text:
Can I get a virus from a browser that doesn't have storage permission?
I am using Android 8.1.0 on an LML212VL LG Tracfone (more info at bottom). I downloaded the "DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser" app through the Google "Play Store" app. (This is the link I get when I click "Share" and "Copy to clipboard": https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duckduckgo.mobile.android .) Later I went into the "Settings" app, and under "Apps & notifications", "App permissions", "Storage", I can see that DuckDuckGo's storage permission is disabled. (I don't remember if it was that way by default or if I did that, but I've kept it that way for most of the time I've had the app.) Also, within the "Settings" of the DuckDuckGo app, accessed via the menu at the top right, I have "Automatically Clear..." set to "Tabs and Data" and "Clear on" set to "App exit only".
Basically, I hoped to have a browswer set up so that it is not able to download anything that it doesn't delete on app exit, without asking for my permission in a specific way that I recognize. (Normally when I try to make an app do something I've denied it the permission to do, a certain type of pop-up appears, and I've made sure never to check the "Don't ask this again" box. When I try to download something in this DuckDuckGo app, the pop-up says "Allow DuckDuckGo to access photos, media, and files on your device?", and when I tap "DENY", a banner appears at the bottom of the screen saying "Downloading requires storage permission".) One problem, though, is that it clearly does keep a cache of some kind, since I can see it in the "Settings" app, under "Apps & notifications", "App info", "DuckDuckGo", "Storage". I sometimes delete the "cache". I think website language preferences and maybe autocomplete suggestions are kept in this "cache". I can also delete the "data" that the app keeps, but that undoes the settings I set within the app, tries to make me go through the introductory tutorial when I open it, and randomly tell me about how many things trying to track me it blocked ad it does the first time or so you use the app, so I don't do this as often.
My question is this: Does this mean that I can't possibly get a virus from a website through this app, even if I click on something suspicious, as long as I don't enable these permissions? Alternatively, does it mean that any virus I do get would be trapped 'within' the app in some sense and disappear when I close the app, when I clear the cache and data in "Settings", or at least when I delete and reinstall the app?
What made me worry about this is an event that happened some months ago while I was using this browser. I clicked on a link to some website or something, but it had apparently been replaced, and a pop-up appeared telling me that malware had been detected on my computer and that I needed to download something to scan for it and get rid of it or something. I didn't trust this at all, but for some reason I clicked "ok" to close the pop-up (I think I thought I needed to do that to close the tab without closing the app). As soon as I did this, the pop-up disappeared, and a loading bar appeared on the screen behind it with some text saying what it was supposedly doing (I think downloading something). I freaked out and immediately closed the whole app (which, remember, should clear tabs and data) and/or took the battery out of my phone.
I think I looked some stuff up on the internet using another device, but it didn't give me much peace, except telling me that what had just happened to me was a well-known scam to make people download malware and maybe suggesting that I use some supposedly more trustworthy malware-scanning app (I don't remember if I did, but, if so, I don't think it told me anything). When I turned my phone back on, I think I disabled "Wi-Fi" (and "Mobile data", but that was probably already disabled) in the "Settings" app, under "Network & internet"; then, I went into "Apps & notifications", "App info", "DuckDuckGo", and then probably clicked "Force Stop" and then "Uninstall", agreed that I really wanted to uninstall it, probably saw that it disappeared from both the "App info" list and my "App locker" (or whatever the place where clickable icons for every app are and that is down from the home screen is called), then (after re-enabling internet) reinstalled it through the Google "Play Store" app.
I don't have any particular reason to THINK I have malware on my phone (at least not anything that isn't usually on an Android phone), but there's not any way I understand that I can really be sure, except that I could be fairly sure if I factory reset my phone, and I don't want to do that. Thus, I'm wondering if I can at least be sure on logical grounds that I don't have any malware from that particular encounter or from any other site I went to with that browser.
As promised in the first paragraph here is the "more info at bottom" about my phone:
In the "Settings" app under "System", "About phone", "Hardware info":

"Model number": "LML212VL"
("Up time", "S/N", "Wi-fi MAC address", and "Bluetooth address" are also given, but I don't think they would be helpful.)

Under ... "About phone", "Software info":

"Android version": "8.1.0"

"Android security patch level": "June 1, 2020"

"Baseband version": "MPSS.JO.3.0.c12-00036-8937_GENNS_PACK-1.229846.1.264977.1"

"Kernel version": "3.18.71"

"Build number": "OPM1.171019.019"

"Software version": "L212VL16g"

I can't guarantee that's what they were when the scare a few months ago I mentioned was, but it is what it is now, as of February 15, 2022.

If an app has storage permissions or not is totally irrelevant if it can be exploited or not (unless you download a malicious file your self). Attacks on web browsers usually use an exploit chain, a combination of multiple exploits:

The first exploit allows you to execute code with permissions of the web browser on Android.
Next one exploits a vulnerability of your OS to get full permissions (privilege escalation: leave the restricted app sandbox).
If necessary the last exploit then can give you root permissions, giving the attacker full access to everything (if step 2 has not already leveraged permissions to root).

For step 1 it is important to use a web browsers that is properly maintained, and updated regularly. But zer0-day exploits are discovered quite a few, e.g. for Chromium based browsers you have usually one zero-day vulnerability per month, often more.
Step 2 and 3 require an updated Android OS. As your phone is missing nearly two years of security updates there might be vulnerabilities for exiting the sand box and/or getting root.
In a general sense if there is a flaw in the browser runtime such as the javascript engine, or rendering engine and adversary could conceivably cause your browser to execute an arbitrary procedure as long as the OS allows it.


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How to allow auto fill of credentials in WebView App
We have a web application and want to provide an app for it. We use a simple WebViewClient application which opens our web application. This works good.
For authentication the web application doesn't use our own site, but an external ID provider, which redirects back to our website after authentication.
The session timeout is pretty short due to reglatory reasons, so the user cannot stay logged in for a longer period of time. So we want the user to at least be able to autofill the user/password fields with credentials that are stored on the phone.
It seems like I get different behaviours on different devices. For example I have an Android 9 device and there seems to be no possibility to use stored credentials on the login form. A friend has an Android 12 and for him when he enters the password field he has this little key symbol to use stored credentials to autofill the fields by then selecting one of the stored user/password combinations.
Also in Android Studio in an emulator I don't get this option in my keyboard to use stored credentials.
So my question is. What are the requirements that this is shown on your phone? Is there a way we can set up the app to always allow the possibility to use stored credentials?
Please keep in mind that we don't have control over the login page itself, as it is hosted by the Identity provider. So we would need a solution based only in the app itself.

WebViews have most features disabled by default. So as an app programmer you can change that see e.g. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5404274/make-android-webview-not-store-cookies-or-passwords. The possibility to store passwords is if I remember correctly a new feature of Android 11 or 12.

Cross-posted to Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/q/71127799/2821954

Please note that app development is off-topic since Android Enthusiasts focuses on end-users or power-users (but not necessarily developers) solving their issues. We might be able to determine the requirement, but we possibly can't help with the code.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Question about FDE without secure start up and factory reset
So I read that on device launching with 7.0 , it has FDE by default and a 256 bit primary key is randomly generated at first booting the device (say after a factory reset).
My question is, if no secure start up was set up and the primary key is encrypted by "default password" only, is the primary key still "lost" after a subsequent factory reset?
If so,
Will default fde without secure start up still prevent the device data from being accessed after a second factory reset that loses the first primary key?

factory reset always erase crypto footer. if it's lost, you are lost

As far as I remember "secure startup" is something only Samsung devices have, so your device is a one from Samsung?

Does this answer your question? How to make a complete factory reset, without anyone being able to retrieve my data?

Does this answer your question? Decrypt Android FDE /data partition with lost locksettings.db

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


text:
Pick up phone call with voice
I am disabled (quadriplegic) and therefore cannot press the answer and hang up buttons on my smartphone to answer a phone call. On my Samsung S6 EDGE phone (Android 7), there is a function in the settings to pick up the phone by saying "answer". The problem is that since Android 8, this function no longer exists.
As I would like to change my telephone, I would not like to find myself unprepared. That's why I would like to know if it would be possible that I could make from an application or a script a system that allows me to press the pick up a button and hang up the phone when I say "pick up" or "hang up".

"Alice" - a friend recommended me this app few years ago - he used this for hands free text-to-speech listening incoming sms, make phone calls etc while driving car. the link is free pro-version of this (not in store). note: I haven't tested this app but guess you need help for initial setup. sure there are similar/better apps in google play store out there

refer to FAQ click on Why can't I buy/update the Pro-Version? -> download the Pro-Version for free here

I just installed your version on my phone only I don't understand the system that allows you to pick up or hang up a phone call.

try other similar apps (or maybe let a friend call you and you will asked to pick up?)

I tried to find similar apps on the Play store but unfortunately I couldn't find any. Do you have any advice for me?

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

The accessibility app Voice Access might help.
According to Get started with Voice Access spoken commands, some of the prerequisites:

Only available in English, Spanish, German, Italian, or French.
Requires Android version 5.0 or later.
Requires Google app.

According to Use Voice Access commands, after Voice Access is enabled, it is at least possible to answer a call by saying "answer call".

Answer calls
If you receive a call, you can answer it by saying "Answer call."

Another option is a WearOS watch that links to your phone and comes with voice assistant.
https://wearos.google.com/intl/en_ca/#works-on
The added bonus being that the phone can stay in your pocket or a belt clip/ holster !
You may even find one that is compatible with your current phone.

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
Implement URL whitelisting in Android
I want to whitelist some URLs been used by my device and native apps for sync and updates.
Other than these few URLs, I wish to block all other URLs being accessed by any chat window and browser. I have my device rooted, and have been looking for a common solution which can be accessed by all native applications and browsers.
I have found a solution to override the API "shouldOverrideUrlLoading" in the class WebView Client, but if there are any applications which do not call this WebViewclient and directly calls native APIs (system/netd).
I am quite new to the WebView thing, do let me know if anyone has any solutions or suggestions.

If you really want to get all traffic of all apps and services you need a VPN solution with traffic interception similar the way Mitmproxy works on PC. As you have root you could install your custom root CA certificate as system CA certificate (see second half of the linked answer) and then decrypt all outgoing TLS traffic, get the URL check if it white-listed and continue or abort the request. Unfortunately I don't know an app that works like Mitmproxy without saving all the data. Most apps that do traffic interception do this for capturing the data like Packet Capture or PCAP remote. But the latter is partly open source so this could be a starting point, assuming you have the necessary development skills.
Even after installation of your root CA certificate some apps won't work anymore as they use certificate pinning. So you have to test if the apps you want to white-list URLs from are affected.
If you would be content with a filtering on domain level you could simply use an app like Blokada. For domain filtering you don't need traffic interception, hence you could skip the custom root CA installation and so on.


text:
Force network operator
I'm getting my phone service through a medium sized company in my country, which means they have their own LTE network (called ice+). With my current plan I have practically free use of this network, but in the cases I can't find that network, my phone will automatically connect to their backup one (called ice, which I believe they access through a cooperation with a larger company), of which I have a small limit on data usage. This has been working out great for the past half year, but recently my phone has started changing the network operator from ice+ to ice randomly, even though I know it has access to ice+ (it will change to and stay on ice when I'm at home, even though the phone has been lying in the same place the whole time). Even if I manually select ice+ (which takes a few minutes to find because of searching), the phone will automatically change back to ice without me touching it at all.
Because of this I need a way to lock my phone to ice+, so I won't have to deal with restricted access and high bills, which should be completely unnecessary. Does someone know how I could do that, if there's something I can change in the APN settings, or maybe some app I can download that will do it for me? Even something that will check the network and automatically change back to ice+ would be okay, if not as convenient.
For reference I use an LG G6.

Automatic network selection is by default a job of the SIM card if I remember correctly. Seems like your operator has updated the SIM card over the air. But in your case the network technology switch could ba an option if it allows to set the device to 4g only.

How would thay work though? ice is also a 4G network, so wouldn't it connect just the same?

Sorry then forget my idea. Your question seemed to indicate that only ice+ is a LTE network.


text:
Where are Samsung's "Gallery" app's automatic "tags" stored and how can they be used downstream (i.e. in non-Android photo mgmt / dam software)?
Samsung's "Gallery" does a fantastic job at automatically / on its own assigning "tags" to photos, making it easy to find photos with certain keywords (e.g. "sunset" or "furniture" or what not). Where exactly are these tags stored and will they be preserved / usable downstream, i.e. in non-Android photo management / digital asset management software?

Related links:

https://www.howtogeek.com/302672/how-to-view-and-edit-photo-exif-data-on-android/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/samsung-photo-gallery-exif-tags-keywords-on-images.3991507/
https://exiftool.org/forum/index.php?topic=11951.0
Where are extra keyword tags for photos stored?

Most photo management system don't modify the image to store such tags, instead they maintain an own database. Not sure if Samsung gallery also works this way.

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/128743/where-are-samsungs-gallery-apps-automatic-tags-stored-and-how-can-they-be


text:
Where are the official Xiaomi drivers for ADB/USB? (trying to unlock bootloader of Poco M3)
I tried everything from every tutorial about how to unlock my Xiaomi Poco M3 bootloader. I enabled OEM unlock, etc, rebooted into fastboot mode, but then the phone is not recognized in the batch unlock tool provided by xiaomi at https://en.miui.com/unlock/download_en.html
Well, I found https://developer.android.com/studio/run/oem-usb where it lists this weird forum https://web.vip.miui.com/page/info/mio/mio/detail?postId=18464849&app_version=dev.20051 for the xiaomi, which contains a .rar file that when I install I get

because the driver is not signed. I don't think I should disable driver signing on Windows, and I find this very weird.
I also tried installing Android Studio and then google USB drivers through there, but I still don´t get the phone recognized on the miui unlock tool.

The ADB driver is always the same for every device but Windows does not know that so you have to select the driver manually. Use the original from Google https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb and select it manually in the driver install dialog. But something is weird: you want to use fastboot but the dialog shows adb USB device. ADB and fastboot require different drivers and are never active at same time.

@Robert I downloaded the zip from this page and tried to add manually in device manager for my Android but it dit not work, I don't remember why. Take a look on my new answer, it's what worked. I also don't know why it says adb. I want to unlock the device.

I don't know if the solution posted by Robert works but I downloaded an older MiUi Unlock tool that is listed here: https://c.mi.com/thread-2262302-1-0.html. I tried this one http://miuirom.xiaomi.com/rom/u1106245679/4.5.514.47/miflash_unlock-en-4.5.514.47.zip and it has an option (in the gear settings icon) to install the drivers. I clicked on it, installed the drivers, and then gone back to the latest version of the unlock tool, and it recognized the phone!
PS: if this does not work try updating the MiUi to the latest one, and also try to do as Robert said. I think the link he gave is for download the driver, but then you have to do into Device Manager, find your android device and install the driver for it. This step failed for me but anyways, worth a try.


text:
I can't join my class group chat because of iPad users who require iMessage
I'm trying to join my class's group chat, but the owner of the chat (on iOS) can't add me. This is because I'm the only person on Android in the group. Normally I would be able to join (via SMS/MMS) but because many of my classmates are on iPads which only support iMessage it won't let him add me. Is there a way that I can be added to the group chat that preferably doesn't require any of the members (besides the owner) to change or do anything? BTW I don't own any Apple devices or have an Apple account/ID.

Tell that your teacher and ask to switch to an open messaging solution that is not locked-in to the Apple world like Signal. Alternatively the other pupils can provide you an iPhone/iPad if they refuse to switch...

The chat is managed by students and is for non-school related conversations. The other users are unlikely to switch the platform because I'm currently the only users not on iOS.

Then you can only talk to them if they understand that by they exclude you and why they do it this way. May be you can mention that because of iCloud sync Apple can read all their messages and if they are really happy with that.

Please take a look at the duplicate question. iMessage is an Apple proprietary technology. Unfortunately, that means that only Apple products can use it.


text:
Samsung SmartThings on LineageOS getting "Galaxy SmartTag is only supported on Galaxy devices running Android 8.0 or higher"
I'm trying to add a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag to my install of Samsung SmartThings on LinageOS 10 but I'm getting

Can't add this device "Galaxy SmartTag is only supported on Galaxy devices running Android 8.0 or higher"

Is there a way to add SmartTags to a LinageOS install of SmartThings? Is there a way to mock the operating system or otherwise work around this limitation?

Samsung devices are heavily modified by Samsung. LineageOS and "Samsung Android" are different at a large number of points regarding the installed system components and provided APIs. As all those modified system components are closed-source it is not possible to adapt them to LineageOS (if some one would really would try it as this would be a very complex task).
Therefore the only way to get such apps running with an reasonable effort is using a ROM that bases on an original Samsung ROM (or just use the original ROM of your device).
But there is one exception: if the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag app requires Knox, the security feature of Samsung Galaxy devices, then you are totally out of luck, because Knox permanently disables itself once you have unlocked the bootloader.

"with an reasonable effort", I don't consider recompiling LOS, or using Magisk unreasonable and it seems somewhat likely that something like that could get what I want.

@EvanCarroll So you want to compare existing libraries with those from Samsung devices, compare the available methods, reimplement them on LOS, and also reverse engineer the different libraries required for implementing the additional features used by Samsung specific apps and then find a way to integrate them in LOS? Remember that Samsung not just adds a few libraries but makes modification throughout the whole system. Which one is relevant for you without having the code is a really tough job.

No, I want whatever mechanism that triggers that warning in the Samsung App to be bypassed. It's very likely just an API call for a device ID or make/model. There are already tools to spoof those things (because Samsung wouldn't be the first app provider to do this).


text:
Please help to fix and back up Android 12
My Pixel 4 with android 12 is experiencing an infinite rebooting problem for unknown reasons. I suspect something is wrong with the google app, which is not able to be updated without errors. I tried to uninstall some apps to create space to update all the apps but the phone is forced to be rebooted every few minutes after I unlock the screen. And empty space got mysteriously used up after every reboot.
I can't find a working solution and I am now trying to back up everything on the phone, except I don't know how to. Pixel 4 was previously rooted but it is not rooted after updating to Android 12. The bootloader is remained unlocked.
I found some answers but they are dated and I am not sure if they still work. I need solutions to back up all apps with data. For example, Messages, WhatsApp, WeChat, Game data.
Ideally, I need ways to back up data in recovery mode because the phone will reboot every few minutes after the screen is unlocked. Please give me exact instructions on how to perform the adb instructions. I have not performed these instructions for a very long time and I forgot everything.
It is very frustrating to find out that the official google backup solution is to use google one as the backup solution. I highly doubt if it actually backs up everything including game data and app data. And it seems like it is useless in this case because the backup occurs after unlocking the screen, and not at the recovery mode level.
Thank you very much for your help.

If your bootloader is unlocked you could try to boot a TWRP recovery ROM using fastboot boot <twrpimagefile>. TWRP should support file based encryption so after entering your lockscreen password you should get full access to your files.

I might first try a hard reboot. Hold down the power button on the order of 15-seconds and it should cause the phone to hard reboot. Another might be to hold the down volume and power button. Try the different options.


text:
IFTTT multiple notification triggers not working
I'm trying to trigger an IFTTT action (turning heating on/off) when I arm or disarm my alarm system. The alarm system does not offer integration with IFTTT but, since arming/disarming the system gives a notification on my phone, I decided to use the android service with the "notification from a specific app" trigger.
I can create a working trigger for when I disarm the alarm, as well as for when I arm the alarm by specifying a notification keyword, next to the app name. However, the moment I try to enable both of these at the same time, I find that only one of the two works.
Is there a limitation where you can have only one trigger checking notifications (from a specific app)? If so, are there ways around it?
I also tried location based triggers, but never got them to work (tried everything from disabling battery optimization, checking location service settings on my phone, enabling wifi/bluetooth for better accuracy and changing IFTTT apps settings).
I'm using Android 10 with the IFTTT app installed and running in the background.
I am currently unable to upgrade my android version as apparently nowadays phone companies think it is normal to stop all updates after 2-3 years, forcing you to replace perfectly good phones, which I'm not willing to do.


text:
Fix ADB "Performing Streamed Install" Taking Long Time
I'm testing my app on my real device. Just a day ago adb install .apk works perfect.
But now it takes a lot of time just about 5-10 minutes for installing 7 MB of apk.
Note: I'm not using wired connection, I'm using adb tcpip 5555 to serve without wire. As it works grate when connect with cable.
I have done every thing which i know: Restarting Device, Revoking Certificates, turning on-off USB debugging and reconnecting over network.
If i am doning anything wrong please guide me.

You can try to use adb push for uploading the file and them adb shell pm install <pkfile> on device. This way you can learn if uploading (-> Wifi) or installing is the problem.

hey! thanks for your help but i cannot run build from android studio as it only run adb install .apk

If you are in Android Studio then just generate the APK and install it manually.

I JUST GOT MY ANSWER!!
I was connecting my phone with internal ip (92.168.*), i don't why but this was issue and when i connect my phone over public (25.43.*) it just work!! :D

Thanks for contributing your solution, Adarsh – that's the spirit! <3 Could you please clarify what you mean by "internal" and "public"? Of course you can "sanitize" any IP addresses used (e.g. 127.0.0.1 doesn't need that, but e.g. 192.168.* would make clear it's a "private network" all your home devices are connected to, or 123.123.*.* could stand for any IP accessible from the "outer world". I'm especially wondering if you really needed the latter.

I have edited my answer but now there is speed issue, can i get any help?

Thanks for th dit! You meant 192.168.*  for the internal one  guess? The leading 1 somehow got lost. Still strange that you have to use the public address. As for the speed issue: Maybe asking a separate question (linking to this one here for context)?


text:
google chrome android
What is the difference between each option of the following flags in google chrome for android?
Please, Can anyone explain me what does each option of these flags?
#metrics-settings-android
#web-otp-backend
#lens-camera-assisted-search
#trust-tokens
#enable-google-srp-isolated-prerender-nsp
#use-sync-sandbox
#document-transition-slowdown-factor
#contextual-search-new-settings
#explore-sites
#related-searches-in-bar
#translate-force-trigger-on-english
#webnotes-stylize
#enable-google-srp-isolated-prerender-probing
#web-feed
#omnibox-on-focus-suggestions-contextual-web
#mbi-mode
#enable-resampling-scroll-events-experimental-prediction
#enable-fenced-frames
#context-menu-translate-with-google-lens
#continuous-search
#scroll-capture
#draw-predicted-ink-point

You can type in chrome address/location bar this command chrome://flags and read about almost all flags.
I.e. #trust-tokens
"Enable Trust Tokens" - Enables prototype Trust Token API (https://github.com/wicg/trust-token-api) - Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Android


text:
What application is responsible for reporting seen SmartTags to Samsung?
There must be some kind of technology on Samsung Galaxy phones that report SmartTags seen t Samsung. Is that technology in,

The Samsung Android distribution
The SmartThings application
Something else.

What actually is responsible for seeing and reporting these devices?

How do you know those tags are reported to Samsung? I did not find anything online that SmartTags system works like Apple's AirTag system (all Apple devices scan for AirTags and send info on found tags to Apple).

@Robert it's the same system. They're both Bluetooth LE tracking systems.

The used technology doesn't indicate if or if not found tags are reported to a central cloud service. But I finally found what you are talking about, it is called the "Galaxy Find Network". From what I read on https://www.samsung.com/ie/support/mobile-devices/how-do-i-find-my-smarttag/ section "How can I join the Galaxy Find network?"  you have to agree to participate in this network. And it shows that scanning is not done by an app but a system service (as it is a system setting).


text:
How can I stop my phone from reporting my coordinates and detected devices to Samsung?
Following on the footsteps of this question, "What application is responsible for reporting seen SmartTags to Samsung?"

Given that something is doing this, is there a way with an authentic Samsung phone to opt out of this kind of spyware? Can I stop my phone from reporting SmartTags and other things (including my location) to Samsung?
To be clear, SmartTags work on Bluetooth LE. What sends the result of the Bluetooth LE scan and GPS coordinates to Samsung?

There is one and only one way to protect your privacy from Samsung, Google, Huawei, Xiaomi and so on..., and that is: stop using their hardware products. Or at least their software products, which on top includes their userspace environment on Android devices - commonly called ROM. Everything else you'll see on internet is either a partial solution or a complete lie. But even with a fully open-source custom ROM, your privacy isn't guaranteed. Their proprietary modem might be calling back home continuously even when you think your device is down.

@IrfanLatif while I appreciate the comment, and I sympathize with your stance (I run LOS as my daily driver), I have a reasonably well defined question that I'd like the answer to. I'm specifically asking about whatever reports SmartTags visible to Samsung.

My comment is a general answer to your question: "How can I stop my phone from reporting my coordinates to Samsung?". Being concerned only about coordinates or SmartTags doesn't seem of much importance when they are collecting a lot of other information using a lot of other means. // Hopefully you'll get a precise answer to your question. Mine is just a comment.

According to the Samsung SmartTag web site you have to agree to make your device scan for tags (act as a "Find Node").

How can I join the Galaxy Find network? If your SmartTag is out of the 120-metre range of the BLE (Bluetooth low energy) connection, it
will require the help of the Galaxy Find network to be located.
The Galaxy Find network is made from other Galaxy device users that
have agreed for their devices to be used as Find Nodes. Find Nodes
receive the signal from lost SmartTags and send the location
anonymously to the SmartThings server, allowing for you to find your
SmartTag no matter how far away it is.
To help other SmartThings users by using your device as a Find Node,
you will need to agree to offline finding in the SmartThings app. This
is an option you can select when adding SmartThings Find.
You can also agree to use your device as a Find Node through your
settings. You'll be asked if you want to do this when setting up
SmartThings Find.

Open the Settings app
Tap Biometrics and Security
Tap Find My Mobile
Tap Offline finding

So the answer should be not to enable this setting.


text:
Delete Android app installation history
I last used Android about 7 years ago, yet Google is still storing a list of “installed” apps. How do I delete this?
I can browse it at https://play.google.com/apps.
Things I’ve tried that didn’t work:

Ensuring Google doesn’t still think I have an Android device - they don’t
Clicking on the app then clicking the “Installed” button - “no device” error
Going to “Delete a Google service” - not listed
Going to “Apps and services” - listed, but no option to delete
Browsing Google Play settings - no option to delete data

I’m hoping for a solution better than deleting my entire Google account.


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Remote access to Android local network
I have devices connected to Android phone hotspot and phone have internet through LTE. I need access in my phone local network to access all devices web interface.
What solution can you recommend? I think about VPN. I don't want Cloud or paid service.

You can use Servers Ultimate (com.icecoldapps.serversultimate) from Ice Cold Apps to ran VPN Server on your Android device. But it has limitations:

VNC Server: doesn’t work on most devices.
ARM based: Caddy, VPN, Port forward, MySQL monitor, Nginx, Traceroute
Root needed: Port forwarder, VNC, VPN, SMB Native
Permission SMS: start/stop rules
Permission coarse location: wifi selector tool

Most of the features you describe have nothing to do with the question so why do you include them into your answer? Better write a more detailed answer how to use the VPN to achieve what OP asked for. At the moment your answer can be shortened to Use VPN from Servers Ultimate app, but not why and how.


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Temporary root shell on unlocked bootloader?
My Pixel 2 "walleye" is already bootloader unlocked. I am wondering whether it's possible to get a root shell without first rooting the phone. Maybe via fastboot?

yes, if your device accept fastboot boot

https://twrp.me/google/googlepixel2.html

https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk

get a backup of boot.emmc.win, patch with magisk apk, and fastboot boot magisk_patched.img

How do I acquire boot.emmc.win?

fastboot boot twrp-3.3.0-0-walleye.img in TWRP menu - backup - boot

https://www.xda-developers.com/google-releases-separate-adb-and-fastboot-binary-downloads

https://i.stack.imgur.com/6EDK1.jpg
https://i.stack.imgur.com/H6DS4.jpg
https://i.stack.imgur.com/UMKKi.jpg

https://i.stack.imgur.com/B8aWV.jpg
https://i.stack.imgur.com/m8Qyg.jpg
https://i.stack.imgur.com/fs06m.jpg
https://i.stack.imgur.com/oJ03m.jpg


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Transfer recording from Virgin TIVO box to HUMAX Aura Android TV 4K Freeview Recorder
We are replacing Virgin Media with a basic Internet connection and a Humax Aura Android TV 4K Freeview Play Recorder.   How can we transfer the recordings we have saved on our Virgin box?

Sorry but this question is mainly about exporting recordings from a non-Android system, which is AFAIK locked in a way that you can not even transfer something from one TIVO to new TIVO box, so why do you think exporting to an Android box may be possible?

@Robert TIVO seems to have an Android app for downloading programs to watch while away from home.

Then you should try to install that app on your HUMAX and download all recordings.

@robert I don't get the box until Monday and don't know if all Android apps work in all Android devices.  Also don't know if the TIVO app works with a Virgin TIVO.  The are also a handful of opening source apps that claim to connect to both TiVo and other media players.

At present this is a collection of my notes, hopefully it will become an answer that is useful to other people.
The Virgin TIVO box connects to the Virgin network with a dedicated coaxial connection and runs IP back to the Virgin servers separate from the Virgin internet service.   There is an ethernet socket in the back of the Virgin box.
I can't see any Wi-Fi settings on the Virgin menu, hence it looks like our box is too old to have WiFi.   I have enabled remove control of the box over the local network on the setup/network menu of the Virgin box.
Plugged in either net cable, can ping IP address shown on Virgin box network connection info page.

Where can I find my media access key for my Virgin Media TiVo box?
Your media access key (MAK) is a code which identifies your TiVo box. If you have more than one box, each will have a unique MAK to identify it on your Virgin Media broadband network.
To find your MAK:

Using TiVo, go to Home > Help & Settings > System Info > Media Access Key

Enter your TV PIN when prompted - if you haven't set a TV PIN the default is 1234

You should see your 10-digit MAK in the middle of the screen

Install TiVo Desktop on PC

Seems Virgin TiVo box does not use the same networking as other TiVo boxes.


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LG Stylus 2 k520DY not going to bootloader and fastboot

I have a LG Stylus 2 k520DY and I want to root it. the problem here is that I can't reboot it to bootloader and fastboot. the adb commands: `adb reboot bootloader` and `adb reboot fastboot` do not work. when I perform these commands, my phone just normally restarts.
Do you have any idea how I can fix this?
Is it even possible to get this phone to bootloader?

LG most likely disabled fastboot intentionally

Björn Kerler has some excellent low level tools with bootloader unlock options


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Cannot boot into UPLOAD MODE on SM-T110, kernel panic does not work
I'm trying to boot into UPLOAD MODE on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite 7.0, but I can't seem to find a way to do it.
I was able to dump this image from the PARAM partition:

But the tablet just reboots upon a kernel panic. Does anyone know a way to manually trigger this mode? Thanks!

home + vol dn + pwr

That's for Download Mode, I'm talking about the UPLOAD MODE that is triggered on special occasions.

ah okay.. never heard this before https://www.hardreset.info/devices/samsung/samsung-galaxy-s10-sd855/upload-mode/


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Is it possible to build a linux kernel/stripped down android version for Samsung Galaxy A5 and Tab 4?
I have been doing a lot of hobbyist electronics recently and was wondering if I can use my old Samsung Galaxy A5 duos phone, samsung galaxy core duos gt-i8262 and/or Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 3G in some of my projects. I don't have a lot of knowledge on android and was hoping I could skip having to learn android development, I was wondering if I can install a linux distro (like ubuntu touch) on these devices to simplify things, but my research so far heavily implies that's a no.
What I basically want to achieve is as follows:

Use aforementioned devices (and their peripherals like camera, accelorometer etc) in my projects, running programs in a familiar language (like c/c++ or python), in a close-to-linux environment
If i can't use the peripherals, at the very least, I want to use the CPUs on these devices to execute a program
Preferrably, not use android or at least not a heavy OS to dedicate as much CPU and RAM to my programs as possible
These devices would be controlling other electronics of the project using a microcontroller such as arduino
To summarise, I want to get these devices to work as much like a raspberry pi board as possible (excluding the GPIO pins part)

What I think are my options:

Building a linux kernel for these devices
Building a custom version of android for these devices
Just using the version of android these already have on them and somehow working on that

To top it off, the catch with the Tab device is that it won't boot beyond the samsung logo screen, so I'm not sure if I can get around having to install some new OS onto it anyway.
I know that phone manufacturers make it a lot harder for tinkering with the innards of their devices, so is it possible to have these functionalities on these devices? And are these the only options or is there a better way to go about doing this? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Does this answer your question? How to boot Ubuntu persistent live USB on Android?

@IrfanLatif Yeah I think I understand now


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Android 10: How can I switch to external loudspeakers during a call (the screen is black and locked and nothing happens if I plug the loudspeakers)?
I have a Motorola "moto e" phone running Android 10.
Unlike in the case of my old Windows Phone when, during a call, it was enough to plug the 3.5 mm jack with 3 contacts of my external loudspeakers into that phone and the sound switched immediately to the loudspeakers, in the situation of this "moto e" the loudspeakers receive no sound if their jack is plugged during a call.
I guess that, while talking with somebody, when the screen is black and locked, I can activate somehow the screen of the "moto e" and, by setting something, direct the sound to the external wired loudspeakers or to a Bluetooth wireless speaker. How can I reactivate the screen and do the above mentioned settings?
(In most cases, the screen of the phone has to go black and be disabled by the proximity sensors because in 80% of the time I use the phone with its internal speaker.)

Incoming call screens.

For activation of screen, try moving the phone away from your face (out of proximity sensor range); If it doesn't light up, press the power button, if the screen is locked, unlock and try connecting to BT speakers //not seamless but worth a try

@beeshyams , During a call, once going black, the screen stays like this even if I put it face up on the table. I had the idea to press the volume or power button but I was afraid that the call would end. Unfortunately, I can not do experiments during calls because most of them, 99%, come from people I do not know well and if something happens and the call ends they might believe that I closed the phone on purpose. There should be somewhere on the net some clear instructions regarding how I can activate the external loudspeaker, wired or Bluetooth. I can not find these instructions.


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Virtualize Android on an Android device and then share the VM image to another device?
I just installed VMOS on my Android phone. Now I have created a virtual machine that I want to run on a different device as well. Usually when you run VM-software you can more or less just copy an image between machines and then execute exactly the same VM on a second device by selecting this image when launching the VM-software.
However, in VMOS I can't find the image file nor find an option to select a specific image file to launch. Am I missing something or does VMOS not support this? Are there any other alternatives for Android that allows me to setup a VM on one device and then use it on other devices?

If the images are located on the shared sd-card section you can directly access and copy them using a connected PC and set USB mode to files/MTP mode.
If the images are located in the app-private data folder you don't have direct access to them But Android VMOS app contains the entry android:allowBackup="true" in it's manifest so even on unrooted devices you can get all data used by the app.
Connect your Android phone to a PC with installed AndroidSDK or ADB minimal, enable Developer menu and Android Debug Bridge (adb) on the phone and execute the command:
adb backup com.vmos.web

It will create a file named backup.ab that contains all the files from app-private data folder that you can't access directly from a PC.
If you want to copy VMOS to a different phone, enable adb in it and restore VMOS including data using
adb restore backup.apk

You can also view/modify the created backup.ab file by converting it to a TAR archive (and back to an .ab file) using Android Backup Extractor (abe).


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Possible to restore SeedVault backup to different ROM?
When iOS support ends for my iPhone, I would like to replace it with a Pixel phone and go with GrapheneOS.
But I am wondering: (How) can I transfer my contacts, photos etc.? (without proprietary cloud solutions)
It looks like there's the possibility to transfer those data by Lightning2USB-C cable. But this only works on StockROM and LineageOS, right? Not on GrapheneOS!?
My idea was to buy the phone, flash Lineage (with GApps) on it, transfer the data from my iPhone, perform a SeedVault backup on an external drive, flash GrapheneOS and restore that backup on the device.
Would this work? Has anyone tried?
My two main uncertainties:

Does the cable transfer from iOS work with LineageOS?
Does restoring SeedVault backup between ROMs (Lineage, Calyx, Graphene etc.) work?

I assume by "proprietary cloud solutions" you mean the iOS migration using Google Drive as proposed by Google?

Well, that's recommended for Android in general. For Pixel devices, the recommended method is actually via cable. But as I said, I am unsure whether this feature comes with AOSP, or requires StockROM / GApps. Also, what would be the point to flash GrapheneOS if I used G**le cloud services for data transfer? Since GrapheneOS comes without GApps.


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Help salvaging data from the Oneplus 6T Clock app
I started using the label/notes section in the OnePlus Clock app for more detailed notes because then I could also get alarmed + reminded about them at certain times during the day. It's a fair bit of notes and reminders, enough to make me try very hard to retrieve them (and then never use the clock app for notetaking again).
I finally updated my Oneplus 6T to Android 11 (the update came out last November I believe) and the clock app updated too... with a 50 character limit on each alarm. I am now locked out of reading all my notes. However, the notes are still there. I know this because the preview text for the label/note is longer than the character limit and shows more than I am able to see when editing the note. If I were to save over the note with only 50 characters though, it would delete all the data and thus I am not touching the alarms at all until I get a fix.
Anyway, here's what I've thought of/tried:

Any solution involving rooting my phone: would like to avoid this option for now as it seems risky for my given phone based on what I have read but would try if no other option works/if someone convinces me it would be fine

Using adb backup to backup com.oneplus.deskclock's data: although I did this and I believe it was successful, I have no way of verifying what I backed up exactly (the backup file seems too small for what should be in it). I could use the android-backup-extractor on GitHub, but I doubt the data will be in text form (need the app to view the data is my guess) and I also could not figure out how to set it up anyway, so my next steps were...

Using my backup.ab file to restore com.oneplus.deskclock's data in the app on a different device. So far I have tried using BlueStacks (OnePlus Clock APK installs, but when I attempt to open it, it never shows up, likely because not OxygenOS), my old OnePlus 3 (incapable of running the correct version of clock app needed, also tried restoring my backup--does not result in any new alarms showing up on the system clock app as you would expect), an Android emulator (have not even attempted yet because I'm not sure if it would be able to run the clock app since it isn't OxygenOS, mainly waiting for input here before I even bother trying that behemoth-sounding task), and my current OnePlus 6T (too scared to try installing a previous version as I'm worried it will potentially erase or compromise data).

I have already invested a lot of time into this and feel all my leads could be deadends and I don't want to spend more time than I have to do this. So, I'm seeking help here now in hopes someone can help me streamline the rest of what I have to do.

This answer is going to disappoint you.
First, do not think of rooting the device. That process entails automatic factory reset of the device, which means, you would end up losing access to files which contains label/reminders for your alarms.
Second, adb backup is completely useless for this clock app because its developers have disabled backup functionality in its manifest (see line 26). So adb backup of this app would be an empty file more or less.
Third, the data you are after is in a database named alarms.db located at /data/user_de/0/com.oneplus.deskclock/databases. You cannot access that location without root access. And that's a dead end.
Fourth, you cannot even use some accessibility service hack to read upcoming alarm notifications or Alarm clock's label dialogs because complete label/reminder text is not available there.
Fifth, access to that app's content provider requires permission which adb (shell) user doesn't possess. So there is one more dead end.
At last, I have to conclude that without root access or without support from OnePlus you are unlikely to get access to those alarm labels.


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Offbrand Android states one OS but shows another in linked apps
I recently bought a generic 10" tablet by E-CrossStu that stated it is on Android 11 with 512GB storage with 4GB RAM. I thought this is a great deal for $100.
I am now going through trying to add the apps I use and many say "incompatible with OS version" or just don't show up in the Play Store at all. I thought this can't be right if it's Android 11. Then I get emails from Gmail and Amazon trying to confirm that it is me signing in from a different device stating the sign-ins are from an Android 5.1 tablet. Did I just get duped?
I cannot find ANYTHING on the web regarding this happening to others. In the tablet settings, it does state Android 11 with specs advertised. When I try System Update, Software Updates, or Wireless Updates, it just goes to the About Tablet page which states:

Android 11
Model # & Custom Build: TAB910
Baseband Version: MOLY.WR8.W1449.MD.WG.MP.V16
CPU: 10cores2.3GHz
Kernel: 3.10.72 root@twd-PowerEdge-R720xd
Build Number: K1008P95_V1.0.3_211119.

And None of those lines can be opened to get further settings.
I am just confused and think my device has some fake information locked into it somehow so I'm not really getting what it states even in the System Settings...and I'm a little concerned about privacy/security if that is something that can really be done...
Any thoughts?

Found another reporting a similar issue. Searching for the model number "TAB910", I found 2 reported specs: TAB 910 TAB910 (SDK22 = Android 5.1, 16GB storage, 1GB RAM), Jlinksz TAB910 (SDK 19 = Android 4.4.4., 16GB storage, 1GB RAM). There are others listings on ecommerce sites mentioning Android >8, >128GB storage and >6 RAM, but they can't be easily proven.

There are a few questions on forged phones here on Android Stackexchange at least a few per year.
Fake phones usually hide their real hardware spec by manipulating the UI. So the phone info shown by Android settings as well as from system info apps like Aida64 are forged and do not show the real spec.
In your case a phone with 512GB flash but only 4GB RAM for $100 should have warned you. Such a combination is next to non-existent even for a used phone.
The common way to create a fake phone is to use an old outdated, replace some software system components and then sell it with a hardware spec next to high-end phone for a very cheap price.
To identify the real hardware spec of such a phone it is recommended not use an app as the forging the shown value is not that difficult.
Not so easy to forge are values directly generated by the kernel. So the best option is to enable Developer options and Android Debug Bridge or use Termux.
Then check the output of the commands:
RAM
Free, used and total RAM size can be displayed using
free
cat /proc/meminfo

Flash storage
df -h

CPU
cat /proc/cpuinfo


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How to install custom ROM on Android after increasing system partition?
I wanted to install a GSI image on Redmi Go, but the GSI image size was 2 GB and the system partition on the device is 1.3 GB, so I followed this guide to increase the system partition. I increased the system partition by decreasing the userdata partition. After all of that, I flashed the ROM and rebooted it, then it shows the MI logo and power off itself.
I tried repartitioning multiple times, but the issue was the same. I was able to flash stock ROM via fastboot using the MI flash tool and the partitions also went back to stock.
What am I doing wrong here?

"Warning: Re-partitioning your Android may lead to a complete breakage of your device software and may render it unbootable!  Do NOT engage unless you know what you’re doing."

this might help


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Block URLs from Android Webview
I am looking for a solution to block all URLs except a few which are required for my device to function. I have all the root permissions required to make changes.
Is there any way we can block all URLs except a list of URLs (approx. 10 URLs) from a common place in android Web-view Framework so that all the Native applications can access the common code and access set of Allowed and Blocked URLs

Potential duplicate of https://android.stackexchange.com/q/245445/2241

Run dnscrypt-proxy on your device which allows very flexible whitelisting / blacklisting of domains.


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Difference between "manage all files" and "access media only"?
This question refers to Android 11.
What is the difference between the following two permissions:  "manage all files" and "access media only"? I could guess but I would like to know details and have some certainty.
Related: What exactly does the "access media only" permission allow for?
Is there some official android/google documentation about this? I haven't found it.

"Access media only" allows access to audio/video/pictures in standard directories. "Manage all files" allows access to all types of files in the whole external storage.

@IrfanLatif does that also include all internal storage? When I think of external storage I think of SD Card.

@JimClark see What is /storage/emulated/0/? and Android's Storage Journey to understand the concept of internal and external storage on Android.

@IrfanLatif thanks for your comment. What do you mean by "standard directories"? Who determines which directories those are?

And one app that has media only permission enabled is Google sheets. Sheets works with the excel files stored locally on my device. In that case Sheets seems to not only have access to audio/video/pictures

@aehhhhmm Google Sheets might be using the internal storage, or the private external storage, or the Downloaded directory. Sorry I don't have time to investigate and write a detailed answer. Check the official documentation here, here and here if you can understand it. Or wait for someone to explain it for you :)


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"Could not launch inspector studio.network.inspection" when using App Inspector on Android Studio Bumblebee 2021.1.1.1 with WiFi pairing
When we use a "pair device using WiFi" in Android Studio Bumblebee version 2021.1.1, in the "App Inspection" section, it gives us an error in reading the "Database".

Could not launch inspector studio.network.inspection: Inspector with given id studio.network.inspection already exists. It was launched by project: sap.
This could happen if you launched the same inspector from two different projects at the same time, or if a previous run of the current project crashed unexpectedly and didn't shut down properly.
[Restart]

Original screenshot of the error.
Nothing happened after pressing the "Restart" button.
How to fix it?

There is a similar question on Stack Overflow, but it hasn't been answered yet: How to successfully Restart App Inspection in Android Studio Bumblebee.

Kill app and restart work for me again.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


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MTP and ADB on Samsung Galaxy A12 don't work on Linux and Windows 10
A month ago, I've bought Samsung Galaxy A12 on Android 11, One UI 3.1. When I connect to PC, it doesn't work, no MTP, no ADB, only charging.
Tried different cables already. Also tried two cables, two different PC, and two OS; Linux and Windows 10. Tried to reboot, to enable and disable USB debugging, tried with USB configuration under developer settings and the *#0808# menu, nothing worked.
Can you help me?

Try different USB ports and if you have also a different phone. If switching the port and cable does not help but other phones work then most likely the USB port on the phone is broken (e.g. lose connection on some soldering points). Perform a factory reset and retry as last resort, if that doe snot help contact the vendor for a replacement/repair.

Tried two cable's, two different pc and two os; linux and windows 10.

For ADB, on Windows, a USB OEM driver needs to be installed. On Linux, plugdev and udev need to be set up.

So,finally solved the problem, the phone type c port was broken. I've taken phone back to manufacturer to do an rma today.


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How to flash Lenovo Yoga Book that doesn't boot into the OS?
I've acquired a Lenovo Yoga Book (YB1-X90F) that doesn't boot into the OS. I can access the bootloader and recovery environment.

I've followed the guide over at XDA that uses Intel Platform Flash Tool, but I get errors straight away. Another person has the same problem--2nd to last poster.:
02/20/22 15:54:20.155  ERROR  : [Port 1/7] Command `"C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Platform Flash Tool Lite\fastboot.exe" "-s"
"YETIDD2E4EC8" "flashing" "unlock"` failed
02/20/22 15:54:20.155  ERROR  : [Port 1/7] Flash failed (Command type: Fastboot)

I've also installed Minimal ADB and Fastboot but I don't know what I'm doing.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot devices
YETIDD2E4EC8    fastboot

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb devices List of
devices attached

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>

The ROM I got (YB1-X90F_USR_S000196_1611040312_WW06_BP_ROW-flashfiles.zip) from some random site includes what looks like some info or installation steps in the .zip, but even with Word auto-translation into Chinglish, I don't understand what is being said.
Original: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oSLs0o5x1UMwNULU33W8f150-CXcP8a0/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105608869882772012095&rtpof=true&sd=true
Translated: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rspmYkqhzcx0Muu3QoFPmjWz9mRsO6CE/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105608869882772012095&rtpof=true&sd=true
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

What happens if you select "Wide data" or "Wipe cache" in recovery?

Thanks for the response. Sorry, forgot to mention that. It completes the wipes but doesn't do anything to solve the issue.

Solved. I ran 'flash_update_from_user.json
Just waiting for the battery to charge to 30% to hopefully enable the Halo Keyboard.
Here are the files needed in case other links void in the future: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gD9FyA03GbLZ7ZcjkyMDlhVPs4_em2rY?usp=sharing


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Force Accept Remote Connection
As the title implies...
Every time I attempt to start an AnyDesk or Teamviewer session I'm met with this giant billboard asking me to allow the connection.
The warning is from Android, not from the apps.
And I need to bypass this
Cannot root this phone, unfortunately...
How ?
: |
Thank you ahead
P.S.:
More people would benefit from an universal solution
But in my case, the phone is Android Go. It has no app overlay option.
For that reason, Teamviewer Host does not work.

That is the way those apps work. If you want to remote control a local device connected via USB you could use scrcpy.

Unfortunately, it Must be a remote control...

So you use TeamViewer Host?

I'm gonna detail on the body of the thread about the TV Host

Just want to note that Android Go deliberately disables some of the system services. From my finding, the solution is to not use Android Go.


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How do you transfer contacts from iPhone to Android phone through Bluetooth?
Is it possible to transfer contacts from iPhone to Android through Bluetooth?
I don't know there is any technical issue to transfer contacts between iPhone and Android by the Bluetooth.
If anybody knows the reason why it's failed, please let me know.
If it's possible, and I did wrong it, please correct me how to Sync contacts through the Bluetooth.

I found an article about my question.
It's not possible because iPhone doesn't support the function to transfer contacts to another device by Bluetooth.(iPhone has never been able to do that)
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3032996


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How do I factory reset this Chinese device?
I have a Pritom M10 tablet I bought from Amazon a week or so ago, it's essentially a Chinese cheap thing based on the Lenovo M10. However, the audio quality is absolutely awful and that has really put me off. So, as it is new, I was going to send it back to Amazon, but want to do a factory reset to wipe anything I have put on it like pictures, login info etc, just to be safe.
I followed the instructions for the Lenovo version, which is turn the device off, hold both volume buttons along with the power button and you'll get a menu, one of the options being factory reset. Of course, this is in Chinese and I can't read it. I have done some Googling on resetting Chinese tablets and the option that is chosen in the examples I have seen doesn't match any option on mine. This is the screen I am faced with:

Does anyone know which option I have to select? Or should I be asking this question elsewhere?

If the device is functional why don't you simply trigger factory reset from within Android itself? This is always the preferred method as it deletes your Google account before performing the factory reset. Otherwise if you have set-up a Google account the device will enter in Factory reset protection state (if FRP is implemented on this device) and Amazon my reject your resent device.

@Robert you mean through the settings? The factory reset function is blanked out and says to contact my administrator. Even thought it's a new device and I'm the only owner. Otherwise, that's the way I would have done it and I wouldn't have to go through this method

Take a more clear snapshot and upload it on an OCI (image to text) website which can convert mandarin/Chinese to English. Otherwise, approach a forum where mandarin/Chinese speakers hang out and ask them nicely if they could help you figure out what these options mean.

@Firelord Thank you. I'll give that a go. Unless anyone knows why the factory reset option in the settings isn't letting me select it?

Check into Security settings -> Device administrators. Remove any device administartor that you see there. Go into Settings, check if work profile is enabled. If yes, remove the Work profile. After this, try factory reset from Settings again and let us know the outcome.

@Firelord Thank you for that. Once I am home from work, I'll give that a try!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Chinese/comments/2kzarn/chinese_tablet_menu_could_someone_translate

you accidentially entered the wrong mode (Spreadtrum Factory Test Mode)
volume up is for recovery mode, volume down for download mode, do not press both
google translate for last two options
重启 - reboot
恢复出厂设置 - factory reset

Thank you, much appreciated!


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Back up officially purchased app as APK (no root)?
Version: Android 11
Context: The app has been de-listed from the Play Store but I have the app installed from an official purchase. I want to move the app to another device.

I found this related thread but it requires rooting and the "AppMonster" app linked in the accepted answer is no longer available. The discussion also pertains to a very old Android version.
Is there a newer method available without rooting? I don't want to void my warranty just yet.

When I use Amaze File manager (also on FDroid) I can use the "App manager" to create a backup of the APK even of paid apps. You should be able to install such an apk on any device. And the app should run if on the device is the Google account registered you bought the app with.

"The app has been de-listed from the Play Store [...]" depending on the situation, you might still be able to access the app from the Play Store if you have installed it before.

@Robert Thanks, that concept worked.

There are plenty of app-based solutions available specialized on this (also some file managers like Amaze mentioned in Robert's comment on your question cover this as well) – or you could simply use adb.
If you're on Linux (Mac or Cygwin should work as well), my tool Adebar has a fitting script in its tools/ directory which can even deal with split APKs, watch out for getapk: when called without parameters it gives you details on its syntax. The script can extract single APKs, or APKs of all system or user-installed apps at once.

I used the SuperBackup app which I had many moons ago and I remembered it had the ability to backup installed apps as APK.

When I backed up the de-listed app, it said along the lines of "APK saved but has no user data because your device is unrooted". I went ahead anyway and installed the APK on another device and logged in with the same Google Account I purchased it with as previously suggested.

Install MiXplorer (https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/mixplorer_v6-58-4-api29_b22020920-apk.5532509/) and then follow these steps.

Open MiXplorer
Press on the three lines (top left)
Click on the App category.
Press the User App at the top
Locate the APK containing your app
Copy it to the internal storage/SD Card category
Upload it to the cloud in a web browser or the service's official app. (e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive)


text:
How to make a really complete backup of an Android device?
AFAIK, all Android partitions are listed in /dev/block/by-name.
Assuming device encryption is turned on, if I backup all partitions with e.g. (one at a time)
for PARTITION in $(ls /dev/block/by-name)
do
    dd bs=64K if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/$PARTITION of=/partitions/$PARTITION
done

can I then factory reset my device, transfer the images via e.g.
for PARTITION in $(ls /partitions/partitions)
do
    dd bs=64K if=/tmp/partitions/$PARTITION of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata
done

, and everything will be like before including the lockscreen encryption password? I would save the images on another device instead of /partitions, but let us keep it simple.
Or am I missing something?
I just want a full backup solution, which, after a factory reset, lets me make it as if it didn't happen. Ideally without root.
PS: I have looked into TWRP. The problem is that it only decrypts data before backup for few devices, and when it doesn't decrypt data, encryption keys are not backed up for some reason, so backups are useless for most encrypted devices.

You can't do a blockdevice backup while it is online. Even harder would be to restore it.

Modern Android devices are encrypted using a key that is derived form a key that is not exportable. Therefore dumping (encrypted) partitions is useless as you can't restore it to a different device and on the same device it may also not work if the key has been deleted.

for foo in $(ls bar*) is bad scripting skills, better for foo in bar* and target must not fat32. much easier adb pull

Does this answer your question? Can I flash Android on device with overwritten mmcblk0?

Does this answer your question? How to install a firmware without losing your data and restore the previous one in case it goes wrong?

@schklom it seems you have two different accounts (your Super User account is not linked to your Android.SE account). Please refer to the help center to merge your accounts and regain ownership of the question and reply to the comments on your post.


text:
malware and viruses
Are applications downloaded from Play Store are not completely safe as Android is developed by Google and is based on Linux so they do not watch applications an end user is downloding why we need to have a malware or virus scanner

Who says you need an virus scanner on Android (except for those companies that sell those tools)?

Food for thought

Google can take two months to remove malware apps from app store. You can also search for "Google removed malware from Play Store" to see other occurences.

Do you have anti-virus to protect Ubuntu?


text:
USB Ethernet adapter - device mixing up with charging
I have USB-C to Ethernet adapter for my Android (Samsung S21 Ultra)
when I plug cable in it detects it and the connection is fine, but after some time (few minutes). Connection drops.
Then it shows that "charging cable is connected" my impression is that it is confusing with charging and switching the modes (between charging and that Ethernet one).
Is there any way to stabilize this? I tried a few things

shorter cables
use 100% charged phone
turn wifi/mobile connections off

the result is the same, unstable connection
P.S: I also cannot assign static IP, The form is there and I am filling it up but the Save button is grayed  out so my only option is DHCP
Edit: this is happening with 2 different USB devices (one is simple USBC-C to Ethernet, another one is Belkin dongle) behavior is exactly the same. This is also happening with 2 different routers. This should exclude those factors

check logcat for hints what's going on


text:
How can I change the time and date for an app without changing my phone settings?
I want to change the time and date for an app without changing my phone settings.
How can I do that?

Possibly need root access and some kind of Xposed/Magisk module to hook the Android API and modify the returned value for the specific package name...

If the app you want forge date and time for allows to be repackaged/resigned you could modify it and include Frida gadget in it. Then it would be possible to write a script and hook common date functions or directly the method that checks the valdit it's period. That works even on an unrooted phone.

Here's the methods you can use to set custom time for specific apps:

Xposed Hook - You can use Xposed modules that hook into date time functions inside the app. Everytime the app requests date time the module returns custom data. AppSettings, Xprivacy, Xprivacy Lua are few well known modules. (For using Xposed without root you can use taichi / virtualXposed)

Frida Hook - Just like Xposed you can hook date time methods to return different data. I cannot find an example of this, but it's very possible.

Patch Smali - You can decompile the apk and patch all date time calls with constant values. So it returns same date and time. Some thrid party cloner apps do this for you with nice GUI.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.


text:
How do I shuffle the keypad when typing a PIN?
I just moved to Android from Cyanogen, but I noticed the keypad doesn't shuffle when unlocking the phone. The numbers always show up in the same place, as in a physical phone.
How to I configure Android to shuffle the lock screen keypad?

Cyanogen? That is a thing from ancient times. Which Android version are you really running?

Android doesn't provide this feature out of the box, so a possible alternative is to use a 3rd-party lock screen app (if there's any, and working properly)... or custom ROM.


text:
Gboard keeps changing itself to AZERTY
This started happening recently. My keyboard keeps changing itself to AZERTY-Francais-Afrique layout, and I don't know how to make it stop. Samsung Galaxy J7. Android 7.1.1

Have you checked the setting from the phone for the Gboard virtual keyboard? Perhaps also relevant, what is your usual keyboard layout? Are you using multi-languages?

English is the only language that is enabled in gboard. The default keyboard says "Multilingual typing -Gboard"


text:
How do I move a data file into an Android emulator application data folder?
I have a favorite Android app that saves its projects as name.ay files. I want to import such a file into an AVD running Android 11 so I can work on my PC (Fedora 35), but the app has no import function.
ADB reports that it successfully pushes it to all manner of places, including /data/mnt/androidwritable/0/emulator/0/Android/data/com.futuresculptor.maestro/files/Maestro/data/, but the file does not appear anywhere in the emulator. The emulator is rooted and writable as Google API. If I download the .ay file from Gmail, it appears in the Download folder, but when I attempt to move it, the data folder disappears and I'm left only with media and obb folders. The app data is obviously protected but I just want to add one little file. I can do this on my real phone successfully, but not on the emulator.
How can I get the .ay file into the emulator?

Have you tried to use adb push ... from the host PC?

Possibly related: Android 11: Can't see contents of Android /data even with root

Yes, I've pushed it to no avail. I did succeed with Genymotion, so I may have to be content with that.


text:
Send Physical keystrokes to the keyboard on emulator or real device
I need a way to press a key on an Android Keyboard ( irrespective of its language). For example, if the keyboard is in English and I press the "q" key it should type "q" but when the keyboard is in French it should show "a" (Because Keyboard is "QUERTY" and French is "AZERTY".
I have been through the google android docs here, which state that this should be possible: https://source.android.com/devices/input/keyboard-devices#notes

The Android key code associated with common alphanumeric and symbolic
keys may vary based on the keyboard layout and language. For
historical reasons, the physical scan codes and HID usages associated
with keys on a keyboard are often defined positionally even though the
labels printed on those keys may vary from one language to another.
On a US English (QWERTY) keyboard, the top-left alphabetic key is
labeled Q. On a French (AZERTY) keyboard, the key in the same position
is labeled A. Despite the label, on both keyboards the top-left
alphabetic key is referred to using the HID usage 0x07 0x0014 which is
mapped to the Linux key code KEY_Q.
When Android is configured with a US English keyboard layout, then the
Linux key code KEY_Q will be mapped to the Android key code KEYCODE_Q
and will produce the characters 'Q' and 'q'. However, when Android is
configured with a French keyboard layout, then the Linux key code
KEY_Q will be mapped to the Android key code KEYCODE_A and will
produce the characters 'A' and 'a'.
The Android key code typically reflects the language-specific
interpretation of the key, so a different Android key code may be used
for different languages.

I have tried using ADB sendEvent function as well using the following command:
adb shell su 0 sendevent /dev/input/event12 1 30 1. // type a
adb shell su 0 sendevent /dev/input/event12 0 0 0. // press key
adb shell su 0 sendevent /dev/input/event12 1 30 0. // clear buffer
adb shell su 0 sendevent /dev/input/event12 0 0 0   // release key

But this too types "a" in both English and French Keyboard.
Is there a function/tool I can use to accomplish my task?

Have you tried to use adb input text .. or adb input keyevent .. instead ? https://stackoverflow.com/a/8483797/150978

Ya same issue using those as well @Robert


text:
Service "Finsky" loops indefinitely scheduling jobs and using large amounts of data traffic
Connected with ADB to a work device I manage, I see logcat with tag "Finsky" looping multiple times per second scheduling jobs and completing it. The logcat output albeit spammy is not a problem in itself, but I have a strong suspicion this is also what causes massive metered data usage for the Google Play Store app.
Attached is a screenshot where a brand new SIM card has been connected for about 10 minutes. Google Play Store has consumed 36 MB of data.
We have a fleet of devices where this one is included, managed by Mobile Iron, where this is a pattern that repeats itself. By the end of the month, Google Play Store has consumed 20-30 GB of data on each device.
The log segment that is repeating looks like this in logcat:
2022-02-23 15:57:14.698 20819-20963/? I/Finsky: [56] qla.apply(77): SCH: Scheduling 0 system job(s)
2022-02-23 15:57:14.699 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] kmg.D(6): IQ: Pruning inactive install requests
2022-02-23 15:57:14.699 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] kmg.D(45): IQ: No matching installs to run for jobs: []
2022-02-23 15:57:14.700 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] qlw.r(4): SCH: jobFinished: 3-123627655. TimeElapsed: 17ms.
2022-02-23 15:57:14.702 20819-20819/? I/Finsky: [2] qmf.accept(49): SCH: Job 3-123627659 starting
2022-02-23 15:57:14.702 20819-20819/? I/Finsky: [2] InstallQueuePhoneskyJob.g(2): IQ::IQPJ: Handling expired job 123627659
2022-02-23 15:57:14.704 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] khz.apply(79): IQ: Creating job 123627661, for (REQ_GEARHEAD_PROJECTION_OFF, IGNORE_HOLDOFF=true, NETWORK=UNMETERED, PROVISIONING_STATE=PROVISIONED, TIME=[2021-12-17T17:00:00Z-2021-12-18T05:00:00Z])
2022-02-23 15:57:14.704 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] kmg.x(9): IQ: Bulk scheduling created jobs
2022-02-23 15:57:14.708 20819-20955/? I/Finsky: [49] qlq.accept(70): SCH: Scheduling phonesky job Id: 3-123627661, CT: 1645628234705, Constraints: [{ L: 0, D: 0, C: 1, I: 1, N: 2 }, { L: 0, D: 0, C: 1, I: 1, N: 0 }]
2022-02-23 15:57:14.720 20819-20955/? I/Finsky: [49] qla.apply(77): SCH: Scheduling 0 system job(s)
2022-02-23 15:57:14.722 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] kmg.D(6): IQ: Pruning inactive install requests
2022-02-23 15:57:14.723 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] kmg.D(45): IQ: No matching installs to run for jobs: []
2022-02-23 15:57:14.723 20819-21030/? I/Finsky: [87] qlw.r(4): SCH: jobFinished: 3-123627656. TimeElapsed: 40ms.

If I filter by "Scheduling phonesky job" I get like multiple entries per second, in the span of 90 seconds I got 571 hits in logcat which amounts to ~6.3 jobs per second.
This cannot possibly be normal?
I suspect Mobile Iron to have a part in this but I cannot see evidence of Mobile Iron in the logs (I've searched for package com.mobileiron.anyware.android). Reason is that this coincides with Mobile Iron not being able to automatically update apps from Play Store. Our apps remain stuck at older versions even when newer versions are available on Play Store. We've had 20-30 mails back and forth with Mobile Iron support without them being able to help us.

Anyone have any idea why this amount of jobs are scheduled?
Who is repsonsible for scheduling these jobs?
How can I verify that it's these jobs that cause data traffic?
Any other tips on how I can continue debugging this issue is appreciated


text:
How is it possible to hack/steal the data of a stranger's Android phone by holding it by hand for a while?
Several years ago, I saw in my university a demonstration that someone wearing a special finger ring can transfer the data of a stranger's (Android) phone to somewhere without the owner of the phone knowing anything.
How is it possible? Is it possible to somehow check whether a phone is compromised in some way in this way?

Over the years, there were some vulnerabilities affecting the Android Bluetooth stack (sometimes on all devices, sometimes only on devices with a specific chipset). If the vulnerability allows remote code execution, then this can lead to information extraction.
Technically, a vulnerability in the NFC stack could also allow an attack as described in the question. But the NFC stack is much more simple which makes vulnerabilities less likely.
If that special finger ring contained a Bluetooth chip triggering such a vulnerability, it could make the phone execute code that connects to a server on the internet, receive more code from this server and then allow to remotely control the phone.
Once such vulnerabilities are found and reported to the device/chip manufacturer, they usually get fixed. The main problem is that the number of used Android devices that receive regular updates is too low. Some devices never get security updates, some only every few months, and the period all devices are getting updates is still shorter than people are using their devices.

Is there any way to check whether a phone is compromised in such a way? Or is it possible to disconnect to such a server after being attacked? (e.g. restarting the phone)

@Aqqqq For forensic experts sure, but I don't think regular users are able to do so. So the only chance is to not get infected. Disable Bluetooth on old devices and make sure you don't install unknown apps.


text:
Samsung A21s software fastboot is disabled
I have a Samsung Galaxy A21s phone that I am trying to install Android 12 on. I have unlocked the bootloader, I go into the recovery mode and I select bootloader, however when I get there, it is just some red text saying "Entering fastboot mode..." and then it gets stuck there.

Does anyone know why this is happening, and if there is any way to fix it without carting it off to Samsung?

Fastboot is the bootloader. I don't know specifics of this model, but what you're describing sounds about right. Try fastboot devices.

@gronostaj I ran the command, it just returned an empty line and then quit. No errors or anything.

You need Odin or Heimdall software to flash ROMs on Samsung devices, fastboot is not used for that purpose.

Samsung devices only have a placeholder Fastboot mode. It doesn't actually serve any purpose. Please use Download Mode instead.

How do I do this then?

Usually, running adb reboot download while in Android should be sufficient.


text:
How to turn off Firefox Android autocomplete ads?
On a previous version of Firefox for Android, I was able to turn off the address bar ads.  By address bar ads, I mean that, e.g., if I type in "al" into the address bar, the site "allrecipes.com" pops up.
I've not been to this site.  I don't want this site recommended.  Mostly, I don't want this site recommended, because it seems to take precedence in the autocomplete over a site that I do go to that starts with "al".  I want that site to be recommended.
How do I turn off the address bar ads in the latest Firefox for Android (v97)? (but still keep autocomplete for my browsing history)

That isn't possible without turning off the suggestions feature alltogether which would obviously hide suggestions based on history too.


text:
What is this weird app on the homescreen of ColorOS 11? Is this a malware?
My device is an Oppo F11 Pro that I bought in 2019 and it has ColorOS 11.1 / Android 11.
Recently, this weird app popped out on my phone.

I tried to remove it, but when I tap on it, it says that it wasn't able to open the app, and when I hold the icon, I only get "see the details of this app" which leads to nothing. I found nothing on the app manager, so I thought that my phone was compromised and I reset it to factory settings and changed my passwords using my laptop (which I'm sure isn't compromised because I just got it and only has Firefox on it).
After the resetting, I installed some apps from the Play Store (as you see, Citymapper for example) and I noticed that for some apps (Messenger, Google Podcasts, Forest, and Reddit), this weird icon appears before the apps' icons; while for other icons (Citymapper, Instagram, McAfee Security), nothing happens. And since I got the McAfee 30 days trial, I decided to put it on the phone and it found nothing during its analysis.
I may have randomly found a hint about the app. I was checking the authorizations given to my apps and I noticed that an app called "DMApp" with the same weird Android icon had the authorization for making and managing phones calls. I removed it and there is no way to find that "DMApp" again, but the icons kept multiplicating.
TL;DR: A weird-looking icon keeps popping out in my phone with no way to find its origins (even after factory reset). Device: Oppo F11 Pro (bought in 2019). OS: ColorOS 11.1 | Android 11
I hope you can help me figure out what all this is about. Thanks!

This is a Color OS bug with Android 11. Me too facing this since a few days so can confirm.

Oh ok thanks man that's really reassuring. So it's nothing dangerous ^^' Do you have any official source please? I can't seem to find it on their website.

actually that's happening because of partially downloaded apps.. and something is just wrong with play store and color os so those apps remain as that in home screen. You're seeing them only on the homescreen but not in the main apps drawer right?

Yeah only on the homescreen nothing in the main apps drawer. That's why I got suspicious haha.

@Daviiid i dont have any official backing but trust me there's nothing to worry unless you have installed some modded apps from external sources. If not, it's the play store bug as i said above.

thanks a lot! That's reassuring. Hope they fix the bug quickly before we have an army of these icons on our homescreens haha.

understandable.. For now, to avoid that, always make sure any application you're installing has been fully installed- in simple words, DON'T cancel any app that you've started to install from Google play. If you don't want those icons but still don't need an app, wait for it to fully install and then uninstall it.

Oh okay that totally makes sense, I'm having a really bad connection (no Wifi and at best I'm having H+, otherwise it's 3G) so it happens that I have to click on the install button in the app's page on the PlayStore many times. Thanks for everything!

You're welcome !

Go to Settings - Homescreen and lockscreen, and turn off and on the icon autofill. It will clear off all those.


text:
Disabling randomized macs on Android 11
Trying to set up a new Moto-G Stylus with Android 11 on an internal wifi network with mac authentication and a hidden ssid. To provide the expected mac, I selected "Use device MAC" (which is correctly displayed in the connection setup), but the phone continues to send random values.
No problem connecting when mac authentication was temporarily disabled on the AP. Repeated forget/re-entering the AP info and resets of the Android networking haven't changed the random behavior. Seems like a bug where the "Use device MAC" is simply being ignored.
The phone will be useless without a fix and I can't think of anything else to try. Any suggestions or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Tom

Android has three MAC modes:
Persistent MAC randomization
This should be the default mode. For each Wifi a new random MAC address is generated. But if you reconnect to an already known Wifi the same random MAC address is used.
Non-persistent MAC randomization
In this mode for each Wifi a new random MAC address is generated and this MAC address only persists unless you disconnect from the Wifi. If you reconnect to a known Wifi again a new MAC address is generated.
No randomization (device MAC)
Disables all randomization for the specified Wifi, only the device MAC is used.
From your description I would assume that on your device non-persistent MAC randomization is active. As you have seen persitent randomization and device MAC can be activated in Wifi menu, but the non-persistent randomization is missing there.
You can find the non-persistent randomization option in the Developer menu. Most likely this option is active on your device and thus overrides all the other settings you do in Wifi menu.

Thanks for the very helpful details. I wasn't aware that there were two different randomization modes, but your explanation of persistent versus non-persistent solved the problem. Specifically, I set the phone wifi for the default randomization, disabled mac auth on the router and connected. Then turned mac auth back on and keyed in the random mac the phone used to connect. Power cycled the phone as a test and it connected using the same mac with no issues! Without your explanation, I would have never tried the random setting. Again, many thanks for your reply.


text:
Why did my phone vibrate when I went to a random website?
I was actually just searching something on google and out of nowhere a spam website opened and when it opened, my phone vibrated, why is this the case? Does this mean my phone's hacked?

It's likely to scare you into doing something stupid like clicking something to download malware, not hacking your phone//https://yandex.com/support/browser-mobile-android-phone/personal-settings/vibration.html

there are adds that makes you download their software making you think you got infected by virus, triggering red screens, making noise and/or vibrating your phone. Remember to always pick software from secure sources (like the play store), do not fall for those bad adds.


text:
Removing entry from Google Authenticator
I'd like to remove one of the items from my Google Authenticator app but I cannot find any option to do so.
There is a Q&A on the Apple Stack Exchange which suggests there should be a Pencil icon to edit them. However, on my phone (Pixel 6 Pro), there is only an option to Add a new item, and Settings only shows the option to adjust the date/time correction.

Long-press the entry to select it, then tap "Remove" (trash bin icon) on the top-right corner.


text:
How to see Android from "Windows Remote Desktop Connection" if Android is connected to Windows via USB?
I have Windows 10 computer C1 (home computer) and I have Windows Server computer C2 (work computer) and I am running "Windows Remote Desktop Connection" from C1 to access C2. I have quite sophisticated applications on C2 (e.g. my office programs like https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi for developing and debugging Android applications).
I have physical access to computer C1 (home computer) and I have connected Android tablet via USB cable to C1 and I can see in C1 Windows Explorer that tablet is available for file transfers, debugging etc.
My question is - how can I share this USB connection so, that it can be accessed from Remote Desktop Connection, i.e. from C2 (office computer) as well? Currently C2 (as accessed from RDC session from C2) does not show table in "This PC" Windows Explorer and there is no notification about connected tablet device in the notification area either.
I have tried https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-do-i-enable-a-usb-device-in-remote-desktop/113af42e-5b99-4f6b-bc6f-f8bc1007e34f There are 2 answers: 1) about "Allow Remote access to your Computer" and 2) about group policy editing. I followed both advices but my Android tablet is still not visible in RDC C2.
Google search suggested https://www.net-usb.com/android-remote-access/ but it is Remote Desktop access to/from Android device and not about RDC between two windows computers. This search https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=%22remote+desktop+connection%22 gave non-relevant results, so, my question will not be duplicate certainly.

The device types Windows Remote Desktop Connection supports for forwarding through it's connection are very limited and can AFAIK not be extended. But even if your tablet would be visible in Windows Explorer this would not help you as for development you need the USB device part that speaks Android Debug Bridge (adb), a protocol that is never visible in Windows Explorer. Visible in Windows Explorer is only MTP protocol that is not used for development and debugging.
If you want adb access on the remote server (C2) and the phone is connected to your local PC (C1), you need to redirect adb traffic from C2 to C1, e.g. using an SSH tunnel.
Or you can try use new remote debugging feature available on Android 11+.
The old plain ADB over Wifi is theoretically also possible but I would not use it unless the computers C1 and C2 are connected using a VPN or something similar because ADB over Wifi is for a security perspective like telnet: all data are transmitted in plain text without any protection or encryption. So any computer between the phone and the used development environment can read and modify all transmitted data.


text:
One-time-only alarms?
I would like a way to set one-time-only alarms, that is, alarms that would self delete after being dismissed.
It seems there's no way to do that with the native Clock app by Google (I'm using a Pixel phone). Is there?
Alternatively, do you know any apps on Google Play that have that feature?

Alternatively, you could set an appointment in Calendar and name it junk. Allow it to go off. And at some future time search for all the junk alarms that you have set and delete them.

Why do you need it to be removed? I use one-time only alarms - reusing the same one over and over, adjusting it the way I like.

I currently employ manual alternatives such as these, but it's more clicks. I often setup alarms that I need only once, just for preference, so I figured I would look up a way to do this more easely.

With the Google Clock app, the alternative is to set an alarm with Google Assistant.
Saying "Set an alarm at [hour] [minutes]" will set a one-time alarm, and it will be automatically removed after dismissing it.


text:
Cannot uninstall app via adb
I'm trying to update an app on a smartwatch, but whatever I try, I ran into errors.

adb install newversion.apk => [INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE]

adb install -r -d newversion.apk => [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE]

adb uninstall {packagename} => Failure [DELETE_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR]

4a) adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 {packagename} => success
4b) adb install newversion.apk => [INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE]
App is a launcher. OS has no launcher now. I still cannot install my new version.
Checking for other users: pm list users -> users: UserInfo{0:Owner:13} running.
So I'm the only user. Also tried the uninstall --user command with other user IDs like 0, 1, 10-15, 2000+, 300+, all nothing.
I am not rooted. su does not work. It's an MT6739 chipset with Android 7.1.1 running.
Nothing that I try lets me install my new app. Also not after factory reset.

I would assume that you are trying to install an app that sues a package name already used by a system app on that device but your app has a different signature and thus can't be installed as update. I would recommend to repackage the app e.g. apktool decompile, modify app name, recompile, resign) and then install it using a different package name to avoid those problems.

Not possible. The old app on the system is the problem. new app should not be changed.

Then you have to identify the APK on system partition and delete it.

But that requires root rights I believe? I dont have root....

Sorry I misread what you wrote about root. Usually people don't mention su if their device is not rooted. Then you only have the option to modify the APK that should be installed.

INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE implies that  is still "a known candidate" - do you mix up package name with file name? also some system apps are odex and can't un/installed by adb. are you sure it is your new app/version? did update version code in manifest properly?


text:
Does Samsung have a tool similar to Rescue and Smart Assistant Tool of Motorola?
My Motorola smartphone would not boot after an update and then I used Rescue and Smart
Assistant Tool of Motorola to reinstall a new Android OS on my phone. Now, I am considering to buy a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and I am wondering if Samsung has a similar tool so that in case of an update failure I can easily restore the device.

I guess Odin/Heimdall is the comparison. Not sure how easy to use it since I never had Samsung phones.

Odin can bring back device to factory state, but there exist no tool to recover userdata


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Is there a known way to root the G975W (S10+ Canadian)?
I am trying to root the G975W, specifically the "Galaxy S10 Exynos (SM-G975W)" /G975WVLU2ASGJ so that I can install LineageOS (https://download.lineageos.org/beyond2lte). However, when searching for how to root this device, I find mixed results: some posts say that only specific models of the G975 can be rooted; some say that the Canadian models are impossible to root; and some indicate that a very specific exploit or service is required to do so. I bought the device second-hand, though I do have the original box and all relevant information on it. It is allegedly unlocked, and in the developer settings, there is no mention of "OEM Unlock"
*It is running on android 11 and I am able to access the "Download Custom OS" screen, along with the warning (https://i.stack.imgur.com/22Kqi.jpg).
Would anyone know if/how I would be able to put LineageOS on my device or if it is possible to root the device?
Thanks for any help/info.

depends on android version. fourth option mentioned is UNSAMLOCK

Is is on Android 11

according to your bootloader level (6) that device is not unlockable (yet). don't update ever again and wait a few months/years then get your DID and buy unlock token


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Is there a way to disable device encryption on nokia 6.1?
My phone is encrypted out of the box, I have tried formatting it the normal way, via settings, but afterwards, it is still encrypted.
Is there a way to remove the device encryption? I need to enable OEM unlock, and that cannot work when the device is still encrypted.
Device: Nokia 6.1
OS: Android 10
Android security patch level: 1st April, 2021

Where did you got the info that an encrypted device can not be unlocked? If that would be true all phones release in the last ~4 years could not be unlocked. Have you tried to enable OEM unlock in developer settings and then boot to fastboot?

The enable OEM option is there but it is deactivated. How can I be able to unlock it?

This page contains a nice list why oem unlock may be grayed out: https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-fix-oem-unlock-greyed-out-or-oem-unlock-disabled-problem/

in order to disable encryption one must unlock bootloader first. check for Björn Kerler's tools

https://github.com/bkerler/edl/blob/master/README.md#for-generic-unlocking