text:
FBE - Why does each user get a separate DE key
I've been reading about how File-Based Encryption and Direct Boot work. There's one thing I don't understand.
According to https://developer.android.com/training/articles/direct-boot

Device encrypted (DE) storage contains data encrypted with a key that is only available after a device has performed a successful verified boot.

If I understand correctly, if an application stores data in DE areas, that data is available after the device boots up even prior to any user authentication (i.e prior to the device being unlocked).
Then, according to https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based

Each user in a multi-user environment gets a separate encryption key. Every user gets two keys: a DE and a CE key.

...

An application may be able to interact freely across the DE areas, but one user unlocked does not mean that all the users on the device are unlocked".

Question: If an application has access across the DE areas, what is gained by generating a separate DE key for each user?
Potential answer
Initially I assumed that user in the above quoted sections refers to a physical user as described here

User. Each user is intended to be used by a different physical person.

But user can also refer to an application user as described here

The Android operating system is a multi-user Linux system in which each app is a different user.

So I'm thinking:
When an application stores data in DE storage, the data is encrypted using the application user's DE key.
When an application stores data in CE storage, the data is encrypted using the currently active physical user's CE key.
If the above is correct, A physical user's DE key and an application user's CE key is never used.
I don't know if the above makes any sense so it would be great if someone with the appropriate knowledge would chime in.


text:
How can an app know that my phone has been rooted?
I changed my bank and it seems that the only possible way of accessing their online website is having installed an app called "tan2go dkb".
I've read that it is not possible to use it with a rooted phone. I won't change my phone just because the bank says so, so I tried to use an old motorola moto g 1st gen.
I erased everything, and flashed the stock rom, I also tried to flash a stock firmware. After flashing the new stock ROM I install some apps to tell if I'm still root and they say I'm not.
So, which kind of check are they doing in order to tell that my phone is rooted even after flashing a clean stock ROM?

Mostly through SafetyNet. Try MagiskHide

Some kernels pass the bootloader status(https://i.stack.imgur.com/3gXiE.jpg) to apps. If your bootloader is still unlocked that could be one of the reasons. The device is vulnerable so they just stop you from using the app, but it is kind of confusing when they club everything as being rooted.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Where are Chrome Settings Stored in Android 4.4.2
I am configuring a lot of devices and one thing we have to do is turn off Autofill in Chrome. Is there a way to drop a settings file in a folder that contains this setting or do we have to manually go in and turn it off through Chrome settings?
I'm sure this will require root access but is there a settings.xml file or something where this information is stored?

I finally rooted a device to determine the exact location. There is a Preference file located in the following directory.
/data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default

This Preference file stores the settings. Unfortunately, you can't write to it without Root access.

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


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How to remove a persistent malware that downloads unwanted apps?
Some months ago, I purchased an Azumi cell phone from an official store in a shopping mall in Mexico and subsequently discovered its firmware contains a ton of malware. The malware connects with a server in China and downloads a load of malicious apps which then launch automatically and eventually render the phone so slow as to be unusable.
I have just done a factory reset for the fifth time and expect it to run smoothly for a few weeks until the problems return. I tried installing a new ROM but it did not resolve the problem, possibly because the malware is hidden inside a partition.
I am not at all literate with Android, but am willing to learn and do whatever is necessary to fix this phone. Can someone advise or point me in the right direction?
If I need to root it, how can I do this safely, and how can I locate the offending malware? What diagnostic tests can I perform to learn more about the problem? And if it's easier to flash a new system, what is the most effective way to do this, and where can I locate a reliable ROM?

This is a similar issue as this one

I think you have a different definition of "perfectly serviceable" than I do.

SiXandSeven8ths - Possibly. What I mean is, the hardware works perfectly well. It seems a shame to create more garbage for the world just because some gangsters chose to install dodgy software on it.

Parth Pandya - thank you for sharing the link.

What's phone exact model? Which ROM it has? Which ROM have you tried to install? It was probably originally made in China, so it could be possible to find original model and try to search for it's full stock ROM (or just some ROM without ads) which will overwrite everything.

Hi janot, thanks for getting back. The phone is an Azumi Iro A5 QL, Android 6.0, Software Azumi_IRO_A5_QL_MX_V01. I installed a stock rom from here - https://stockromfiles.com/azumi-iro-a5-ql-telcel-firmware/. The install appeared to be successful, then, a few weeks later, the same malware as usual turned up.

The app - NoRoot Firewall can be very useful for preventing unwanted malware / adware related app downloads. Cheap phones, tablets (particularly phones off the grey market) typically experience this issue.

You answer does not address the issue of the malware already being present.

Hi TestDeviant, thanks for getting back. NoRoot Firewall is a great app and I've been using it. However, sooner or later it crashes and lets the malware through. It's a good temporary solution but I'm looking for something more permanent.

@Workrobotwork - I switched from NoRoot firewall to NetGuard firewall, although paid because the former one was last updated in 2014 and these days it frequently crashes.

Thanks miroxlav. Looks good, will give it a go.


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How to restrict games installation
I am a iPhone person and my wife is andriod. Our son has been madly installing games despite me hiding the play store icon in a folder he manage to find it. I went into playstore setting but the restriction is so confusing, basically what I want is our son not installing ANY games unless we want by parental code.
How Can I do that?

Maybe just disable Play Store until you want to install some app?

@iBug how do I do that?

Settings -> Apps -> Scroll down and find Play Store -> Disable

Why don't you setup a restricted account such as Guest account for your son? Remove Play Store(using ADB) for that account permanently. Having a  restricted account, your son won't be able to sideload either.

@Firelord I have no idea what is ADB


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Unknown status bar icon - Galaxy note 9
Today I (very briefly) spotted a new icon in my status bar.
It looked like a little person icon (head and shoulder, silhouette kind of thing) with sound waves on the right (like WiFi signal but horizontal).
It was only there for a second so I wasn't able to get a screenshot but will definitely try if i see it again.
I haven't come across this icon in the 8 or so years that I've been using android and I can't think of any obvious app that it would be for.
I haven't installed any apps in the last week or so either.
If it helps, I was on my Galaxy Note 9 on Oreo (8.1.0 / Samsung Experience 9.5), it is rooted (Magisk) and has Xposed installed.
Any help identifying this icon is greatly appreciated and I'll update if I manage to get a screenshot.

This icon indicates that Google is sharing location.
The same icon can be seen in Google Maps by accessing the navigation drawer and the menu "Location Sharing".
Source: AndroidCentral Forum - Person icon in notification bar that quickly disappears

As per my findings, thanks to @Firelord, this icon is used for voice-over.

There may be multiple apps that use this icon but it seems the most common would be Google Voice (which I don't have).


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Permissions for apps from unknown sources
When installing an app from unknown sources, does it have to ask for specific permissions like regular apps or is every permission granted by default?

I believe part of it depends upon which API is targeted by the app.

@Firelord but what you mean isn't specific to the installation source – it's rather if an app supports "runtime permissions" (Android 6+) or not, regardless whether it's installed from Play, F-Droid or via ADB. OP is rather confused about the "dangers and side-effects" of the "unknown sources" option. Good point, though.

What permissions are granted is not depending on the source. If you sideload apps directly on the device via "unknown sources" (e.g. by using a third-party market app such as F-Droid or Aptoide), Android's package installer will pop up and ask you to confirm, showing basically the same permission list Playstore shows (i.e. a quite abbreviated) for the "all-or-nothing" part (i.e. permissions that cannot be granted at runtime). Runtime permissions are then asked the same way as with all other apps, whenever you use a functionality needing them.
The first confirmation is only skipped if you install apps via adb install or adb pm install. Runtime permissions will always be dealt with in the very same way: whenever needed.


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Is there a Low Quality / Headset audio mode and why to disable it?
My Bowers & Wilkins P5 came with 2 cables: One- for IOS and its control and another generic one without any control.
I made the terrible mistake of not pay attention and connected with the IOS cable. Immediately the Zenfone 3 entered what I can describe as a low quality mode. It looks like that Zenfone is trying to connect to a headset communication device instead of a hifi headfone. Immediately I recognized the mistake, changed to the generic cable and Zenfone recognized the headfone and quality came back to what is supposed to be.
However, after this incident Zenfone started to randomly goes back this "headset/low quality" mode. At first a simple re-boot would fix the problem. After that re-boot not worked anymore.
Only solution was to do factory restore. That worked well for a month but today my fone wake up back in "low quality mode".
Is there any other workaround to get out of this annoying mode?
Tested on B&W P5 and Grado SR125.
Any input is welcome....


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Could someone have installed a ROM virus on my Xperia XA?
I posted this question over at XDA forum but I hope someone here may be able to help.
I recently went on vacation and left my Xperia XA F3111 at home. Someone had access to it for over 2 weeks and installed some spyware on it.
When I found out I factory reset the phone but I am worried he may have flashed the phone with a malware-infested ROM which will survive a reset. He had access to the phone for a long time and I am sure he knows someone who knows how to hack phones.
My phone settings say "Bootloader unlock allowed = No" which I believe (rightly or wrongly) means he could not root the phone or install a custom ROM?
Anyway, I am hoping someone can tell me if there was any way he could have bypassed this setting, unlocked the bootloader, flashed an infested ROM and re-locked the bootloader?
If this is possible, is there a guide that would help me do the same thing and re-flash the phone with a clean stock Sony ROM?
It's a nice phone, but at the moment I can't take the risk that it has been poisoned so it may well be heading for the recycle bin.

If the settings say that bootloader unlocking is not allowed, it is impossible to unlock the bootloader, even if you wanted to. If you want to make extra sure your device is not compromised, dial *#*#7378423#*#*, go 'Service Test', 'Security' and check if all lines say [Key Ok].

Many thanks for your prompt answer. My phone has the following settings:
CKB[Key OK][Active]
WIDEVINE[Key OK][Active]
PRODID_AID : 0004
OTP_LOCK_CONFIG : 0002
OTP_LOCK_STATUS : LOCKED
AUTH_ENABLE : 01
DEVICE_ID : 218AAEAB
There are several lines that do NOT say [Key OK][Active]. The screenshot in the forum post below shows that [Key OK][Active] is after all lines except the first 3. Does this mean that my phone ROM has been tampered with?
XDA forum post with screenshot


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Should Android kernel version date match the release date?
In the process of checking the settings on my Sony Xperia XA I came across the Linux Kernel information. Version 3.18.35 was released in June 2016 but the date shown is from 2017:
3.18.35+
BuildUser@BuildHost #1
Fri Sep 15 05:31 CST 2017

Is it normal for the date shown here to be later than the release date? I assume it may represent the last automatic update. Also, what does the + sign mean next to the version number?.
I have no idea what BuildUser@BuildHost is but I am hoping someone can reassure me that it is normal for Sony phones :-)

Every program that runs on a PC or mobile device is written as source code first in some language. Android uses Linux kernel which is also written in C language and it's open source i.e. its code is available publically. This source code is converted into executable program using a compiler. BuildHost is the name of the computer on which compiler was run by user BuildUser on 15-Sep-2017. Linux kernel version 3.18.35 was released in June 2016 which has been modified since then by Google (as standard AOSP kernel) and phone OEMs. + sign indicates that unofficial changes were made to kernel source

To create the kernel for your phone, Sony downloaded Linux 3.18.35 (released June 2016), modified it to include your device’s drivers and built¹ it on the 15th of September. The date you are seeing in version information is the build date, not the release date, of your device’s kernel.
The plus means changes to the code of the kernel were made without being committed to the git² version control system. (read this answer for more info)
Lastly, BuildUser@BuildHost means that the kernel was compiled by a user called BuildUser on a machine called BuildHost.
¹ Or compiled, which means converting from human-readable C code to processor-runnable machine code
² A version control system. After editing code, you commit it to your local git repository to make a record of the changes you made. Then you sync it to the central git repository so your team members receive the changes you made.


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Google Pixel XL Messages app missing camera interface
I reset my Google Pixel XL and temporally set it up as new device, meaning I did't restore any of the settings from before reset, therefore it is safe to assume I used all default settings.
During this time, I noticed the Messages app having a camera interface button next to the plus sign (see image) which when pressed, a small camera preview displayed allowing you to snap a quick picture.  I then reset the phone again, this time restoring old phone's data.  Now the above mentioned camera interface is gone and I don't know how to get it back.
Thanks,

Have you updated the app yet?

Yes, it is in it's latest version 3.9.039

After reset, system apps on your device switch to the version which you have seen on first boot. You need to update via play store to have latest features. And, yes latest version is the one you have mentioned. I have that on my device. Please backup messages(super backup and restore), and try to clear all data, and check again. (As it was a pixel device, I think it may have google drive backup of messages app by default, which is not available for other devices )


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How to log/record system events or phone vibrations - Problem with Huawei Mate 20 Pro
I have a Huawei Mate 20 Pro. Awesome phone, I love it.
I live in Canada, and have the model LYA-L0C.
My phone is set to vibrate, so anytime I get a text or a FB message or messages from other apps my phone vibrates, and I check and I have a notification from xyz app.
My phone has started to vibrate arbitrarily, for no apparent reason. It will vibrate, I will look and check my phone and there is no notification from any app. It will vibrate again and I will check and there is nothing there. I will check through my apps and there are no new messages or anything in any of my apps. Notifications are turned on for all apps, nothing turned off in the settings of the phone.
I don't know how to track down where this is coming from or what app is causing this.
Is there some kind of app I can install that will monitor and log system events like vibrations and log where it came from? Or does anyone have any other better solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance for the thought and suggestions!!

The vibrator is not really logged that much but you might be able to get enough information to help. First,  The log output format is:
date time PID-TID/package priority/tag: message
Looking like:
12-10date 13:02:50.071time 1901-4229pid-tid/com.google.android.gmspackage Vpriority/AuthZentag: Handling delegate intent message
adb logcat -v long
Linux: adb logcat -v long > ~/Desktop/logcat.txt
Windows:
adb logcat -v long > %userprofile%\desktop\logcat.txt
Vibrate is system thing so to get just system logs then this use this log command:
adb logcat logcat -b system
Linux:
adb logcat logcat -b system > ~/Desktop/logcat.txt
Windows:
adb logcat logcat -b system > %userprofile%\desktop\logcat.txt
If within the logs you happen to see what package is responsible for vibrate and it gives its pid number write it down. Next use this command inserting the pid number where {pid} part. This will show only the output for that package.
adb logcat --pid={pid number}
Looking like:
adb logcat --pid=1000
If you know the package name you can get the pid number from this logcat command:
A
adb logcat pidof -s {package_name}
Looking like:
adb logcat pidof -s android.os.Vibrator
Just riffing but if you want to get fancy and try the previous two commands at once then through an adb shell throw this:
adb shell "logcat --pid=$(pidof -s {package_name})"
{With linux use a single quote instead of double quote.}
adb shell "logcat --pid=$(pidof -s android.os.Vibrator)"
You might be able to get some information from the battery stats with the command:
adb shell dumpsys batterystats --checkin
Look for vib for time and count.
There are apps that record the logs such as Matlog (no affiliation) that can record, highlight, and other options. However, I do not know if you narrow down the logs to get the details you are looking for.


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How to get Android connect to weak WiFi signal
I have an IoT device (a LifeX Color 1000 bulb) which I'm trying to connect to my home Wifi network.
But to do so, I have to:

Factory-reset the bulb so that it goes into setup mode
Connect to the Wifi Network emitted by the bulb
Tell the bulb the wifi credentials of my home Wifi Network.

The problem is that the bulb's Wifi signal is very weak. It doesn't show up on my Android phone's list of Wifi networks. And when I tell LifeX app on my phone to search for the bulb's Wifi, I get this error message:

But I see no setting in which I can tell my phone to stop ignoring weak Wifi signals. There is no "Avoid Poor Networks" or "Auto Network Switch".
I have tried this on both of the following phones:

ZTE Model Z981, Android Version 6.0.1
Nokia 6.1 Model TA-1045, Android Version 9

How can I adjust my phone settings to detect and show me ALL wifi networks no matter how weak?

How far is the distance between bulb and phone? A second possibility is that the bulb uses a Wifi channel that is forbidden in your region and therefore it is not detected by your phone.

What options do you have under Settings --> wireless networks --> wifi --> settings --> advanced wifi? What about manually adding the network.


text:
ADB/Fastboot not detecting Android stuck in bootloader
I tried to flash the most recent android pie update to my pixel 2 only for it to fail writing partitions even though I followed a recent guide to my best ability. Now, the phone is stuck in the bootloader with no way to boot into android or any way to access the recovery options (throws an error and takes me back to the bootloader info page)
Neither fastboot nor ADB can recognize the phone, I think this is because the USB debugging must have turned off somehow even though I turned it on, as before I WAS able to access it through fastboot. But now I can not, plugging it into the Windows machine, windows doesn't see any change in Device Manager when the phone is plugged in and out.
I reached out to a google supports rep and they told me since there is no way to access the recovery options, the phone needs to go through warranty, but is this really the only way? Is there some driver I am missing?
Thank you.

Usb debugging is irrelevant within the bootloader. Adb only works within the system and and recovery. Fastboot protocol is what is used within the bootloader. How did you try to flash the system?  Did you try manually or with the flash-all.bat. what part failed to write? Does fastboot devices returns anything? On your devices bootloader screen what is everything it says (in these categories:)? Bootloader:
Baseband:
Product Revision:
Boot-slot:
Console:
Secure Boot:
Device State:
ERROR:

Disclaimer: this is not necessarily a proper answer because it
involves indeterministic and rather sporadic approaches. That said,
thought it'd still be worth it to jot it down and share it for
informational purpose. :)

What didn't work for me:
✗ Using my newer Mac (2019/Big Sur) whose USB ports are USB-C/3.1.
✗ Trying out various USB 2.0 cables and adapters (USB-C/3.1 <-> USB-A/2.0, USB-A/3.0 <-> USB-A/2.0, etc.). More about that here (https://stackoverflow.com/a/58774581/2013891) and here (https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/7lj50n/apparently_the_pixel_2_nonxl_doesnt_like_usb_3031/).
✗ Installing Linux (Ubuntu) on VirtualBox, or any virtual machines in this case.
✗ Getting RMA since I bought the phone secondhand on eBay [sic.] :D
What made it work for me:
➜ Praying. (yup seriously, this could be the most important pre-step that I forgot to do when failing continuously before ;) )
➜ Using my older Mac (2015/El Capitan) whose USB ports are USB-A/3.0.
➜ Running fastboot getvar all. While it's saying < waiting for any device >, plugging-in and -out again the Pixel 2 (assumed it is booted already to FastBoot mode) until all the vars are printed out in the console. Note that this step is like a game of chance to me. Depending on your luck, you may need to do it 100 times or even 1000 times while wiggling the cable, waiting for a little, and making a sudden plug-in/out over and over again. Your mileage may vary, hence the praying step.

➜ When the vars got printed, it means the hardware connection has been successfully established in the USB interface. Running fastboot devices will list your Pixel 2 device. From this point on, it's business as usual -- I did the ./flash-all.sh thingy from https://developers.google.com/android/images#walleye.

Having all these messes, I still strongly believe a few Google phone/tablet hardwares are buggy when they come to establishing USB connection. Now, even after I managed to bring my Pixel 2 back to life, it's still not able create a USB connection to do a wired files transfer unless I do the "game of chance" mentioned above. Well, at least I got it working and it's becoming usable again.

Your dedication is inspiring. There are few people I know that would go to this length after trying seemingly everything to resurrect a phone. I am very glad you got it working again :)

Been a pleasure to write things again, too :)

The phone was bricked, had to get an rma unfortunatleyh5rft

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

before we go any further, please make sure your usb cable is working correctly, and try using different ones if it is not the case. If not, please try again as it the most annoying device I've had for getting into recovery. You basically need to hold power and then press volume up and immediately release both of them. It's very picky.


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USB Connections Pop-up is missing
So I had this problem around when I started to root my phones (which is recently). Usually there's 2 pop-up that would shown up whenever I connected my phone to computer, but after I rooted it the pop-up is missing (and yes I've activated the usb debugging option, restarted my phone, changed the usb cable and even downloaded a brand new usb driver on my computer). Any solutions or there's something to do with the root? (for your informations my phone is Evercoss A65B)

Have you tried revoking USB Debugging authorizations under developer options.

yes I've tried that but to no avail. But before that let me say thank you for your answer.


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Insufficient storage space & Insert SD card
I'm using a Meizu M6 and a newly bought Sandisk Ultra Micro SD XC 64 GB.
Internal storage is about 1.67 GB free out of 16 GB. My SD card's system was FAT32; reformatted it to exFat, now the phone won't read it (still working fine with desktop). Android version is apparently based on Nougat, OS is Flyme 7.1 Global. Phone file explorer is built-in/default; desktop is Windows Explorer.
So my phone and desktop can detect my SD, but:

Every time I tried to create an empty, new folder on my SD, it gave me the "insufficient storage space" message, despite being empty as a clean slate.
Every time I tried to use the camera, it gave me the "insert SD card" message, despite being able to detect it earlier.

Yet I can create new folders and move items to my SD if I connect it to my PC with some card reader.
For the record, I have already checked the wiki tags and similar topics, as well as format, remount, cache clear, and/or reboot, but none of them worked.
The SD card worked fine in another phone (Realmi2Pro, with a custom OS). For now, we suspect it's the problem with Flyme 7 OS.
What might cause this? Any pointers?

You need to grant write access (uri tree permission) to external sd card through Android Storage Access Framework. What filesystem do you have on sd card? What Android version you are using? What file explorer did you use to create folder?

you could try using the Windows partition manager to format the micro sd card and create a brand new partition. You could try using the tool h2testw to check if the card is damaged or authentic.

The micro SD works after I downgraded the Flyme OS to the latest 6 series. I guess it's an OS problem after all.


text:
Install Google Play on Android SDK Emulator
How can I install google play on the Android SDK Emulator? I start my emulator like this:
./emulator -avd my_custom_device_API_26 -dns-server 8.8.8.8 -writable-system

and I tried it How to install Google Play services on an Android 6.0 emulator?, but it doesn't work. Although I'm staring emulator as writable, I get:
remote couldn't create file: Read-only file system

Also, I've bit different APKs as mentioned in that answer namely: PrebuiltGmsCorePix.apk instead GmsCore.apk and I can't find GoogleLoginService.apk. I have the Open GApps 8.1 Pico version. I've also tried to install APKs but was unsuccessful.

You need to elevate to root access to mount RW. Try adb root then adb remount then push and install your package.

For that, you have to install the Google Play image from the Android Studio SDK Manager. But you can't get it for API level below 24

Remember that to display all those submenus you have to tick Show Package Details on Android SDK setting:

Also the download may be about 2GB but on hard drive may take 10GB once decompressed.

Other comments don't mention it, but after installing the Google Play you also need to create an emulator again (there will be +Store in the description)

Hiya! Make sure when answering that you're still giving a full solution to the question being asked. For situations like this, it's common to point to other answers as what to follow for a setup, then continue with the extra details you feel are necessary.


text:
How to find out stolen phone of android by using IMEI number?
I have already tried by finding
findDeviceWebsite
Is there any way to find device by IMEI number?

Find your device through the IMEI number is not really a thing an everyday citizen can do.
Googles find my device is about the best you can do. If the internet and location are off then things will not work. There are website that state they can track based on your IMEI number but then why would they also need your phone number. It is also very doubtful a carrier would give the third party website access to their proprietary information and tools.
Your IMEI number should be consider sensitive information not freely given out to unknown sources.
Another thing you can try is view location history through Google Maps Timeline. If the find my device or location history does not work.
Depending on the laws of your country contact the authorities and file a report. They can then subpoena your carrier to get the location or last known location of the device by triangulating based off their towers.

Track phone by IMEI is nothing but a illusion for normal citizens.
Websites are useless, they only creates backup of IMEI numbers and additional is showing you advertisments along with popping malicious app installation.
• The best way is Google's Find My Device
Remember:

It must be installed in the stolen/lost device along with administrator permission to the app.

To enable this heads to Settings-Security Settings under security settings you will find 'administrator permissions'.

Device must be connected to the internet along with enabled
  location access.

You can do following things with this app:

Ring your phone at highest ringer volume even when device is on silent phone.

Secure your device with a password.

Erase your device completely.

Remember: In order this app to work device must be connected to internet with location access(to view it on google maps).

Unfortunately if your phone did not have any other tracking app installed such as avast or Cerberus (you can use text messages to find your phone through those apps) then you need an internet connection to be able to track your device through googles find my device. Also like previous answer said you can't find your phone through IMEI only the carriers can.


text:
I have a Blutooth Keyboard connected with my Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro, and the Keyboard works, but I dont want the on screen keyboard
I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro, and recently bought a blutooth keyboard for it. They keyboard works, but whenever i click on the area that i want to type something, the on screen keyboard shows up, and i cant use the blutooth one. How do i disable the screen keyboard and only use the blutooth one. Thanks!

You can install and select different keyboard apps from Play Store. Some of them only have a few or even no key(s). Therefore this should be the way to go.
An alternative would be deinstall all keyboard apps, however this is dangerous as there may be situations where the Bluetooth keyboard does not work and you have to enter a password to unlock the device but without keyboard app this won't work.

Open Settings, search for Show virtual keyboard. Disable it.


text:
"Weather is running" notification
Running 8.1.0 on a Moto x4: I keep getting this notification:

Weather is running
Tap for more information or to stop the app.

If I tap and Force Stop the Weather app, it comes back before long.

How can I really keep the Weather app from running in the background?
Or, if I want it to run in the background, how can I prevent this notification from constantly appearing?

I'm getting this message, too. On a HTC 12+ I can't delete the app and deactivating it does not stop it from being executed in the background. This is why the message appears for me, too.
Any help would be appreciated.

[How] can I prevent this notification from constantly appearing?

If you long-press that notification you would be given the option to turn off the notifications for that app. Since it is Android Oreo, you may even get the option just to turn off that particular category of notification from Weather app. In Android 9, 10 and 11, you can also change a notification's priority status to "Other" and enable "Minimize" so that they at least become less infuriating and smaller in size, if cannot be hid completely.

If that doesn't work out for you, than I suggest you try MacroDroid. You can detect that notification and clear it automatically and immediately.
Setup MacroDroid and setup permission for "Notification access" and "Modify system settings" in it. Setup a macro with the following details:
Trigger: Device Events → Notification → Notification Received → Select your application:

Text Content: select Contains
Text to enter for match: enter the text from your notification. In your case, it can either be "Weather is running" or "Tap for more information or to stop the app".
uncheck Ignore ongoing notifications
uncheck Prevent multiple triggers

Action: Notification → Clear Notifications → Select your application → fill the details mentioned above verbatim for the notification received.
Constraint: none
The next time the notification would show up, the trigger would automatically fire up the action which would immediately clear the notification.

How can I really keep the Weather app from running in the background?

You can delete the app for your user account (the default user). Know that the only way to reinstall that app again as a system app is to factory reset. Note that removing a system app can cause boot issues, so proceed with caution and backups taken beforehand. However, I suggest you try disabling it first.
Disable the app from your Settings app. This should be enough to prevent the app from executing anything. If you can't disable it or it is not having the desired effect, setup adb and execute:

adb shell pm disable-user PACKAGE_NAME  # disables the app for the current user
adb shell pm enable PACKAGE_NAME        # enables the app for the user, if you must need it again, regardless of how the app was disabled.

This is akin to what you'd have done using Settings app. However, if you're still adamant on uninstalling that app, run:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PACKAGE_NAME

Replace PACAKAGE_NAME with the package name of the troublesome app. To  get help in finding it, see my answer here.

Sorry, have to downvote this. I used to have an identical issue with another app. Long-pressing that notification gives "Android System" as the source app and no way to disable it. Disabling the app might be the only solution AFAIK, but probably unwanted for an OEMA Weather app.

@iBug I didn't really keep my answer limited to disabling it. I have given three solutions. One for disabling the notifications, the other of using MacroDroid and the last one of disabling/deleting it.  None requires root access so they all are open for everyone to try. I see no reason why the downvote should be  based on just one of them.

I found the answer really helpful and detailed! Thanks for that. I uninstalled the app because I didn't want that the positioning system for the weather app can always track me.

@IndexOutOfBoundsException I'm glad to know that it works. :)

Moto Z3 Settings > Apps > Tap on 3 verical dots > Show System > Time & Weather > Uncheck the Time and Weather box


text:
Does Lineage OS 16 runs on Nokia 6.1?
I am looking to find if the Nokia 6.1 is able to run Lineage OS 16. I didnt find a Nokia section in the official list of supported device. I looked online and find this list from thedroidguru (same list on alldroidtips):

List Of Nokia Devices Getting Lineage OS 16
Nokia, or HMD Global, has already maintained a nice record when it
  comes to providing Android updates. Though these devices did not
  receive any support from LineageOS 15, it is expected that LineageOS
  16 would support the Nokia 8, Nokia 6 2017, Nokia 1, Nokia 2, Nokia 3,
  Nokia 5.

As far as I know, the Nokia 6.1 is the name of the Nokia 6 2018. Is this list accurate? If the Nokia 6 2017 can run the rom, the 6.1 should be able to do so, shouldn't it? So, Does Lineage OS 16 runs on Nokia 6.1?

Kind of related: Why are there not generic phone OS installers?

Well, nobody knows which devices will be supported for LineageOS 16 because each device's maintainer(s) (developer(s)) are different.
LineageOS team never maintains a list of devices supported for LineageOS 15.1 or 16 etc.
But they have a devices list for which they support any of the LineageOS version:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
But that's not all. The actual official builds come very late because of many factors.
For example, the lineage16.0 branch is almost ready but there is no OFFICIAL LineageOS 16 build available from LineageOS team or any device maintainer.
But if you see the LineageOS 16 builds available UNOFFICIALLY, you will find many devices. This is not an official source but more accurate as it is maintained by me.
I hand pick all of the available builds to accumulate at one place.
Similar to LineageOS 16, I have an OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 page where you will find all such OFFICIAL builds.
I will continue to maintain an OFFICIAL LineageOS 16 page when the builds will be available.
Coming to your question, as of now I did not see any builds available for Nokia 6.1. You may follow my LineageOS 16 link, where I do update the page almost on daily basis. You will find the build once it is available from a dev.

There are only unofficial builds of Lineage for the Nokia 6.1. Else you can try out a few GSIs. Since the bootloader is only unlockable via unofficial methods, and there are not enough Nokia users with unlocked bootloaders, the chances for an official LOS support are super thin.


text:
Vital signs of unfamiliar software are present in safe mode: TopBuzz in Galaxy Note8
In Device Maintenance system app on Samsung Galaxy Note8, there is a TopBuzz cache shown when caches are being cleaned. Also in the safe mode.
It reappears as a cleanup item every few minutes together with System cache item and they show 82 MB to clean up.

Since nothing like that is installed, I originally thought this is a sign of a malware, but after rebooting to the safe mode, the behavior continues and both items are re-appearing every few minutes in 82 MB size.
Is TopBuzz normal part of Note8 built-in software or is it possible that it somehow got into the phone later? How can I determine what is happening here?
Additional details:

The phone is not rooted.
Android 8.0.0.
5 anti-virus scanners did not find any issue with TopBuzz.
I reviewed the entire app list in the safe mode and found nothing like that.
Despite the name on the above screenshot, I did not find a public or hidden cache called TopBuzz using SD Maid app. Any other caches shown by SD Maid contain only few kilobytes after cleanup, 82 MB is nowhere to be found. But TopBuzz + System cache still show that 82 MB size in Device Maintenance app.

Update: Samsung support replied me that "TopBuzz is not a part of their device".

No idea, but here's the app on Playstore. If you're familiar with ADB, you could use that to check whether it's installed (like adb shell 'pm list packages'|grep ss.android).

Please, if someone else with Note8 sees this, kindly drop a note here.

Search for "buzz" in SD Maid's AppControl, make sure you have system apps included via settings. It will search both app names and packagenames. Could possibly be an instant app which shows almost no where...

Yeah, so I downloaded topBuzz when you are looking try to look for something like com.ss.android.article.master or anything starting with com.ss.android.article. The app has a very high amount of permission request at about 48.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and have the same problem as you with TopBuzz showing up in the storage clean but unable to find it anywhere in my phone.
I tried the SD Maid app but that did not help. However, I did try Clean Master which I have used in the past with my old phones becuse it does work better than the built in storage clean (but uninstall it when im done with it because im sure that it slows down the phone to make you use it from time to time) and that appears to have fixed the problem.
I ran Clean Master, then ran the system storage clean and did not see TopBuzz, ran Clean Master again for good measure and then uninstalled it. It has only been a few hours but I have ran the storage clean a couple times and have not seen TopBuzz at all. If you still have this problem try this out and let me know how it goes!

I am glad to accept this as an answer because it seems that it worked for me. Installed, cleaned (without anything reported), uninstalled and the Topbuzz seems to be gone. Thank you.

Samsung support has replied me that "TopBuzz is not a part of their device".
So this is most likely a sign of an utilized exploit where a malware can compromise even non-rooted device.

If you are keen on identifying the package name and app name for TopBuzz, can you give the output of adb shell cmd package list packages -f -i -U? Use a code paste service such as Pastebin to share the output. That TopBuzz is either a malware itself or is installed by a malware. See https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ei=VnhPXLOONZmv9QOi1KqwAQ&q=%22topbuzz%22+%22malware%22&oq=%22topbuzz%22+%22malware%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30.5520.7983..8379...0.0..0.151.1381.0j10......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i67j0.QMdcisYx1xw

@Firelord – thank you. I am new to Android. I must once sit down and put my hands on adb shell. Currently, I am acting only as "ordinary user". :)

Oh yeah. I'm sorry I missed that you are new to Android. Please take your time and get acquainted with adb, if you are keen on digging into this further. I cannot promise that I would be able to find the culprit but I can offer my assistance. :)

I'm almost a year late, but I've also recently noticed TopBuzz appearing on that Device Maintenance screen as well, starting a few days after I installed TikTok, about a month ago. Finally guessing at a connection between the two, I did a bit of Googling to discover that TopBuzz and TikTok are both products of the Chinese company, ByteDance (which seems very fond of MidWord-capitalization in their PortManteaus.) Thus, I'm guessing that TikTok downloads with a non-interactive TopBuzz client for producing in-app ads, creating an advert cache labeled TopBuzz.
If anyone can come up with a method for verifying this, I'll add my findings.


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Run windows 10 ARM on QEMU
I have downloaded the Windows 10 ARM on my Android phone, but it stops when I press any keys to boot from the CD or DVD.

Click the images for full-size
This is my start.sh file:
#!/bin/bash
sleep 2
echo "Starting ..."
qemu-system-aarch64 \
  -M virt \
  -cpu cortex-a57 \
  -smp 6 \
  -m 1G \
  -pflash QEMU_EFI.img \
  -pflash QEMU_VARS.img \
  -device VGA \
  -device nec-usb-xhci \
  -device usb-kbd \
  -device usb-mouse \
  -device usb-storage,drive=install \
  -drive if=none,id=install,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=arm.ISO \
  -device usb-storage,drive=drivers \
  -drive if=none,id=drivers,readonly=on,file=drivers.vhdx \
  -device virtio-blk,drive=system \
  -drive if=none,id=system,format=raw,file=Hard.qcow2 \
  -vnc 127.0.0.1:2

And there it stops working. What can I do to make it go off successfully?

I think you must compile qemu-system=aarch64 by yourself, but go into the /arm folder of the source code. You have to go in the file virt.c and modify line has_el3=false to has_el3=true.
Microsoft Windows wants a trust zone, so we emulate it. It will compile, though it will have no GUI, and you have to start this from the command line back on Android, and then vnc into it.
The OS seems still experimental though.


text:
Is it possible to control refresh rate/frequency of Android phones camera
I recorded a video of my TV screen using my android phone's camera but I was unable to stop the flickering TV screen. I tried different modes and effects in the camera app.
On searching for the reason I found in this Superuser post that the reason for this is difference in refresh frequencies of the TV screen and the camera.
So is their any way by which I may adjust the frequency of my phone's camera?


text:
Use multiple Google accounts, but allow only one to locate my phone in device manager
My question is basically identical to this question from 2016 (I would have commented on it but I don't have sufficient reputation):
How to use multiple google accounts, but allow only one to locate my phone in device manager
I would like to know if there is a way to have two Google accounts added to my phone (one personal and one work account), while only allowing one account the ability to Find My Device and perform a remote wipe.
Has anything regarding this changed since 2016?

Are you aware of Android Enterprise Mobile Management? You might want to edit your question to provide more context.

I am aware, but I do not want to use EMM, nor should the assumption be that an additional account necessarily means a managed enterprise account. I simply want to be able to use Google account A as my primary account with all the bells and whistles, and also use Google account B for Gmail and Calendar and Drive only - i.e. account B should not be linked to any other account "features", such as Find My Device, Remote Wipe, etc.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. Please read How to Ask. Unless the author of a post writes it down, no one knows what the author has looked at or tried. For example have you looked at adding Google account B as a secondary user which won't have access to Find My Device, at the cost of having to switch users which may be unacceptable. Also you haven't stated any limitations on device (manufacturer, OS version etc.).

I have been wanting something like this for a while, not being able to add the secondary account because of this is a real pain.

Have you found a solution to this in the meantime by chance?

Wow, can't believe it's been 5 years. Unfortunately, I have not. It's not as comfortable as actually adding an account on Android, and definitely not what I originally asked about, but I have found workarounds for Gmail and Calendar. For Gmail, add the secondary account as an IMAP email account. If you're somehow limited by SSO/OTP, look into Google "app passwords" for basic user:pass auth. For Calendar, the DAVx5 app can operate as a middleman for syncing calendars (caldav) and possibly contacts from Google (cloud) to Android.


text:
Automatically run Greenify from Macrodroid
As a way to save battery drain, I set up a macro with MacroDroid that does the following:

Trigger: every 2 hours
Action: kill background process, launch Greenify
Constraint: when battery is below 50%

I would like to not only launch Greenify, but also run it and then close automatically. I suppose it is possible to do this within a script, but I absolutely have no idea about this.
Another question is: if I kill background processes, is Greenify redundant?
Relevant information:

Android version: 8.0
Phone model: SONY Xperia XZ2 (default launcher)
Macrodroid version: 3.30.3
Greenify version: 4.3.3.0

Thank you.


text:
Log with timing of system events (e,g, Flight Mode on/off)
I would like to find out at what time my phone (running Android 8.0.0) was last switched into/out of Flight (Airplane) Mode. Ideally, this would be part of a longer log with the timestamps of the last N FlightMode events, alongside other system-related events.
I didn't find any quick solutions by searching this site and others. Is there an easy way to find out this information?

You can use adb for this. Run this command:
adb shell dumpsys activity broadcasts

The output would be overwhelming, but you need to look for the string android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE there. You can use grep or save the output into a file and then do the search.
Look for that string under Historical Broadcast Background. You would find the timestamp you're looking for. It could look like this:

Historical Broadcast background #345:
    BroadcastRecord{48eb128 u-1 android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE} to user -1
    Intent { act=android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE flg=0x10 (has extras) }
      extras: Bundle[{state=true}]
    caller=android 1298:system/1000 pid=1298 uid=1000
    enqueueClockTime=2019-01-10 00:00:01 dispatchClockTime=2019-01-10 00:00:01

You can also look under Historical Broadcasts summary (background).

#15: act=android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE flg=0x10 (has extras)
    0 dispatch +1ms finish
    enq=2019-01-10 00:19:14 disp=2019-01-10 00:19:14 fin=2019-01-10 00:19:14
    extras: Bundle[{state=false}]

state=true means Airplane mode was activated. state=false means it was deactivated.
All of this may seem like a trouble, so I suggest you use an automation app to listen to the intent for Airplane mode and take an action for you for convenience.
Both Tasker and MacroDroid should be able to help with this. In MacroDroid,
Trigger: Intent Received First:

Action: android.intent.action.AIRPLANE_MODE

Intent Extra:

Extra name: state
Extra value to match: true

Actions: do what you want with that
Constraints: none
Save this. Now clone this, configure the trigger and change the value for state to false. So you would have triggers for both states of Airplane mode.

Super answer, thank you! This would be the only way to do it I guess, i.e. there's no "app for it"? :)

I would have saved myself the trouble if I knew such an app. :D


text:
How to remove a persistent malware?
My Samsung Note 8 has gotten very weird lately. I get programs I never have installed, and when I try to reboot/reset my device with no backup they still come up after I'm finished with the reboot.
I also have in my "SIM" 2 cards, but I only have 1? And I can't access number. It also shows 2 different IMEIs.
The programs with weird names have all the permissions in my device. Some of them I can't delete, and some can't force stop, and they start running after some time.
Facebook was already installed when I did a reboot and the programs started coming in. I have a secure file on my phone. But this program has permission to everything.
How do I get rid of this problem? Do I root my phone? Can some of you guys please help me with this? This is making me a little paranoid.
Some of the programs:

Dagger
Customrabsclient
flexbox
istrumentzip
OpenCenus
rxandroid2
agera
customclient

I have used many anti-viruses like McAfee, Bitdefender, etc. I have factory reset my computer 2 times, but nothing changes. I have now downloaded AFWall+ to try to stop all these files, but I want to delete them all.
And when I check root manager it says that my phone is not rooted in the proper way. I never ever have rooted this phone.

Backup your useful data on an secure laptop or cloud and than factory reset your mobile device. Rooting is not an option to solve the virus thing. Rooting your device will make it less secure and more vulnerable to those kinda malware.

I have already backup'd everything i need. And factory resett my phone 2 times, but it seems like i have a spyware or malware that gets root accsess.  When i check with root checker basic it says " Sorry root access is not proberly innstalled on this device"   and i found here on the forum to use AFWall + and there i can see all the proccesor and diffrent apps and what they are doing, i have blocked them all now, but i want to get rid of everything.

@parthu_panther was suposed to be edited

I case factory reset does not help the only way left is to install a new factory image e.g. via Odin software. https://www.thecustomdroid.com/download-install-galaxy-note-8-stock-firmware/

If bloatware (pre-installed system apps) is your concern, then I wouldn't recommended rooting just for that purpose. If your Note 8 is out of warranty, then rooting wouldn't be a problem. But still, if only uninstalling the pre-installed system apps is all you want, then you can use ADB to get rid of them, once and for all.
A few months ago I published a guide on my blog to do the same for the S10 series. Although, the method is generic and will work on an Android device. I have owned the Note 8 and moved to the S10e this year. Can confirm that it works flawlessly on the Note 8 too.
Here is the link: https://www.thecustomdroid.com/uninstall-samsung-galaxy-s10-bloatware-guide/
In case the above link goes down, here are the exact steps you'd need to perform:

First of all, download and install Android SDK platform-tools (This
includes adb.exe, which you will need) on your PC.
Make sure USB debugging is enabled on your device.
Connect it to the PC using the USB cable.
Launch a command prompt window inside the same folder
where the SDK platform-tools are installed.
Initiate the ADB shell using the following command:adb shell
Now, find the packages of the app that you want to uninstall using: pm list packages -f microsoft
Here "mircrosoft" is the keyword. You can replace it with the name
of the app, you want to uninstall and it will enlist all the related package names to the app.
Then use the following command to uninstall all those packages: pm uninstall -k --user 0 app-package-name
Make sure that you replace "app-package-name" with the exact name of the app package that you want to uninstall.
Repeat the previous command for every package that you want to uninstall.

Voila! All the undesired pre-installed system apps will be gone.


text:
Whatsapp Admin Messages
Is it possible to delete the messages that come up in group admin with a blue background showing admin activity?  e.g: date, admin added phone no/name, or someone left.  When you tap and hold these messages you just get 'Message ...'
    'Voice call ...'
    'Video call ...'
I have streams of these messages on my phone from various groups and would like to get rid of them.  I have asked google several times and this site seems my best bet.

its not possible to delete notification messages

You can't delete them individually, but deleting the whole chat is a solution.


text:
How can I shoot a 60fps video?
I have xiaomi redmi 5 plus/Note 5 that have the option to record 1080p60fps but actually the result would be 30fps .. So i have rooted and enabled camera2 api .. But I still have the same result even with google camera .. So I want to record with at least 720p60fps .. Any help ??

Try using magisk manager to get HEVC 60fps encoding module

Can you give me a name for a module ?

Disclaimer: Haven't tried out this proceedure since my device is not current supported.
Requirements:

Magisk (or TWRP)
MIUIcamerav2_whyred (magisk module)

Since you have a rooted device I'm assuming you have magisk installed already, if not then install it, as it will make the work easier.

Basically you need to download the module MIUI Camerav2 port (from Mi A2 series) and flash it in recovery/via magisk manager.

Notes: For  MIUI based ROM, the packages are a simpler version
  because there is no need to install another camera, stock one is
  already MIUI Camera v2. The mod just enables more functions in the
  stock app (you can see from the function list what is enabled and
  what is stock). Depending on the MIUI version there are more function
  like
  60fps available.

If camera don't start check permission, try to clear app data (it will reset permission too).
If still not working wipe cache and dalwik from TWRP.

Working on Oreo and Pie

It looks like my phone isn't supported :(

"This module is for whyred only, sorry"

Is there any other solution or module for vince ?


text:
Android phone fails to communicate using IPv6
I observe the following problem with my Android phone (Sony Xperia XZ, Andoid Oreo 8.0.0)
Though the phone seems to have a correct set of IPV6 addresses it fails to communicate when I use IPV6. the phone works OK using IPV4.
Details
I have about 5 Personal Computers in a LAN which can PING each other via their IPV6 adresses, and communicate via IPV4 and IPV6. I added my Android phone to the same LAN via WIFI/WLAN, at it can communicate via IPV4, but not IPV6.
I have checked the IP setings of the phone, it gets a complete and correct set of IPV4 and IPV6 adresses from the local DHCP server.
To start troubleshooting somewhere, I installed a PING tool on the phone, and found that it can PING any other computer via IPV4, but not via IPV6.
On one of my PCs, I installed Wireshark to see what is happening, and this is what I found, if I PING the IPV6 address of the phone from the PC:
On the pc, I initiate a PING test:
ping [ipv6 address of phone] -6 -n 1

and this is what Wireshark revealed on ethernet level (with my comments):

mobile mac address discovery via multicast

[pc mac] to [33:33:ff:4d:50]: Neighbor Solicitation for [mobiile IPV6] from [pc mac]
[mobile mac] to [pc mac]: Neighbor Advertisement [mobile ipv6]: [mobile mac]

mobile phone mac address resolution success - try to ping

[pc mac] to [mobile mac]: Echo (ping) request

response from phone: try to get PC mac address!" Has heard the PING request!

[mobile mac] to [33:33:ff:f4:fd:12]: Neighbor Solicitation for [pc IPV6] from [mobile mac]

pc responds correctly

[pc mac] to [mobile mac]: Neighbor Advertisement [pc ipv6]: [pc mac]

phone tries same again - has not "heard" the response !?

[mobile mac] to [33:33:ff:f4:fd:12]: Neighbor Solicitation for [pc IPV6] from [mobile mac]

pc again responds correctly

[pc mac] to [mobile mac]: Neighbor Advertisement [pc ipv6]: [pc mac]

3rd retry!

[mobile mac] to [33:33:ff:f4:fd:12]: Neighbor Solicitation for [pc IPV6] from [mobile mac]

pc patiently responds correctly once more

[pc mac] to [mobile mac]: Neighbor Advertisement [pc ipv6]: [pc mac]

This is where the PC gives up and shows a failed PIING error message.
From what I see on the Wireshark trace, the phone fails to pick up the mac address resolution responses, and thus never knows about the Ethernet address of the PC, cannot send a response and and this is why the PING request fails.
Trying the other direction, when I PING from the phone to the PC running Wireshark, not a single packet is captured, seems like the phone doesn't even try.
To me ist seems like the IPV6 stack on the phone is dead, despite that DHCP has worked.
Anyone who has deeper insight into the implementation details of IPv6 on Android who can give me any info how to resolve this?
Thnx, Armin

I don't have knowledge about networking and IPv6 in general, but Android doesn't support DHCPv6 until now, if it's relevant.

I reckon that there is a firewall on your phone preventing the phone from receiving the response message of mac resolution from pc, and probably the firewall levels are different between ipv4 protocol and ipv6 protocol, on ipv6, this level is relative high and block all the ICMP echo request.
The answer above is my assumption, if you totally find a solution. Hope you let me know how to fix it and I have been troubled by this for a period of time until now.

I would, promised, but haven't found a solution. Instead, I have optimized the LAN for IPV4, not what I intended, but it works for me. Btw, I have not installed firewall software on the phone, but a security suite "AVG protection" came bundled with it by Sony. Need to look deeper into that package to see whether a firewall component is included.


text:
Screenshot as PNG instead of JPEG?
Is there a way to teach a Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Android 9 (Pie) to generate screenshots as PNG files instead of JPEG files? I was looking for such a configuration option (in Settings) but came up empty-handed.
My device isn't rooted and I'd like to avoid rooting, if possible.
NB: My question is somewhat related to this one, but I am indeed looking for a way to revert to PNG as a lossless default format, so I'd hold this is not a duplicate. I also scoured questions on the screenshots tag, but nothing useful there either.

Default file extension on my moto x4(pie) is PNG and on xiaomi Redmi 3s is JPG.  PNG file size on moto x4 (1080p resolution) is 119 KB and that of JPG in redmi 3s (720p) is 179 KB. I think its device specific, and png is lighter than jpg, may be that's the reason.

Unfortunately I also don't know a way how to configure the format used by the system screenshot function that can be triggered via Volume-Down + Power.
However if you can trigger your screenshots via adb and the screencap command let you choose which image format is used. You can select if by the file extension:
screencap /sdcard/screenshot1.png

If you don't use a .png file extension you seem to get the raw pixel data with a small header in front containing width, height, pixel-format and the color-space (SRGB, DISPLAY_P3 or UNKNOWN).

Not really. screencap /sdcard/screenshot1.jpg captures a (unknown?) data file in Android 10.


text:
Disable specific apps access to stock browser?
With a productivity lock in place with an access code that is set by someone else, the phone user cannot directly open the "stock browser" unless Android asks:

Sign into public wifi network

if I happen to connect to such a network that requires signing in. That is as intended, At the same time I am trying to disable the user access to the "stock browser" from any other app such as Slack.
To be clear: Slack has a button that disables opening links with the "stock browser", but that does not prevent the user access to the "stock browser" as the user can go to settings>advanced settings>flip that button that prevents access.
Therefore I have the following question:
How can one prevent certain apps from opening the "stock browser" in  LineageOS 14.1?
Currently my options consist of:

Modifying all apps to such an extend that that function is not possible to re-enable once it has been disabled.
Finding a setting that allows only specific apps to open the stock browser.
Finding an app that enforces such control settings.

Neither of the 3 approaches have yet led to successful blocking of "stock browser"-access.


text:
Hotspot Internet Problem
I am giving hotspot to laptop via android mobile but in laptop it is showing there is no any internet connection when I connect via laptop wifi. In my android phone I am using internet with 4g speed.

Did you follow these steps? Have you set a password for your hotspot?
Please click on this link Share a mobile connection by tethering or hotspot on Android

Tether by Wi-Fi hotspot You can share your phone’s mobile data with up
  to 10 other devices via a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Step 1: Turn on your phone's hotspot Open your phone's Settings app.
  Tap Network & Internet and then Hotspot & tethering. Tap Wi-Fi
  hotspot. Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot. To see or change a hotspot setting,
  such as the name or password, tap it. If needed, first tap Set up
  Wi-Fi hotspot. Tip: If you don't want your hotspot to require a
  password, pick None under 'Security'.
Step 2: Connect another device to your phone's hotspot On the other
  device, open that device's list of Wi-Fi options. Pick your phone's
  hotspot name. Enter your phone's hotspot password. Click Connect.

Issue not solved.

@PAWANJAIN Check that your telephone operator allows the possibility of tethering or hotspot. Sometimes this possibility is not available or is not included in the telephone tariff.


text:
What's this "drawer" in the task switcher and how to configure it?
I just upgraded my Samsung Galaxy S9+ to Android 9 and was wondering about this new UI element that shows up when opening the task switcher (the ||| button).
In the below screenshot you can see the task switcher and five icons which are similar to the app drawer that lives on the bottom of the home screen (highlighted by the red frame). However, this selection of apps is not the same as in my actual app drawer. Also, I don't really use ES Explorer that often such that the frequency of the app usage would seem relevant here for its appearance (all other apps appear to be system apps). For example I have not even opened it once since the system upgrade.

What is this new UI element called? (relevant for web searches)
How can I configure the apps appearing in this UI element?

Where's something new in that screenshot? Isn't that element already available for ages? AFAIR it was there at least since Android 5. As for configuration: Looks like you already used drag'n'drop for that; apart from that, I don't know how to configure it (and what to configure). The exact name? No idea, It's often called the "dock" – but if that's the official name?

@Izzy I never noticed it before, which may also be the case because before the running apps were vertically stacked, now they are side by side. I just tried drag&drop and I was unable to change anything using that method. Also, today that "dock" looks different than yesterday. All system apps are gone, but one on the list is yet again one that hasn't been opened in the foreground since the upgrade. However, it does seem to be related to frequency of use. Perhaps one of those modern adaptive features ...

Uh, wait: are we talking about the same thing? I referred to what was marked by a red border – and thought that was on the home screen. Now I guess you rather referred to the "Last Recently Used" screen, and that "dock" is only visible there? If that's the case, I retract what I wrote before.

@Izzy yep, that's what I am talking about as well. I still haven't figured out why its content changes. It's not the same list as the open apps (shown above with a "screenshot" of their last state), but it may be something like a recently used or recently closed app. I'll get there eventually, and if I do before others, I'll simply answer my question.

That section is showing predicted apps. This feature was introduced in Android 9, along with their changes to the recent apps screen. I'm not sure if there's a common name for that UI element, but I found relevant info when searching for "predicted app drawer" and "app suggestions".
AFAIK, you can't customize this - the apps that appear are predicted by the system based on your usage, so over time it will learn and (hopefully!) get better at showing you apps that you're likely to want to use soon.
I don't have access to a Samsung phone to test with, but you can turn it completely off in stock Android 9. You can see screenshots here.

Long-press on the home screen
Tapping "Home Settings", then "Suggestions"
Toggle "Apps" off


text:
Desyncing android phone from google
We set up our daughters new phone using my husband google account. He turned off the sync for contacts on just her phone because she doesn’t need all his contacts. Several days later most of his contacts were deleted and ones that he had deleted off his phone were now back on his phone. How can he keep his contacts on his phone and not on our daughter phone

The easiest way to do this is open a new account for your daughter.
If you want your daughter to have access to apps puchased by your husband, have a read on how to share the apps with family here:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/search?hl=en&q=Family&from_promoted_search=true


text:
Microphone not working when connected to Bluetooth FM transmitter

When connected to my FM transmitter, I am able to hear audio from calls but they can hardly hear me.

Similarly, if I want to use Google Assistant, I have to shout. I believe the issue is that a microphone on the transmitter is being used as opposed to the microphone on my phone, and this microphone is bad. However, this has always been an issue, even when the device was new 3 years ago.
I can't seem to find info on the exact model of transmitter that I have, but this was the title on Amazon: Car FM Transmitter W 2.4A USB Charger, Nulaxy™ 2015 Newest Wireless Bluetooth FM Transmitter Car Kit for All Smartphones, Tablets, MP3 Players
Sold by: DinoSonics
It seems like there should be a setting for choosing which microphone to use when connected to a Bluetooth device, but this doesn't appear to be an option. For reference, I am currently using a Pixel 3, however the same issue was present with a Pixel 2, Droid Turbo 2, and Galaxy S5, obviously on many versions of Android. If this is the wrong board to ask this question or if any more information is needed, let me know.

Possible duplicate of https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/171637/disable-external-microphone (no answer).


text:
Adding notes/tasks not working in Google Assistant
When I say "note to self" or "add a note" (or "note to self buy milk"), Google should be directing that command to one of the apps that accept note commands, including Todoist, Any.do, Keep, Gmail, etc.
However, on my primary personal account, commands never get directed anywhere except to what looks like some minimal built-in note service, and there's no way to change the default app.
Here is a video of the expected behavior (using Google Assistant with a different account than my main personal account). Note that just "note to self" results in a response that displays an app icon that you can click on to change the default note app, as described elsewhere on the web.
The expected behavior is also what other people I've asked experience on their phones / on their own accounts, and is corroborated with discussions elsewhere on the web.
Here is a video of the problematic behavior, when using Google Assistant on my main personal account.
I've already tried a number of things, including:

Deleting all local data associated with the Google app and re-setting
up Google Assistant.
Resetting my default apps in the phone settings.
Removing and re-adding my Google account to my phone entirely.

I suspect that this may have something to do with Google Home, since that minimal notes service seems to be associated with Google Home when I search the web for info on it.  It's not even listed as an available app in that first video.
Any ideas how to fix this? Thanks tremendously in advance!
(I'm also aware that—for Todoist at least—you can drop into a "talk to Todoist" mode (app listing page) in Google Assistant, which is not what I'm asking about here—I just want to be able to fire off reminders in a single command, and also to apps other than Todoist.)


text:
Why does Android OS need custom ROMs for OS upgrades?
I have a discontinued LG L5 E455 Android phone that came with Android 4.1.2 OS.
I am forced to upgrade the OS because most of the apps I need to install are not compatible with this version of OS, according to Google Play.
I tried to upgrade the OS through the update option in the Android interface, it did some magic but the Android version is still the same.
I could not find any LineageOS ROM that was created for this phone.

Is it only possible to upgrade the Android OS by a custom ROM? If so, why?
Is it possible to install the official Google versions?
Why does it not work like in Linux distributions that can be installed on almost any PC?

Related: Can I install a ROM made for a different device? // Why is it that Android still can't be installed as regular OS?

Your phone is from 2013 - quite old to be expecting software updates. Hence it's quite unlikely that you would get a major Android version update from LG (maybe security updates if you're lucky). Custom ROMs are maintained by their respective devs giving a bit of extra life for your device.
As for the third question, the answer here is very compehensive - Bootloader/BIOS, flashing ROM and correlated risks. Why Android devices are more brickable than PCs?


text:
Lost play store
I was trying to fix the 491 issue and apparently followed badadvice uninstalled and the entire Play Store app disappeared from my phone I can't seem to get it reinstalled help please

How was the Play Store deleted? Is your phone rooted? Are you certain it was deleted and not disable?

You can download it from one of the APK hosters, like ApkPure: https://apkpure.com/de/google-play-store/com.android.vending

You may have disabled it. Please make sure you don't find Google Play Store in Settings>Apps and get back to us!


text:
Is there a way to backup "drivers" the same way we do on PCs?
I have a dual-booting Windows 10 tablet that has an Android side. I want to wipe it clean including the Windows side and fresh install PhoenixOS on it. I poked around PhoenixOS but the touch screen, accelerometer, WiFi, Bluetooth, and audio doesn't work on that device with it installed.
I was wondering if there's a way to backup drivers from the original Android installed so I can add it to PhoenixOS and make those features work again? I'm not that familiar with Android terms so all I know is how it's done on the PC.

Unlike PC's, OS's for tablets/phones are not universal. Usually they are distributed as a complete package for a certain device, called ROM which includes proprietary binary blobs (equivalent to PC's drivers) only for that particular device. You'll be able to flash PhoenixOS if the custom ROM is available for your device. Backing up drivers and restoring in another OS (ROM) is called porting in Android world, which isn't simple to achieve.

@IrfanLatif, thank you for the informative comment! Is the case going to be simpler if I'm transferring those binary blobs from an equivalent version Android? For example, my tablet came with Android 5.1 and similarly, PhoenixOS also has a version for Android 5.1

Yes but drivers isn't the only part that isn't universal. You also need a device specific kernel, device tree and accordingly created partition table.

I assume the kernel can't be copied from the original Android rom the PhoenixOS huh...

You can go through this, focus on "Prepare the device-specific code" and "Extract proprietary blobs" to get a basic idea how ROMs are built. See this for differences in OS's of PC and Android devices.


text:
How to access an encrypted external SD card with all apps?
I have encrypted both the device and the external SD card of a previously unencrypted Samsung phone running Android 6.0.1.
After encrypting the SD card, apparently some apps can not access the files on the SD card unencrypted.
Specifically, image viewers, media players, some stock document viewers and MTP transfer work, i.e. they can acces the files decrypted. Howevery, a text editor, K9 mail, the Signal messenger, Open Keychain and some cloud sync apps can only acces the encrypted file content. This means I can not send the original, unencrypted file via email or messenger, and I can not edit local text files.
Expected behaviour would be that Android transparently decrypts and encrypts local file contents when an applications wants to read and write these.

Is that a known problem? Maybe specific to Samsung?
Do apps have to implement some special logic or functions to gain acces the unencrypted file contents via Android, i.e. is that a bug that the respective developers can fix?
And is there a way I can provide the unencrypted file contents to any app?


text:
Paid app on computer (via google play store) but installed on phone as 'unknown sources' (not via the play store)
I just paid for 2 apps on my computer logging into the play store.
But I installed them on my phone as .APKs so how to have the free versions turn into paid?

you're telling that you have purchased two apps from play store. Then why don't you install it officially from play store?

Answering this myself.
I downloaded the respective PRO versions. I guess these versions have access to the "play store receipts" and so both apps booted the Pro versions properly.

Perfect, good to hear ! Don't forget to remove the old unused .APK apps to avoid conflicts ;)


text:
Sharing crashes in all apps
The sharing function in all apps crash on my phone. No matter what app I use, as long as I click on the share button, the app crashes and restarts before showing the list of apps I can share with.
My phone is a Huawei Honor 9 and the OS version is 8.0. I am an Android developer so I tried to get the exception from Android Studio:
E/AndroidRuntime: FATAL EXCEPTION: ModernAsyncTask #1
Process: com.google.android.apps.photos, PID: 19271
java.lang.RuntimeException: An error occurred while executing doInBackground()
    at pu.done(PG:5)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.finishCompletion(FutureTask.java:383)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.setException(FutureTask.java:252)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:271)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1162)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:636)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:784)
 Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to read from field 'android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo android.content.pm.ComponentInfo.applicationInfo' on a null object reference
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1960)
    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1900)
    at android.content.pm.IPackageManager$Stub$Proxy.queryIntentActivities(IPackageManager.java:3621)
    at android.app.ApplicationPackageManager.queryIntentActivitiesAsUser(ApplicationPackageManager.java:937)
    at android.app.ApplicationPackageManager.queryIntentActivities(ApplicationPackageManager.java:926)
    at aham.d(PG:7)
    at pi.d(PG:3)
    at pi.b(PG:19)
    at px.call(PG:5)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1162)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:636)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:784)

It seems that this NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to read from field 'android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo android.content.pm.ComponentInfo.applicationInfo' on a null object reference

is the cause to this problem.
I believe it's not the app's problem (in this case Google Photos) because it occurs in every app. So is it a system problem or is it caused by some other app I have installed? How can I find and uninstall that app if it's the latter case?

I'm experiencing the same in my Pixel 3, did you find how to solve it?

I backed up all my data, reinstalled the system, and restored the data. After that the problem is gone.


text:
What kind of applications use internet on the background?
Viewed the list of applications that use Wi-FI and came across what is shown on the image below.

What it is? Virus? Instead of Google I use F-Droid. Root is there, but only Total Commander and Titanium Backup are available.
Phone - Samsung Galaxy J1 Mini.
Rooted, twrp.
In applications "10005" does not exist.
Titanium Backup was deleted 2 month ago.
After installing Dr.Web 10005 disappeared. But from 15.11.2018 to 12.12.2018  "10074" exist.

Every Android app (including system apps) is a *NIX user and is assigned a unique UID within range 10000-19999 at the time of installation or during first boot (for pre-installed apps). That's how Android enforces Discretionary Access Control on apps.
The number you showed looks like UID of some app which has been removed now. You can check UIDs of installed apps from file /data/system/packages.list. UIDs near to 10000 are usually system apps or builtin Google/OEM/vendor apps.
If you have root, you can track/control apps' internet access based on their UIDs using Linux kernel's built-in firewall netfilter, which is controlled by userspace tool iptables. AFWall+ makes use of the same.


text:
How can I get Ethernet adapter and still be able to charge my tablet
I found this adapter to add Ethernet to my android phone, but looks like doesnt power the device. Is there a way to have Ethernet connection and still be able to charge the device at the same time?

Also found this one but said power is for the USB devices and wont charge the tablet.

halo @Juan, did you happen to find the solution?

I didnt found a solution, So had to settle with wifi

Yes, but I have not found a single device solution that solves the problem. Utilizing multiple devices can solve the problem.
According to PoE Texas, you can combine the use of a USB to RJ45, Powered USB OTG Hub, PoE Splitter Micro-USB and RJ45. Finding a 10 Watt OTG Hub would be good for continuous use of a charging device.


text:
How to print files using the Android's Default Print Service?
I'm on Android Oreo which is version 8. This has introduced a way to no longer need any services outside of the Android OS and instead use its "Default Printing Service" for printing with an Android phone. These outside services include Google's Cloud Print, HP, Canon, Xerox, & several others. Besides those services, you may stick with the built-in one provided by Android itself and it's called "Default Print Service by Android", and in order to begin using it, you'll first have to enable it if not done so already. To do this, go to Settings -> Advanced -> Printing -> Select it, then enable. Now, what it'll do is search for the printers in your network and you know this by what WiFi you're on using your phone.
The problem is, after the list refreshes, you can't go any further. It just let you know: these are the printers in your network and nothing more. I see the printer I'm going to use to print to, but unable to do anything more than to identify that it's in my network by displaying an IP underneath it. So, I did online research with those responsible and that didn't help because there's no instructions as to how to print. So then, I'm left with a recognized printer not being able to have the option to print or at least show me how to get to the option to print.
My question is how do you print from Android using the Default Print Service besides just using it as a tool to view printers in your network?
PROBLEM

Android's "Default Print Service" only shows printers but is unable to choose a printer for printing

An example of me printing is viewing a PDF document and for Android, you have to either find the following options when viewing a file via cogwheel/3-button icon:

Share...
Send To...
Open With...

At this point I don't see "Default Print Service" as a selection and this is the problem

SOLUTION

None-so-far

NOTE

Finding "Default Print Service" in Android may vary with different phones

Location: Settings -> Advanced -> Printing

Files can be images to anything with text like a PDF or even a txt file

Thanks for writing down this question and background.  I am stuck at the same place.  Based on this forum, my best guess is that the default print service only enables apps to print, but most apps just don't interface with it yet.  Other apps I have used (like RepliGo PDF reader) seem to only work with Google Cloud Print.

What are you trying to print and which app are you trying to print from? At present it is not clear what you are trying to do.

In apps that support this type of printing, e.g. Simple Gallery Pro | F-Droid you can simply choose print from the menu and you are taken to a print preview that interfaces with the Default Print Service. Here you can choose which of your printers to use and adjust paper size etc and finally send the job off to print.

how do [I] print from Android using the Default Print Service besides just using it as a tool to view printers in your network?

Short answer:
You can't without an application that has print capabilities, because you can't connect directly to the service to do anything aside from configuration.
Longer answer:
You are confusing a system service with a user application.
Basic rule:

A service provides the ability to do something like Bluetooth, internet, WiFi, phone calls, etc.

An application provides the way for a user to use a particular service.

For example:

The network service provides apps the ability to connect to the internet.
A web browser is an application that uses the network service to get a connection to the internet.

To print something, you need two things:

A configured service that is attached to your printer, (which you already appear to have).
An application that can use the service to print something.  For example: Libre Office, Photos, a text editor, etc. that has the ability to print.


text:
How can I access Internal Storage + SD Card as a drive on Windows?
On an unrooted Samsung phone, how can I access and modify the files on both /sdcard/ (internal storage) and the actual SD card, from my computer, as real folders and files (not PTP/MTP/etc which don't allow you to do anything)?   I don't care if it's over a physical cable or wireless, etc.
I need to be able to delete files, move them from one folder to another, including from internal storage to sd card and vice versa, view their properties, measure disk usage, compare files, etc.  All the things I can do from a normal folder on my hard drive.
I've tried FTP server, SFTP server, etc. and nothing has ever worked.
The best solution I have so far is to take the SD card out of the phone, plug it into a card reader, and plug it into my computer, then run Servers Ultimate on the phone to share the internal storage over FTP, and mount that on my computer using NetDrive2.

Possible duplicate of this (with an great 3 method writeup): https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/91900/is-there-a-viable-alternative-to-mtp-for-file-transfer

@trishmapow That's a good answer.  I have no problem with wireless solutions, though, unlike that question.  My highest priority is the ability to access the files as if they're on a local drive, so I can move them around, back them up, do duplicate file checking using software that only works on local files, etc.

You can use Samba server to achieve that, and for that purpose I'd recommend LAN Drive and it works without root and it supports  SMB1 (CIFS) and SMB2 protocols.
In this way, the device acts as a network drive where you can manipulate files/folders (copy/paste/move/delete etc) as if there were on local drive. However a little well known obstacle is that Windows can access a samba share only on TCP port 445, and on a non-rooted android a normal application can't listen on port 445.
As mentioned already in this post: Using SMB server without root access,

SMB either runs on ports 137-139 (UDP and TCP) using NetBIOS or on
newer systems (from Windows Vista onwards) directly on TCP port 445
where in the latter case computer names are resolved by the LLMNR
(Link-local Multicast Name Resolution) protocol which runs on UDP
port
> 5355

.
Thus apps not running as root can't bind to unprivileged ports (<1024). This is possible, nevertheless using TCP Port mapping. You need to install a port mapping software.
Instructions

Install the port forwarder - Multi Port Forwarder (the suggested one in App's tutorial)
Configure the port forwarder:

The rules we will implement :

Rewrite outgoing TCP packets to ip-phone:445 become ip-phone:1445

Cloning outgoing UDP packets to any:137 become any:1137

Cloning outgoing UDP packets to any:138 become any:1138 Note: We clone the UDP

packets to not break the actual network discovery.

Add TCP, UDP rules and save

Change the ports in the LAN drive settings, click the Save button and Start the server:

Go back to Explorer in the network places (Windows), and access LAN drive

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with LAN Drive software
Acknowledgements
LAN drive - Samba Filesharing Server SMB1 and SMB2

Servers like SMB/CIFS running without root can only share (read/write) the internal sdcard section. The external/removable sdcard is read-only on devices Android 6+.


text:
Xperia L not booting to TWRP
I installed TWRP in my rooted Sony Xperia L using the TWRP Official App. The app said that the flashing was successful. Then, when I give adb reboot recovery command, it boots into the stock recovery. Even when I try to reboot into recovery from the TWRP Official App, it boots into the stock recovery.
There is no TWRP whatsoever. Even when I try to boot with the hardware keys and/or fastboot, it either shows a blank screen with the blue notification LED ON or boots into the stock recovery. Please tell me what to do...

The Xperia L is one of the weird ones that utilizes the Fota partition. The stock recovery has an in boot arrangement. you using the stock kernel or boot image? If yes then does your stock boot image include ramdisk extraction utility? You might need some extra steps to get TWRP installed. What detailed steps did you attempt when trying to install TWRP?

@BoLawson I tried installing TWRP with the TWRP app as well as with fastboot . Also, I'm pretty noob to this FOTAOKerne thing. And yes, I'm using the stock boot image. What is ramdisk extraction utility ...?l

It is way to extract the ramdisk from the FOTA Kernel partition using the ramdisk from that partition. This allows you to have TWRP boot from the FOTA Kernel partition instead of the recovery that is included in the boot image. Pretty much you need either a custom kernel with TWRP inside, custom boot image, or stock kernel and boot image that can utilize the Fota Kernel partition for TWRP. The Fota partition was ment for OTA's but since custom firmware and it a do not mix. TWRP along with Free Xperia developers decided to utilize no longer device useful partition to have TWRP reside in.

What android version? What version of TWRP are you trying to install? What fastboot command did you use specifically where did you try to flash TWRP with fastboot? You might have to flash a custom rom first in order to support the fota kernel way. It is rare but some stock kernels might support the Fota way. Options: flash a custom kernel which has TWRP inside, install cm/lineageos then use the app to install TWRP, use Other boot images including stock kernels can be repacked to include this extraction utility to allow you to use TWRP from the FOTAKernel partition possibly a tool

Android Version: Jelly Bean. I tried installing using fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img. Also, I was trying to install Lineage OS [7.1.1] from TWRP. I just wanna install Lineage OS. That's my ultimate aim. If I can actually do that without Installing TWRP,  I just want that to happen. So, is there any way to do that..? I don't know how to install Lineage OS without TWRP.

That fastboot command did not work because there is no recovery partition. Recovery is the boot this is why twrp takes advantage of the un-used fotakernel partition. The CWM that came might flash 7.1.x but most likely you will need an updated version of TWRP in order to flash that firmware (CWM has been out of development for a long time). You should be able to flash an older lineage/cm through the stock CWM that takes that can access the fotakernel partition. Flash through install zip from SD Card option. Then you can use/or flash an updated TWRP. After that you can flash the 7.1.x lineage.

I'm sorry, but you're talking to a noob. Please explain a bit more...

No problem, right now the readon you are having trouble accessing TWRP is because the kernel (the kernel is like a middle man {mediator or brain}for system resources for apps. etc.) Does not know how to do it. So you need change it. You should be able to flash/install through your current stock recovery CWM by putting an older copy of lineage/cm on the device. Giving the kernel the knowledge for accessing to fota partition. Then flash an updated TWRP through the app. From there you can update lineageOS to 7.1.x.


text:
How to force voice recognition into writing out numbers or just printing numerals?
One edge case I've found when transcribing notes is that, if I say 1, 2, 4 or 8, it's never clear if they will come up as numbers or as one, two, four, eight or one of their homophones.
Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking I could always rely on saying "numeral (number)," and while I understand voice recognition on Android doesn't bring in the cash, I'd still like to know if there's a command I can put before this, because having "1 do this 2 on the other hand, this 3 summary" allows me to sort my notes a bit better e.g. if something matches the ^1.*\b2\b regex.
Now I have a workaround where I say "zero one" or "zero two," and while that is acceptable, I was wondering if anyone found anything more precise.

I have a workaround where I say "zero one" or "zero two," and while that is acceptable, I was wondering if anyone found anything more precise.

There currently exists no better workaround as far as I know. Google's  voice typing is very limited in features,  much more limited than Dragon.
Currently, as a general rule, Google's voice typing spells out numbers as digits if more than nine or if preceded by another number.


text:
Unable to connect to Spotify - phantom ad blocker?
I'm having issues with the Spotify app. Trying to search gives error messages shown in this Spotify forum. The solution suggested in that thread is to whitelist spclient.wg.spotify.com on my adblocker. I tried connecting to spclient.wg.spotify.com in Firefox and got an Unable to connect error.
I don't have an adblocker app or extension installed. I tested it out on simple-adblock and found that my adblocker failed to block ads, but on fivefilters, it worked. So I'm not sure what to make of that.
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S7 running Android v7.0. I installed the ROM myself to get rid of the bloatware that came with the phone by following the instructions here. My best guess is that that ROM is tweaked to have a native adblocker. I think that might have been the case, but I can't remember, having it installed a good few months ago.
How can I whitelist spclient.wg.spotify.com when I don't know how to access whatever ad blocker is on my phone, if there is one? Can anyone offer an alternative explanation?

Check your hosts file. Most ad blocker use it to re-route ad domains.

Robert got it. My hosts file is full of URLs rerouted to 127.0.0.1. Thanks!


text:
USB cable not working
I'm using MacBook Air(MacOS Sierra) and have installed Android File Transfer on it.
The problem I'm getting occurs sometimes and works well the other time.
When I connect my phone with my PC with a USB cable, no option is shown on the phone screen about the "Use USB for" which should show 3 options:

Charging only
Transfer Files(MTP)
Transfer photos

Rather the phone starts getting charged without the above option occurring.

As mentioned above, this problem occurs sometimes but not every time.

I've also selected the "USB Debugging feature to tackle with the above problem but it doesn't seem to help.
What should I do?

I read this somewhere that using some kind of USB cable to not support media transfer. So, how do I distinguish between a real USB cable and the one with only power wire inside it?

Do you get the same problem with a different cable? USB cables tend to be cheaply made and any damage/normal use (pulling, stepping on, winds/unwinds) can create an intermittent connection. If you were able to copy a file between phone and PC, its a data cable, no way to tell otherwise.

@MorrisonChang With the same USB cable, I do face the problem sometimes and not every time. I haven't tried it with another USB cable.


text:
Remove Google Play Services from no-root Android 8.1 phone
How does user remove the stubborn 'Google Play Services' from the Android phone? Android 8.1 'Google Play Services' does not allow remove updates option. Why does 'Google Play Services' behave similarly like the Microsoft Edge web browser that is stubborn and can't be removed.
User buy the Android phone should not be denied from uninstall stock apps such as the notorious 'Google Play Services' that use data usage without user permission!
Please do not provide answers such as root the android phone because this question is about no-root phone (meaning the phone is not rooted). Also,  PoGO has new TOS that does not care about user privacy!

See https://android.stackexchange.com/a/204114/96277


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Would disabling the package installer prevent updates?
Would disabling the package installer prevent updates? If so, how can I disable the ability to sideload apps while still being able to update apps already installed?

Disabling the package installer would prevent apps from making the user request to install an app. Technically, they would still make the request but it would not show up, with the installer  being disabled.  That said, if a system app has INSTALL_PACKAGES permission (such as Play Store) or a third-party app has root access somehow, disabling the package installer would make no difference. Similarly, disabling it would not prevent sideloading from adb.

So if I were to find a way to disable install via ADB, install an APK updater app that auto updates apps and then uninstall the package installer, would the apk updater still be able to update apps already on the device, but the user wouldn't be able to install new apps if no other installers had root permission? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I'm pretty new to all of this and I'm still learning about the android structure and it's components.

@ShtarkBochur it is not a stupid question but a genuine question arising out of an immediate need. Unfortunately, I'm not well-versed with the internals of Android. However, others may be able to help with this new question of yours if you ask it as a separate question. If it helps, link your current question for reference purposes. :)


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Error while executing msfconsole on Termux
How to fix the error

Metasploit requires the Bundler gem to be installed

While executing ./msfconsole on termux

This seems to be a pretty basic issue with MetaSploit, are you sure you want to try this on Android (instead of a full Linux distro) without any experiences?

Did you read the error message? It supplied a command for you to follow:
gem install bundler

That should solve this issue.
Anyways, it seems like you have nearly zero experience with Metasploit Framework and Ruby - its underlying programming language. I strongly recommend against doing this on Android without prior experience - things could be more difficult to set up and deal with than when you're on a full Linux distro.

Downvoter: why?

I can't find fault with this answer. +1: score leveling for a good answer.


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'Can't take screenshot due to security policy.'
As you know that some sites/apps don't allow to take screenshots with a flashing message 'Can't take screenshot due to security policy.'
Is there anyway to get screenshot from these sites/apps ?