, I have noticed two behaviors somewhat contradictory and strange:

If I connect a wired gamepad, the shield tv wakes up more often.
Without internet access (but with a local network) the shield tv doesn't wake up

So, my other question is: what can I do to stop these wake up?
(My shield tv is rooted and I have sideloaded some apps, maybe it's related but I prefer to avoid a reset...)
Thank you.

Would disconnecting the wifi on standy/screen off and reconnecting it on screen on solve your issue? If so you can try setting up a conditional task on Tasker.

Good idea, I'll try when I have time... But do you know if tasker can control wired connection?

try to shake your gamepad slightly to see if this action will trigger the wake up of you tv.
install the Greenify on you Nvidia Shield TV, which will show you the wake up relation, and also you can disable the wake up.
alternatively, if you found out the apps that wake up your tv, you can use ice box to freeze the apps.


text:
Android smartphone battery suddenly drained twice as fast than usual
I own an Android smartphone that I'm very little using (even to phone!), so since I got it (about one year) I use to be notified for charging it only once every other day.
(the only notable service permanently active is probably the wi-fi scanning)
But suddenly, four days ago, I was notified of low level battery about 24 hours after its previous complete charge.  The next day I was notified after only 23 hours... and today after only 19 hours!
I'm pretty surprised, not only because this happens suddenly, without having changed anything in my way of using it, but also because looking at the Settings > Battery usage I find something like this:

Screen: 15%
Android system: 13%
Android OS: 7%
Idle phone: 3%

...and nothing else, so the total is only 38%!
I'm pretty surprised because in my mind, depending on how to understand the list meaning:

If the list presents the consumed parts compared to the whole battery power the total should be equal to 100% - the reported battery state; in the current example, battery state was 13% so the total should be 87%
Or the total should merely be 100% if the list presents the part of each component compared to the current consumption.

So here are two indissociable questions:

What might be the cause of the sudden increase of consumption?
What is the correct interpretation of the battery usage information?

If it'd be helpful: my smartphone is an Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3.
It was recently updated from Lollipop to Marsmallow (6.0.1), but this happened about 2 months before I suddenly face the issue related above.

Smartphone questions are off-topic here. It even states this in the android tag you used. What is on-topic can be found in the [help].

That list of current apps and processes taking up battery power won't always add to 100%, at least in my experience. Mine only goes to 95%, currently.

Next day, seems that all works fine again, apparently due to one of these two simple actions (but I don't know which one, or both, are the real remedy!):

Just after the most recent charge I temporarily (see below) turned the device into Economy mode (using Settings > Battery | Top right menu > Economy mode).
Having looked at several related questions here in AE, I wanted to try clearing the system cache, but inadvertently missed the double press power+volume so I ended merely turning the device off then on, instead of processing clear cache; then I gave up for the moment.

The unexpected (but fortunate!) result was that the battery level remained > 90% during the next 12 hours, so I decided to deactivate the Economy mode and wait to see what happens.
Now, about 24 hours later, the battery level is still 62%, and the chart shows a prevision of 4 days availability before to be empty: four times better than when I noticed the issue, and even twice better than it used before the issue appears!

EDIT: 10 days later, I can confirm that the improvement is real and persists. But there is more.
A very interesting (although unexplained!) point is that not only the battery stopped emptying in less than a day, but now it takes about 4-5 days before reaching 10%: in other words now the battery life cycle is more than 2x better than ever since I got the device!

So ur saying u never cleared cache thru recovery menu?

@Ann Yes, really. And I take the opportunity of this message to inform everybody that, almost 2 years later, I faced the same problem again two or three times, and I could everytime get rid of it by simply operating #1 and #2 above, for the same good result!


text:
Where does Firefox keep browsing history data?
This linked question describes how to find the time a file was downloaded in Android for Mobile.
How does one do the same for browsing history?  What file is that information stored in?

Look into /data/data/org.mozilla.firefox/files/mozilla/PROFILE/

@Firelord I did but haven't found anything that has the history in it...is there a particular file I should be trying to get that information from?


text:
What might cause Notifications about Instant Messages to appear late and batched up on a Huawei P8 running Android 6?
I noticed a strange behavior on my newly-acquired Huawei P8 phone: Notifications about Instant Messages from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Threema seem to arrive late and in a "batched up" manner. This can take one of two forms:

The phone will all of a sudden start to beep and vibrate like crazy, displaying multiple Notifications about new Instant Messages, however, those Messages aren't actually new, they may be anything between several minutes and several hours old, and may come from multiple sources (e.g. a mix of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Threema Messages). E.g. at 11:44 my phone vibrated, and showed me two WhatsApp Messages from two different conversations from 11:33 and 10:02.
There will be no Notifications on the phone, and no indicator on the icon, but when I open, say, WhatsApp or Threema, shortly after it has finished loading (less than half a second, usually), several messages will appear at once, both within the app and as Notifications.

It appears as though either the client apps (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema) or the Google Cloud Messaging service or both are stopped and/or blocked. This behavior appears both with mobile connections and WiFi, both when on battery power and when fully charged and connected to mains power.
There are various advanced power and data saving options which I am not familiar with from my earlier phones (might be new in Android 6 or Huawei-specific enhancements) which could cause this, but I thought I have everything set up correctly:

Settings → Airplane mode: OFF
Settings → Wi-Fi: ON
Settings → Wi-Fi → Advanced Settings → Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep: Always
Settings → Data traffic management → Networked apps: both Mobile data and Wi-Fi checked (√) for all System Services, as well as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema
Settings → Data traffic management → Networked apps → Advanced network management: both Mobile data and Wi-Fi checked (√) for all System Services, as well as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema
Settings → More … → Mobile network → Mobile data: ON
Settings → More … → Mobile network → Enable always-on mobile data: ON
Settings → Notification panel & status bar → Notification center: Status bar, banners, lock screen enabled for all of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema
Settings → Do not disturb: OFF
Settings → Accounts → Menu → Auto-sync data: ON
Settings → Apps → Advanced → App permissions: I did not change anything here and always accepted the default permissions when installing
Settings → Apps → Advanced → Ignore battery optimizations: Allowed for all of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema
Settings → Advanced settings → Battery manager → Protected apps: ON for all of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Threema
Settings → Advanced settings → Battery manager → Settings → Close excessively power-intensive apps: OFF
Settings → Advanced settings → Battery manager → Settings → Keep Wi-Fi on when sleeping: Always
Settings → Advanced settings → Battery manager → Settings → Keep mobile data on when sleeping: ON

EDIT: A few minutes ago, I received an OTA update (GRA-L09C432B382) with the following description (bold emphasis mine):

This update optimizes the background operation of Google Duo and WhatsApp for an improved experience.
[Optimizations]

Optimized the background operation of Google Duo, enabling you to make more stable video calls.
Optimized the background operation of WhatsApp, enabling you to receive new message notifications when your screen is off.
Optimized the NFC feature by enabling it by default when your device is switched on.
Provided Wi-Fi coverage in Greenland.
Expanded the roaming coverage.
Optimized the display of UI text elements.

[Update notes]

If you experience any issues during the update, please call the Huawei customer service hotline or visit an authorized Huawei service center for assistance.
This update will not erase your personal data, but we recommend that you back up any important data before updating.

If it turns out that this update fixes the issue, I am going to add a self-answer and accept it.

The issue was resolved with OTA update GRA-L09C432B382 with the following description (bold emphasis mine):

This update optimizes the background operation of Google Duo and WhatsApp for an improved experience.
[Optimizations]

Optimized the background operation of Google Duo, enabling you to make more stable video calls.
Optimized the background operation of WhatsApp, enabling you to receive new message notifications when your screen is off.
Optimized the NFC feature by enabling it by default when your device is switched on.
Provided Wi-Fi coverage in Greenland.
Expanded the roaming coverage.
Optimized the display of UI text elements.

[Update notes]

If you experience any issues during the update, please call the Huawei customer service hotline or visit an authorized Huawei service center for assistance.
This update will not erase your personal data, but we recommend that you back up any important data before updating.


text:
Does the user profile picture get synced anywhere?
In Android Marshmallow, does the user profile picture get synced anywhere? If yes, where can I find it, somewhere in G+ maybe? By profile picture I mean this (image copied from http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/android-5-0-lollipop-user-profile-photo-t2939546)

Open Google+. Goto account settings then Contacts and click keep contacts up to date. That should change the blue icon to your G+ profile pic. Sync may not happen immediately

@beeshyams I mean from the opposite direction, I'm trying to see if a lost picture was synced so I can retrieve it http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/158316/get-back-lost-picture-after-flashing-rom I'm not sure if it synced to G+ (as it's possible to have a different account profile picture than a G+ profile picture) but was wondering if it synced somewhere?

Not sure if it syncs anywhere, but it's set via Settings - Users, it is a Contact photo for any Users you may have setup for your device.  You can select any photos that you have on your device, Google Drive, Google Photos, etc.

@RMarkwald I have flashed ROMs before and some of the contact photos synced (automatically) I'm not sure what determines it.


text:
How to disable text message notifications when sleeping?
Text message notifications like WhatsApp sometimes wake me up during nighttime. Turning off my phone isn't an option since I need the alarm, and turning off notification volume (or silent mode) just sets me up for trouble since I will forget to bring it back up, missing important texts.
Is there a way to disable text messages between 10 PM and 8 AM?

What phone?  In Android 5.0 and up there's a Do Not Disturb mode which you can set for a specific time frame/days of week/and select exceptions too.  It is under Settings - Sound & notification (on my N6), or Settings - Sounds and vibration (on my Galaxy S7 Edge).

@RMarkwald that could be an answer :)

Submitted as one.  :)

In Android 5.0 and up there's a Do Not Disturb mode which you can set for a specific time frame/days of week/and select exceptions too. It is under Settings - Sound & notification (on my N6), or Settings - Sounds and vibration (on my Galaxy S7 Edge)

Try Tasker
It lets you modify notifcations and alarms based on a selection of conditions - in your case, you can set the notification volume based on current time.


text:
My Samsung Galaxy S4 was stolen
My Samsung Galaxy S4 was stolen and doesn't have a lock. It was deactivated but I'm worried about the fact that whoever has the phone has access to everything from pictures, videos, my Facebook, contacts, etc. The phone's been deactivated but what can I do about the pictures on the phone? I have a 4 year old daughter and I'm afraid of the pictures on there falling into the wrong hands...I have no other accounts set up to help with privacy but would really like the phone tracked or wiped out...Is that possible?

You can try to erase the device from Andriod Device manager at
http://www.android.com/devicemanager
Note that this will work only if:

The phone has your account still logged in
The phone is connected to the internet at the time of sending the erase request or after. [Wifi or Mobile Network]
the new user hasn't reset the device.


text:
Menu/Recent apps SM-G935W8
I wonder if there is a way to get the menu button on the recent apps button. If you don't understand, I want to have the same thing as the gt-i9195: long press on the home button opens recent apps; press on recent apps button opens menu.


text:
Display battery usage
Is this okay, or is it too much for screen to use this much battery? Screen brightness is on minimum (not on auto) and screen timeout is 30 seconds. In this example screen was awake for 3h 20m.

Seems to be fine

@beeshyams Hmm, ok thanks. I tought there might be a problem because as you see for 3h of using battery dropped from 100% to 17%, is that normal too?

Yes, this is normal behavior. The display is still the most power hungry component of any smartphone.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Rooting HTC One M7 Verizon
I have an unrooted HTC One M7, from Verizon. I used to be able to root it with KingoRoot, but now that does not work. I have tried many things to do this:

KingRoot
KingoRoot
TowelRoot
WeakSauce
The PC Version for KingoRoot
iRoot (PC and app)
And several other programs

None of those worked. I am running 5.0.2
I can not unlock my bootloader with HTCDev.com because my phone is branded by Verizon.
Also, Rumrunner does not work. I get either: (F**k it) or (Such dumb issues you have...). I would also like to know what is causing this.
My end goal is to be root with Cyanogenmod and TWRP Touch.
Thanks in advance
EDIT:
I think it would be good if I provide some more information:
The HTC Sense version is 6.0
The Software number is 6.22.605.6
The HTC SDK API level is 6.55
The PRI Version is 4.79_002
The PRL version is 15480
The ERI Version is 5
The Kernel version is:
3.4.10-gdcab6f5
and@AABM #1
SMP PREEMPT

The Baseband Version is 1.13.41.1209
The Build number is 6.22.605.6 CL495599 release-keys
And the Software status is Official
I think some of these aren't relevant, but I just put everything to be sure.

http://theroot.ninja/
Support almost all HTC devices, starting with HTC M7 up to HTC 10 and also Motorola's.
The only chance that you have is the Sunshine root app. But this is a paid method, and there is not free version.
It will check if the device is supported and if root is available and then ask you to pay using Paypal (that was the last method when i used it awhile ago).

I do not have $25 to do this. I have tried that before. And Sunshine needs root to do the S-OFF.

Sunshine can also get root before doing it all those things. And yes, its $25.

Will it charge you even it doesnt work?

As i said, it first verifies if it can work, and if yes, it aks to pay. If not, it lets you know it does not.


text:
Receiving animated image in WhatsApp, what is this?
Recently my friend send me this animated image on WhatsApp.
Link to the animated image
I was shocked to see an animated GIF in WhatsApp. When I shared to Facebook, it was shared just like a static image, and when I save it to my Mac via http://web.whatsapp.com, it was saved with extension of MP4.
When I shared a GIF from the web, it doesn't animate in WhatsApp. Also, when I shared a video, it also doesn't play like this image.
I am not able to figure it out what's unique with this.

We have a sophisticated membership who have a tendancy not to click rando links like this here.

@wbogacz what does it mean ?

Means one does not simply click random links (like yours to the animated image)

Update: All WhatsApp versions now have GIF support.

The latest version of WhatsApp supports GIF images.
If you're on Android and Play Store shows that your WhatsApp is up-to-date, then download the beta version by joining the official WhatsApp beta program.


text:
Where is the chart that shows device model popularity?
There is a box-chart that showed the list of android devices out in use, and the relative popularity of each.
I'm not sure if this is Google Developer provided, or by some 3rd party, but I'd like to relocate this chart of hardware popularity.
Does anyone know the chart I'm referring to?

Many third-parties do this statistical work. Here's one I can find that's relatively new (Aug. 2015) and in English (Chinese groups do it too but I'd not bother looking for it because people here likely can't read). It's also interactive.

Antutu, the popular benchmarking software records the make and model of each phone it benchmarks, and releases a quarterly list of top 10 most popular smartphone by relative percentage.

Here are some Android phone model charts:
Unity mobile Android hardware stats (include Chinese manufacturers)
AppBrain Top Android phones


text:
Google Keyboard 'remove suggestion' not working
I'm having an annoying issue with the Google Keyboard app on Android 6.0 (and on an HTC One M9 if that matters).
I like to be able to remove erroneous suggested words by long pressing on them and dragging them into the 'remove suggestion' trash can. That used to work fine, but recently when I do it nothing changes - the word is not removed, and keeps being suggested. I'm not entirely sure when this behaviour started. It was certainly after I upgraded from an HTC One M8 to an M9. But I can't remember whether it ever worked on the M9.
I've looked through the settings many times over, and searched Google for a solution, but I can't find anything of help.
If you can offer any advice that would be great. Ideally I'd really like to keep my personal dictionary intact, if possible.
Thanks for your help

On Gboard v7 (Nougat) I've noticed that this long press and drag gesture doesn't work in chrome but seems to be working as expected in Messengers such as WhatsApp. Give that a try


text:
The process of Reskining the Apps
Want to reskin some apps and want to know from where I learn this method with working on some projects.

You should first make sure that the app you're working with has a licence permitting you to edit it.
You can then use apktool to decompile it's apk and modify its resources.
You should then compile the edited source and sign it before you can install it on your phone.


text:
How to enable the SD card to be written on by all apps [Mrashmallow]
Is there any way without rooting the device? My device is a Sony Xperia C4.

Yes, you can use adaptable storage to do this. This means that your SD card with merge with your internal storage and display itself as one big SD card. This is really nice if you need extra storage, but things can go crazy if you pull your SD card out of your phone as it's used as internal storage.
Just make sure NOT to pull out your SD card from your phone if you decide to enable this.
You can enable it in 2 ways:
ADB:
adb shell sm set-force-adoptable true

From Settings
Go to Settings -> Storage -> SD Card -> Format as internal

I don't see that option in the settings. Would either of these actions delete the files already on the SD card?

@Reza Yes, all contents will be deleted off the SD card.

@Reza Some OEM's remove the Adopted Storage options from the user interface for Marshmallow, but using the ADB method works in most cases. It would be a good idea to update your original question with your make/model of device as that can change the answer.

I enabled debugging and ran the command but I get an error that sm was not found. I don't know how to install it in Ubuntu.

@Reza I don't know, sorry. I have the option in my settings. I just found this command on the internet. Installing Busybox might solve it. (Busybox installer is free on Google Play)


text:
Is it the hardbrick. Phone is not turning on neither by forcing it by pressing vol up,down and power button
I have flashed a stockrom downloaded from the internet from the given link to my qmobile z10 mtk6753, using SP flashtool
https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=45sO&id=0B_Wm2RQP1PtfcnVpaG1oVmhPLTQ
and it was successfully flashed into the phone by a tick mark. after that the phone doesn't turned on by pressing the power button neither by forcing it to be in the selection of recovery or factory restore options by pressing vol up vol down n power. now what? is it hard bricked?
Not turning on. just black screen. no boot logo, no recover or factory reset etc nothing.
Now when ever i connect the phone with the pc. it doesn't recognize the phone despite all drivers have been installed already. and gives unknown device. when i opened the device manager it gives this "Unknown USB device(Device descripter request failed)". I have googled it and found some solution to this generic problem by changing the power options etc and all the solutions on the internet. but it remains the same.
Is there any solution to this problem is it the hard brick? if it is how can i overcome this problem.?
thanks in advance

I have nearly the same problem as you now. What is your status for now ? If you found any solutioins, feel free to answer your own question.

Yup i was at the ebd of the tunnel.so i just give my phone in warrenty.they flashed the whole system again!


text:
Recovering a single fille from Nandroid backup?
I used TWRP to backup whole system and copy the backup to my computer. I would like to gain access to a single file. Is there a way I can do this without flashing the whole image? I'm not sure which backup it was in exactly so this could be a very lengthy process and was wondering any tips?

use Titanium backup pro to extract the single app or data, through extract from nandroid backup(your backup must be in sdcard/twrp/backups)

So TI Backup Pro can extract from TWRP backups?

Nandroid Manager does exactly what you want for free, but it also has a pro version with additional features.

Usually these nandroid backups are in some wrapper format of zip or tar.gz
use your archiver application in computer to extract that backup or use Titanium backup to restore a particular app from a backup


text:
How to display photo locations over the top of the photo?
I have a friend with a Note 4 who wants to display the location information of his pictures overlaid on top of the image itself (rather than go to Details to view the extra info). He saw another person do this on a S3. Couldn't see anything obvious to do it on his phone. He basically wants it to quickly go through photos and remember where they were taken, rather than going into individual photos 1 by 1.
Apologies, I'm not too familiar with Android, so not sure if I'm describing this correctly.
In particular we're looking for something that generally looks like this overlay https://i.stack.imgur.com/I9B9O.jpg (found from Can't view Location (textual desciption) information in Windows when opening picture taken with Camera app )