text:
How to display and enable extra symbols on standard keyboard?
When switching from Huawei's Android 8.0 to Oppo's Android 12 I noticed a keyboard problem that I'm unable to solve.
First, here is how the keyboard on Android 8.0 looked like:

Then, here is how the keyboard on Android 12 looks like:

You see that on the "old" keyboard there are additional symbols above the letters (like ' on c that is not displayed on the new keyboard.
However it's not just that the symbol isn't displayed, it's also not available on long-press of c.
So my simple question is:
How can I get the "old layout" on my new phone?

The used keyboard is simply another app. A lot of manufacturer modify the standard keyboard app. You can simply install a different keyboard app from Play Store or even try to extract keyboard app form your old phone and migrate it to the new phone.

I'm rather sure both are "gboard".

Assuming both are Gboard, the feature is called "Long press for symbols" and unrelated to the Android versions.
Steps to change the setting:

Open Gboard's Settings (the cog-wheel icon on the keyboard)

Or alternatively from Android Settings - System - Languages & input - On-screen keyboard - Gboard (adjust the step according to each manufacturer's customization)

Select "Preferences"
Scroll down to "Key press" and toggle the "Long press for symbols" switch.

That's it! However the naming of the option is somewhat stupid, as a long press offers alternate symbols (call them "letters with diacritical marks") even without having set that option. I wonder why that wasn't set by default as it's a real pain to type with that keyboard...


text:
Android doesn’t connect to a hearing aid
I have a hearing aid which is paired to an Android phone.
When I reset the hearing aid the connection is not initiated by Android. I have to tap on the hearing aid in Android’s Connected Devices pane to trigger Android to connect to the hearing aid.
In the global settings I noticed that ble_scan_always_enable is set to 1.
I wonder if it has to do with triggering the connection?
Phone model: Pixel 3
Android version: 12

Have you paired the hearing aid again after resetting it?

No, I haven't. The bond data is not lost by reseting the hearing aid and the Android initiates the connection when the hearing aid is tapped. It does not connect without the user's interaction.

whats the hearing aid model?

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Removing myself from a shared Google Drive to free up space on my Android
I was given access to a shared drive with a huge library of videos, documents, etc., and installed it on my Android. I no longer need access and it is using a huge amount of space.
How do I remove the drive from my phone, the data it's taking up on my drive but leave the files intact for others?

AFAIK, the Google Drive app doesn't store shared files automatically on the device unless they're marked for "Offline" or downloaded manually.

As Andrew mentioned, the files are not normally stored on your device.  Unless you have marked them offline, in which case uncheck each one.
A faster and more certain method is follows (steps will differ slightly from model to model)

Go to Settings
Select Apps
Select Google Drive
Select Storage
You can see how much space it uses.
Definitely, Clear Cache
If the value for Data is high then Clear Data as well.

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


text:
Bluetooth, audio, screenshot, camera stopped working on Lenovo Tab P11 Plus
So this problem started happening 3, 4 days ago. On my Lenovo Tab P11 Plus none of the following functions are working. It has Android 11.
Bluetooth
The icon is lit/turned on but it is not working. When I long press and go to Bluetooth settings then it shows that Bluetooth is disabled but icon is turned on.
Audio
Audio icon is turned on but no audio coming from speakers. When I go to settings then all volume controls are disabled.
Camera
As soon as I open camera I get message Can't connect to camera please make sure to close other apps that may cause camera or flashlight error
Screenshot
When trying to take screenshot I get message Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app or your organization
When I boot device then after Lenovo screen, another screen is shown which says 'Online Customization'. I am not sure this screen used to show up when I bought the tablet.

Did factory reset but no luck. Is my tablet infected with some kind of malware or is it hardware issue and gone for good? Or may be some issue with Android 11?

How old is the tablet and did you buy it as a new/unused device from a known vendor?

It's a used tablet. Bought it 5 months ago and it was working fine until few days ago.

Some manufacturer offer companies the possibility to remotely manage their devices in a way that even a factory reset does not releases the device from the management. If the device is then stolen the company can lock it or make other things with it remotely. This can happen at any time later. Not sure if Lenovo offers such a service but and I don't know if this is the feature that causes your problems but it seems to be reasonable.

Curious about the number below the Lenovo logo... can you go into the home screen, or is it stuck on the "Online Customization" screen? As Robert has mentioned, this might be something related to remote MDM (Mobile Device Management). On the other hand, I have a suspicion that the device might not be a real Lenovo Tab P11, but a faked one (e.g. booting animation edited). That's why I'm curious if it's possible to install an app to check device info, like CPU-Z

CPU-Z is showing that this is a genuine as it has same CPU and no. of cores plus other things as mentioned on GSM Arena page. Is it possible to root/flash this device like completely installing a new Android OS?


text:
Granting permissions on Android 4.1.2
I have an old phone running Android 4.1.2. When trying to use a new app, it will try to request the necessary permissions. However, I am not able to grant them. The app will show me a dialog telling me that it requires additional permission.

After clicking "OK", I am forwarded to the settings screen.

There, I cannot do anything but click back which tells the app that I haven't granted the permission.
What is the correct way to grant the permissions?

Does the phone have ANT hardware installed at all? Because an ANT app is useless without ANT hardware. Alternative you can try to connect an external ANT dongle https://www.thisisant.com/consumer/ant-101/ant-in-phones

Afaik yes. Same behaviour happens when I try to grant permissions to a different app

"Same behaviour happens when I try to grant permissions to a different app" could you clarify if this is not only about ANT (which is not supported on every device) but for any permissions, like Contact, Camera, Location?

As far as I remember Android 4.1.2 does not have run-time permissions. Run-time permissions were introduced later (about Android 6).

Thanks, it seems that it is really related to a missing ANT support. But this also means that showing the settings screen on Android 4.1.2 when a permission was initially missing does only confuse users


text:
Path and File location in the NoxPlayer emulator
Recently I installed the NoxPlayer emulator on my PC. Almost all APK ask for file permissions. By default, NoxPlayer is installed in the C:\ drive. I allowed all APK for file access permission in NoxPlayer.
Where can I find the files?
Moreover, in some cases, I need to access pictures and files.
In which path should I put files so that they can be accessed by Android applications?

Usually emulators are like a computer inside your computer. Every app running inside can only see what is inside. The file system of Windows is not seen and thus it doesn't matter where you installed it to in file system. The apps are asking for file permission on Android level inside the emulator.

Okay. Where should I put my files or images in the computer so that they can be accessed by android apps installed in emulator (NoxPLayer)?

The official site has this blog article: How to share/copy files between NoxPlayer and your computer. Could you try it?

Sorry for delay in reply. Yes, this one seems helpful for me. Thank you very much


text:
Unknown alarm appearing and disappearing at random time on the lock screen
The issue: There has recently (once again) appeared a random "alarm" notification which displays as an alarm clock icon followed by a random time located in the upper left corner of my lock screen.  The time on this alarm changes randomly throughout the day and is always a peculiar random time (e.g. 9:42, 3:14, 6:06) rather than something I would set in an application.

I say "once again" because this happened on my Pixel 4a and now my Pixel 6.  I even wiped and reinstalled the OS from the factory image via adb tools.  There are no apps installed that aren't from the Play Store and nothing, in my opinion, that is considered fringe or questionable.
Why is this seemingly innocuous alarm clock an issue?  It seems to be some kind of upcoming alarm which is causing my overnight DND to become disabled, thus causing notifications for spam and other emails and texts to ring through and WAKE ME UP!!  It's basically a form of torture.
I've reported this to Google support many times and (unsurprisingly) they've told me to reset to factory defaults to get rid of it rather than actually figure out what's causing it.  I'm fed up and would like to know if it's possible to use the available adb tools (or something else) to debug this thing on my lock screen.  If I can at least find out what application it's from then I can make an informed decision about how to resolve it.

Have you restored backup after performing the factory reset? Because if such a strange behavior follows you from one device to another then there has to be something special in your set-up. It could be your system settings or one of the apps you have installed. How far away are those alarms set from the current time? How frequent does it occurs? Have you tried to capture adb logcat in the period when such an alarm appears?

I haven't restored a backup, but I have reinstalled most of the same applications from my account in the play store.  The times appear to be completely random. They persist for a while then disappear then a new alarm appears with another random time.  Thank you for the logcat suggestion. I'm going to see what I can find with that and will likely have some follow up.

It launches the Alarm dialog (unsurprisingly).  That doesn't clear up why it's there in the first place when no alarm is set.  I haven't found anything else useful in logcat.

When the unknown alarm appears, is there no corresponding alarm set on any Clock app? Have any of the alarms fired off and show a notification/screen to snooze/stop? I know Google Assistant can set a one-time alarm using the "set alarm" command that will be automatically deleted after it fires off, but it should also be shown on the Clock app, and AFAIK the alarm is not shared across other devices on the same Google account though...

Check all your apps. One of them has an alarm feature and is the one setting the alarm. Check those that might have the permisssion to set an alarm.

Only other app that sets an alarm is MS Outlook.None of the appointments there correspond to these random alarms.  Also, I've never set an alarm for anything but ?:00, ?:15, ?:30, or ?:45.  These random alarms show up with any number of minutes between 0 and 59.  There is literally no other alarm purposefully set anywhere in my system. These ghost alarms appear randomly throughout the day.  Right now there's one for 8:53am!  This morning I was awoken at 4:50am (PDT) by our east coast team updating a ticket I was CC'd on because the phone stopped my DND at 4:24 due to one of these ghost alarms.

The randomness hints at maybe a "prize" award or some game deadline maybe for a championship or team game. Any games you have with these social or team linking configurations?

@wbogacz got it! Unbeknownst to me, Google installed Google Games which got its filthy tendrils into a puzzle app on the phone. Apparently that was what was causing the mysterious ghost alarm.  I removed Google Games and it hasn't shown up since.  I'm cautiously optimistic this has resolved the issue. Thank you!  And shame on Google for creating such an awful UX nightmare!

Credit to @wbogacz.  It was actually the ISS tracking app. It notifies you when the space station will be overhead in case you want to look up and see it. This is where the ghost alarm was coming from.


text:
get emails from specific emails - instantly
I'm trying to make sure that when I get specific emails, I get notified instantly, loudly, and even if I'm in "do not disturb".
The emails are going into a gmail account. These are things I've done so far:

Set up a new email, log into that email on the Samsung "Email" app, turn notifications on for that email app, create a filter on the original email that forwards to this email.
Create a filter on the original email with a label, go into the "gmail" app filter notification settings, allow syncing on the filter with notifications.

both these methods work to get notifications on my filter... but both of them seem to be delayed about 15 minutes (I assume the filter and send and perhaps the "email" app make up that 15 minutes on the first option... and the filter and syncing within the phone make up the 15  minutes on the second option).

Have you disabled battery saving for the app? Also make sure that the app and the mail server uses IMAP IDLE otherwise the app has to check periodically for new mails which causes a delay and additionally will cost you a lot battery.

i set gmail app to "unrestricted" for battery.. and indeed got the notification very quickly using my label filter notification... will have to see how much this drains the battery.. i don't see anything about imap idle


text:
Stolen phone. Secure and erase
So my galaxy S20plus was stolen,  though my Google account,  I did the secure and erase notification.  As only this or the ring option showed.  Anyhow,  now when I check my Google find my device site,  it's still the same,  and shows me that since I lost the phone it wasn't online,  does that mean my data are safe? I'm worried for my bank apps and so.  Does it not being online since then guarantee me that he didn't manage to crack me security code? As I had the pin thing to lock the screen.  Thanks

You don't need to go online for extracting data from a phone. The better question is how is the phone protected, is a PIN/password/pattern set and how complex is it.

4 digit pin might be possible to guess (bruteforcing) but the attacker only has 140 attempts. if your pin is not 1234 no worry your data is secure

I hope you notified your bank and changed all your passwords


text:
Devices without hardware MAC addresses
I vaguely remember a comment on the Stack Exchange network saying that some Android devices have no permanent hardware MAC address added at the factory or later on. The comment mentioned that U-Boot makes a permanent unchangeable hardware address unnecessary.
Are there Android devices that ship with no permanent hardware MAC address in EEPROM, flash storage, or elsewhere?
Please mind that this question is not about MAC address randomization.

I don'ts see a comment that would match your description on the linked page. There is one sentence about Ethernet MAC address on that page but Android phones don't have Ethernet.

@Robert: No, that link was just to clarify what I meant by U-Boot. I can't find the comment in question anymore.


text:
Can I use an ecrypted flash drive on Android?
Is it possible to use a flash drive encrypted with LUKS and connected to the phone with an USB OTG cable?

Yes if 1) your device is rooted and 2) your kernel is built with CONFIG_DM_CRYPT. The latter is necessarily true if your device supports FDE. So decrypt and mount the USB OTG using cryptsetup or dmsetup as you would do on any Linux PC.

Maybe an app like EDSLite or the full EDS could be helpful, too – though I'm not sure if they'd work with entire volumes (the app description just speaks of containers, but explicitly mentions LUKS). Nevertheless, root seems indeed needed. And right: their website mentions "Encrypted partitions and devices support" for the full version, root needed.


text:
Local HTML file links cannot be followed
Background:
I use my tablet for Geocaching, specifically to have cache listings available in the field. For this purpose, I have a program called Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (also known as GSAK) generate HTML files on a regular basis, which I have copied onto a memory card. Normally, when I go out into the field and look up a cache, I have the index file as the home page in a browser, and then follow the links from the index to the actual cache listing.
I have been using a Dell Venue 8 for this task, but the battery finally died (won't take a charge),
and Dell has gotten out of the Android tablet market, so I bought a Samsung S7 Fe to replace it.
Problem:
Unfortunately, I can load the index file fine, and all the files are there, but none of the multiple browsers I've tried will allow me to navigate beyond the index file. The error I get is:
"Content links are blocked", it may have been moved, edited, or deleted
(This varies by browser, but the gist is the same)
Is there a setting that will enable the browser to follow links between local files?

Possibly related/duplicate: Local files revisited: Opening local HTML files (file:///path/to/file) in Chrome on Android 10.x


text:
How to exclude subfolder of DCIM folder (DCIM/SUBFOLDER) from auto syncing in Google Photos app for Android?
Google Photos fully auto syncs DCIM folder of Android (including all its subfolders) and I can't find a way to select only specific subfolders inside DCIM folder to be synced
I have Screenshots subfolder, subfolders from other apps and so on and I don't want them to be synced.
I want to auto sync only DCIM/Camera and that's all.
I can only disable auto sync for the whole DCIM folder, and absurd fact that in the Google Photos app "DCIM" folder is shown as "CAMERA" folder, so basically it ignores any structure inside DCIM folder and just uses the same logic for all files inside DCIM and inside its subfolders as for one category


text:
How to make the same app run after I stop and start playing sound via the headphones?
I have a problem with playing audio on my Samsung phone. I use wireless headphones with it, I can start and stop playing audio via headphones. I can stop audio for any app that is playing at the moment, but then, when I try to start it again the phone starts another app. There seems to be an app with the highest "priority", it always starts when I start playing sound via bluetooth headphones or via bluetooth of my car.
So, it happens the following way:

the music app is playing
I tap "stop" on the headphones - music stops
I tap "start" on the headphones - audiobooks app is started

My phone: Samsung Galaxy M30s
Android version: 10
App, that overrides any other: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ak.alizandro.smartaudiobookplayer&hl=en&gl=US


text:
Is it safe to give accessibility permission to an app?
So I use the app from Cleanbrowsing and gave the accessibility permission to it and saw that it can view my screen, action and inputs, perform actions and control the display.
Is this app even safe to use?

I guess it really depends on the providence of the app in question, if you got it from the Google Play Store that has certain rules about how apps work and bans them if they include scripts for "click fraud" for example then I imagine that's a good place to get a reliable app from, one hopes.  If however you obtained the app from a 3rd party website with no vetting of apps that could have god knows what kind of nefarious scripting included in it... well you obviously need to be wary.

I'm using the web version of the app because it has device admin permission so you can't uninstall it.

I'd be very, very careful granting that to an app – regardless if it came from Play Store. As you found out, that permission give access to a lot of things and can be abused not only to spy on you, but also to cause other harm. So unless there's a very good reason to it and you really trust the developer, I would not recommend granting it. Seeing the reason the dev of this app gives (calling it "advanced browsing" that the user shall be unable to uninstall the app, see Andrew's answer), seems rather suspicious to me.

It always depends on how trusted the app is.
As for why the accessibility service (which this permission is about) has such powerful control, it is because the original purpose is to help people control their device more easily. Taken from the official Android documentation on Accessibility service,

An accessibility service is an application that provides user interface enhancements to assist users with disabilities, or who may temporarily be unable to fully interact with a device.

Example of accessibility services:

TalkBack: eyes-free control of your device, by viewing the screen and intercepting the user's action to read out the content.
Voice Access: control your device with spoken commands, by viewing the screen and performing actions with voice commands.
Switch Access: interact with your Android device using one or more switches instead of the touchscreen, by viewing the screen and performing actions using button switches or face gestures.

However, developers also found unusual ways of using Android accessibility services, as explained by Maksym Dybarskyi:

[...] there are several ways of unusual usage of accessibility services. I wrote ‘unusual’ because all these scenarios are different from the original purpose of accessibility services.

Automation apps like Tasker, MacroDroid, and Automate have their own "accessibility services" to allow more features that are otherwise restricted by the system (e.g. intercept action on buttons, take screenshots, etc.)

As for CleanBrowser, the documentation claimed,

Advanced functionality includes removing the users ability to uninstall the app. [...] it makes use of the Accessibility API to prevent the user from uninstalling the [app],

(Emphasis added)

This answer is a big No. An Accessibility Service lets an application simulate touch and read the content of the screen. Read again. Enabling an accessibility service is like giving your phone to somebody else. In fact, this is how almost all non 0-day malwares work on Android. Every single malware starts by pressuring the user into enabling its accessibility service, then uses it to steal passwords, prevent deletion, gain permissions, and dismiss warnings and notifications. Don't enable third-party Accessibility Services unless you absolutely need it. P.S. You don't need it.


text:
How long and where Android 10 keeps phone logs
I found my phone logs in com.google.android.dialer/databases/annotated_call_log.db. It covers only 4 months period. Is there other phone logs in Android 10?

The Phone app handles it, so it depends on the app, not the device or Android version.

Found it here /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/calllog.db. At least 18 months history.

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


text:
How to change permissions for SD card directory under /storage
I have symlinked /data/media/0/Download to /storage/15B3-16E4/Download so that files will save to my SD card, but apps can't write to it because the owner/permissions are wrong.
adb shell su -c ls -ld /data/media/0/Movies
drwxrwxr-x 3 media_rw media_rw 4096 2022-08-10 19:16 /data/media/0/Movies

adb shell su -c ls -ld /storage/15B3-16E4/Download
drwxrwx--- 3 root everybody 32768 2022-08-27 17:15 /storage/15B3-16E4/Download

These commands do nothing. So does chmod.
adb shell su -c chown media_rw:media_rw /storage/15B3-16E4/Download

adb shell su -c /system/xbin/busybox chown media_rw:media_rw /storage/15B3-16E4/Download

How do I correct the permissions?

Does this answer your question? How to bind mount a folder inside /sdcard with correct permissions?

No, you haven't symlinked anything to /storage/15B3-16E4


text:
Why does Phone Link require internet access?
I noticed that Microsoft's Phone Link app does not work without an internet connection. Some other apps discover and connect directly to your mobile device via your local Wifi or USB.
I am concerned that:

Phone Link might leaks my screen share and possibly other private info too to some unknown server of which I have no control.
That my expensive internet data (in a third world country) will go to waste with screen sharing. Does it streams every screen update from my phone to the outside world and then back to my PC which is connected to the same Wifi network?
Someone outside my home network might be able to control my phone and for example install malicious software.

What would be the purpose of the required internet connection and how does Phone Link's connectivity work behind the scenes?

My guess is that internet connection is necessary for authentication via MS account. For that purpose the MS authentication servers are required as MS has no way to perform a peer-to-peer authentication. As the requirement is that PC and phone have to be in the same Wi-Fi I don't think that screen images are transmitted via cloud (otherwise this requirement wouldn't make sense) but as we are talking about Microsoft which operates a remote mail-client in the cloud (named Outlook on Android) everything could be possible.

Well...
I just encountered a likely issue which me led to google search and found your question. I realized that @Robert is right when he said, "My guess is that internet connection is necessary for authentication via MS account. For that purpose the MS authentication servers are required as MS has no way to perform a peer-to-peer authentication. As the requirement is that PC and phone have to be in the same Wi-Fi I don't think that screen images are transmitted via cloud (otherwise this requirement wouldn't make sense)"
I started this morning trying to view my phone's screen on my system without internet. The phone link app was already working and showing my apps, messages, notifications, calls, and contacts using the bluetooth but there was no way to view the phone's screen as the system is offline even though they were both connected to the same wifi network. I'd already blocked my PC's access to the internet through the NetLimiter app. Afterwards, I unblocked the internet, it got connected, asked for permission from my phone and the screen came up as expected on my PC!
Now, to troubleshoot the actual challenge...

I blocked the internet again
Close the phone cast app and my phone's screen turned back on to show the screen casting has ended.
Opened the phone's screen again from the PC (without internet remember)
...and everything came up without asking for any permission.

This confirms that the internet connection required in the first instance was to just authenticate the connection with your microsoft account. Moreover, you're always required to connect both your phone and your pc to the same wifi connection.
Hope this helps.


text:
Using Android TV v10 with external keyboard - Logitech Touch K400 Plus
I'm really puzzled over the fact that my logitech keyboard mentioned above can switch between English and my native language using simple alt key stroke when using this keyboard directly with Samsung's Tizen OS system.
However, when using my streamer with Android TV OS - a more modern OS, things get worse and I see no option to switch between languages.
I tried using many key combinations among them shift+space ctrl+space win_key + space alt
and simply nothing works.
On the language definitions setup of my streamer I get my native language set and in Gboard keyboard settings: English and my native language.
None of these setup helps to switch between languages, I'm stuck with the interface language of my system(native) and can write in Englush just when holding shift + some letter or using CAPS LOCK, only then I get English but in Capital letters!
Please let me know if this is problem of my streamer\android TV or keyboard itself?
Is there a way to fix it?

So your question is how to change the keyboard layout of your USB keyboard (even if it is a wireless keyboard it uses an own USB dongle and is thus form Android side identical to an USB keyboard). Have you checked the answers here on the site about changing the keyboard layout of an USB keyboard like https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/209005/polish-layout-for-physical-usb-keyboard-in-oreo

@robert: unfortunetely answer there no relevant


text:
Any way to increase border gesture width?
I have a case for my tablet that covers just 1-2mm of the edge of the screen. I love the case, but it makes accessing the notifications pull-down menu very difficult.
Is there anyway to increase the pull-down range height so that I can access it more easily with the case on?

On older device you may be able to reduce the screen height a few pixels so that the used screen size better matches the actual border by the case. There are a few questions and answers here on Stackexchange that describe how to do so, usually because the screen is partially broken and touch does no longer work in a certain screen area.


text:
How to install APKs on Gabb Plus?
I would like to install an APK (specifically Google Maps and a few others) on my Gabb Phone Plus. It uses a modified version of Android, and Samsung made the phone itself. I downloaded the APK from Aptoide and scanned it with VirusTotal. Then, I put it on an SD card and transferred it to my phone.
Once it was on my phone, I ran the APK. It didn't work. I tried it a few more times, and it said "Package installer keeps stopping." I tried to clear the cache, but couldn't. Then, I also force-quitted the app, and it didn't help at all.
I am thinking that Gabb did something to this to prevent APKs from being installed. I tried looking this up on Google, but apparently, not many people have the Plus because it only showed results for the Z2.
There must be a way to run APKs or put apps on the phone because I see Gabb installed their own apps on this phone.

If you search for "gabb phone"  on this site you'll see a few questions about adding your own APK. As the manufacturer doesn't have the Google Play Store, none of the requirements (side loading, maps, etc.) are supported. With a custom ROM a manufacturer can block any non-authorized app. At a minimum the phone would need to be 'rooted' to know what could be done.

Search for Gabb hacking on the internet and you might find some private Discord servers. Feel free to join the server to follow the progress, because Gabb manufacturer is aggressive in locking their phones.

Fair point, I've reopened since this device might be different than other Gabb phones. However, still related: How to install APK on Gabb Z2 because AFAIK, all Gabb phones are locked deliberately by the vendor.

Im working on it now Im going through the files seeing if any of the Gabb apps or Knox E-FOTA has anything to do with it. Ill keep you updated to the best of my ability.

@CJJames Okay, thanks.

Gabb installed their own apps by changing the ROM image. This obviously cannot be done without some hardcore hardware hacks, but probably can be done. Since Gabb has officially reported that you may install apps from local apks, the 'Package Installer keeps stopping' seems to be a bug that probably resulted from something Gabb changed with the app. I have sent a report to Gabb through three different channels, I will notify if they send a solution that actually works or make a software update that works.

Where did you see that announcement?


text:
How to know, which app is playing music in the background?
I installed some alarms, then I configured them... then I configured the phone settings the standard wake signal for a long music.
I ended up that something is playing music in my ear, in the background, and I have no way to know, which app is doing it.

check music,audio or any kind of media is playing or not using tasker https://taskernet.com/shares/?user=AS35m8nYj7A5qrPTA086ys%2FsiKF8MuaE80lm%2BmVtRU%2FYEwNLoBUZyPn4XVlnaNQa5BUwd%2B2PcHapfR0%3D&id=Project%3AmediaPlayingStatus

Try this command inside adb shell
dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0"
It will output like this
blueline:/ $ dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0"
  Media button session is com.bsbportal.music/media_session (userId=0)

Here is a single liner command for getting the package name of app playing the audio
dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0" | sed "s/.*Media button session is//g" | cut -d'/' -f1 | xargs
blueline:/ $ dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0" | sed "s/.*Media button session is//g" | cut -d'/' -f1 | xargs
com.bsbportal.music
blueline:/ $ dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0" | sed "s/.*Media button session is//g" | cut -d'/' -f1 | xargs
com.google.android.youtube
blueline:/ $

If you've paused the Music playing apps then you would get the same above output.
If you really wanna confirm if the audio/music or some content is really being played then you can combine the above command with another one to check its playback state.
dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0" -A11 | grep "state=" | sed "s/.*{state=//g" | cut -d ',' -f1
Returns "3" for playing state and "2" for paused state.
blueline:/ $ dumpsys media_session | grep -E "Media button session is.*userId=0" -A11 | grep "state=" | sed "s/.*{state=//g" | cut -d ',' -f1
2
blueline:/ $

All my tests were done on Google Pixel 3 running on Android 12, the shell commands might return a different output on different Android versions so make sure to fine tune them. (Or revert back to me if you need any help)


text:
Will an Android phone backup include Facebook Messenger messages?
I couldn’t  figure this out or find an answer, but if the Facebook Messenger app is included in an Android Phone backup, are Messenger messages stored within the app in the phone backup?
My initial assumption was no because it’s web based and would pull the newest messages/upstate them when all is running.
Thanks!

If you mean Facebook Messenger messages, no, they will not be backed up and other than some cache space, they are not even stored locally. If you are using FB Messenger for SMS messages (using it as your texting application), I don't believe so.

Thank you very much for the information. How were you able to figure that out?

Install it in a different device without backup/restore... Everything is there upon login.

Does the fact that they are downloaded from the cloud upon login definitely mean the app does not back them up in the phone backup? Meaning is it an inference that they wouldn’t need to be backed up in the phone backup? I tried to check the storage sizes but I don’t know what parts of the app are backed up.

Actually, the Facebook messenger app doesn’t appear to even be in the list of apps in an android backup - do you see this as well on a Samsung?

I haven't owned a Samsung device since 2011 and likely never will again... I can't answer this question


text:
WhatsApp - Some contact names changed to "Number LastName"
I have installed WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business on the same phone. While installing, I did not give contact permission for WhatsApp Business. Later I added the permission.
Now, when I check WhatsApp, I see most of the contacts changed to "Number LastName".
For example, the Name "Rauf Mohd" with number "+91123456789" is now showing in WhatsApp as "+91123456789 Mohd". So when I search "Rauf", I could not get it.
I have tried the below.

I have un-linked the contact and then re-linked. It works well. But I have to do one by one.
I have "Refresh"ed the contacts. But no change.
I have uninstalled and re-installed both apps. But no change.

How can I fix this ?

WhatsApp uses shared Contacts Provider to retrieve the contact name. This means that the issue is possibly on the Contacts app itself.

@AndrewT. Yes. I checked the contacts app. There it shows "Number LastName". But I did not change anything in the contact app. Anyway, how can I fix this ?

As @AndrewT. said WhatsApp has no hand in this. Maybe you installed any app or logged into a new Google account? Go to settings and see which all apps have the contact permission


text:
I can neither add new contact to Google account nor sync contacts
My ASUS ZE554KL (Android 8.0) lost its ability to sync contacts. And when I add a new contact it offers to sync with: device, SIM and that's it. Below there was a list of my Google accounts, but now there's only "Add account" as if I don't have any.
upd. Added new Google account to the device, then tried to add new contaсts, no change in the end.

Could you search for "sync" inside Android Settings? There may be "Google Contacts sync" related to Google Play Services, or otherwise "Password & accounts" to check the sync status of your Google account.

@AndrewT. sync is turned on, it works for calendar, gmail, tasks etc. Ant there is an arrow icon with an exclamation mark in front of the contacts. And "Sunc is currently experiencing problems ..." at the bottom.

It might be because Google no longer supports Android 8.0 Oreo, according to Lifewire Android Version Guide

"Google is now letting you use its Contacts app on any Android phone"
https://mashable.com/article/google-contacts-is-available-on-any-android-device
Looks like there is some other cause of my issue

The statement "Google no longer supports Android 8.0 Oreo" is more about providing security patch updates, not really about sync though. My Nexus 5 on Android 7.1.2 still syncs Google contacts properly.


text:
Is there any way to have a chat with a contact on Whatsapp Web (on a computer) not show up on the phone's Whatsapp?
I had this small doubt if it was possible to message contacts and phone numbers, and have the records of those chats only present on Whatsapp Web (not sync with the phone on which Whatsapp is installed). Is this possible?
If I am asking this on the wrong stack exhange, I sincerely apologise. If I am posting this on the wrong place, on which stack exchange should I post this question?

Whatsapp doesn't offer this as a feature. You might want to email Whatsapp asking this as a feature, though it is unlikely to make an impact on them, but it doesn't hurt either.


text:
Connect with Wi-Fi WPS PBC on rooted Android 12
Please note that I am totally aware that WPS is not secure, however, I still want to use it.
My phone is a rooted Samsung S20FE running Android 12.
I am looking for a way to connect to a Wi-Fi network accepting WPS PBC (push button) connections, since Google decided to remove this feature from Android. There are dozens of apps on the Play store which implement WPS PIN connections:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=wps%20wifi&c=apps&gl=us
All these apps propose usual pins, custom ones, null one, brut force, but I spent a lot of time reading descriptions and trying them, none propose the PBC feature !
I also checked on F-Droid, "WPS" request does not return anything.
Is there an app that allows to do that? Even if I have to download source code myself and run it from a terminal application?
Why all these apps are not implementing PBC? Is it prevented by the OS, even with a rooted phone, or are all these apps banned from the store?

As your phone is rooted you have access to the lower parts of the OS and Wifi system which are very close to Linux, so have you checked the various questions and answers on stackexchange regarding WPS PBC and Linux?

Well, answering to myself:
I could find a python script running with Termux running a PBC session:
https://github.com/drygdryg/OneShot#termux
I could install it with the installer script, I also had to install openssl with: pkg install openssl.
I finally used Termux:Widget and API to run a wrap script from the main screen and copy the PSK to the clipboard:
#!/bin/bash

cd ~

while true; do

    echo
    echo Launching OneShot in PBC mode

    sudo python3 ~/OneShot/oneshot.py -i wlan0 --pbc | tee wps.tmp

    if grep 'WPA PSK' wps.tmp ; then

        ssid=$( grep 'AP SSID:' wps.tmp | tail -1 )
        psk=$( grep 'WPA PSK:' wps.tmp | tail -1 )

        psk=${psk:14:-1}
        ssid=${ssid:14:-1}

        while true ; do
            sel=$(termux-dialog sheet -v "Copy SSID: $ssid,Copy PWD: $psk,Retry,Exit" | awk '/index/ {print $2}')

            case $sel in
            0)  termux-clipboard-set $ssid
                ;;

            1)  termux-clipboard-set $psk
                ;;

            2)  rm -f wps.tmp
                break
                ;;

            3)  rm -f wps.tmp
                am startservice -a com.termux.service_stop com.termux/.app.TermuxService
                #exit
                ;;
            esac

        done
    else
        echo
        echo "NOT FOUND, retrying..."
        sleep 3
    fi

done


text:
Google keep: Copying image from one note to another
I am using Google keep on an Android 11 device.
I am wondering how I can copy an image in Google keep from one Google keep note to another.
How can I do this?
I'm asking because I received an image via WhatsApp and could not share it to a specific already existing Google keep note but had to share it to new Google keep note.
So, I shared it to a new Google keep note.
However, when I selected the image by long pressing on it in Google keep, and then selected copy from the three dots in the upper right hand corner I could copy it, but then did not find the way of pasting it to the other note that already contained images there.
Thank you for your help

There is a possible workaround if you use Gboard as it can paste copied images.

Launch Google Keep and open the shared note (with image) you just saved. Copy the image.

Open the note where the copied image should be pasted. Press on the note to open Gboard, then paste the image.

It is a bit of a shortcoming that one must use Gboard meaning that if another keyboard is used this functionality may not be available.


text:
I turned on developer options and disabled my incoming calls, how do i turn back on?
A while back I enabled developer options and at the time managed to disable my incoming calls. Now I want to enable it again and for the life of me cannot figure out how I did it. Help please!!

My Developer Options doesn't have any call-related settings, so probably not significant; perhaps you mean you rooted the device? There seems to be a number of ways to do this. If you rooted the phone, then adb would allow disable of system apps; if not rooted, check Call Settings > Call Barring.

Thanks, im not super tech savvy and always think ill remember what I've done.

OMG,  call settings/barring. Thank you so much!!!!


text:
Realme C15 stuck on bootloop
I know this is stupid, but I was trying to install LineageOS to my device using TWRP, while following a tutorial. The os successfully installed, yet my phone boots to TWRP repeatedly. Because I was so desperate, I accidentally flashed the os to the recovery. As a result, the phone infinitely restarts on its own. I can't execute adb/fastboot commands on the device anymore. I felt very sorry for myself. Is there any workaround to this?
My phone model is Realme C15 RMX2180

You should be able to boot into fastboot mode by holding the volume up and power keys (as is for Realme C20) or some other key combination different from the one for recovery. Then you have to flash a recovery image (TWRP or the stock one) using fastboot, and I guess you know what to do from there


text:
AirPods on Galaxy S21 don't always connect even though they show connected
Usually taking an AirPod out of the case and putting it in my ear works fine - it connects to Bluetooth as per the indicator up top and audio works, but other times it shows as connected per the indicator but audio does not go to it.
I can fix it by turning off Bluetooth and then back on and choosing to connect to the AirPods, or sometimes by putting it back in the case and taking it back out.
Any thoughts on how to address the issue?

Unfortunately Bluetooth isn't always reliable so you might want to "forget" the device on your phone and then pair it again to see if that resolves the issue.
You might also be able to see what is going on by enabling Bluetooth Debugging on your phone. After doing that and reproducing the issue you should have some logs that will either tell you the issue or give you more information to add to this question.

It turns out that the AirPods Pro 2 fixed the issue.
Perhaps it was a defect in the first model that didn't play nicely with Android.


text:
Accessibility and elderly people: Google backups preventing deletions by "helping" users
I have a disability and the person I share a home with helps me carry out since daily tasks every day. In order to enable this, I give this person my phone's password and get this person to manage several things on my behalf on my phone.
However, sometimes this person deletes my files. I haven't managed to convince this person not to do this. The excuse they use is often that what I write is stuff against this person or stuff that is a waste of time or of no importance.
In order to prevent me from losing my stuff, I would like to at least be able to back up my Google keep notes, and perhaps my Google drive stuff, to another Google account, such that only I have the password to this account.
However, I don't know whether there's an easy way to transfer everything to another account leaving what's there in place.
I have started emailing myself my WhatsApp conversations so that they don't get deleted, but sometimes stuff from my Google mail is deleted as well, and I would like to copy that to a second account as well.
It would be nice if Google offered another no-delete mirroring account.
How can I achieve what I am looking for.
I am sure there are order lone people with disabilities or old people out there who share this very same problem.
It would be nice if there were a way to do what I'm looking for, perhaps even a way backed up by Google.
I am using Google services on my Android phone. If this post is more suited for Super User stack exchange, then please migrate my post.
Thanks.

Can you identify what tasks require giving your caretaker your unlocked phone. Realize that once you hand over an unlocked phone, that person is YOU the phone owner. Of course people do this all the time for group photos using a device that probably contains a person's conversations, financial data, etc. You should identify what phone/OS version you are using as secondary/restricted accounts may be possible

I'm not sure this is the kind of thing you are looking for, but dfndr antivirus has a app lock feature. With this, you can choose some apps (let's say, whatsapp and  your private e-mail) and put a different password/unlocking code, blocking the access from undesired users. I usually use it for banks - If my phone gets robbed, it is at least another step the thief needs to breach to reach out my money - but you can assign any app to it.
This is their page, on how to add apps to the app lock. I hope it helps you.
Also, I found this other app which seems to do the same thing - without having a whole antivirus attached to it. I didn't use it, but it seems to work...

Maybe your phone supports setting up multiple users. If that's so — you can setup a different user account with different password and install only the needed applications there. Then, the new account's password is shared with that person, and your main one is kept secret.
The other way is "app pinning". On some devices, you can enable this feature which lets you pin the application to the screen — it will disallow quitting or minimizing the application until the password is entered. This way, you can open the app yourself, pin it, and give it to the person. This way, you can keep your password a secret and don't allow the person to do anything other than what you asked for.
In the end, I believe you should really insist on that person not invading your life this way — it is toxic and destructive.


text:
Sound of notifications working but media of apps not
1 → All volumes are maxed out
2 → My device has "Do Not Disturb" mode disabled
3 → My device has "Battery Saver" mode disabled
My notifications work perfectly sound, but when I try to play any kind of media in any app, no sound comes out on my device.
Is there anything that can be done in such cases to try to resolve the issue? Any option in developer mode, anyway...
Here are his specs:

If the phone has a headphone socket make sure it is clean. Otherwise the phone may detect a non-existent headphone and thus redirect all sound to the headphone socket.

Can this happen even though the device does not show the icon of a connected headset @Robert?

Are you sure that your phone shows such an icon? (I have not sees such an icon on mine). I just noticed that your screen shot shows a crossed-out speaker icon next to the Wifi icon. Are you sure audio is enabled in quick settings (switch between Sound -> Vibrate -> Mute -> Sound)?

Yes, I'm sure @Robert (I'll even crop that part of the image to avoid confusion.). I've turned off ringtone because I use it that way by default, but as for the media being active, I'm totally and absolutely sure. The problem is actually linked to something in the headphone jack. Is there any way to check if there is a device connected to the input to check?

When I put it in any mode, everything works perfectly for notifications and the like. The problem is only in the application media.


text:
How to flash boot partition from the phone itself?
I already have Magisk installed by patching boot_b — the current boot partition. Therefore I have root privilege and can access it through the su command in Termux. The issue is that when I update LineageOS through OTA, it also updates the boot image, so I lose Magisk every time I update. And so, I need a computer to install it back every time I update (that is, every week or so).
I'm trying to get away with installing Magisk from the phone right after the update while I'm still on the rooted partition.
I've successfully extracted the updated boot_a partition using cp /dev/block/by-name/boot_a /data/data/com.termux/files/home/storage/documents/boot_a.img, patched it though Magisk, and now I'm trying to flash the patched image back with dd if=/data/data/com.termux/files/home/storage/downloads/magisk_patched-25200_FyF2V.img of=/dev/block/by-name/boot_a
But it says that operation is not permitted and refuses to do the thing:
dd: /dev/block/by-name/boot_a: write error: Operation not permitted
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.002583 s, 0 B/s

I find it strange since there are posts (1, 2) where people managed to do the same.
Again, I'm running the command in a root shell given by su. And, as you can see, the files' permissions are set to rw for the root owner:
# ls -l /dev/block/by-name/boot_a /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       21 1970-07-16 15:34 /dev/block/by-name/boot_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
brw------- 1 root root 259,   6 2022-08-31 22:02 /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
# whoami
root

I've also set SELinux to permissive just in case, but it didn't help either:
# getenforce
Permissive

I've also found a great story in two questions (1, 2) from someone with a somewhat similar problem, and they determined it was the lack of some linux capabilities that stopped them from chrooting. So, I've also tried to find if I lack some "capability" to dd, and it seems I indeed don't have any capabilities on the toybox binary, which provides dd. Although, I have all 38 capabilities for the current process (the shell):
# ls -l `which dd`
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 1970-07-16 15:34 /system/bin/dd -> toybox
# getcap /system/bin/dd
# getcap /system/bin/toybox
# getcap /dev/block/by-name/boot_a
# getcap /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
# cat /proc/self/status | grep Cap
CapInh: 0000000000000000
CapPrm: 0000003fffffffff
CapEff: 0000003fffffffff
CapBnd: 0000003fffffffff
CapAmb: 0000000000000000
[ThisOneRan@PC]$ capsh --decode=0000003fffffffff
0x0000003fffffffff=cap_chown,cap_dac_override,cap_dac_read_search,cap_fowner,cap_fsetid,cap_kill,cap_setgid,cap_setuid,cap_setpcap,cap_linux_immutable,cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_broadcast,cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_ipc_lock,cap_ipc_owner,cap_sys_module,cap_sys_rawio,cap_sys_chroot,cap_sys_ptrace,cap_sys_pacct,cap_sys_admin,cap_sys_boot,cap_sys_nice,cap_sys_resource,cap_sys_time,cap_sys_tty_config,cap_mknod,cap_lease,cap_audit_write,cap_audit_control,cap_setfcap,cap_mac_override,cap_mac_admin,cap_syslog,cap_wake_alarm,cap_block_suspend,cap_audit_read
# cat /proc/sys/kernel/cap_last_cap
37

So, I've tried to set cap_dac_override for the /system/bin/toybox binary, but couldn't — it is read-only:
# setcap cap_dac_override+ep /system/bin/toybox
Failed to set capabilities on file `/system/bin/toybox' (Read-only file system)

Form running mount | grep system it turns out that not the system itself is mounted, but... Magisk's system_root bloack device to eash individual binary and stuff. So, I have remounted toybox as rw:
# mount | grep toybox
/dev/DBScy/.magisk/block/system_root on /system/bin/toybox type ext4 (ro,seclabel,relatime)
# mount -o remount,rw /dev/DBScy/.magisk/block/system_root /system/bin/toybox
# mount | grep toybox
/dev/DBScy/.magisk/block/system_root on /system/bin/toybox type ext4 (rw,seclabel,relatime)

This allowed me to setcap all capabilities:
# setcap all+ep /system/bin/toybox
# getcap /system/bin/toybox
/system/bin/toybox =ep

But even with this, I'm still not permitted to flash the boot image:
# dd if=/data/data/com.termux/files/home/storage/downloads/magisk_patched-25200_FyF2V.img of=/dev/block/by-name/boot_a
dd: /dev/block/by-name/boot_a: write error: Operation not permitted
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.001446 s, 0 B/s
# dd if=/data/data/com.termux/files/home/storage/downloads/magisk_patched-25200_FyF2V.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p38
dd: /dev/block/mmcblk0p38: write error: Operation not permitted
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes (0 B) copied, 0.000779 s, 0 B/s

At this point I've no idea what else to try, or where my obvios mistake could be, so please help me figure it out. Thanks in advance!

Strange, but after a reboot to the same prefix, it allowed me to flash it without any "capabilities" and with enforcing SELinux. And everything worked perfectly as intended. I've no idea what caused it to not work on the first try, maybe I had to restart the shell?
Anyway, to boot into the same prefix on the next re/boot, you should set the active boot slot using bootctl set-active-boot-slot `bootctl get-current-slot`


text:
Lync 2010 Problems - Android 11
I have installed Lync 2010 Mobile on my Samsung Galaxy A12 mobile phone.
When I try to connect, it says "the Server Fails a Connection".
I set all required DNS server settings in my Windows Server 2012R2 DNS Server. Set the WIFI DNS to the Windows Server 2012R2. I installed the Mobility Service in the Server 2008 R2 Lync 2010 Server. Still, it will not work.
I think I read somewhere that you can change server settings by holding the Home button. Although that opens Google Assistant.
Can anyone please try to help me?

No idea, but maybe you've read to hold the options/multi-tasking button — it's an ancient way to open a context menu that nowadays is found under the three-dots button in UI.

Well, Lync 2010 Mobile doesn't have that...

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


text:
Change mobile phone into proxy gateway
I have a WiFi network in my home. Fiber connection as default.
I'm looking for a way to hook my mobile phone into my local network, and create a "gateway" proxy on it.
I installed something called Servers Ultimate, but it does not seem to do what I need.
I want to connect to the proxy via a local WiFi connection, and then make it connect outside via LTE/3G modem.
Currently proxy works, but it redirects the connection back to the WiFi network, not through LTE.

If you have a fiber connection why do you want to route traffic through cellular?

Hi, please note that questions directly asking for app recommendations are off-topic. Instead, we prefer the asker to just state the underlying problem that they want to solve and not put any restrictions on apps only. Otherwise, you might be interested in our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange instead.

Hi @AndrewT. I asked about a way to do it, not about app recommendation. I only stated what I already used. Correct me if I'm wrong.

@Robert Differate IP adress for testing of my webapps

The original title mentioned "Application to [...]" which is usually a big hint on app recommendation and off-topic. Fortunately, the question already mentioned the background issue, so it is clear enough to be salvaged.

“but it redirects the connection back to the WiFi network, not through LTE”. This issue has been discussed many times already e.g. here, here, here, and here. The problem is that Android always gives priority to WiFi when the device is connected to both WiFi and Mobile Data. You need to change the network routing table manually. It's not possible without root.

Or entirely connect to WiFi from commandline; the hard way.

@AndrewT. Sorry. Did not notice that you changed title. :) Thought it was mine.

@IrfanLatif I looked at simmiliar topics while writing this post, these did not appear.

No problem. The community is here to assist.


text:
Disable location sharing's notifications in Microsoft Family Safe
I am a parent and I don't want to share my location. Is there any way to get rid of this damn nag:

Or am I forced to see it each time I open up the app.
Also I don't understand why am I seeing following notification each time I unlock my phone:

if I am NOT sharing my location.
I am running Motorola One (XT1941) with Android 10.


text:
Determine ABI of installed app
For a particular installed app (in my case, com.android.chrome), is there a way to tell which ABI is being used (e.g., arm64-v8a)?
I know I could launch the app and run file on /proc/<PID>/exe but I'm wondering if there's a way to do this by examining the app itself.

Modern apps installed from Google Play Store consist of multiple APK files (also known as split APK files). If the app contains native .so files those files are usually packed per-ABI (e.g. armeabi-v7a arm64-v8a x86 or x86_64) and only the matching ABI file is downloaded and installed.
Therefore for some apps you can check the installed ABI by listing all APK files that belong to an app:
adb shell pm path <packagename>

Example:
package:/data/app/.../com.example.app-SO6ebvL9yDViMlHkHQ6NPw==/base.apk
package:/data/app/.../com.example.app-SO6ebvL9yDViMlHkHQ6NPw==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk
package:/data/app/.../com.example.app-SO6ebvL9yDViMlHkHQ6NPw==/split_config.xxhdpi.apk

If the APK list contains an entry that ends with arm64_v8a.apk and no other APK file contains in it's file-name an other ABI name then you know that the arm64_v8a ABI version is installed and used.
Unfortunately this can only work for split APKs. And even for some split APK apps it doesn't work for an unknown reason - com.android.chrome is one of those apps that is a split app with platform dependent so files but none of the APK files have an indicator in the file-name which ABI is installed.

For universal APK, can it be generally detected by the device's SoC instead?

@AndrewT. Only if the universal APK is really universal. But some single APK apps do only contain libraries for a certain subset of ABIs, e.g. if an game is older it may only contain armv7a ABI or newer games may only contain arm64-v8a and if the app is designed not to be executed on an emulator x86 ABIs may missing.

To add to @Robert's reply, if the application has no native libraries, it means it is platform independent, so you can get the ABI from adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abi.
In the other case, suppose you have a phone with arm64-v8a and com.android.chrome only has a native library for armeabi-v7a, you can run adb shell pm dump <packagename> | grep primaryCpuAbi and get the app's ABI.
Example:
$ adb shell pm dump com.android.chrome | grep primaryCpuAbi

    primaryCpuAbi=armeabi-v7a

$ adb shell pm dump com.example.platform.independent | grep primaryCpuAbi

    primaryCpuAbi=null

You can also try adb shell pm dump <packagename> | grep -A 3 "Dexopt state:"
Example arm:
Dexopt state:
  [com.example.nativelib]
    path: /data/app/~~ThisIsAnExampleAAAAAAA==/com.example.nativelib-ThisIsAnExampleAAAAAAA==/base.apk
      arm: [status=quicken] [reason=bg-dexopt]

Example arm64:
Dexopt state:
  [com.android.dialer]
    path: /system/product/priv-app/Dialer/Dialer.apk
      arm64: [status=speed-profile] [reason=bg-dexopt]

pm dump com.android.chrome | grep primaryCpuAbi shows both arm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a.  The process is 64-bit.


text:
Is there a way to switch sound media from headphones to speakers?
The headphone jack suffered a wear that is causing the device to understand that there is a headphone connected (even if it doesn't exist), I've tried to do all the correct cleanings possible but it didn't fix it.
Notifications play perfectly on the speaker but media don't.
Is there any app or method to make this switch manually?

It seems the easiest way to go is to use an app, like Disable Headphone Fix Earphone for example, to disable the headphone jack and make your audio only output from where you want.
My first instinct was to look at your audio profiles and disable it that way, but that way may not be as simple as it sounds possibly requiring you to put your device into "developer mode" to be able to access certain features your device may or may not have depending on your version of Android.


text:
How Link to Windows (Android application) call forwarding works when Google has added so many obstacles to call recording on Android?
Today, I bumped into Microsoft's Link to Windows Android application, which supports that it has a call forwarding feature so you can make and answer calls from a Windows computer. A few days ago I was wondering why KDE Connect doesn't have this feature and if I should try to implement it.
Then after a bit of searching, I found this article describing the obstacles Google has added to call recording on Android. So reading that Link to Windows support call forwarding sounded somehow controversial to me.
The reason I am writing this question is to ask for more information about how it works and why this application is allowed on Google Play.

Possibly the call forwarding is using Bluetooth HFP 1.5 Hands-Free Profile (as mentioned in this answer). I'm not sure what call recording has anything to do with this though...

@AndrewT. you are correct. The Play Store description of "Link to Windows" states: “Calls requires a Windows 10 PC with Bluetooth capability”.

@AndrewT. Thanks you very much for the information. If you can write an answer about it I will accept it, otherwise I will answer it myself.

Feel free to answer it :)

@AndrewT. One more clarification, for the calling functionality to work the phone must be in the Bluetooth range not in the Wifi range, right?

Based on the Play Store description mentioned by Irfan, I believe so, because it's using Bluetooth technology.

Okay, thanks you for the infromation.


text:
Is there a way to change the voice of the workout guide in Samsung Health?
It was a British lady with a lovely voice, and now it’s a US-American lady with a voice that frankly doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t see a way to change it, though. The phone’s language is set to British English.

You have to install the voice package to the app and choose it.  For example, if I Google search "Samsung TTS" I get a result for Samsung TTS Australian English Default voice 1 that I can install via the galaxy store. It's then just a matter of going to Settings, Controls, Language and input, Text-to-Speech options... then choose the voice you want.
Your probably after the Samsung TTS UK English Default voice 1

This worked! Thank you! I'm surprised the new phone came with fewer voice packages than the previous one; no packages were ever downloaded on the previous one!


text:
How to turn my old phone into a proper router?
It happens that I have an old 4G Alcatel (Android 6) phone and I want to use it as a 4G modem because fibber nor ADSL will work in my location.
I'm not seeking a simple mobile hotspot, instead I would like to know if there is an app (maybe something like VyOS or OpenWRT, although I do know this are proper OSs and not just apps) which allow me to traphic-shaping and maybe client isolation.
I do not know if I could wipe the storage of my old phone and try something like OpenWRT (they have this apk in the PlayStore but has lots of negative comments) and how well this will work... But I'm open to any suggestions or if anyone can point me to a site where I can ask the questions related to install any router OS into a smartphone.

You can try ZeroShell though it's EOL now.

I don't think that you will find an alternative OS that is capable to make use of the cellular modem as it is integrated within the chipset. Common routers use USB based cellular modems.

Hi @IrfanLatif, have you tried ZeroShell in a Smartphone?

Yes I did set it up in chroot on an x86 Android device a few years back. But it isn't worth the hassle. You can't use the UI. Everything has to be done through commandline. And most probably you'll need to rebuild your kernel and patch/rebuild/modify many scripts and binaries in the zeroshell distro. Then take over the whole communication with modem and route it through the RIL (in Android's way), if possible and necessary. Still many features won't work. And setting up advanced features like LDAP and Kerberos is an overkill if you don't need them.

A simpler and cleaner approach is to use ip, tc, iptables, hostapd, dnsmasq etc. from within Android environment. These can do almost everything a simple router would do. But it depends on your definition of a "proper router".

Thanks, I would further investigate in how to open a local terminal in my device and make install some tools as iptables and tc, I think that with these 2 tools I will achieve what I want.

@Archerbob sorry, I can't, I'm not tied to change OS, but to use an app which let me do the Traffic-Shaping


text:
How to use the camera in WSA in apps that don't support front camera?
I've been trying to get an app to work on WSA (Windows Services for Android) but it needs a back camera, the only options I found Googling were either involving root (which is something I prefer to avoid in that case) or unsupported in the Android version (and probably won't work in that case wither).
What can I do to use the camera on such apps?

I thought about that when I used an external USB camera, the Windows camera app treated it as a front camera and treated the built in one as a back facing camera, so I stopped WSA from the WSA settings, connected the external camera and started the app, sure thing, I could use my front camera in the app.
It treated it as a back camera.


text:
How do I reflash both partitions of a Google Pixel 6 Pro device in one go?
How do I reflash both partitions of a Google Pixel 6 Pro device in one go?
If I follow the instructions at https://developers.google.com/android/images, I have to:

reflash the first, default partition (a or b) using flash-all.bat
return to the bootloader (which means either (A) turning the device off after it automatically reboots and booting back into the bootloader using the hardware buttons or (B) doing a "false setup" of the device (after it automatically reboots) and returning to the bootloader via Android's Developer Options screen and the adb reboot bootloader command
set the inactive partition to the active partition using fastboot set_active a or fastboot set_active b
reflash the second, remaining partition using flash-all.bat

Is there a way to combine these reflashing steps to make reflashing both partitions less troublesome?
(Note: My goal with reflashing both partitions instead of one is to eliminate malware, so simply nuking and regenerating both partitions from scratch would also be a workable solution, but I don't know how to do that either.)

I do remember that when I flashed devices some time ago the new image also don't?aimed a new bootloader and the flash script automatically performed a reboot after flashing the bootloader to load the new bootloader. After reboot directly fastboot mode was active again, so there should be a command to reboot the device directly from within fastboot so that after reboot you again end up in fastboot mode so you don't have to fiddle with hardware buttons or boot the device to be able to use adb.

If you want to make a minimalistic effort and don't have much experience to modify your flash-all.bat script, just do this.

Run flash-all.bat on your existing boot slot.

Reboot the phone to fastboot on other slot:
fastboot set_active other (sets the currently inactive slot as active i.e. a => b or b => a)
fastboot reboot-bootloader (reboots the phone to bootloader/fastboot. If this does not work, then try fastboot reboot bootloader)

Rerun flash-all.bat; This time, it will flash your other slot.

Alternatively, depending on your experience and skill, you can embed the slot change and reboot-bootloader into the flash all script and then call the flash commands again. However, I think that the above steps will do the work without you needing time and effort to modify the flash sequence.


text:
How can one delete all text message threads except for a few ones on Pixel 6?
I have plenty of text messages for OTP or similar automated services on my Google Pixel 6. I'm doing some cleaning. How can one delete all text message threads except for a few ones on Pixel 6?

Be aware in newer versions of Messages, you can go to
Profile Pic - Message Settings - Message Organization

and enable the option "Auto-delete OTPs after 24 hours"... this can help a lot.

Otherwise Messages doesn't have the kind of granularity to mass delete multiple entire threads, you would have to switch to Textra or something like that to do that.

There exists no built-in solution to delete all text message threads except for a few ones on Pixel 6. Android does not offer any built-in solution for that use case.


text:
Turn off section called "new" in Google Photos app
When I want to show pics to people, Google Photos first shows whatever is "new", for instance "Screenshots" below:

It is often unflattering.
Question: How to remove the "new" section?
Bonus for removing the "Throwback to Thursday"/"Monday vibes"/"Revisit the moment"/etc sections too, or even better: on app start always show the "Camera" collection directly.

I'm not sure about the "new" section, but for the top section, it's called "Memories": Photo Settings - Memories - Featured memories - (disable all)

Thanks a lot Andrew, I got rid of the first row now!


text:
System settings: order of bluetooth devices in list
On Android 11, I noticed the list of "Previously connected devices" does not show the latest successfully connected device. That said, when I want to manually force a Bluetooth connection to a specific device, I always need to click on "See all" then browse and try to find the bluetooth device.
My list has around ~25 entries as today and is tedious to search. I would like to know if it's possible to have this list somehow sorted from the most recently connected to the older one.
Do you know any trick for doing that?

This is quite an annoying little issue, as there are about six or seven devices that I connect to frequently, but they are scattered across the list, so I had to resort to extending their names with long strings of dots (like Bathroom Echo Dot •••••••••••••••), so they are easier to spot in the long list. Also, the order in the list that opens from the quick settings panel dropdown should at least put the currently connected devices on the top, so they can be quickly disconnected...


text:
What is the difference between "USB-C to HDMI Adapter" and "MHL"?
When I search if Samsung Galaxy S8 supports MHL or not, I am getting crazy.
50% of online articles say S8 does not support MHL including mhltech.org link and technipages
Another 50% of online articles say S8 supports MHL.
It obviously supports USB-C to HDMI Adapter which is only one side with Type-C port and another side with HDMI port cable.
If S8 does NOT support MHL, what is the difference between "USB-C to HDMI Adapter" and "MHL"?
Does "USB-C to HDMI Adapter" have worse video output than "MHL"?
Thanks a lot.

AFAIK MHL uses a passive cable, which means the used display has to support MHL. Where as HDMI is a common standard, so the converter is active: it has a chip which generates the HDMI signal from the signal it gets via USB (not sure what protocol is used on USB level).

It seems to me that Samsung in all their infinite wisdom decided people needed a DEX Station to put their S8 into to achieve this purpose, to push their own devices/accessories instead of someone else's.


text:
How to "permanently" turn off networking on an android device?
I'm in the process of creating a "secure device" to store and process sensitive information. Using an Android device was the best course of action for me, since I can make a quick app, plus I can use the camera, finger print, and other goodies that comes with these. All development is going well, except that I want to have that device as isolated from any network activity as possible.
For now I'm just turning off WIFI, making sure Mobile Data is off, and setting airplane mode on. But, and where is my question: Is it possible to do it on a OS level? in such a way that there is no obvious way to turn it back on? I spend more than 2 hours searching around but most results are how-tos, or things unrelated to what I want to do.
Just to be clear, I do not want my app to do this, but instead, run a command or do something to the device that "physically" disables connectivity on the device.
I would love if this does not require a custom android build.
I would accept purchase recommendations for devices that comes without connectivity at all.
Thanks!

You can use ip or iptables to block everything at kernel level. Both commands require root. Or go one step further ahead and rebuild your kernel with network stack entirely disabled.

Was already reading about rebuilding the kernel, but seems like a lot of work xD
iptables can be VERY interesting. Will check it out. Thanks @IrfanLatif

Wouldn't just removing the driver for networking prevent network connectivity as it simply wouldn't function

Would you mind pointing me towards making this happen @Archerbob?
I'm no android dev. Would it need a rebuild? Can it be done simply as root?

I thought removing the driver would be easier but it seems not, it seems the way to go perhaps is to use IPTABLES with DROP/REJECT so packets cannot enter/leave the device. Have a read at https://source.android.com/docs/core/architecture/hidl/network-stack and the man page of iptables https://linux.die.net/man/8/iptables

Don't forget to remove the radio layer. Most of the GSM functionality (e.g. SMS) does not make use of IP (only the recent standards like VoLTE). Or you simply use a Wifi only tablet - that would simplify the task.

Thanks @Archerbob reading your links.

@Robert great point. Would you guide me towards a starting point?

Radio layer is already the starting point. I only know RIL which is the Radio Layer Interface on the higher levels and on the lower layer there is the radio layer providing services on cellular networks.

Does GSM work without a SIM card?  I thought if there was no SIM in the device that GSM functionality didn't work


text:
SMS/call works when LTE is on but without it, it does not work. Why?
I recently removed my SIM and put it back in again. From then on my SIM does SMS and calls only when I turn on LTE in the mobile network section.
Even if internet is off it works with LTE. Why did this happen? What would happen if I put the SIM in another cell phone?
In my cellphone both call and SMS are gray and not active. Even if LTE is on they are off, but I do get SMS/call. What could be the problem?

Where do you live (are there still 2G / 3G networks available)?

sorry but It is not about living I think since after removal of simcard and putting back it again it happened. anyway I think yes 3G is available. I just want to know working with LTE always is Ok? Also, LTE is working without net connection. I am naive in this subject at all so I am not sure LTE is related to net at all or not?

Maybe my question was vague. Actually it is  not related to the internet. It is just about when I turn on the LTE on voice call I could get sms and call. But when it is off I could not. The net is always off

I am sure the others will help better, but in my opinion try to: set the network to automatically scan / choose available networks. Maybe the area lacks basic 2G / GSM signal? Or there is an issue with the phone / network provider. Just a few hints. Restarting the phone always helps.

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

Thanks. But the issue is after removing the sim and put it again this was happened. I hope sim will continue its function since I gave it to my friend to do my works with it and I have not access to it. Yesterday this was happened.


text:
Type text in non-Latin language using Latin/English transcription in Android
Is there any way to make your Android keyboard type in the Latin alphabet but write in another language, e.g. Persian (Farsi) or other languages? For example, if you write the phonetics of some word in the Latin alphabet (English alphabet), it writes the equivalent Persian word in the input box.
Like the picture below in Google Translate, when the input language is something other than Latin languages, it suggests Persian writing.

The Persian keyboard of an Android phone of one of my friends suddenly has been changed and behaves like told. And the language symbol when you swipe is A->ا which probably means write in Latin and receive Persian.
I checked all the language settings. Nothing odd was there except only one thing that I checked which was the Farsi Latin input language, and the problem was not due to that. Note: you can forget about the (Farsi Latin) because it was not set in the first place. I only told for the ways I have tried.
So, how to take the keyboard back to normal Farsi?

Possibly what you want is called Gboard, where you choose the language you want to type as and the keyboard layout you want to use.
Read more here

I had the same problem and found out that I had to press a button beside the setting in the keyboard that has the following cap/logo.


text:
Cannot disable the clipboard history feature on Samsung galaxy device
Samsung devices have a clipboard history feature which is a big security risk for people who use a password manager.
I have tried disabling the ClipboardSaveService package as described in the thread "Disabling the clipboard history on Samsung devices" but I am still able to see the clipboard history using the edge panel and the Samsung keyboard and I am not sure if disabling clipboarduiservice package will make any difference. Please tell me what other package do I need to disable so as to get rid of this non-sense clipboard history feature. Thanks.
Android Version: 12 (One UI Core 4.1)

So I found out a workaround. Please Backup everything before doing this!
Install openboard -> make it your default keyboard -> uninstall com.samsung.clipboardsaveservice using adb -> uninstall Samsung keyboard using adb and you’re done!
After doing this, copying things to clipboard doesn’t populate the edge panel clipboard list, which probably indicates that clipboard history feature is not working
OpenBoard on Play Store & FDroid

From review: Can you please edit your answer to provide a link to openboard?


text:
How do I clear Android caches via ADB (Bricked phone)?
I have used my phone and all was fine, but I wanted to reboot it and something went wrong. first it has stuck in boot loop, I waited ~10 minutes and thought it'll boot but no, then I tried enter a Recovery (twrp) and it just doesn't want to boot even in recovery. So I went to fastboot and flashed a new version of twrp, but it still won't boot. All the times when I have been stuck in a bootloop I just cleared caches via twrp and phone booted fine but now I really don`t know what I can do to rescue it and not lose my data. So maybe there is a way I can wipe caches without accessing the recovery menu? =(
If I force bootloader to load from fastboot it throws me back into a fastboot.

Poco x3 nfc (surya)
Android 12 Pixel Experience (official from their website)

so i have tried alot of recoveries ( bunch of twrps, 3 orange foxes, PE recovery) no one works, TWRP&OF just hangs on splash screens and PErecovery is just a black screen. i just have no clue what do i do. i can try flash rom from a fastboot but then i will lose all my data. that sucks

Instead of adding info using comments please edit your question instead.


text:
Is it necessary to update Android version?
My Samsung mobile is telling me to update to Android 11, is there really anything that is better than Android 10? I notice the more updates, the more likely it is for others to spy on our data & messages.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange, a Q&A site for Android end-users solving their issues. Being a Q&A site, the site has a 1-question-per-post policy to avoid extensive discussion, thus I removed the tangentially related "Edge updated when PC is turned on" (not sure if there's any relevant to Android?). Feel free to post it as a new question.

Regarding the main topic of "updating Android OS", aside from new features that the user may not care about, I guess one of the most important reasons is the fix to security vulnerabilities (like the monthly security patch).

The question is not Android 10 or 11 but do you want security patches or not: so do you want to be attackable or not? If you don't want to be attackable you need to install the latest update and those updates are only published for the higher Android version. If you want more control about the OS the only other option is to unlock the device and install a custom ROM like LineageOS (if available for your device model).


text:
Lenovo M8 Tab - how to auto hide 3 buttons navigation bar in Chrome fullscreen
I have selected 3 buttons navigation as System navigation in Settings on Lenovo M8 Tab with Android 10.
Now I need it to hide automatically when not in use so that it is not visible in fulscreen Chrome.
It was possible before on other tablets or lower versions.
Is that somehow possible now?

Only updated the Chrome and the problem went away, the 3 buttons navigation now hides automatically in fullscreen.


text:
Auto factory reset - is this a general function of Android?
I want to install a software provided by my company but the IT admins only accept devices that support the "Auto factory reset" functionality (automatically perform a factory after if the wrong lock screen password/PIN has been entered 15 times consecutively). They claim nearly every Android phone would have this function.
I know that certain Samsung phones have this functionality but Samsung is known to heavily modify Android. So my main question is:
Is or was the "Auto factory reset" functionality ever included in general Android?
I have checked multiple devices with different Android versions running. And except from Samsung no device had this functionality, so I am a bit confused...

"Auto-factory reset" after a set number of failed PIN/password attempts is a part of the Android Device Admin API which is now available only as a proprietary service from Google, called "Android Enterprise". See point 3 of section 2.3.3.

Or you can build an admin app of your own which sets policy by calling setMaximumFailedPasswordsForWipe.


text:
Questions on implementation of message/notification light/LED
I hope this collection of questions on Android's "notification light" are not too generic.
Also I hope it's OK to bundle them.
Anyway, here they are:

Is there an API to "replace" a physical notification light by an app, i.e.: make the app "forward" events directed towards the notification light (that is actually absent), also meaning that any other app controlling the notification light would be redirected?
Should a current phone have a notification light (assuming Google makes hardware guidelines for phones)?
My old Huawei Android 7/8 phone had a triple LED (I guess red, green, blue) that could be controlled by apps like signal to light up in different colors (it's also used by the system as well, e.g. to indicate a low battery), but my current Oppo Android 12 AMOLED phone has none any more.
Somehow I miss it.
I noticed that when the camera is in use the display "emulates" a green notification light, so I thought the notification light might be emulated to be used by other applications as well, but seemingly it isn't.
Or is there a setting I need to enable that emulation?
I also noticed that I can "control" the function of the non-present notification light in some apps, but it does not seem to have any effect.

Recent Google Pixel phones have no notification light, I think that says it all...

OK, so it's not required (answering item #2), but the API to control it still exists.


text:
Google keep: reordering order of images with drag and drop
I am wondering whether it is possible to reorder the order of Google keep images within a given note with drag and drop, from within keep.
It would be quite convenient, andI am wondering why this functionality is hot included or does not seem to be included in current versions of keep.
Is there a way to achieve what I am looking for?
Thanks.

As I understand it, Google Keep sorts like a stack: last in, first out.


text:
Phone won`t boot into android/recovery
android phone won't boot into os/recovery even after flashing a new ones.
here`s adb logcat maybe something writen here https://pastebin.com/6bSFURBM

Hello. Which Android phone are you using? What did you flash and how did you flash it? Have you tried flashing stock ROM? Or, is the phone bricked and simply does not boot up?

+1 for providing logcat


text:
MS Teams Audio issues via Pixel 6
In the last week I began running into an issue. Not sure if there was a system update (could have happened overnight).
In short audio doesn't work in teams meetings until I clear the cache for the app.

Issue occurs with both wired and wireless headphones
Audio will work via phone's built in speakers
Once it is reset it will work for one meeting or a couple. I haven't figured out what triggers the issue
Issue is limited to MSTeams, other applications (music/audible/youtube) work just fine.

So far I have tried:

Restarts, which did nothing
Removal/reinstall of the application, this worked similarly to clearing the cache, it helped but only temporarily

Teams vsn: 1416/1.1.1.2022363703
Android vsn: 12

If the issue is limited to Team and as if the workaround is to clear teams app cache this is clearly an app bug which should be reported to MS. Unfortunately MS has no way to create an bug report for an end user, so posting the bug in a MS forum would IMHO be better than posting it here.

@Robert Fair, I was hoping someone had a more permanent work around. Dealing with MS support is...unpleasant.


text:
Get file from our app on a customer's device
I work for a company that developed an Android app, but since then the guys that wrote it have left. I am a beginner when it comes to Android development.
We have a situation where our customer has used the app and has data, but something has happened and the data can't be uploaded from the app (which it normally should do). The customer says the data is expensive and critical. We believe a database table has been corrupted.
I attempted to give them a build of the app which would download the file with the data, but when the link is tapped it gives the error "net::ERR_ACCESS_DENIED" because the file is in the app's protected storage (file:///data/user/0/com.mycompany.myapp/files/projects/projectname/data.sqlite).
I really am shooting in the dark as to what could be done to retrieve the file. Any suggestions?
Our app has allowBackup=true and targetSdkVersion=31 in it's AndroidManifest.xml and the app is running on Android 12.

My phone is an S21 on Android 12. The manifest file doesn't specify targetAPI, but it has a build.gradle file specifying minSdkVersion 23 and targetSdkVersion 31.

My first thought was that when backup is allowed you should be able to extract the file using adb backup command. Unfortunately that no longer only works on Android since about 12 for apps that have a targetSDKVersion of 31 or newer.
Therefore there is only one way to get the file through a new app version:
My recommended way would be to implement a new feature into your app that allows to export the data from the app-private directory and save it e.g. to the "sdcard" section of Android.
Alternatively you could try to implement a totally new app that uses the same packageName/applicationId and the same APK signature key. The versionCode in AndroidManifest.xml must be higher than any version you have ever released.
That new app only needs to have one button to start the copy process of the important database to the sdcard section.
This app can then be installed manually as update so that the app-internal data is kept and can then be exported.

I have managed to create code which uses an InputStream and OutputStream to try and copy the file. I currently getting an exception opening the OutputStream "EPERM (Operation not permitted)". Right now the output filename string is set to 'Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().toString() + "/data.sqlite"; If interested, I may be able to convince my company to pay you for consulting.

@WalterWilliams Check Stackoverflow.com for the keywords Scoped Storage. The code you use is most likely outdated since Android 11 and thus won't work anymore.

I got something to work in the emulator. Hopefully it will work on the target tablet. Thanks!


text:
Jpeg files defect and extremely huge after file transfer to laptop
I have Cut&Paste some .jpg files from my mobile phone (internal storage) to my laptop (file transfer by cable), now those files are ¡¡5gb!! each instead of 5MB and I can´t watch the pics. Pics folder size is about 3TB, while my SSD is 0.5TB, so that´s ridiculous.
Mobile phone is Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, Android 12, MIUI global 13.0.8. Laptop is Lenovo with Windows 10.
Any idea how to get my pics back?

MTP protocol used for file transfer is known to be slow and unreliable. Furthermore there were some bugs when moving files, they should already be resolved but as you have noticed there are other potential problems that cause data loss. You can try to tuna photo recovery software like photorec on the large files you have. Hopefully photorec finds the original image(s).

If you have some technical skill you can use adb to pull files which is what I had to do when I had more photos than what Android File Transfer using MTP could show.


text:
Check IP details via Android Terminal App in Android 13
Seems that Android 13 doesn't allow any more access to /system/bin/ip command.
I tried to list the connected hotspot devices via ip neigh [1].
The error message is:

Cannot bind netlink socket: Permission denied

Is there any way to fix that issue in Android 13?
So far I tried it with the following terminal apps

Temux v0.101 v0.118.0 (via F-Droid)
Terminal Emulator for Android v1.0.70

[1] How to view devices connected to hotspot on Android?

Termux in Google PlayStore is no longer updated (because of Google restrictions), you should switch to Termux F-Droid version.

@Robert I don't think the Google Play version is kind of related here since it's still possible to do what the OP wants on Android 12, but I could be wrong...

That said, does calling ip command without flags return anything? (the screenshot shows a typo neith, which would show Object "neith" is unknown, try "ip help" on Android 12)

Deinstalled Termux and updated to v0.118.0. Now the command ip returns, that it is not installed, and I can do that via iproute2 or termux-tools package. I'll try that now...

@AndrewT. now /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/ip comes with the same error: Cannot bind netlink socket: Permission denied.

@AndrewT. in Android 13 with the iproute2 package man ip and the search for ip neigh says: Shows the current neighbour table in kernel.

The error comes because the bind call fails. Most probably it's due to the restricted SELinux policy as was the case with UNIX domain sockets. You can try to check AVC denials in kernel log. Hopefully it'll still be working on ADB shell.

Google has removed the possibility to bind netlink socket to retrieve arp table from targetSdkVersion 30 through SELinux policies. If you have root, you can disable SELinux policies and it will work, giving the command su -c setenforce 0 when you're done with ip neigh command, I suggest you to enforce SELinux policies again with command su -c setenforce 1
Without using bind function, I've made a library that does a workaround that consist in sending via netlink socket a type message not listed (30) and then I've used the socket receive to see which data system returns to that socket. From that, I've noticed that the received data was the arp table.
You can find more here https://github.com/fulvius31/ip-neigh-sdk30/blob/main/ipneigh30/src/main/cpp/ip_neigh.c

@fulvius31 is your library implemented in any public app?

Yes. Mine called WeeNet link

@fulvius31 I can't get your library to work when the targetsdkversion is set to 32 or above and being run on Android 13 device. The message "socket send failed" is being shown in Logcat.

@Dieter27 I can confirm that the library does not work with Android 13 and targetSdk setted to 32 otherwise it works.


text:
Some local ipv4 hosts unreachable
Periodically some hosts on my LAN (but not others) are inaccessible from my phone, both in chrome and pinging/tracerouting from termux.  These hosts are up at the time and accessible from other devices on the network.  On the phone the hostnames resolve incorrectly when I ping (presumably caching a previous result) and attempts to connect by ip fail as unreachable.  Other LAN hosts are always available.  There is no pattern (yet spotted) in which device becomes inaccessible or for how long.   The phone is connected only to the correct wifi network (dhcp) and there is only one dns server on my lan (which is not the default gateway).
How do I debug this?  ip route in tmux just returns the phone's ip address. traceroute likewise falls back to the phone.  A comment on this question mentions that 'android routing is really complicated'.  How do I find out where the packets are actually being sent?
The problem is annoyingly transient, but if I have some idea what to run next time it happens I might be able to get a handle on what's happening.  It seems to have begun recently, but I've been away for a few months and can't say which upgrade.  The phone is a Galaxy A10 running android 11.

So your "LAN" is just one subnet? Which one?

@Robert 192.168.0/24. It's just home stuff.  The local dns resolves .lan and queries something like 8.8.8.8 for anything else.


text:
Rsync for Android: with Google Drive and Github
I am looking for a way to sync a folder that contains files created by an app, where the app doesn't have backup capabilities.
I want the folder to be synced either with Google Drive, or, better, with GitHub (so that my files will be preserved in revision history even if they are deleted on my smartphone's directory).
Is there such a service on Android? Would I have better have asked this on Software Recommendations?
Thanks.


text:
What to do when Google Family Link didn't start working, and when tapping the "Account action required" notification had no effect
Google Family Link is Google's parental-control app for Android and Chromebook devices.  (No parental-control software is perfect.  Therefore, it's wise to also keep all your child's devices in your own bedroom every night, until the child is old enough to need overnight smartphone access.)
Google strongly encourages parents to use the Google Family Link to set up supervision.  But, instead, I set up supervision using a Web browser.
I got a warning message:

"Your Google Account won’t work with some of your devices.
"You have 1 device that will no longer work with your account.  Your Google Account will be signed out of these devices. You can’t use your account with these devices unless they’re updated to a supported version."
I ignored the warning, and clicked Next.
After finishing all the supervision set-up steps I could, the child phone showed a Google Play Services notification:  "Account action required".  Tapping the notification showed a 'please wait' screen, after which nothing happened.
Also, I was unable to view the full list of allowed and forbidden apps on the Google Family Link website.  I saw a warning message:  "[Child] isn’t signed in to any devices. Learn how to set up a device for [child]."
What to do?
(The child device is an old LG G5 running Android 8.0.0 "Oreo".)

I figured out a solution.

Open the Settings app on the child's device.
Tap "Apps".
Tap "Google Play services".
Tap "Storage".
Tap "Manage space".
Tap "Clear all data".
You might need to power the phone off and back on again; or you might not.
Now, you can tap on "Account action required" and continue on with the next steps.

(Google Family Link required me to remove the child's school Google account from the device, leaving only the child's personal Google account, before adding supervision to the device.  After supervision had been set up, though, I added the school Google account back onto the device again.)
In the end, supervision was installed and working as intended, and both the child's personal and school Google accounts were enabled and working on the device.