text:
it downloads apps on its own and does what it wants
I'm using Android 4.4.2 JK-760 phone and it recently started to download apps on  its own, turn off and on when it wants and throws me out of any app that i try to open. I have no idea what is going on and need help!

Is your device rooted? When you say it turns itself off and on, do you mean that the device does a full restart? Hope to get your issue sorted.

Same issue as Apps install on their own?

Sounds like a virus to me. Have you installed any new apps recently? I would suggest trying to uninstall any recently installed apps, and if that doesn't work, you might have to wipe.
As the comment below nicely requested, this has happened to me on an old phone before. Apps that I never installed would appear on my homescreen, etc. It was because of an app that I had sideloaded onto my phone.

Please cite a credible and technical source that explains: 1) a virus does exist for Android, 2) it can perform actions noted by OP. All those users of MS-Windows, as it  appears to me, believe that if something shady happens in Android then it must be a virus.

LOL, I'm speaking from experience. It's nice of you to automatically assume that I am one of those "users of MS-Windows", when I actually use all sorts of operating systems. On a side note, that sounds more like something a Apple fanboy, rather than a microsoft fan would say.

An Apple fanboy and a virus? Somehow a contradiction in terms (they feel much too safe for that). As @Firelord states, there's no virus for Android (and I bet you've just removed that app, and the "virus" was gone – so it wasn't a virus as it didn't replicate). The term "virus" is mostly preferred by those selling the biggest one (called "anti") because it sounds more dangerous. Actually, what you're describing is malware, and most likely a Trojan.

What I meant was that it's more typical of an Apple fanboy to automatically assume that everything shady on a non-Apple OS is a virus. I guess I did not mean virus in the strictest definition of the word, and more as just something shady.

i havent installed anything recently and ive tried to un-install the apps that appear but they re-install themselves later.

can you give a list of what apps you have installed?


text:
Missing "Emoji for English words" in Google Keyboard add-on dictionaries
I've been running Android 4.4 on my Galaxy S4 active for years and recently realized that I've never had access to emojis on my phone. I never really cared too much for them, but I don't like the idea of not having access to something that's so commonplace nowadays so I decided to look up how to get them on my phone.
I did some research and it seemed like it would be a simple installation of "Emoji for English words" under the add-on dictionaries in the Google Keyboard settings. Well, even after refreshing the add-on dictionaries page the emojis never appeared, and a google search for my issue results in nothing really fruitful.
Granted, when I'm using google keyboard I can hold the enter/return key and I'll get a very basic list of emojis but it's limited to stuff like :-) and :-$. About 15 of those face emojis and 24 other basic symbols. That's it. No hot fire emoji, cry laughing emoji, nor the underlined 100 emoji. I need these to be hip with the kids.
I like using google keyboard but the lack of emojis is really starting to annoying me into wanting to use anything else. If anyone's got any ideas or suggestions on a fix, or even a suggestion for another great keyboard app that does have emoji support, I'd be eternally grateful.

Updates to the Google Keyboard app have made the emojis you are looking for available through long press of the Enter key.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Galaxy S2 stuck at boot. Please help
Yesterday I flashed CM 12.1 on my Galaxy S2 gt-i9100. I rooted the device by flashing Siyah kernel via Odin. Then using cwm based siyah recovery I did the factory reset and wipe cache & dalvik and flashed CM. Everything went fine and my phone booted into CM. However, when I powered off the phone, and switched it on again, its stuck at the Samsung Galaxy S2 screen. I've been thinking but couldn't figure it out. Help is very much appreciated.

Have you tried booting into recovery, and if you can, does it work?

Yes, recovery works fine, cwm has been replaced by Cyanogen recovery.

Does booting from recovery change anything?

Nope, nothing whatsoever.

You are going to have to flash the ROM again and see if that fixes it.

Are you using a stable build of CM?

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


text:
Why don't Android phones come rooted from stock?
I have begun doing Android development a few months ago and it still blows my mind why an end-user that buys an Android machine cannot is is not allowed to have full access to it (aka root acccess), except through unsupported and dangerous hacks that grant root permission. For example, I want to send raw wifi packets for my current development idea, but the SDK doesn't allow this (for "security" resons?). An Android phone is a Linux machine after all, so what is going on?! My question is about the way Android is designed and distributed. I've read that people seem to say there is a malware risk, but isn't the risk just as high on a normal PC?

This question lacks specificity, to which a clear, discernible answer can be made. It invokes opinion and speculative answers to support the programming, design, and distribution decisions of others. It is too broad, with too many supportable aspects to make an full, allowable fair, and impartial selection to close the question.

Shipping a phone with su binary or a method allowing a user to switch to root user would be disastrous to device users' private data. https://source.android.com/security/ Android is a privileged OS and I don't think people would realize (even in strong red colored warning), if su binary comes with production devices, that granting an app superuser privilege is akin to granting unrestricted access to every bit of data in the phone/.

My point is about Android itself and the way it is designed. Applications on my PC face the same problems. If shipping a phone with the su binary would cause such problems, then why does shipping Windows or Linux with root access not cause such huge problems?

It does cause huge problems in PC and that is why Antivirus business  flourishes so much and so as the articles and posts in forums that explain how to reinstall Windows when C: is formatted by user or it doesn't boot or work well because user didn't understand what they were doing. As for Linux, almost every Linux user is supposed to or gets to know command-line and a lot of good articles and forum users warns not to use root privilege or root account for just anything so those users don't end up in trap easily. It appears that you've not done any deep searching on the subject you asked.

What? I just said the exact same thing...

Let me take this in hand part by part.

Why an end-user that buys an Android machine cannot is is not allowed
  to have full access to it (aka root acccess), except through
  unsupported and dangerous hacks that grant root permission.

Plenty of reasons:

That way, the manufacturer makes sure that you can not harm your phone's software in a way that is beyond saving.
Lots of bloatware you see on your phone are there for commercial purposes. If a manufacturer literally lets you take down the app they get paid to place there, they won't get paid for it again.
Even most people who intentionally root their phone don't know what they are doing, and what the root user is capable of. Giving that kind of a permission to an average user is dangerous.
Manufacturers want to restrict the power of your phone so that they can sell you a better phone in the future.

List goes on.

An Android phone is a Linux machine after all, so what is going on?!

Linux also has the same security methods. Except that root user is available to user. However, we have to accept that a smart phone and a computer are for two different purposes, even though they are the same fundamentally.

I've
  read that people seem to say there is a malware risk, but isn't the
  risk just as high on a normal PC?

No, just no. A normal PC is so much more open to malware attacks. A rooted malware can literally hard-brick your phone for good. Even though there are some exploits malwares can take advantage of and gain root, new security features like SELinux makes it harder for them. So comparing a PC and Android based on means of security is a flawed way of thinking.

Interesting points. However the fact the a smartphone and a computer serve two different purposes doesn't change the fact that it's strange not to have control over something that is yours. In the case of smaller devices such as a processor in my car, you simply wouldn't know how to use it. But in this case and in the case of a PC I beg to differ. I guess it's a matter of opinion. As far as people rooting their phone without knowing what they do I completely agree, however if the phones were rooted from the get-go it would be much less of a risk as it can be properly controlled I'd think.

@Æðelstan Just because it is yours, doesn't mean they have to give you full control over it. They sell it to you as is, and you agree to buy the same way. Maybe giving official support for rooting would be much more user friendly. However, there are other reasons as I listed above that prevents manufacturers from doing that. One can mess up with the CPU frequencies and even start a fire from that. Probable? Not really. But possible? Yup. I personally witnessed it.

Yes, I understand these other reasons are very real (although I don't agree with them). I just wish there will be a platform that really lets you take advantage of it one day :D

@Æðelstan the bottom line is: we (the maker) think that you (user) are too stupid to use your phones so we must protect you from yourself so that you won't get hurt - I hate this protectionism. Microsoft is doing the same in Windows 10 where you cannot disable automatic updates and reboots if you are normal user and don't have the enterprise version.

@metalnoise That is really the most inaccurate description I have ever seen. Having safety precautions means they value you, not consider you to be an idiot. The same way there are bars next to a cliff, safety door in an elevator, airbags that can't be turned off in a car, we have user privilege restrictions in Android. I don't think that is unnecessary. People brick their phone deleting system stuff even though they are warned repeatedly during the rooting process. So no, caring about you doesn't mean they think you are stupid. Thinking that way is so unreasonable.

Maybe they care about me but they don't respect me. They don't give me a choice. I cannot decide how I want to use my device/product. Do I want to stay a normal user or do I want more then that? They think they know better then me what I'm supposed to do with it and prevent me from using it they way I want. I'm ok with providing everyday protection but I'm not ok with not giving me the key. They don't think we can use their product in a responsible way. I don't care if someone bricks his phone. It's his choice. He should have it. Be able to chose means to be free.

See, the part you don't understand is, whatever you can do using the root access, so can a malicious app. Do you know how bad that can be? You'd come here and demand better safety precautions for your phone. The reality of all computers is that there is a ratio between being useful and being safe. To have more of one, you have to compensate on the other. Manufacturers choose safety. If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it. It's not as if they lied to you or forced you to buy it.

The majority of customer has no interest in root access and the corresponding capabilizies and dangers - they want to use their phone and that's it.
Did you ever try to 'root' the processor in your car? (It's basically Linux too) Do you think cars should come rooted? Same point, but even stronger.

I seriously doubt that the processor in my car has similar hardware with my computer...

Yes, I think I should have full access to whatever I buy if I desire that. They can sell the stuff locked but they should provide a key to unlock it for someone who needs or wants this.


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Is it possible to have a root-running app on no-root android?
I have an app which needs su privileges, But my device should not be working on rooted. I want to know if there is any way to take the access to just one app. For instance root the device, set the privileges for that app, unroot the device. Is it possible?

Firstly let me clarify something.
Being rooted is not a binary situation where you are either rooted or not rooted. Process of rooting is adding custom binaries to system partition. These binaries, depending on the way they are coded, can answer suid calls from apps so those apps can have the right to execute orders not with their own UID but with the UID 0 that is the root user.
Secondly, can you run apps with su rights without adding those binaries?
It can be possible but even if it is, I don't know of such a method. Maybe there are workarounds but I never heard of them. So I think I can say no to that.


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How to root Huawei mate 8
I just bought a Huawei Mate 8 two weeks ago and now I need to root it – as some of apps require root access or I can't use the app. I have tried towelroot and iroot, both didn't work. please help.

This thread May help http://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-8/general/rooting-mate-8-t3284455/page3

sorry, i can't understand chinese

Go here and download this tool. Follow the directions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-8/development/rayglobe-italian-knife-t3295526

You have to pay for the bootloader unlock code (4 euros). I don't recommend that solution. Please hold out a bit till a proper free root comes out.


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.nomedia file not hiding newly created images. Solution?
Note 5 running 5.1.1
Here is my issue...
A .nomedia file placed in a folder that automatically downloads album art will only hide the images from Gallery if they were in that folder before the .nomedia file was created or modified. Any newly downloaded album art is visible in Gallery. Clearing the cache, data, and force stopping both Gallery and Media Storage apps, as well as shutting down and restarting the device does not correct the problem. The images downloaded after the creation/modified date of the .nomedia file will be visible no matter what.
Perhaps this is how .nomedia files work and I just never really understood them, but I thought they would hide all media files in the given folder no matter when those files were added to the folder. I didn't think the date of the .nomedia file had any bearing on it.
If anyone else has experienced this and found a solution I'd like to know! And I do not consider installing alternative gallery apps that can hide images a solution to this.

I'm having the same problem in android 6.0 but only in the pictures and movies folders and subfolders. My solution is to remove a recreate the .nomedia after each new download! However if the folder is anywhere else it doesn't happen!

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


text:
Real root can not change any thing on /system original files!
On my rooted device running Android 4.2.2, I have following tools installed:

Terminal Emulator
BusyBox Free

On Terminal Emulator, su command successfully changes user to a real root:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # id -u
uid=0(root) gid=0(root)

Then I remount /system as R/W:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # mount | grep system
/emmc@android /system ext4 rw,realtime,noauto_da_alloc,commit=1,data=ordered 0 0

Then I even:
root@hwH30-U10:/ # chmod 777 /system

But I can not change any thing e.g. permissions or contents of /system original files like /system/build.prop!
I am sure that permissions and mounts are OK because I can create a new file, /system/tmp.prop, change it's contents and permissions by Terminal Emulator.
I really have no idea why these operations are not permitted while in Linux point of view, all things are OK for root to do these changes!
Is there any hard-coded further protection inside Android e.g. in kernel?
How to figure out this, please?

What is the result of executing chmod? Have you tried any sorry of root explorer app like ES File Explorer in root mode to change the file permissions? What is your root management app and Android version?

I use SuperSU, 3C Toolbox and BusyBox on Marshmallow and KitKat without any issue.

@TamoghnaChowdhury, chmod says Operation not permitted. and Yes, ES File Explorer in root mode, FileExpert and many other apps are unable to change any thing! My root management app is KingRoot on Android 4.2.2 (as I mentioned, id -u on Terminal Emulator says me that I'm realy root with id 0).

Could it be there are some SELinux enforcements in place? Not sure if the ls in place on the device supports it, but you could try it with either of the -Z/--context/--lcontext/--scontext parameters to have any potential SELinux context shown.

@Izzy, ls -Z say nothing about any context, however, Google says SELinux has been equipped into Android from version 4.3. mine is 4.2.2.

From the root terminal can you perform these steps: cp /system/build.prop /system/build.prop.orig; echo lolcat > /system/build.prop; cat /system/build.prop; mv /system/build.prop.orig /system/build.prop. I'm interested in the output of cat command.

@Firelord, echo lolcat > /system/build.prop fails with k_shell/10210:17681: can't create /system/build.prop: Permission denied as I guessed. echo lolcat > /system/build.prop.orig works! and mv /system/build.prop.orig /system/build.prop fails with failed on ' /system/build.prop.orig': Operation not permitted as I guessed. So, output of cat command is not interesting; It's the original contents.

Interesting. Can you give the result of lsattr /system/build.prop?

@Firelord, the result of lsattr /system/build.prop is -----i--A----, five dashes then i then two dashes then A and then four dashes.

There is the problem. It is set to immutable attribute which means the file  can't be deleted or modified. Change it like this : chattr -i /system/build.prop and then try that lsattr command. If the output differs this time, try my lolcat commands and tell the result.

@Firelord, excellent! I was aware about it's i attribute but in Linux vi, the command :w! can write even with this attribute, but it seems that BusyBox's vi can not! anyway, thanks a lot! If you would like, add an answer and I'll mark it as answer; Or I'll answer my question. Thanks again :)

It's actually odd if vi can edit a file having immutable attribute. Are you certain the attribute was set when you tested vi on that file? I can't save modification in the  file, even with vi, so immutable attribute works as expected in my system.

@Firelord, Previously I got messages like (add ! to override) and :w! could write. But now I created a file then chattr +i and you're right, vi can not bypass i attribute! Unfortunately I could not remember previous files lsattr but I'm sure that :w! could solve some messages like (add ! to override). But I cannot re-produce it now.

Based on my comment and Yasser's subsequent comment , I can conclude that the issue was the immutable attribute set on the file build.prop. If other files and directories also can't be edited or deleted, then they may also be having the same attribute or append-only attribute.
The remedy is to use this command with root privilege:
chattr -i FILE_PATH    # FILE_PATH is the file which currently has immutable attribute

Use -iR followed by a directory's path to remove immutable attribute from a directory recursively.
It is to be noted that OP already has busybox installed. chattr and lsattr aren't the utilities found natively in Android.
Relevant info about the used chattr command and append-only attribute can be found in my answer here.

A note to readers: a file with immutable attribute depicts that it can't be edited, deleted, moved or renamed. You can read about Linux compatible file attributes here: http://linux.die.net/man/1/chattr


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Where does "Voice Recorder" save files to on Samsung Galaxy S6?
I don't seem to find the recorded files on my Samsung Galaxy S6. What is the file path to the saved recording files? Google doesn't tell me the answer.

Does it not show the recorded files inside it?

@beeshyams no sounds folder.

@Firelord but i can't copy it directly to my computer.

Checked with a friend who has s6 edge and may help you locate. You can see the file from your Tools>My files>audio> [file_name].m4a. By clicking it he can share it by various means. Path is /storage/emulated/0/voice recorder. Can you check please?

@beeshyams Like I said I found nothing.

Suggest you contact Samsung support in your area

@beeshyams they didn't reply. I asked the question in August.

I can't say with absolute certainty where they are on a Samsung S6, but on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and I doubt that they change their filesystem layout too much from one device to the next.
I can see them from Windows 10 at:
This PC\SM-N900T\Phone\Sounds\Voice 001.m4a
This PC\SM-N900T\Phone\Sounds\Voice 002.m4a
This PC\SM-N900T\Phone\Sounds\Voice 003.m4a
This PC\SM-N900T\Phone\Sounds\Voice . . .

Obviously the mount point will have a different name through other operating systems, but the path from the mount point will be the same.
As viewed from within the phone itself, they're at:
/storage/emulated/0/Sounds/Voice . . .

If Samsung changes things between devices, well, shame on them. Then this won't help you, but it will at least help people with the same layout as the Galaxy 3.
I found it by searching from within ES File Explorer, and checked for similar names through the Windows mount point. So if it's not in the same place, you can at least search for it that way.

This was the path I ended up finding using a local search. I didn't change it so this must be the default path for the Samsung Voice Recorder
\Samsung Galaxy Note 5\Phone\Call

Recordings can be found under: settings/device maintenance/memory or storage.

Navigate to the Phone. Then click in the "Voice Recorder" folder. The files were there for me.

Check your SD card.  Voice Recorder puts it on the SD card if able.  Notably, things already on the SD card won't appear in VR's collection necessarily.

On my S8+ it is in Phone/Recorders

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


text:
Android rooting security considerations
I know this question has been asked many times, but I didn't see a clear answer to it from security experts, or it is from several years ago and things might have changed.
My question is double:

first of all, nowadays, how does the process of rooting an android phone work (please detail if there are various alternatives) ? Does it rely on a security hole, or is it a kind of attack (such as physical access to the device) that is not part of the security perimeter of android ? In the first case, why is it that it's not fixed, as there are open bounties for the android system ? Note that I'm just talking about the android system itself (such as a Nexus Phone), with the latest patches.
Second related question: What would be the security risk of rooting an android phone ? If I am not mistaken, these could be grouped in at least two issues: the rooting process itself, and the aftermath.
a. Regarding the rooting process, is there any open source procedure (or at least closely reviewed) to root a nexus phone that could guarantee that there's no malware installed in the process ? (see also first question)
b. From what I understand, having a rooted android is no different than having a linux OS with a root account. Are there any (free, open source?) apps that can monitor (what commands have been launched, etc) and prevent apps from getting access to the root account without my agreement ? (so that it is linux OS where any account that requires root privileges must go through 'sudo' and ask the user to enter their password).

Welcome to the Android Enthusiasts! The question-and-answer format of this site works best if you put each question in a separate question post. Next time, please stick to one question per post and rather create multiple posts (in this case two). You'll get better answers that way. (Splitting it up this time might a bit unfair to SarpSTA, who already posted an answer – but I'm afraid few people will do so; while they might have done to one of the two parts)

Related: How do I root my Android device? / Are there any risks to rooting a device? / How does rooting work? / What are the security disadvantages of rooting an Android phone?

First of all, nowadays, how does the process of rooting an android
  phone work?

By using an exploit in the Android system, a binary file which is named su is added to /system/xbin partition. When an application wants to execute a command with root privileges, it executes the command with an su at the beginning of it. This sends a call to the binary file. Binary file reads a text document generated by the GUI application. If in this text file there aren't any specific information about the app that asks for root access, then the binary checks another text file (again, generated by the GUI) that shows how it should act by default in such a case. Normally in such a case, GUI app will prompt you about an app asking for root access and will ask you if you want to grant it. Depending on your decision, the GUI app will tell the binary to whether or not should it grant that app root access.
Whole process is pretty much that. However, methods of rooting are so many, that I can't fill them all in here. Because they mostly vary across manufacturers.

What would be the security risk of rooting an android phone ? If I am not mistaken, these could be grouped in at least two issues: the rooting process itself, and the aftermath.

Well, we can do so if you want.
For the rooting process itself:
First of all, it voids your warranty. Other than that, even though it is hard to completely brick the phone when only trying to root it, it is still possible when one is not careful enough. But the most common case is usually bootloops, which is not that much of a big problem in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing.
For the aftermath
A rooted phone is pretty much the same, only with more customization for a person who knows what they are doing. But every now and then there are some guys who corrupt their IMEIs, delete the Telephone app or sometimes completely brick their phone by messing up stuff in /system. Also, giving root access to an app with bad intentions, might not (and probably will not) end well.

a. Regarding the rooting process, is there any open source procedure
  (or at least closely reviewed) to root a nexus phone that could
  guarantee that there's no malware installed in the process ?

Well, I don't know about Nexus a lot but I don't think a rooting process might actually end up with malwares in your phone. Most su binary creators share their codes at gitHub already. And the popular ones (i.e. Chainfire from XDA) are trustworthy developers that have the trust of the community.

b. From what I understand, having a rooted android is no different
  than having a linux OS with a root account. Are there any (free, open
  source?) apps that can monitor (what commands have been launched, etc)
  and prevent apps from getting access to the root account without my
  agreement ? (so that it is linux OS where any account that requires
  root privileges must go through 'sudo' and ask the user to enter their
  password).

Know this: Apps can make use of the exploits on their own and gain access even on a non-rooted phone. However, the GUI apps like SuperSU or Superuser come with their own su binary that act only as ordered by the GUI app. So if you don't let them, they don't have root access.

Thanks for this detailed answer. I would like to point out that I'm only interested about a naked android system, such as the Nexus Phone, without manufacturer specificities. Can  you please detail more the "by using an exploit in the android system" part ? I am a bit puzzled as to why there would be known vulnerabilities in the open for the latest versions, seeing as, as mentioned in my question, there is money involved if you find vulnerabilities in a android system.

@thomasUJ Android system, as a whole, is made of different layers. So there can't be "naked system" without manufacturer-dependent parts such as the kernel. There is a reason the ROMs, the recoveries, the rooting methods etc. are all device specific.

Also, Android is an open source OS. Therefore, it is much more likely to have its exploits exposed.

The nexus line contains little to no manufacturer or wireless carrier modifications to Android (wikipedia), that's what I meant. I'm not sure how you relate being open source to having more exploits exposed, it's usually the opposite. In either case, I don't really feel that you answered my question regarding having known vulnerabilities on a up-to-date android system (which I doubt there is, at least publicly available, hence the bounty programs); but thanks for the other infos, I have a better understanding of it now

@thomasUJ It is kind of hard to explain the details here. What that Wiki page means is about something related to AOSP. Just know that your concept of a naked Android OS is wrong. And for the open source part: It is like looking at the blueprints of a building. A thief can always use it to spot an entrance. Of course, it makes use for bounty hunters to spot and fix them as well, yet it doesn't change the fact that it makes it more likely to have its soft-spots exposed.


text:
Chrome Browser is not supported on this device (Samsung GT-P7500)
I have a tablet Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (P7500) with stock firmware P7500XWLPG (Android 4.0.4).
I want to install Chrome Browser on it. But when I find it in Google Play I see message "This app is incompatible with your device".
Is it any way to solve this problem and install Chrome on my tablet?

It is very much possible that support for API level 15 or below has been dropped for all the current Chrome builds of version 47.0.2526.83 or perhaps it has been so for the last few versions as well. I updated my Chrome app in Jelly Bean 4.2.1 and I can see that the minimum API level it requires is 16 and is targeted at 23.
Android versions corresponding to API level 16 are Android 4.1 and 4.1.1 while Android 4.0.4 has API level 15. Clearly, your Android version is not compatible with latest Chrome build.
Considering the details, I suggest you now move on to a different browser. That said, you can still use Chrome browser at a huge price. You can download an older build of Chrome which is compatible with your Android version (read API level), from a trustworthy source . The price you'll be paying is risking your device with infection from online malwares, simply because outdated as well as popular software is a goldmine for malware writers.
For your information, I've the APK of Chrome v39.xx and I can see that the minimum API level it requires is 14 and not 16.


text:
USB charger produces high-pitched noise while the battery is full
I have Nexus 5 and I recently bought the European version of the PowerCube, which combines three power outlets with two USB chargers. I noticed that as soon as my smartphone's battery is full, it starts producing a high-pitched whistling noise.
It stops when I unplug the phone or when its charge drops below 100%. Neither of my parents can hear it because it's outside their hearing range. Should I be worried?

It's not a sign of particularly great component quality, and your charger will probably die any time soon. Consider getting a refund or something before that happens.

This app will measure the charging/discharging of your device: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gombosdev.ampere

This is indicative of poorly designed/ defective piece and best replaced ASAP.

From bwDraco's answer on Why do some AC adapters and power supplies generate a whining noise, and what can I do about it? (emphasis added; missing text denoted by "....")

Most modern AC adapters are switched-mode power supplies. The internal switching frequency of an SMPS is typically low when unloaded and increases with load up to a certain point depending on the design. The no-load frequency is often low enough to be within the human hearing range....Under load, a properly functioning SMPS should operate at a frequency well above the human hearing range, typically 50 KHz or higher (although some older designs operate at 33 kHz). However, the same noise can occur under load with a poorly designed or defective power supply as the coils may vibrate under electrical stress at a subharmonic frequency....As such, a defective device can generate audible coil whine during operation

From iHelix150's post on Why does my phone charger make a horrible high-pitched noise when it's plugged in? And can I stop it?

Most switching power supplies use a switching frequency above 20-30KHz so the human ear can never hear it. However for one that is in the 10-20KHz range, the switching is sometimes translated into audio frequency noise ....The noise changes based on how much power is being consumed by your phone....Unfortunately the way to stop it is to just buy a new cell phone charger, ideally one that's not a cheap piece .... If your phone charger is not a cheap piece .... (note that whether or not it's a cheap piece .... has nothing to do with how much you paid for it) its possible its capacitors were damaged by spikes, surges or other bad quality power problems, in which case you should invest in a good quality surge suppressor with noise filtering.


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Stock android camera app. How to prevent default settings from taking over
I'm on Android 5 KitKat but I've seen this in Android 4.x  as well. The stock camera app has the settings for contrast sharpness brightness etc.
I always want the sharpness to be maximum along with the contrast, that is, high values for both these parameters. I change them and later on they will reset to defaults. I tried to use other apps like open camera but they are not native apps and their control of the camera is not that good.
My question is how do I permanently keep these high contrast and high sharpness settings without the defaults taking over periodically. And  corollary to that , I wonder what event causes the settings to be reset to default... is it a certain time period? Or after coming from sleep. I wanted to know if there's some sort of a settings file which I can edit to permanently keep these modified settings. I'm attaching a picture of what the look like. Please don't recommend an alternate app. I would like to know what I can do with this app.

What device are you using?

Jiayu s3 rooted. Running Android 4.4.4. Then that would not be KitKat.... my mistake.

But the same problem is there through the Android series from 2.x -5.x. I don't know  bout lollipop


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Which country's market was my phone meant for?
I have a phone with Android 4.4.2 (CAT S50). It is of unknown origin (meaning, I don't have a slightest idea whether it was sold in US or in Japan or somewhere else). I'd like to find out what is the country of origin (the market it was supposed to be sold on, to be more precise) for this phone. How can I do this?

Can you tell the brand and model?

The brand - CAT, the model S50

It is not meant for any specific country as per their website.
3G and 4G details show that clearly by mentioning North America and ROW (Rest of World). No mention is made of product variations for different regions/ countries, so it's tough for you to find out where it was sold
AFAIK there is no way to determine where the phone is meant to be sold, IMEI gives country of origin (exception is Samsung, which assigns different codes to countries/ regions)
Edit: OEM website specifically has a flyer saying that s40 is meant for US markets. Absence of any such indicator for s50 strengthens the case for "no specific market"

I was thinking of more generic data, which would not be phone specific, rather Android specific. Like if the country, for which the phone is meant to be sold in (or a region), would be saved somewhere in the meta data about this specific android phone. The same as it's IMEI code and other info.

@Reinis if you want something not Android specific, this is the wrong site to ask I'd say ;) I'd recommend checking with GSMArena then.


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Samsung Twitter for Android
On a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition, Twitter (version 4.1.3) is pre-installed. This app can be updated via the "Galaxy Apps" app, to version 5.49.0. However, the version of the Twitter app in the Google Play store is 5.91. The "Discover" tab in the Twitter app shows "Top News" stories from a year or more ago an the "Activity" tab either shows old entries or is empty.
The Twitter app in the Google Play store is "not compatible with this device", so it is not possible to update.
Does this mean that this tablet can only use the old Samsung version of Twitter? Even after disabling the Twitter app, the Google Play store version cannot be installed. It seems that Samsung released this tablet version of Twitter for this model and then failed to update it? :(

Logging in to Twitter via a browser on the tablet presents a link to install the mobile app, but this just loops back to the same browser page.

Is the Android rooted or can you afford to do it? You can try backing up the current twitter followed by its complete removal and then sideloading of the latest version. If it works, cool then, otherwise, you would've your answer.

I forgot to mention that the latest build of twitter app may not be supporting your Android version, so you would have to try my suggested method with an older build of it.

The tablet is not rooted and is running Android 4.4.2. I'd prefer not to root it.


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How to hard reset a Galaxy Tab S?
I cannot login to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S anymore and want to perform a hard reset. Googling the question yields to many answers which follow the scheme:

when switched off press Home + Volume Up + Power
when the Android system recovery menu appears scroll down to wipe

The problem I have is that after pressing Home + Volume Up + Power I get a different screen:

When choosing Volume Up I get to the ODIN download screen.
How can I hard reset my tab in such a case?

To get into recovery mode for this Samsung device. The correct button combination to push is

Power button + Home button + volume Down button at the same time

The same combination but with volume up instead. Will take you into Odin/Download mode.


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Speed up Android SDK Emulator
I recently installed Android SDK (not Android Studio or Eclipse) to emulate an Android Watch. I downloaded the ARM images and the Android Support Library. Everything goes fine, except that it is ridiculously slow. It takes five minutes for the emulator to open up and it stays on the boot animation for about the time it takes for me to have a decent dinner with my family. I've upped the RAM to the point where it takes up about 70% of my laptop's RAM and enabled the Use Host GPU option. I heard that Genymotion is much faster, but there's no Android Watch or Android TV options in Genymotion. I can't use x86 Images because Intel HAXM requires an Intel processor. Is there anyway to speed up the emulator? Or can I somehow get Android Watch and Android TV in Genymotion Freemium?

I'm pretty sure the official Android emulator is slow for pretty much everyone. There are numerous Stack Overflow questions about this, including the ones here, here and here. Sorry I couldn't be of more help! Using snapshots may help this issue...

@LJD200 I am aware of that,  but can I instead emulate Watch or TV on Genymotion?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that Genymotion supports custom images and these devices aren't supported out-of-the-box.

That's what I thought. Sigh


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Where are Androids’ developer options stored?
Can anyone please tell me, where Androids’ developer options are stored?
I’m trying to modify the Pointer Location developer option in this file.
After recompiling Android, where is the file containing the modified sqlite database, system process or binary file, as I would like to exchange the new file with the one on my smartphone.

The Developer options are stored in the file:
/data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db

Pay attention that this is a database stored on file that includes also other saved options / settings, so just copying over another db file might cause unexpected behaviors.
As pointed out by @Gokul NC in the comments, this is not applicable since Marshmallow.

So how to avoid such unexpected behavior? I overwrote a file and the app won't start. I used chmod/chown to match original. What else should I watch out for?

On my LineageOS on Android Nougat the file was located at
/data/system/users/0/settings_global.xml

I guess the 0 after the /users/ is my user id.
If this location differs from android version // distribution you might want to find the file via something like
find | grep "settings_global.xml"

or another search string using the adb shell or another way to access the shell on your device.

For Android 6.0 and above, it can be found inside the SharedPreferences file:
/data/data/com.android.settings/databases/com.android.settings_preferences.xml


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How to avoid / troubleshoot on-page refreshing bug in Chrome for Android?
I've been experiencing a bug since the upgrade to Lollipop, perhaps even earlier, where the current tab refreshes while I'm looking at it. This has been very difficult to find info about, because of the hordes of people complaining about the ordinary, reasonable behaviour of Android refreshing hidden tabs when they're reopened.
It seems like it might have something to do with memory or excessive JS usage as it appears to happen more on slow, content heavy sites. Lightweight sites with simple HTML are barely affected. It also has nothing to do with any particular interaction, as I've seen it happen while reading articles having not touched the screen for a few minutes.
I've tried reinstalling Chrome and restarting my device, but I suspect this could be a problem with the underlying webview or device as I've seen a similar thing happening in other apps as well.
Does anyone know if this is a common problem? Anyone run into this and find a fix?
Nexus 5
Android 6.0.1

What device do you have?

@LJD200 Nexus 5, Android 6.0.1

Does this happen with other browsers such as Opera or Firefox?

@LJD200 I think the answer is no, but it's difficult to confirm that. So far I have not seen it happen on mobile FF, but I have seen it recently on Chrome.

Try force stopping Chrome and then wiping the cache and data for the app. Note that all bookmarks, cookies, passwords, etc. stored in Chrome will be erased.

@LJD200 I have tried doing that in addition to reinstalling Chrome, with no luck. I'll try your suggestion again without signing in with my Google account - perhaps it's a tab/bookmark syncing bug that's tied to my account.

This is an odd error. Please do try this but I'm not sure it will help.


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What is the difference between Remix OS and Phoenix OS?
Both Remix OS and Phoenix OS are free Chinese Android desktop distributions for x86_64 PC-s based on Android-x86. But how do they differ, excluding different themes?

You mean other than differences in GUI, are there differences at the core of them?

@Firelord This is what I mean.

This is a community wiki, you can extend it.

According to Phoenix Studio forum (translation) and other sources:

both are based on Android 5.1 Lollipop,
both support Legacy BIOS and UEFI boot methods, but sometimes Phoenix OS Legacy mode does not boot, unlike UEFI,
Remix OS lacks adjustable windows and some of them can only be maximized or minimized,
Remix OS requires USB 3.0, Phoenix OS only USB 2.0,
Phoenix OS boots faster,
Phoenix OS fluency and functionality are better than the Remix OS,
Phoenix OS 1.0 is 370MB, Remix OS 2.0 is 689 MB, both zipped.

Remix OS 2.0 Launcher:

Phoenix OS 1.0 Launcher:

Images source: Softpedia
Video comparison: http://youtu.be/E6BNcXRyOr4

looking at their forum Phoenix OS has a lot of spam issues http://bbs.phoenixstudio.org/en/forumdisplay.php?fid=4

@LiamWilliam How does it affect the OS itself?

I wouldn't think it isn't supported very well considering how spam ridden the site is.  They don't necessarily effect each other but I wouldn't say its irrelevant.

Add to the above answer; from what I found while testing both OSes:-

Phoenix OS is now x86 only platform, while Remix is x86/Arm
Phoenix OS supports window transparency.
File manager in Phoenix OS makes more sense in use.
Settings panel of Phoenix OS is more well-organised.
Phoenix OS still lacks of Ethernet support. (major drawback).
Phoenix OS doesn't support 2nd screen output (on laptops), while Remix can mirror and allows the main screen to be turned off via laptop's function key.
Applications running in full-screen (most 3D games) work properly in Remix OS, while those running on Phoenix OS tend to leave space at the bottom (what likely the size of hidden status bar+title bar) and miscalculate the mouse position in Y-axis (title bar height above the actual picture on screen).

My personal verdict so far:-

If you just need the desktop oriented Android and play games less,
choose Phoenix OS.
If you care more for Android 3D games, choose Remix OS.

you should (maybe?) add those also in the top post, which is community wiki for that purpose ? (I won't, as I don't have first-hand experience on those 2 OSes)

I can add to the above:

In PhoenixOS clicking "X" in the top window bar doesn't kill the app; thanks to that, apps can run in background without icon being visible in the bottom taskbar (like in Remix)
PhoenixOS works with floating windows just fine, no matter of app window size. RemixOS fails at this quite much - works only for some apps and only in fullscreen mode
PhoenixOS has already built-in brightness control availible in Display options, slider on the notification area and via function keys on keyboard; RemixOS has this hidden, but it works with function keys
RemixOS since ver .205 lags significantly due to badly designed use of android.process.media - Media Storage (media scanner); PhoenixOS still has a media scanner, but it works just fine without overusing CPU/storage resources. Moreover, RemixOS won't respect "pm hide android.process.media" command. It won't disable the lagging app. What's interesting, in PhoenixOS this command is useless too, but in Phoenix, u can Disable any app you want in settings, in Remix you don't.
RemixOS has better performance in 3D like @Yoswin Chance reported, but  PhoenixOS starts and runs all other apps way better then Remix; it can easily compete with Windows 8.1 on my Asus T100TA (2GB RAM, Atom Z3740)
RemixOS mounts all drives live with no 3rd party apps; PhoenixOS opposite
- To make things clear: PhoenixOS will output video to an external monitor just fine, but it will display it only on the external device and only if you plug it in before booting

For now, I fully agree with @Yoswin Chance.

PhoenixOS has far better windows system, start menu and notification area making the system more friendly and intuitive; feels much more complete then the RemixOS
RemixOS right now is only better at games and overall feels like more like an alpha build

UPDATE:
I've just tested RemixOS 32bit on my Asus T100TA (32bit UEFI) and it's super fast, but of course I had to get rid of android.process.media app in order to get the performance reliable.

In the latest update Phoenix OS also supports ethernet connections. I have been using both OSes but Phoenix OS is faster in booting and running apps, so I prefer Phoenix OS to Remix OS.

There is a useful and detailed comparison of Phoenix, Remix, and plain Android-x86 from August 2016 here:
http://apcmag.com/371021.htm/

It would help if you could edit your answer and add relevant quotes from the linked article, in case the web page goes down (a.k.a. link rot.)

@Chahk Here is the archived page.


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Factory reset a rooted 4.4.4 and lost the keyboard
I factory-reset my Android 4.4.4 phone and lost my Swiftkey keyboard, which upon installing originally, I erased the standard Samsung keypad.
Now only only voice is available, and I cannot get into my Samsung or Google accounts to get things going again, because saying a password is impossible. All I want is access to a keyboard. What can I do?

appears my basic os is not working either

A factory reset removes user apps and data, leaving the system partition alone.  It sounds like you removed the system keyboard and had a user keyboard erased.  You could sideload a keyboard with adb or something, but based on your comment that the OS is not working in general it would probably be better to flash a ROM (presumably whatever ROM you're already using, whether the original software or a custom build).

forgive my ignorance, but i got the OS going, but how do I do the adb keyboard? thanks

@DiegoDuranMontemayor Download an APK file for a keyboard, such as this one, connect your phone to your computer, and run adb install name-of-download.apk.  To find out more about adb or to obtain it: http://android.stackexchange.com/tags/adb/info

you are a lifesaver

@DiegoDuranMontemayor, you can also sideload using GUI (if you're not comfortable with command-line). Download or copy the APK into phone and tap on the APK file using a file manager. You would be asked to enable Unknown sources setting. Past that, tap the APK again and proceed with installation.


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Okay Google option to open from lock screen using Moto G 3rd Gen
Can anyone help me? On my Moto g 3rd Gen I cannot open by saying OK Google from the lock screen. In fact it doesn't even give me that option. The only option that i have when i go to my OK Google detection in the settings is "FROM THE GOOGLE APP"-Say OK Google to start a voice search from the Google app or any Home screen in the Google Now Launcher. That's it. I have tried everything. I have spoken to Motorola a number of times and they are, to say the least, clueless. I also contacted Google and they understood what I was saying but had no idea's on how to fix it. If anyone can help me - Please, I'm taking suggestions.

Sometimes it's just the gapp you have. I had a rom that had gapps preinstalled and the option wasn't there, but when I flashed official gapps from opengapps.org it gave me the option.


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App freeze after a Titanium backup
I experienced that, after a scheduled Titanium Backup backup, some apps (WhatsApp, Telegram, K-9 Mail, maybe others) doesn't appears to be running any more, i.e. I don't receive notifications from them. I have to open them to restore their functionality. Even a device reboot doesn't resolve the problem. This doesn't happen with other apps. Gmail, for example, continues to work.
This happen when the setting app advanced control from backup section is disabled, i.e. apps are killed instead of suspended and restored during a backup. May be that Android fail to restart the killed apps, or a behavior of the apps that prevent them to be restarted.
I have a Lenovo K50-t5 and tried with the ROW-1552D ROM, Android 5.1, customized by cuoco92, and with the Android 6 release.

I'm not sure how Android handles concurrent reads, but if the app was writing to its data while TB was backing it up it would probably get corrupted.  As such it would be extremely inadvisable to leave the apps running while doing a backup.  I can't comment on how the suspend/restore actually works, but a reboot should definitely resolve the problem you're seeing unless something is going very wrong.


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Does Greenify save battery usage?
My phone drains a lot of battery during the day so I was wondering if the greenify app helps with the battery problem

A typical XY problem I'd say. Wasn't your real issue rather What can I do to increase battery life on my Android device? or How can I tell what is really draining my battery? For some more, see our battery-life tag-wiki.

They are right, it hibernates apps..if you are rooted with xposed it really does magic, but most modern apps are coded to restart persistently so a lot will restart after being hibernated because without root and xposed it can't hold the apps closed, it merely force stops them but that can still be effective if you only hibernate apps that don't restart until you open them. You'll have to just try and see which ones will behave, if you hibernate apps that restart and just keep closing then you will end up burning more battery. If you choose to root them you gotta lot of research and studying to do but it's well worth it but you gotta know what you're doing, good luck

Those who wants to know how those apps get restarted again, read about Broadcast receivers. About that, Dan Hulme has a very useful answer here: What's the difference between a service and a broadcast receiver?

Technically YES. Basically what it does is hibernate selected apps. That means the apps you selected for greenification will not work service after inactivity like screen lock etc. They will start again as soon as you launch them again. So it should help battery problem!


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adb pushed file not showing over MTP
I want to copy a file ~5G to my Oneplus One(running cm-12.1-20151117-SNAPSHOT-YOG7DAO1K6) over MTP, but it fails at finishing copying. The copied file is 0KB so I delete it. Later I successfully copy the file over adb but I can't see the file over MTP when the phone is booted. I can only see the file over MTP when the phone is in twrp recovery.
There are some similar questions on this site but the answers don't work.
What I have tried:

Clear data on the Media Storage application and reboot. Doesn't help.
adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_MOUNTED -d file:///sdcard. Doesn't help too. What's worse is that now I see even less files over MTP. I can only see all the files over MTP when the phone is in recovery.
Settings → Developer options → Development tools → Media Provider → Scan SD Card. Doesn't help.

[edit] Deleting that large file and rescaning SD card makes all the files visible again over MTP. With that file on my phone, scanning SD card never finishes. For now I can only avoid saving large video files on the phone due to this glitch.

MTP sucks (at least for me), so I once looked for alternative solutions and  came up with this post: Is there a viable alternative to MTP for file transfer? They may look odd at first  but they are easy to follow in daily use.


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How to uninstall kingroot
I recently rooted my Sony Xpera Z Ultra (Android Version 5.0.1)using kingroot but when i restarted my phone it got unrooted again, now the only app that has root access is kingroot itself (it has a option to uninstall system apps which is working). I tried 'uninstall root' option but it didn't work. So is there any way i can uninstall kingroot app.

Possible duplicate of How to remove KINGroot?

Go install the app "supersume" and run it. It will remove kingroot and install the real supersu from chainfire and you will have real solid root access. You may have to reroot running the kingroot app again first and immediately open and run supersume as fast as you can before the system can plug up kingroots security breach ..of that doesn't work I would find the stock firmware and flash it back to stock

You mean, install this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=darkslide.com.supersumepro


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How do I install missing command line tools onto an Android device?
Android installations do not always have all the tools one would expect to have on a Unix-like system.
For example, right now I have a problematic device which doesn't have find CLI utility. I mean, this is what I get while in adb shell:
$ find
/system/bin/sh: find: not found

Also:
$ /system/bin/toolbox find
find: no such tool

This particular device is running Android 5.0 (plus some proprietary additions by LG, I guess), but the question is for all Android versions, of course.
Is there a standard procedure for installing native/CLI tools (such as find), on Android? (A package manager?) And, anyways, how to do it in the most correct way?

Useful questions: Rootless CLI Utilities && A Real Terminal (Root or No-Root) && Why do linux commands not work properly on android?

Yes, this device is rooted. But it's interesting to know about unrooted-compatible ways, too. :)

For rooted Android devices
You can consider installing BusyBox app by Stephen. Per Play Store, the minimum Android version supported by app is Android 1.6 and it is a well-updated app. In essence, it installs the busybox binary into /system/xbin and places symlinks in the same directory for all the utilities it has.
What is BusyBox (not the app)?

BusyBox combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single small executable. It provides replacements for most of the utilities you usually find in GNU fileutils, shellutils, etc. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options than their full-featured GNU cousins; however, the options that are included provide the expected functionality and behave very much like their GNU counterparts. BusyBox provides a fairly complete environment for any small or embedded system.

Here is the official list of utilities it provides. find tool can be found there.
A competent alternative to BusyBox is Toybox, which has replaced Toolbox in Marshmallow release.
What is Toybox?

Toybox combines many common Linux command line utilities together into a single BSD-licensed executable. It's simple, small, fast, and reasonably standards-compliant (POSIX-2008 and LSB 4.1).

Here is the official list of utilities toybox supports. BusyBox, at the moment, appears to support more tools than Toybox.
I do not think an app exists to install Toybox binary, so you may use my answer here for the purpose of its installation. Note that the answer can be used for the installation of  both Toybox and BusyBox. Only prerequisite is downloading the binary from official sources.
Official download links:

Toybox
BusyBox

For non-rooted Android devices
I do not know whether there is a universal approach for all Android versions. That said, for Android 4.0 and up BusyBox Install (No Root) claims to work. There may be some terminal apps that comes with BusyBox binary. I've not personally tested any such terminal app but it is easy to understand that their  biggest drawback is: you can't make any or much good use of them using adb.
There is an approach however, which appears to work for any Android version above 4.2 (based on my tests). /data/local/tmp is a directory which can be edited by shell user. adb shell grants you the remote shell on device and login as the same user.
All you've to do is put  BusyBox/Toybox binary into /data/local/tmp and create symlinks for the utilities in the same directory. You can use the following steps for that.
(Requires adb setup in PC.)

adb push LOCAL_FILE /data/local/tmp/    # replace LOCAL_FILE with the file path of toybox/busybox binary in PC
adb shell
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/FILE          # setting appropriate permission on pushed binary file. Replace FILE with the name of the binary you pushed in first step. Recommended is to use a single word as a name with all lower-case letters
box=/data/local/tmp/FILE                # setting up a local variable for usage in next step. Replace FILE as appropriate
$box | $box sed 's/\ /\n/g'| $box sed '$d'| while read line; do  $box ln -sf /data/local/tmp/FILE /data/local/tmp/$line; done   # We're executing the binary referenced by $box to list all utilities, followed by creation of a list and then for each item in the list, we're creating a symlink in a directory.

Izzy has recommended the most straightforward way to place symlinks for BusyBox binary.

adb shell /data/local/tmp/FILE --install -s /data/local/tmp/  # Replace FILE as appropriate. --install -s will create desired symlinks for you in a directory. Directory's path is provided next to it.

All those tools can now be accessed using the absolute path /data/local/tmp/TOOL. Replace TOOL with the utility name. Example usage of calling find command:
adb shell /data/local/tmp/find --help
adb shell /data/local/tmp/FILE find --help   # alternative way of using a tool

For interactive shell sessions, you can add the location of FILE into $PATH using export command:

export PATH=/data/local/tmp:$PATH   # this is prefixing /data/local/tmp into the existing value of $PATH. export would make sure that sub-shells see the same value in $PATH

Done that, you can now use find or another BusyBox/Toybox utility  in this manner:

adb shell
find --help

It is to be noted that changes in $PATH are applicable only for the current shell session. It means that every time you launch a shell using adb, you would've to export $PATH.
That said, there is no Android-only solution for non-interactive shell sessions other than of finding a way to create a variable whose existence and value would persist beyond the current shell session in your PC, not Android. Example:
adb shell $lolcat   # $lolcat is a temporary variable in my shell on PC and it was assigned the value /system/xbin/toybox. My bash shell is replacing $lolcat with its value and then passing it to adb shell (or you can say, it first expanded the variable and then executed the whole command)

The tools that are not found in busybox and toybox, you'll have to build them for Android yourself, if not already built by somebody and posted at a trustworthy location which you may trust, can  download and install.


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how wanam exposed work?
I have a Samsung phone which is rooted and has xposed framework. There's an app "wanam exposed" it's runs using an xposed module. It can change themes of stock Samsung ROM. It can change color of notification bar, and almost anything. I want to ask that does it modify any configuration files? If so then what's the locationof those files? And all is changes can be reversed just by disabling the module in xposed app and restarting. How is that possible?

Wanam Xposed is an Xposed module. The magic is performed by framework it uses. A brief can be found here: http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer Details are here: https://github.com/rovo89/XposedBridge/wiki/Development-tutorial#how-xposed-works

I've just published a blog article on that yesterday you might wish to read: Xposed: The mighty Android toolbox. Amongst others, it explains some background on how Xposed works.
Basically, the framework modifies the dalvik cache at boot time (or the corresponding art stuff on Android ≥ 5). So all changes take place on boot. Thus enabling/disabling modules only shows changes after rebooting the device: if you disable a module, it's changes simply won't be applied the next time you start your device.


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Getting "Can't open this video" when attempting to open a video
Video with extension VOB and transferred from my PC to the tab doesn't open in latter. When I attempt to open it I get "Can't open this video" and "No thumbnail".
How to play that video in my phone?

What is the extension of that video file? 2) Do you have a video player app that can play a file with that extension?  3) What file manager are you using? My stock file manager doesn't allow me to open an MKV video even when I've MX Player installed.

The extension is .VOB , I am not using any special player app , I just send videos from my laptop to my android tablet and I can just view it in the gallery.So far I've been doing it , but now it says no thumbnails.

Use a video player app, such as  VLC for Android and MX Player.

Looks like an answer to me.  VLC plays a lot of videos that don't work in bundled video player apps on Android.

No i haven't tried that yet , I'll try it and get back to you , thank you..


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"App not installed" error when trying to replace ROM-based app with modified APK without root
I'm facing trouble installing a modded APK if the same app is already provided in stock ROM.
I'm using Micromax Canvas E481, not rooted yet. It has the JioSaavn app already installed. I uninstalled it to install a mod version of JioSaavn. But I'm getting the error "App not installed". However, the same APK is working on my other devices. The same is happening for playstore.apk.
JioSaavn is not a system app, it's just provided in ROM by Micromax. From application, it gives the option to uninstall it. I can install APK for any version of Saavn, it's just not letting me install the mod version. If I modify it using Lucky Patcher, it won't install it, but it will let me install the original APK for any version bypassing the pop-up from ES Explorer.
When I tried installing it from ADB:
C:\Users\Syed\Desktop\adb-tools_treiber\adb-tools>adb install C:\Users\Syed\Desktop\Saavn.apk
4451 KB/s (11231546 bytes in 2.463s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/Saavn.apk
Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE]

C:\Users\Syed\Desktop\adb-tools_treiber\adb-tools>
C:\Users\Syed\Desktop\adb-tools_treiber\adb-tools>adb install C:\Users\Syed\Desktop\playstore.apk
3648 KB/s (9862605 bytes in 2.639s)
        pkg: /data/local/tmp/playstore.apk
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION]

Now use the error as a search query. Example

INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE should tell you something. "app is already provided in stock Rom", "not rooted" and "I uninstalled it" don't match: w/o root, you cannot have uninstalled a system app (you probably have disabled it).
Same goes for Playstore: you cannot simply "update" it with a patched version. If it's an official version (signed by Google), you could update it – but then you must tell adb install you want to update: adb install -r xx.apk (note the -r, which stands for "re-install"). Not sure whether that works via adb for pre-installed apps, though (I've never tried).

Ok, for saavn i completely uninstalled it. To make sure it's not installed, I checked the package name and app name everywhere (even in root folder) but not found. Eventually I tried installing it using Es Explorer, and you know what.... The pop up says... Installed ver 4.3, new version 4.5. Where on earth is it installed in my mobile?

So i first did it the natural way. Uninstalled it from my phone. It didn't work out. I then installed one from playstore and uninstall is from desktop using a software and it didn't work out. Then I uninstalled it using 'adb uninstall' and it didn't workout either..... So not sure what should I try now.....

@Akkitech again, without root you cannot uninstall a system app (which is why "adb uninstall didn't work either"). As Firelord asked, please detail how you "uninstalled" it initially. I doubt you succeeded.

It's not a system app, its just provided in rom by Micromax. From application, it gives option to uninstall it. Let me rephrase.... I can install apk for any version of saavn... Its just not letting install the mod version. If i modify it using lucy patcher it won't install it but it will let me install the original apk for any version bypassing the pop up from es Explorer

@Akkitech that sounds a bit contradicting: Everything "inside the ROM" is a system app. And sure you can install any official version (the app signature matches then, so this works even for system apps). But as soon as you patch them (e.g. using Lucky Patcher), the signature is broken (and usually a different one applied) and no longer matches, so the system will refuse accepting it as long as the original app is still there. As for Saavn I'm confused what that uninstall option inside the app is supposed to do.

Can you tell me what method should I use to uninstall it completely?

As said: without root, no. Have you checked in Settings › Apps whether it's listed? Is it there and does its label state "disabled"?

No, its nowhere in UI

That's strange. Does it show up with adb shell "pm list packages"? If so, does it show up with adb shell "pm list packages -3" – or with adb shell "pm list packages -s"? "-3" would mean it's an user app, "-s" it's a system app.

ok, so it doesnt come up in any of the command and the most surprising part is, after I used adb uninstall package it said success and I rebooted my phone. and adb install still gives me the same error and es explorer still shows a version installed...check this for screenshot link

Sorry, I'm out of ideas then. If adb shell "pm list packages" doesn't list it, it should not be there. And as your device isn't rooted, I'm out of ideas where to check.

If my phone was rooted, where would you check?

e.g. for files in those directories you otherwise cannot access, e.g. /data/data (for remains of data from the app), /data/app (for the APK), /system/app (for the APK were it a system file), get and evaluate the packages.xml file – just to start with.


text:
Which app specific prevents moving to external storage?
Subject. I'm not asking what I will lose if I move app, but rather about how system detects if app is "movable" or not and enables/disables corresponding button in "App Info" activity accordingly. Hope I made myself clear, if now - please comment and suggest better terminology.

Your answer: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/install-location.html

@Firelord, thanks, that's exactly what I asked about. I wonder if I should delete this Q...

I would say you self answer it now. That said, see if another same question has already been asked.

Possible duplicate of How do I find out if an app can be moved to the SD card before I install it?

Your answer is here. All those items, when an app needs one of them, must be listed in the app's Manifest – so it's easy for the system to "detect".

Okay, this is related to App Install Location and behavior in question controlled by application manifest, specifically, by android:installLocation attribute (NB: by default system assumes internalOnly).


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Bootloop & Cannot get into any recovery mode stock/CMW/TWRP
My Samsung s4 mini (I9190) is in bootloop.
I CANNOT go into recovery mode by power+home+volume up.
I CAN go into download mode by power+volume down.
"Firmware upgrade and initialisation" by Kies finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.
"Odin + Sammobile firmware" finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.
"Odin + CMW Recovery" finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2528136&d=1390237165 )
"Odin + TWRP Recovery" finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.
(http://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=file-thanks&fid=24052804347763027&mid=108&download_id=ovsrhlssjl8oa3tm4aanrrh1u0&tid=1453125230&hc=25a981cade4149663a73da4c332838c193eb9489524be94632c813efd7fed5f7 )
Any suggestions?
Details:
It was Android 4.2.2; the original OS in it when I bought it. Then one day I rooted it. I did not upgrade the OS. It was still the original TouchWiz on 4.2.2. (No CyanogenMod or anything....) Everything was fine for 1 year. Then one morning I clicked on a whatsapp message and my phone restarted & has gone into a bootloop.
I do not have an external SD card. I tried two different batteries, each works fine in another phone. I did not insert an SD card or SIM card during any of these processes.

Have you already reflashed the stock ROM with Odin? And make sure you are holding the correct buttons. (Hold Volume Up, Power Button and Home Button at the same time).

I do not know what a stock rom is. is there a link that i can download or a document that explains how to do it?

Here you can download the correct ROM: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9190/ (Registration needed). Then you can flash the firmware (ROM) with Odin. Do it at your own risk.

I did it. "Odin + Sammobile firmware" finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.

@lembas Did you finish it already? How did you download the file + flash the firmware so fast?

@beeshyams It was Android 4.2.2; the original OS in it when I bought it. Then one day I rooted it. I did not upgrade the OS. It was still the original TouchWiz on 4.2.2. (No CyanogenMod or anything....) Everything was fine for 1 year. Then one morning I clicked on a whatsapp message and my phone restarted & has gone into a bootloop.

@SuperThomasLab I did it before asking this question. I wrote it on the original question that "Odin + Sammobile firmware" finished succesfully but it is still in bootloop.

@beeshyams I do not have an external SD card. I tried two different batteries, each works fine in another phone. I did not insert an SD card or SIM card during any of these processes.

@beeshyams yes :...(

Although I dont't think the service center will do it for free, because you have void your warranty.

Thank you very much to you both. Warranty has already ended before I rooted the phone.

accidentally hit on chat link. sorry. - Let us continue this discussion in chat.

please provide some more details and try another firmware for your device. here http://live.samsung-updates.com/index.php?device=GT-I9190 you can see that each region has its own specific rom for a device.the stock rom that was specific to your region will only work in your device. more details http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-mini .  Was your phone locked to a network? If so reinstall the network firmware as the partition size will be correct.

It isn't locked to a network. I tried Turkish region. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2528136&d=1390237165) It didn't work.


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Is Nexus 9 capable of accessing data when I connect USB storage?
Info about Nexus 9:

http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/nexus/9/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_9
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_nexus_9-5823.php

I have no idea how latest Androids work therefore asking a pretty basic question: Will latest Android (6.0 Marshmallow) detect additional storage?
(cannot find this info in marketing materials out there)

Android Marshmallow and USB OTG Support confirms OTG working on Nexus 9 (Note: I have no way of verifying). Relevant extracts from the post ( missing text denoted by "....", emphasis added)

But there is another feature that Android users have long wanted out of the platform that has come with Marshmallow: Native USB On-the-go (OTG) support...In previous released of Android, OTG support was not inherently supported and effectively required that you have your device rooted even if your hardware technically supported it.  That, it seems for Nexus devices, has gone away....  I can confirm that I was able to connect a USB drive and a mouse successfully to my Nexus 6 and Nexus 7 while I was equally able to connect both to a colleague who as the Nexus 6P and Nexus 9


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Nova Launcher displaying wrong icons
I'm using the Glim icon pack with Nova Launcher and everything displays correctly on my home screen and drawer. Though in my recent apps screen and notification screen, lock screen it shows a different/incorrect icon for the app. I've reapplied the icon pack via Nova and the Icon pack itself, it doesn't fix this. How can I fix this?

Click image(s) for larger version

Which android version are you running? Are you running CyanogenMod on your device? If so - have you installed Themes via the Theme-Engine?

@benjaminS I have CM13 so android 6.0 and no Themes installed via theme bucket or any other.

Any icon pack (not themes like Cyanogen Mod themes for example) can only apply to launchers and apps not the Android system itself.
(Except that the system supports icon packs which is not common in official ROMs.)
And Nova Launcher (like most launchers if not all of them) only displays the home screen and the app drawer, anything other than that (like recent apps, notifications, and lock screen) is controlled by the Android system not Nova Launcher.
Note: The lock screen icons can be changed by a lock screen app but not Nova Launcher.
Final answer: You can change the icons everywhere in your phone (CM13) if it has a theme engine and you install & apply an icon pack that is compatible with the theme engine or apply a compatible theme with the desired icons. (Note that you need to choose to display system icons from Nova Launcher afterwards.)


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Link2SD doesn't work on Marshmallow: No such file or directory
Due to my displeasure with the new SD card as internal storage of Marsmallow, I decided to switch back to Link2SD, something which I had been using on previous versions of Android. However, there's a problem. If I try to create the mount scripts for my partitioned SD card, I get the following error:
Mount script cannot be created

mount: '/dev/block/vold/179:66'->'/data/sdext2': No such file or directory

Does anybody know how to get Link2SD to work on the Marshmallow?

Marshmallow internal storage can be better used with a mixed-format SD card as I also explain in my blog here:
http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html
First, you need adb working.

Have SD card inserted and formatted as portable.
Eject your SD card from the Storage & USB menu
Use "adb shell" to list your adoptable storage:

like this
$ adb shell sm list-disks adoptable

disk:179_64

disk:179_64 is my SD card that can be made adoptable, I want 75% as external SD:
$ adb shell sm partition disk:179_64 mixed 75

Note: Your card may be listed with a comma instead of an underscore, e.g. disk:179,64 in which case, that is what you type:
$ adb shell sm partition disk:179,64 mixed 75

This will erase the entire SD card, giving 75% as portable storage and the rest as adopted internal storage.
Reboot your phone.
From Storage & USB menu, select the SD card (internal) and choose Migrate Data (so that apps, where possible, are installed there).
From the Storage & USB rename the adopted storage to have some name like Adopted otherwise if it has the same name as the external storage partition, the USB MTP view may only show the internal

you should post your answer in this question too, it's a better match and would give your great solution more exposure

But this solution doesn't support Link2SD. The adopted partition's file system is "Other" when checking with a computer partition app, so Link2SD cannot recognize the partition to be adopted (hence the question). Without Link2SD, unmovable apps cannot be forced to move to SD card.

#!/system/bin/sh
mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /data/sdext2
mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/vold/179:66 /data/sdext2

You may have to make the vold line be:

mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/vold/public:179:66 /data/sdext2

It all depends upon how you let Marshmallow format your card on first boot.
Use Apps2SD to make the script. Simply open the app, go to "Link apps to SD card", select your file system and you are done. It's still in active development and working. After script got created you can uninstall Apps2SD.

As others have hinted, you can use Apps2SD to create the mount script and simply uninstall it when you're done.

This worked for me. And I think this is the easiest method of all.

I solved the initial problem listed here with:
cd /dev/block/vold
ln public:179_66 179:66

and then Link2SD was able to do it's tricks; however it still was not useful, and in moving Google Play Music internal data (mp3's) to the SD card made it so that the music program kept crashing.
Removing Link2SD after de-installing is not easy,
mount -o remount,rw /system
mv /system/bin/debuggerd.bin /system/bin/debuggerd
rm /system/etc/init.d/11link2sd
mount -o remount,row /system

then reboot, otherwise the 2nd partition keeps getting mounted on /data/sdext2
(So I am frustrated that if I merge my SD card as internal memory, Google Play Music will store the mp3's in the limited internal memory instead of the SD card)

Pardon me for such a basic question. Should I write above script to file in init.d? Also, could please explain what above script does?

Don't bother, Link2SD still does nothing useful. See my better fix at: http://blog.sam.liddicott.com/2016/02/android-6-semi-adopted-storage.html which I will post as an answer

"Nothing useful" is rather controversial and sweeping subjective statement, so it would be nicer if you could back it up with some informative facts.  Thanks.

It is not controversial at all, unless you  contradict my claim. But to answer your request: It doesn't work on android 6, it inserts incorrect mount commands in various startup scripts, and still fails when those mount commands are corrected.

I didn't mean to be argumentative, I just meant that I've seen people say that it doesn't work and isn't supported, and not seen anyone say it is working.

"otherwise the 2nd partition keeps getting mounted on /data/sdext2"  This is happening to me now


text:
Editing personal dictionary on Android 6
As it seems Android blocks third party apps from editing the personal dictionaries for some reason.
I just upgraded from Android 4 to 6 and want to import my personal dicitonary, but the apps I've previously used successfully fail (they claim the import was successful, but nothing is imported to my personal dictionary).
Where can I find the file on the phone, where the personal dictionary is saved?
So I can manually copy my old entries to the new system.

Umm, maybe check this location   /data/data/com.android.providers.userdictionary/databases/user_dict.db

that seems to be the file, unfortunately it's an sqlite database, not like I expected a plain text file..

Well I guess just replace your IME apk with an older version and then try restoring the database, finally replace the apk again with the new version.


text:
How to show clocks on pin/pattern lockscreen (Cyanogenmod 12 / Android 5)?
I have configured my CM12 to show pattern on screen wake-up, and unfortunately there are no clocks! Clocks are shown on the first screen when you need to pull the bottom up to open pinpad or pattern dots. How to show clocks above pinpad or pattern? There is more than enough space and i can find screenshots from Android 4.x where clocks present.
I have root and Xposed framework, so any solution would help. Thanks!

Disable to show pattern on screen wake up.

This is the thing i enabled so why disable it? It won't help to get clocks above pattern anyway.

The time doesn't show up in the status bar? It usually does when the lock screen clock is hidden.

I'm on Nexus's stock ROM, and I also observed this behaviour since Android 5.0, and until the latest Android 6.0.1. I believe it's due to replacement of lockscreen widget with lockscreen notification. Previously, the clock is considered as lockscreen widget, and the pattern lock will be shown just below it.

@Dhruvil Mehta: status bar is not what i need. I is too small.

@Andrew T.: Thank you! You clarified everything. This is the real answer :)

I do not even see the status bar :( Is there a way to show it on pattern lock screen?

Is there also a solution? I read the answer of @andrew-t like "It's not possible" but the bug is fixed in 6.0.1


text:
How do you manualy disable headphone jack?
I have an Android (Samsung Galaxy 3) it seems that my headphone jack has malfunctioned is some way as it will automatically detect that headphones are pluged in when they are not. I can still plug in headphones and hear music etc. However I would like to hear my pgone without headphones even if it means no headphone jack.

Did you do this phone into water recently? Something similar happened me once.

Try cleaning the headphone jack, maybe with a needle or something thin. Get as much stuff out as you can.


text:
Send contact information via Hangouts on Samsung Galaxy S5
I have a difficulty when trying to send contact information on Samsung Galaxy S5 mini. Setup:

I have Google Hangouts as default SMS app.
Android: 4.4.2 (KitKat)

Steps:

Go to Contacts, long tap on the contact which information you want to share and press "Send contact information" from menu.

Select fields to send (e.g. tap "Select all").
Now when I press "Done", Android launches default SMS app which offers to become a default one. Without allowing it to become a default SMS app in place of Hangouts I cannot send the contact.

Expected: Default SMS app is not called to complete the action, but rather Hangouts is launched.
Note 1: I need to send SMS, not MMS with vCard attached.
Note 2: This functionality is known to work on Samsung Galaxy S4.


text:
Galaxy S5 SM-G900F programmed as SM-9006V
I have a Samsung S5. On the box, on the sticker inside the unit, checking the IMEI and using CPU-z they all said the unit is an SM-G900F and is using the Snapdragon core.
My biggest problem with it is I want to be able to back the entire unit up so that if I mess it up, I can put it back to its original state. There is no simple universal backup method, so I used ADB to do the following command:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=testsystem.img

I made changes to the programs and did this command:
dd if=testsystem.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0

I thought this worked, so then I proceeded to try to install Cyanogen ROM. After many tries and other things too tedious to describe about what did not work, I finally got this version to work:
13.0-20160114-NIGHTLY-kltechn

This version and ones before it are for the SM-G9006V Chinese model, not my supposed international model. I tried to put in this version:
cm-12.1-20151007-SNAPSHOT-YOG4PAO333-klte

which should work for the SM-900F but it won't.
Now trying to put the phone back to its original state using
dd if=testsystem.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0

does not work.
I think the phone was programmed somehow with two different ROMs, and I am hoping someone can tell me how to do this, or why I can't make dd command work?

Here is some more information before I did anything to the phone:
On Kies before changing to cyanogen rom it said it could not update the phone and reported the following:
G900FXXU1POEC/G900FOJV1POF1/G9006VZNU1BOE3/G900FXXU1POEC  (XSG)

Original answer to *#1234# before Cyanogen rom was:
G900FOJV1POF1

Now this information cannot be gotten from KIES, and the *#1234# no longer works.
In addition, I wrote down all the following from the phone in its original state:

Device Name: Galaxy S5
Model Number: SM-G900F
Android Version 5.0
Broadband Version: G900FXXU1POEC
Kernel Version: 3-4.0-4884557     dpi@swdd5702 #1  Tue May 12 11:54:06 KST 2015
Build Number: LRX21t.G900FXXU1POEC
United Arab Emirates   TRA ID:0016333/03  TP: 00000000/00
Security Software MDF V1.1 Release 4   VPN V1.4 Release 3
Knox Version   Knox 2.3

Standard SDK 5.3.0
Premium SDK 2.3.0
Customization SDK 2.0.0
Container 2.3.0
IM 2.0.0
CEP 2.0.1
Enterprise Billing 1.0.0
SE for Android 2.2.1
SSO 2.1.1
TIMA 3.0
VPN 2.2.0

I want the phone to have a complete back up that is simple like using dd.
I want to use the phone in the US and Asia.
I would like to be able to put it back to its original ROM programming.

What does your IMG file contains? Where to mmcblk0 points?

I don't understand the questions.  Here is list of what I did:    adb devices
adb shell
su  cd..
ls
cd storage
ls
cd extSdCard
ls     then the  dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=testsystem.img

Current Situation

I am afraid you have messed up things in a big way by flashing a ROM not meant for the device ,see this to get more understanding Can I install a ROM made for a different device?
Also surprised that you were actually able to successfully install CM meant for another device
I am not conversant with "dd" commands, but the probable reason it is not working now is that the partition information has been altered after flashing the wrong ROM
Samsung phones do not come with two ROMs as you are speculating based on Kies output. One remote possibility that strikes me is that this is a refurbished phone which had traces of earlier ROM (if that is possible ), leading to Kies reporting inability to upgrade. You can verify, if your phone is refurbished or not and also obtain more details about your phone, see my answer How can I tell if my phone is refurbished

Next Steps

At this juncture, trying to solve things on your own may cause more damage than help, so  visit a service center to get it fixed. Leave it to the experts
If you still want to experiment, download correct stock ROM from Sammobile (requires registration) and flash stock using Odin as explained [Guide][Samsung] How to flash Stock ROM

Edit

OP has confirmed that check by Phone Info Samsung shows it as  refurbished. My guess is that the refurbishment was not properly done in terms of OS, leaving traces of earlier ROM as well. This could possibly disrupt attempt to restore to stock. This complicates situation further and strengthens my earlier recomendation to have the service center handle it. Of course, this does not stop OP from trying to flash stock ROM

On Kies  before changing to cyanogen rom it said it could not update the phone and reported the following:

G900FXXU1POEC/G900FOJV1POF1/G9006VZNU1BOE3/G900FXXU1POEC  (XSG)

factually reported by Kies, shows this, which is further confusing, either all the actions done by OP are not correctly reflected or there is an issue with refurbished phone

G900FXXU1POEC is UAE lollipop for your device
G9006VZNU1BOE3 is lollipop for SM-G9006V
G900FOJV1POF1 is lollipop UAE

There is no refurbishment check on the Phone INFO Samsung I installed.

I bought it from Amazon. Its being sold as an unlocked international phone model sm-G900f.

figured  out how to use phone INFO. it says refurbished, yet reports that the imei number is valid sm-g900f.  which is believable? If its refurbished, why does it matter? Its the same hardware. at least thats what CPU-z says.

I find it difficult to trust what apps are saying now, what am I to believe? Is the IMEi check online valid? I can understand why flashing roms might be done incorrectly, but why is ADB linux image not working to put it back into original state? Roms affect ADB? I do appreciate all the time you have spent trying to help me.

I guess I'll complain and return it because I can't rely on a phone that I can't back up. I've already spent way too much time on it. I appreciate your  efforts to help me.


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Notifications don't show up when phone is asleep - Samsung Galaxy s4 running CM12.1
Ok so this is a curious little problem I have. I recently flashed CM 12.1 on my S4 and since then I don't receive any notifications from apps like Bleacher Report, Snapchat or Instagram when I'm not using my phone. However, when I am using my phone I see notifications on Snapchat at least pop up. I tested this my sending myself a snap and voila saw the heads up notification say I had one. But curious thing is, this notification would not arrive if I wasn't using my phone and had it set down somewhere else. I have again tested this by having a friend send me a snap while my phone was set down and when I picked it up later, didn't see a notification. Same thing with Instagram. It's driving me nuts. Can anyone help me with this? I have read around and some people suggest this may be a problem that happened while restoring using Titanium backup but I cannot see why it would only affect certain apps. Facebook notifications work just fine. Fotmob (a soccer score app) works just fine. It's just SnapChat, BleacherReport and Instagram (at least those are the only ones I have noticed).

Try installing Echo Notification Lockscreen. It is a decent third party app.
Check their official site here

I tell you notifications aren't showing up and you ask me to install an app that shows notifications on the lockscreen? Great.

I thought u were referring to notifications not appearing on the lockscreen


text:
How can I decrypt or view images encrypted in Sd card, in other phone?
I had enabled Sd Card Encryption in my "HTC Desire 816 (d) phone in July 2015, after that I had taken backup of "Phone memory" in my computer, But few days back my phone got stolen. Due to which I m not able to view images encrypted in Sd Card. How can I decrypt or view images encrypted in Sd card, in other phone?
Kindly help me.

Can I restore "key file" by restoring "Phone Memory" from backup (taken after enabling encryption) ,in other HTC Desire 816 phone ?

Possible duplicate of Decrypt my Micro SD Card. Other duplicates can be found here: http://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=decrypt+sd+card

Answer: You cannot decrypt, since it requires both the device and the key which was generated on it to encrypt
Why
Encrypt Files on Your SD Card Using Your Android Phone explains this in simple terms. Quoting relevant portions (emphasis added; deleted text denoted by "...."):

Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to access or decrypt the files on your SD card without the right password. Android's encryption algorithm is based on two major factors - the mobile device and the password. Lose any of these, and your encrypted SD card files will be inaccessible. You can only decrypt the SD card files by inserting the SD card into the mobile device that was used to encrypt it and then entering the correct password when the device is powered on....
  The password or key is stored to your mobile device's Random Access Memory (RAM)....Encryption is essentially classified as a high level data storage security process. When you encrypt a file, you are altering its form using a specific algorithm so that the operating system will not be able to readily classify or identify it. With advancements in information security, the encryption algorithms being employed nowadays are basically "fool-proof". This means that there is no viable way of opening an encrypted file other than getting a hold of the key. Even hundreds of supercomputers could take thousands of years to open an encrypted file.
Encryption is designed to work this way for one obvious reason: Security

To further clarify on the query of OP- again, No, you require the same device on which it was encrypted, it will not work on same model device. A simple  explanation for this is

The password or key is stored to your mobile device's Random Access Memory (RAM) ( hence, you require the same device)

The underlying principle is that data and key required to access it should be in separate physical/logical locations. While the algorithm for key generation is OEM specific, the actual key generated is linked to the device on which it is generated and hence decryption will not work if the device is changed, since the "key" portion of the puzzle is missing

Can you mention why the same mobile device is required? The quote you used doesn't shed any light on deep technical aspect of the issue. I'm not asking for some cryptic names but a bit more technical context on why that same device is required would do good for curiosity. You can find and add related (do read them of course) readings if you find any difficulty expanding the answer beyond a certain technical point.

To be honest, as a security enthusiast, this answer is pretty good as in means of explaining the basic lines. However as Firelord points out, misses some certain points. Still upvoted. 9/10 would upvote again.


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How to save the Home Cover Photo of a LINE profile?
In the upper section of each LINE user's home screen a background picture is displayed, called Home Cover Photo in LINE's own terms. How is it possible to save the cover photo of another user?

Please reopen, this is not a duplicate. Unlike other pictures, the cover photo does not have any download button. Actually, the only way I could imagine would be taking a screenshot (which is tricky as it is half-hidden by UI elements but somehow movable), but somehow might know a better trick.

Home Cover Photos are cached in the following directory:
/sdcard/Android/data/jp.naver.line.android/storage/toyboximg/line

Rename the extension of files to .jpg to view them.


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Define the term: brick
I often see a lot of articles that say that rooting can brick your phone and render it useless like a brick, hence the name brick. But anyone who's ever fiddled around in rooting phones and installing ROMS surely knows that if you fail a ROM installation or root, the device can easily be saved by flashing a clean ROM. So what do all those articles mean by 'bricking'? Is there a way to brick a phone to the point that it doesn't even boot to the bootloader and let you install a custom recovery?

Did you read the answers here: What does it mean to "brick" your phone? and here: Why is bricking possible?

Making the phone irresponsive permanently.


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Cubot X9 does not turn on after update, also not recognised by computer (unknown device in Device Manager)
I have Cubot X9, ordered from China. after the update it gave me an error.
The phone restarts, but I cannot enter recovery mode. I tried to flash new ROM, but it gave an error.
Now nothing works, and I cannot enter recovery mode.
The PC does not recognize the phone because it is off, I installed the drivers but to no effect.

How to fix this problem?

Try but has no effect; x
There is no VID and PID code, how to find the right driver?


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Can I set a custom caption image for the Video sent over WhatsApp?
Videos sent and received on WhatsApp has one of the random frame from video as caption image.
Any idea, how this image is chosen and is it possible to change it?
For example in my 01:06 min video, the caption image is from frame 00:39


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How to override default Android's default screen lock security policy?
I want my Android device screen to open without requiring password. So I chose "none" option in Security settings. But, when I needed to add a VPN connection, it required me to provide a password, PIN, or a pattern for the screen. Thus, the option to add "none" unlock is disabled once a VPN connection is set (figure below).

I want to know if there is a way I can override this security policy i.e. retain VPN connection but forego screen unlock password. The Android version is 4.2 and the tablet is rooted if it helps.

A couple of ways (None of these tried by me)

This XDA thread HOW TO GUIDE VPN Without Security suggests a way of editing lock screen database settings using SQL editor . OP has specifically tested on Kitkat
You could try Xposed module Lockscreen Disabler. Module description says

To setup a VPN you are forced by the system to setup some kind of security.
This module is for all the users who don't want to be forced to use a protection, although using the services described above

If you are not familiar with Xposed, Xposed: The mighty Android tool box by @Izzy, would be very useful

VpnROOT-PPTP-Manager claims to do that, amongst other capabilities. App description says

This application was designed to allow connection of a VPN server without having to use PIN or Pattern Lock-Screen in Android.

Edit: The first method did not work for me on 4.2.2 (tried after posting this answer).