text:
Soft bricked Sony Xperia M
I was trying to unlock the boot loader of my Sony Xperia M.
May be I undertook a wrong step and bricked my phone.
It doesn't have recovery mode.
How can I solve the issue
Please help

You'll need to flash it

Could you please explain in detail

Check my answer

You need to flash the phone to solve the brick. This works on locked and unlocked bootloader.

Download the firmware (search on Google)
Download and Install the flash tool. The default directory of installation of flash tool will be C:\Flashtool
Open the drivers (C:\Flashtool\Drivers) directory and install the Flash mode and Fast boot drivers.
Now Open Flash Tool. Click on the “Black Lightning icon” at the top left corner.
Then choose flashmode from given two options.
Now browse to  where you saved the firmware previously download.
See the right hand side of window under the “Wipe” tag,.  If you don’t want to delete all user  data and don’t want a factory reset then you should uncheck them.
Click on “Flash” button.
After clicking on “Flash” Button in above step, now FlashTool will prepare file. When prompted the notification of connecting your phone, connect it in flashmode: Press Volume down button and then insert usb in phone.
Wait untill the process finishes. Et voilà, your phone should boot normally.

Will this work for custom ROMs

If in ftf file format it should.

You're welcome. Just follow the steps. And let us know if it works.


text:
My android will not charge nor turn on
My sony xperia tx lt29i wouldnt charge yesterday. So i took the battery out for a few minutes and then i placed it back in and it started to charge until it was full. The next day the battery died (cause i was playing on it) and i put it on again, but wouldnt charge. Now it wont turn on, ive tried taking the battery out for a whole day and came back from school and wouldnt charge. Some people say that the problem is the motherboard?is it, or is it something else?

Try putting in a new battery

It depends
As you said that you are playing with the battery,
If the battery is damaged, it may produce power with different voltage. As you tried putting and turning the phone on using that battery, the over voltage may damaged your phone
Else,
The battery is dead. You can put a new battery and start using it.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Root with Kingo root; stuck at turn on screen
This morning I root my phone with Kingo Root. This night my phone suddenly turned off and restarted while I was browsing with Chrome. Then it permanently stuck at one of the turn on screen.
I tried factory reset by - Home + Power + Volume Up but my phone has no response. But restart by Home + Power + Volume Down works.
I am using a Samsung A7. Does anyone experience this before? Anyone providing other suggestions?
Thanks,
Simon

Home + Power + Volume Down works what did you get there? still it stuck or works?

It works. It does restart, but it again stuck at turn on screen after a few seconds.

Based on the information you provided, your phone is Soft bricked.
You can make the phone working by flashing a stock rom to the phone(unrooting).
The process of unrooting is a thing that you should do very very carefully. Once your phone is hard bricked, in no way, you can get back your phone.
Since you didn't explain the scenario completely, I found a procedure to do an Unroot.
This website http://trendblog.net/fix-soft-bricked-android-device-first-aid-guide/ (listed first in google search), describe in detail the process and you can do what they said based on your situation.
They are providing solutions for soft-bricked devices in different scenario like if stock rom is available in memory, if not etc. etc.
The full procedure is so long and do it carefully
Don't forget to take a look at : XDA Developers

I tried with the tutorial in this link instead.
http://techalike.com/how-to-fix-bricked-samsung-galaxy-a7
Turns out it works excellently. As you said, it was soft bricked and the terms you suggested find my way out on google.
Thanks for your suggestion =]

Glad my suggestion helped you mate. Careful for next time. Only a softbrick can be recovered.

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


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What vulnerabilities are exploited in the CIA's cyber weapons for Android?
The BBC is reporting that Wikileaks has released information on US CIA cyber weapons, including against Android devices.

A similar unit targets Google's Android which is used to run the majority of the world's smart phones (~85%) including Samsung, HTC and Sony. 1.15 billion Android powered phones were sold last year. "Year Zero" shows that as of 2016 the CIA had 24 "weaponized" Android "zero days" which it has developed itself and obtained from GCHQ, NSA and cyber arms contractors.
These techniques permit the CIA to bypass the encryption of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, Confide and Cloackman by hacking the "smart" phones that they run on and collecting audio and message traffic before encryption is applied.

Wikileaks link for Android exploits. Much of this appears to be redacted.
I am not concerned about attacks that require physical access to the Android device. If a nation targets me specifically, I expect them to succeed in compromising my device. I am interested in avoiding being casually swept up
by mass attacks or surveillance.
Assume, if necessary, that we are talking about unrooted, fully-patched Android devices running the latest Android OS (Nougat).
How, if at all, should a normal end-user modify their behavior to maintain their privacy given this disclosure?

If WL didn't publish the information you're looking for then I'm not sure how we could answer this. Unless you're looking for very general guidance, perhaps.

The leaked "zero days" are mostly for <4.4 versions. However surely there is "zero days" for marshmallow and nougat about wich we don't know, and there is vulns on newer devices which are very know mostly on mid-range phones which can be exploited but manufacturers don't really care about them.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Where is the compass chip on the Nexus 6p?
I just replace the screen+lcd on my nexus 6p and the compass stopped working (this is not just a calibration issue, it looks like the compass chip is dead).
I think that I might have damaged the compass chip while replacing the screen. Do you know where the chip inside the phone so I can check? I looked online for circuit labels, but could not find anything regarding the location of the compass. I hope it's not just embedded in the motherboard.

I think its part of the GPS?

that's weird because my gps works, but not the compass :S

The compass in my phone has been broken for years without too much of an effect on the phone's usability, just so you know.

Ah, ok pipo, I'll look around.


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"Ok Google" voice unlock stopped working on Google Nexus - "Actually I can't do that while the device is locked"
On the Google Nexus 6P phone, I had a variety of behaviors that were occurring.  Before my Android OS upgrade, Google Now worked fine when the phone was sleeping and locked.  After the upgrade, it stopped working.
Behaviors after upgrade:
Then after I retrained the Google Now app...
I put the phone in sleep mode by pressing the power button once.  You can also put the phone in sleep mode by waiting for the elapsed time period.  When saying "Ok Google", nothing happens.
If I take the phone out of sleep mode, and get the phone to the 4 digit pin code, there's a little microphone icon in the lower left.  If you press and hold and swipe up and to the right, you can begin talking.  Google will say, "actually i can't do that while the device is locked".
There are various forums saying Google Now no longer works.  Is this true with Android 6.0.1?

March 7, 2017 (this edit is no longer the answer):
No, Google Now ("Ok Google" command) is not broken when the phone is in sleep mode or when the phone is locked.  Don't believe all of the forums.  If you haven't asked a real software engineer (like myself) a question about phone configuration, don't trust the internet!  Period!  However, Android 6.0.1 has a slight bug.  The "Always On" toggle switch is broken after an Android 6.0.1 upgrade.  There are two ways to get to this from the Google Nexus 6P phone.
Settings > Language & Input > Google Voice Typing > "Ok Google" Detection > Always On (toggle)
Settings > Google > Search > Voice > "Ok Google" Detection > Always On (toggle)
If you don't reboot after the Android upgrade, this "Always On" option cannot be turned on.  It's forever in the off position.  To fix, reboot the phone, and then turn on the "Always On" toggle.
Wala!  Now you should be able to take your phone out of sleep mode AND unlock your phone with your voice by saying "Ok Google ... Call {contact} on speakerphone", assuming you've trained the phone.  Google paid to patent this.
Note: I also have "Trusted Voice" turned off.  I have NOT tested with this turned on yet.  Will do that now.
March 13, 2017 (this edit is the new answer):
Google decided to remove this feature now.  So now you get the "Actually I can't do that while the device is locked."
Settings > Google > Search > Voice > "Ok Google" Detection > Always On (toggle)
A Google manager must have read my post and told their team to disable this broken feature.  So now the configuration (Always On) controlling this feature (that Google paid the patent for) is missing.  So the Nexus 6P phone cannot be unlocked using this configuration any longer.
To unlock your phone with your voice:
Looks like Google decided to recently start using the Trusted Voice configuration to unlock the phone.  This must be set up and turned on.  Then you will get the functionality back.


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Auto downloads for sdcard/astrid
I have suddenly started getting lots of downloads from sdcard/Astrid/auto.
They are adverts.
How do I switch them off ?

That is probably from some app/game that show ads so it has to store it somewhere

I'm really interested in helping you track this down. I work on a fork of Astrid called Tasks and I've had a few users complain that my app was showing advertisements (it doesn't have ads).

Download a terminal.
In that terminal type cd /sdcard/Astrid/
Then run the command chmod 000 auto
That should do it!

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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How to get out of boot loop on Mi 4i?
I got stuck in a boot loop. Can access Mi Recovery. Can't access fastboot for more than 10 seconds. I had accidentally wiped everything from my phone, without any backup. Also, I had USB Debugging off in my device. Now, how do I flash a new ROM and reboot into my system?

Can you access mi recovery without connecting usb cable or charger?

No. In fact, the recovery crashes too, if I disconnect the charger.

So, I assume you can access recovery only by connecting a charger and no other functionality is accessible. If you disconnect the charger, it power off. Am I right?

Yes, you are absolutely right. Sorry to reply so late. Now, what should I do?

check the answer. It is based on experience. after my experience, I adviced this to many people and almost 90 % will work

Thank you so much. I was thinking the same too. Will try that ASAP.

Yes. Thanks a million again Sagar. I'm in that 90%.

Consider marking it answer for future visitors.

From Experience : The problem is with your battery. The battery can't produce stable power.
When you go to recovery mode, the power consumption is very low. So, it will stay for some time.
When you turn on the phone, the brand logo is shown, may or may not the Booting is done. Suddenly the phone turns off. Then again turns on and repeat this automatically about 15-20 times.
I have the same issue and after checking for a weak , I found that the battery can't produce the power in a stable manner.
How to check.
Since your phone has an inbuilt battery, I am not suggesting you to remove cover, which may remove the sensor, then taking out the battery and doing so.
So, if the phone is under warranty, go to a service centre. Else, go to a local mobile mechanic and ask him to test the phone by putting an alternate battery.
80% it will work.
Try it and if you are in the 20% part, let me know.


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LineageOs compatible with European (H850) version of LG5
The "Downloads" page of LineageOS only lists the US version (H830) for the LG5.
Given that they apparently use mostly the same hardware, am I safe to assume that a build of LineageOs that works on H830 will also work on H850 (usual caveats about custom roms applied of course)?

The difference in baseband is often quite crucial - your link isn't showing the bands these models support. This usually warrant separate codenames and builds, although they might be unified in the future.
Given that even unofficial builds for these 2 models still opted for separate codenames instead of a unified build, it's obvious that at least at this moment you shouldn't treat them as one.
You could just use the unofficial builds for now, but shifting back to official builds after that will require a wipe, due to official builds claiming "incompatible data".

interesting diff


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Not able to open photos from "files" by swiping the screen.Need to open the photos one by one
I am not able to view the photos from "files" by swiping the screen.  Need to open the photos one by one.My Android version is Nougat.  Kindly help how I can view the photos by simply swiping the screen.

"Files" is a (simplified) file manager, not a gallery app. Don't you have a dedicated gallery app on the phone?

Hi am using file manager and ES File explorer , it is working fine in both the apps.But i was looking for the file app to be corrected as it is the default ap

So you mean the built-in "Files" is now your default picture viewing app? That shouldn't happen at all if you ask me...

Can you suggest a good app for picture viewing which is suitable for a normal user.I am facing some issues with both the apps i installed.

Well technically app recommendations are off-topic on this site, so out of respecting the rules I will not make explicit recommendations; however, just searching "Gallery" in Play Store would yield plenty of results for you to try out, some of them are tried-and-true as I heard from users I know.

Ok Thanks..So there is no option to rectify the viewing option in default app "Files"??.Before it was working fine but after i did default option selection, it stopped working.If it is asking one more time the default app option while opening photo from "Files", i think the issue will resolve.

So that's what you're asking about... Whatever you set as default, just go to Settings-Apps, find that app, and clear its default.

i cleared the default app for both Files and Gallery, still it is not asking for choosing the application while opening the pictures.Still the issue is present. I did a reset for settings , but no luck..

Weird... Upvoted for awareness, then. In the meantime, grab another gallery app. Hope others could make use of the info in our comments.

See of the app picker classic app mentioned here helps


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android app install overwrites /data/data/com.my.app
Background: As part of an upgrade to A6/MM, I ended up having to wipe my phone. I did however back up /data/app and /data/data before I wiped. After the upgrade I rsync'ed /data/data back to the phone. Then I proceeded to re-install some apps from google play.
I expected the app data in /data/data to be used, but instead the app install first failed, but on 2nd attempt the install worked (finished), BUT it overwrote all my settings (etc) that I had restored into /data/data. My question is, how do I avoid this? Was the first install fail because the app installer saw the old data?
The app in question was Zoiper Lite, but I don't think the specific app is terribly significant. Is there something about wiping (factory reset) that causes the apk install process to expect no data and therefore fail, but then erasing data if you insist with a 2nd attempt? Of course, what I really want is a workaround so I can install the app AND keep the old data. I have lots of apps for which I would like to do this, so it is definitely a problem...

Why not install the app and then rsync its data? That said, some apps generate install-specific data in there (such as API access tokens), so it can't necessarily be reused from one install to another.

DO NOT create the folders before the app itself does, as you often won't be able to get permissions, ownership and contexts right. Instead, after a new install, run the app once to let it create the file structure, then proceed to overwrite. It's also highly recommended to find which exact file(s) stores the preferences/data you want to restore - usually just some XML files in shared_prefs sub-folder - and restore them only.
The final solution to such problems in the future would be just using apps like Titanium Backup to automate the backup/restore process.
EDIT: I downloaded Zoiper myself and tested: I modified some preferences, backed up /data/data/com.zoiper.android.app/shared_prefs/com.zoiper.android.app_preferences.xml, then cleared data and re-ran the app to let it generate structure. I restored the pref file afterwards, and they did get restored after I did the 1st trick. The thing is, don't forget to first force close the app before you try to replace stuff, or the running app will simply ignore it.

When replacing files, take very good care of ownership. Each app gets a Unix user/group assigned on install – and with a fresh install, it's rarely the same it was before. So full ack on "TiBu does the job" :)

@Izzy Damn, ownership! I knew I missed something but couldn't grasp it when writing... Edited

@Izzy Weirdly, in my experience, although putting a full structure without taking of ownership, etc. won't work, overwriting a single file does, and after opening the app next time, the permission and ownership are corrected to their intended values... Android sure works in ways I can't comprehend right now.

Nothing unusual, Andy. If the app owns the directory, it can delete/replace all files within. If it doesn't own the directory, it cannot do a thing with the contents. So if you replaced the entire structure, the top-level directory (and all within) belonged to "another user", and the app couldn't deal with it – while when you placed a single file, it could. Same thing on Linux/Unix; I remember it back from my days at the university, where we shared folders in our students' group: who owned the folder had the power :)

@Izzy Wow. So it's *nix working in ways I need to learn badly. Now I gradually know why seniors said to me "you're never too old to learn Linux"...

Highly recommended indeed – as you can see, not only for the sake of understanding Linux/Unix, but Android as well :) After all, Android is based on those very same concepts, though it applies them differently sometimes (e.g. counting each "application" as "user").

I have now tried letting the app generate the data files, exit/kill app, and then replacing data files with the backup, AND running  chown -R app_168.app168 /data/data/com.zoiper.android.app. After that, I still get "Error occurred. Crash report has been sent." when I start the app again. I used rsync  -rltDv, the permission settings should not have changed.

I don't know about rsync; you should talk about that with @DanHulme above. As for myself I still insist on finding the exact file so that I avoid permission problems.

Andy, I have mucked around with  restoring only some files in the /data/data/com.zoiper.android.appshared_prefs folder, but so far no luck. This is turning out to be a LOT more difficult than I expected.

I'm outta words... Probably I'll try the app and try the data restore trick on it myself later.

@reikred Did some experiment and turned out successful - see edit.


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HTC Desire 820 dual sim root failed
I tried to root my mobile phone HTC desire 820 Dual sim.
I unlocked boot loader, flashed TWRP2.8 but none of Super SU could root my phone (Android version 6.0.1).
Recently been to HTC service center to replace battery. They mentioned that if we change battery for unlocked phone, phone may not work.
How to remove TWRP and get my phone back to early setting and lock it?

I guess you couldn't root phone probably because phone use lz4 format (I just guess) or you was doing something wrong. However, that what they said is bullshit, what battety has to do with that if bootloader is unlocked? Maybe they said they WON'T fix it if bootloader is unlocked because unlocking bootloader is way to lose warranity? To get your stock recovery back you'll have to flash stock firmware, you have a guide for that on their site, if not then there is guide on xda. And to lock bootloader that is not possible not fully because you can relock bootloader (command is I think "fastboot oem relock" or something like that), in that case bootloader state would return 'relocked' so even than they will know that you played around.

Can i flash stock firmware without rooting the phone?  I heard that stock rom can be flashed only on rooted phone

Stock firmware doesn't require root, you'll just maybe need pc and software by manufacturer

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Developer options switch is disabled, hence not able to turn it on
I'm having a Samsung Galaxy S5 Android phone. All these days I was able to debug apps using USB debugging from the Developer options menu in my phone. But suddenly I noticed the switch in the developer options screen is disabled (See Screenshot). Only Running services item is enabled in the Developer options screen.
Note: I have a "Software Update" system warning, which is an update that is already automatically downloaded but not yet installed. I'm wondering if the developer options is disabled because of this system
Has anyone faced the same problem ?
Do you know what to do to enable the switch, so that I can turn on the usb debugging ?
Thank you.

So you can't enable 'Developer options' in the blue/cyan header area to enable 'USB Debugging'?

Yes, that switch is just disabled. I'm not able to slide it on or off.

I have a Samsung phone and if I turn that switch off, the options just disappear and to re-enable them, I have to tap build number 7 times again. It basically makes it look like I have never even tried to enable developer options. Probably, if you tap build number 7 times, it will get it fixed.

This is the answer I was looking for.

I found from this post that some recently added app might be cauing the security issue.
Hence I uninstalled my corporate app that I installed prior to getting that greyed out issue, and that fixed that problem, I'm now able to slide the switch on/off in Developer Options screen.

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


text:
Touch points displaced
I'm facing a problem with my android device. My touchpad points are displaced. E.g. if I touch the first row then it's touched second row, if I touch "w" then it touches "s". Now what I need to do?
Please help me to solve this problem.

You should consider replacing the digitizer

This is a function of screen calibration, which can degrade over time. There are a few apps that come up in a Play Store search which sound like they can assist you to re-calibrate. Search: "calibrate screen".

Time to replace the screen guard


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Error 505 when installing Facebook Messenger
I have a Sony Z5 Compact running Nougat.
I am unable to install Facebook Messenger. When I try I get the Error Code -505.
I have tried installing using ADB with the following command:
adb install com.facebook.orca_108.0.0.10.70-51197341_minAPI21\(armeabi-v7a\)\(280,360,400,420,480,560,640dpi\)_apkmirror.com.apk

Which seems to be the latest stable version from apkmirror.com.
I get the error message:

Failed to install com.facebook.orca_108.0.0.10.70-51197341_minAPI21(armeabi-v7a)(280,360,400,420,480,560,640dpi)_apkmirror.com.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PERMISSION: Package com.facebook.orca attempting to redeclare permission com.facebook.receiver.permission.ACCESS already owned by com.facebook.appmanager]

Is this something I have done? The phone is not rooted, nor have I unlocked the boot loader.
Apart from wiping the phone is there anything I can do to get the app installed? (I'm aware of all the 3rd clients, but I would really like to solve this problem.)
The app was installed before the upgrade to Android 7, but an update would not install.
I have done the usual steps like restarting, empty cache and data of Play Services, etc.
This is not a duplicate of How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505?, which was supposed to be solved with an upgrade to Android 5.0.2. I am running Android 7.

Good point, @wbogacz – and the answer is right on top of your list: How do I deal with unknown installation error code -505?

@Izzy just checked the link you provided. This has no relevance to my problem. They are talking about it being fixed in 5.0.1. I am using 7.0. There is an explanation of the problem, and it's causes but no solution.

Well, it's the very same underlying cause – as you can clearly see by your error message: Package com.facebook.orca attempting to redeclare permission com.facebook.receiver.permission.ACCESS already owned by com.facebook.appmanager. So your solution would be a) to uninstall com.facebook.appmanager or b) have its developer fix the package (or c) not install com.facebook.katana). Not sure where that one originates, it's not listed on Playstore. The two packages cannot coexist if they both declare the same permission as their own.

From what I gathered from a quick Google search, it's a builtin service mainly used to support Gear VR.

I cannot uninstall 'com.facebook.appmanager' or 'com.facebook.system'. I have disabled them but that does not help.

I have also removed my Google account from the phone, and restarted, but I still have the same problem.

@William that's what I was pointing at. It's nothing the user can solve, the devs must fix it. If an app asks twice to use the same permission, the second request can be safely ignored ("you're already allowed"). But if it declares to own a permission already owned by another, that cannot be ignored; it'd be like Salomon ordering the child spliced :) So, in short: unless your device is rooted and you can remove com.facebook.manager, there's nothing you can do. Not sure if adb shell "pm hide com.facebook.manager" would achieve a thing.

@Izzy I don't see other people having this same problem. This is a very common phone, trying to install one of the most common apps. Am I the only having this problem?

The fact that facebook can not be installed because it is already in the system means the app came built in and you probably did adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.facebook assuming that you did not have root privillege. If you actually did disable(which you meant uninstall), you can do pm enable from adb shell.

My girlfriend and I both Sony Xperia Z5 Compact have the same problem (Error 505) after we had updated to Android 7 Nougat. I think for most people, the problem will become public when the old Facebook app gets outdated and force an update. I was too naive to uninstall Facebook, Messenger, and Site Manager for a fresh install try, and now am only able to use these Facebook platforms on a browser. I posted the same problem in Sony Support Forum and am also surprised that such popular app errors on Android 7 result only in 1-3 problem topics at this time.
The official answer from Sony: Make a factory reset because the problem happens with an update. Not the expected answer - but seems the only solution, when the company doesn't want to fix these issues.

This is such a hassle when you start to use 2FA apps like authenticator. Is there a way to make a 'mirror' of the phone so I can wipe it clean and then get everything back the way it was quickly without having to re-login on all my apps?


text:
Get propetary rom info from adb shell
I have xiaomi smartphone which uses miui rom interface. I'm developing a windows program which manages the smartphone, I want to get the Miui version info which is displayed in settings->about phone, but there it is not in build.prop, so I can't use adb shell getprop.
How can I access that exact string which is displayed under miui version by windows? Thank you

That's one of the things my little tool Addebar does. For details, take a closer look at deviceinfo.lib, especially the function getDeviceInfo(). for the line in question, check the output of adb shell getprop and grep for "MIUI".


text:
Where are APN configs saved in Android?
I want to know where exactly are stored the APNs that are added by the user on Android. I want to edit them manually using X-plore (or any other root file explorer).
I know that in /system/etc/apns-conf.xml are stored the APN that come preset with the device, but I'm looking for the XML file where the user added APN are stored instead.

For anyone else arriving here to find out how Android automatically picks up APNs, the APN preset configurations are now found in /etc/apns-conf.xml, and are linked to a SIM that is inserted by the mmc and mnc.

@Bilko /etc is a symlink to /system/etc. Both files are same.

I think it depends on your ROM .I recently checked mine and are in the following folder:
/data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/.(telephony.db). You can try opening this .db file as text with a suitable file explorer and see if you can find them. (These are apns in the ROM by default)
Edit
I created a test apn manually and did a search, I learnt that its actually stored here:  /data/data/com.android.settings/shared_prefs/com.android.settings_preferences.xml
(This xml also contains a lot of information found in settings but if you use a keyword search to try and find your manual apn, it will be much faster)
Some of the carrier apns happen to be auomatically added when you insert a new sim card, corresponding to the country, that is why they are stored in telephony database,I reckon. I hardly enter these apns manually even when I change a SIM card.

+1 On Android 9 manually added APNs are only added to telephony.db, com.android.settings_preferences.xml doesn't exist.

I rooted my phone running android 10 with Magisk and used the app SQLite Editor to add dun to my APN and bypass my hotspot limit. In the app I found the APN at: /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db/carriers Once there I just searched for my specific carrier and edited the type field by adding dun.

When looking at a Pixel 3a device running Android 10 the location is data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db
user_de is the _d_evice _e_ncryption related user directory, use user instead if the phone does not support this
Not strictly related to the question about the user provided storage location, but this might be useful for people landing here after a search:
When looking in TelephonyProvider there are 4 different locations with increasing precedence:

Default APNs: /system/etc/apns-conf.xml
OEM APNs: /oem/telephony/apns-conf.xml
OTA Update APNs: /data/misc/apns/apns-conf.xml
Product APNs: /product/etc/apns-conf.xml

Note: In Android 10 the system partition cannot be mounted read-write. Use a Magisk module to change the APNs or update the APN under /data/misc/apns/apns-conf.xml. This path is writable after an su.
The APNs are finally stored in database /data/user_de/0/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db. Like mentioned above be flexible here about the user_de part.
Also take note that an ApnSourceService method was introduced in Android 10(?). This is a vendor specific implementation to lookup APNs. This is a not documented service. If this service is active all the XMLs will be ignored. Use a Magisk module to turn off this service if needed.

/data/user_de is correct, it's the Device Encrypted storage on devices with FBE support. Many configurations have moved from /data/user (/data/data) to this encrypted path.

Thanks. I have improved the answer here.

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


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Can't root because can't turn off verification
How can I turn off verification in TWRP - I see many descriptions that say turn it off in settings, but there's no way to do that that I can see. If I boot into "recovery" mode the touch screen does not work and the up-down buttons do not provide a "settings" option. Also, I have installed the "Official TWRP App" as a regular application, but it also does not have any settings like that. I suppose it's possible that I need to be rooted to have those settings, but that's what I'm trying to do - install SuperSU -- which fails because the install fails the verification test. Any advice?

What phone are you talking about?  From the TWRP Official app's description:  The Official TWRP App does not require root to perform version checking, however, additional features are available such as image flashing if you grant root permissions.

If touch doesn't work when you are in recovery then something is wrong with recovery (you probably use ported one). What device you have?

The phone is a Samsung Galaxy On5.

My experience is that there are (at least) two versions of TWRP, one is the "Official TWRP App" that runs like a normal app; touch works on that one but a setting to change verification is not on offer. The other is what appears when I enter recovery mode using the various buttons. That one does not use touch at all. So niether one offers the ability to change a "verification" setting.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Overcommit ratio settings for Android? (Kernal Adiutor)
I cannot seem to get a straight answer on this, and that is the Overcommit Settings in the Android Kernel. I only have a basic understanding of it, that it allows the system(?) to only use a certain percentage of ram? Anyway, with my failed research attempts, there is very little on this subject, and often articles will conflict with each other. For example, in these articles:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-comprehensive-guide-to-kernels-t3121088
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-comprehensive-guide-to-kernels-t3121088
They both say that overcommitting is bad and should be disabled. However, in a few other articles:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621808
They set the overcommit to 100% (Or just leave it at 50). I just want a plain and straight answer, what is the overcommitting ratio and how does it affect ANDROID specifically, one way or the other? (Battery, performance, stability)
Thank you very much!
(I am editing my Android Kernel [HotDog] with Kernel Adiutor)
EDIT: My phone is Android 7.1 with 2GB of ram

Quick note, I've also noticed that setting the overcommit to 0, it gives an average of 1000 mb free ram, whereas the default 50 gives 900mb free.

http://engineering.pivotal.io/post/virtual_memory_settings_in_linux_-_the_problem_with_overcommit/ Seems to explain rather well.

My understanding is this. basically the android system runs all the apps and determines when to give them memory and how much. when an app requests some RAM the system will set aside some ram for that app.  apps dont always use as much ram as they request, so the system will actually tell the app it has X amount of RAM to use when in reality only Y amount of ram was set aside and X>Y is the ratio essentially.
so 50% would mean that the system would attempt to set aside 50% less physical memory to this app than it wants but keeps it a secret from the app and then uses multitasking in order to try and give it ram as needed

Thank you very much! Does it affect the performance by setting it to 0 or 100%? It shouldn't affect battery because it's ram.

Changing overcommit_ratio is, like most Android tweaks, an optimisation myth. If you research these kernel parameters, you'd discover that the overcommit_ratio option only determines the overcommit allowed when the manual overcommit mode is enabled, i.e. overcommit_memory=2. No Android device has this set as far as I know, however, and the two devices I've tried enabling this mode have both resulted in system-wide malloc/fork failures no matter what the ratio was previously set to.
Disappointing that a good developer like the one(s) behind Kernel Adiutor didn't even bother to research this.
Overcommitting is good and necessary. Apps will always allocate more memory than they actually use, as can be seen in vss/rss/pss discrepencies. It seems the only valid modes for overcommitting memory in Android is to either heuristically determine the limit of overcommitting (i.e. overcommit_memory=0) which is the Linux default, or always succeed in any commits that aren't absurd and just let the LMK/OOM managers kill things off as necessary (i.e. overcommit_memory=1) which I think is the Android default (despite the docs saying otherwise).
In short, it doesn't matter what you set this to because it does literally nothing for typical (maybe even all) Android distributions. Any perceived performance enhancements are placebo.
EDIT: It seems that overcommit_memory=0 should only be used on systems that have a dedicated swap partition to act as a safetynet to OOM crashes when memory is actually full, but this setup is not ideal for Android - Android's LMK managed low-memory situations without the need for disk paging.


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'Ok Google' auto launch "randomly"
My phone is a Motorola Moto G3. Sometimes, when I'm not using it, 'Ok Google' feature auto launchs and records my voice. I think it could be a bug. Is any workaround to prevent that and not disable the 'Ok Google' voice detection?
Or it's the NSA?

Try disabling the "OK Google detection" feature in the app settings > voice

@esQmo I didn't want to disable the "OK Google" detection. There should be another way to prevent that.

I was experiencing the same issue on Samsung J5, disabling the feature solved the problem.

@esQmo No, because if I do that I will disable that feature, and I want to use it.

This happens only when the headphones are plugged in? or even when they are not.

@esQmo This never happens when the headphones are plugged in. Just sometimes, when the phone is locked.

Seems definitely  like a bug.

it happens for me sometime even in between calls.


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How to input ⑮⑭⑬ (unicode symbols with a number in a circle) when typing?
I saw somebody rename their Pokemon in Pokemon Go using numbers in a circle, such as "Dratini⑮⑭⑬"
I can only think of copy and paste, but you always have to find a document that has these characters and copy from there and paste it in Pokemon Go.
How can it be done? Is there a faster/direct way?

Tried Unicode Keyboard ??

You need a custom keyboard IME.

①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩.....

The fastest way on Android is to use Calcy IV with the renaming feature enabled, change the settings to the circled numbers and you're good to go.

I agree with Gokul NC and iBug that a special Unicode keyboard (e.g. Unicode Keyboard) is the answer.

My original answer contained this reminder: "Spoofing Pokémon GO is only going to get you banned nowadays. IV Calculators that use Pokémon GO APIs count as spoofing."


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How to force dark mode on Firefox for Android?
I am looking for a way to force dark mode on Firefox for Android.
I tried using Dark mode add-on, but it doesn't work.
Is there another way?

Try Dark Background and Light Text add-on.
This is how it looks like using the mode (it's night time for me as I write). By toggling the Aa icon on the address bar, you can enable or disable it, select the global or select sites you want affected as also modify the default scheme

@beeshyams' answer does not work as the add-on doesn't work on the android phone I have (Samsung Galaxy S10).
Dark Reader is the only add-on I can find which works


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Extract SMS messages from adb backup on the host?
I have made a backup using the following command:
adb backup -apk -shared -all

Does there exist any straightforward way of extracting the SMS messages from the backup file on the host system? By extracting I simply mean be able to view them on the host system, without involving the Android device at all. No adb restore, no Titanium backup or other Android specific solutions. I.e. are there any tools or one-liner methods available to extract this data in GNU/Linux in particular?

I don't think your backup contains SMS. See http://android.stackexchange.com/q/114437/96277


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Turn off blue "1" symbol next to texts on Samsung Galaxy S7
I just recently got a Samsung Galaxy S7.
As shown in the pictures, there is a blue 1 symbol next to all of my texts. I only found one forum online that said this was due to the "dual sim". However there were no comments as to how to turn it off. Does anyone know?
Also, do anyone know what the symbol means next to the left of mute symbol on the top part of the screen? I tried to indicate it with blue

N stands for (activated) NFC.

From the shape of the symbol, I'd guess it tells you through which sim card the text was sent/received. IIRC the S7 has two sim slots, so an indicator for which sim card is used makes sense.

Do you know if there is anyway to stop it from showing this symbol? With the dual sim, you can have a sim in one slot, and a micro SD in the other.
Even after removing the micro SD (so there is only one sim in the tray) the symbol still pops up

Symbol in statusbar is for NFC turn it of to hide symbol. And "1" shows from which sim card message is sent/recived and else. Since you have dual sim phone i doubt it can be rwmoved.

If this symbol is shown even with only one sim installed, it's possible (likely even?) that they didn't implement the ability to disable it. This may be an oversight or a decision. I don't have an S7 at hand, so I can't poke around its settings, but using an alternative messaging app may get rid of it. Google Play has several messaging apps, good and otherwise. If you don't want to use another app, and no one knows how to disable this indicator, you may simply have to live with it.

Try this worked for my Samsung J7.
http://www.samsung.com/sa_en/support/skp/faq/1072114

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Is a ROMs data (/data) from Nougat compatible with MM?
I have a Nexus 6p with Resurrection Remix, Android 7.1.1. I want to move back to Marshmallow (still RR) for Xposed. I plan to just dirty flash the old RR 6.0.1 .zip file. Will this result in any problems with my data? Like my installed apps, data for those apps...?
Thanks in advance. If you need more information just ask!

From one of my earlier answers:

Older version of an app might not recognize the data created by the newer version of the same app. Although user apps are rarely affected, crucial system apps might be, and on error might constantly throw "*** has stopped" dialogs that effectively prevents you from using the phone.

Also, some newer ROMs have alerts in their updater-script that detect different /data formats and, if detected, throw error about it, and will not proceed unless you perform a wipe.

I just took a NAndroid backup of a few key partitions, and moved the backup to a flash drive. Then I wiped everything. When I have time I am going to transfer it back to internal storage and restore all my apps and data with Titanium.

You can also backup all your apps data using TitaniumBackup, do the downgrade and then restore previously backed up apps data.


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Lenovo tablet with two internal partitions - How to move apps to SD?
Not specific to any model but for most Lenovo devices, including phones.
For some reason, some brands, mainly Chinese ones, include two internal partitions. Second partition is shown as "USB Storage" or at least that is what is shown in the "Move to USB Storage" button in App Manager.
It's like a bad joke, because you can buy the larger SD Card the device support but there are no "Move to SD Card" button in App Manager, in it's place you have the "Move to USB Storage" button that does nothing useful because the internal partition detected as "USB Storage" is 1 GB only, sometimes I have seen 2 GB but it still is useless. So you end with a device that you can install at most 5 apps, less if you install Facebook that takes about 300 MB.
Is there a way to get the "Move to SD card" button to show in these devices?
Do they do this to prevent you from moving apps?
Please, do not suggest flashing with alternative ROM. I would do that gladly if the original ROM was around in case of disaster. But as the original ROM of these devices is nowhere to be found then flashing is too risky.


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Twitter on Android, missing tweets from Timeline
I recently changed my phone, Twitter app was downloaded, now I find that hours of tweets don't appear on my Timeline, if for e.g., I was on 8 hrs ago it wont show tweets since then till about 10 minutes ago, there is no "show more" anymore where it would open up and show tweets that were posted during that period.

I have not used this app in some time, so I'm working from memory. The Twitter app for Android is lightweight, and only retrieves a known quantity of back tweets. (If I recall correctly, 200). If you follow high-volume users, this will fill up quickly, and ignore everything between. Maybe try a third party Twitter app?

I just tried this by installing the Twitter app on a device and comparing to my timeline on the web. There is a distinct gap between 1h ago and 11h ago, in the app, so it has skipped presenting 10h of tweets. I estimate the break after about the most current 200, as I said before.


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Can't download application with storage full, even after attaching a micro SD card
The storage in my phone (it's a Huawei Honor 4C) is already full, so I inserted a micro SD card into it that has 8 GB available space. I tried many times to download applications but it didn't. What is the problem?

You need to make some more rooms into your internal memory to be able to download apps. And know that not all apps can be installed into an external memory

Just inserting a SD card didn't mean that you can install apps in a phone which is already occupied a maximum of internal.
You have to change the default install location in settings. Which is not available in many devices.
Go to apps navigate to all apps, click on the app name to access details.
Choose Move to SD card. So the app will be moved to sd.
Likewise, make some space in your internal for the new apps..
Also move files like, songs, videos , etc. To sd.
If your phone has the option enable to install apps on SD card, go for it.


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How to remove the 'V' symbol from statusbar
I have an Android 6.0 running device as it has VoLTE support it shows this not so compliance icon with my theme.
Is there any way to get rid of this icon means can I hide this ?
Here is the screenshot :

May be possible - if your device is rooted, please edit to add device details and root status

What details you want and if it was easy to root a marshmallow then dear why I would ask this question here

If it's not rooted this is near impossible.

Nothing is impossible when it comes to Android.

Nothing is impossible when you are rooted. If you do not have root, there are plenty of things that are just not possible to do.


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Why doesn't my facebook messenger show filter buttons during a live video call?
Below is a screenshot from an Oppo f1s smartphone which has the desired feature.
It shows a button which allows me to add filters during a live video call in facebook messenger.
But any other smartphone I see does not have the feature eg. Moto G3.
How can I have this feature in any phone? What is my smartphone lacking?

Click image for larger version


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Can't change to other language anymore
I sed to can change language into etc(BM, CHINESE, ENG )but now all I can use is ENG. Why ones that happen when is used to work perfectly?

We need more information in order to help you. As a workaround you can try using SwiftKey as alternative keyboard. Switching languages there is easy.

Add a screenshot

Well, that issue have become common like Chinese as default or vice versa. But you can fix it by using Android language changer apps or Chinese to english.


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Can't install Lineage OS due to outdated bootloader on Moto G 2013 XT1034 falcon
I just bought a Moto G XT1034 and I'm trying to install Lineage OS 14.1 (lineage-14.1-20170307-nightly-falcon-signed.zip). I'm following the wiki instructions (http://wiki.lineageos.org/falcon_install.html). I successfully unlocked the bootloader and installed the custom recovery (Team Win Recovery Project) but when I try to install the new OS I get the following error message:
This package supports bootloader(s): 0x4118, 0x4119, 0x411A; this device has bootloader unknown.
Apparently my bootloader version is 4105:
$ fastboot getvar version-bootloader
version-bootloader: 4105
How can I overcome this issue? Should I update my bootloader? Is there a safe way to do so?

I ended up following these instructions to flash a newer stock ROM with a up to date bootloader and installed Lineage OS afterwards.

Use this tool to upgrade your bootloader to a compatible version.
You should also update your TWRP to the latest version, as older versions aren't compatible with the new bootloader either, and will display a moving line across the screen if you insist.
After these steps you are clear to proceed to flashing LOS 14.1.

I didn't upgraded yet. I'm using TWRP version 3.0.2-2 (seems to be the most up to date version: dl.twrp.me/falcon). However, there is already a moving line on across the screen when I enter recovery mode. When I boot the stock ROM there is no line. Do you know why I have this line with the latest TWRP?

@PeterRabbit New TWRP is incompatible with old bootloader, and old TWRP vice versa.


text:
How to remove app-malware-virus that's not visible in the app list
I downloaded an apk from this site that it was supposed to be a modified app for a game (Candy Crush Saga). Here you can find the download link.
The problem is that not only the app doesn't do what it was claimed to do (i.e. provide you with tricks, unlimited lives, etc) but most importantly it is a malware-virus.
So after installing this app, I get pop up windows with ads.
First of all I removed the apk and tried to search for the installed app through settings. Surprisingly I couldn't find anything apart from the apps I have installed through PlayStore!
Then I installed Clean Master and AVG Antivirus but neither managed to find any problem.
I also tried using DEBLOATER (I installed it through wine on my fedora 25 laptop) but this didn't work either.
I also connected my phone to my laptop and tried to find and delete the bloatware but I wasn't able to find it.
So my question is how can I remove this "app" when it's not visible in the app list?
For reference I am running Android 6.0 and my phone is Oukitel k6000pro and my PC runs fedora 25.

you can do that with ADB by listing all packages installed on the phone.

@esQmo : Thank you very much for your comment. Could you provide with a full answer, to possibly help solve future problems? Thanks in advance!

You're welcome. Is your phone rooted?

@esQmo No unfortunately not :(

You'll need root access and even busybox installed to be able to remove/delete malwares that are installed on the /system partition

Try hiding those apps instead: download DEBLOATER (search on Google), enable USB debugging in the Developers options, connect the phone to the computer. Run Deloater, you should see all apps with their packages listed. Check those you want to hide/disable.

Next time, don't trust any other source than the official one. Download all apps from Google Play.

@esQmo_ : I've trying really hard to solve this but I couldn't. I couldn't find any debloater to help me without rooting. So I tried to root, but I couldn't either. Do you have any debloater to recommend? Note that I am using linux and not windows.

The software I told you is called DEBLOATER. I don't onow if there is a Lonux version

You can use DEBLOATER to hide those app because removing require root access.
Download from here.
Learn how to use the software at XDA Forum
Note: It's a Windows executable, so you need a Windows machine to be able to use it.
Edit: Drivers can be downloaded here or here

Thanks for your answer! I was able to install it in Fedora 25 through wine, but it cannot see my phone.

You need USB drivers for your phone. Did you enable USB debugging?

USB debugging is on. USB drivers? Hmm... I don't think so. I have no idea what these are, so I'll search about it!

Added a link to the download area


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Unlocking oem Elephone p9000
I'm trying to flash TWRP on my elephone P9000, but when I use SP flash tools it doesn't download anything to my device,
so I decided to try adb. To get access to write a new recovery, I need to unlock bootloader/OEM. When I enter the command fastboot oem unlock my phone asks if I'm sure I want to, and I have to press the volume up button to confirm. The problem: when I do that, nothing happens. I can go back if I use the volume down button. The volume buttons normally work just fine.
I tried all the tutorials I could find about how to install TWRP. Anyone any idea?


text:
Error in rooting Samsung Galaxy J2 (SMJ200G)
I want to root my Samsung Galaxy J2. But trying to install TWRP via Odin returns with "Fail".
On this XDA forum, https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/easy-to-root-galaxy-j200g-t3490324 , firmware model number should be J200GDDU1APB1. But my firmware model number is J200GDDU2APJ2.
Is there any way to change my model number to the one that is required?

@beeshyams The page has been removed. I am not able to access it. Is there any way to change the firmware??? Or downgrade as it is mentioned?

Maybe that is the same thing

A source for firmware??

Yes . Also you didn't search properly ( link had changed but it seems to be available for download on the site mentioned in OP https://boycracked.com/portfolio/samsung-galaxy-j2-sm-j200g-firmware-for-india/

Thanks for the link. How am I supposed to change firmware then? I man after downloading it.

Got it. It had installation guides. Cheers.

Flashing with Odin as mentioned in first para of OP and here is SamMobile site https://www.sammobile.com

Successful ????

@beeshyams Yes. But by TWRP

Good. You may like to self answer the question- it may help others in future

I am not sure how it failed earlier and succeeded now.


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MMS messages received on my Samsung S7 start a new text thread that include me and I receive my own text as another text
I have a Verizon phone Samsung S7.  I moved to T-MOBILE.  When I start a text thread and someone on the thread replies to the thread a d/or adds a pictureto it starts a new text thread and adds my mobile number to the thread.  Meaning if I reply to anyone's text I get the same message I just text texted back to me.  How can I stop this?  It's quite annoying


text:
Typing issue with AOSP
Sometimes, when typing, the AOSP keyboard misbehave very badly.
The characters may not appear, may the cursor move forward without placing a single character(if typed in between text).
When pressing backspace(delete), the cursor move backword without deleting,
When typing in a textarea in browser, nothing is shown and when click on the addressbar, everything we typed is there.
What is the problem and how to solve it??
It happens occasionally, not all times.
I am using YU YUREKA AO5510 ( CYANOGEN 12.1 - NON ROOTED)


text:
Difference Soft Reset/Hard Reset
Just a quick question.
I have been trying to figure out the difference between Soft Reset, Hard Reset, Factory reset. If anyone could please help me to clarify the differences, it would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
A little bit of random information. So my phone was in my pocket, seems that it was reset (Turned off and instantly came back on) by the power button being held down for fifteen to twenty seconds, wondering if this is considered a Soft Reset, or Hard Reset, or if there really is a difference.

Soft Reset is simply powering your phone off and on by using power button - no data is lost
Hard Reset is forcibly stopping the power to phone by removing the battery ( if the battery is user replaceable)- no data is lost

Both these are first level means of rectifying minor issues and are harmless

Factory Reset is restoring the device to the state it was when you purchased it (with few exceptions) - all user data is lost. This is next level of troubleshooting or happens when you unlock bootloader. See also What is hard reset and what is factory reset?

What you describe is not any of the above. It is sleep state or sleep mode which your device goes into when it is inactive for long. This is a battery saving measure. One activates or wakes up the device  by power button or home button  ( if it was soft reset, it would have displayed start up logo and process)
Edit: OP clarified that start up logo appeared so it was actually a soft reset . Mobile likely got switched off accidentally

Thank you for the reply, and one final question, how do you hard reset if your phone is not user replaceable? Also, the logo screen did appear when it restarted, the power button was held down for long enough for the phone to restart.

You can't do hard reset, if battery is not user replaceable. So it is not a user option. 2. So what you did actually was soft reset- will edit the answer 3. If the answer satisfied you , you can click the green arrow next to vote up and down buttons to indicate that it met your expectations. There is no obligation at all and you can wait for other answers as well before deciding- mentioning it since you are new here, and yes, welcome to the community :)

Hm, this deviates a bit from my knowledge... Or maybe I mixed up "soft reboot" with "soft reset"? I thought that means a SystemUI restart (am restart). Also, why does holding POWER key long enough still counts as soft reset? Isn't the circuit programmed to instantly cut power, similar to hard reset as you described it?

@AndyYan:: I am not conversant with internal workings, so you may have a point and possibly correct and different view. Regarding the power key press being soft reset- that is in the context of start up happening and logo showing as confirmed by OP in the first comment. Just googled found some more  types of resets I wasn't aware of :) , but confirm what had been stated. Please correct me if I am wrong or there are things I am missing out

In hard reset power disabling is by pulling out the battery unlike in soft reset where the circuit terminates power flow- that's why said forcibly on the case of former @AndyYan

Will Factory Reset also delete Photos inside the device and folders created by apps (Like WhatsApp)? Is that the recommended operation before giving the device to someone else?

A hard reset is initiated from the hardware keys. (Volume, power, home, etc.) Whereas a soft reset is initiated from within the devices software. (Usually located in the Settings area of the device)  Merely pressing the power button for 10 or so seconds to reboot the phone doesn't factory reset the  device. It only reboots or restarts and doesn't erase user data.
There seems to be confusion by a lot of folks on the differences of a hard reset vs a soft reset and a hard boot vs a soft boot.


text:
Phone unlocks to settings screen instead of home screen
Since I updated to android 7.0, my phone will unlock to the settings screen instead of my home screen.
If I lock the phone and then immediately unlock it again, it goes back to the same screen it was on. However, if I let the phone sit for 5 minutes or so it will unlock to the settings panel.
Does anyone have any ideas about what could be causing this and how to fix it? All my research comes up blank. I've looked at the "launch when unlocking" threads, which seems to be a dead end since I have not been messing around with programing. I am using my thumbprint to unlock, not a swipe, so it also does not seem to be related to the "left swipe unlocks to phone, Right to camera, up to home screen."
Version: 7.0
Device: SAMSUNG-SM
Using the google Now launcher
Other update: I am running tasker, but the only thing that is doing is putting my phone on silent when I connect to the work WiFi. I have noticed this happening even when no where near work wifi, but it could still be related.

Is settings present on the main homescreen?

Yes, but it is inside a folder of other utility applications. It is not near the bottom of the screen where I could be hitting it by mistake.

Possible you lcd set is the problem...


text:
Is it possible to have the NFC URL reuse a browser tab?
When I tap an NFC tag with url in it, it gives the option to open the link in the browser. If I go tap that tag again or another similar tag, it prompts user to open the url again in another browser tab. If I'd like to present multiple tags this way, the user may end up with several tabs which I'd like to prevent. Is this something that can be done (without requiring an app be installed that would intercept the NFC tags)


text:
Phone keeps turning on and back off. What do I do?
This morning, I turned on my mobile, which had been fully charged during the night. It displayed the usual white «Samsung Galaxy SIII Neo  powered by android» thing, but then it vanished, then it reappeared, and it has been doing this throughout the day, for all I know. I tried googling, and found out about:

FastBoot, which is acheived by pressing Vol+,Vol-,Power all at once; this does nothing at all on my device;
Recovery boot, which is acheived by pressing Vol+,Power,Home all at once; this displays a small blue «RECOVERY BOOTING…» on the top-left corner, but only if the phone is connected to a charger, otherwise nothing happens;
Hard Reset, but this seems to be impossible, as it requires (see here) the phone to be completely off, which is, at present, simply impossible.

Removing the battery won't do anything: I tried that several times, but as soon as I put it back, it goes back to doing the above. Also, connecting to the charger makes the «Samsung Galaxy [etc]» display like 2 or 3 times longer.
What should I do about this? What is wrong with my phone?
Update
Following @MatthewRead's comment, I tried Vol-,Power,Home. Something flashed on the screen, and then back to on-off-on-off. This is a frame of a short movie I captured with another mobile:

Sorry for the name of the movie showing up and hiding «Warning». I just tried Vol+ as that screen suggests, and now the screen shows up no more. One thing is sure: holding down that combination now stops it from on-off-on-off-ing, but as soon as I release, we're back there.
Update 2
I tried other key combinations, and this is what I found out:

Vol+ -> Recovery booting;
Vol+,Home -> Recovery booting;
Vol+,Power -> Recovery booting;
Vol+,Power,Home -> Recovery booting;
Power,Vol- -> screen above;
Vol-,Home -> screen above;
Vol-,Power,Home -> screen above;
Vol- -> screen above.

The last two have not always happened, but maybe I thought I was pressing when I actually wasn't. The screen says to hit Vol+ or Vol-, but none of those does anything.
Update 3
Someone suggested I scrape the battery contacts, I did it, and now the mobile seems to be working again. So this apparently saved me the trouble of flashing, though I have the firmware downloaded in case something goes wrong.

You should be able to do a Factory Reset from Recovery Mode.  A hard reset refers to either a full power cycle (which you've done) or a Factory Reset.  You might want to try other key combinations to get into Download Mode (the alternative to Fastboot used by Samsung phones) -- it's probably Vol- + Power + Home.

@MatthewRead tried that combination. Something flashed for a few seconds, I was only able to read «Warning, a custom OS might», and then it went back to on-off-on-off.

@MatthewRead see updates.

Please revive the external SD card and see. I had a somewhat similar situation which got fixed by changing SD card on a different phone

@beeshyams What do you mean by "revive the SD card"? Yesterday's trials were done while another device was up and running with my SD card, so that should not be the problem.

Firstly sorry for typo meant remove not revive. In my case also the sd card was running fine with other device (till today) but for some reason that sd card didn't agree with the phone and causing similar problem- sharing a possibility, that's all

Try this take out your battery
Wait for 10 seconds
Re Insert the battery without pressing the power button
if it turns on itself (witout pressing the power button( then it would be hardware problem. Just clean it with alcohol or tinner and keep pressing on it to clean the inside of your power swith or if not just replace your power button.
If not auto turn on after inserting the battery then its software problem. Just download the official firmware ang flash your phone via odin.

From Experience : The problem is with your battery. The battery can't produce stable power.
When you go to recovery mode, the power consumption is very low. So, it will stay for some time.
When you turn on the phone, the brand logo is shown, may or may not the Booting is done. Suddenly the phone turns off. Then again turns on and repeat this automatically about 15-20 times.
I have the same issue and after checking for a weak , I found that the battery can't produce the power in a stable manner.
How to check.

Take the battery out.
check the battery code, power details, etc.
Find a similar battery.
Put the battery in the phone and try turning it on.

80% it will work.
Try it and if you are in the 20% part, let me know.

Tried a battery that previously provided me with a wi-fi hotspot. Nope, didn't work.

did you checked the voltage and watts of the battery. whether it is same?

Yep, both "3.8V Li-ion BATTERY 3.8V Li-ion BATTERIE 7.98Wh".

Seems it was something about the battery after all. See update.

If the answer seems helped you, consider marking it for future visitors.

The bootloop happens when  the boot partition is corrupted or in extreme cases the whole eMMC chip is damaged, the phone boots but can't load the system and all ressources.
Among the causes a  defective charger - as you've pointed the phone was left to charge all night long.
Try flashing the phone, this may solve the bootloop.

Download the firmware for your model, region and same android version or higher.
Download Odin (Windows) or Heimdall (Mac) and Install it.
Download Samsung drivers, install them
Now open Odin, click on AP slot (PDA for lower version)
Browse to where you have unzipped the firmware
Select the file (must end with .md5 or .tar)
Now put the phone to Download mode (Volume down + Home + Power), then press Volume Up
Connect the phone to the computer the click on START. Wait till the end.
You phone should reboot and boot normally

Using Heimdall: follow this guide.
Let us know if  you experience any errors. We'll try to help.
PS: All your personal data will be wiped.

You mean download android firmware on my computer? Also, it's a mac, so "Odin (Windows)" cannot be installed on it… Mac version?

Yes exactly search for your model number firmware (GT-I9300 for international variant). Download Heimdall as you're on Mac

For Heimdall, I've added a link. check it

Tried googling "download android 4.4.4 GT-i9301I on Mac", got this, not sure what to open. Anyway, is there any way of saving my data before wiping it? I'd only need to save contacts, SMS's and Whatsapp messages.

Not sure you can save anything. Go to sammobile.com, you'll find your form

«Server maintenance (free server) - March 10, 11 and 12. Premium downloads still available». Only premium downloads are available. So I'll come back to this on Monday, if there is no other place to download the firmware from.

Try http://www.gsm-file.com/

Apparently there was an issue with the battery. No idea what though. If something comes up, I will come back here and finish the flashing. Thx for your directions.


text:
Tasker to run scripts in terminal shell
I have searched for this but till now I have not found any tasker that would be able to do this, so I decided to ask here.
Till now I have been using Trigger Pro as my favorite tasker but it lacks in advance usage, like run certain scripts over shell when triggered. I have been just able to run one script over Terminal app, by running a command when it launches that app, but through this I am just able to launch one script =/.
So any of you knows way to do this?

Can you tell us, why do you want to run your script visibly? That is it say, why not deploy a method that would silently run the script? Tasker can do this well, so as Automate from LlamaLab.

This can be easily achieved by using Tasker.
Instructions:

Create a named task.
A1: Code >> Run Shell [Command: (insert any code you wish to run)  Store Output: (insert any variable which will retain the value of ouput - stdout) Store errors in : (insert a variable which stores errors - stderr)]
Tap back to exit
Link your task to your profile.

Note: for shell commands that require root you have to the tick the 'use root' option


text:
Is there a method to freeze and thaw an application vs uninstall/reinstall?
On a non-rooted Android 5.1 phone, is there a way to "freeze" an applications, settings, and data?
I don't want to uninstall or need to consistently kill a process. I would like to archive an application, and when I need it, take a brief moment to "thaw" it, use it, and freeze again when done.

Is your device rooted?

No. I'd prefer not to root it. This is my main phone and my primary 2FA device.

And the apps you want to "freeze" are pre-installed ones, or user-installed? In the latter case, "hibernating" them would be sufficient?

You could use the command-line solution. adb shell pm hide package will do, where package is package name of the app.

If the app can be backuped you can create a backup of the apk+data via adb: adb backup -f mybackup.ab -apk <packagename of app>. When you need the app again you can restore the mybackup.ab file. This works on non-rooted phones.

@Izzy These would be downloaded apps! (upvote)

@Robert Please list that as an answer. While I hope to do this from my device, I'm certainly happy to have a CLI option! (upvote)

You shoud try a software developped by gatesjunior, a Recognized Developer at XDA-Developers. I doesn't require root for hiding/blocking apps.

Download debloater.exe here (mirror) for Windows (May require .Net Framework 3.5 or higher). Download dmg file for OSX here
Enable USB debugging on the phone
Connect the phone to the computer (Should install drivers to get the phone detected)
Run debloater, clikc on "Click here togin"- should list all installed apps. Just check the check-mark related to the apps you want to hide/disable then click the first icon in the top left.

I found the complete link on how to use the software, check it out here

Another great suggestion. Upvote. For my situation though, I run linux everywhere, and haven't had great experiences with Android tools over Wine. Still holding old for the unicorn of non-rooted and on the phone. But again, many thanks.

If you have ADB enabled on your device and the app allows to backup it's data you can use the connected PC to backup the app data and the app APK file using the adb backup command:
adb backup -f mybackup.ab -apk <packagename of app>

When you need the app again you can restore the mybackup.ab file. This works on non-rooted phones.
Note: If the app denies backup the backup will not fail, the data wil be just empty. Therefore It may be wise to execute the adb backup command first without the apk option. If the created backup file has a size of more than a few bytes most likely the app allows data backup.

Still hoping for an on-the-device answer, but this is definitively a runner-up. Thanks. Up vote.

Important note: This doesn't work for all apps. If you end up with a 0 or 41 byte file, the app in question has blocked itself from being backed up (ALLOW_BACKUP=FALSE). // And btw: the on-device-variant of Robert's advice is Helium Backup :)

@Izzy - That might be the correct answer. Would you mind creating an entry for it. Testing this soon.

@Richard done, with additional instructions. Enjoy!

As your targets are "downloaded apps" you've installed yourself, I'd suggest you take a look at Greenify:

Greenify (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)

Greenify help you identify and put the misbehaving apps into hibernation when you are not using them, to stop them from lagging your device and leeching the battery, in a unique way! They can do nothing without explicit launch by you or other apps, while still preserving full functionality when running in foreground, similar to iOS apps!

Once you've defined the apps to deal with, you're done: use them as you always do, no manually handling required. Greenify takes care that those apps are not running when you're not using them.
Greenify works even without root, though not all of its features will be available then. It unleashes its full power, though, only on rooted devices having the XPosed framework installed: Then you can also deal with system apps.
For further details, also see:

How does hibernating an app work technically?
Android's native process management vs. Greenify
How to Optimize Your Android Phone's Battery Life with Greenify (HowToGeek)
How to Use Greenify App (Orduh)

As a variant to Robert's answer, but working on-device: Helium Backup does ADB backups directly there. If your device is not rooted, it will however need to be initialized via its desktop component after each boot.

Helium (source: Google Play; click images for larger variants)
Other than with my other approach, you'd need multiple steps here to "freeze" it:

backup the app using Helium
uninstall the app (e.g. via *Settings › Apps)

However, "unfreezing" would just mean to restore it.
As I commented on Robert's answer: before deleting the app, make sure a proper backup was achieved. Developers can chose to have their apps opt-out of this, setting ALLOW_BACKUP=FALSE. In this case, one usually ends up with a 41 byte file (just containing the "backup header", but neither app nor data). Also make sure to tick the box for inclusion of the .apk file (see second screenshot), or you might have another surprise :)
Side-effect: As the 3rd screenshot shows, you can use Helium also to create regular backups on a schedule. Can't hurt :)

In case you wonder about the app being named "Carbon" in the screenshot: that was its former name, Koush obviously didn't remove it there.


text:
How to stop a specific whatsapp chat from using mobile data?
I'm on a computer science course, and a few of my peers made a whatsapp group for anybody on the course to join.
There are about 100 or so people in the group, and often I "lurk" on it to get help on various topics since there is sometimes some actual useful information disclosed. However, the group admins and some of their friends use the group as though they're the only ones there, meaning there's so much spam of simple idle "banter" that it actually drains my mobile data.
I also use whatsapp to message other groups or friends, so I don't want deny whatsapp as a whole of using my mobile data.
Is there a way to make a group only "receive" messages when connected via wifi?
Thanks in advance.

Unfortunately  NO

It is a good requirement but unfortunately Whatsapp didn't have such a settings.
If you want to avoid getting notifications, you can Mute the group.
But here, your requirement is different.
So, First understand how the blocking works.

It works by the way we are blocking any access to the particular host from our phone. That means, no request, no response.
Here, whatsapp use same host for all messages, you can't block it.

If whatsapp use different host for different chat , there is no problem. But here it is not the case.
So, either you can block entire whatsapp or you can't block anything at all


text:
How to determine to what hosts Android apps are connecting (root)?
How does one determine to what hosts Android apps are connecting (or trying to connect)?
Want to know this information even if the host is being blocked by an entry in the hosts file.
Assume the device has root privileges.

You might want to see: Check which IPs or web-sites an app is communicating with? // Listen which URLs an app tries to connect

I can recommend "Charles Proxy" for Windows.
It acts like a SSL MITM proxy, you set it's IP/PORT on your Phone and most of the traffic gets redirected/dissected.


text:
Where the values of tethering, usb and bluetoth internet are stored?
I want to disable(or restore to default) the values of Tethering & portable hotspot, deleting the file/s that are storing the config.
Where is located that file?

/data/misc/wifi/softap.conf stores Hotspot SSID and Password. I don't think USB tethering has any setting since you just enable and disable it, and no customization is offered. Bluetooth config file location differs depending upon OEM.


text:
Can connect 3T to devices via hotspot, but no internet
Hello I have the OnePlus 3T using Oxygen 4.0.3, Android version 7.
I am able to connect my iphone 5s, Macbook Air, iPad 4 and Toshiba Chromebook to the phone. All devices register as connected, the hotspot icon on the taskbar of the Oneplus is on, but I am unable to access the internet on any of the devices. I can connect by bluetooth but still no internet. I tethered to the Macbook with a cable, but no internet. Any ideas?
I use the same sim in my iphone 5 and can connect to thee mentioned devices easily and the internet works.
I've tried all the solutions listed in this forum but none of them work for me. So I'm guessing it is the OnePlus 3T is the problem? Any thoughts?
Thanks again Phillip

Any update on this?

I have personally tried this on OxygenOS 4.1.6 on my OnePlus 3, but the solution is the same for all OxygenOS 4.X.X devices.
Note: If you have ADB setup, USB Debugging enabled and the drivers installed, skip to step 7.

Enable Developer Options in Settings > About phone and tapping on the build number seven times.
Next, in Settings > Developer Options enable "USB Debugging"
Connect your OnePlus device to a laptop or computer, and install the appropriate the appropriate drivers from the "CD/DVD drive" that was inserted, then reboot your computer.
Download ADB and Fastboot for your computer from the Android Developers website
Extract the folder, open Terminal and navigate to the extracted folder using

cd path/to/extracted/folder

Type adb devices and accept the prompt on your OnePlus device.
This is the actual command that matters:

adb shell settings put global tether_dun_required 0

Enjoy tethering from your OnePlus device.

Source: OnePlus Forums


text:
How to schedule downloads in Advance Download manager?
I installed Advanced Download manager to schedule my downloading for night time. I know how to schedule and it works as long as the app is open. So I put some files for downloading and schedule it for a late night download. But the app closes by itself after sometimes, resulting failure in downloading the intended files. How can a tweak it so that I can schedule my downloads for the desired period?
thanks.

Device and OS details please ? Is it rooted?

Xiaomi redmi 3s prime with Marshmellow, MIUI 8. Nor rooted.@beeshyams

Did you check Doze settings and verify that the app is not optimised? see http://android.stackexchange.com/q/129074/131553

For you to download on schedule, ADM requires a running service program. Make sure you do not close the service after you have enabled your scheduler
You can do this by:

Giving ADM a higher memory priority (so that it will not be killed when system memory is low)
Whitelisting ADM in phone's power saving features, task killers or hibenation programs
Enabling a persistent notification to keep the program's services running in the background.


text:
Force inactivity lock on application that circumvents it
I have a game that disables inactivity lock on my phone as long as it is foreground (there's enough ways to do that if you look around on development SE sites). This is generally a good thing, since it have somewhat long-ish matches that can be set to autopilot and having to manually tap to prevent autolocking would be annoying.
However it is NOT fine when I set lock period in phone settings to half a hour, start playing before sleep and WANT it to go into lock if I actually fall asleep while playing! I don't want phone to stay at max heat all night because GPU and charger fight each other over energy flow.  I have an unrooted Lenovo A1000.
Application does not have any setting to disable this behavior. Is there a way I can enforce my lock period settings on any application so any time I don't actively touch any controls on phone for specified time, it goes into a lock, no matter if foreground application wants that or not?


text:
Unsure why Android has issues with certain Opus files
I'm not 100% sure where to post this cause it's kind of a strange issue. I recently discovered the Opus format and converted all my songs to it, so they would fit on my phone. However a few cd's I've converted from MP3 to Opus are having a strange issue. I did have to rename all the files from .opus to .ogg so they could be read by media players, but what's odd is that some of the cd's I've converted seem to lose their information when I copy them over to my device (Nexus 6 running 7.1.1).
Like, all the tag information is gone and every media player that's able to see it says the song is 00:00 in time. Yet when I actually play the song, it works totally fine. I can't even edit the tag information in any apps because it just disappears. Is there any reason it would do this? I've tried re-converting the songs a few times but the same problem still happens.

Alright well I figured out what seems to be the issue. Apparently if the file has a large size album art (from what I can tell, anything 1MB and over) causes the tags to be unreadable. I went and re-tagged the file with a smaller album art and now it works fine. Unsure why this causes an issue, but I'm glad to have figured it out.


text:
Is it possible to re-install Android OS When the OS is practically useless
As the title suggests I'am trying to re-install Andriod but their are several criteria that are preventing me
1. the Android operating system boots but upon passing the lock screen, all core processes such as launcher crashes meaning i'm unable to change settings (Even though sometimes I'm able to change the settings it just reverts back upon Reboot and the settings don't even work properly)
2. ADB does not detect the device (assuming because of USB Debugging)
3. Tried Android safe-mode it does pretty much the same thing as normal mode
4. Tried a factory reset but it just reboots and shows the Android recovery options instead of erasing
I'am currently out of options Please help
Thanks in advance

If you want more specific advice (e.g. how to install Android on your phone, or how to fix whatever problem makes you want to reinstall in the first place), you'll have to [edit] your question to give more details. Reinstalling Android is quite unusual, so it may be better to ask a new question describing the original problem: there might be a better way to fix it.

Short answer is yes!
Long answer:
you can Flash* Android "Stock Rom" for almost any type of android devices, even if the old one isn't loading at all.
as long as the hardware doesn't have any problems
but there is some problems
1. To find the stock Rom:
you will find it with a little search depending on device manufacture
2. To flash it without breaking your device:
this process can be very risky and highly depend on device type
3. you will lose your warranty
safest way is to find a near service center to do it for you
but you can find very useful stuff here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/

It seems that i'm able to find some custom roms for my ZTE T815 XDA forums But no Factory roms on the internet so far I'll try and request the boot-loader key and Rom from the manufacturer

check this one: link , but be careful !! i didn't test this i just found it on google search

OK i've grabbed the Rom so how do flash the rom
BTW Do i need to unlock the Boot loader for this ?

and before you say "use Fastboot" that is not an options as ADB doesn't detect my device therefore i can't force it into Fastboot

you will not need fastboot or unlock you will only need the VCOM drivers, you can follow this tutorial link .... but be very careful as you can brick your phone easily by one simple mistake!

Dumb question but on the guide it said to only tick recovery which installed the recovery image do i tick any other options in  order to reset my OS

 I tried ticked all options and tried Format + Download but to no avail when i rebooted the phone the problem came back

I'm afraid that you have bigger problem now, as you shouldn't format mobile Flash memory using flash tools, as you will loose other partitions which keeps important data such as IMEI and MAC,...

NO i didn't do anything not even reset the OS it did nothing the os booted up like normal and the process kept on crashing

This is a common issue that I have had many times when flashing a custom operating system. Occasionally, I've found that a full rom reset (or factory reset), which is wipe data and davlik / art cache, might fix the problem however if it doesn't, then you need to re-flash.
So I ask, are you trying to flash a custom rom onto the phone? If so, then make sure you are not trying to flash a rom designed for another phone. Make sure the rom you are flashing is considered stable, and take a look at feedback from other (especially more experienced) flashers.
If you're using the factory rom, then try and reset it. If this doesn't work, then try looking for the factory rom somewhere. For HTC phones, this comes in the form of the Rom Update Utilities (or RUU), which you can find on the HTC Website or HTCDev. For Samsung phones, you can also retrieve the factory firmwares off the Samsung websites. I have no experience with any other phones, however I expect that they would also supply their firmwares online.

No i wasn't trying to flash a Custom rom and i'm unable to do a factory reset

it just happened randomly after a reboot


text:
Power management : Configuring Battery cutoff voltage
I've been looking so far without any result yet.
What and where are the configuration files editable to change anything about the power management, specifically, the cutoff voltage ?
Any hints will help. (Something in the ROM? in the kernel ? in some drivers ?)
Working on a rooted Android 4.3

Sorry, my answer is not relevant, hence deleted- you were asking for config files , I missed that and gave you actual file location

This suggested it is kernel related

Huh, we need to know that device. What make and model?

I do believe it's a Ingenic based device. Probably the newton 2 thing, but actually, i'm not looking for an exact file location, but for hints about where to search them. Something generic enough for that anyone can relate to it' device and apply to search the right way.

Yes. Using Xposed Framework. You can actually turnoff auto-shutoff of any android device on 0% battery. by using Disable critical battery shutdown and run your battery upto a voltage you want.
Notice : This will require root permission


text:
Need to remove password restrictions
I put in my current password and it says that I can't have password
My lock screen settings say I can't have password. It says an administrator denied it or something like that
.

Is your device under a MDM platform? Or is your device encrypted by an app that is set as administrator? This would stop you making the changes.

Some account or app with administrator privileges is preventing it from occuring. This is common if you have your work email on your phone and a group policy is being applied to your account. Go to Settings - Security - Device Administrators and find the offending app or account and remove it from the device, that is the only way to remove the security requirement.

It means, You enabled high protection by using any third party application.
That app precenting you from setting No pass or Swipe to lock and force you to choose a protection. That is either pin or pattern or password.
This is for your good.
Go to Settings -> Security -> Device administrators. You can see a list there.
Disable all apps other than Device manager and your phone manufacturers Application.
Then there is no issues in removing the lock

You may try also to long press power button and enter phone into safemode in order for third party apps not to work. Then you may go to app manager and uninstall or dissable the application that causes the problem.


text:
Unable to connect to websites which donot start with www
I have created hotspot from my Andriod mobile and using Internet on laptop Windows 7 but I'm unable to connect to websites which don't start with www..
The error:

If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web

Should the settings be done on mobile or laptop? What should I change?
Note I am using mobile data. Websites starting with www. are working fine. The problem doesn't occur on my phone. Also everything is OK when my laptop uses LAN.
Mobile(alone with data) and laptop(alone with LAN) works fine , it is only when mobile hotspot is used in laptop, i am not able to access websites which don't start with www.

Check the Firefox setting in the about:config for browser.fixup.alternate.prefix. It's default is 'www.' (uncluding the period), unless changed.

@wbogacz can please suggest any link how to do it?

How do I prevent Firefox to use: www.foo.bar instead of foo.bar? suggests setting browser.fixup.alternate.enabled to disabled to be a working solution
Steps Involved Source

Turning off Domain Guessing

In the address bar, type about:config and press Enter
The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue to the about:config page. (There's no warranty with Mozilla so I suppose this is to just a warning joke)
In the Search field, type fixup.Double-click the browser.fixup.alternate.enabled preference to set its value to false.

Changing the prefix (to www )

In the about:config page, double-click the browser.fixup.alternate.prefix
In the pop up menu enter www.  ( if that doesn't help try www without . )

This is perhaps what was suggested in comment

ok will try , but one thing websites without www. is working with other LAN network on my laptop , it does not work only when connected to mobile data hotspot , so i was thinking settings should be done on mobile ,also please note that websites works on my mobile.

will check today , was using proxy websites..

1)Go Wireless Network connections Status.
2)Properties
3)Networking
4)Configure

After doing this there was error DHCP not there , I gave auto fix in windows.
And all websites started working.


text:
Do I need specific cable for fast charging Samsung Galaxy S6?
My Samsung Galaxy S6 fast charging cable has broken and I was wondering whether I needed to buy a cable specifically for fast charging, or just a regular media cable.
The fast charging plug socket isn't broken, it's just the cable.

Fast charging is not related to the cable - the circuitry is in the adapter and device. That said you need to buy a cable that can carry higher amperage , allowing fast charging speed ( cable per se doesn't increase the speed but because it permits more power, speed is increased)
Thicker the cable, better it is ( thicker cables have lower AWG number )
Go in for a cable like
Tronsmart cables at a price comparable with budget cables. These are 20 AWG thickness for charging (provide best charging) 28 AWG for data (thinner thickness doesn't affect data transfer speeds)
For technical details of a good quality cable see my answer here
I am not affiliated with the product- a very satisfied user

Thanks for replying. So will the amperage affect the charging speed?

Yes. If cable can't  support higher amperage, speed is decreased.  If the answer meets your expectations, you may accept it by clicking the green Arrow next to up / form votes

You'll want a quality cable, but the important part is the fast charging adapter itself, and if that's not broken or anything then you should be able to use any good quality cable.


text:
Automatically disable mobile hotspot when no device is connected, using Tasker
I am trying to create a task which automatically disables mobile hotspot (tethering) when no device is connected.
I successfully created similar tasks for bluetooth and wifi, however wifi mobile hotspot I seem not to able to get information on how to check if there are clients currently connected or when no client is connected.
I researched a bit, a got a hint that this code :
ip neigh show dev wlan0  | grep -i -e reachable -e delay | grep

can give information on clients currently connected to hotspot.
This was the output in terminal:
u0_a209@hws8701:/ $ su
 -i -e reachable -e delay | grep -o' ..\:..\:..'                              <
unknown option --  usage: grep [-abcDEFGHhIiJLlmnOoPqRSsUVvwxZz] [-A num] [-B num] [-C[num]]
        [-e pattern] [-f file] [--binary-files=value] [--color=when]
        [-e pattern] [-f file] [--binary-files=value] [--color=when]
        [--context[=num]] [--directories=action] [--label] [--line-buffered]
        [pattern] [file ...]
[1] + Done                 ip neigh show dev wlan0 |
      Stopped (signal)     grep -i -e reachable -e delay |
      Done (2)             grep -o" ..\\:..\\:.."
2|root@hws8701:/ #

however I don’t know how to manipulate this code to get more useful information to create a variable for zero clients connected.

I am also looking for a task to automaticly turn off Wi-Fi tethering when there are no devices connected. Did you manage to get this work properly?

@JanEnglund I will relook into this and give you feeback :)

I know this is an old thread, but i did not find any solution anywhere when i  wanted. So just posting the solution for other enthusiasts.
Ok so i just added a time profile with 5mins interval (choose the time which suits you better) as the trigger.
I added a new task with actions as follows:
A1:-
    Code > Run Shell

    Command:                     ip neigh show dev wlan0
    Store Output In:             %ipneigh
    Store Errors In:             %ipneigherr
    Continue Task after error:   Yes

A2:-
    Net > Wifi Tether

    Set:                         Off
    IF:
         %ipneigh !~ *REACHABLE*   AND
         %ipneigh !~ *STALE*       AND
         %ipneigh !~ *PROBE*       AND
         %ipneigh !~ *DELAY*

PS: I don't know the workings of ip neigh command. I implemented this by shear trial and error. But It works for me and i am not sure of any bugs yet. Will update with edits if i encounter or anyone comments with any.

I have found a partially working solution to the question.
You will see why I say partial:
Here is the task for mobile hotspot auto-switch off e.g Hotspot Control

A1: Code >> Run Shell >> [Command:ip -s -s neigh flush all] (Clear ARP cache)
A2: Task >> Wait [Time: 15 Seconds] (Wait for connected devices to ping back)
A3: Code >> Run Shell >> [Command: ip neigh show dev wlan0 (Store Output in: %Clients Store errors in: %Error)]
A4: Task >> If [Condition : %Clients isn't set] (no device connected)
A5: Net >> WiFi Tether >> [Set: Off]
A6: Task >> Else (don't turn off mobile hotspot)
A7: Task >> Stop
A8: Variables >> Variable Clear [Name: %Clients]
A9: Task >> End If

Screenshot (click image for larger variant)
Now for the profile/trigger I ran into small problems eventually I decided to try this as beta:
First

State >> Variables >> Variable Value [Conditions: %Tether ~ * wifi* ] (If wifi tethering is active)

Entry Task: Hotspot Control
Exit Task : Anonymous task (Set WiFi Tether Off)
Alternative profile

Time >> 5 minutes
Variable value: %Error is set (i.e Check if no device is connected to hotspot every 5 minutes)

Limitations

The task works perfectly (i.e it automatically turns off hotspot when no device is connected) but at first instance only.
Once the %Clients variable is populated, subsequent triggers won't work even though I explicity included variable clear function (Action 8 above)
I couldn't find a suitable profile but for the meantime the first profile works although buggy sometimes.

Iam still trying to find the best (non-buggy) way of doing this, so I just put this as a partial solution, I am still waiting for better answers therefore
I will not accept it:)
Special credits and gratitude
This work was hugely inspired by user341464, Squidly and Firelord (I had to learn from their tutorials, and make slight adjustments to meet specific needs but its not perfect yet)


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Single Purpose Educational Android Tablet
This question is not very technical but I had to ask it somewhere, and this was a promising place to get answers. Please help.
I have to provide Educational-Tablets to High-School Students. We want to make sure that those tablets are not misused and only 2 application (developed by us) run on the tablet. I went through many MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions but none seemed promising. Is there any way (Any Android Native Functionality) to ensure the "Single Purpose Use" of the Tablet?

You would need some sort of app locker that runs as a device administrator ... You would only need to run as an administrator to stop it from being uninstalled without a password ! ..   Their are a few open source app lockers that you could use, but their not very secure when it comes to uninstalling them !..... An easier alternative would be to build a simple launcher that only has your two apps in it ! .. And use another application to lock settings, Locking settings is the only way to stop uninstalling apps

Modern Android versions support "Guest Mode". Use it.

There are a few good business and educational solutions out there which are either free or at very low cost to achieve this. My company makes one, and you can find out more on our website -> look for Android Kiosk Mode. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

There is no native functionality to lock down tablets, There's Screen pinning on Android devices (5.0 and above) which lets you lock down the device to an app screen, but this feature has its limitations, users can unpin it and access other apps and content on the device just as easy. That’s why we made it a point to offer a powerful Kiosk mode on our MDM solution. We have whole school districts with tablets deployed in Kiosk mode with Hexnode MDM. You can lock down the devices to single app or a set of applications of your choice. You can choose to have an app auto-launch in fixed time intervals, selectively enable various settings toggles, seamlessly update Kiosk apps and more. I'm pretty sure you'll fall in love.