text:
Move Internet Shortcuts From Home Screen to USB
I am attempting to move several Internet shortcuts from my Android Home Screen to a USB memory stick.
I am able to move images and music to and from my USB. But I am unable to find to path to Home Screen in File Manager.
How can I achieve my goal of moving these Internet shortcuts to a USB?

Home screens on Android are not represented by file system folders, they are part of the launcher data, and shortcuts are not discrete files like in desktop OSes.
You can't just move them around by copying files like you would on windows.
If you want to move internet shortcuts to a thumbdrive then either export your browser bookmarks to an HTML file, or write them down in a text file instead.
Some launchers also offer the possibility of exporting or backing up settings to a file on the SD card, which may be helpful to move to a thumb drive. I doubt they will allow granular per-shortcut export though

I was afraid of this. Thank you for your clarification.


text:
adb shell touch is not working
I am trying to force the timestamp of a specific file on my android device to a specific date.
when I run..
touch specific_file

it succeeds and sets the timestamp to the current time.
But if I run
touch -t 20170901.123456 specific_file

the command does not take, although it does not scream out an error. This is the exact format and argument structure that the version of touch I am running in Busybox suggests.
Is this just a bug?

In my busybox, doing busybox touch -t 20170901.123456 specific_file changes the file's timestamp to some data in 2018. Using toybox's touch (native to Android 6), the query throws me some error.

Maybe it's a bug in BusyBox, try updating your BusyBox binary, reboot the device then try again.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
One click share location in Google Maps to specific user or other app?
I know there's a share location feature in Google Maps and various android apps for sharing locations.
But is there a widget / shortcut or something where you can click on it and instantly share your location with a pre-defined contact whether by SMS, email, etc. ?
I have a relative that I need to pick up quite frequently but sometimes they're in one street and sometimes they're walking in another.  They're a little older and aren't too tech savvy except for the basics (viewing photos, chatting, etc.).
Basically I want to set up a widget / shortcut on their homescreen and if I can't find them, I can call them and tell them to click on the button to share me your location so I can find them.
Google Messenger has a share location by SMS feature too but that's too many clicks, want to simplify as much as possible.
Other apps like Life 360 or Family Locator are on 24/7 and kill the battery.  Don't need 24/7 location sharing.

Instead of your relative broadcasting their location, if you install device lost tracking app on their phone, you can track them more easily (all they need to do is keep GPS on). Find my device is one such basic app. Then there are apps that are anti theft that can be considered. Basic thing is to change action at your end to track them instead of they initiating. Consider this approach

For the above approach to work you would need to add that device to your account (I did that to track family member by logging into their account and associate my number with it and then they changed their password  AFAIR). Else , there are location sharing apps for them to share but not one click

Trusted Contacts is the solution you're looking for - it's an application made by Google, which allows you to share your location with friends and family and integrates with Google Maps' location sharing solution too.
Simply install the application on the family member's phone and make sure you are selected as one of their Trusted Contacts.
Whenever you want to know their location, simply tap on their avatar and select "request location". A screen will show up on their phone with the default ringtone playing as well. (see screenshots above)
If they don't "pick up" and allow you to see their location, their location will be shared automatically in 5 minutes.
Best of all - it's free, it's made by Google and has integration into Google Maps' location sharing service.

How have I not heard of this before.  Perfect.

Looks like the app has been taken away from Play Store.

Basically I want to set up a widget / shortcut on their home screen ....

There are a number of social media apps that can do this but they are not one click as you mentioned besides setting up a widget is not possible
Hence, suggesting automation as an alternative
I prefer Macrodroid, being easy to learn and free (upto 5 macros). You would need to install Macrodroid ontheir device
Create a macro
Trigger: Empty Trigger
Actions: Share location
You get the following options - SMS, Twitter , Email , Calendar, Variable

Select SMS and either select contact or number (yours)
Repeat the action above and enter your email after choosing the default e-mail account registered with their device

Constraints : Leave blank
Name the macro and save it
Go to widgets of your home screen and drag and drop Macrodroid widget on any screen. Long press the widget and assign the name of macro (Tip: Install an icon pack that shows visually striking icon so that it is easier for them , like this and replace Macrodroid widget)
Tell them to press the widget to send you their location by pressing it. Done!
Your SMS would have a link to the location with a pic as below that you can open in Maps. Ditto in your email

Note: GPS needs to be enabled for this to work (obviously). If you can't trust them to remember enabling GPS, that can also be automated. Steps below

For enabling / disabling GPS root permissions are required normally. It is unlikely their device would be rooted, so there is an alternative - adb hack in Macrodroid that overrides this limitation

Set up adb see instructions here Is there a minimal installation of ADB? and How to install adb
Type adb devices and once you get the serial number of device as output

adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
followed by:
adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION

Now enhance your macro (in the actions section)

Location Mode → High Accuracy
Wait 15 seconds ( for location to be registered. May need to tweak it )
Select SMS and either select contact or number (yours)
Repeat the action above and enter your email after choosing the default e-mail account registered with their device

(If you are choosing the email option they would need to enable data but if they forget SMS would go through , so you are covered )

Wait 30 seconds
Location Mode → Location Mode off

This would ensure that battery is not drained by GPS and they don't need to remember to enable/ disable GPS
Yet another approach is mentioned in comments - instead of them doing the work, you do it by adding their device to your account and use apps that track lost devices , choice is yours  but I think that the solution mentioned here is superior as it does not call for changes on their device settings and is on demand saving battery

Edit: Another refinement possible , add another trigger in the macro . Missed Call and assign your number to it. When you want their location give  a missed call (cut the call before they pick up). You will get the location by SMS. This is handy if they are unreachable for some reason and you want their location. Bonus !!!

You can download the app here.
Try glympse app which can be used as a substitute for google maps.
It has very basic structure and high functionality. Various modules are available for easy use. The main advantage is that its not active 24*7.
You can control whom you want to let you track for specific time and always share your location to anybody, anywhere by SMS or E-mail. Its good for both personal use and business use. Just give it a try and see whether your basic need are fulfilled or not.
In your particular case try explaining your relative to how to just share their recent location via SMS. Its very easy or you can set to track their location if they accept your request to track their location.

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


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Doing a search on the YouTube app
I use the YouTube app on my smartphone.
I want to know how I should proceed to search on a specific channel.
Because every search I make in the application takes into consideration all the internet sites.
And that's exactly what I do not want.

No there's no way you can search into a specific channel on YouTube. Basically YouTube does not provide that privilege.
But if you are considering a specific channel and want to search videos related to the channel only than you can perform relative search which includes the basic search attribute with the channel name. By doing so your search results will be narrow downed and you will find easily what you wanted.
For example:- If you like Luis Fonsi vevo channel and want to search within his creation than try something like this:- x+Luis Fonsi vevo(where x=your basic search attribute.)

You can use the YouTube Channel Search (web app) to search videos within any specific channel that you are subscribed to. (Disclosure: I created this app)


text:
Is it possible to designate an alternative wifi connection test site?
I live in mainland China and uses a Google Pixel bought from Hong Kong. Current system version is 7.1.2. As you might know, Google servers are not accessible in China without the use of VPNs and such. So whenever I connect to a wifi network, my phone tries to connect to Google connection test server, but does not do that via ShadowSocksR (my VPN app) so the test always fails and the phone tells me the wifi has no internet connection, which isn't the case and isn't very helpful either.
So I am wondering, is it possible to designate an alternative connection test site that is accessible within mainland China? I know the one Windows 10 uses (http://www.msftconnecttest.com/redirect) is usable so is there any way I can let my Pixel use it by default?

Yes. Since Android 7.1 the method is a little different (not gonna mention the old method here) - fire up adb shell then use the command settings put global captive_portal_https_url **site domain here**.
In the past g.cn (Google's remaining Chinese domain) worked alright, but since Nougat for better reliability I'm using one hosted by V2EX: captive.v2ex.co/generate_204, so the full command becomes settings put global captive_portal_https_url https://captive.v2ex.co/generate_204.

Looks great! One extra question: is this url reliable accessing from UK? I study abroad in UK during term time and only come back to China during long holidays. It would be nice if I don't have to change this setting every time I fly.

I haven't been abroad so I can't really tell. The default is https://clients3.google.com/generate_204 in case you want to switch back. P.S. You Chinese?

Yeah. Only using English because of other potential viewers.

Same here (I did use "haven't been abroad") :)


text:
How to configure custom quick app in Quick Settings with GravityBox?
I am using Android Lollipop and my phone is rooted with the current version of Xposed framework and GravityBox is installed. I want to add an app shortcut with GravityBox, but can't do it. Here's the problem:
(Click image to enlarge)

Here is the screenshot of the GravityBox app:
(Click image to enlarge)

Now after adding the quick app shortcut I can't configure it.
Can anyone please help me with this? As I am on Lollipop I am bound to use third party apps to handle the situation.

Give us the screenshots of the GravityBox app where you customized the app shortcut

@Firelord I have uploaded the pic as per ur request.

Under Quick Settings Management  -> Tile specific Settings -> QuickApp tile  Settings: have you configured it already? If not, configure it, save it and may be restart as well if changes are not seen already.

@Firelord Thank you so much. It worked. Add it as an answer and I am going to accept it in the first place.

You didn't configure the quick tile, but only enabled it. To configure it go to QuickSettings management → Tile specific settings → QuickApp tile Settings.
(Click image to enlarge)


text:
Is there way to stop ads?
Every time I unlock my phone (yu yunicorn | marshmallow), ad pops up, covering the whole screen, ads also pop ups when I am using any app and it also uses chrome to direct to ads, its poping up when I am writing this, is there a way to stop these ads ?( disabling the internet is one way, I think, but I want to be connected all times)

Use Lucky Patcher.

@iBug Lucky Patcher is quite tricky to use, if the goal is removing ads. Won't something such as AdAway be equally effective or better?

@DeathMaskSalesman It can easily remove most common ads by adding 60k+ lines in the hosts file. Not so tricky this way.

@iBug It has quite evolved since I last used it, heh. By the way, certain custom ROMs block it.

I scanned with Dr.Web.... There is a threat named as ' not a virus adware (adware)' and when I am going for options, it is giving only option as 'ignore' not to 'delete' or 'quarantine' as other threats. Message appears that it is a file from system and only option to ignore. It says 'the standard neutralizing actions are not applicable for system applications'

Probably it needs root access. Never install stuffs outside playstore unless you trust the developer who created the app.

Which app it is? If it is a system app you can, without root, block it from running. Let us know the precise results.

@firelord Named as 'rockclient.apk' but I can't find in apps

Do you have an app named "Gmobi" or "System update"? If yes, use AppXplore to give us the package name. Try to post the screenshot please.

I used 'addons Detector' suggested by @acejavelin, it showed the all the names of files that comes with any app. It has a search option in which I used to search 'leadbolt' ( as I noticed in one of the corners of a ad), and it was 'u torrent pro' that I downloaded from web and installed

I also scanned with Dr.Web as suggested by @Rajedran Nadar before and after using 'addons Detector' ,which showed me 'u torrent pro' as threat. Thanks to Everyone for helping.

@iBug next time I'll try lucky patcher. ( I hope I won't need to ) thanks

Always remeber check permission before you install any app..

These type of ads usually come from an app you have installed, typically uninstalling the offending app will correct this.
Use Addons Detector to determine the app that is causing the ads and uninstall it.

Install Dr. Web (You can use any antivirus but this worked for me) application from play store.
Let the application scan your mobile phone. It will detect and remove all the adware from you phone. I tried and this worked for me.


text:
Are Android updates encrypted?
We are seeing weird traffic in our network. We opened today the update of Android devices and capturingvtrafgic we see encoded, binary or encrypted data over port 80.
Are Android updates encrypted?
What protocol is used?

one can assume that Android does not send updates in a format that can be intercepted and modified in transit

In security I do not assume anything :) I'm looking for documentation, facts...I have searched Google but the there a lot of noise because there appear a lot of sites related to Android encryption but not updates.

But this is an operational detail: they might choose best practices one time, but not another. Your question is, is the most recent update delivered encrypted, which is not a security question.

Android updates frequently come in the form of a flashable zip. The file in question is not encrypted, as its main security measure is a cryptographic RSA signature inside its META-INF directory.


text:
Change locale system language via ADB in starting from Android 6.0
For manual UI testing purposes, on my Android 6.0 & 7.0 devices, I use a shortcut to access language preferences via ADB, then choose one of the three languages ar_DZ, en_GB, fr_FR manually
adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.Settings\$LocalePickerActivity

Question: is is possible to automate the task of changing the system locale (without root) via ADB?

This solution doesn't use adb directly but meets the end result using automation on unrooted devices
macrodroid is preferred choice of automation for me,  being simple and free up to 5 macros
Preliminary Steps

Install Macrodroid and grant all permissions it asks for
Actions desired by OP require root. Macrodroid offers a way to do it by without root using adb methods, explained here. In essence, it is granting WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS and CHANGE_CONFIGURATION by running the following commands

adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
followed by
adb shell pm grant com.arlosoft.macrodroid android.permission.CHANGE_CONFIGURATION
Reboot to ensure commands are updated in the app
Creating Macros and Testing

Trigger : Select Empty Trigger
Action : Set language → French → France ( corresponding to fr_FR)
Constraints : Leave blank
Test it by selecting Test Macro from the 3 dots menu of the macro. The system language should change to French . Save the macro for example French. Create two similar macros for other two choices

Creating Home Screen Shortcut
Usually, if you long press the home screen, you will find the icon for widgets collection. Among them you will find Macrodroid widgets. One of them is Macrodroid shortcuts. Drag and drop that to your home screen , it will ask you which macro it should be assigned to , while displaying a list of Macros. Select the macro and rename the widget e.g., French.  When you press on that widget corresponding macro is executed. Repeat for other Macros. If you are using a custom launcher you will need to search how to access the widgets collection
Notes

Drop down menu selection for languages can be implemented but that would require another Macro. Besides this  method of one desktop icon shortcut for each language keeps it simple and easier to debug
This method will not work on Oreo (You do not get the set language action, maybe due to the way it is implemented)

Yes, I have issue with shortcut option, because it's not available in the widget settings, but bypassed this by using a shortcut maker app, I guess this solution is the fastest to change locale until now, I will accept it unless there is a better solution without third party apps. because the question was asked about using ADB only.

I have an issue with RtL allignment in settings with Arabic language, maybe the shell refreshing isn't implemented like the LocalePickerActivity.

The https://android.stackexchange.com/q/105258/131553 question involving Arabic was fixed by Google in Nougat, and the current device doesn't have an issue with RtL but while using Macrodroid only this time.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.


text:
How I can use SD card as internal memory?
I am using Samsung Galaxy Prime+ - SM-G532F device running Android 6.0.1. The problem I am facing is that. My device has very low internal memory, whenever I try to install more then 3 normal application an error encounters that please delete previous application to install other application.
So, I tried to find ways to use SD Card as app installation memory but problem is same there is not any option available in this device to migrate applications from internal storage to SD Card.
Please someone help me on this irritating problem

In that case, mentioned adoptable-storage tag-wiki is the perfect starting-point. Be aware not only of the "pros" of that, but also of the drawbacks before you enable adaptable storage. In your case, advantages might outweight the drawbacks, though.

If you buy a brand new Sdcard which you did not use or plug into another device, and insert it into your phone, you should get a notification that says something like this : "Use Sdcard as internal storage" . You can click that notification and accept it. It should now treat your Sdcard as as internal storage. Make sure that you do not remove that Sdcard after that.
Check this website for more information :
https://www.nextpit.com/how-to-format-microsd-cards-as-internal-storage

First backup whatever you find valuable in your SD card. Next remove your SD card after power off. Insert it back and reboot. After in your status bar you will see option to set up sd card. Select use as internal. The reset process should start and viola. NB. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO USE YOUR SD CARD WITH OTHER PHONES WITHOUT FORMATTING

Most of OEM's doesn't offer in gui option for adoptable storage. So you have to do it via ADB. Here is how
Here it is:
NOTE  all data on your SD card will be lost.

Make sure USB debugging is enabled in developer options under settings and then connect your phone to PC via USB cable.
Open terminal or command line on PC ( make sure you have ADB installed if not then download minimal ADB and fastboot, you can find it on Google click ) type command "adb devices" to make sure phone is detected, then type "adb shell"
3.Type 'sm list-disks' to list the disks available, the result should be something like "disk:179:160"
To make SD adoptable use command "sm partition disk:xxx:xxx private" where xxx:xxx is replaced with result from previous command, in some cases there is _ instead of : so watch out for that. If you want to use only half of SD as adoptable then use this command "sm partition disk:xxx:xxx mixed 50" and that's it.

If you want to move your data (pictures, videos etc) you can go to settings>storage>SD card>more and you will have there option "migrate data" hit it and let it go.

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


text:
Unlock android phone from PC
I need to move some data from my HTC one m8 to a Samsung Galaxy S8. The only problem is that the HTC's touch screen does not work so I cannot unlock it (it's locked with a PIN). I don't have a keyboard adapter for this phones port so I cannot plug a keyboard or mouse into it. I can plug it into my laptop so can I unlock it from there?

That'll be a bit harder. I don't know which method works, but our locked-out tag-wiki should be a good starter. Good luck!

I found a solution after all, you have to keep pressing the volume down button so that the phone does not lock itself and shut the screen off. This gives more time to mash the screen to enter the pin.
The screen barley works but sometimes if I press hard it registers it.
After it was unlocked I again used the volume down button in order to stop the phone locking after a few minutes of inactivity. I then plugged it into my laptop and moved the data from the phone to my desktop.
I could have disabled a pin or disabled auto screen lock in the settings but the screen was just too messed up so certain on screen buttons did not work.
I still need to somehow back up my scribble app notes. The back button in the app does not work and clicking the back button next to the home panel closes the app rather than closing the text editor and going back to the main screen where all my notes are.


text:
How to run Whatsapp without app?
My Samsung Tab is locked. It is only meant for educational purposes. My tab cannot run any app but only use Google through Wi-Fi. Tab can not use Sim card as well as it is locked by college authorities.
So how can I run Whatsapp online on this tab?

Whatsapp web doesn't run standalone. It is an another frontend to an already installed and functioning Whatsapp session in a device. That is to say, if you have a device with Whatsapp already installed and connected to internet, then you can access it through Whatsapp Web as well (requires authentication from device). But the web functionality doesn't offer to create an account and use Whatsapp services so you're at loss here.
More info: How do I use WhatsApp on my computer?


text:
SU binaries stop working randomly and require device reboot
I'm having this very strange problem with rooted devices: SU binaries are installed along with SuperSU and everything works fine. From time to time SU stops working until I reboot the device. If I open SuperSU I get the message saying I should install the binaries. Testing from shell SU doesn't work either.
I am not able to reproduce this reliably but I have noticed it right after reboot. So I turn the device on, SU doesn't work, then I reboot and then it does.
The device is running Lollipop and SuperSu version is 2.65. This matches the SU binaries version, I checked. Hardware is a prototype device based on a phone, not sure about the details though. I do know it has a Mediatek processor.

is it a rooted "Production" build? or another "User-debug"/"Engineer" build?

@AbdelhafidMadoui I'm not sure what the difference is but I would guess it's a production build. We received the android build from the hardware manufacturer and someone rooted it for us. I'm contacting them as well.

Check my profile for my email address, and contact me, because this discussion should not be public.


text:
how to save you tube videos from the library onto my computer
I have saved YouTube videos from my android phone into the YouTube library. I thought it was being saved onto my phone.
How do I save the videos from the YouTube library onto my android phone or computer?

What is exactly the " YouTube Library"?

By saying YouTube Library he might be referring to the YouTube offline mode. @Matt95

The videos that you download in offline mode on your mobile YouTube app are saved on your device only but their extension is different and therefore they cannot be played except official YouTube application.
If you want to view the downloaded video somewhere else on your device rather than YouTube app than you need to download third party application called 'Tubemate'. Tubemate is the right choice to download YouTube videos in desired resolution. Also it gives users privilege to download videos from other sites like 'Dailymotion', 'Vimeo' and many more. Tubemate directly saves the video on your default memory location whether its internal storage or sd card.
For computer the best application used for downloading is 'IDM'. Download and run the setup according to the instructions and afterwards integrate IDM integration module extension in the browser. That's it, you are ready to go from there. Visit YouTube from the browser and when you play the repected video, direct download link through IDM will be generated. Click on that and enjoy your downloaded video whenever, wherever, however and on whatsoever platform you want.
Tubemate android application download link
IDM pc application download link

The videos you saved in your device will be saved in an encrypted format which you cannot play using video players like MX player etc.., YouTube, Netflix and several other apps use encryption technique when you save the video offline.
To download YouTube videos, there are several websites/apps available.
Application: Tubemate, SnapTube.
Websites: https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/

From you Android device all you need to do is download Tubemate.Apk  from this like http://tubemate-youtube-downloader.en.uptodown.com/android/download
After downloading
1.Install the app
2. Search for the video you need, when you are the video
3. Click the green button on the top of the screen
4. Select the resolution you need and download

The question noted: How do I save the videos from the YouTube library onto my android phone or computer?


text:
Data partition with 23GB only shows 8GB when mounted
I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, and I was finding strange that the storage manager showed that the system was filling 20GB of the 32GB internal storage, so I went to dig a little further into this.
I found that the data partition is p42 in the internal rom using TWRP's fdisk, which correctly reports it as having 23GB (I haven't found how to get the TWRP terminal output here, though). However, using fdisk with the device fully booted up, via ADB shell, I get this:
suzuran:/ # fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0

Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 31.2 GB, 31272730624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3802 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

               Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks  Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1               1        3803    30539775+ ee EFI GPT

not showing the full partition table...
However, when I try to read the partition, it gives no errors:
suzuran:/ # dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p42 of=/dev/null
48365568+0 records in
48365568+0 records out
24763170816 bytes transferred in 246.927 secs (100285391 bytes/sec)

Reading the entire storage also gives no errors:
suzuran:/ # dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/dev/null
61079552+0 records in
61079552+0 records out
31272730624 bytes transferred in 365.211 secs (85629213 bytes/sec)

But when mounted, either booted or inside TWRP (I also mounted it manually) it shows only a 8GB size:
suzuran:/ # df
Filesystem                    1K-blocks     Used Available Use% Mounted on
[ other skipped mounts ]
/dev/block/mmcblk0p43           5215496  1188900   4026596  23% /system
/dev/block/mmcblk0p42           8641912  6071544   2570368  71% /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p41            197472      188    197284   1% /cache
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3              81872    57808     24064  71% /firmware
/dev/block/mmcblk0p31             28144      164     27980   1% /persist
/dev/block/mmcblk0p39             14327      160     14167   2% /idd
/dev/block/loop0                  92656      980     91676   2% /su

I'm using LineageOS, but in the stock Sony rom I had the same issue, only didn't have the tools to check this further.
Anyone had this issue before or can help me with this?

Edit: I just found about 'blockdev' command:
suzuran:/ # blockdev --getsize64 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata
24763170816

which gives the correct size of the partition. What's happening with the 'mount' command? Could this be kernel related? If so, why does it happen in TWRP too?

After "playing" a bit with the device, I managed to trace the problem to the ext4 partition data. Booted into TWRP, terminal, backed up the files in the partition, unmounted, then:
mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata

And voila! 23GB of data storage available. Restored the backed up files to the new ext4 filesystem and everything is working now, although I feel it a little slower. Nevertheless, it's solved.


text:
Unwanted outgoing phone calls
Occasionally, when I flip the lid of my phone and put it on the table, the phone calls the primary number of the contact with which I communicated last (by phone or text message).
I suspect that some button has this function under certain circumstances, but I am not able to reproduce this call back voluntarily.
Does anyone know what happens to me? And maybe how to deactivate this hidden callback feature.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 mini.
Edit: According to the answer I received, I moved the icon of the phone app, so that it would be impossible to tap it three times by closing the lid. But this didn't change the problem. The annoying unwanted outgoing calls still persist.

Finally, I found the problem. On the phone, when the contact is open, and I take the phone close to the ear, it calls, without touching it.
Thus, when I leave the contact open, the phone can call out unvoluntarily. It suffices that it detects an object moving near. this can even happen when the phone was locked, and is unlocked later with the details of a contact open.

Depending on where the phone app icon is on your screen, it’s can be very easy to tap it twice. Once to start the phone app and a second time to select the phone instead of contacts, call logs or groups. One more time at the same position will dial the last number in the call log. This is most likely what’s going on try it as see. Just tap that the little green phone icon a couple of times.

I'm not quite sure if this is it, but I still accept it as the answer. I moved the icon to start the phone app. So this might solve the problem.

This really is not the problem. My phone still calls occasionnally itself the last person I had on the phone.


text:
Google Photos app stuck on "Getting ready to back up"
I've been using Google Photos backup and sync for years without problem until yesterday. It is stuck on "Getting ready to back up" for a day instead of "Backup complete". Any suggestions how to resolve? I can't tell which photo it's stuck trying to sync, I don't see the "circular arrows" on any of the photos.
I've already tried:

Restarting the phone
Force stop the app
Clear app cache
Clear app data
Free up space (delete device photos that are already in the cloud)
Remove active Google account from Google Photos and re-adding it.
Verified that I am running latest version of Google Photos app.
Verified that I still have 16 GB left in my Google storage.

I am using:

Google Nexus 6P
Android 7.1.2
Google Photos v 3.4.0.167082928 (updated on Sep 1, 2017)
Upload size: Original
Wifi only (does not have SIM card)

Do you see the latest/all of your photos if you visit Google Photos from another device (i.e., desktop/laptop) ?

Hmm, actually, there are ~50 photos/videos on my Nexus 6P that are not uploaded Google Photos cloud. I did a "Free Up Space", then browsed the Android's "Device Folders > Camera" to see the unsynced photos.

First, try all of the steps listed in the original question. If that doesn't resolve the problem, then the issue could be that your device and cloud Google Photos are out of sync in an unrecoverable way, and you will essentially have to do a manual sync.
Confirm that your device is out of sync with cloud:

In Android Google Photos, do Free Up Space. This will delete all the local photos on your device that have already been synced to cloud Google Photos.
Now go to Android Google Photos > Device Folders > Camera to look at your local photos remaining. If Google Photos is synced, there should be no photos here. If you still see photos, that means it is out of sync.

If you have determined that your device is out of sync with cloud, then you need to manually sync your device's photos.

Open cloud Google Photos on a desktop browser: https://photos.google.com/
Compare the Android device's local photos with those on photos.google.com
Connect your Android device to your computer via USB cable (you may need to enable MTP transfer mode)
Copy the photos/videos from DCIM/Camera to your computer.
On the computer, upload the photos/videos to photos.google.com
Confirm that all the Android device photos show up in photos.google.com
On Android device, delete all the photos in Android Google Photos > Device Folders > Camera

Now the Android device and cloud Google Photos should be synced up, and you should not see the "Getting ready to back up" message.


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Using a presentation pointer with Android tablet
I have recently bought the Nvidia Shield Tablet, which happens to have Mini HDMI output. As a PhD student in Maths (potentially staying in academia afterwards), I give and will most likely continue to give presentations on a regular basis and was wondering whether it would be possible to do away with bringing my heavy laptop to conferences and just completely rely on my tablet instead.
It seems like the answer is positive, as there are Android versions of pretty much all the computing software I use and a Bluetooth keyboard should allow for a rather smooth 'working experience'. One final issue that stands out is presentations and in particular the comfort of having a pointer to work with. The way cheap wireless pointers work these days is that you simply plug in a small usb stick to your laptop and immediately it starts to work. Can something similar be achieved with Android? Quickness is key here, I really want to be able to just plug things in and be good to go. I can see two possibilities:
1) Use the so-called USB On-The-Go adapter (micro USB to normal USB) and then plug in the usb stick provided. Any chance of this simple approach being a solution?
2) Buy a more sophisticated pointer which has Bluetooth support and use it to connect it to your device. I guess once it is connected it should work immediately?
King apologies if this question is a duplicate (I sincerely think it isn't, I have done a fair bit of digging) or whether the answer is simply 'both (1) and (2) will work', but I just wanted to be sure before I order relevant accessories.

May I offer a third option?  Buy a ~$30 (USD) Chromecast device and mirror your tablet to a display - using no connecting wires.  Then you can hold your tablet and use your fingers to manipulate your presentations.  A Chromecast is generally smaller than a mouse, too.  This is my go to method for presenting.

This is an interesting idea I haven't thought about. One potential 'deal-breaker' though is that Chromecast appears to require an internet connection, which needs to be set up after connecting to a display- is that correct? Even worse, isn't it true that both the tablet and the chromecast need to be connected to the same wifi? This is somewhat disastrous if I use any sort of 'corporate' wifi, isn't it?

Doesn't necessarily have to be Chromecast - there are lots of Miracast-based solutions (some bearing the shape of a Chromecast, essentially a knockoff), some would create its own local WiFi network for you to connect to and mirror the screen within.

Many thanks, I'll consider it, but probably only if the first option I mention in my question is proven to be not satisfactory. If it is okay though, it looks like the cheapest and most hassle-free way to go about it.


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How to achieve a basic setup of LineageOS with root and Google Assistant?
It appears there are 4 things needed to get what I would consider a basic LineageOS install working so apps can run correctly with root.

LineageOS
SU addon
Google Apps/Google Play Store
Google Voice Assistant

Could someone outline how to set up the last one "Google Voice Assistant"?  I also noticed there is no complete guide that I could find on StackExchange for setting up the above on LineageOS.  So I guess something like a guide would probably could be helpful as a canonical question.

As for Google Assistant... Try this along with the latest Google App & Play Services.

Edited to remove mentions of downloads, as those are undoubtly off-topic.

So this is actually pretty easy if you phone is already unlocked.

Boot into recovery mode
Wipe the phone.  I advise going under advanced and checking everything unless you have files you need.

I wipe everything including internal storage but you don't have to
Install the zips starting with LineageOS, SU addon, Google Apps/Google Play Store & Google Voice Assistant.  You should not reboot your device until all are installed.
Reboot you device out of recovery mode and go through the set up menus.


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OpenVPN start & connect at boot time
How to start & connect OpenVPN at boot time? Please note that we are using Android 6.0 and OpenVPN 0.6.73.
Using the paid Tasker app is not an option.

I would consider the following entries.Maybe this app will help you: LIama
It can be as much as Tasker if not more and is free.If you upgraded OpenVPN, you have a function that will start the application automatically when rebooting.


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Why my Play Store is not working
My play store is not working it just say's error while retrieving information [RH-01]

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! If you have issues with Playstore, please take a look at our google-play-store tag-wiki where we've collected a list of error messages and linked them to the corresponding posts. For your specific case, that would be: Keep getting “Error retrieving information from server. [ RH-01 ]” from the play store. Further it might help to have some more details: device, Android version (custom ROM?), what happened before the issue started (and might have led to it) …

Do this:
Goto settings-> apps -> play store [Clear cache, clear data, force stop]
if still doesn't work then try restarting your device.


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Synchronizing phone numbers from android to gmail not working
I'm trying to sync phone numbers from my android (honor by Huawei) to my gmail account. I followed all the instructions, i.e. - I have my gmail account on the phone, I've gone to settings and enabled sync (including contact sync), it says that everything is synchronized but I can't see any of my phone contacts on my gmail (when I open it on my computer). Any ideas?
screenshot

while saving the contact did you choose to save it in google contacts or the default phone contact library??

can you see your contacts here on this website?
https://contacts.google.com/

Google only syncs the contact which you save in google contact. The contacts saved in your mobile default contact library are not synced directly through the sync settings.
For synchronizing contacts in above stated case you need to use third party backup applications which provides services that include syncing of contacts to google servers and afterwards you can also get those contacts back to the device from google servers with the help of same application.
Such apps also provides the privilege to backup text messages, so they are worth trying.

First you need to copy all your contacts from Phone Memory to your Google account which you will want to sync your phone numbers to.
To do this,

1st => Go to Contacts
2nd => Click on Menu
3rd => Select Settings
4th => Under Advanced, select Copy contacts
5th => You should see a new pop-up window, (Copy contacts from), select Phone
6th => Select all the contacts you will want to copy to your Google account, if you want to copy all the contacts, you can simply click on the Select all

the moment you select the contacts you will want to copy, the copy option should be activated.

7th => click on the copy, after which it should prompt you where you'll want to copy to.
8th => You should find the Google account in the list of location to copy to. Select the Google account you will want to copy the contacts to, then you wait for a moment and all your contacts will be copied to the Google account.

To ensure that your contacts are in your Google account and they are sync, follow the steps bellow;

1st => Go to Contacts
2nd => Click on Menu
3rd => Select Accounts
4th => Select Google
5th => Select Sync Contacts. This should begin sync all your contacts, after you are sure that all your contacts are synchronized, you can now check your contacts on the https://contacts.google.com/ to find your contacts.

I hope this solves your problem.


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How to check if bootloader is open?
1) How can I check if the bootloader of a Nexus 5x is open? (GSM Code? App? ADB?)
2) Is it still correct that only the manufacturer can close the bootloader once it has been opened? Or is it already possible to close it by yourself?

Hint: I bought a used Nexus 5x and I want to check if the bootloader is actually closed, so there hasn't been any changes to the ROM.

Boot into fastboot mode by holding VOL- then POWER until the screen lights up with an interface like this:

The last line will indicate lock status: "locked" or "unlocked".
Anyone can easily issue a relock of the bootloader by executing fastboot oem lock. This had been the case from nearly the very beginning - not sure where you got the impression that only manufacturers can do it.
Although the relock command triggers a factory reset, if the ROM itself was modified (modified /system, plus a custom kernel that turns off dm-verity), relocking will not prevent the OS from booting up afterwards, therefore it's not an optimal way to make sure the phone hasn't been tampered with. If you absolutely want to stay clean, unlock the bootloader and flash a factory image.
Lastly, an additional suggestion: if you like to play around with the phone (root, etc.), keep your bootloader unlocked so that you wouldn't end up with a brick when things go wrong.


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How to brick android
I'm currently trying to hard-brick my phone. Yes, you read right. The reason doesn't really matter. I tried flashing wrong recovery/ROM but no success. I could easily recover the smartphone afterwards through SP Flash Tool and MTK Droid. It's about a Gionee P6. I can't flash a kernel because it doesn't allow me, the process of flashing ending with error each time. Any suggestions?

How about physically? Can you open the device up?

@AndyYan I don't want to damage the warranty seals XD

I'm thinking of dd zeroes to the kernel partition, effectively zero-filling it. Need root ofc. Not sure if that'll actually work, since normal guys like me don't have the guts to try such risks. If SPFT can't flash a kernel to the phone (as you described) then there should be few if any means of recovery from a missing kernel.

@AndyYan How can I do that? I'm not very familiar with sending commands from pc

You can easily root the phone (or do this in a working recovery) then run the following command in a shell:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M count=1

Do note that unless you destroy a piece of hardware, a professional engineer can always recover it with special tools.
See this answer of mine: Using ADB, what command can I use to break/permanently destroy a Galaxy S5?

Did the trick, completely unresponsive

This is the weirdest case I have ever seen but nice to see that it worked.

It's an MTK device. You can easily hardbrick it using SP Flash tool.
Go to Format tab. On Auto Format Flag , click on Format whole flash. This will format the eMMC memory leaving practically nothing, not even the preloader.
Now click on Start. Power off the phone then connect it to the computer. Wait a few seconds.
Done.
PS: One can still bring it to life using special tools though.

Can someone detect that this was done purposely? Does it even boot up, like going to boot screen - a blank screen?

No booting up, no charging, no detecting by a computer. I don't think someone can figure out it was purposely bricked.


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UC Mini's Speed mode not working
Something went wrong suddenly with my UC Mini browser. Its Speed mode has stopped working on my Android phone. With its Speed mode on, UC Mini works well even over a slow 2G network. But now, turning it on has stopped working.
How can I fix it?

Maybe your data carrier had problems or there's a bug at UC Mini. See if next updates of UC Mini can workaround your problem.

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


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Encrypted SD card failed after S5 restart
As I can't get my Samsung S5 connected to my Debian 9.1 with KDE machine over MTP I had to use KDE Connect to copy over files.
I then had to move the files from my internal storage to the SD card.
I have both my internal storage as well as the SD card encrypted.
I copied over a lot of files which worked well. Then I ran KDE Connect for a bit longer to transfer a bit more files. I still have over 1 GB of free storage space on my internal disk. However my phone got stuck for quite a while: I could unlock it to see my wallpaper for a few seconds until it went back to the lockscreen (it had very slow reactions). I waited for a while and disabled the WLAN on my computer to stop any data transmissions which didn't help. I hence restarted my phone.
After restart I got greeted with the dialog to encrypt the SD card that said that SD card encryption has been activated and asking me to either enable it by proceeding or deactivating it. On the phone it shows no files on the SD card.
I connected it to my computer where I can see all the files which are unreadable (encrypted). I copied all the encrypted files over in case that helps me restore them and also wrote down the name under which the SD card was mounted.
I also deleted the "LOST.DIR" directory and a couple of files to free up some space in case that was the problem. I dismounted the SD card, reinserted it to my phone and restarted it.
The phone showed me that same dialog again. In searches I could only find questions where people had this problem after software updates or factory resets: but not after just a restart.
Any ideas what might have caused this and how I could fix it?
Note that it doesn't look like I can format the SD card. I could try pressing "deactivate" or proceed at that dialog. But wouldn't that change the decryption keys so that even if I copy my files back it won't be able to decrypt them?

Solution: Follow the steps outlined by Colbe here but format the SD card with GParted on the computer and then format it again on the Android. And leave out step 5.
Likely cause: a missing .MetaEcfsFile file.
Also GParted showed just the "boot" flag for the SD card partition: no "lba" flag.


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Restore messages from old whatsapp file
i need to restore old messages from a year and a half ago that i have the files of but everytime i load it onto the phone it does not load those messages, can anyone help me? it is also no longer the same phone...
S5 to S6

Isn't there an online backup of whatsapp files? Like in Google drive? If not, you're in trouble.

A year and half? I don't think you can do that because WhatsApp changed the encryption system of messages a couple of months ago.
Below is my WhatsApp message backup.

I don't know how to put it. But I realized something. My friend and I used to exchange phones. At one time after i use his phone and remove his WhatsApp account to  mine, though different numbers, WhatsApp gives me the option to restore backup from drive or SD. When I skip the drive and choose SD, it restores my friend's messages and media to my account and they are visible..
So I think if you have the backup file you can put it in the right WhatsApp directory and get everything going


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Why can't I hear callers after installing new upgrade?
I was notified on my phone that it had an upgrade so I selected it. Now no-one can hear me unless I put it on loudspeaker although I can hear them?

Factory reset should do the magic if it's not up to faulty update. Do you use stock firmware or custom ROM?

There is no guarantee, but hard reset most time tends to fix this type of problems, try and observe your phone closely, you might have some apps that might be manipulating the speaker in your phone. Take time to troubleshoot the problem.
If there's no app causing the problem, then you can run a Factory resetting for your device by following the steps,

click on your menu list
Settings
Backup and reset
click Factory data reset which usually should be at the end.
Reset phone or Reset device.

Ensure you have adequate charge on your battery to handle the entire process and that battery is not mistakenly pulled off during the process, because if any happens, it can lead to corrupting of data.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Erase external SD card via adb
Is it possible to perform "Erase external SD card" action via adb?
To be clear, my goal isn't to manually call partitioning/formatting tools such as newfs_msdos from command line. I want to get exactly the same result as if "Erase.." button was pressed in Settings via GUI, but using a command line to achieve that.

Nope. It's not possible.

You can do it by clicking on the screen from adb. like adb shell input touchscreen tap x y

Settings -> Storage -> Erase SD card. https://www.wikihow.com/Format-an-SD-Card-on-Android


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Scan WhatsApp QR code from device with broken screen to access WhatsApp Web
I need to get a bunch of WhatsApp contacts off my phone. However, I can't see anything on the screen. The phone still works. I tried to get it into debugging through USB mode but I can't see anything and is pretty much impossible.
I need a way to either mirror the phone to PC without being able to interact with the device or retrieve all my WhatsApp contacts via USB.

There is an application through which you can control the screen over USB and adb called ADB control. Follow the link to install and use it. Then you backup contacts to your phone/google account once you have control.
Source: http://marian.schedenig.name/2014/07/03/remote-control-your-android-phone-through-adb/

Do you have USB debugging enabled on your device?
Droid@Screen allows seeing the screen output and also interacting.
Though it's slow but could help you out.

thats the issue i cant activate debugging through usb without being able to see what im doing. i tried a chrome app called Vysor, it doesnt pickup my phone even when plugged into usb.


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Battery draining extremely quickly Galaxy S7
My phones battery was draining extremely quickly a few moments ago, around 1% per 2 seconds. It's been doing this fairly often but when I go to device management and clean everything it usually stops draining.
This time though, the battery kept on being chugged and I couldn't find any explanation as to why it would get drained like that, everything was asleep or off. Even after turning off and on my device, the battery kept going down and the phone kept getting hotter and hotter.
Would any one know what else I could do? I feel as though I tried everything possible.
(in case this happens again since it randomly decided to stop chugging.)
Thanks,
to note:

Device software is up to date.
Device is 1 1/2 years old.

Not to bash Galaxies but the battery life was terrible after a year and did exactly what you described on future updates when I owned one.  From my understanding the updates are what kill the battery life, but I have no proof only me guessing.  You can try a factor reset but that is about it.

@William well see, the problem isnt the battery or anything because on average, my battery lasts a full day of use, but for that moment, the battery was being drained exceptionally quickly which I can only imagine was because of a background application and not simply the software or battery.

Have you already checked with our battery-life tag-wiki and the hints pointed from there?

This has being a common problem with S6 due to update to marshmallow, I believe this should also work for your S7.
Wipe your phone cache or system partition by following the steps below;

Go to Settings
Storage and USB
Cached Data
OK. This should wipe your system partition.

Or you can also do the same thing from recovery mode by following the steps bellow:

Turn off your Galaxy S7.
Press and hold Power
When ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ appears, immediately release the Power key and then press and hold the Volume Down button to access Fastboot
Use the volume buttons to highlight Recovery and press Power to confirm.
If you see the Android robot, press Power, then Volume up briefly to access Recovery.
Scroll down to Wipe cache partition and hit Power to confirm.
Scroll down to Yes and hit Power to confirm.
Reboot

If the problem persists, you can also clear the app cache for your device and the last resort is to do a full backup and perform a factory reset. Wiping your device and restoring your apps and data is one of the simplest and best ways to avoid any weirdness battery drain and general system performance issues.

That seems like something that should work, if this issue happens again, I'll attempt this after and hopefully I never get the issue again. It's just a little strange that it occurs randomly and just starts draining my battery.
But if it persists, I'll be sure to try this, thanks!

Has it answered your question?

I haven't gotten the chance to try it out, but I guess I could accept it despite that since it seems like the best possible answer.


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Touch screen acting weird (P9)
I recently got a new touchscreen, which seems to work (since you can see the touches in debug mode), but sometimes it just won't swipe from one page to another! This also happens in an app. What is wrong, I don't get it?
Video: https://puu.sh/xtaow/ed633e8833.mp4
PS: When swiping slower it sometimes works better, but not always.
PPS: When having the phone in my left hand, I can only swipe right and vice versa. When having the phone on my table everything works perfectly.
Phone: Huawei P9 (EVA-L09)
Android: Nougat 7

Maybe you should increase your touch sensitivity. Try apps like this.


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How to watch Facebook video without stopping music playback from Spotify
Here is a very common use case I have: I listen to music on Spotify while going through my Facebook feed. Sometimes there's a video that I want to see in full screen. When I tap the video, music playback stops. What I want is to watch the video without any sound and keep my music playing. Is that possible?
Phone: Galaxy S8

I don't think it is possible under normal circumstances for speakers can not be controlled by multiple apps simultaneously.

You can't do this exactly, But there's a workaround.
Go to settings > sounds & vibration > sperate app sound.
Note: that this will only work if a Bluetooth device is connected.

It is not normally possible unless the apps have been written to release the speaker.
From xda.developers

Android offers the concept of "audio focus", a set of APIs that can cooperatively be utilized by third-party apps so that only one app can hold the focus at a time. Apps can choose whether or not their audio should halt or "duck" whenever another app takes over the audio focus. Because Google left it up to developers to decide how to handle things when the audio focus is lost, there's a lot of inconsistency in how apps behave when another app takes over audio focus.
Fortunately, there's a new mod for rooted phones called "App Volume Control" that seeks to solve this.

If you are willing to root your phone, then you can try Per App Volume Control


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Dismissed notifications come back
I'm having an issue on my LG G6 where if I swipe to dismiss a notification (such as a text message or Tweetcaster mention), sometime later (an hour, maybe more) it will come back. Only if I tap on the notification, and go all the way through to the app, does it register as properly dismissed.
There doesn't seem to be a "repeat notifications" in Accessibility which would cause this. Any other likely causes?


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insufficient storage - df - sufficient conditions?
I know there're lots of questions about insufficient storage, but no real answer so far ! In particular about /data/app, which has plenty of space in my case. So why can't I install any new app ?!
What are the precise conditions that make install fail ?
(I don't want tricks like clearing cache or /data/app, which are both fine in my case..., but I'm more interested by a dev answer about how the install process proceeds)
Thanks !
shell@wiko:/ $ df
Filesystem               Size     Used     Free   Blksize
/dev                   235.3M   128.0K   235.2M   4096
/sys/fs/cgroup         235.3M    12.0K   235.3M   4096
/mnt/secure            235.3M     0.0K   235.3M   4096
/mnt/asec              235.3M     0.0K   235.3M   4096
/mnt/obb               235.3M     0.0K   235.3M   4096
/system                787.4M   687.4M   100.0M   4096
/data                    2.5G     1.0G     1.5G   4096
/cache                 221.5M     4.1M   217.3M   4096
/protect_f               8.8M     4.1M     4.8M   4096
/protect_s               8.8M     4.0M     4.8M   4096
/storage/sdcard0         2.3G     1.0G     1.3G   4096

logcat gives:
I/PackageManager(  672): Apk copy done
I/PackageManager(  672): Checking for more work or unbind...
I/PackageManager(  672): Posting delayed MCS_UNBIND
V/PackageManager(  672): + starting restore round-trip 16
V/PackageManager(  672): No restore - queue post-install for 16
V/PackageManager(  672): Handling post-install for 16
V/Provider/Settings(  672): get setting for user 0 by user 0 so skipping cache
V/Provider/Settings(  672):  from settings cache , name = sys_free_storage_log_interval , value = null
V/Provider/Settings(  672): get setting for user 0 by user 0 so skipping cache
V/Provider/Settings(  672):  from settings cache , name = disk_free_change_reporting_threshold , value = null
D/dalvikvm(  672): GC_EXPLICIT freed 579K (8856), 21% free 15405K/19324K, paused 5ms+10ms, total 125ms
I/Finsky  (14148): [15066] com.google.android.finsky.packagemanager.impl.h.a(9): Package install status for fr.smoney.android.izly.REC is -4
W/Finsky  (14148): [1] com.google.android.finsky.installer.a.aa.a(37): Install failure of fr.smoney.android.izly.REC: -4, Exception: n/a

Have you already checked with our insufficient-memory tag-wiki for known solutions? And checked with the "related" questions shown next to yours, such as “Insufficient storage” when trying to install new app? Also, taking a look at our heavily frequented questions on this topic might give you some clues.

@Izzi Thank you for reformatting & the links. Yes, I have checked most of these links, but they only give user-level answers that clearly do not apply in my case (like 25MB or 10% limit), or tips to free up memory - but nothing useful for me: not any "developer-aware" cues about the actual install process that may help me to understand... As if nobody really knew how does this install process really work, in the details ! I'd really appreciate to avoid having to dig into android's code to understand it ;-) hoping someone else already did...

Related thread on XDA. If you want to try that approach, I guess all that LP does is what you also can achieve using pm set-install-location 1 (0=auto, 1=internal, 2=SDCard).

@xtof54 You are welcome for the reformatting! #D

@Izzy thanks for the XDA link; I've tried it and this little trick actually works ! After some thinking, it makes sense, because I used to have an SD card that got crazy and I removed it, so I guess Android was always trying to install on sdcard, even though there is none anymore :-/ Please write it as a real answer and I'll tag it as solved. Thanks a lot !

Oh! That might explain – especially if you had set it to prefer that card (2 in my answer). You could verify that by setting 0 again (auto) and see if that works as well. Please let me know then, to update my answer.

There's a related thread on XDA describing a work-around. Adapting it a little so you don't need that "specific tool" (LP):

Set the install location explicitly to internal storage:
pm set-install-location 1 # (0=auto (default), 1=internal, 2=SDCard)

Clear the Play Store settings

Now your install should go through.
As the comment in the code line shows, by default Android is set to automatically chose the storage the install should go to. It seems something is messed up in that evaluation. So by making your wish explicit, that "auto evaluation" routine is skipped, and thus the error avoided. If that's what's behind the issue, it should work as well setting your preferred storage to 2 (SDCard) if you prefer that.
Reading your comment, the culprit might have been a little different at least in your case: If you had set the install location to 2 and then removed the card, it's pretty much clear why there's "insufficient storage" on the empty slot :)


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Building LAN with android phone (Xiaomi Redmi 3s)
I am trying to build a LAN using my phone. Have connected the phone via USB to the pc and switched on WiFi hotspot (so i can connect laptop, printer etc to the Internet). But i cant get them together, as i know my public IP provided by IPS, i cant get the local IP for my PC, and other gadgets as well. And my phone is not connected to any WiFi hotspots, as i use it as a hotspot itself.

What do you mean by "get them together"? What's the LAN configuration you're trying to achieve, and what do you need the public IP for?

If you have more information, I can help you.
The APP ES file explorer provides a LAN function.
If you want to route over the PC to a router or something do this.
1.)First, you need to enable routing.(Windows)
2.)You need an app that provides you with a terminal (terminal emulator etc.)
Example:
ifconfig usb0 192.168.0.2
route add default gw 192.168.0.1

Set your DNS server :
echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" >> /etc/resolv.conf

or with BusyBox:
nano /etc/resolv.conf

3.)Under Windows you need to configure the path to your router.
route ADD 192.168.0.2 MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1


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How do you disable "add icon to home screen" on Android Oreo?
On Android Oreo, the option for "add icon to home screen" is no longer in the Play Store settings. How do you disable the option?

The right way to do this is to pose the question if it has not already been asked, and then answer it yourself.

Edit your post to make it a question. And answer it. +1 because I was looking for the same thing

I've been looking all over the internet for an answer to this for a while. In hopes of alleviating other people's headache's, here's how to enable/disable automatically adding home screen icons of newly downloaded apps in the newly released Android Oreo.
You won't find the setting in the Play Store anymore, nor is it in the Google app settings, or the device Settings. Instead:

Hold on the home screen
Tap Settings
Toggle "Add icon to Home screen"
Rejoice in knowing you didn't search for this for over an hour

Note that this fix is confirmed for the default Android Oreo launcher, tested on the Pixel. Other launchers and devices may differ.
Credit goes to Reece Gale for posting his answer on Google+.

doesn't work there's no such toggle as "Add icon to Home screen" in the mentioned settings . . .

Scroll way down the page it's at the bottom. Toggle off.

@MikeBrodesky as it's a setting of the home screen, it will depend on the launcher. Aaron: could you clarify this and also mention which launcher you refer to? If it's "the default one", please at least mention the device (as "defaults" differ between manufacturers/devices/ROMs).

I couldn't do this as the Google now launcher wasn't compatible (HTC U11). I got around this by installing another launcher called Oreo launcher. (Not by Google) this had the option and was compatible.

This option is not available on the Nokia 8 Sirocco for example (running Android 8.1 via Android One).

I am currently on Android Q Beta on a Pixel 3 XL and I am using Apex Launcher. It is almost the same way to disable this feature but do the following:

On the home screen, double tap > Home Screen Settings
Tap on More (last selection; has a gear icon)
Toggle Add icon to the home screen


text:
Encryption state after changing PIN
I enabled device encryption but android didn't gave me the chance to choose a new password instead it used the lock screen's.
I came back to screen lock settings and changed the password and encryption password has changed automatically. But that happened instantly, my device didn't go through any process of encryption
Question is: Does changing encryption password require any kind of long re-encryption process? In other words, is my device still secure and data is encrypted securely?
Device: Xperia E4 Dual
Android version: 4.4.2 sony stock

From the Official Android Source:

Upon first boot, the device creates a randomly generated 128-bit master key and then hashes it with a default password and stored salt. (The default password is: "default_password").
  However, the resultant hash is also signed through a TEE (such as TrustZone), which uses a hash of the signature to encrypt the master key.
When the user sets the PIN/pass or password on the device, only the 128-bit key is re-encrypted and stored. (ie. user PIN/pass/pattern changes do NOT cause re-encryption of userdata.)

What this means is that, essentially, there are two keys to be understood:

The master key
The user_encryption key (or just 'key')

The master key is generated during the first boot only, and never ever changes (unless maybe a factory reset or wiping userdata partition is done). The data in the /data partition is encrypted or decrypted only using the master key. The master key cannot be stored as it is (it's not safe to do so, right?), so it is encrypted using another key said below.
The user_encryption key is the key using which the encrypted master key can be decrypted, because only using the master key, the encrypted data can be decrypted. (This key is computed based on your PIN/password/whatever.)
People often tend to think both these keys as one and the same, which is not the case here.
When you change your unlock PIN/password, only the user_encryption key changes, not the master key, so the data is not re-encrypted.

The statement "uses a hash of the signature to encrypt the master key" is confusing. If the master key is encrypted using a hash of the signature of the hash that was generated from the master key, a salt, and a password, then how can the master key be decrypted?

I agree, it's confusing, and the block-quoted text is still present in the Android docs verbatim.

This is my guees (augmenting my above explanation): the so-called user_encryption key which I have mentioned above is computed as hash_128(sign(hash(master_key_hash, password/pin, salt), TEE_key)). Now this key is computed on the go everytime you unlock the phone. This is the key using which the master key is encrypted. So, the same key is required to decrypt & get the master key and, use that master key to decrypt your userdata.

@Melab so to answer your question, maybe they also have the hash of the master_key stored somewhere (not the master_key itself). I maybe wrong, the only way to find out would be going through the source code. If you do so and find that my explanation is incorrect, please feel free to correct/edit it.


text:
Any other way to recover system?
Past days my android phone got in bootloop. Since I didn't have access to PC, I tried some things from recovery. Tried to format dalvik-cache, but it failed because it was r/o. I tried installing SU, trying it again, remounting it as r/w but no success. Then I tried to backup and wipe data and system, then recover (stupid). I discovered that TWRP breaks everything when formatting. It broke data and system partitions and they were no longer mountable, I tried like 10 times reformatting them with no success. Then I decided to format Internal Storage (again stupid) and did it. Guess what? TWRP broke Internal Storage. Now I ended up in this: No recovery, no bootloader, no boot logo. Just black screen and vibrations indicating bootloop. Is there any way of recovering without service center?

What device, it could make a huge difference...

@acejavelin, Huawei G730-U10

If it shows up in Device Manager you might be able to use this method of hard brick recovery: http://howtounbrick.com/2016/06/10/how-to-unbrick-huawei-ascend-g730/

What do you mean by TWRP broke internal/data/system partition? Is TWRP faulty? On Huawei it was able to go to download mode by holding vol + & vol - & power at the same time, if you get some screen maybe it can help with recovering.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје, after TWRP formatted those partitions, they were unable to mount.

Windows see device as unrecognized device for some time until it reboots again (vibration)

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје when holding all those buttons together, it boots at black screen and just reboots again with vibration.

@acejavelin It won't enter download mode. It shows up in device manager as unrecognized only for a few seconds when trying to enter download mode.

No offense, but it sounds like it's bricked... It's 2.5 years old, might be time to let it go and get something different.

I still don't understand why TWRP screwed up partitions so they cannot be mounted. Well I must agree with acejavelin it sounds like hard brick. I suggest you to try to ask this on XDA developers, if this phone have separate forum there that's even better, if someone can help at this point it would be they

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје
Nobody helps me on XDA. Just no help at all. I already asked.

So you can't access the bootloader or recovery, and it doesn't show up in Device Manager ? Only other possibility is this: https://devs-lab.com/how-to-unbrick-mediatek-device.html Otherwise you might have to find some "financial possibilities" :/

@acejavelin
I tried that and found some new things. First is when I'm connecting phone to computer without battery in, led starts blinking red. Second, after installing drivers, windows recognized device and tried to install drivers for it, but failed. Still can't download anything in it. SP Flash Tool can't find device with battery in, nor with battery out. Any other recommendations?

Sorry... if you can't access the bootloader or SP Flash Tool doesn't see it, it's probably toast, that's all I got. :/

@acejavelin
Okay, at least you helped as you could.
Thank you very much.

You can install TWRP again (if you dont have it) and try that:
goto: wipe>advanced wipe>select one of the broken file systems >press repair or change file system>repair file system
if that doesnt work:
goto: wipe>advanced wipe>select one of the broken file systems >press repair or change file system>change file system>ext4 or the file system that your rom initialy supports
then: reinstall your rom

How to install TWRP if no download mode or bootloader is working?

if the download mode is not working at all then you should use fastboot. If nothing is working your phone is bricked. If thats the case you should go to a customer service or try to find in the internet something like: unbrick Huawei G730-U10 there are flashtools for that.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
how to Install an app and afterwards have the initial configuration screen (as a new phone)?
How may i install an app, and have the "startup configuration screen" (where the user selects his language, google accounts, etc) without doing a factory reset?

See https://android.stackexchange.com/q/137324/96277

Wait what? Do you want to get configuration screen for that app or configuration screen like when  you buy new phone? Why would you want to trigger that after installing an app?

no, i want to get the configuration screen afterwards. so that the end user can personalize his phone afterwards.

i want to trigger that so that the end user doesn't call my service to install the famous app which is built for my company, we aim to install the app before the end user can personalize his phone

You can make that app an system app that will prevent your end user from uninstalling this app and even after an hard reset the app is still active, plus the app is installed before the device is given the end user.
ps you must modify the system for that which will mostly cause a loss of warranty.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Is there an "Inspect Element" option on any browser on Android?
I often find myself missing the option of "Inspect element" in Android version of the popular web browsers. Do you happen to know any alternatives or workarounds that you could implement to have access this option?
There is of course the line below but that returns all of the page source and not the interesting parts.
view-source:webpage

You can use Dago Browser (Web Inspector). It allows you to inspect webpages and works flawlessly on my MIUI8.
From its description,

Dago Browser is a web browser with web inspector that can be opened by swipe right from a web browser page and choosing Inspect Element. Once open, it highlights the node on the page as it is selected in the hierarchy. [...]

You can connect your phone to a PC or Mac and inspect the device from there. For example if you have Chrome open on your device and you connect it to a PC, open Chrome on the PC and from the development tools you can click on the three dots menu (on the top right, next to the X that closes the dev tools)  and then click 'more tools' --> 'Remote devices'. From there you can inspect what you see on your device.
Similar methods exist for other browsers.

Kiwi browser has added the Chrome dev tools to its Android app.
It allows you to view and inspect webpages from a different tab. Unlike viewing the HTML source, you can view page updates in real-time.
It also has a JS console and other features.
You can use Android split screen and move a tab to another window to see both the inspector and page at the same time

There is this one recently released, focuses on features for developers. You can visually inspect elements: Dev Browser.
From its description,

Inspect web elements

Inspect and edit individual web elements and their attributes with the built-in web inspector

If you want to inspect HTML, CSS or maybe you need JS console in your mobile browser . You can use eruda tool which provide ability to use the same Developer Tools on your mobile browser as in your desctop device. Dont forget to upvote :) Here is a link https://github.com/liriliri/eruda

Bookmark these lines of codes:
javascript:(function () { var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src="//cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/eruda"; document.body.appendChild(script); script.onload = function () { eruda.init() } })();

and do the following steps shown in the screenshots. That's it

You could use Javascript on Opera Mini.

Reset the console output by opening a new tab with the address: debug:resetconsole

Open a tab on the page on which you want to do the inspection:

Run JavaScript code on the page by replacing the address in the address bar with the following address: javascript:var%20n%3Ddocument.firstChild%3Bwhile%28n%20%26%26%20n.nodeType%21%3DNode.ELEMENT_NODE%29%20n%3Dn.nextSibling%3Bconsole.log%28n.outerHTML%29%3B

Retrieve the output by opening a new tab with the address debug:console


text:
How to block any app from being installed?
My mom has an Android tablet and she doesn't even know what a site is, her e-mail, or even the password of her Facebook account. She's an average user. The internet is Facebook in her eyes. She has no need for apps or anything, it's just, only, precisely Facebook. All is Facebook.
How can I completely disable installing apps in Android so they can't be installed in any way or form, I mean, not by URL, not by clicking, not by the app store, not even by another program? Just disable the entire thing altogether.
Doesn't need to be safe, have locks, passwords, etc. I'm not trying to secure the device from intruders, attackers, or robbers, I'm trying to secure it from its very own user.
Please help. I just had to remove two anti-virus apps that were opening adware pages when she tried to open Facebook Lite, and that's obviously a no-go, apps which she "had not installed." Clearly, there's some voodoo going on here for them to just pop up, or maybe she just did it unknowingly, but none of that's relevant.
How can you just disable installs so this couldn't ever happen again?

First, disable the primary source of installation. On most devices, it is the Google Play Store but your device might have been shipped with a non-Google market app as well. So go to Settings → Apps → (three-dots line → Show System) or (All Apps) → your market app → Disable.
Second, disable the Package Installer system app. This provides the GUI for sideloading. So if you disable it and attempt to install an APK (through a file manager, by drive-by download, or when pushed by a third-party app) you would definitely fail. At this point, it is irrelevant whether Unknown Sources is disabled or not, but you may keep the latter disabled from Settings → Security.
Third, an app can still be sideloaded through command-line, preferably through ADB. Keep Developer options disabled and hidden (default). This is untested but revoking executable permissions (requires root access) from pm binary for user 2000 or for every user might help. This however, may cause device instability so take backup from a custom recovery before you proceed with this step.
Your user would be fine with the first two steps. It's not like they would deliberately try to find a way to install an app if they are not tech-savvy already.

Alternatively, in your particular situation you can use an ad-blocker app. The best ones require root access though.
Or, why not use a kiosk-mode app? Limit your mother's activities to certain set of apps she should use. That's an another option on the table.
Choose wisely.

She installed it, no app can install itself without user interaction.
However, the best would be to deactivate Google Play Services from settings or even install ROM without any Google app on it (if there is a custom ROM for your device).
And you should disable "apps from unknown sources" in settings under security.
If she still manages to install x app, then you should teach her not to click on something that says "install me" or any other ad on the internet.
Also, does she use the Facebook app to access Facebook or an internet browser? If she uses a browser, then install Samsung browser or Mozilla and enable ad blocking. If she uses the Facebook app, then you should use some Adblock app to block ads globally (I don't know if some work without root).

I think two apps are responsible for installing apps: the Play Store and Package Installer.
Play Store can be disabled, but not the package installer. The latter is responsible for APK files and works when the unknown source is ticked. You can only freeze it with root privilege.

May I kindly know what does your answer adds to which has already not been covered in my answer?

At least to point out quite frankly that package installer  cannot be disabled without root though I am not very sure this is the situation with all Android versions

You can uninstall package installer with adb.

On Android 7.0 onwards i.e on Nougat and Oreo, apps can install themselves without the consent of the user. No remedies to date. They may be pushed to install from a native browser or any other app.
The rooting and uninstalling of the package installer and verified installation may prevent installation.

References:

Tech Times - Android Marshmallow And Nougat Permissions Flaw Enable Malware, Adware And Ransomware: No Fix Until Android O
Express Newspapers - Android WARNING: Google Play apps infect millions of phones - find out if you're affected

please note that automatic installation not requires package install or verified install , so no remedies.


text:
SD Card problems
I am having an issue with my alcatel a30 tablet (9024w) and the problem is that when i format an sdcard as internal storage then remove it and insert it, i get a device missing warning telling me to reinsert the sdcard.

You remove the card while the device is up and running? If so, no wonder. Ever tried removing the (only) hard disk from a running PC? Making the card the internal storage, it is used as such and must not be removed while the device is running.

Well i wouldnt need to remove it if it worked but it wont show up

Then maybe you [edit] your question and include a more detailed description of the issue? Hard to help without having the full picture here. // PS: Is your issue the same as adoptive sd card missing please re-insert?

Glad to read, and thanks for the feedback! Mind to answer your own question with some details (especially useful if you have some hints; might help on the linked question as well)? Eg. whether it suddenly worked again after a reboot, or whatever.

I bought my sd card used and it turned out there was a master boot record that was messing with android


text:
what image does fastboot -w flashall flashes?
Take Google Pixel as example. I managed to do a full APSO+kernel build and the resulting binaries is located at out/target/product/marlin as the following:
boot.img
ramdisk.img <-- I believe this is part of boot.img?
ramdisk-recovery.img <-- I believe this is part of boot.img?
system.img
system_other.img
userdata.img
vendor.img

Question 1:
If I perform a fastboot -w flashall which of the binaries will be flashed into a phone?
Furthermore, when i inspect the factory image I found the following files:
bootloader-marlin-8996-012001-1608281716.img
radio-marlin-8996-012511-1609081444.img
image-marlin-nde63j.zip <--- contain basically all images from build plus many more

Question 2: Looking at the factory image, is obvious not all images can be obtained by build. I will assume that bootloader and radio are close source, and many more in the zip files such as modem.img, keymaster.img ...etc, are there any documents regarding to all these images?

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/fastboot/fastboot.cpp#334 // You could  find it yourself if you simply enter fastboot command.


text:
How to change icon shape in Android Oreo 8.0
Recently updated my Google Pixel to Android Oreo 8.0. I can't find the "change icon shape" option. Where can I find it?

Why do Google think that changing the designed icon shape is acceptable? This should be an option-in option. I'm Shah frustrated not to be able to find the option to turn to default icon shape.

Since you did not mention the developer preview version. Assuming you are using dev preview 1.
The newly added menu that’s available on the second developer preview of Android O contains a “Change icon shape” option on the main Settings screen that’s located near the bottom of the interface, immediately above the “About” section.
Tapping that option prompts a pop-up window from which you can choose the shape.
Source: https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/05/android-o-pixel-launcher-supports-five-app-icon-shapes.html

I'm using the final release on an HTC 10 and that option is not in my settings. The rounding makes icons ugly so if lived to find an option to turn to original.

On my Xiaomi Mi A1 this setting is in the settings of the launcher (tap and hold a free spot, then tap on Settings) and not the main settings.


text:
ADB Over Wifi Connection
Suppose my phone is connected using adb over wifi....will I have to repeat the process of connecting the usb cable if I switch to my carrier network by chance?...or will it remain forever and I can just reconnect wirelessly by using
adb connect
Thanks in advance.

Yes,
when you switch network - you will need to do it again.
Also after turning off the phone you will need to connect it by the adb again.


text:
App keyboard has a done button instead of return
Terminal emulator usually has a return button that works fine. But after opening another app then going back to terminal emulator the return is replaced by a Done button, that obviously doesn't work.
Can i stop this happening in settings or do i have to modify the APK source files?
Thanks

Go into preferences, set soft keyboard input method to word-based instead of character-based.


text:
Disabling animation of the Wifi connection icon
On Android 7.1 the wifi icon does not only show the signal strength by the well known circular four bar image, but also underneath it there are two tiny arrows, one pointing up and the other one pointing down. They are used to indicate correspondingly the activity for the upload and the download. This feature although seems cool at first can be very distracting at times, when you read for example. My question is can you disable the animation? Ideally just remove two tiny arrows and only leave out the curved signal bars just like it looks on iOS for example.

You cannot just tweak the arrows from the UI. But you can disable the notification icon.
Since you’re on Marshmallow, first enable System UI Tuner by long pressing the Settings icon in the pull-down notification shade for 5 seconds. Then go to
Settings->System UI Tuner->Status bar->Disable WiFi.
Done.

This must be another question, but regardless of how long I press the gear icon the ui tuner does not show up? Htc u11

@exebook Seems HTC has blocked access to system UI Tuner. If youre root you can download https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.pruss.tuner to enable it. Also there's a video for unrooted phones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5t6j29tjc&feature=youtu.be might be helpful. Try it out


text:
All links open in Browser, how to stop it?
So I got a rather new (but cheap)  Y100 Plus from Dogee with Android 5.1 and ALL Links open to the browser.
Even when someone sends me a Location, it opens Google Maps in Browser instead of the App.
I was NEVER prompted with what app to open any link, which is pretty weird, and probably the cause of my problems.
That also means that resetting the preferences on my Browser doesnt do anything (tried that).
More annoying, "Open Link With" which would have been my workaround doesnt hep, because my browser doesnt give me the share option.

Go to settings>apps and find that browser and just clear defaults for that app, next time it will prompt to choose app to open link

@Једноруки Крстивоје: FFS, THAT IS MY PROBLEM: THAT DOESNT DO ANYTHING. I WAS NEEEEEEVER PROMPTED WHAT APP FOR THE ENTIRE TIME I HAD THAT PHONE (and I bought it brand new).
I NEVER SET ANY PREFERENCE!

Did you go to settings>apps>browser > open by default and then tap on clear defaults?

Yes I did. Again: that is my problem: There are no defaults to clear (i still clicked on it).

If you only have a single app for browsing installed on your phone, then all links will have to be opened in it, if the app from which you are clicking the link doesnt provide in-app webview, to open links.

Its not about browsing.
Its about all the other app-related links like a Location (Google Maps link) Youtube Videos and so on.
I dont care about in-app web view

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Disable encryption on android nougat greyed out
I updated my Lenovo k6 power to android nougat after reset it automatically encrypts device

What's your question?

Maybe your OEM doesn't want you to disable encryption. Or set up a lock screen password, and then try it (I saw somewhere that it worked a long time ago, a Reddit post IIRC)

Why do you want to disable encryption? Anyhow, you need to find a compatible kernel for your device which disables forced encryption on boot and then flash it, do factory reset and you're good to go. // I can't help with how to find that kernel or how to flash it. That's your job. :-) // You can alternatively edit your stock kernel's image (e.g.).

Fewer CPU operations should mean a longer lasting battery charge and consequently total battery life. Besides, in my case, it would have been nice if they had asked first.

Well, that happened to me too (but on samsung galaxy S7) and it seems like that is an new security option and I disabled it by unchecking the ask for password before booting in the setup. I didnt ever heard of a way to disable encryption without resetting.

If i reset my device it forces encryption by default without any pin

I did that (KNOX is tripped now)Developer Settings>OEM lock off>rooted maybe thats the difference I also reinstalled the stock rom and pressed than volume down + power off when a blue screen appeared with the erasing sign. But to be honest I dont know and when I press encrypt it reboots and im still unencrypted so it may be the root process. (i flashed CF auto root)

Thnx for the help


text:
Security of locked Android
I connected my Andriod phone to non-safety pc but phone was locked. Should I worry, Can pc install a malware to locked android phone?

Not in a modern Android device, if it is locked all it can do is charge, there is no file access unless you change it to MTP. Even then, if it copied a file to the device, you would have to open/install it for anything to happen. 99.99% chance you are fine and have no reason to worry.

Thanks for your comment. So even if copying occurs, It can't anything

Correct. Android has no provisions for automatically executing or opening a file. Plus, contrary to popular belief, hacking an Android device or pushing "malware" of any kind to it is nearly impossible without complete physical control of the device, including it's screen being unlocked (ie. knowing the PIN/password/pattern).

If you have Android 6 or higher the PC cant harm your phone if:

Your phone hasnt USB-debugging enabled or the PC isnt trusted
The phone IS NOT in sideload or download mode
You didnt allowed MTP or any stuff like that


text:
Google Play Store Hangs at Every Step
This week, the Google Play Store is behaving very strangely. It can download or update a single app but not both without being killed!
There was an update for Chrome this morning, so I went to Google Play Store and clicked on the Update button. It then downloads the app, reaching 100% pretty quickly and hangs there forever, OK well I let it do that for an hour or so (but tried overnight with previous updates). Then, if I Force Stop the Google Play Services and restart it, it automatically does the install in a few seconds. If I try again to update another app, it downloads to 100% and hangs.
This very strange. Up to last week everything was working fine and no new apps were installed but there was about 9 or 10 updated. Since then, I must download and update one at a time, killing the Google Play Store between each!
Versions involved:

Android 7.0 Kernel 3.18.31 Build NPP25.137-76
Phone is rooted, has been for over a month.
Google Play Store 8.1.30.S-all
Google Play Services 11.5.17 [UPDATED]
Google Play Services for Instant Apps 1.20-release-166886311 (WTH is this?, don't remember seeing it before)

How can I fix this and have Google Play Store working normally again?
Used to be able to install and update many apps without killing the Google Play Services.

I had that issue too. But I dont use any google stuff and didnt found back then a solution. Maybe deleting Cache or all data helps. If not working try deactivate>rebootactivate or uninstall all updates and do solution #2

Unfortunately, clearing all data did not change the behavior, it still hangs at each step which is very annoying. Deleting just the cache did not work either.


text:
How does drive droid work?
I just found this clever little app drive droid that lets you boot from iso from your mobile. It would be interesting to know how it works. Does anyone have any knowledge about it.
Drive droid
P.S. sorry for my bad english

There is a dedicated thread on XDA forum about this application

DriveDroid allows you to boot your PC from ISO/IMG files stored on
  your phone.

DriveDroid relies on the kernel of Android, in particular the USB Mass Storage (UMS) feature. It allows your phone to act as an USB-drive and have a device (SDcard) or file (ISO/IMG) be used as the content for that emulated drive.

USB-drive and CD-drive emulation

These two modes allow your phone to act as an USB-drive or as an
  CD-drive. Most devices only support USB-drive emulation. Some devices
  only support CD-drive emulation.
To get both USB-drive as well as CD-drive emulation on your phone you
  need a patched kernel.
With USB-drive emulation it is possible to boot IMG files and most
  Linux-based ISO. It also allows you to write to the disk, which allows
  you to create data-disks as well as install an OS onto the USB drive.
  The downside of this mode is that some ISOs will not boot, since those
  ISOs are created for CD-drives.
With CD-rom emulation it is possible to boot all CD-based ISOs. So,
  having both USB-drive emulation as well as CD-rom emulation is
  preferable

The functionality is such that the android device acts as an emulated drive to boot .iso files from PC.

Once installed, DriveDroid will ask you for the root access after
  which you can proceed and download one of the Linux ISO images from
  withing the DriveDroid app. However, if you have already downloaded
  any bootable ISO image, then you can copy them to the Downloads\Images
  folder on your SDCard. This is the default folder where ISO images are
  kept.
After connect your Android phone to your PC and press the power button
  on the PC. During the booting process, press
  F12 to pull up the boot
  selection menu and choose your Android device from the menu. Pretty
  soon, you would be booting from the ISO image located on your Android
  phone.


text:
How to transfer WhatsApp from Windows to Android?
I have a Lumia 535 and a Samsung S7 Edge. I am unable to transfer my WhatsApp to Android from Lumia. I have WhatsApp backup on OneDrive. Is there any way?

whatsapp has an option to restore from Google drive backup. Is there any option to backup to google drive in lumia 535?

Windows Phone uses OneDrive and Android uses Google Drive for backup.Currently, Whatsapp does not support inter cloud backup transfer. You can subscribe to this Reddit group for updates.


text:
Does a stock email app auto-update?
To clarify, two things:
1. I mean auto-updates to the app itself, not syncing to receive emails.
2. I'm not sure if there's a *difference, but I'm more interested in knowing about the stock apps/versions of stock apps that don't seem to have any way for you to manually update them yourself. For example, on my Galaxy S7 Edge (running Android 7.0), in the stock Email app, I can go into the Galaxy Apps store, or through the email app settings to the Galaxy Apps store to update the app; but on an Alcatel OneTouch Elevate I have (my previous phone)(running Android 5.1.1), there appears to be no way at all for me to update the stock Email app.
So, my question turns into: Do stock email apps, like the one on my Alcatel, auto-update? Does it perhaps get updated as part of the system update?
*by this, I kind of meant that I'm not really interested in knowing whether the stock email apps that you can manually update will also auto-update. So perhaps another form of the question is: If you can't update it, does it auto-update?

There is a global Auto Update option in Android 7.0 (possibly previous versions but I can't check now) which automatically updates all apps.
There is also a per-application setting. In case you have the global option off, then you can have that one enabled and it will still auto update. So be sure that both are off if you want the app not to auto-update.
By default, I believe the global option is on but that might depend on the phone.
For clarity, when an app is updated, we call that an update, when its data is updated, we call that a sync, such as downloading new emails as they arrive.
Stock apps are part of the system, so they will update when you accept a system update.