text:
How can I block Play Store from installing a specific app
Is there any option that doesn't allow me to install a specific app from the Play Store ever again on that device? How can I do that?

if that app has an age limit of 13+ then you can install that app and turn on parental controls in play store..then that app will disappear from your play store..but this will not work for all apps

I have not tried it but theoretically it should be possible to side-load an app that has the same package name as the PlayStore app. This dummy side-loaded app should then block any installation of the app from Play Store. May be someone known an app generator that creates apps of a very small size and allows to specify the packageName?

@Robert Tasker App Factory at your service. :-)


text:
Where are these 14 GB images that are occupying my Android storage?
I have been running out of storage on my android phone, the one plus 5T. I have Google photos backing up to the web and have deleted the local images post backup.
Google photos and even gallery are barely taking up a gigabyte.
But there under storage it does show 14 GB of images but I cannot seem to identify where these are or which app they belong to. I looked up all the usual culprits in the app list  but none of them shows  a claim to 14 GB of memory.
Any thoughts how I can find these images and reclaim the space?

For in-depth explanation see my answer to How disk space is used on Android device?

I deleted my answer since your issue is not related to Google trash (6 photos only) and the answer posted by Irfan above would probably help you to get to the root of it. You may see this if it helps. Thanks. All the best

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Problem with intents :MacroDroid
I am not able to get the intent running for this out loud app. App description says

Launch these activities to change the on/off state of Out Loud:
com.hillman.out_loud.activity.OnActivity

To change the on/off state through a broadcast intent, send a broadcast with these details:

Action: com.hillman.out_loud.ON_OFF
Data: out_loud://on_off?state=[state]

whether I use activity or broadcast.
What am I doing wrong?

If you want to turn on the Out Loud using automation app, do this:

Target: Activity
Package: com.hillman.out_loud
Class: com.hillman.out_loud.activity.OnActivity

Leave the rest entries untouched.
If you want to turn off the Out Loud, do this:

Target: Activity
Package: com.hillman.out_loud
Class: com.hillman.out_loud.activity.OffActivity

If you want to toggle the state, do this:

Target: Activity
Package: com.hillman.out_loud
Class: com.hillman.out_loud.activity.ToggleOnOffActivity

Check your notification panel/bar to see the changes. If toggled to On state, Loud Out would create a notification (low priority), else the notification would be missing.

Also, why is the action blank? Guess I am mixing up things here

I am not good with Android's internals, so I don't know why Action has to be left blank. But I usually keep it blank anyway. As for class -- it is the activity name that you have to supply there. Data is not expected by those activities unless you are broadcasting and since data is not expected, mime type (the data type you are sending) is also not expected so both needs to be blank if you are choosing Activity as Target.

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


text:
Automatically discard old notifications
I'm new to the android OS, and have a few devices: Chromebook, android tablet, and android phone running google's standard OS.
I've noticed when I have my phone off all morning and turn it on at lunch time, I get a stream of notifications of all the chat/email/etc that happened while the device was off, even if I engaged with them on my tablet or other devices. An extreme example, I went on vacation for a week, left my tablet off at home. When I came home and turned the tablet on, the OS was unusable while it pulled a week of chat and other app notifications.
My question: is there a setting / configuration on Android to tell it to discard any push notifications it may have gotten while offline but still display any notifications it gets while on?

Android can't receive or discard push notifications. It's the individual matter of every app you are using.

Every Google push notification has a maximum life-time defined by the service which creates the push message. As the notification messages are only received by the apps there is usually nothing you can do on app-side. If the service that is sending push notifications has a web-site you may be able to configure the life-time of notification message there if the developer of the service has implement a configuration option for doing so.


text:
Result of ls -la in adb shell
If I go into my unrooted phone's adb shell (Samsung galaxy s7 Android 8) I get a result similar to this:
dr-xr-xr-x 921 root   root         0 2020-01-26 10:06 acct
-rw-r--r--   1 root   root       225 1970-01-01 09:00 android.hardware.drm@1.0-service.widevine.rc
-rw-r--r--   1 root   root     45121 1970-01-01 09:00 audit_filter_table

Notice that there is no . after the file permissions (eg: dr-xr-xr-x). If I type getenforce I get
enforcing

so SELinux is enforced. Then why doesn't ls show a . after the file permissions? Has it always been this way in android? As far as I know, in Centos ls result will show a . after file permissions if SELinux is installed and enforced/permissive. Does android behave differently in this regard?

It depends which ls binary you are using. Android's default toybox ls is minimal. So is busybox ls. I use full coreutils ls which does show dot ..

@IrfanLatif is this something extra I need to install? Or something that needs root?

coreutils like util-linux is kinda standard package every Linux distro has installed. You can build for your device. I have built for aarch64. If you need I can share link.

@IrfanLatif so I need to compile it myself? It's not like an apk file we can install?

Termux is there already. But Linux packages there are modified for Android environment. So may not behave as you expect on a Linux distro.


text:
Stuck with bricked OS
A few days ago I've updated my rooted(with magisk) galaxy s10(SM-G973F) to the latest firmware(patched with magisk) of ILO(G973FXXU7CTF1 - my previous firmware - G973FXXU4BTA8 - had one ui 2.0), and it seems that since then, it is pretty much bricked.
GBWhatsapp Mini doesn't work anymore(can't download media), Google Play tells me Netflix and a bunch of other apps are "not compatible with your device" and I can't connect my Galaxy Watch anymore(stuck on pairing).
I've previously tried to upgrade it to G973FXXU4CTC9 and had the same issue so I've downgraded back to G973FXXU4BTA8 and it was all fixed, but now it won't let me even downgrade(SW REV CHECK FAIL)..
What can I do then?
Thanks

you have upgraded bootloader from U4 -> U7

@alecxs correct. Is it related?

you can't downgrade bootloader so you can't downgrade ROM

Eventually solved it...
The Galaxy Watch thing + the Netflix thing were solved with this combination(not sure which of these steps solved it):

Installed MagiskHide Props Config module and blocked the following using Magisk Hide:

Galaxy Watch Plugin(all)
Galaxy Wearable(all)
Google Play Games
Google Play Music
Google Play Services for AR
Google Services Framework
NFC
Samsung Health
Wearable Manager Installer
Google Play services(com.google.android.gms and com.google.android.gms.unstable only)
Google Play Store(all except com.android.vending)

Ran these commands as root:

mount -w -o remount /vendor
cp --preserve=all /vendor/etc/vintf/manifest.xml /vendor/etc/vintf/manifest.xml.bak
sed -i /`grep wsm /vendor/etc/vintf/manifest.xml|sed 's@/@\\\/@'|sed 's@>@\\>@g'|sed 's@<@\\<@g'|tr -d ' '`/,/'<hal format="hidl">'/d /vendor/etc/vintf/manifest.xml
mount -r -o remount /vendor

Installed Bluetooth Library Patcher module

Now the GBWhatsapp Mini problem. For some reason it required that Install unknown apps permission would be allowed for it.
Now everything works fine.


text:
Any app to help finishing call?
My mother has the habit of ending the conversation by pressing the BACK button several times instead of hitting the red button. The perso she talk to can be heard after a few minutes (people are nosy and my mother is old). Is there an option or an application that contains a silent closing of conversation windows and was visible until the end of the conversation?

An alternative approach that might be easier for your mom: In Settings→Accessibility, there is an option to make the phone's power button end the call (here labeled "power button ends call"). That might be easier for her than remembering to tap the on-screen button.
Google's support site has an an article on the feature but it doesn't really say anything more.


text:
How to determine which version of TWRP has been installed?
A secondhand phone looks to have TWRP already installed:
thufir@dur:/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=HTC_Android_Phone_SH4AYWM01306/Internal storage$
thufir@dur:/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=HTC_Android_Phone_SH4AYWM01306/Internal storage$ ll
total 53
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir    0 Dec 31  1969 ./
dr-x------ 1 thufir thufir    0 Dec 31  1969 ../
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Alarms/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Android/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Nov 26  2019 .data/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Dec 18  2019 DCIM/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Download/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Movies/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Music/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 _nero_sync/
-rw------- 1 thufir thufir   38 Oct 26  2019 nmdsdcid
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Notifications/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Mar 31 17:31 Pictures/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Oct 26  2019 Podcasts/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir    0 Oct 26  2019 Ringtones/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir    0 Apr 12 13:34 .showme/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Mar  4 14:34 TWRP/
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Nov 27  2019 WhatsApp/
thufir@dur:/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=HTC_Android_Phone_SH4AYWM01306/Internal storage$
thufir@dur:/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=HTC_Android_Phone_SH4AYWM01306/Internal storage$ ll TWRP/
total 5
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir 4096 Mar  4 14:34 ./
drwx------ 1 thufir thufir    0 Dec 31  1969 ../
-rw------- 1 thufir thufir  973 Apr 12 13:27 .twrps
thufir@dur:/run/user/1000/gvfs/mtp:host=HTC_Android_Phone_SH4AYWM01306/Internal storage$

How do I determine which the version number for TWRP which is already installed?

If it is a second hand phone I would not trust any pre-installed software at all. Just download the latest TWRP for your device and install it.

this is exactly my concern @Robert -- thanks.

How to check installed TWRP version?


text:
How would one simulate a charging experience on a real android device?
I possess a Samsung Galaxy S8 with Samsung Global Goals installed. The app allows you to donate based on ads viewed during the time the device is charging. Would be possible to essentially 'fake' the charging experience to donate more on the go while also conserving energy? Morally questionable methods for the greater good are perfectly welcome ;)

I’m voting to close this question because it is unethical & not a fit for this site

Uh it is quite literally charity and just an intellectual endeavor. I'm not actually promoting any immoral practices.


text:
How to set minimum width under developer options only for specific apps?
My device is a Samsung Galaxy A40 running Android 10 (but it probably doesn't matter that much in this case)
I want an app to think that my screen is the size of a tablet, because in that app it might be beneficial to have larger screen size. I went to developer settings, and under "Minimum width" , I changed the default value which was 360 dp, to 800 dp. Now the app thinks my display is larger, and it gives me a slightly better interface. However, the only problem is that now the rest of the OS also thinks that this is my screen size.
Is there any way to set the "minimum width" only for that app, and not the rest of the Android interface?

Not to my knowledge. I believe it to be a global setting. Related when developers had to use adb to set such values: Android: How to use “adb shell wm” to simulate other devices


text:
Turning on an Android phone with broken power and volume buttons
I have a Oneplus Two phone which fell down in just the right (or wrong..) way a couple of years ago and the volume and power buttons were smashed. I managed to use it for a while just without letting run out of battery but eventually moved on to another phone. Now I'm trying to see if I can somehow revive it or if I should sell it for parts. I remember I did install some app (likely Gravity Screen) that would supposedly turn the phone on when moved, but it doesn't seem to do anything. The phone is otherwise charging just fine, I just can't turn it back on.

If the phone is really off no app can turn it on. Try to connect to a charger, some phones start booting with charger attached.

Unfortunately, while it does start charging, it doesn't power up when connected with a charger. Thanks for the info!


text:
What shall I do if I damage battery?
I've been disassembling phone - Xiaomi Mi 5X/A1, in order to change crashed screen. However, while I was trying to remove battery, I probably cut battery cover, so I can see white slices and sharp smell is present (to remove battery I was just using playing card so I am very surprised that happened). Phone doesn't turn on and I am afraid it might explode (I really don't know but lithium is quite reactive). Is there any possibility to recover this phone? What shall I do with it?

As far as I know Lio batteries usually don't explode but they can set themself on fire. You can try to carefully remove the battery but make sure only to work where nothing is within range that could catch fire. Or place the phone in a closed metal box and bring it to a professional phone repair shop.

i guess this happened because of this glue stripes. buy new battery and replace diy https://youtu.be/J6M-WBbPAZM


text:
adb: Restoration of a backup on Acer Icionia 7 fails by error "archive is encrypted but no password given"
Due to some problems with my Acer Iconia 7 tablet (with KitKat 4.4) I decided to perform factory reset. However, because I have there some data that I did not want to lose I created a backup in HoloBackup. The backup was created succesfully (it has around 1 GB), but when I try to restore it, the process fails by error adb: archive is encrypted but no password given.
Now, at this point, I do not understand, because in developer settings I set a password to protect the backup feature of the tablet. But the error message sounds like a password protection is actually required for the .ab file itself. But in the settings nor in HoloBackup, I cannot see any way how to do it.
Can you help me please. Thank you.

when adb backup is executed a dialog prompt appears asking for confirmation. if you leave the password blank the .ab file is unencrypted and extractable with zlib-deflate, otherwise you need java for android-backup-extractor for encrypted backup

While creating a backup, there is no dialog requring a password on the computer screen. The backup process starts immadiately after I unlock the backup function on the tablet.
But I want to ask: Is there way to encrypt the file additionally, so it would be accepted by adb.exe?

i didn't say on computer screen, and i mean adb backup. "unlock the backup function on the tablet" is probably the dialog prompt i mean. not sure about HoloBackup

'adb restore backup.ab' don't requires password for unencrypted backup (leave blank), therefore encrypting afterwards makes less sense. on the other hand encrypted backup is useless without password. go with android-backup-extractor and figure out if your backup is extractable, first

I tried to extract that backup and it works. But to do that, the shell required the password (so the archive was encrypted and protected by the password), which I used to unlock the backup function before. So I do not understand why adb says: "adb: archive is encrypted but no password given"

adb restore backup.ab should ask about password on device screen

When I try it, the restoration process ends immadiately. When I then use .\adb logcat -s BackupManagerService command, i ge this messages:
...
W/BackupManagerService(  477): Archive is encrypted but no password given
W/BackupManagerService(  477): Invalid restore data; aborting.
I/BackupManagerService(  477): Full restore processing complete.
D/BackupManagerService(  477): Full restore pass complete.

unpack + repack without encryption

or, maybe there is a way to give password via command line when calling /system/bin/bu directly (can't tell you have no access to computer) https://android.stackexchange.com/q/142533

Thank you, now it works; unpack and repack without encryption was enough. Thanks again.

consider posting detailed steps as answer to your own question

Thanks to alexcs I was able to get it working, so here are the steps to solve the issue:

You need to convert the .ab file to unencrypted .tar archive, first. To do that, follow next steps.
If you have not installed Java SE on your computer yet, download it and install.
Download android-backup-extractor from SourceForge and extract it.
Now open Windows Explorer and locate the folder, to which you unpacked that archive.
Navigate to ...\android-backup-tookit\android-backup-extractor\android-backup-extractor-20180521-bin
Open the folder, where is located your .ab backup, in a new window and copy the abe.jar executable from android-backup-extractor-20180521-bin folder and paste it here.
Now open command-line or Windows PowerShell and use the cd "path" command (for example cd "C:\omegavesko-HoloBackup-179d978\Backups" to change your parent directory to the folder, in which is stored your .ab file
Now convert the .ab file to unencrypted .tar archive by entering this command: java -jar abe.jar unpack [file name of the original .ab file] [file name of the output file],(for example java -jar abe.jar unpack backup_june_2020.ab output.tar).
Now unlock the .ab file by entering password, which should be the same as the password you are using to unlock the backup function of your device.
Wait, until the process is not finished (the size of the .tar file will stop grow) .
Now convert the .tar file to unencrypted .ab file, using command: java -jar abe.jar pack [file name of the converted backup file] [file name of the new .ab backup](for example: java -jar abe.jar pack output.tar backup_june_2020_fixed.ab)
Wait, until the process is not finished.
Now navigate to the directory, where is executable HoloBackup.exe (for example cd "C:\omegavesko-HoloBackup-179d978")
Now power on your android device, connect it via USB and eventually make other neccesary settings.
Restore the backup by using command .\adb restore "file path" (for example adb restore "C:\omegavesko-HoloBackup-179d978\backups\backup_june_2020_fixed.ab")
Enter the password on your device to unlock the backup function.
Wait until the process finishes.


text:
Drag-n-drop Uninstall
I have a Moro G5 and would like to know if there is any way I can disable the Android drag-n-drop Uninstall feature from the homepage which allows little fingers to uninstall parental apps by just dragging the appropriate icon to the uninstall at the top of the screen.
At times it makes me wonder why Android has this feature. Is it a life and death situation that requires apps to be uninstalled so easily?
I've tried to install different apps which claim to prevent uninstalling of apps but all fail and again uninstalling anything is as simple as dragging an icon to the uninstall.

just don't leave your child unattended, it's not a healthy toy

There are four different answers to this question at this link. Prevent apps being uninstalled


text:
where are MyPhoneExplorer SyncJobs stored?
I like to know where exactly the FileSync jobs are stored in a MyPhoneExplorer phone profile? (in what file, and which location (profile folder or AppData folder))?
I like to emigrate to a new phone and I have a lot of customized FileSync folders configured, all the folders have the same path on my new phone and I want the same folders and options as in the old phone. How can I easily import them into a new profile I created for my new phone? Without creating them all over again (would spare me a lot of work).
I searched all the config files in my old phone profile folder and hoped they were stored in "FileSync.dat", I copied that file to the new profile and restarted MyPhoneExplorer, but it did not seem to work, still no SyncJobs in the SyncFiles menu...
Thanks a lot in advance.

no, this is just the path to my profile, I'm looking for a file that keeps the sync jobs

no sync jobs are user defined (cusom) folders to sync between phone and computer hdd following a chosen sync algorithm. for example: "InternalSD/DCIM/Screenshots" to "e:\Phone\Screenshots" mode: "upload and delete original".

maybe your question is better placed in MyPhoneExplorer Supportforum?

The SyncJobs are stored in "settings.dat" !
An editable text file you can open with any text editor:

close MyPhoneExplorer
open settings.dat from your old profile folder
copy all the text from the rule: [FileSync_*] until the end of the file
from the old_phone's: settings.dat
to the new phone profile: settings.dat (in your new profile folder)
restart MyPhoneExplorer

thanks to "Koelner" to give me this great information, that saves my day!
So I share it here and hope there will be an import/export function in the future.
answer on MyPhoneExplorer support forum


text:
ASUS ROG II - Android Update
So, unfortunately I brought a Tencent Branded ASUS ROG II phone and paid a hefty amount for something ASUS calls unofficial
Consequences:

No Android Security Update
No Software Update since August 2019

Even after having the latest hardware and more RAM and Storage than my Laptop I am stuck at older software which is annoying.
I tried looking stuff to manually update to Android 10 as my device is not reciving any FOTA Updates but it says the Product ID, Fingerprint and the ROM should match i.e to WW ( Considering this is a Chinese phone flashed with global firmware / ROM) fortunately on my device it does but I still can't manually download ( Keep it in root) a FOTA Update and apply it(After Restart). It just fails, so I am skeptical to actually unlock the bootloader and do fancy stuff and end up bricking my device!
Is there a way I can completely get rid of the issue of manually upgrading the software ( by manually I mean connecting to a PC and flashing the latest FOTA)?
Some way I can just download the latest update keep it in root restart the device, it detects an update and does it automatically?
Product : WW_l001D
Fingerprint : asus/WW_l001D/ASUS_l001_1:9/PKQ1.190414.001/16.0631.1908.12-0:user/release-keys

Usually branded devices only allow applying OTA updates that are also using the same branded version. As far as I know, if you want to change the ROM the only way is to unlock the bootloader .

I am okay for doing it once and for all. Although the application I found for unlocking bootloader fails with network error


text:
How to disable popup when turning on/off Wifi in Tasker
I have Tasker on 2 phones. One is Huawei, Android version 9 while the other is KTouch, Android Version 8.1. Both have the same settings provided (Battery optimization disabled, Usage access enabled etc). However, Tasker in Huawei was purchased from the App Store but Ktouch is an .apk version downloaded from the Huawei phone. KTouch do not allow Play Store to be installed :(
What I want is to switch on the phone at a set time and turn on wifi. For the turning on of Wifi, I used the Net > Wifi "On" feature.
For Huawei, Wifi automatically turned on without any popup. However for the KTouch, there was a popup asking user to deny or allow for Wifi to be turned on. May I know how to disable this popup and just auto turned on the Wifi, just like Huawei's?


text:
Disabling Noise reduction/echo cancellation/any other effects on the microphone input in smartphone
I have made a program that reads a fixed number of bytes from the microphone and sends it out to the speaker, effectively a program to route audio from the mic to speaker without any changes
Normally I can hear what I say into the microphone loud and clear on the attached headphone
However, if I blow into the microphone, I can momentarily notice the sound in the earphone going smaller, which slowly rises back to its normal volume
I think some kind of built in noise reduction or some other effect is kicking in when I blow into the microphone
Is there any way to completely stop or bypass any kind of preprocessing the phone does to the microphone input samples, or to the output samples?I have looked at all the sound related settings on the phone and they are all disabled, at least as far as I can tell. I use AudioRecord class to get microphone audio samples and AudioTrack to play them back. AudioRecord source is MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT (MediaRecorder.AudioSource.MIC gives the same result). MediaRecorder.AudioSource.VOICE_RECOGNITION doesn't seem to have any effects on the input sound, but I would have guessed that MediaRecorder.AudioSource.DEFAULT or .MIC would be the option without any preprocessing attached to it.
I would like to know if there is a way to completely prevent the phone from doing any kind of audio processing, at the mic or the speaker side, through some option in the phone settings or through adb or in my program's code.
The phone is Samsung Galaxy S7 with android 8.0, but I am looking for a a general solution if it exists.

i truly hate this "feature" i bet it is part of audio codecs and can't disabled. welcome to the new world

I see reference to android.media.audiofx.NoiseSuppressor in https://source.android.com/compatibility/8.0/android-8.0-cdd#5_4_2_capture_for_voice_recognition Not sure if you tried it and found it lacking.

If you blow into the microphone I would assume that the recorded sound is getting overloaded when digitized (bit- and sample rate too low) and therefore the microphone automatically adapts the volume.


text:
Help with intents: MacroDroid
Further to this Problem with intents :MacroDroid, the solution in the accepted answer works but sadly only for the first time (app error) . I have reported this to the developer
Meanwhile, I thought of trying to see if a broadcast intent would solve the problem. Lacking understanding of how intents work, I tried this and other combinations (ON in square bracket, Action same as class) , but couldn't get it to work.

Here is the Tasker intent that works

Request help in constructing broadcast intent.
NOTE:Please don't edit to make the images smaller for the sake of readability, let them be

The URI you use in class is (as far as I can read this tiny screenshot) wrong. The hostname needs to be on_off but using online URI parser your URI does not have a host because of the missing /. Therefore I would try out_loud://on_off/?state=[state] However it still may not work because the app author have chosen an invalid scheme. out_loud:// is not a valid URI according to the RFC3986: underscores are not allowed.

What do you mean by only for the first time?

@Firelord No fault of yours :), though it sounded like that and now edited. As you can see in the linked bug report, it worked fine till I updated MacroDroid. After that, whenever I create a macro, it runs for the first time and thereafter doesn't. FairEmail is sending intents fine, this bug is getting my goat :(. I did all the usual stuff, clear cache, reboot, permissions, battery optimization exclude. Just now, added Tasker intent (ya, figured out how to do this) - hope that points to a solution

This works. No idea for the logic behind it. Any body knows why, please edit to explain or answer

The "Action" needs to be filled according to the same action, set as the intent filters for the broadcast receiver in the manifest, as shown on the example of sending broadcasts

@AndrewT Thanks for the clarification. I will bear this in mind next time I try. This particular attempt is abandoned because it's not needed and FairEmail has added this feature (of reading aloud mails based on sender rule)


text:
How do I see number of or icon for unread messages?
My device: I use Android 9 on samsung galaxy s9.
Background: I believe there was a feature before (or maybe currently still, but I turned it off) about showing number of unread messages on apps like whatsapp, viber or the SMS app (and i guess gmail or facebook) or at the very least there's some kind of dot or something on a corner of the icon of such an app that indicates there exists at least 1 unread message (so the dot is an alternative to a specific number of unread messages).
My situation: I do not have such number or dot on icons on apps on my device. If I get a message on whatsapp or viber or regular SMS but say I have to install some updates and so my phone has to turn off or restart, then the notification of this message is gone.
Question: How do I see number or existence of unread messages on icons of apps such as viber and whatsapp and the SMS app?
I have tried looking this up, but

I wasn't able to find any articles specifically on Android 9 and Samsung Galaxy S9.

The solutions proposed in articles I've found on Android 9 but a different phone or on different versions of Android have not worked for me.

I've tried looking up some apps on the play store, but I haven't downloaded any because of the reviews.

You you are looking for is named icon "Notification Badge". Official Android got this feature very late, therefore a bunch vendor specific API extension exists to trigger such badges on devices  that use Android before this feature was officially introduced. Not sure about S9 on Android 9.

Nova launcher supports this, don't recall if it is a paid feature

(part 1) @Robert Oh thanks. I found out, both online and even in settings, badges go away when you swipe...Guess I'll have to resort to...

(part 2) @beeshyams nova or some other launcher. thanks!

@BCLC nova does I don't know about others

I found out, both online and even in settings, badges go away when you swipe...Guess I'll have to resort to nova or some other launcher.

Some sources:

Source 1:
DudeThatsErin
It goes by what is in your status bar. If you swipe them away the number will disappear.
dark_sage94
They notification bar disappears for me once I read one text
LoyalRoyal18
Nova launcher does what you want, I believe.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS9/comments/9e66n7/notifications_badge_on_icon_disappears_even/

Source 2:
Eh can't find anymore right now

With an ASUS Zenfone do the following: Pinch-in at the Home screen, then go to Preferences > Home screen > App icon badges to complete the setting.
On other phones you may want to press a few seconds the homescreen and then 'home preferences' or similar


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How to exit and disable safe mode?
I have a Note 2 running a custom Android 6 ROM and it's stuck in safe mode.  It got stuck in safe mode once before, but I don't recall what I did to fix it.  I did have a sticky power button then, so I might have just cleaned it with alcohol pads.  At the time, I looked for a way to disable it.  Now I am stuck, due to the hubris of some programmers, which seems to be the norm for software nowadays /rant.
Articles online look like keyword stuffed AI generated articles, and simply are press releases for the feature, telling you how wonderful it is, how to enter it, and in Android 10, how you can exit it from a persistent notification.  Even the answers here are very similar.
I don't think I have a stuck button this time.  I've wiped cache in TWRP.  TWRP can't shutdown though, it just reboots into itself, which I think is odd.
The phone was having an issue where the power button was working for a double press, but not a single press or long press, and when I rebooted it to clear the issue, now I have a larger issue.
I have rebooted (many times), pulled the battery and let it sit (up to 8 hours), changed the battery, done a software reboot, cleared the Dalvik cache in TWRP, and searched online for some way to exit safe mode.
I can't just reformat and reinstall because I have apps with settings I would need to back up, like my contacts, and some secure apps that need to be backed up within the app.

How can I forcibly exit safe mode?
How can I disable safe mode permanently?

Did you try pulling out the battery and reboot after a while

Yes, with lengthening amounts of time, up to ~8 hours.

Have a look at this answer which talks of getting out of safe mode. This is by Firelord, who is a moderator here and he would see this question


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Did Android ever have an option to disable apps?
The way the Google support page ("Android 8.1 and up") is written suggests that this option may have been only available in third-party ROMs:

Disable apps that came with your phone
You can’t delete some system apps that came pre-installed on your
Android phone. But on some phones, you can turn them off so that they
won't show on the list of apps on your phone. To learn how to disable
apps, contact your device manufacturer.

I don't personally have an issue with bloatware as I run LineageOS, but temporarily turning off apps would have often been beneficial for various reasons (some, while useful, are rarely used and may run at boot; issues with the latest update and no roll-back option).

With root privileges you can disable any app.

@IrfanLatif: Natively in Android?

What does that mean? Aren't we talking about Android?

AFAIK, based on my personal experience, even without root, system apps can only be disabled (and uninstall updates, but not uninstall the app) on vanilla Android 2.x (or in fact, probably older than that). And I've also disabled some LineageOS' built-in apps since I don't intend to use it. Open the app's info and you can either disable (for system apps) or uninstall (for user apps).

@AndrewT. apps signed with system certificate cannot be disabled from app's info: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/refs/tags/android-10.0.0_r1/packages/SettingsLib/src/com/android/settingslib/Utils.java#275

@IrfanLatif hmm, I probably need a distinction between "apps signed with system certificate" and "apps that reside on the system partition"... also, is this limitation added since Android 10 (or even Android 8.1)? I also have to clarify that most of my experience is still limited up to Android 7.x...

@AndrewT. I think it's so since early days of Android.

@IrfanLatif: Yes, I meant if apps can or could be disabled in the Android user interface (without running ADB or some third-party root apps for instance).

@AndrewT.: LineageOS does indeed have a disable option for some of its system apps (such as "email" and "browser").

@user598527 you need to execute pm disable <pkg_name>. Do it the way you like; through ADB shell, some terminal emulator app, a shell script, or simply from within some file explorer app (if it supports executing commands).


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Moto G6 not charging, not connecting via USB and battery indicator frozen at zero, not enetering battery saving mode
Here is how problem came about:
I unlocked my moto G6's bootloader and fastboot flashed twrp-3.4.0-0-ali.img in it. I opened TWRP trough the recovery option in fastboot, and enetered my PIN, but TWRP was unable to decrypt my storage. I noticed that TWRP was showing that the CPU temperature was at 34ºC and battery full. Then, I clickend on "cancel" the operation, kept TWRP read only and rebooted to delete the fingerprint recognition in system settings, which I thought could have been causing the failure of TWRP to decrypt. That didn't work, but this time I shut my phone down with power button. I am unsure if I did so before or after cancelling the operation, but I didn't choose the option to keep TWRP read only. I also noticed TWRP showing a ridiculously high CPU temperature before turning off. Regardless, it disappeared. I can now boot normally but I am having the issues described in the title. I tried a factory reset from moto but it solve this problem.
I performed a full adb backup before unlocking the bootloader with the command

adb backup -apk -shared -all -f C:\Users\

However, I may not be able to restore this backup via USB, given that my phone is not connecting via USB.
Any ideas of what to try?

After factor resetting through fastboot (so called hard reset), rather than factor resetting through the settings (i.e. soft reset), I got my phone in order again.


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Hotspot mobile network tethering and DNS
I and probably others know, if turning on the mobile hotspot and enable wifi-tethering, we are able to use our android phone to get internet access via a notebook (and other devices of course) connected to this android hotspot over WiFi.
Our phone also then acts as a router, since tethering spans a private network, I usually know it as 192.168.43.xxx to forward requests from the notebook to the outside world, the internet which is enabled by receiving a public IP from the service provider.
What I am looking for, is a DNS service running on this tethering phone on the private side of the network.
I'd like to reach my devices via hostnames on the little private LAN provided by the tethering phone.
I know there are lots of options and public discussions to tune DNS settings on the public side of the hotspot (8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1 and things like that). Since A9 there is even a private DNS option. But all this stuff is not what I am looking for.
So to configure my question:
How can I enable a DNS service on the private side of my tethering hotspot on an Android 10 (Lineage 17.1) device?

Up to Android 9 dnsmasq runs on Android device as DNS server when you turn on hotspot or USB tethering. dnsmasq can be configured to achieve what you are looking for. Some relevant details here: How to ping a local network host by hostname?

@IrfanLatif: Thank you for all your heavily detailed research work! I should have mentioned that I am using A10 on the hotspot phone, I'll edit

@IrfanLatif Hi, I have the same question as woodz. But I am on Android 8.1 . I read your link. When my phone and my laptop are on my local Wifi network (DSL router), my phone can find my laptop by its hostname. But when my laptop connects to my phone used as access point (Wifi tethering), my phone cannot find my laptop by its hostname. Do you have advice? Should I post a new question? (What I mean by "find": the laptop runs a Radicale server on port 5232, the phone has the DAVx5 app which can connect to http://laptop:5232 in the first situation but not the second.)

@L.Levrel sorry it's not possible for me to answer your query wothout performing some troubleshooting steps.

@IrfanLatif thank you for answering. Do you mean you cannot help me, or you may help me if I do additional tests?

@L.Levrel I can't help with troubleshooting steps. You can follow any DNS troubleshooting guide. Android-specfic things are explained in my previous answers on the subject. You can ask me something not already explained.

@IrfanLatif I think I already checked all that I could think of. (i) The laptop (Linux) does send its hostname over DHCP, because when using the Wifi router the phone accesses the laptop by hostname; the settings of the laptop are the same for connecting to the Wifi router or to the phone access point. (ii) The name resolving works fine on the phone, at least when it is connected to the Wifi router. So, if I understood your other answers correctly, the problem lies in dnsmasq on the phone, but how do I debug this? I have adb on the laptop but the phone is not rooted. Thanks!

More info. From the laptop the phone DNS seems OK: host laptop 192.168.43.1 returns the IP of the laptop (192.168.43.44). The log of the phone app (DAVx5) begins with java.net.UnknownHostException: Unable to resolve host "laptop": No address associated with hostname   at java.net.Inet6AddressImpl.lookupHostByName(Inet6AddressImpl.java:111) ...

I ran adb shell on the laptop: I have neither nslookup nor host commands, but ping laptop answers "unknown host". So it looks like the phone cannot use its own DNS which works perfectly for the access point clients...


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automatically power on android when charge is 20% or 10%
I know its duplicate on Power on when charging but only when battery level is greater than 20%
but it seems that question has no answer and also android version has changes a lot , I am on Android 10 , need to start my phone when charged to at-least 10 or 20 %  automatically as I am using it for some automation .
Any other way other than physically pressing the power button would be really helpful
Device Redmi Note 5 Pro and its not rooted

Is your device rooted and which device is it? Please include in question

With root acess you can run an init service in charging mode which is watching charge level. When it reaches the threshold, device can be powered on as explained in this answer of mine: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/221384/218526

fastboot oem off-mode-charge 0  , there is risk of boot loop I read somehwere , if phone is too discharged and on plugged in try to start immediately ?


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How to call and SMS from Android smartphone with SIM via internet remotely?
I want to use my phone number when traveling abroad and there is no possibility to setup roaming, etc. So the idea is: I have Android smartphone. I have my SIM inserted in the phone.
The phone works as usual phone - it is turned on and connected to charger. I need software that is capable to answer for incoming phone calls and relay the call via internet to some other phone or PC with corresponding software that runs on it. That is when somebody calls me, my phone that is turned on in my home answers to call, transfer the call/voice via internet to another country where I obtain some signal to my second phone or PC and can have a conversation.
I have VOIP phone number but this doesn't solve the issue - I need exactly the phone number bound to my physical SIM - some services verify that number is virtual and do not work with such numbers. Could you please suggest Android application that solve the issue.
Updated:
I've fount following article related to question. What do you think about it?
Using Android phone as GSM Gateway for VoIP


text:
How to use NFC Tools to write a 540 byte file to NFC Ntag 215?
It seems Tagmo is a tool to write NFC tags, but when I searched on the Google Play Store, NFC Tools came out, not Tagmo (and it has a 4.4 out of 5 rating), so I tried using it to write a .bin file that is 540 bytes:

Email myself in Gmail the file abc.bin, which is 540 bytes, using my computer
On my Android phone, use Gmail to read that email and download that file
On Android phone's NFC Tools, use "Write" -> Add a record -> File, which asked me to install NFC Tasks the app (to read a file, you need an app?)
After I install NFC Tasks, I could choose the file from the "Download" folder

But then NFC Tools reports it is "55 bytes", when the file is 540 bytes. When I tried writing the file to an NFC NTag215, it didn't react or waited 45 seconds and said "Write Error".
Is there anything wrong in the above steps?  How do you write a simple file to an Ntag? Is there a better alternative to NFC Tools?
P.S. It seems the 55 byte as reported by NFC Tools might be the "path name" of the file, which is file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/099 - Abcde (HHD).bin But why would I write the path of a file to an NTAG? Usually, wouldn't it be writing the "content" of a file to an NTAG?
P.P.S. And when I tried another file, it now reports "Writing 110 bytes" (instead of "Writing 55 bytes"). So what is this writing 110 bytes of file paths, instead of the 540 byte file content to an NTAG? How come it seems there needs to be a 20 page instruction to do a simple thing?)

Please edit your question and include links to apps you mention (e.g. to Google PlayStore).

is it very hard to find? It is play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wakdev.wdnfc

Yes, because depending on the country you are in the app name may be different (translated app name) or the app may be even not listed at all. A link to PlayStore is fixed and uniquely identifies the app.


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Ensuring that a deleted file cannot be recovered
A few months back, I had deleted a media file from my gallery. My phone wasn't encrypted at this point. Now, I wish to ensure that this file cannot be recovered in any way. What is the best way of doing this? Is it sufficient to encrypt my phone and do a factory reset? Or do I need to overwrite the memory blocks using software?

Is your device rooted? Securely deleting a file on an unencrypted flash storage is pretty hard. Enabling encryption usually only encrypts the used space.
The best method would be to fill the remaining free space with random data. However in such a case the spare sectors (used for wear leveling) may not be overwritten.

It's not rooted (still on warranty, so really wish to avoid any solution involving rooting). So what would you suggest to ensure that those spare sectors are also overwritten?

The only thing you can do is overwrite the free space with random (up to only a few bytes are left). Wait a minute and delete the created files with random data. And then do the overwrite again. After may be 4-5 rounds the chance is high that all sectors has been overwritten. BTW: What phone that is still on warranty comes unencrypted nowadays? I thought encryption is nowadays active by default on all devices (enforced by Google).

A better approach than overwriting the whole free space with random data would be to perform a factory reset. Hopefully if your hardware and kernel supports, BLKDISCARD command will be called for userdata partition which erases everything at lower level. But in fact there is no way to ensure 100% that your file is no more recoverable. Shredding and BLKDISCARD both erase only the physical blocks which currently belong to logical blocks (filesystem) of your /data partition. But possibly the physical sectors where actual file was written no more belong to /data partition. ...

... They might have been allocated to some other partition or over-provisioning space as Robert said. FTL firmware handles this all. So you data might still be recovered by chipping off the flash storage circuit and bypassing the FTL. However that happens only in forensic labs.

See my answers to How to make a complete factory reset, without anyone being able to retrieve my data? and Can user data be recovered after formatting and flashing stock ROM?


text:
need help in deciphering the logs of my bootlooping phone
I am trying to fix my phone that got stuck at a bootloop. Earlier it died out of battery and rebooted when I plugged it in and went on a bootloop, I did a lot of things between my last reboot and this one and I can't really know exactly which one was the cause f the loop.
I have a custom ROM installed that is a bit on the buggy side, but it did work for me totally fine for months now.
I have captured the looping part of the logs in logcat which I was able to get to using the ADB logcat command on my PC.
I would like to know what was the problem and if there is a quick way to fix it instead of maybe factory reset or wiping all.
here is the debug logs: https://pastebin.com/36j7CFkx
Thanks in advance.

The following line looks very suspicious:  Unable to determine ABI list from property ro.product.cpu.abilist64.' If such a basic property is not available something is really wrong with your device.

@Robert what would i need to do to fix it ? i really don't want to reflash


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Fbind how to use
I have Magisk 4.20 manager and installed the fbind module. I need to use it properly because I made a small mess:
I just wanted to bind a folder on my external sd with Download from internal memory. I used fbind -b
[Topic 1- solved]
but now some new folders were made that i cant delete mnt/runtime/read/emulated/0/mnt/media_rw/MD6H-KDY5/My Folder and mnt/runtime/read/emulated/0/mnt/runtime/write/emulated/0/download
This as explained Why deleting system files on a rooted Android says "device or resource is busy"? but if I enable core modules, delete the folders, then disable core-only modules, remove fbind and reinstall fbind, the folders are BACK...
So what I need to unmount to remove permanently from seeing them each time, they are wrongly made.
Edit: Final solution was to put (overwrite) some empty config.txt in data/adb/fbind and then I can delete the folders, it seems to read it from there. So no need to switch to Core only in magisk or uninstall the fbind.
[Topic 2 - unsolved]
And I need to bind correctly w fbind like bindfs after I delete these extr folders, where I see content of External card as the download folder, till I revoke the bind. So what is the correct way to use fbind, it creates its own folders .fbind unlike bindfs . I like bindfs better but it only worked within terminal  app on phone, other apps cant see the link.
What is the command? So that I do it like how I do with bindfs

I never used fbind but you can use bindfs directly: How to bind mount a folder inside /sdcard with correct permissions?

THE reason why I dont use BINDFS unless fixed is I need to make it work ON PHONE no ADB, NO PC connection, with those the bind gets lost probably even after the phone lock screen, not only reboot etc. I do it no Terminal Emulator and when I LS the Download folder yes it is showing the content of External SD but outside of it, apps dont see it. It worked with ADB and bindfs, then even File Explorer app will see External SD content on Download but as I said gets unbinded easily and I need to do it away from PC

You are stuck with mount namespace and other minor problems. Read the answer, everything is addressed in detail.

I read these few times. Ok I found https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/197959/why-partition-gets-unmounted-automatically-after-some-time/200449#200449 I used MagiskSettings  to set Mount Namespace Mode to Global then ran command in Terminal, now File Explorer sees Download folder with external SD files good. But I use ScanMediaPlz and Exagear app still sees Download as empty even when File Explorer now sees the mounted drive. How it worked when I do it via ADB but cant from here. I cant use u:object_r:fuse:s0 it still cant recognize context

Ok it worked finally, thanks. Dont know why at first app didn't see external SD files in Download but now it does.

Good you made it work finally. For my knowledge, what's your SELinux context of emulated filesystem if it's neither sdcardfs nor fuse? Is it esdfs or something else? What does ls -dZ /sdcard show?

u:object_r:rootfs:s0 /sdcard using the ls -dZ /sdcard, it is for older samsung phone from 2013-14.

Strange. And it's same for ls -dZ /sdcard/Download before and after bind mount?

It is u:object_r:fuse:s0 before I enter su. in Su it gives me transport endpoint is not connected or the rootfs I posted


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How to change contact's photo under Android 8.0
I am trying to change a contact's photo under my Motorola Moto Z2 Play / Android 8.0.0 (Security Patch July 2019):

Contacts >  (find a contact) >  (edit contact) >  (change photo) > Select new photo

and I am hit with an error saying:

No pictures are available on the device.

I don't understand this situation, because:

I have dozens of photos and pictures on this device, in "DCIM", "Pictures" and others,
I can change widget's icon without any problem (my launcher allows this),
I've been changing contacts' photos many times on this device.
I've managed to change contact's photo on other devices and Android versions (A9 and One),
I don't think this is due to SAF (details: here and here), because I am still on A8, not A10.

Since I did this last time a couple of months / maybe a year ago. The only thing that comes to my mind is that I did this last time under old, good Android 7.1.2. And the recent update to Android 8.0.0 maybe messed up something.
I have tried putting new photo into every folder that came to my mind:

root,
DCIM,
DCIM/Camera,
Pictures,
Pictures/Contacts (I've been using this one for years).

All for nothing. Always seeing this damn message.
I even went as far as:

Contacts >  (find a contact) >  (edit contact) >  (change photo) > Take new photo,
capture some test image,
use it,
see, where it is stored (turned out that in: DCIM/Camera, as expected),
remove it,
try again using "Select new photo".

My phone went as wako as allowing me to change the photo of one of contacts in the first place (i.e. after using "Take new photo"), stored it in DCIM/Camera folder and when I tried to use the very same photo from the very same folder, but using "Select new photo" instead, it again claimed that I have no pictures in this device).
Can anyone help me? How to workaround this problem? How to change contact's photo in A8?

Please, see the updated question. I will review your suggestion (i.e. installing "Local Storage" app), but I don't think it is going to change anything since SAF was introduced in Android 10 and I still have Android 8 (which shouldn't be aware of the SAF restrictions in theory).

Taking a shot in the dark: 1) Does the Contacts app have Storage permission? 2) Does it have a built-in file picker, or instead allow the user to choose which app to select the photo?

@beeshyams An update to your ideas: Still nothing. Seems to be another bug. Using "Local Storage" gave nothing (app can display images without any problems and claims that other apps also should be able to do this). Clearing the media storage app cache (along with data) and restarting this app and the whole phone gives nothing. Waited about half an hour for the index to be rebuilt. Running AZ Media Scanner also did nothing. App reported that scan is completed and that there are no .nomedia files in the folders of my interest. Thanks for trying to help. Seems like another stupidity in Android.

@AndrewT. I've been using this app, changing contact's images for 2-3 years now. The only change that could happen was update of my system from A7.1 to A8.0. It has all the permissions, it has a file picker. As I wrote in a question, I forced it to shoot a brand new photo and it allowed me to use it as a contact image. It stored it in DCIM/Camera. When I tried to do the same with stored images, it stopped seeing the very same photo, it did itself and claimed that there are no photos in the device. Looks like a bug.

Just to confirm it's a bug, try using a different contacts & camera app

This is not a bug. All three contact apps that I tested failed with the same error. Additionally, all my custom ringtones were reset to default one, as I have just discovered. This seems to be a wider problem, so I created a separate question for this and I am going to close this one --> https://android.stackexchange.com/q/226613/20449


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Mount Samsung S10 file system to Windows 10
Is it not possible to mount and browse the file system with Samsung Galaxy S10 if I connect it to Windows 10? With Galaxy S8 it was possible and I could easily traverse the file system of the phone to make sure that I did and did not have files in the phone before I erased and reset it. Now I want to erase and reset my S10 but I find no good way of checking its file system the way that I did with the S8.

All that you can access is shared external storage i.e. /sdcard. That's always accessible over MTP or ADB. Are you talking about something else? How exactly was that possible with S8?

@IrfanLatif With S8 then I just connected it with a USB cable between the laptop and the phone and the phone appeared as a device and I could browse the file system. With S10 and Windows 10 that does not work, but I have the phone app from Microsoft which I can use to control my phone. And when I connect the S10 to Ubuntu then I can browse the file system of the S10 the way I want so using Ubuntu is my workaround for now.

So your MTP is not working with S10 and Windows 10 but works with Ubuntu. Do you see/hear any notification on Windows when you plug/unplug your phone to Windows? Some changes in Device Manager? Also check MTP tag.


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Persist changes to /system partition on A/B device (Android 9)
I’m trying to add the F-Droid Privileged Extension using the OTA .zip to a Fairphone 3 on which I’ve installed /e/ OS. I tried modifying the update-binary script because the mount points assumed in the script don’t quite seem to work on this device, but although the files seem to be copied fine to the system partition(s) in recovery mode, when I reboot the phone, all the changes have disappeared.
Is there anything else I need to do so that files copied to /dev/block/by-name/system_a or /dev/block/by-name/system_b in recovery mode stay around?


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How to block Minecraft on YouTube on Android phone?
I have a child who is too young to watch computer games on youtube.
How can I block Minecraft on youtube search and videos on my phone? (Android)
I tried Youtube Kids app. I blocked several videos, but I can still find other videos typing "Minecraft". Is it possible to block the search by whole words?
Also: Is it possible to block the search for "Minecraft" on the Google bar?
Or Is there a web browser that allows blocking by keywords?

Yes, this is possible with Google Family Link.
You install Family Link on your device (or some device that is managed by an adult) and simply configure the content you will allow your child to see and use.  You can configure everything from Filters on Google Chrome/Search to location and account information.
I'm not sure Google Family Link has everything you describe exactly out of the box, but with some adjustments I'm sure you can manage.  For example, instead of filtering out what you don't want to see, you might instead have to specify what you do want to see - i.e., a whitelist approach instead of a blacklist approach.
Here is the link to the Google Play app Family Link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.kids.familylink&hl=en_US


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Stuck in Fastboot after deleting almost all the content in my phone (Xiaomi Mi 9T)
So I was trying to install Lineage OS (the unofficial version), because I think it works better with my phone. I already did that before, and I am not a newbie... But what I did today shows the contrary.
I downloaded everything on my PC and did a backup, and then I factory resetted my phone. After that, I activated the developer options and then the USB debugging and then I went straight into TWRP (I already flashed, I had a working, unlocked, MIUI ROM) and formatted almost everything (System, Data, Vender, etc, but not the USB option). I did something similar last time without any problems, so I thought this would be like the last time. But it wasn't.
After I did that, it sent me into Fastboot mode (kind of expected that), but when I tried entering some commands into the ADB console (like fastboot devices, or adb devices) it did nothing. The thing is, I tested it on my PC, and those commands were supposed to be working. I had the drivers and everything. I also tried to just flash back into the MIUI ROM (with the MIUI Flash tool), and it did nothing (it found my phone when I replugged it into my PC, but only for 3 seconds. Tried flashing and it didn't work). Also, I can't go into Recovery mode, it just sends me back into Fastboot mode.
I believe it's because of USB debugging not remembering my PC, even though I selected it to remember the PC. Also, I think the OEM is still unlocked, it has no reason to be locked as I did not enter any of those commands, I just... deleted my phone...
Any help?

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/224717

https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/archive/miui/davinci

The PC doesn't detect the device. I can't flash anything on it...

usb-debugging (adb) is not required for flashing. while in fastboot mode install proper usb-drivers. or use linux without drivers at all. download fastboot ROM and flash boot + system + vendor from fastboot. or boot into EDL mode and flash from QPST

Yep, it was a driver problem after all. Sorry for my misinformation, apparently the laptop I use doesn't have the drivers for fastboot (I think). I thought it would be like my last laptop which automatically had all the fastboot commands working as intended, so it never went through my head that it would be something with my laptop.
Thank you for helping me! Have a good day!


text:
How could I retrive full internal storage of an Android smartphone in order to restore data?
In TWRP, I originally intended to only formating Data as F2FS but didn't know that from around Android 5, data is a subfolder under /sdcard and everything in /sdcard is gone. How could I retrive a full image of Android internal storage so that I could try to use some data recovery softwares recovering as much as possible?

Data is not a subfolder of /sdcard this statement in your question is wrong. However both folders /data and /sdcard are located on the same "userdata" partition.

Well, basically TWRP is a tiny embedded Linux so we could do Linux things in TWRP. First we need to unmount all the unneccessary ones in Mount menu, plug in a big enough flash drive formatted using exFAT (By default, Linux couldn't write NTFS, and FAT32 has file size limitation. You may also need extra power supply to get the HDD working), and mount it. Then go to Adaveced -> Terminal and you get a busybox to play with, like other embedded Linux systems.
For phones using UFS, usually the block device for internal storage is /dev/block/sda, and you could confirm this by checking its size.
# --getsize64 would return size in bytes
~ # blockdev --getsize64 /dev/block/sda
123161542656

The returned number is the block device's size in bytes. That's around 123.16 gigabytes, consistent with the info available on LineageOS device specs (128 GB).
And for smartphones using EMMC, the block device for it should be /dev/block/mmcblk0, correct me if I am wrong.
Now we could dump all the content of that image into external storage device.
DO NOT WRITE BACK TO INTERNAL STORAGE. You would get your data overwritten and that's why I said unmounting all unneccessary volumes at the beginning.
dd if=/dev/block/sda bs=4096 of=/usb_otg/dump.img

Hint: You could utilize nohup to let dd running at background and continue other tasks in terminal, like:
# The "&" symbol at the end is necessary
nohup dd if=/dev/block/sda bs=4096 of=/usb_otg/dump.img > /usb_otg/dd.log 2>&1 &

After dd finishes, unmount your external drive. Wish you a good luck recovering data.

did you recover your data? i doubt it's possible on encrypted device


text:
How do I find which app on my phone is putting photos deleted by Google photos in a Recycling Bin? (I can't find the bin. Phone full.)
I connected my phone to my laptop and searched the phone for "recycl" - no matches found.
I searched my phone apps for "bin" - no relevant matches found.
I have 200 apps on my phone, but didn't find any that seem like they would create a recycling bin.
How can I find the recycle bin / recycling bin?
In Google Photos, I deleted 500 MB of photos that had uploaded.  I increased available space by zero.

Samsung A8, 2018.  Android 9.

The Google Photos app has a "Trash" area.  If you are updated to the latest version, you will find the Trash screen in the Library tab.  From there, you can truly delete the photos and reclaim device space.

Thanks @CzarMatt!


text:
Android ADB Key Not Working
I used to have a rooted Android device about 3-4 years ago. I recently found it and I dont know the password. This android device was trusted on my computer but now it is showing unauthorized under adb devices. I also have the files called adbkey and an excel file. Do these keys expire after a certain time or am i doing something wrong? Thanks in advance.

If you connect the phone to your computer with adb setup, can you tell me what adb devices reads out; it might say "unauthorized".

you have the files just place the adbkey.pub into .android folder in your userprofile

@CzarMatt yea it is unauthorized.

@alecxs it is there

do you have any access to device via recovery, fastboot, Odin, SP Flash Tool? then you can by-pass. your question remains, first step to answer will be compare the files https://android.stackexchange.com/q/213116

The authorization depends on a key stored on your key. You can find it in the files ~/.android/adbkey and ~/.android/adbkey.pub. If this key has been modified, replaced or recreated the authorization is lost.
So you should make sure you are still using the same key.
However even if you have the same key you might not get an adb connection because of Android security (in detail the device encryption).
On modern Android device (e.g. Android 9+) adb is only fully working after the user has entered the lock password/pin/pattern for the first time.
Before this first user authentication has been passed adb is not or not fully available. For examle adb shell may work but access to /sdcard and other encrypted sections is not possible (Android 9 with FBE).
However on older Android versions (or if the manufacturer has changed the user authentication) this behavior may be different so that you see the device on ADB but the authentication fails as you have encountered it.
Edit: Starting with Android 11 there seems to be a new feature called ADB Authorization Timeout. By default this is set to 7 days. I did not had the chance to test this in reality but this looks like Android 11 device automatically "forget" the adb authorization(s) after a certain period of time. There is an option in developer options to permanently disable this functionality.

No I used this computer to root the device originally like 3-4 years ago so adb was authorized. The android is like v4ish if I remember correctly.


text:
Forgot Authy password
I accidentally broke my OnePlus 5 which contained the recovery codes for my Instagram and Facebook, both were using Authy as their two factor authenticator. Thing is I apparently don't remember my Authy backup password either, I've tried all my common passwords.
I logged into Authy on an old phone (Moto G5 Plus), I've tried all my common passwords, none of them seem to work.
There's no other way I can login to my Instagram. For Facebook they're asking for a government ID which I'm not comfortable providing. Authy is the only thing preventing me from accessing my Instagram and Facebook.
Is there any way I can brute force the password out of Authy on my phone? There's no desktop version or Firefox extension/add-on that I can use to login to unfortunately. Or is there any other method that I'm missing?
Any small help would be deeply appreciated. Thank you

no more access to Instagram or Facebook is probably the best thing ever happens to impact your real life ;)


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Termux: airmon-ng: Permission denied
I want to run airmon-ng  but when I do it seems like the airmon-ng skript can't access other tools and it looks like this:
% sudo airmon-ng start wlan0
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 59: id: Permission denied
Unable to determine user id, permission errors may occur.
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 75: uname: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 171: ls: Permission denied

/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1085: ls: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1095: sed: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1098: sort: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 982: grep: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 989: grep: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1008: ps: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1008: grep: Permission denied
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1013: [: -gt: unexpected operator
/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/airmon-ng: 1024: [: -gt: unexpected operator

PHY Interface   Driver      Chipset

In the first place I thought it is about the permissons of airmon-ng itself and I tried to change its permissions resulting in no changes of its behavior.
To me it seems like it can't be due to id's permissions:
% ls -l id
lrwxrwxrwx 1 u0_a129 u0_a129 9 Jul  9 19:40 id -> coreutils

I already run termux-setup-storage and restarted. As this should not influence the issue it did not change anything as well.
Now I'm running out of clues and can't find similar issues. Got someone an idea?

From where did you get sudo? Try with Termux's tsudo.

I use the sudo from tsu/stable,now 8.5.1-2 all [installed]. Can't find the command/package you mentioned, so I guess you ment tsu?

tsu, sudo, tsudo etc. in Termux are not actual binaries but shell script wrappers around actual su binary provided by rooting solution like Magisk. You don't need to use any of the wrappers. Pass your command directly to su -c. But you obviously need to preserve Termux envitonment, in particular PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH for Termux packages to work.


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How to mute sound just on Instagram stories?
I have an Android smartphone. I wish to mute sound on Instagram stories, which can be achieved easily by using the volume buttons.
However, in that case I need to unmute sound when I want to watch a video on YouTube or listen to a voice message on WhatsApp etc. and it's very annoying.
I want my sound to remain unmuted, but to automatically mute when I open Instagram stories without me having to do this manually.
How can this be achieved?
Edit: I'm obviously thinking about other people's stories, I wish to mute sound while watching other people's stories. It's fairly easy to mute sound when I am uploading my own story and this question is not about that.

Assuming that you're fine with muting all sound whenever Instagram is launched, you can use an automation app on Android to mute the volume when it detects that Instagram is opened.
Similarly the automation app can detect when Instagram is closed and reset the volume to the previous level or to a pre-set level.
There are many automation app's available, e.g.:

MacroDroid
Automate
Rulebot
Tasker

I've experience with MacroDroid only. I'll outline the steps below to mute the sound when Instagram is launched. Unmuting it when Instagram is closed is left as an exercise to the reader.

Create a new macro
For the trigger set: Application Launched/Closed -> Application Launched -> Instagram
For the action set: Volume Change -> Media / Music -> Slider value: 0%
For simplicity you can leave the condition empty. However, you could for example set a condition that checks whether a headphone is connected and only mute when that's not the case.

Other enhancements would be to store the volume level before muting such that you can restore that level when unmuting.

I use a Samsung phone, so I use sound assistant to mute Instagram volume.
I only turn it on when I see something interesting.
If you are not using a Samsung, a good alternative I've found is
Volume Manager:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.hp.volume
Hope this helps.

What is sound assistant? My Samsung doesn't seem to have it.

@JonPeltier You probably figured this out by now, but if anybody else sees this, the app is called SoundAssistant and you can find it in the Galaxy Store (i.e. not Google Play Store), and I think you need a Samsung account to download it. In that app there's an option to set individual app volumes. Just add Instagram at set volume to zero.


text:
If I generate my own custom key and sign a custom ROM, then will I be able to have root access after locking the bootloader?
So what I want to do is boot into my own custom ROM with a locked bootloader. I have a OnePlus 6T so it's possible, but can I have root access after I boot with a locked bootloader? If I replace my custom ROM's boot.img with a patched Magisk boot image, will it be possible to have root access after locking my BL?
Also, will I be able to use TWRP and flash updates through it?

You question is a bit "misspelled" because with a custom signed system you never get root access but you can sign your apps so that they become system apps. System apps have way more permissions that regular apps, but AFAIK this is not root access (root is even more powerful).

How will you boot the patched Magisk boot image and TWRP after locking bootloader? Locked bootloader only boots the boot/recovery images signed with OEM's private keys which obviously you don't have. So device won't boot simply. Rooting device with locked bootloader is possible only through some vulnerability.

See Is there a way to root an Android phone without unlocking the bootloader?. Same applies to Is it possible to lock bootloader after rooting the device?.

@IrfanLatif what about CopperOS they do exactly what OP want

@alecxs hmm CopperHeadOS, which the developer of GrapheneOS claims to be his work. You are talking about User-settable root of trust which is one of the main features of AVB (VB2), right? There aren't many devices in my knowledge which support this feature because it's against OEMs' business strategies. Most of the currently available devices have either bootloader unlocking disabled, or is irreversible, or is reversible only with OEM's factory firmware.

If OP's device (bootloader) supports custom AVB keys, then it's definitely possible to lock bootloader after flashing a (possibly rooted) custom ROM, not CopperHeadOS only but any ROM theoretically. In that case it's a pure development related question.

@IrfanLatif ah yes, just could far remember that name.. right, that would be developer stuff. i did just read the headline when it came to my mind. Seems the question is completely different from headline and OP is not dev ;) so AVBv2 user-settable root of trust is requirement. that means OnePlus 6T is not supported

Yeah, you can take a look at https://github.com/chenxiaolong/avbroot and read the documentation carefully.


text:
IMEI has become 0 - how to fix?
I was using stock Android Pie with build ALI_PPSS29.55-24-2 on my Moto G6 (ALI, XT1925-13). It was also rooted using Magisk.  After more than an year the performance degradation happened and I thought to do a factory reset using the menu option in Settings.
Do not know why the reset operation did not help and ended up in boot loop.
At this juncture I thought to restore the ALI_PPSS29.55-24-2 ROM image and also thought to install RevengeOS which is Android 10 from XDA.
Flashed the latest TWRP for my phone, copied the downloaded image zip file from the XDA page and installed. All went well but the network was not detected at all. Worried with that, I tried to reach out the telegram group but it did not help.
Left alone, I thought to restore ALI_PPSS29.55-24-2 and successfully returned to Android Pie (9). However the network is not detected. Typing *#06# shows bar code with IMEI as 0.
I now read that I should have backed up the EFS partition which was not known. When the instructions for the installation said to backup, I only backed up my files and not the EFS partition.
Is there any options left? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
The reason for me to raise this as a new question is that time had moved on and the options/suggestions for other question might not work or might have improved.
FYI: I have the back up of persist folder which I am not sure whether is still intact.
Edit : after "Adb reboot bootloader" I can toggle to "Barcode" option and it displays the IMEI number correctly. Also seen with command "fastboot getvar all" - as said in this XDA forum:

Your IMEI is not lost, it's just sitting there. You can see it in fastboot using "fastboot getvar all" command, and in the "Barcode" in bootloader menu.
Any attempt in writing IMEI via QPST tool is futile, because our device is write protected.

Update: Flashed PPSS29.55-24-2 stock Pie image - all went well except the SIM/network/IMEI

If this is like other Moto devices (G3-G5) I have worked with, then the only option is to flash the official stock image via fastboot... you will either get your IMEI back or you need to send it to Moto for repair. Honestly, the likelihood of recovering it is slim. I am leaving this as a comment as I have been out of the "Moto world" for a few years and don't the resources to give a proper answer with links and instructions anymore, but finding them on XDA or using Google should not be difficult.

Thanks for the suggestion, indeed I have opened many XDA posts but all end up somewhere in middle and has one incompatibility or other (like for example, the solution provided is for G5 and not G6 etc).

[Solved] I read in many XDA posts that IMEI might not be actually lost by installing custom ROM, but it might be just a case that the permission might have been changed.  To verify, see if the IMEI number is shown in boot loader or bar code screen, if so then this is the case. Since my case is also similar, those posts suggested to flash factory image to restore the IMEI. I am not sure why it did not happen when I tried the same with the version that I already downloaded and have flashed already which is ALI_RETAIL_9.0_PPSS29.55-24-2.
Somehow inexplicably this did not work even though I tried to flash many times.
I stumbled on an XDA post which showed me a repository of factory images of various phones and in my phone case (Moto G6 ALI XT1925-13), I found the latest images from here.
From this site, I downloaded latest ALI_RETAIL_9.0_PPSS29.118-15-11-9 image and flashed which worked.
Edit
The above 118 version had was unstable and tried ALI_RETAIL_9.0_PPSS29.55-37-7-6_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip which seems to be okay so far.


text:
Available internal storage
My device is showing 1.02 GB of free space in storage settings. But while installing app from play store, it says only 492 MB of space is available.. what should I do, please help..

Is the app download size 552 MB? So you have 1.02GB free, PlayStore downloads the app and then checks the required size and recognizes that you have only 492 MB left because the downloaded file(s) have already consumed the other MBs.

No, the app size is about 50-60 mb.. and even if it takes 100 mb of space after installation, why isn't it allowing me to to that..

valid question. i remember that issue but i simply did not break my head about why google play is thinking there is not enough space, i was satified with my own explanation that google play is just coded like garbage and did just find some workaround. but i have read that sometimes the size of cache partition is too small

Thanks @alecxs, not what should I do, despite factory reset..

Play Store suggests having 500mb of free space for your phone to work properly. So when have low on storage you can't install large apps even through apks.

Thanks for the reply,But this was not the case earlier.. I am using my phone since 2017 and using it with same available space. But from recent few days getting this alert. And I said that I have 1.02 of space available and even if I reserve 500mb of space for proper working, there's another 500 mb of free space.

When you download an app from the Play store, you are getting the .apk file, which is an archive file (like a zip file). If you have a 500mb app, it will require 500mb to download the .apk and then a further 500mb+ to extract and install. There will be a temporary period, during installation where you need a total of 500+500mb, 1,000mb to get the app installed.
After installation is complete, the .apk archive is deleted, and you will again have 500mb free.
Try moving some data off your phone, onto your workstation, so you have plenty of space, then install the app. Once it is installed, and the apk deleted, move the data back from your workstation.

Dude, I had installed pubg of 1.8gb sized application with 2.4 gb of free internal space.. so this condition of double the size is invalid.


text:
Xiaomi Poco F1 (with Pixel Experience) potentially bricked, this is all it can see. Any help?
The text on screen is:
"Þöŵéŕ öƒƒ one two
Ŕéšţåŕţ one two
Ļöçķðöŵñ one two"

I don't think that your phone is bricked. A bricked device doesn't usually boot at all, or is stuck in a bootloop. It might be a case of potentially corrupt zip. Here are the things that you can try before giving up on your Poco:

Check if ADB detects your phone.
Try booting into recovery (either from ADB, or using physical buttons); if you succeed, perform a clean flash of the ROM.
If nothing works for you, try booting into fastboot and flash a stock MIUI fastboot ROM (from here) using Mi Flashtool.

if you're able to get into recovery mode then you'll be able to reset your device (if you're fine with losing your data). to do that, shut off your phone and hold power and volume up keys at the same time until you see the xiaomi or poco logo. once you're there, there will be an option to wipe data or reset. if resetting doesn't work, you can connect to ADB using a computer, and i assume if you have pixel experience installed you already have twrp or another custom recovery that lets you flash zip files, so you can either reflash or flash a different rom. good luck!


text:
Default kernel version of Android-x86 ISO
I know that android-x86[...]-k49.iso means it is using kernel version 4.9, but for some ISO like android-x86[...]-r4.iso, the kernel version is not mentioned.
Since 64-bit isn't booting for me, it might have kernel version 4.9+ but not 4.19 since 4.19 is also available for download.
How can I know what is the default kernel version?

How can I know what is the default kernel version?

By reading the release notes. With every new release, the development team publishes the major changes compared to the previous releases. The kernel version is mentioned under the Key Features section.
The Release Note for 8.1-r4 indicates:

Update to LTS kernel 4.19.110.

For 8.1-r5:

Update to LTS kernel 4.19.122.

For 9.0-r2:

Update to LTS kernel 4.19.110.

When the iso file is not for the latest version, then the kernel is also mentioned with the filename.
For example, there are 3 64-bit files for 8.1-r4. The first 2 are for the kernel 4.19.110 (not mentioned on the filename), while the third filename has the kernel mentioned - kernel 4.9.

64-bit ISO:  android-x86_64-8.1-r4.iso
64-bit rpm:  android-x86-8.1-r4.x86_64.rpm
64-bit ISO with kernel 4.9:  android-x86_64-8.1-r4-k49.iso

Thanks you very much that what am looking for


text:
Xiaomi android always boot in recovery (twrp) mode
I tried to install twrp in my xiaomi redmi 7A, and it worked, but now i'm not able to boot the system.
The steps i followed are as follows:

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot boot recovery.img

It seems like i have to flash the firmware, but i want to see another solutions for obvious reasons.

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/214902

Yes, the best solution is to flash the stock firmware. Or the other option is if you backed up recovery partition then you can flash it through twrp to go back to stock recovery, which can solve your problem.

Thanks. Where can i download good/thrusty firmware image? I'm downloading from some site i found but i'm not secure about it.

https://xiaomistockrom.com/xiaomi-redmi-7                 Do upvote.

Due to the poor attention to this problem, i've check the @munsoft004 response as accepted. And yes, i did flash the firmware.

For future intent to flash TWRP with fastboot, if the command "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" works, do not run fastboot boot recovery.img


text:
fastboot stuck on 'booting...'
I am trying to flash my device(Redmi S2/Y2). I unlocked the bootloader and I tried flashing Orange Fox recovery from fastboot.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
target reported max download size of 534773760 bytes
erasing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  0.020s]
sending 'recovery' (38400 KB)...
OKAY [  0.925s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  0.189s]
finished. total time: 1.159s

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot boot recovery.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.879s]
booting...

It was stuck at booting... every time I tried. While trying some solutions, I messed up and now I am stuck at bootloop. Any solutions to this?

Are you sure the recovery image is compatible with the device, i.e. maybe model no. It goes to bootloop if you flash wrong files.

just keep holding Volume Up + Power until TWRP logo (recovery mode) is visible

regarding boot-loop https://android.stackexchange.com/q/214902

It worked out, it turned out to be a hardware problem that didn't let me use the Volume Up + Power Key for Recovery Mode.


text:
How can I sign up for a Firefox account?
I want to back-up bookmarks and history, but the Sync "application" on my android device "cannot connect to network" and the webpage only provides a never ending swirl, even on a laptop.
(Yes, 'this is a question to ask at mozilla support'... which requires a Firefox account.)
Alternately, is there any browser that allows this manually, exported to some .txt or other file?
Edit: trying to install xBrowserSync, but it won't. I have a few versions, but each has this problem.

I scanned each at   VirusTotal first,  of  course.

Are you sure your Internet connections works at all? Have you tried to use a different Wifi, e.g. a public Wifi at a restaurant?

Yes. Certainly I'm doing other "interneting" to know if it's working. This question, for example.


text:
How to get raindrop.io to open youtube videos in youtube vanced instead of the official app?
Is there a way to make apps open to specific apps we choose always?

it should ask the first tome you try, and to reset it so it asks again you can go into the youtube (non-vanced) app settings and clear opening defaults

On Android 8.1.0 (and higher?) this is also accessible from Settings -> Apps & Notifications -> Default Apps -> App Links where it seems to list all apps that can open links.


text:
How to install the play store applications not available in my country
I am a student reviewing multiple COVID tracing applications deployed in various countries around the world. Although I'm located in the US, I'm also interested in applications that other countries have deployed.
As far as I understand, to do that I would need to find a VPN server in the country I am interested in and browse Play Store from there. It looks that people all around the internet advise to:

Connect to the VPN,
Remove cache and data from Play Store, and
Restart Play store.

However, this does not work for me. Play Store still lists only the applications available in the US and prices in US dollars.
I have checked whether my VPN works and it does. whatismyipaddress.com shows that at least my search queries coming from the browser go through a foreign VPN server.

I don't have any advice right now other than this is going to be particularly challenging because Google Play services is really intelligent when it comes to detecting what country you are in.  In other words, a VPN is not likely to give you any advantage.

In addition to the VPN, you also need a working payment method for that country. Otherwise, try alternative markets instead.

When downloading of APKs form Google the "location" is not determined by your IP address. Therefore using a VPN is useless. The PlayStore does send the country information in every request.


text:
Why is "Meet Attendance" icon not enabled in Google Meet?
I (seem to) have installed the Meet Attendance Chrome extension for Google Meet by claycodes.org from Chrome Web store from my Android phone. The site responded by messaging that it has been added to the desktop.
But I find that the feature is not enabled when I start Google Meet on my Android phone, because I can not see the checkbox icon representing "Meet Attendance" during the Google Meet session.
Can I have this feature enabled so that I can use it on my Android phone?

You'll need a desktop to use that extension as it needs the desktop version of Chrome, and attendance will show up only when you join a meeting, given you are using a desktop.
You can still use the Google Meet Android app (which lacks important features from the web) and you can't add features that are not available there.


text:
Android suddenly refuses to play ANY videos in any app on my galaxy tab s2
Is there any way to fix this without restarting?
Attempting to play any video in any app on my Galaxy Tab S2 will cause the video tile to load forever or else cause that app to freeze. YouTube will load the thumbnail and spinning icon but, if I switch to another app, even YouTube will be entirely frozen when I return to it. Likewise, if I attempt to record a video using any camera, the camera app will also freeze.
This does not appear to be related to audio processing as I can play audio streams fine, but if the file itself is a video file then I get the same result.
This is a new behavior not limited to a single app. The device is a galaxy tab s2 and developer mode is enabled. Clearly, whatever processes video streams in Android is bugging out on my device and needs to be restarted... but I would rather not fully restart my device as it is also suffering from a 'grey screen' problem where if I turn the screen off, there's a very high likelihood that turning the screen back on will result in it only displaying a solid grey screen, and it is very, very difficult to get it to display normally from there. Even straight from boot it will only display grey. I can still use the tablet by using an HDMI cable and using a tv as a screen, but I can only get the screen to display normally under some very arcane, specifc conditions: the tablet needs to have only about 20% battery life, and I need it to suddenly draw a lot of power all at once, such as by loading a power hungry app, while also attempting to turn the screen back on. Even this will only work once every 100 times. Yes, I know I need a new tablet. No, this one is no longer under warranty. I'd just like to get this one operational again, please.
Tldr: Is there a way I can restart the Android video engine without restarting the whole tablet?
PS: there are absolutely zero display artifacts, besides the grey screen issue.
Thanks!

See the version of Android. If it is not the newest version, there may be a problem.
My phone, which before the major update a few months ago stopped playing Audio and lagged, and when i updated it all got fixed.
But another thing is, and i am not trying to scare, there may be a very bad software issue, or there could be a virus.


text:
How can I paste the clipboard content from the Android TeamViewer client to the computer running the TeamViewer server that I connected to?
I use the TeamViewer Android application.
How can I paste the clipboard content from the Android TeamViewer client to the computer running the TeamViewer server that I connected to?
When I press on CTRL + V</kbd using the Hacker's keyboard when connected to the host, it doesn't retrieve the Android clipboard. Also I didn't see any option in TeamViewer to send the clipboard content.

What have you tried so far? It should be possible with text, but likely not possible with files/folders if that's what you're after.

@l3l_aze When I press on CTRL + V</kbd using the Hacker's keyboard when connected to the host, it doesn't retrieve the Android clipboard. Also I didn't see any option in TeamViewer to send the clipboard content

I'm sorry. It looks like it could be caused by two options on the host -- one enables Ctrl + click as right click, the other is "clipboard synchronization". According to their website both should be available in Settings/Preferences -> Advanced, maybe under the "Extras" tab. I only have 2x Android to test and neither of these is an option, but it does still copy to the client clipboard (using 6.0.1 as client + 8.1.0 as host).


text:
How do I solve DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN on android
I have an ssl web app hosted on my home network that uses dyn-dns to maintain my public IP address and a CNAME record to point my actual domain name to the dyn-dns domain name.
This all works fine on my desktop machine (hosted on same network as my app), my wife's mobile (on same network again) and on 2 friend's mobiles on external networks.
On my mobile (A google pixel phone running latest android) when I go to the same address I get:

This site can't be reached
[domainName]'s server IP address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

I have tried flushing the cache in the chrome://net-internals page and I have deleted the application cached data for chrome. I have also restarted my phone.
How do I fix this??? It's very frustrating.
Many thanks in advance.

Have you tried changing your DNS settings? Since you have a Pixel, go to Settings - Network & Internet and open the Advanced section, then select Private DNS and Private DNS provider hostname and change it to one.one.one.one, dns.quad9.net, or just enable Auto to use Google DNS.

Are you using WiFi or Mobile Data? Or are you using some local DNS server? May be your domain is negative cached in some intermediate recursive server. So you have to wait for its TTL to end e.g. 24 hours. Use some DNS troubleshooting tool like dig on Termux to check what it returns. Better use doh to bypass any caching server. My previous answers which may help: How does Android OS do DNS name resolution? and How to reliably clear DNS cache on Android.

Checkout out those answers. This domain name was set up some weeks or months ago so should not be a replication issue. As I said it works fine on every other device. I have tried Wifi and 4G and got the same result.

@Roaders what do dig and doh tell?

Same problem here. Just one android device that refuses to update it's DNS even months after last record change

Acejavelin your solution worked for me.


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Word endings / plural
In many languages word endings are adjusted. E.g. the plural s in English. (In other languages there are often many more.) GBoard often doesn't suggest these variations.
E.g. when I tap on the word suggestion 'language', the cursor stay right after the last letter. But when I tap on 's', GBoard will add a space and then 's'. This way I get "language s".

Why does GBoard insert the space only in last second? Seems counter-intuitive. Is there a reason?

Is there a trick to using a word suggestion and immediately modifying it? (Currently I always use space, backspace and then type the word ending.)

Gboard's "glide typing" is designed to allow typing words without worrying about inserting spaces, so when we want plural we just have to type the plural of the word rather than the singular.
Workarounds other than 'space-delete-s' would be disabling glide typing and using old school tap-to-type where every key requires explicit pressing or using the "gesture cursor control" to move the cursor around and then back to the end of the word before pressing 's'.
There may be a third-party keyboard that would allow a custom preference for this, and it may also be possible to modify Gboard to behave this way, but it may not be as useful as hoped.
For an example of what it would be like you could try enabling double-space-period and typing anything using multiple spaces throughout. You would normally only press space half as many times, but you'd be pressing it a lot more often if it was not inserted automatically. The cursor-control workaround still works, but the delete workaround fails although 3+ taps of space becomes period-space-space (etc).

Sorry, I didn't specify that explicitly: The question applies to using tap-typing in combination with the word suggestion line (the obey on top of the keyboard).

Oh, lol -- sorry. I think that would still fit under Gboard trying to make sure you don't have to worry about typing spaces. It seems that it assumes you want what you pick inserted and to then continue typing, same as "glide" typing assumes when you lift your finger that you want whatever it was suggesting and inserts a space if you continue. So, the easiest fix would still be to type the plural of a word unless you're willing to try third-party keyboards which may do this. TouchPal had an option to not insert a space at one point, but it's been removed apparently; no idea about others.

What GBoard does currently may well be optimal in terms of raw number of taps, but IMHO that is hardly the only aspect of interface ergonomics. Frustrated expectation ("Seems counter-intuitive")  and consistency (or lack of it) are also important.


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Android detect which hardware key pressed
Is there a utility which detects which hardware key was pressed?
I can only find resources for simulating key presses but not for detecting them.
Something similar to xev on Linux.

'getevent -il' get device with three event names KEY_VOLUMEDOWN + KEY_VOLUMEUP + KEY_POWER then listen with 'getevent -lc4 /dev/input/event0' or with wrapper shell function GetKeyEvent

@alecxs That works. Please make that an answer.