text:
Failure during official firmware update - phone powered off and won't boot
Phone: Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML
Long story short: I tried to install official firmware upgrade using TWRP > Install > .zip. The installation was going on for a couple of minutes and then the screen blacked out. Since then, the phone does not boot.

So, I got bored of my Android 5 and decided to install a custom ROM, but I had to upgrade official firmware before that.
At first, I dove into how to install custom ROM tutorials, so I did the rooting first:
I downloaded a BootLoaderUnlocker program from the official Asus website and unlocked the BL. Then, I followed a tutorial for one-click-root, and succeded. Then I installed TWRP and flashed the Recovery to the latest available img for my phone and tried to install the Lineage OS 14.1 but got status 7 error, meaning something is incompatible.
This post states, that in order to install Lineage OS 14.1 I have to have a firmware at least MM 4.21.40.xx which is Android 6, so I went to the official Asus website and downloaded the Firmware upgrade. Since, I probably had the wrong BL at that point, I flashed the bootloader with TWRP for Z00A (Lollipop)    2.8.7.3 from here, which is the same website from which the post suggest to download a BL for MM (Android 6). I thought, since I currently have the Lolipop, should install the BL for that, just to be sure. Then I started the firmware upgrade, which rebooted the phone into the BL, I didn't think, and just pressed Normal Boot and the phone booted as usual in the old Android. Then I tried to initiate the instalation again but couldn't (it's supposed to auto-detect the file in the storage root), so I got an idea to just boot the Recovery, maybe it will continue. So, I did that, and the TWRP showed up (I forgot about it already and thought that the instalation would just continue), so I just pressed Install and chose the firmware upgrade zip manualy. The installation was going on for a couple of minutes and then the screen blacked out.
Since then, the phone does not boot. If I try to, it vibrates like it is going to boot, but then nothing happens (not even a logo).
I even tried to disconnect the battery: removed all the screws, removed the back panel and manually disconnected it. When I put it back the phone vibrated like it was going to boot, but nothing happened again.
P.S. I tried to boot into the Recovery, but that just does not work, and even did not work before the firmware upgrade (I googled, that I must press power and volume up and hold until the logo appears, but that doesn't happen).
upd: plugged into the charger, periodically shows the battery icon on the screen.

Plug the device into a computer and see if it is recognized

@EthanZ I used Soc USB driver: it is recognized for a second then it disappears. I think every time I try to boot, it vibrates and shuts down immediately.

I think you're out of luck then. It's probably hard bricked.

@EthanZ do you mean the hardware could be damaged during the installation?

typo at first i just fixed. Hard bricked, or only fixable by the manufacturer

@EthanZ I went to a service and the dude said I might have screwed up the preLoader, so some might say it's a disastah

So, I went to a service and turns out I messed up the PreLoader, that boots the BootLoader. Sometimes this cannot be restored and costs a bunch of money to replace the memory block, but I got lucky and got the phone repaired.
P.S. Do not install official firmware with programs like TWRP, use only your manufacturer's software like, in my case, Asus flash-tool


text:
How can I change the default camera app (on lockscreen)?
I would like to uninstall the default camera app and instead use the FOSS Open Camera. And I would also like to access the camera from the lockscreen.
How can I do this in Android 6?

Thank you but I don't have my phone rooted. If I need to keep the standard camera that's fine too as long as I can change the default camera app.

While uninstalling the pre-installed camera app can be difficult as others have mentioned, it should be relatively easy to change your default camera app to Open Camera (or whatever camera app you prefer). I prefer Open Camera as well, so I also wanted the same thing.
To make Open Camera the default (or any camera app other than the pre-installed version), follow these steps:

Download camera app of choice (in your case, Open Camera)
Wait until it installs.
Turn off screen with power button (don't turn off phone, just screen), turn screen back on but stay on lockscreen (don't unlock phone).
Select camera from lock screen (Image 1 below).
Unlock phone if it requests for you to do so.
A pop-up should appear. Choose your desired camera app in the list.

IF you have the ability in this menu, select "Always." (Image 2)
IF you do not have the ability to select "Always" for the preferred camera app, still select desired app, let app open, go back to lockscreen. Repeat process, the second time you can choose "Always" for your preferred camera app. (Images 3 and 4)

Your phone should launch your preferred app now by default.

Caveats: sometimes when either camera app updates, you have to do the process again. Usually it doesn't happen too often, only when big changes occur to the apps. Hope that helps!

For those who already set the stock camera as the lock screen camera default, how do you clear the lock screen camera default so that you can set the default again?  (no way to disable system camera app on asus zenfone 4 max zc554kl)

Same problem as @JonGrah on Samsung S7, can't find any option to reset it.

Default camera is a system app, which requires root to uninstall default camera app. You can use Titanium Backup like app to remove system app (N.B: Removing system app will be harmful to your device).
Settings->Security, under device security, tap on settings icon near screen lock. Select Lock screen shortcuts. Tap on any left or right default icons, prompts to choose action: tap on select application. Tap on Apps on top, and select your required camera app(These setting is on Lineage 14.1 android nougat)

Android keeps changing how you can remove an app that's been set as the default for an action. Currently my phone is using Android 11; here, you need to go to:

Preferences
Apps and notifications
See all apps
Camera
Advanced
Open by default
Clear defaults

There are also some apps that will show you the default app for all the various categories and skip you to this spot in preferences directly, which I find more convenient so I don't have to remember this long navigation tree.
Once you've done this, you can open the camera app via your normal shortcut (eg pressing power button twice on my phone) and you'll get the dialog that asks which app you'd like to use for that action in the future.

If you would like to do this without rooting your device, then I may have an answer (that has worked for me) on Android 12. So, you cannot uninstall the default camera app, but what you can do is disable it. And really, that's all you have to do in order to use another camera app as the default one (and I would guess that it works only if you don't have other camera apps.) This has worked for me when using ProShot on Motorola Moto G stylus 5g (2022).

Well, doesn't work for me on Samsung Galaxy S23+ (Android 14). Even with system camera disabled (which cannot be done from UI, but needs adb shell pm disable-user com.sec.android.app.camera) or even uninstalled; the result is that lock screen camera icon disappears, double-clicking on power button does not work, and apps trying to take pictures via camera intents return No camera installed instead. Even if I have OpenCamera installed (which worked perfectly fine as default camera on Android 10 and below).

source: Stack Exchange

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

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

sort: votes


text:
Power button long press screen
On android devices, when you hold the power button for a couple of seconds, a screen pops up with options like flight mode, silent mode, restart, power off. Is there a name for this screen?

Power button menu

It would be beneficial to follow up with a comment after a downvote.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје yes, thank you. Would you mind posting it as an answer?

The menu you get when long press power button is called "power button menu" or "power menu"

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје

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


text:
Does restricting background data for an app turn off notifications too?
Does restricting background data also stop my phone from receiving notifications from restricted apps?
For example: I go to Settings > Data usage > Cellular data usage > Facebook, then I turn off 'Background data'.
Will I still receive notifications from Facebook?
Note* I am on Android: 7.1.2 and Device: Pixel

It depends on the app - the messaging service used.
For Facebook, yes, you will recieve notifications since it uses GCM (Google Cloud Messaging). So will other apps using GCM. GCM is a part of Google Play Services, which is not affected by restricting data
Other apps which don't use GCM will not show notifications. Here's a list of apps using GCM

Thanks!  I noticed you can turn off background data with Google Play Services.  It lists other apps included in usage as: Google Backup Transport, Google Account Manager and Google Services Framework.  Since it does not say Google Cloud Messaging does that mean Google Cloud Messaging will not have Background data turned off?
I just want to make sure i'm not turning off that service by turning off Google Play Services background data.

Yes. You are right. GCM is not affected by restricting data

If you're still connected to WIFI you should still receive those notifications. It sounds like you're just turning off the mobile data(as stated on my Galaxy S5), but not the WIFI data.
If you're not connected to WIFI you shouldn't receive notifications because it takes data to check for updates with the Facebook app.

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


text:
Turning off mobile data: method used to work but now doesn't
On my old phone I used to turn on mobile data when I wanted to check emails... but I would often forget to turn it off afterwards. To fix this problem I installed Macrodroid and programmed it to turn off mobile data every time the screen turned off. This was my perfect solution and was very happy with it for years.
Now I have a newer phone (Android 5.0.1) and was very sad to see that with this version of android it appears that Macrodroid can no longer turn off mobile data. This now means that when I occasionally forget to turn it off manually I can use up a ton of data. Now you might say "no worries, just set a mobile data limit" - but this does not solve the problem at all - it may mean that I won't go over my limit but that's of little comfort when it means that I have used up all my data and can not use it again till the next billing period.
Is there any other way to manage my forgetfulness?
By the way I know that macrodroid can control mobile data if the phone is rooted - but my banking app, which I use regularly, detects a rooted phone and refuses to run.

In Kit Kat you didn't need root to do that. In Lollipop and above you need root. That's the way OS changed. Of you want this feature badly, you need to root or as I heard you can use apps like Automateit to mimic switching off data. There is no other way.. it's not the fault of Automation app. BTW, I use same app on MM for the same purpose being rooted

Some folks in Reddit's Tasker community managed to use AutoInput app to toggle mobile data without the need of root.

@Firelord Rightly so tested it on my device (running Android 4 though)

@xavier_fakerat Perhaps you can provide more pointers through an answer? If answer doesn't work out well you can always take it down you know. :D

It is possible to toggle mobile data without root, using Tasker and AutoInput plugin.
Important: This feature requires screen to be on.
(Some users report that it only works if screen lock security is set to none or swipe.)
You need to perform two tasks as follows:

A1: Go to new action >> Plugin >> AutoInput >> Unlock screen
A2: Net >> Mobile data >> [Set Off or toggle (whatever you wish)]
Exit to save Task

Note: AutoInput also  emulates user swipes on the screen, which means that you can pull down the notification menu and then toggle whatever you want, including mobile data.
Create a condition/profile that suits your needs.
Tested on Android 4
Acknowledgements:
New to Tasker: toggle Mobile Data + GPS on non-rooted device

The problem here is that the mobile data on/off on my phone is a toggle - which means that I can only automate the task of toggling mobile data... but what if it happened to be off in the first place - this automated task will now switch it on :-(

You mean you can't explicity turn off mobile data in tasker? if that the case then your issue is a bit complicated. How about using root, then hide your banking app with roatcloak or magisk?

rootcloak has poor reviews - there was even one review suggesting that it did not work for the banking app of my specific bank. I could not find magisk but presume that root cloaking is inherently unreliable.

Here are the relevant extracts to automate data on/off using AutoInput:

Here's the exported descriptions for enabling & disabling mobile data.
Turn On Data
A1: Popup [ Title: Text:Turning on data Background Image: Layout:Popup
  Timeout (Seconds):1 Show Over Keyguard:On ]
A2: AutoInput Global Action [ Configuration:Action: Quick Settings
  Timeout (Seconds):20 ]
A3: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Text Value: Mobile data
  Action : Click Is Tasker Action: false Check Screen State: false
  Timeout (Seconds):20 ]
A4: AutoInput Global Action [ Configuration:Action: Back Timeout
  (Seconds):20 ]
Turn Off Data
A1: Popup [ Title: Text:Turning off data Background Image:
  Layout:Popup Timeout (Seconds):1 Show Over Keyguard:On ]
A2: AutoInput Global Action [ Configuration:Action: Quick Settings
  Timeout (Seconds):20 ]
A3: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Text Value: Mobile data
  Action : Click Is Tasker Action: false Check Screen State: false
  Timeout (Seconds):20 ]
A4: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Text Value: TURN OFF Action
  : Click Is Tasker Action: false Check Screen State: false Timeout
  (Seconds):20 ]

Source: Disable Mobile Data Pop-Up (Android 6.0.1)

@Mick did you try using this method?


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"Unable to launch event error" when opening .ics file from browser or downloads
I have a Nexus tablet running Android version 5.0.1, Chrome 60, and Google Calendar 5.7
I'm unable to view .ics calendar files when downloaded from a website.  These .ics files work on every other device tested.  I know this was an issue for Google Calendar 5.0.1, but it was supposed to be fixed in 5.1.  I've also read that this issue has since resurfaced in more recent updates.  Is there a workaround to get .ics files to work?


text:
Phone Not Seeing School Wifi
When I go to school and try to connect to the wifi network (with my Blu Life One X) it doesn't show any of the networks. The thing is that when I am at home I can see and use the wifi network and at school many times I'll see other peoples wifi hot spots available. So do you think this is a problem with my phone or with the school somehow? All the people I know were on the network last year and have no problems but due to an update that came out I had to forgo all of my saved networks. I appreciate any insight that I can get on this thank you.

Do you see some hotspots at school and other not or are all invisible to your phone? have you checked the Wifi list provided by a Wifi Scanner such as Wifi Analyzer

I did try that but it didn't show anything when I launched it; however, that could have been because I got impatient after about 20 seconds. I'll try it again thanks,

Realized why it didn't work earlier by testing at home. It needed the location to be on for some reason.

Your phone's WiFi capabilities might not meet the supported range of your school WiFi networks. For example I have a 2.4ghz wifi network and a 5ghz wifi network from my router. The 5ghz frequency can only be seen on iPhones and not my android device personally, as iPhones tend to support higher wifi frequencies than most androids.

Ah okay thank you I'll have to check that out later then

Note that this is probably subjective: for example, my Android device can see both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, but notice that the latter frequency tend to be easily stopped by thick materials or reflected by metal.


text:
Find out if remote wipe has worked (Google find my device)
My phone (Galaxy S7 Edge) was stolen two days ago and up until about 8 hours ago it had been off (or airplane mode was on), I decided that I wasn't seeing that phone again so I opted to erase the device via the "find your phone" section of google my account (the replacement to google device manager, i believe). About 2 hours after I sent the command, the phone synced with my google account.
The phone was offline when I sent the command but I was assured the command would be executed when the phone came online. Presumably it came online when it synced.
Is there any method by which to tell if the command succeeded? The sim is still in the phone and active, I haven't changed the Google password or anything at all along those lines, my phone will still be connected to Google.
EDIT I should also mention that the phone has not been reachable after the sync - but that could be down to the phone being switched off again

If it connected after you had the command prepared for it, it would continue to wipe the phone until all user data and apps were deleted once it synced, the only thing that can stop it after it starts is a force restart in which I believe it would continue trying once turned on again.
Once the phone is wiped there is no user data left including any login credentials, there is no way to know if it was successfully wiped and no way you can track it by yourself using google or any other online tracking solutions. If you still have the SIM active you should contact your provider and they might be able to track the phone with your SIM.


text:
Wear 2.0 update can't voice text
I have a Moto 360 Sport that just updated to android wear 2.0. Since the update, when I say, "Ok Google, text Joe Hello World" the watch says, "Oops, I can't do that right now."  This worked fine before the update. I have given the watch permissions to my contacts and Google accounts since it asked. The same problem happens when I tell it to make a note. The phone is connected when I try that.
When I go to the watches contacts app, select a person, and select text, after listening to my input the text gets stuck on a spinning icon until I give up five minutes later. Phone call works thought from the same app.
Anyone else lose text functionality from the update? Any fixes?

I found the solution in another form and will post it here.
https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/android-wear/gHxkMCzX-q8/Ju9ciHIICgAJ

Joe Ellett said:
  On the watch:
  Settings, Unpair with phone.
  Do not set up the watch yet.
On the phone:
  In Android Wear use the Disconnect... option.
In Android Wear, use Settings, Device settings and touch the watch name, Touch UNPAIR WATCH.
Settings, Bluetooth. If you still see the watch, touch Forget... the watch so it no longer appears in the list of paired devices.
Settings, Device, Apps, select Google Play Services, Storage, Clear cache and Clear data. Uninstall updates.
Settings, Device, Apps, select Google App, Storage, Clear cache and Clear data. Also Uninstall updates.
Settings, Device, Apps, select Android Wear, Storage, Clear cache and Clear data. Also Uninstall updates.
Play Store, Apps, My apps, touch the Update all button.
Let all updates complete. This may take several hours. The best thing to do is to put your phone on its charger overnight, with the phone having a steady WiFi Internet connection. Double check the next morning by going to My Apps again.
  Reboot.
Now set up the watch as if you had just unboxed it. Do NOT try to pair the watch manually, let the AW setup process do it for you.
Let all updates complete. This may take an hour or so. If your watch is one or more major releases behind it may take several hours. The best thing to do is to put your watch on its charger next to your phone on its charger, with the phone having a steady WiFi Internet connection.
Reboot watch and phone.

I had to tweak these instructions slightly on my LG G5. Instead of uninstalling updates on Android Wear, I had to uninstall and re-install, since it did not come with my phone. I skipped the step to clear Google App, so that may be an unnecessary step. I also skipped rebooting my phone and watch as the last step, since it was already working by that point.
Also fair warning, uninstalling updates to Google Play Services caused some of my other Google apps (calendar, inbox, etc) to start crashing and throwing errors. To be expected but when I updated Google Play Services again it lost my chrome bookmarks somehow.


text:
Do simcards leave marks on android phones?
Question: Is there a way that i can find out whats happening? I mean is there a way that i can find a track that she uses another SIM card time to time. Do SIM cards leave any marks on the phone, in the documents or somewhere?

I find the first sentence quite unclear. Find out what's happening?

@Death Mask Salesman read that with next sentence. He is probably thinking that his girlfriend/wife is cheating on him or something similar and she uses second sim card.  However sim cards don't leave marks in documents, but they do leave a mark on IMEI, that works one to many, so if you are in law enforcement you'll know where to look. Good luck with paranoia

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје While it would be a mildly interesting question per se, I fear that its context is similar to the one described in this other question. I personally don't think that we should answer questions tied to sensitive aspects of the asker's life.

@Death Mark Salesman  Well, the reason which made my first sentence "find out whats happening bla bla" look nonsense is because its edited by a moderator. There was a short explanation before that sentence. I asked this question because i think i see some signs.  She is not my wife, she is my girlfriend. I don't want to break up with her before i know the truth .If she uses another one and not telling me that in someway, just want to split our ways with her.

Well, there is indeed a way to get notified when a new SIM card has been inserted into an Android device.
Some manufacturers has it built in their phones, some antivirus softwares have this feature. There are also many apps on Google Play that provide this functionality.
I don't know if it is legal to share such softwares here or not. Moderators can tell if so or not and I'll share some of them. Anyway, Google is your best friend.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Xposed framework greyed out. Should I be concerned?
Xposed framework (ver 85) on my device Moto X Play has options greyed out as shown - only soft reboot and reboot are not greyed out

This happened over last three days when I was trying out some modules , so can't pinpoint which caused it

Xposed framework and modules are working fine
Restoring Framework from earlier TiBu backup which didn't have this problem did not help - it remains greyed out
Clearing cache and data of installer also didn't help

I've come across cases on Internet where this is associated with framework not working properly or wrong framework installed, which clearly isn't the case here ( it was installed many months ago )
So my question is, should I be concerned about it ?
My feeling is that it's not causing any problems (Point 1) , so it's pointless going through uninstalling and installing it. But just to be sure, wanted a second opinion on this, maybe with reasons why this happened

Does the Installer have root permissions?

@DeathMaskSalesman: checked. Yes, it has

I've no answer this time, as I'm using Nougat. What I can say, is that I once stumbled on the same behavior.

Could you share (| link to) your Xposed Installer APK?

@DeathMaskSalesman: I think it was downloaded using PC , which isn't accessible now, do not sure of the link. If it helps, it says Ver 85 as in screenshot and in about it says 3.0 alpha 4

I don't recall from where I downloaded it but here are possible sources @DeathMaskSalesman

I also had v3.0 alpha 4 release downloaded from rovo89's official thread and so as the framework. This greyed out issue persisted but it did not affect anything in my Android 6.0.1. I now use v3.1.1 (unofficial; material design) installer.

@Firelord :  Thanks, I got company :).  It just happened a few days ago, before that it was fine, that set me wondering

I used Xposed some time ago and as far I can remember those buttons are grayed out because on marshmallow (possibly lollipop) you must flash framework files via .zip file. Maybe I'm wrong and forgot something.
Are you sure it happened recently, that it wasn't there all the time?
However I don't think you should be concerned because Xposed and it's modules work fine (right?).
It says "Xposed framework 85 is active"

Thanks. Very sure it happened recently. As I said, it may not make a difference but thought somebody may know the reason

When Xposed Installer (de.robv.android.xposed.installer) can't connect to its server, the install buttons will grey out. Check your internet connection.

I don't think that's the case. My internet is working fine. I have no firewalls to filter either. Besides, after seeing your answer, was able to update one of the modules using the installer

@beeshyams Remember a [SF] can also be the cause. I should emphasize your connection to the Xposed server.

Possible but if that was the case , would I be able to update a module ? Not sure if modules are located elsewhere .

@beeshyams Modules are in repo.xposed.info, which does not seem to be the place where flashable zips lies.

That's a possibility. Thanks. It's been happening for two days now, so will wait and watch if it resolves over time, when the server fault is fixed. Do you happen to know the domain to check out?

@iBug By the way, flashable zips are located at dl-xda.xposed.info.

@beeshyams Try pinging 70.34.227.107.

@DeathMaskSalesman: since I don't have access to my computer, used this app to ping and it passed. No problems. Thanks for providing domain


text:
Text expansion when writing email (Gmail, etc.)
On desktop PC, there are great apps / Chrome addons such as Gorgias that allows to write abc <TAB> and this will be automatically expanded into a long text, thus saving many keypresses.
On Android, there is Texpand app that does mostly this, by using accessibility features of Android.
Problem: it works when writing a SMS, but this doesn't work in text fields on web pages (for example in Chrome, while using gmail.com). (the Texpand FAQ item 3 says it doesn't work and I can confirm).
Sadly this is exactly where such an add on would be the most useful: to write emails faster on phone.
Question: how to have text expansion on Android in Gmail?

For the reasons mentioned in FAQ, it is unlikely any other app can do this. It may be better to use clipboard apps that float like this or other similar apps

Thanks @beeshyams. Something I don't understand: as Texpand uses accessibility features, it happens directly at the (relatively) low-level keyboard input layer, and not at the app layer? Then why is a keyboard accessibility feature dependent of the app or type of input box? Whenever an Android keyboard is displayed, the accessibility feature should be enabled, right?


text:
Conflicted internal SD card because of casing/capitalization?
I'm using two Tencent apps. One of them likes accessing /sdcard/tencent and the other likes /sdcard/Tencent. Somehow the /data/media/0/Tencent folder is empty and /sdcard/Tencent has exactly the same contents as /sdcard/tencent, so they worked fine for a while.
Recently I did something unrelated but eats a lot of RAM, and most of the background apps were shut down including the two mentioned above. To my surprise, /sdcard/Tencent was no longer mapped to /sdcard/tencent but they have reversed! I checked /data/media/0/tencent and everything that was there is still there, but /data/media/0/Tencent is no longer empty.
A reboot has a chance(!!) to fix the issue. Now I would like to know the cause of this strange behavior, and a possible solution.

I quickly merged Tencent into tencent in /data/media/0 and created an empty file, and to my surprise /sdcard/Tencent is still showing up as a directory, not the file.

I have a dirty fix but I still want a better solution.
Just delete the unwanted variant and re-create it, then both names would be mapped to the other (desired) one. However, this needs to be done once per reboot.


text:
How is it possible to export the wpa_supplicant.conf from tablet?
My tablet is connect to a wifi requiring EAP method, phase 2 authentification, login+password and proxy. and It works well.
The thing is i want to do the same for a RPi, but I don't know how to provide it with these wifi infos. Thus, I'd need to export the wpa_supplicant.conf it use it on my RPi.
Note : I can't root my tablet.
How would it be possible? Thank you (please be explicite, I don't master this field very well)

I don't know what are you trying to accomplish.
I think you want to get wpa_supplicant.conf file, just go to system/etc/wifi and there is  your file just copy it, it should be possible without root, I don't have root and managed that.


text:
`fastboot` command does not show device
I am trying to get to the point where I can put in the Bootloader code that I have. But fastboot keeps waiting for the device in CMD and it never shows up, no matter how many times I do volume up or down and USB plugged in.
Debug active, in Mass storage, Sony ADB shows up in drivers with no errors. Any help would be appreciated.

Please include your device info in the question.

Well, if ADB shows the device fine, fastboot obviously cannot see it (and vice versa). Fastboot can only access the device if booted into the bootloader ;) For more details, you might wish to consult our fastboot tag-wiki.

First, make sure you are in fastboot mode. The easy way would be connecting your phone to your PC via a USB cable with USB debugging enabled.
Then, simply open CMD from the directory where you installed ADB (or just open CMD if it's installed globally).
Then make sure ADB detected the phone via adb devices. If your device shows up, just type adb reboot bootloader and the phone will reboot to fastboot mode.
After that, open CMD and use fastboot devices. If you get your device, you can proceed with unlock process, but if it doesn't return anything or sits on "waiting for device", then the first thing you should do is to try to plug USB into another USB port (for some reason fastboot is a massive pain in the ass when you try to use it on USB 3.0 port, so if you have USB 2.0 port try to plug USB into it, this is trouble only on Windows). If you don't have USB 2.0 port, then you should consider using Linux live USB to unlock the bootloader. However, if you plug the phone into USB 2.0 port and still is not detected, then you should try some other USB drivers, from the manufacturer's site or universal ADB drivers. Here is the link for various phones, so check it out.
Once, I managed to solve this by manually changing drivers (it's possible on Windows 7 and probably later, I can't tell the exact process since I don't have a PC currently). I chose something like "LG USB fastboot" because my phone is LG.

I also get that "waiting for devices" on Windows 10. I try to get to fastboot manually by pressing up + volume. After I get fastboot mode, I connect with a USB cable. Then when I check the device manager, I see a yellow exclamation sign.
I search for the correct driver (Google USB driver is not enough to fix this), update the driver, and ADB finally sees my devices in fastboot mode.

Had the same problem with Xperia XZ3. Tried everything... lost hope.. then switched to USB 2.0 -> device manager saw the phone as an Android device (WHILE PHONE OFF, which was the main issue as it turns out) -> installed manually Google USB driver from here -> rebooted laptop and phone and then the regular procedure with adb worked (fastboot devices list showed my phone while booted in bootloader). Following that, I used the command fastboot -s <usb id from fastboot devices list> oem unlock 0x<unlock bootloader code>.
Good luck!


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[Galaxy S8} How to set default alarm sound?
There is no option in settings. I have also tried setting it like in the thread: How to change the default alarm sound?
but the method presented is not working for me. I get "set success" message, but still have android default alarm sound. (Even after restarting phone)
I have no idea how can I get around this. I would prefer to use default clock app.

When you're setting your alarm, you can set the song, that is one of solutions

I mean, I want it default when I add new alarm


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How to record two tracks of audio while recording video?
I am trying to make some instructional videos of myself playing guitar and I'm using my Galaxy S7 as my video recorder. For the audio, I have two microphones going into a Behringer mixer and want to take the stereo outputs (Main Out) from that and feed them into my phone's headphone jack. Can someone tell me what cables/adapters I should be using? I don't fully understand the TRRS jack on the Android and how I can interface it with the two tip/sleeve cables coming out of the mixer. Is there a cable that will take a stereo output from one device and connect it to the TRRS input on an Android, enabling both audio tracks to be recorded?

Is there a cable that will take a stereo output from one device and connect it to the TRRS input on an Android, enabling both audio tracks to be recorded?

No. The TRRS headset jack isn't for connecting a stero input. It's for connecting a mono input (the mic) and a stereo output (the headphones), along with some extra cleverness for inline volume and transport buttons.
I don't think the OS itself supports two audio tracks as input, but if it does, the only way will be with one of those mini-mixers that connects via USB, and a USB-On-the-Go adapter. Be sure to check with the vendor that the mixer supports Android before you buy.


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Using an Android phone to pass through a dial-up modem signal
I have a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) and an old laptop with a built-in dial up modem.
I would like to know if there is any way to connect the modem to my mobile and use it to pass through the modem signal (as if it was just connected to a normal wall socket). I assume there would have to be some sort of special cable, but I've done some googling and there only seems to be suggestions on how to turn the phone into a modem itself instead of just passing through a signal. Is there any way that this is possible?

How do you mean to pass signal? To pass signal from what to what?

we mean to pass audio from a headphone jack to a modem port and from a phone to a modem

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Can't update or download apps without WiFi
I have a OnePlus 3T Oxygen 4.1.7. I can no longer download/update apps on the Play Store without WiFi, I used to be able to until I accidentally checked to always download over WiFi only.
Here are the things I tried to fix it.

I've already changed: Play Store > Settings > Auto-update apps to Auto-update apps at any time. Data charges may apply.
I've also changed Settings > Google > Data Management > Update Drive-enabled app files - Over wifi or cellular.
I've uninstalled the Play Store and then reinstalled it as well.
I've restarted multiple times after each of the above steps.

So far nothing works.

I had the same problem where I was unable to download any system updates or apps, apps from Google Play Store without WiFi. Even the apps from MI app could not be downloaded. I found out that I had restricted data usage on the Downloads app from both the SIM cards.
Go to Settings> Apps> manage apps> Downloads> Restrict data usage. Check both data services.

Clear Data these apps:

Google Play Store
Google Play Services
Settings

One of these apps may contain the data that prevents your device to have additional charges. But I'm not really sure if this will work.
The very best solution I know is to factory reset your device to clear all the settings you entered therein.

I also have faced this issue when my phone did format and I found solution as follows: Settings - Manage Apps (this is my phone. It may vary displaying name like apps, app settings, etc.) - Google Play Services - Clear Data... and then.. Google Play Store - Clear Data.. After clearing data from both it's okay to use as I like to...

If you are trying to update or download any app and selected the setting auto-update over WiFi, then you need to go to the My apps and Update buttons where you will see many apps are queued for the update. You need to cancel the downloading by clicking on the cross sign, after that you will see an update button next to the app. Now, your app is ready for update without any WiFi.

Recently, the location of this setting changed.
Open Google Play.

Tap on your profile picture (on the upper right hand corner).

Tap on Settings > Network preferences > App download preference

Then, select Over any network and then tap Done.


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lineageOS: cannot use internal SD after factory reset: "Failed to find root" (peregrine)
I have a Moto G 4G (LTE) peregrine which worked fine with the latest LineageOS 14.1. + twrp-3.1.1-0.
Then i made a factory reset because i wanted to gift it to my mother.
After that, no app could access the INTERNAL SD card for storing eg. pictures or downloads.
When you open the "Files" app, it crashes immediately.
Then logcat shows the output here: https://pastebin.com/R2wBL0W8
I tried the following to no avail:

reset with formating data, cache, etc (factory reset)
reset with formating EVERYTHING, including /system, then reflashing lineage-14.1-20170811-nightly-peregrine-signed.zip and open_gapps-arm-7.1-nano-20170813.zip
reset with formating EVERYTHING, including /system, then reflashing some other 7.1 ROM found here in the forum (cannot remember which)
reset with formating EVERYTHING, including /system, then reflashing the original ROM XT1039_Retail_Germany_51_Untouched.zip

the original ROM was rather bad because the keyboard kept crashing and it was totally unusable. still no access to the internal SD card.

messing with the directory structure in LineageOS:

/sdcard is a softlink to /storage/self/primary

/storage/self/primary is a softlink to /mnt/user/0/primary

/mnt/user/0/primary doesn't exist, it only goes as far as /mnt/user/0

so i tried different scripts from this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2211109 to create /mnt/user/0/primary at boot, which all didn't work.
it seems LOS 14.1 cannot run init scripts or user init scripts or whatever.
it didn't work.
also, the external SD card slot isn't reliable anymore, so that's out of the question as well.
I'm rather stuck!
can anybody help me?
any help is appreciated!
Thank you very much!

I think you should report that to rom developer

Are you sure you really formatted data (not only erased it)? And could it be it was encrypted before you started with the first factory-reset?

I am not to familiar with that device in particular, but often on Moto's that have had LineageOS, we need to change the file system type for /data to ext4 since LoS often changes it to f2fs... just a thought.

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје good idea! will do that.

@Izzy I'm quite certain that TWRP formats the partitions when you do a "wipe". it wasn't encrypted.

Thank you very much, @acejavelin!
The solution was to format /data with ext4 instead of f2fs:
connect with adb while in TRWP, get the device name for /data, umount it, format with ext4, mount it again

df -h
umount /data
make_ext4fs /dev/block/mmcblk0p36
mount /data/

Then reboot

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Give app resource priority?
I have a couple apps I use regularly that take a lot of resources, the biggest hog is Vainglory which being essentially a desktop-class game uses most of the ram, CPU power and network bandwidth my Galaxy S5 has to offer when running.
It works fine most of the time, but occasionally while I am playing, the operating system or other apps will start doing things in the background causing my framerate and ping to drop dramatically.  Also when the app looses focus, even for just a second, it has to reload completely due to the large amount of memory it requires.
Is there a way to tell Andriod to give high resource priority to particular apps and prevent other applications and processes from working in the background while those apps are running?

Maybe by  killing all running apps when this application is launched. Would require root privileges to do that. Is your device rooted ?

If not rooted, try this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.piebridge.brevent

To kill is always last resort (or punishment). Leave that to executioners when possible :) Meanwhile, take a look at Keeping important apps alive even on overheat // Keeping an app in memory // How to lower OOM value of an app permanently?


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how to make any app debuggable
I am working on some project where I need to debug existing apps on android android market. I know by modifying androidmanifest.xml we can do so but for that I need to have source code. So is there any short way to to this task. Can "select debug app" option in developer options help ?

You may be interested in researching apktool.

Is your device rooted and has the Xposed framework installed? If so, e.g. XInstaller can do that.

@Izzy No.  Device is not rooted

In that case, you probably will have to go the "recompile" way our Salesman managed (here's a howto for that, so maybe you can "semi-automate" it).


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Read a .txt file on Asus K013 Tablet
Up until yesterday I was able to read imported .txt files with the resident File Manager. The files were imported over USB direct to the root directory of the internal SD card via copy-paste. Now it won't open the files, giving an error saying "open file failed".
I didn't knowingly change anything. There's no way to uninstall the file manager, no way to update it, it's embedded in the tablet which is really frustrating. I deleted and imported the files again and still get the same error. I called Asus tech support and they weren't able to help other than tell me to download another file manager. I downloaded Tetra Free but it comes back with a text box asking me "Open with" but no options are displayed.
I'd really like to use the resident File Manager. Any ideas out there what I can do?

Can that file manager show the file permissions? If so, please check what they are set to. Furthermore it might help to [edit] your question and include how you've copied those .txt files to your Android device.

The resident File Manager does not allow me to edit permissions, at least as far as I can tell. I copied the files over through a USB cable to the root directory, as I always have.

Didn't ask about editing permissions, just checking :) And by "via USB cable" you mean using MTP, or via ADB? By "root directory" you mean the root of your SD card, I assume. Internal or external (slight differences in permission management, hence the question)?

I hooked my pc to the tablet via usb and copy and pasted to the internal sd card, as always. I'm very curious what has maybe changed with permissions, maybe OS, maybe the File Manager app itself, overnight, with no interaction on my part.

From your description I assume then you did that via [tag:mtp]. It might be worth checking if, failing to open the files, the file manager writes something to the logs. To find out, you could take a look into our logging tag-wiki. You could also consult Settings › Apps on whether your file manager app received an update (if it has a button to "uninstall updates", you could try that and see if it helps; if it doesn't, you can always apply the update again).

Have you tried "Droidedit"? It is an app on playstore that is used by programmers to code but it can read your txt files.. I use it when I code batch files...
OPTIONAL: Smanager, Root Browser, WPS office
Good luck! :)

I'm really hoping to make the File Manager work like it always has. It's baffling and kind of infuriating to have it be so difficult to get it back to where it was.


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Hotspot connecting and disconnecting pc
Am trying to connect my pc to Android hotspot but it connects and disconnects immediately. My pc os is arch Linux. I have been connecting it before until recently.

The problem was with my PC running Archlinux. I just ran nmtui command and was able to connect to hotspot.


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Chinese phones auto start app (notifications)
I have a question maybe some of you have dialed with this in your past.
Android based phones with Chinese launchers such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Meizu has 1 strange thing in common…
If you install on them not very famous app such as Signal for example, by default this app will not receive notifications - the only way to make the phone accept notifications is (in xiaomi for example) is to go to settings, security, auto start…
But there are apps like messenger, google allo, telegram that are white listed and receive notifications by default…
Attaching link with short explanation about it
So my question is how to enter list of those white listed apps that receive notifications by default, or are there any life hacks that you can do in order to receive notifications by default…
http://nine-faq.9folders.com/articles/8772-how-to-manage-autostart-service-on-the-xiaomi-devices
Signal app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en
So after making a research I’ve found that this feature is developed to block wakeups and notifications and make the battery last longer and there is not a way to bypass it. If there is, it's hard.
but how famous apps bypass it ? or how to enter a white list?

Chinese phone manufacturer tend to place very strict restriction on app autostart due to the lack of google in China causing all sort of apps to start by themselves and no universal push notification channel also mean they have to use other service within apps themselves or other apps which would be detrimental to user experience and thus they all opt to limit them.
Perhaps manufacturer whitelisted some specific famous apps?

yes exactly - they whitelisted specific famous apps - such as facebook, whatsapp etc...but my app is not such a monster so im wondering how to enter this white list?

According to a Chinese thread on Xiaomi forum http://www.miui.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1838253 , they will consider whitelisting apps once they become really popular.


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Dark statusbar/quicksettings theme on Oreo?
I've updated my Google Pixel to Oreo. Now the statusbar and quick settings area have a light theme. Is it possible to change that back to the dark theme, like on previous versions of Android? The white background is way too bright... I didn't find any option in the settings.

Isn't there a system UI tuner, that can be activated by long press of settings?

@beeshyams I managed to activate the system UI tuner, but I can't find the option there either. It just allows me to hide statusbar icons.

I don't have the OS - it was a suggestion

I've got a Nexus 5x and it's the same issue - the theme has gone white with 8.0.0. I am attempting to find how to enable the substratum support, hopefully without rooting, as I've heard there are some ADB workarounds.

There's a "color inversion" option under Settings > Accessibility. Will that do?

Inverts color for entire device, not just menu - so no.

The only way I've been able to find is substratum/andromeda hack. And it is a hack. Andromeda (desktop) --(USB)--> Android (developer access) --> Substratum to give the app access to android core UI commands. With how hard they're promoting it however, I doubt many haven't heard of it.

Sony helped Google in implementing native support of RRO layers in Android O. This was previously used in many Xperia phones for a better system-wide theme support. In android custom rom and root community, Project Substratum is used for same. It also uses RRO layers thus provides better and more consistent theme than previous option CynogenMod Theme Engine (CMTE).
Till Oreo RRO layer patches and root were necessary for Substratum to work but as Oreo has native RRO layer support so it can be achieved in stock rom.For detailed method see this and this xda article.
@Tony Chiboucas has also mentioned the method in his comment.
P.S. For unrooted devices, this is a paid process.

Will this work on Nokia 8? It claims to be very close to pure Android 8.0.

@NVZ it should work either try yourself or search xda forum of your device.

Android Oreo 8.1 introduced an automatic theme switch. It adjusts the theme depending on your wallpaper. If you have a sufficiently dark wallpaper the quicksettings area will use a dark theme, otherwise it uses a light theme.


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Change colour of contacts (Nokia 6)
Is it possible to change the colour of the contacts? It is getting confusing with my text conversations all colour coded but contacts completely random...

You could invite them all for a game of paintball.  What contacts you're asking for: in the standard contacts app, in some messenger, …?

He may be asking about default color settings for each contacts added to phone.( Google contact app, bcz, nokia 6 is stock android )  After addition of a new contact, the app saves contact with First letter and a background color as default avatar. May be he's asking how to change that color.

Yeah that's the one, default contacts. It's strange because logging into google mail and they might have a different colour lol But yeah basically I have my conversations colour coded but when i create a new contact it picks a random colour I don't seem to be able to change. So is that the answer, it's based on the first letter? Edit - nvm, realised you didn't mean the colour was based on the letter...

i haven't been able to change contact colours, but you can change the text message conversation colours. go into the conversation of the person you want to change the colour of, tap the more button and go to people & options, there should be a little palette next to the name of the person you want to change


text:
How can I delete synchronized Google data? (contacts, app data etc)
Apparently Google synchronized various data without my explicit permission. I don't want Google (and any parties that will ever have access to their data) to fetch any of my personal data without me allowing it!
Now I would like to at least transmit to them to delete it. How can I do that? I didn't find anything in the Google Dashboard. And there's no option to delete under Settings->Accounts->Google where I expected to find such a setting.

Back up your contacts on phone using any app from play store ( see Restore: Any Solution?)
(also note the contacts app has an export and import function built-in, so you won't necessarily need any 3rd party app for that)
Do the same for other synchronized data you want to keep (e.g. calendar; no built-in solution here, but you might pick an app from Izzy's list)
Disable Google Sync on your phone Setting → Accounts → Google including Gmail ( on Marshmallow, may vary on other versions)
Go to https://www.google.com/contacts/u/0/?cplus=1#contacts and select all for deletion
Repeat that for other affected data (calendars etc.)

Remove Gmail account from your phone and use web version of Gmail from Chrome or any other browser to prevent Gmail contacts getting synced again ( In earlier Android versions you could selectively stop contacts from syncing but I have noticed that contacts sync even if you specifically don't want them to )
If you disable backup (under settings) - none of the apps you installed will be backed up adding to cutting off from Google.
To prevent the mishap in future times, see e.g. How to prevent Google from “synchronizing” my personal data after a factory-reset, adding a new Google account or software updates?

One important point: Right after a factory-reset (or whenever a new Google account is enabled on a device), sync will be on again as that's the default (and the reason Google once got my data at all, years ago). So I strongly recommend establishing a separate storage for that, e.g. by using DAVDroid, and making that the default for your calendars, contact apps etc. That way you can prevent accidental syncs for the future.

But it also displays under Accounts -> Google and is hence within the scope of this question. I just edited the title for better clarity. @Izzy Thank you too. As nobody else seems to have done this I asked about this in separate question here. You can post some more details there (or edit my answer).

@beeshyams honestly, I don't remember exactly (it's half a year ago). But glad to see you back, I gave it an edit to the best I remembered. Hope it looks fine for you?

@izzy: Thanks and absolutely love the last point To prevent the mishap in future times...

@beeshyams Yupp. That was actually a follow-up question made by the OP. Just placed it there for the benefit of other readers :)


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Moto G Play gets wako. Speaker fault. How to find source of problem?
Every 24-48 hours my Moto G Play / Android 6.0.1 gets wako meaning:

(most often) During call I can't hear the other person and other person can't hear me,
(rare) Notification sounds are played very quietly (nearly silently) even though sounds volume is set to maximum and other tones (i.e. ringtones) are played correctly.

Things that I'm sure:

restarting phone always solves above problems,
if phone gets wako, problem always narrows to speaker / microphone; all other functionalities (SMS messaging, emails, Internet browsing, playing games, using apps) works normally,
these situations happens only on my phone; my wife has exactly the same model with exactly the same Android version and nearly exactly the same applications set and hasn't noticed this behavior so far.

Things that I'm uncertain:

if I'm not mistaken described problems occurs only if phone isn't used very often -- i.e. if there was 6-8+ hours since last call made or received; if I'm calling often, phone doesn't get wako.

How can I check or what can I do to check, if this is software (Android), network (LTE operator) or hardware (Lenovo) problem? What tests or operations should I perform?
I could say (given that wife's phone has absolutely no problems) that this is certainly hardware problem. But then, restarting phone always solves problem, so this would indicate Android / software problem.

are you using stock phone and messaging apps or third party? if it is third party, check that they are not optimised for battery saving

@beeshyams Nope, stock one only.

I still suspect doze playing up ( though it shouldn't happen)- go to battery > battery optimisation> select your phone and messaging and make them not optimised - may help . I am suspecting doze because of the regular periodicity you mentioned

@beeshyams Nope, "Not optimized" since this phone ever got to my dirty hands! :>


text:
Can i connect via adb to tablet that is stuck on welcome screen and won't boot?
I am tring to connect via adb to tablet that is stuck on welcome screen and doesn't want to boot. If i run 'adb devices' i get this:
E:\minimal_adb_fastboot_1.4.1_portable>adb.exe devices
List of devices attached
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
0123456789ABCDEF        unauthorized

And if i try to connect i get this:
E:\minimal_adb_fastboot_1.4.1_portable>adb.exe connect 192.168.100.13
unable to connect to 192.168.100.13:5555: cannot connect to 192.168.100.13:5555: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. (10060)

Is it possible to connect to the device if the operating system is not fully loaded?

adb connect assumes the device is accessible via TCP. Output of adb devices rather suggests it's connected via USB. Further, the string unauthorized usually means on first access you'll have to confirm (authorize) the connection on the device; not sure if the corresponding screen would pop up in your situation. Have you tried a simple adb shell ls?

The tablet screen doesn't show authorization dialog. And if i run 'adb shell ls' i get:
E:\minimal_adb_fastboot_1.4.1_portable>adb.exe shell ls     error: device unauthorized.     This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set     Try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong.     Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

That's what I was afraid of. The confirmation dialog usually pops up as soon as you connect the cable. Without confirmation, no access. That leaves the option mentioned in Firelord's answer: if you can find a custom recovery for your tablet that supports ADB (rare cases, but checking cannot hurt – neither does mentioning your device in your question as someone might know), you could access it that way. Until then: booting into the stock ("3e") recovery and wiping cache might help as well to get it booting up fully.

It is possible to connect to the device through adb when it is stuck on welcome screen or even when it is showing boot animation. The problem in your case is that your device has not authorized the connection. Under normal circumstances, when you connect through adb a dialog is shown on the device for user's confirmation to proceed. Until the user agrees, you can't do anything good with adb. And since you're stuck on welcome screen, I see no way to agree to the dialog.
That been said, if you can somehow manage to flash a compatible custom recovery you can pretty much salvage all of your data. You might also be able to solve this adb unauthorized issue.

I don't have custom recovery, only stock recovery and if i boot the tablet in recovery mode the adb shell doesn't recognize it.

Yeah, the stock recovery is no good for adb that's why I mentioned about custom recovery only.


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Play Store crashes when trying to open "Manage Instant Apps"
Well, it's not like I want to use instant apps but this is frustrating me either way. When I open Play Store and go to Settings and try to open "Manage Instant Apps", the Play Store just crashes and starts again with a message.
I'm on stock Marshmallow, Play Services for Instant Apps version is 1.19.
Here is the log when it comes to crashing:
08-30 01:39:42.436  2589  2787 I ActivityManager: START u0 {cmp=com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor/.SettingsActivity} from uid 10049 on display 0
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: main
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime: Process: com.android.vending, PID: 4385
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime: android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: Unable to find explicit activity class {com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor.SettingsActivity}; have you declared this activity in your AndroidManifest.xml?
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Instrumentation.checkStartActivityResult(Instrumentation.java:1801)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Instrumentation.execStartActivity(Instrumentation.java:1514)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3951)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3912)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4235)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4203)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at com.google.android.finsky.settings.SettingsActivity.onPreferenceTreeClick(SourceFile:299)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.preference.Preference.performClick(Preference.java:1004)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.preference.PreferenceScreen.onItemClick(PreferenceScreen.java:214)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.widget.AdapterView.performItemClick(AdapterView.java:310)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.widget.AbsListView.performItemClick(AbsListView.java:1188)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.widget.AbsListView$PerformClick.run(AbsListView.java:3105)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.widget.AbsListView$3.run(AbsListView.java:4096)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:739)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5551)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:730)
08-30 01:39:42.466  4385  4385 E AndroidRuntime:    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:620)
08-30 01:39:42.515  2589  3354 W ActivityManager:   Force finishing activity com.android.vending/com.google.android.finsky.settings.SettingsActivity

Any thoughts?

I am pretty sure The error: E AndroidRuntime: android.content.ActivityNotFoundException: Unable to find explicit activity class {com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor.SettingsActivity}; have you declared this activity in your AndroidManifest.xml?  Means that the package was not properly declared and they need to fix the coding.

@Bo Lawson yes I know that, but is there way to fix it? Or it's up to them ? In that case can  I report error to them, if yes where?

Yes, you can report it to them. Within the play store in the side menu on the bottom. Go to help and feedback and then go to the bottom were it says feed back. You can file a bug report with logs there.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
How to prevent Google from "synchronizing" my personal data after a factory-reset, adding a new Google account or software updates?
It seems that after a factory-reset, whenever a new Google account is enabled on a device and potentially after some software updates sync will be enabled again even if it was turned off in the Android settings before any personal data was loaded onto the device.
How can this be prevented?

The approach(es) I'm using:

don't use a Google account at all (if really needed, Playstore can be accessed via e.g. YalpStore – and instead of GMS I use microG anyway). As that's not practicable for some folks:
before adding the Google account, make sure you've prepared a different "account storage", made it the default and have all your data (contacts, calendars) in there. Examples for that:

DAVDroid with some self-hosted server (e.g. ownCloud, Nextcloud, Baïkal …)
"Device storage". Either your device/ROM supports that out-of-the-box, or you've got to use some helpers like Offline Calendar for calendars or MyLocalAccount for contacts.

I've personally made very good experiences with DAVDroid. Google Sync never touched its data.

Some things I thought about were:

Going into offline mode before doing any of the above: but enabling Internet could be done by default after these.
Installing the NetGuard firewall and configure it to start automatically: but the app could be disabled or take too long to start up. And it doesn't help with factory-resets.
Going into a remote area where there's no mobile Internet: impractical.
Somehow encasing or modifying the phone to be able to prevent it from Internet access and going into Offline-mode afterwards: likely impractical.

But I guess the best solution is the following:

Removing the SIM card before doing any of these and turning off one's WLAN router (or going to a place without WLAN access) before doing any of these: somewhat impractical but probably the best solution.

It might not be possible to remove the SIM card during any of these as one would need to remove the battery or SD card during phone operation.
I think one should also remove encrypted SD cards during any of these.

After doing this one needs to go into offline mode, disable "synchronization" settings (including in all apps such as messengers) and install the apparently only non-root open source firewall for Android: NetGuard.


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Will an S4 boot and run without a volume button?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a dented/stuck volume button (causing any attempt to boot to end at the screen that asks whether I really want to install a custom OS because the smartphone perceives volume down as pressed).
I am planning to dispose of that device after getting (read: copying and wiping) some data from its internal memory.
As replacing the button costs a lot (both at the official and at other repair shops), I am considering just removing the button.
Will the smartphone work (and keep working for an hour or so) without the volume button? I am wondering whether anything in the system will notice the button is missing and refuse to boot. Also, an employee at one of the smartphone repair shops I went to claimed humidity would enter the smartphone through the opening, and anyway, the repair shops outright refused to remove the button without replacing it1.

1: Presumably because then, I'd pay less. I will remove the button myself, if I find no-one to do it for money, though.

The thing is, the Odin confirmation screen should only show up when both HOME and VOL- are held. Probably your HOME key needs to be taken care of too.

Were it just the volume button, it would've been just a matter of removing some screw, tinker with the button and reassemble. The Home button is far harder to reach.

@AndyYan: The Home key doesn't show any external signs of damage and feels like it could be pressed normally. Also, from the way the issue first occurred (while holding the device in the hand and using it), I consider it likely that Home is undamaged. Still, if we assume Home is just as stuck, what would happen if only Home were pressed while booting?

@AndyYan: I can now confirm the Home button is undamaged. I managed to get the S4 to boot again, by tweaking the volume button with a knife, as described in another answer. This provided me with an opportunity to get all of my data back from the device. I will leave this question open, though, as it may still be worthwhile to know for other cases.

Yes. The phone can boot and run without volume button. You just have to make sure that neither volume down nor volume up button is pressed after removing the external button otherwise you may enter into recovery/Odin mode or into installing custom ROM mode. So remove the external button and boot up the phone as usual.


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How to use a firewall AND a VPN?
I'm using the only open source firewall for Android: NetGuard and would like to use a VPN in addition. Is this possible? If so: how?
Both types of apps typically use virtual VPN tunnels. NetGuard has network settings too. Many adblockers use such as well which is why I'm only using a Firefox AddOn.

It appears to me that AFWall+ be open source as well. It does need root as it uses iptables instead of a VPN, though.

If you have a recent Samsung device feature a recent version of Knox, you can use AdHell (or similar apps) that are so-called "content blockers" which utilize Knox and still allow a VPN connection.

If all you need from firewall is to block internet access for selected apps, you may try this https://android.stackexchange.com/a/206602/32571

There's many ways to go about this (sorted from easiest to most complicated):

Use Adhell 3, the Samsung KNOX based content-blocker that doesn't require root and also allows you to use a VPN app at the same time.
Use AFWall+ (root required) instead of NetGuard. That way you can use a VPN app "normally".
Install a VPN app and a SOCKS5 proxy server in the Android work profile, and then connect to this SOCKS5 proxy from the main profile using NetGuard.
Use a VPN provider that already offers a SOCKS5 proxy (like Mullvad), and then connect to this SOCKS5 proxy from NetGuard (Not recommended due to Netguard leaking UDP by not routing it through the SOCKS5 proxy. Also SOCKS5 is not encrypted)
Self-host a VPN-to-SOCKS5 server (Not recommended due to Netguard leaking UDP by not routing it through the SOCKS5 proxy. Also SOCKS5 is not encrypted)

I've only ever used the highlighted option, so that's what I'll describe here.
Pros:

It doesn't require root
You don't have to pay for a specific VPN (you can use Proton VPN)
You don't have to run/pay for any servers

Cons:

NetGuard leaks the UDP packets to the clearnet. An alternative solution is to use RethinkDNS instead of Netguard, or use only a browser that has HTTP/2 & HTTP/3 disabled through about:config, or use only the Tor Browser (because Tor doesn't use nor support UDP). Any other traffic will be leaked.
The work profile has to be enabled constantly for the VPN to stay running, and that uses considerable battery
A work profile uses a about 398.53MB of storage
The VPN service doesn't fully work on some Android devices: It's known not to work in some LG devices running Android 9, but it does work in a Moto e6 Plus running Android 9

Steps:

Install personalDNSfilter
Install Island or Shelter (Preferibly Shelter, because it's FOSS and has no trackers)
Setup Island/Shelter
Setup personalDNSfilter to your liking
Install "Every Proxy" in the work profile
Install a VPN app (such as Proton VPN) in the work profile
Disable battery optimizations for all of the apps you just installed (personalDNSfilter, Every Proxy, Proton VPN, and Island/Shelter)
Configure "Every Proxy" to run a SOCKS5 proxy on the 10.1.10.1 interface, and set a username and password (Warning: do not make the password 126 characters long, that causes a crash. I recommend making the password 40 characters long.)
Make sure NetGuard is running
Start the SOCKS5 proxy in "Every Proxy"
Set personalDNSfilter in Netguard as "unmanaged" (untick the "apply rules and conditions" box)
In Netguard set the DNS servers to any WAN servers (for example: 94.140.14.14, and 94.149.14.15) (nothing will be sent to these servers)
Create TCP and UDP forwarding rules for 127.0.0.1:53 -> 127.0.0.1:5300 to personalDNSfilter in NetGuard. Note that this isn't possible if you downloaded NetGuard from the google playstore. You must download netguard from either Github or from F-Droid
Configure Netguard to use a SOCKS5 proxy server (10.1.10.1:1088, and input the same username and password as you did in "Every Proxy")

Done!
Here's a flow chart of how/why this works:

I made a much more detailed guide on my blog. It's linked below:

How to use NetGuard + personalDNSFilter+ Any VPN, without root, without external self-hosted servers.

https://itsignacioportal.github.io/netguard-pdnsf-any-vpn-combo/

Quoting the NetGuard FAQ on that topic (emphasis added):

(2) Can I use another VPN application while using NetGuard?
If the VPN application is using the VPN service, then no, because NetGuard needs to use this service. Android allows only one application at a time to use this service.
NetGuard is a firewall application, so there is no intention to add VPN support. However, NetGuard supports a SOCKS5 proxy to chain VPN applications. You can find one possible community contributed solution here.

So the answer is: Yes you can!

If you have no-root like me, the only way to tunnel traffic with NetGuard for me was using it with Orbot. You can also route your DNS traffic through the Tor network. I also would be interested to know other ways to get NetGuard to work with VPN-alike applications.

One way might be to use two devices, your main device running the firewall (eg.NetGuard) &  tethered to another Android device acting as a router which is running the VPN.
One downside is many Android devices won't let another device tether to use their WiFi Internet connection, but only allow tethering to access a Mobile Data connection.
I don't know if the tethered traffic would get routed via the VPN running on the routing device ? Will need to try it.


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access file when I am connected to his wi-fi network
I have an andriod device.Can I access files of another android device ? I am connected to his wi-fi network. if yes how??

Same way as with any other computer on the very same network: the other device needs to share them.

Related: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/171659/android-to-android-file-explorer-using-wifi-direct/171663#171663

There is a plethora of apps that are designed to do just that. Search the play store for “file sharing” and just pick one. Install it on both devices and you're in business.


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Flash zips in download mode
I have an old Galaxy Ace II with no installed ROM and stock recovery, and I am trying to put a custom recovery/ROM on it but all I can find is flashable zips intended for flashing in recovery. I cannot transfer them to the phone as adb reports the filesystem as read-only (adb shell tells me the shell doesn't exist).
I don't know whether what I'm trying to do is possible, I don't know if I'm being stupid, but is there a way of transferring or flashing the zips in download mode using Odin/Heimdall, or is it possible of transferring the files to the phone any other way?
EDIT: Recovery download

Huh? Flash a custom recovery (e.g. TWRP) via Odin first. Check out the subforum in XDA for more stuff.

Problem is there doesn't seem to be any. There is one CWM recovery flashable via odin and the download link is dead, and one TWRP download which flashes ok but has some serious issues (no adb, can't mount /sdcard) rendering it useless

It is not possible to flash zip files in Odin Mode, as far as I know, because the component which answers Odin/Heimdall has no knowledge of zip files and the like.

Would it be possible to reconstruct the zips into a format it can read and how hard is that likely to be? I'd only need to do it for TWRP

@JakeStanger Could you either upload or link to the zip you are dealing with?

Added a download link

Wait what? You mean the one I pointed you to in the comments has issues? Please make clear your exact model number and last official firmware version - there might be some incompatibility going on.

Oh sorry I completely missed your link. Yes, I had some pretty severe issues with that one (no adb and couldn't mount internal storage). I don't have access to the phone at the moment but if once I do I've still got trouble I'll get back to you.

@JakeStanger Your link has expired, so let's test Andy's idea.

Unable to mount internal storage is probably because TWRP can't handle encryption of stock /data. You might also ask in that XDA thread if anyone has a similar phenomenon.

Hi guys, sorry to waste your time here but after hours of searching I eventually found a ported Odin-flashable version of TWRP buried in the depths of some XDA thread. I will however keep your comments in mind if ever I have a similar experience.


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How to change the country in Samsung Pay?
I bought a new Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in Asia before leaving to France. I now want to use Samsung Pay in France but the app shows Asian ads and notifications in Thai language. I want to know if the app will still work in France, and can you change the original country?

I've contacted the customer svc and they gave me a really bad answer. Apparently, the Samsung Pay rewards and promo will ONLY reflects the the device origin country. I have no idea if there is anyway to change the origins country data. I hope someone brilliant that experienced this same bad news with me would come up with some flash/ roots solution. As for my case, I ve been collecting the reward points for quite awhile on my note 5 before I change to note 8. And since both devices' origin country isn't the same, I was unable to transfer it. [Edited by Moderator Firelord].

I use an imported Samsung Galaxy S8 from Hong Kong. I wasn't able to change the country that Samsung Pay uses. But I use Samsung Pay in Switzerland with a Swiss credit card. But unfortunately, I get ads from Hong Kong in Hong Kong Dollar.
Once you setup Samsung Pay you can use it worldwide.


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Group Admin kicked out of own group
Why does Whatsapp kick me out of group of whcih i am admin and other groups in am in. I changed from Samsung S4 to J3. And how can i restore my previous backups?

If you tried to change your phone number of your whatsapp account, whatsapp recognises your account as a different from initial one.
Your account therefore gets considered as not being among the group members.


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Get around Exchange screen lock policy
I am accessing my company's email via Exchange. I'm running Android 6.0. The Exchange Policy sets the screen lock as soon as the screen timed out (immediate). Even though the timeout is set to 10 min, when I press the power button, it is considered screen timeout and I have to unlock. (power button instant lock is NOT checked).
I like to turn screen off whenever I am not using the phone to save battery. I found it very inconvenient to enter unlock code even after a short screen off. Is there a way around that?

Have you looked at How do I avoid the server-specified security policies for my work e-mail??

It is a good read but I still want to stay within the Exchange ecosystem. Since there is no requirement for "power button instant lock". I wonder if there is an alternative way to make power button != screen timeout.


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Downgrade a Verizon Google Pixel Phone to older versions?
I'm planning to buy a Google Pixel off ebay.
Does the Verizon Google Pixel allow downgrading of software?
I like to try older & newer versions for development purposes?

You should be able to unlock the bootloader using dePixel8 unless the phone comes with Android 7.1.1 or higher. Otherwise with a locked bootloader there's not much to do.

I would suggest not purchasing a Verizon Pixel if looking for a unlocked bootloader. I think since around December Verizon has pushed out updates that make it imposdible to unlock. Everything I've read says there's no way to unlock them if updated, and most of them have been.
I own a Verizon Pixel and was so sure I did not want to root...

The Pixel has an unlocked bootloader. You can flash different system images if you feel comfortable enough flashing files. Otherwise, try appetize.io for a good app test. it has many different versions of Android and iOS for all types of devices.

The Verizon version's bootloader cannot be unlocked.


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Restore single app from Google backup
I have two devices that both have automatic backups enabled through settings. I see both backups on Google drive.
The settings have an "auto restore" option, which implies there's most be a non-auto way to restore, but I can't find it. (Not that I managed to decipher how auto restore works).
So how can I restore the app data from it's backup, and,
Can I restore the app of 1 device to the backup of the other?

No. Unless it has changed with Oreo, those Google backups are nothing a user can control (apart from the "use it y/n" button in setup). Backup is controlled by the apps supporting it, and restore happens only (if at all) after a factory-reset on initial setup – and even then often enough fails completely or remains incomplete.


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Is there a way to block ports when using my Android device as a hotspot?
I often use my Android as a hotspot. I would like to block port 25 for all devices using my hotspot.
Is this possible with Android?

For this testing I just used a WiFi router that was lying around in the office and blocked traffic via port 25. I would still be interested in finding a solution independent of PC / office network, encase I need to replicate testing environment out of the office.

Yes, you can, but the catch is you have to have the root privilege on your Android phone.
With root privilege, you can use iptables to block access to ports of your choice. To block access on port 25, issue these commands:
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 25 -j DROP
iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 25 -j DROP

Your best option is to use Nmap through your computer. Make a hotspot, connect your PC to it, and use Nmap and ipconfig. Not sure if that works, but there isn't any other alternative as far as I know.
In theory, there are some firewall apps, but those rarely work as intended, and you are much better at configuring your Android ports through a PC.

Yeah you are right firewall apps cant block tetherered traffic, not even netstat can list tethererd traffic.


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How to prevent apps from using WiFi network?
I would like to prevents all app except one (which I use it in foreground) to use WiFi network.
The phone is not rooted so the root firewall are not suitable, and also I don't want to use firewall which create VPN connection.
I have tried how-to-restrict-background-data-for-metered-wi-fi-networks-on-android but when I check the network traffic of the device it contains closed app traffic also.

The link you referred to is for restricting WiFi networks (i.e. which WiFi APs to deal with as if they were "mobile data"), not to exclude apps from WiFi usage. The latter IMHO is only possible using a firewall. If you don't want that, I'm afraid there's no chance.

@lzzy What this option actually do? It say it prevents app from running in background

As I wrote: It marks the AP to be dealt with like "mobile data". That is, if you restrict background data for an app, which only applies to mobile data, it will be applied to that WiFi network as well. But, as with mobile data, only for what Android counts as "background data". For more details, see e.g. How does “Restrict background data” work?

Thanks for your clarification, So if I activate Background Data on mobile data it will be apply on selected WiFi in restrict network, and OS will prevent selected apps (in Background data list) from running in background, and work like firewall for background traffic

But only for background data. I'm not sure where the "border line" is when an app comes into foreground ;)

Thanks, if you want right these as an answer so that I could mark as accepted answer.

In the place described on the linked page¹ you can mark selected APs to be dealt with as if they were "mobile networks" – i.e. "background data restrictions" which usually apply to mobile networks only would be applied to those as well.
In order for that to have any effect, you either need to toggle the "background data" setting – or limit background data for those apps which should not use them. The latter can be done in Settings › Data Usage below "mobile data limit", where you first need to set a global limit (can be some "phantom value", i.e. very high). Then walk the apps below that and tick their "limit background data" setting.
I'm not 100% sure what falls into background data – but roughly it should be what an app does without your explicitly telling so. A.o. that's "background syncing" and similar "intervall stuff" – but definitely nothing you'd have to setup manually, like loading a page in your browser.

¹ Nougat (Android 7) and up: Settings › Data Usage › Network Restrictions
  below that: Settings › Data Usage, tap "More" (or the 3-dot overflow-menu) › Restrict Networks


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Is it possible to backup and restore an app with data via ADB?
Basically, I want to install an app with my settings already configured to a bunch of phones.
My thinking was

Install app on phone 1
Configure
Dump app and Data to PC
ADB app and data to phone 2
Repeat step 4

I would rather not root, but it's a possibility.

The answer is: It depends. It's the way supposed to work:
adb backup -f myapp.ab -apk com.myapp # backup on one device
adb restore myapp.ab                  # restore to the same or any other device

But an app can "opt out of Backup" declaring ALLOW_BACKUP:FALSE (see: adb backup not working for certain app), in which case (without root powers) all you get is a 41 byte (or in some cases 0 byte) file with the backup header but no contents.

how can I do this in a rooted phone? adb backup ... gives me "error: closed adb: unable to connect for backup" . The phone is rooted

@user17915 Please check with our adb tag wiki if you met all requirements (and e.g. adb devices even lists your device). If you can't work it out, after checking with our existing ADB questions, please ask a new question. What I wrote works for both, rooted or not. There's just not much you can do about those apps having opted out.

You can look into this idea: https://forum.f-droid.org/t/fennec-is-it-necessary-to-opt-out-of-the-adb-backups/12112/12

@Cadoiz users normally don't have the option to recompile the APK. And even if, they could not sign it with the original key, thus rendering updates inoperable. So that approach hardly works to make all your apps backup-able, not even with root powers.


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Every time I install Magisk after a factory reset, I get back an old boot animation and theme. How?
I have factory reset my phone a few times, but every time I install Magisk, I get back an old boot animation that I used from a custom ROM/Kernel I installed and I also get a custom Red accent color I installed. How?

Magisk has fixed this error in v14.


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How can I prevent apps sending cleartext over open Wi-Fi without using a VPN service?
Sending cleartext data over an open Wi-Fi network, or an encrypted network controlled by someone you don't trust, is very bad for security. This has been discussed here previously. The usual solution to this is to use a VPN, but that adds latency, and requires you to run it on your own server or buy a third-party VPN service - which is itself someone you have to trust.
Most reputable apps these days use HTTPS or other encrypted protocols to communicate with their servers, and most websites are available via HTTPS too. So in many cases it's safe to let these apps communicate over any network - there's no need for a VPN. But as an end user, I don't know if any given app is secure.
I'd like to block all apps from using cleartext while I'm connected to an untrusted network, but allow HTTPS and other encrypted protocols. I don't mind the block being port-based: I'm not worried about malicious apps "tricking" the filter by sending cleartext over an SSL port. I don't mind if the solution uses Android's "always-on VPN" feature to work, as long as it doesn't require a remote VPN server. I'd like to avoid the need to root the phone. I'd also like to be able to designate some networks as "trusted" and allow cleartext data over those networks.
Is there a way to achieve this?


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What caused the toast with "Call failed, try another method"?
I am having an issue with my Motorola G4 Plus smartphone which runs on Android 7.0 version. I am using JIO SIM card for calls and internet.
Two days ago, my phone showed me a toast message stating:

Call failed, try another method.

I was not able to initiate or receive any calls. Meanwhile my internet was working fine.
I searched about the toast message on internet and found some tricks to tackle the problem. Some of the major tricks were as follows:

some suggested to clear the cache memory of the device.
some suggested to change the network settings and reboot the device.
some suggested to change the specific APN settings and than to restart the device.
some suggested to change the set recommended 4G LTE settings.

I tried all of the above tricks but no gain at last.
My main question is: which method was the toast message referring to?
 Or, by saying "try another method" which method do I have to concern about and how to eventually solve this problem?

I had this issue before. An answer on Quora solved it.
Remove your Jio sim without switching off the device and insert another network different from Jio into the sim1 slot.
Switch off your phone and switch it back on.
Put your jio sim into the sim2 slot. Now restart your phone.
I hope it works for you.

yeah thanks. Now I am able to make call and receive as well. Your trick worked but your answer is half. Still the other portion remain which is regarding the 'try another method' toast message. Which method is the toast referring?? please edit your answer.

It worked for me.


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okay, what about the pictures on my SD card?
Will I be able to see my pictures on my home computer if they've been on an encrypted SD cell phone card? If that answer is no, that means I won't be able to use my SD card to make any prints of my pictures, correct?  If that's the case, how do I unencrypt my SD card? Or how do I change the setting for saving my pictures to my SD card? If I do this, how can I ever make prints of any of my pictures? I admit I take many family pics bc no one lives close by ~
it would be so nice to see some of them framed and around the house instead of only getting to look at them while sitting at the computer. Thanks again

For the first part of the question -- if your SD card is encrypted, then it won't be readable on a computer, print kiosk, or other device unless that device has compatible encryption capability and you supply the key (not going to happen at the print kiosk at Target, sorry to say).
As far as I know, there's no feature given to decrypt an entire storage volume (like your SD card); the most practical way to get the images decrypted would be to copy then to an unencrypted storage device.  One way to do that would be to install a cloud storage app (like Dropbox) on your phone.  Don't encrypt the cloud storage, and anything you copy to the cloud will be accessible to any device that has access to that cloud storage.  Dropbox has an application for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as both Android and iOS, which makes it a good choice (and it's free, with a fairly large storage limit, at least as of September 2017).  Some printing services will allow you to print from Dropbox storage, at least via their web page (Staples and Office Max/Office Depot allow this, as I recall).
Unless you also shoot porn on your phone or have a high enough profile to be concerned about blackmail, I don't see a lot of reason to encrypt storage of family photos anyway -- you might consider backing up your SD card (connecting the phone to a computer via USB cable may allow doing this without requiring the computer to deal with the encryption) and reformatting the SD storage without encryption.
Depending on your Android version, it may not be possible to store data (pictures, music, documents, etc.) on the SD card without adopting it, which encrypts it for unique access only by the adopting device.  If you're running Android 6 (Marshmallow) or newer, this might be the case (I can't check on my own device, as I have a Pixel which doesn't have an SD card slot).

On another hand, encryption can be an efficient countermeasure in case your device is stolen.

Seems like overkill for family photos, though, unless you're a celebrity whose family photos might be worth thousands to a tabloid.  Most people simply don't have anything that warrants encryption, truth be told.

Outside the scope of photos, we could say that almost everyone saves their contacts on their device. Personally, I won't be too happy that my contacts leaked into the hands of a random person who might have a way to use them for their own gain.

Contact, however, are usually on the device's internal storage, rather than the SD card.

Indeed, but I don't think that one can encrypt only one of the storages. I might be wrong, though.

It likely depends on the version of Android you're running.  I'm pretty sure it's possible with 4.*, but not with 6+ (which "adopt" the SD card to appear as part of internal storage).  Further, it's not possible to store anything on an SD card with 6+ without encrypting it, due to the "adoption" process.

It should be noted that adopting the SD card be optional, though. Edit: Android 7.1.2 doesn't mention the SD card at all when inside the encryption window, so it seems that, as you said above, the only way to encrypt a SD is to adopt it.

As Zeiss Ikon pointed out, there's no easy way to read the encrypted card directly on any other machine than the one having encrypted it (here: your Android device).
However, that does not mean you cannot transfer them to e.g. your computer or a print kiosk – it only means you cannot simply take the card and plug it into another machine. As long as the card is inside your (running) Android device, its content can be accessed in multiple ways:

plug in an USB cable and access the data via mtp. This is the most common method, and also the intended use for "consumers" (i.e. you). Most computers should support that out-of-the-box, whether they run Linux or Windows (AFAIK also Mac). At the moment, just be careful doing that with Windows-10 due to a current bug that could delete your data instead of moving it.
plug in an USB cable and use adb to access your data. This is mostly intended for developers, but in my experience works more stable than MTP (and has many end-user use-cases beside data copying, too). You'll need special software for that on your computer, though – please consult our adb tag-wiki for details.
install some "server software" on your Android device to access its data wirelessly. Examples are FTP Server or other apps to Remotely manage media and files.¹ The latter are often used easily with a web browser from any computer.

I'm not sure what mode might be supported by print kiosks – but all the above definitely works with computers, laptops and other network-enabled devices. Though your storage remains encrypted, it's your Android device that (decrypts and) reads the files, and then finally makes them available to "the other end".
As initially said, there are no easy ways to directly access the data from the card (e.g. using a card reader). So keep that in mind also for another case: If your Android device no longer starts up. With an unencrypted card, you then could simply take it out and access it via card-reader. That would no longer be possible with the card encrypted. So make sure to regularly backup your data!

¹ Disclosure: Those links go to my website with Android app listings


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Can Puffin browser easily be uninstalled?
I have bought an online study course but I am told I need Puffin web browser to view the course. It appears I can install Puffin browser on my Android phone (Vodafone Smart Prime 7), but if I decide after completing the course to go back to normal Google Chrome browser, would Puffin easily uninstall?
 Will it cause any problem?
I'm afraid I'm not a big user of modern technology and do not want to bugger up my phone browser!

Puffin Web Browser as of now:

does not require device administrative permission
does not have permission to display an overlay on screen to block attempts of uninstallation
does not make any attempt to block uninstallation at all by any means.

I'm unsure whether Puffin prompts its users for drive-by installation but even that would not harm cause if unknown sources are disabled.
You can definitely, easily and like other apps, remove this app from your phone either through Settings app or from Play Store app itself. Alternatively, you can choose to keep it by following the other answer here.

Actually no.... it's simply just another application, Android allows you to choose your default browser of choice, Puffin won't bug you up at all you can just launch it from home screen when you need it and it can be used as an alternative browser. Something like this should pop up.  So in short, Puffin Browser will not bug you up a bit and you are good to go.


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How can I create a Google account without it being saved to my device?
I want to create a Google account on my computer, but I don't want it saved to my device. For example, when I come on the place to log into my Google account, I don't want it to have my email address there, ready. I want to just type it in. Can I create a Google account without it being saved to my device?
A million thanks in advance,
Shay

Sure you can do that. You have to switch to incognito browsing on your browser.
Every browser has incognito. On Opera mini, it is called private browsing.
For Chrome, click on the three horizontal lines at the right-top side of the browser and select new incognito tab.
On Opera, you can switch to private browsing by clicking on the tabs icon then select Private.
I hope this helps.


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There is no driver for my phone's model number
I use a Samsung J7 mobile phone, model number SM-J700F (checked both below the battery and in the "about phone" section). I live in Israel, so I don't use one of the four big main carriers.
I tried inputting my model number in the Samsung website
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/ but right as I enter the last character in my model number ("F") i get "please enter a valid model number.
What do to?

A driver for what?

OEM driver for my phone. I need it for android USB debugging.

The F variant is not sold in the US, hence what you get. The generic one supplied by Samsung should work alright.

ADB Minimal should come with those drivers, and you might need the Samsung USB Drivers and lastly there is Smart Switch. I don't know about it much but it should provide drivers just like Kies did, although the first two should work real fine. Good luck!


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Flashing custom recovery using DD with locked bootloader?
So, I understand that you can flash a custom recovery using DD. I have done this on my Nexus 6p, with an unlocked bootloader.
My carrier is Verizon, which loves to lock down bootloaders. I have another phone, an HTC One M7, which has been branded by Verizon. I have gained temporary root access using Kingroot. I am wondering if maybe I could flash a TWRP build to /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/recovery. I am afraid that this will brick it though.
Even if it flashed and booted successfully, would it even work to flash a custom ROM?
Thanks for any helpful answers

If I remember correctly, that was one of the suggested ways in lower versions of TWRP recovery. Unfortunately I'm not really sure if that works under S-ON. I would say back things up just in case.

@AndyYan lol Its worthless to me anyway as its pretty hard to use without any custom ROM. Just trying to do this to maybe give it some worth