text:
Can I uninstall security updates for rooting?
I want to root my Samsung device, but previously, I have installed some updates. From what I know, successful rooting depends on security bugs in the firmware:

The process of rooting varies widely by device, but usually includes
  exploiting one or more security bugs in the firmware of (i.e., in the
  version of the Android OS installed on) the device.

But security updates are intended to fix security bugs and thus can prevent rooting or make it harder to perform. Is there a way to uninstall security updates to increase the probability of successful rooting?
Update:
Some information about my device:
Android Version: 5.1.1
Device Name: Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016)
Kernel Version: 3.10.9

There is an easier way: Just don't buy devices that can't be unlocked. Rooting via exploit is only needed on devices the manufacturer does not provide a way to unlock them. On an (bootloader) unlocked device you can simply install a custom recovery the using it root the device.

What Updates did you previously install ?
What Android Version are you on ?
What Device are you using ?
Samsung has a feature called Knox that is literally the fort knox of Androids, Root abilities on Samsung device's are rare.
For your device, someone may have a specific method of unlocking the bootloader or even using ODIN to flash a pre-rooted firmware.
For a successful root, it mainly comes down to...

Android Version
Device Lock Status
CPU Model
OTA Updates installed

Each area can stop you from getting a successful root.
The usual method for Samsung device's is to use Odin and flash a custom recovery, then from that you would install SuperSU or Magisk.zip files.
I need more information to help you any further.

Notes :
     Samsung devices will not allow you to use some feature's on a rooted device... It is why many Samsung owners end up using custom firmware like Lineage ( A.k.a CyanogenMod )

I've updated the question with some info, I could found.

Updated New Separate Answer.

Here are some notes before you start :
You may need to enable OEM unlock in the developer settings

THIS WILL SET KNOX TO 1
  I am not responsible for voiding your warranty with this, it's your choice.

OK So to root....

Download the PC USB drivers for your Phone
Download TWRP
  download : extracted twrp.img ( not a mirror )
TWRP 2.8.7.0 from XDA Extracted to .img
Download Odin 3
Odin 3.13.zip file download
Turn off your phone
Boot into download mode
  (Power + VOL down + Home)
In menu select continue
  (VOL up)
Now connect your phone to your PC
Open Odin.
  Make sure your device is recognized.
Click PDA on older Odin versions or AP on newer versions
Find TWRP
Click start and wait until it's done.
Reboot into recovery and have fun.

reference : TWRP 2.8.7.0 - XDA Samsung Galaxy J1

After flashing TWRP

Download SuperSU.zip
SuperSU 2.8+.zip
Place the SuperSU file on SD Card.
Place the SD Card into the device.
Reboot into TWRP 2.8+
Flash SuperSU to gain root access.

Want Full Root ? ( not systemless )

USE TWRP's inbuilt SuperSU installer to start with
Then install SuperSU 2.8+ Zip file to force System Mode root.

If this TWRP recovery is not for your model, please find the correct model and use the same guide, the process is the same.


text:
Why does my WIFI turn off randomly?
I am using a government ZTE Qlink phone and the WIFI randomly turns itself off. I have too many contacts to perform a factory reset! I need help figuring it out!

Does it lose connection? Or the adapter actually turns off?

Practically all mobile phones are using the Google Contacts app to manage your contacts. They create a backup of your contacts to the Google, and continuously synchronizing with it. This is why you can see the same contacts on all your Android devices (if you have multiple).
If not this is the case on your phone, you need only to install the Google Contacts app.
If you don't want to share your contacts with the Google, there are also many third-party apps to save them to other cloud services, or to your own machine. You can find them quickly with Google searches :-)
Having your contacts saved with an app, your contact list will survive a factory reset. Note, there is a high chance, that it won't fix your problem. In my experience, such sudden wifi disconnections root probably in the bad hardware/driver, or in some overloading of your device by the recently hugely grown apps. If you have no better option, it surely worths a try.

Which phone are you using? Go to Settings -> About Phone and check for system updates. If an update is available, do it right away.
If the problem still persists, then you should try to reset your phone.
If you are worried about losing your contacts, then you don't need to worry. On an Android device, your contacts are already been synced with google service. You can even check your contacts on the https://contacts.google.com .
Many other free contact backup apps are also available on the Internet. So you can backup your contacts/sms/call_logs and everything else to external card and then restore them any time.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is it bad if a cable is higher current rating than a charger?
First time asking here, but
Is there any potential harm in using a charging cable with a higher current rating than a charger it is connected to? It's a tablet (Asus P027) and its charger is 5V/2A only.
I bought a 1-meter/3.3-foot USB-A to USB-C (3.1) cable rated for 3A, it has a 56K resistor according to the QA on the product's page (Belkin 1m USB-A to C cable should pull it on google) and this is all I know about it.

No, it's good. The opposite is bad - in extreme cases the cable can melt and catch fire (happened to me, thankfully I noticed the smoke)

No, only the device should not draw more current than the adapter and the cable can handle.
So the device defines how much current will flow through the circuit (which consists of your adapter and cable).
If the device draws more current, the adapter or the cable may overheat (with a fire hazard).
Btw, it's better to be safe and not use exactly a 2A but at least more, so you are safe with a cable of 3A.
Remarks from others
Also, this yields for most (cheap) adapters. See the comment of Jarrod Christman for an exception.
For USB, there is a negotiation protocol. See the comment of Yakk below.

I don't think this is right.  If the device tries to draw more than 2A, the adaptor should drop the voltage to keep the current down (until it reaches the point where the voltage is so low that the adaptor cuts out altogether).

@MartinBonner I don't have the theoretical knowledge, but afaik an adapter just 'gives' the current the load needs, and if the load requests more, the adapter delivers more, even if it cannot handle it. Of course, it might be possible there is some kind of safety circuit built in the adapter, but this is not common (for cheap adapters at least).

@MartinBonner, that depends entirely on the adapter design and intent. Some power supplies will attempt to keep voltage constant and allow more current even beyond their own spec and die. This coupled with intentionally underrating for a safety buffer (a 3A power supply may actually do 3.5A fine), it is best to assume the worst case. Thus your power supply and cables should be oversized to some extent for your use, so you're not constantly against their max rating.

@JarrodChristman Thanks for the addition; I referred to your comment in my answer.

Are you aware of how USB-C devices "negotate" with USB-C cables to determine how much current they can draw?  Your answer seems to completely ignore this issue, which is at the core of the OP's problem.  I believe 56k resistor in the cable communicates to the attached USB device how much current it can safely draw; barring something I don't know (which is plenty) that cable might convince the USB device into thinking "ok, drawing 3A is ok from this", frying the charger.  This isn't a "dumb cable"; for a dumb cable your answer seems correct (more A=more safe)

(note: I am not an expert at this.  Possibly there is a way that the other end of the USB connection (the charger) communicates to the USB-C device the current it supports, and/or handles being asked for more power than it is rated for gracefully)

@Yakk Yes, I added a comment to look at your remark; however, it is not that the intelligence is within the cable, afaik it's inside the USB protocol.

@yakk, the OP just vaguely mentioned a usb “charger,” which vary considerably in intelligence and negotiation. Even if you’re talking about using a computer USB port, as outlined by the answer linked below, that varies a lot in terms of intelligence and proper implementation as well. Since the range of devices using USB charging vary a lot in sophistication I believe a lot of vendors go outside the USB spec for compatibility sake.

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/222260/usb-power-the-basics

On your topic of USB-C, I am not as familiar with it. The cables can be smart, as in they identify information regarding protocol and power control... but I would be interested in seeing how well chargers and devices work within the spec. Technically you can just use the cable as a cable and ignore any and all negotiations I think. I say it’s stikl best to be cautious unless you know the entire chain.

One last comment, as it’s turning into an extended conversation with myself, haha. The OP actually mentions the use of a USB-A to USB-C cable, which may mean it’s a dumb cable as those are meant for backwards compatibility and lack the majority of the signaling wires of USB-C.

@yakk USB-IF USB C (in fact USB3.1 spec )  cables are smart and  do in fact have embedded configuration ic  that communicates the cable capability, This is used to ensure higher voltage safely with power delivery (20V).

@Crasic, what I’m curious about are: 1. Does that same smart cable feature set exist using a USB-A to USB-C cable? 2. Are the power negotiation features required for the use of USB-C or can negotiations be bypassed like in traditional dumb USB cables?

@JarrodChristman USB-A to USB-C contain that resistor, which is the "smart" part that communicates "this isn't a real USB-C cable" to the USB-C device.  Lacking that resistor the USB-C will draw too much power and plastic will melt.  (Ask me how I know...)

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


text:
There is no WiFi signal when debugging app
I'm using a real device to build code with IntelliJ.
I realized that when I run app, the WiFi signal is too weak, almost lost the connection.
My device is Xiaomi Redmi note 5. The WiFi only loses the connection when I run the app or debug the app. If anyone has same problem, please tell me, lost internet connection and I can't run the app and test it.

If you build another app, does the problem still occur? In other words, is this caused by your app in particular?

Based on more than 1-year experience in developing and debugging Android apps, I've never experienced this. Android emulator can throttle network, but AFAIK it can't do that on real devices. Since you're developing an app, you should check the logcat if there's something related to the WiFi when you debug/run your app.

I got it, just turn off terminal and turn on again :)))

@HuệVũ feel free to put that as an answer to your question if that was your solution


text:
Samsung Galaxy S5 upgraded Chrome version from 55 to 73. adb logcat not tracking network calls
I am developing automation test suite for monitoring Chrome browsers network calls on Android mobile device. My code was working fine with Chrome v72.
After upgrading Chrome version to 73. My code is not working. In debugging I realized that adb logcat is tracking browser network calls.
Output with Chrome v55 for adb -d logcat|grep "timesofindia":
03-30 16:27:48.586 16802 16802 I chromium: [INFO:CONSOLE(199)] "city for the weather data..Ahmedabad", source: https://m.timesofindia.com/cityweather_js_v2.cms?v=2406 (199)

Output with Chrome v73 for adb -d logcat|grep "timesofindia":
Nothing
Do I have to change some configurations for fixing this issue? Please help me.

What does your code do? What chrome APIs does it use? Can you produce a minimal, complete, and verifiable example?

My selenium appium webdriver code does following - read all details from console log: driver.manage().logs().get("logcat").getAll(); Capture details of request and responses of all network calls


text:
Micro sd card partition strategy for Android (context of wear leveling & data corruption)?
The primary issue relates to bad blocks / clusters and it happens to be android platform.
This is a Sandisk 128gb  (leave this link - it is not an ad). Some cards indicates other problems like memory channels, write speed etc. This card I am using on an Android Nougat device.
This is the 2nd time, that the card had corruption issues. The first one I bought got write locked. I've bought a replacement. This card has a lot of bad clusters. 2 things got me to sniff this:

whatsApp directory (which had a bind to whatsapp dir on internal): the image directory can no longer be written to.
The phone randomly reboots, and next time the exFat partition is not mounted any more (I used app2sd, and partitioned the card to ext4 10gb to link my apps. The rest if exfat).

I ran a chkdksk on windows 7, and it would autoterminate on initial run & persisting on running gave me repeated message "# cluster moved for file " ( cant recollect exact verbiage ). It could Never complete it but aborted with the message . "corruption found in card "
Question
Given this situation, is there any OS utility or 3rd party tool out there, that can complete the card run and mark the bad blocks so, that these bad blocks remain unavailable to write? Yes, I ran chkdsk with /r /x options, and that is when it puked with all these errors, and it didn't run untill end. I tried aparted for Android which runs fsck (exFat sub), and the report came normal in < 1 min which tell me it didnt invoke bad blocks routine.
From what I read due to 'wear leveling' the dynamics changes so bad sectors can't be marked permanently, and the only temporary solution would be to do a low level format. Question is - is that so , pl. confirm my understanding?
Question
If the above is correct, I wanted to think of ways I can reduce data corruption and have a handle on the above. What I am thinking is , after erasing the data - instead of exFat. I will create several Ext4 partitions.

An ext4 for app2sd hidden partition (as is the case presently)
another ext4  pat # 2 for mostly RO data
ext4  pat # 3 for mostly Moderate RW data (like camera photos)
ext4  pat # 4 for mostly high RW  ( like whatApp media)

Is this going to help make life better than before?
Question
How do I auto mount ext4 (default external storage for Android is exFat or Fat32)  and that too more than 1 partition ? QuestionWhat files equivalent to fstab files in android (this is nougat) do I add my custom mount command to?
Question
Any other solution that comes to mind?


text:
Device boots old version after update TWRP
Out of the blue, my tablet (Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 wifi) made a reboot and got stuck in the loading screen. So I tried to install a new ROM (sideload), but noticed that I can't because then the installer says
installing zip file '/sideload/package.zip' error executing updater

Then I thought, well maybe I should update TWRP to a newer version. So I did, at least, I thought I did. This is the most annoying android hell I've ever been in. I updated TRWP from 2.8.6 to 3.2.3, but when I reboot directly into recovery mode, which I did manually because I unchecked reboot option in Odin, I found out that the stupid Device is still loading 2.8.6. Next, I tried the same update from within TRWP itself. The flash succeeded, Reboot into recovery again and.. nope. Still 2.8.6. What the hell?
So then I tried pushing a simple test file to the filesystem /sdcard and /tmp and a custom /dl directory using adb commands. Then I reboot, aaand gone are the files. It seems my whole device is stuck in a permanent state. I can't change anything.
I gave up now. I'm working on this hell for 3 days and there is absolutely no positive movement at all. Why does Odin say flash passed, TRWP flash succeeded  and when I reboot, I still get the old crap? How can I flash my device from here on? It seems I'm stuck with it now forever. It doesn't update.
Other things I noticed:

When I load into TWRP I can use ADB commands from my Win 10 PC.
When I load into Fastboot mode, I can not use Fastboot commands. The device is not seen when using fastboot devices command.
I can not see any file inside /data seems to be empty folder?
When reloading TWRP theme, /data/media/0.. seems to be inexistent.
I got the Samsung Android USB drivers installed on my windows 10 pc. Device manager shows ADB device when I boot into recovery. But no Fastboot device when I boot into fastboot.

What is going on here? How can I fix this?


text:
A small app with a surreal name appeared on my phone. What is it?

There's this on my phone. You know what it is it is?
This is the first time I've seen it.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Can you tell us which of the 3 notifications you have never seen before?

As rule of thumb, if you can delete the app on an unrooted device, deleting it is safe.
Its size is very small, most likely it is some crap, or it might be some harmful thing, too.
Note also, that @pm@, as the name of the app, looks like a translation token. Multi-lingual apps are working typically, that the program code uses tokens instead of hardcoded text, like @pm@ or so, and there is a database for the translation of all the tokens on all the supported languages. It is also possible, that this translation database is damaged.
If you can't fix it by an uninstall, a factory reset has a good chance to solve it.


text:
Is there a successor to CSipSimple?
The goal is to use the CSipSimple on a TMO Galaxy S5.  I found the .apk files, however they are dated 2012:
https://code.google.com/archive/p/csipsimple/downloads
CSipSimple-0.04-01.apk installed but returns an error at boot up:

Can't load native library CPU arch invalid for this build

Is there a simple fix to overcome the error message?
Is there a successor (fork?) to CSipSimple?
Is there a version of CSipSimple that is Marshmallow compatible?

Ideally there would a site that stores more recent .apk files.

I don't believe so. CSipSimple was a project started by Régis Montoya in 2010, the last stable build was in 2014, and it was abandoned in 2017... It was removed from the Play Store for download mid-2018. Source
The issue you are experiencing here isn't (likely) the Android version, but the architecture. CSipSimple was never made to support a 64-bit OS or instruction set and it only supported a 32-bit arm environment. CSipSimple was not compatible with any device other than "arm" architecture, and was not compatible with arm64 or other platforms.
To answer questions specifically:

Is there a simple fix to overcome the error message?

Yes... Install the application in a device with compatible architecture. Otherwise, no.

Is there a successor (fork?) to CSIPSIMPLE?

To my knowledge there is no SIP softphone that officially states it is successor of CSipSimple. My guess would be that several SIP softphone software on the Play Store is likely based on, or uses some code from, CSipSimple's code base as it was one of the first stable generic SIP softphones out there for Android. Application recommendations are outside of the scope of Android Enthusiasts.

Is there a version of CSIPSIMPLE that is Marshmallow compatible?

As I stated earlier, the OS version is not the issue in this case. I can tell you from personal experience it runs on Android Oreo just fine as long as it is a 32-bit OS, so Marshmallow compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
Although it is beyond the scope of this forum, you could download the source code and attempt to modify it yourself. It is still available in the Google Code Archive here.

Excwellent response: is there an authoritative source that can be cited to support the claim that CSIPSIMPLE requires a 32-bit ARM architecture?

The Google Code archive provides 2012 .apk install files.  Please consider adding a link to your response to the final 2014 stable build in the first paragraph?  Thank you

There is a GitHub project which has it's latest commit 2015, however it has no releases, therefore you have to compile it yourself. From that project there are some forks. The most interesting fork seems to be from user skadyrov (last commit 2016)


text:
Inserting incompatible SD card?
I have an Android phone which supports 32GB SD card. So, if I insert a 64GB SD card, I know that the device will not recognize it. But, if I create two partitions in the 64GB SD card (32GB each), will the device recognize it?
Note: I have Android 7.0 installed in my device.

No. The limitation of size is at hardware level, independent of what's inside.

Note that a lot of devices say they only handle "32GB" but that is not always the case... Many handle larger cards just find, although you may have to manually format them to fat32 file system as it is not the default for more cards over 32GB. What device are you referring to?

I have Micromax Bharat 3 Q437 mobile device, with Android 7.0.

The support is based on device performance rather than the actual hardware or software limitations.
For example, if your device has a slow processor then reading the SD Card to do a Media Scan will take for ever... So long that it will impact the user experience constantly waiting for the SD Card to read.
So, as to improve the user's experience they decided to implement a recommended maximum SD card limit.
It is only a recommendation.
You can usually not format a device in Fat32 larger than 32GB .. However if you use other software or even the inbuilt Format option, it will use a modified Fat32 called ExFat ... ExFat can handle larger than 32 bit and is basically a workaround for the 32 GB limit of Fat32.
So, just format it and wait a little longer for the card to load... A few seconds or minutes waiting is well worth the extra storage in my opinion, however some people prefer Speed over Size.


text:
How to open multi task window 5.1?
I have Karbonn Quattro L50 with Android 5.1 mobile.  Then i have to open another app. Cant find Multi task window options. When i open a app and to open other app i have to go back back until its on main screen. But cant find the option to switch between both app. Any suggestion or help where can i find the option to switch between multiple apps.

Do you mean recent apps list?

Do you have 3 buttons on bottom of the phone or screen when its unlocked, buttons have triangle, circle and square on it?

yes i cant find recent app list. 1 app at a time i access. Is there any option uncheck or how can i use all the recent apps which are open. Thanks

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Unable to unlock bootloader for HTC 816G android phone
I unable to unlock the bootloader for HTC 816G. I am trying to do this on a windows 10 laptop. The issue is that when I enter command 'adb devices', there is no device found when the phone is on fastboot mode. However, the same command works when the phone is on normal boot mode. I have installed HTC Sync and there seems to be no issue with driver. However, I tried to manually update the driver to "Android adb device" but issue persisted. I can see the phone serial number when I run 'fastboot devices' when phone is on fastboot mode. I tried to do this on an Ubuntu machine and still the same. Please assist.
Do let me know if you require any more details.

Adb doesn't work in fastboot mode. They are independent protocols. Adb works when OS is running (normal or recovery). Fastboot works at bootloader stage when no OS is loaded.

Oh..thanks for the information, @IrfanLatif. Would you know why the command 'fastboot oem get_identifier_token' fails when I run it?

fastboot oem commands are not standard but device-specific and I don't have any experience with HTC devices. You can check with XDA for some guides related to your device.

In addition, I'd recommend that you check the Windows device manager and see if the Fastboot device has its drivers installed. Also, consider using one of the newest versions of fastboot.exe.

Do you have the phone in fastboot mode? https://www.hardreset.info/devices/htc/htc-desire-825/fastboot-mode/

"I can see the phone serial number when I run 'fastboot devices' when phone is on fastboot mode." It seems fastboot works fine.

I only have experience with an old HTC Wildfire S so please be patient with me here...
• The first step towards unlocking Any HTC  bootloader is to make an official account with HTC Dev.    HTCDev.com
( Become a HTC Developer -  so to speak )
• Secondly you need to Unlock the bootloader using the official HTC Bootloader unlock tools...
 HTC Dev.com/bootloader
The process usually goes as follows...

Enter Fastboot
Enter Command fastboot oem get-unlock-token

You place the unlock token into the website and then it will convert the Token into a Token.bin or something like that ( unlock.bin ) i can't remember, i said bare with me...

You place the (.bin) file next to your fastboot.exe program ( not ADB ) and then run
fastboot oem unlock -pathToUnlock.bin

You will get appropriate instructions on the HTC Dev site so don't worry about my crappy guide ;) ...
--

P.S
ADB is only uses while the device is "Live" .. Fastboot is used to flash things like the System...
ADB is a part of the system, Fastboot is part of the Boot... Different programs for different things.


text:
Prevent application from gaining root access
I'm developing a device management application on a rooted device and I'm looking for a solution to the problem that any application can access the su commands a get access to change things on the device. I want to restrict that and only let my app use the su commands and block it to the other applications including applications that will be installed by the user(if the user installs an application it will be blocked from root access automatically). Any solutions?

Are you looking for a programmatical solution or an end-user solution?

preferably programmatic , but maybe end-user solution would fit too. I'm looking for all options available

Magisk Hide does what you need, by making use of bind mounts and mount namespaces.

what are those "bind mounts" and "bind namespaces" ? can I do the same thing Magisk do in my application ? I prefer for some reasons to not install any other application on the device unless it's totally necessary

As I understand you would need to make app that deals with what app is granted root access because you can't force one app to do what other app said, anyway you would need to force users to use that app which manages root and app you were making in first place.. I think it would be more appropriate to post this question to programming related community, here they don't do software development questions.

@OfekRegev magiskhide, bind mount, mount namespace

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
"Fastboot devices" command doesn't work after macos high sierra 10.14.4 upgrade
I recently upgraded my 2016 MacBook Pro to High Sierra 10.4.4 update and since the update "fastboot devices" command hasn't been working. "fastboot" itself gives a response but "fastboot devices" command gives
ERROR: Couldn't create a device interface iterator: (e00002bd)
ERROR: Couldn't create a device interface iterator: (e00002bd) error. It comes twice on the window.

this worked for me!!
https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/
cant believe it.

"fastboot devices" has been working for me for years until I have upgraded to Mac OS 10.14.4.    I think this is a regression of the Mac OS.    I'm waiting for a new OS upgrade that fixes this regression.    In the meantime, I'm not sure if there is any workaround.

I have submitted a bug report to Apple. Following is the link:
https://bugreport.apple.com/web/?problemID=50376579

I have upgraded to Mac OS 10.14.5 and this regression is still not fixed. It's better to find a workaround.

jonathanzh, have you found a workaround? I'm also on 10.14.5 and haven't had any luck. I have access to a Windows and a Linux PC.

I had the same error in version 28.0.3 but it's fixed in 29.0.1.
You can download it from the official site.
It's also available from MacPorts, e.g
port install android-platform-tools

Install via brew with this command: brew cask install android-platform-tools

This might be a regression in android-platform-tools. Try fastboot version 9dc0875966c0-android from android-platform-tools 26.0.1 as it works for me on macOS 10.14.4

I confirm that the fastboot version in android-platform-tools 26.0.1 works on macOS 10.14.4. This is a nice workaround before Apple fixes this regression.

This is a Fastboot problem which has been fixed by google. See the release notes here:
SDK Platform Tools release notes
Here is what solved my problem:
Start android studio->go to sdk manager->select SDK Platform Tools -> Check "Show Details" -> Select Android Platform Tools -> Upgrade to 29.0.1 or newer.
See the images for more details:

Short answer: brew cask install android-platform-tools
Long answer:
I was in the same case (on macOS 10.14.6):
$ fastboot devices
ERROR: Couldn't create a device interface iterator: (e00002bd)

I tried previous answers of this topic without success, so I searched which program is at the origin of fastboot command:
$ which fastboot
/usr/local/bin/fastboot

$ la -l /usr/local/bin/fastboot
lrwxr-xr-x  1 Klemart3D  admin  52  7 jun  2016 /usr/local/bin/fastboot@ -> ../Cellar/android-platform-tools/23.0.1/bin/fastboot

In my case, I found my fastboot command was not managed by Android Studio or an independent tool but is a shortcut of a brew formula. So I forced install of new "android-platform-tools" paquet:
$ brew cask install android-platform-tools
==> Downloading https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r30.0.0-darwin.zip
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Verifying SHA-256 checksum for Cask 'android-platform-tools'.
==> Installing Cask android-platform-tools
==> Linking Binary 'adb' to '/usr/local/bin/adb'.
==> Linking Binary 'dmtracedump' to '/usr/local/bin/dmtracedump'.
==> Linking Binary 'etc1tool' to '/usr/local/bin/etc1tool'.
==> Linking Binary 'fastboot' to '/usr/local/bin/fastboot'.
==> Linking Binary 'hprof-conv' to '/usr/local/bin/hprof-conv'.
==> Linking Binary 'mke2fs' to '/usr/local/bin/mke2fs'.
  android-platform-tools was successfully installed!

Shortcut is updated to last android-platform-tools version folder:
$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/fastboot
lrwxr-xr-x  1 Klemart3D  admin  73  7 may 17:59 /usr/local/bin/fastboot -> /usr/local/Caskroom/android-platform-tools/30.0.0/platform-tools/fastboot

And I have no more error!
$ fastboot devices


text:
Is it possible to keep the touch sensor on while the screen is off?
I know that the touch sensor of a phone's screen requires power to operate. So, my question is that, is there any way to keep the touch sensor on while the screen is off in Android OS?

I think yes but I'm not 100% sure. Thing is I remember some old phone had thisbor similar thing because developer tried to make double tap to wake as LG phones have, but it had resulted in a huge battery drain and wasn't finished (I can't remember what phone it was, if I do I will post here). Anyway you would need to make custom kernel, and maybe even play with drivers. Why do you need this?

Actually, I am trying to make an Android app, which can respond to gestures even when the screen is off, for faster access.

Is that possible by acquiring partial wake lock?

I'm not sure but it will probably make battery drain because cpu won't be in doze or deep sleep, maybe if you use device sensors but not every device has double tap sensor and it doesn't allow much to do with it. Ask this on xda or stack owerflow because they deal with development

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


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Does mobile hotspot have security vulnerabilities in older phones?
I want to use my Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus as a mobile hotspot, for my laptop. I have installed a custom ROM on the phone -- Official Lineage OS 14.1. There are no security updates for this OS. Does this mean that the mobile hotspot connection is unsafe, or is the Wi-Fi security independent of the OS? Does it matter, as long as my laptop's OS is up to date and using a VPN?

Android releases frequent Security Bulletins to address a number of vulnerabilities at operating system and hardware level. So as a thumb rule, the newer the better and safer. But if you just want to use hotspot, it's not very hard to enforce the basic security measures.
Using as hotspot means your phone is working as a router. Routers do have builtin firewalls for better protection, and some advanced features like Port Forwarding, DMZ, UPnP, QoS, VPN, multiple AP's, RADIUS, NTP, DHCP server, DNS server, Dynamic DNS, VoIP features (SIP ALG and others), captive portal, traffic sniffing / DPI, anti-malware etc. A normal Android phone offers some of these features out of the box; the basic NAT, netfilter (iptables) firewall, Access Point (AP) with WPA2 encryption and a DHCP/DNS server.
Additionally if you are a tech-savvy, you can also define your own firewall rules, port forwarding rules, setup a VPN etc. A few things I can think of which can be easily done:

Android uses dnsmasq as DHCP and DNS server. You can edit /etc/dnsmasq.conf to whitelist you MAC/IP addresses by assigning fixed IPs to MACs (options dhcp-host= and dhcp-range=) so that only your configured devices get an IP from DHCP server.
Configure dnsmasq to listen only on local network interface and not from internet facing interface.
Android uses hostapd to create hotspot. Configure MAC filter in hostapd.conf (options macaddr_acl=1 and accept_mac_file) so that none other can connect to your phone.
Configure hostapd to offer at least WPA2 PSK encryption (option wpa=2).
Configure hostapd to hide SSID (option ignore_broadcast_ssid=1).
Configure at least 12 character long Pre-Shared Key (PSK) (option wpa_psk or wpa_passphrase).
Run a DNS over HTTPS (DoH) server like dnscrypt-proxy. Or at least set DNS server in dnsmasq.conf (option server=) to some trustworthy public DNS like 1.1.1.1.
Update /etc/hosts file and/or dnscrypt-proxy blacklist file from some trustworthy source like this one to block ads and harmful websites.
Make sure you don't have any listening ports (by executing ss -ltup) except dnsmasq's port 67 (DHCP) and 53 (DNS).
Make sure you don't have any port forwarding rules defined (by executing iptables -S FORWARD) except the one defined for hotspot.
Block all incoming new packets. See this.
Disable ICMP echo reply. See this.
Block all non-root UIDs for OUTPUT chain (except if hotspot uses some non-root UID) to ensure no apps use any data.
Also consider allowing only required destination ports like 80, 443 if you need to do only web browsing. Allow others like SIP/RTP/FTP/SFTP/SMB etc. if needed.
Uninstall all user apps to save battery and internet traffic.
Disable any system apps you find unnecessary, particularly GApps, cleaners, system optimizers, anti-malware etc.

Still if you enjoy playing with phone, consider setting up some router operating system like Zeroshell on your phone.
But even if you don't take any extra measures on phone, laptop's security is enough (for laptop) if configured properly.

This is really helpful!!!

How do you set up zeroshell on Android?


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Can my father's smartphone be compromised?
My father said to me that he allowed installation of apps from unknown sources when he was asked to do it to go further with something (he said that he don't remember when or what he was doing).
In android 8.0 (the version of his smartphone) we can allow third-party installation in individual apps, so I went in this tab and I saw that only Google Chrome was able to do this type of installation. So, I navigated through my father's apps and found nothing suspicious.
When I went to files, I found a folder called didi. Inside, a file with no extention called psnger_encrypted or something like that. When I went to select the file to see details, I accidentally clicked on the file. Android said to me that it didn't find any app to open that file.
Could a file have been executed even when Android says that message? If this file is malicious, is it possible that it was executed and so infected the phone?
Doing some research, I found that a Chinese app called "DiDi" that have a file called "psnger" too. Also, I found a file in my father's phone called .omega.key, and this file is also seen in topics related to DiDi app. The fact is that I can't find this app on the phone, and I'm looking for ways that can indicate if the phone have any malicious content. I executed AVG, and Malwarebytes but both detected nothing. What else can I do?

What is the security update status of the device (which date - shown in settings)?

@Robert, any recommendations?

Is that phone rooted?

No, the phone is not rooted

The correct approach in case of a virus/malware infected device (even if it already had been clean-up by e.g. Google) is to totally erase the device (user and system data) by performing a factory reset and re-flashing the complete firmware.
Virus scanner apps are next useless on Android as they usually don't have system access. And even with system access it is still easy to hide from Antivirus software.
The main problem is that the security patches are more than one year old. Therefore a malware app could have exploited the device and installed itself into the system. Therefore there may be still active components in the system that are invisible to you and any antivirus software.
I would also not to hurry up to get the device back in a usable state. People (especially relatives) learn better not to click on everything they see when there are negative consequences.

Can a malware infect Android OS even if the OS isn't rooted?

@Puspam Yes, this is possible if your device is vulnerable to an exploit that allows to execute code with root permission. Therefore I asked for the security update status.

Thank you for your advice, but he is my father and he use smartphone for work. Re-flashing is not a option since I can not take his smartphone for a long time. Is there anything else that you recommend?

There are two options left: "buy a new phone" or "do nothing and pray"

This past and archive was created at final days of last year, and my father said nothing about strange events on his phone (neither me in the few times when I used his phone). Buy a new one is really recommended?

Furthermore, can a infected android infect another android in the same network? Consider android 5.0 and newer

@Mycroft AFAIK there should be no open ports on Android by default as Android does not provide services on the network (make sure you not accidentally enable adb over Wifi or use apps that run servers like SSH, FTP, HTTP). Therefore the risk should be very low.

@Mycroft Looks I have to limity my last comment. This is only true for the Android system itself. Loks like the apps are the real security problem: Hundreds of popular Android apps have open ports, making them prime targets for hacking

Android is a minefield for trojans, adware and viruses. Your android phone can be compromised from the moment it comes out of the box (most of mine are) (depends generally on where purchased and what comes installed).
If you want extra visibility on your phones networking then you can download NoRoot firewall or similar and that will help you see what connections are active and give you further layer of control.
I have also found generally that antivirus apps are not particularly effective.

In case you buy a "china phone" the Android device may be already infected when you open the box (Android device infected in the production facility).


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How to disable SIM notification telling you your number?
When I reboot my phone, I always get this message from Android:

Your number: +XX XXX XXXX XXXX

I'm on Android 9. How can I disable it? (I'm not changing SIMs or something, just plain reboot.) To clarify, this is not the usual notification that you get from other apps, but a simple popup (from the SIM card I presume). There is only one SIM card slot.

What do you mean by "get this message"? Is it an Android notification? If yes from which app does it come from? If your device a dual SIM device and do you have two SIM cards inserted?

@Robert Fixed. No it's from the system and my device only has one SIM card slot.


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Export/save 200+ Samsung memos without selecting them one by one?
I would like to save 200+ memo from the default samsung application
What I did:
I already succedded to save memos one by one but it takes too long to do this for all of them, the process is the following:

Open the samsung memo application
Go into each Memo
Save it by sharing it (thought the three dots) to Google Drive.

What I wanna do:

Save all of them without reapeating the steps above 200+ times

Note: Any ways to save/export them on a more successful way or to use them from another "memo application" are welcome!
edit: I know how to save one memo (as explained above), but I'm looking for a way to automate it or extract a large quantity of them at the same time.

Possible duplicate of How to backup notes from stock Notes app?


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Access Google Now launcher
Google closed their Google now launcher and all devices shows incompatible on Google play store. But I can find its apk on internet. After installing app it won't show up in my settings for default launcher. Is there any way I can enjoy Google now launcher?

If you have a rooted device this might help Setting Default applications through ADB
If you still have issues....  You can ask


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How do I get rid of two lockscreens?
I have a Samsung Note 8. I took my phone to the store yesterday, and now I have a second lock screen with ads. I have gone through all of my apps that I dont regularly use, and have tried cleaning up junk files off of my phone, but nothing has worked. Does anyone know a way to get rid of this screen?

That lock screen (the one with ads) is usually from a cleaner app like clean master, 360, baidu etc there should be an On and Off switch inside the app or you can just uninstall the app
If you couldn't find it tell me the name of the app i tell you where it is


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How to block network traffic going to a specific remote port?
Is there a way I could block a specific network port  connection for a specific app in Android? My phone is rooted. I know iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp --dport xx -j DROP but this blocks those ports for every app. I want to block it for a single app.

You can block all TCP traffic from app with UID 10142, destined for port 53:
~# iptables -I OUTPUT -m owner --uid-owner 10142 -p tcp --dport 53 -j DROP

Change UID and port as per your needs.


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Ads on my android phone
How can I stop ads from running on my phone. I tried stopping in the Google ads settings but still it is running on my fone.

Please explain what kind of ads do you want to stop: in-browser ads? in-app ads? YouTube ads? Push ads? Also, Google never provides a setting to disable ads, it just disables the personalized ads (you'll still get ads, but not personalized based on your preference/history).

Enough information is provided based the current methods of blocking.

Many Ad's support developer's and creator's on the Android platform...
Because Android is open sourced, even the Android platform is partly supported by Ads...
You either need a kernal that supports a hosts file to block on a per-host basis or you can use traffic redirection and blocking based on packets using a VPN Ad blocker...
The first option ( Hosts File ) requires root Access to modify the system/etc/hosts file and block advertising company's hosts or IP Addresses.
The second option is less obtrusive, you do not need root access to use a VPN Ad Blocker.. .
Please have a look around at the different options and find one that suits you best ..
Combination of hosts files after using many ad block programs +2mb on Google Drive ... Ad-hosts.txt
Ads come in 3 or 4 ways
• Internet Browser Ads
• Built-in Ads by Developers
• Ads served by Google Play Services ( Also Built-in to a degree )
You can block each type of ad in different ways depending the way it is served..
For example, built-in ads can be removed by resizing the ads code to 0.0dip in height..
Or the Ad system can be disabled by disabling Mobile Data whenever you use offline apps that have online ads within them ...
The most common methods used on Android for dismantling ads or blocking ads are in my opinion as follows...
• Mobile Data switch ( Stock )
• ABP - ( Ad Block Plus )
• VPN Ad Blockers ( Used to be heaps, however all i can find now is paid VPN Host apps )
• NO ROOT Firewall  - For forcing apps offline
• Editing the Hosts file manually
ADVANCED HACKS
Smali editing and recompilation ( reverse engineering )
• APK Tool  - Rebuild XML without Ad Code
• Lucky Patcher
Lucky Patcher will work if you know what you are doing... All apps are available on Androids... Apk tool, Lucky Patcher etc...
You can grab a safer App called
• APK Editor
on the play store and manually edit the XML files also ... It is only safer because it compiles with Googles Terms of Service etc... Lucky Patcher will NOT comply with the Play Store so you need to look around online .
P.S
Lucky Patcher also includes a MOCK Purchase system that can allow FREE Purchase's for almost ALL IN-APP Purchases..  IN-App Purchases are easy to MOCK by another Application by redirecting the Purchase Intent sent to the Play Store... By Wise with such a program... Shady to say the least ....
Conclusion
• Hosts files in system/etc/hosts is the safest method that requires no Third-party extension or additions...
VPN Blockers are also a safer method of using Ad Blockers...
Hacking is Hacking... so be careful and check your area's laws for any possible problems etc...
Android has specific terms about blocking Ads, so please look into everything appropriately.


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Drive sends an almost-daily "1 file is now available offline" notification
On my second device (Nexus 5), I keep getting the same notification from Drive almost every morning. When I click on it, the app opens its main screen without marking the file that I was notified about. Funny thing is, I haven't received such notifications on my main device (Pixel 3).
What is this notification about? Can the notification be triggered from the update of a some backup file?

Try clearing Drive app's cache. If it doesn't work, clear it's data.

Apparently, the files that I've uploaded recently are being flagged as "Available offline", which downloads them to the device and the app shows this notification when a download is completed. I suppose that's an intended behavior, even though I've never flagged any of my files as "Available offline" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I had the same problem and I think unchecking the "make recent files available offline" setting in the Google Drive app did the trick.
I'm using Google Drive v2.20.261.01.40 on a Google Pixel 3a with Android 10 (build QQ3A.200605.002).

On my android I found this setting in the individual sheets and docs apps, not the drive app.


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Install Google Play Services without Google Play Store
Recently, I rooted my phone for the first time and wanted to get rid of most Google apps including the Play Store. However, after seeing multiple apps didn't work correctly because of a dependency on the Google API, I decided I had to install Google Play Services again.
After installing the latest version from APK Mirror and checking I had the Google Framework installed, apps still crashed and displayed

[app name] won't run without Google Play services which are not supported by your device.

This seems odd as I have Android 9 installed on a OnePlus 6.
Is this issue caused by not having the Google Play Store installed? If so, is there any way to circumvent it using another app? Would I be able to flash GApps on a stock ROM? Also, is there any risk of crashing my OS because OpenGapps would overwrite some of the current stock Google apps?
Also, for some reason, the last time I tried to remove the Play Store, I couldn't find its package in the /system folder. When I tried to flash GApps, it displayed that I already had Google Apps installed. Also, it output

Error 70: insufficient memory in system partition.

Download the Open GApps and flash it from within a custom recovery. Note that you may need to whitelist your device to run Open GApps.

After installing the latest version from apkmirror, and checking I had the Google Framework installed, apps still crashed

You can't simply get Play Services work by installing .apk file(s). Google Play Services (GMS) and Services Framework (GSF) need some extra privileges which normal apps don't have. That's why we flash GApps through custom recovery which modifies some files in /system partition. Other than the .apk files placed under /system/app and /system/priv-app, here is a minimal set of files under /system which are added or replaced. You can see the contents of configuration files to know more about what elevated privileges Google apps have over normal apps.
etc/default-permissions/default-permissions.xml
etc/default-permissions/opengapps-permissions.xml
etc/g.prop
etc/permissions/com.google.android.dialer.support.xml
etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml
etc/permissions/com.google.android.media.effects.xml
etc/permissions/privapp-permissions-google.xml
etc/preferred-apps/google.xml
etc/sysconfig/dialer_experience.xml
etc/sysconfig/google-hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml
etc/sysconfig/google.xml
etc/sysconfig/google_build.xml
etc/sysconfig/google_exclusives_enable.xml
framework/com.google.android.dialer.support.jar
framework/com.google.android.maps.jar
framework/com.google.android.media.effects.jar
lib64/libjni_latinimegoogle.so

Is this issue caused by not having the Google Play Store installed?

No. Play Services should work fine even without Play Store. Play Store is a Google's privileged app that won't work without Play Services. On first boot after flashing GApps, you can uninstall Play Store. But some apps which are dependent on Play Store can break, such as which make use of License Verification or In-app Billing or possibly other things (I'm not a developer).

Would I be able to flash GApps on a stock ROM?

Theoretically you can flash GApps to any ROM, unless the ROM is deliberately customized not to work with Google's APIs.

the last time I tried to remove the Play Store I couldn't find its package in the /system folder.

Play Store's package name is com.android.vending and app name is usually Phonesky, installed under /system/priv-app. If GApps are uninstalled, Play Store can be re-installed or uninstalled anytime as a user app.

When I tried to flash GApps, it displayed that I already had Google Apps installed

OpenGApps' installer script looks for some files /system/priv-app/GoogleServicesFramework/GoogleServicesFramework.apk and /system/etc/g.prop etc. to figure out if GApps are already installed on device. You can rarely expect a stock ROM from OEM without Google Mobile Services (GMS).

it output Error 70: insufficient memory in system partition

It's also one of installer script's pre-installation check. Check your /system partition what fills it, may be It's stock ROM taking all space. It's possible because they are usually full of bloatware. Remove some unnecessary system apps or move them to /data as user app before flashing GApps. OpenGApps Pico Package will hardly take 200-300 MBs, you can check yourself. Also consider limiting installation size using gapps-config.

is there any risk of crashing my OS

Risk of OS crashing is raised to much higher level when you unlock your bootloader and start playing with the things you are not supposed to. But usually following proper guides, you won't get harmed. Related: Why Android devices are more brickable than PCs?
PS:
Android is a look but don't touch kind of Open Source project. They have very cleverly integrated their proprietary closed-source apps and services in AOSP by tying up OEM's in Compatibility Test Suite (CTS), after all it's one of their biggest revenue source (1, 2). Even on a custom ROM, user has to Register the device with Google in order to use GApps, as @Robert has mentioned in comment. They have left no escape way; what one would do with an Android device without Google Play services location APIs (for High Accuracy) and online Contacts backup, just to name a few.
There are a number of Google API's including Analytics, Ads, Authentication, Location, SafetyNet, CloudMessaging and many more. All core GApps (including Play Store) work in collaboration to provide access to these APIs when an app needs to. Many Google and non-Google apps are dependent on these APIs. So if you want to ensure availability of these API's on your device, but are concerned about privacy and want to get rid of Google's closed-source services, consider using microG, a FOSS project but with some limitations. There are also safe ways to access Play Store, Aurora Store is one of them.
RELATED:

What is the exact functionality of Google Play Services & Services Framework?
OpenGApps

I have mentioned the reason already. Drive Offers in-app purchases. It'll cry for missing APIs when you delete Play Store. But other Google apps like Gboard and Messages may work fine because they don't have In-App Billing. Also there are other Google API's including Analytics, Ads, Authentication, Location, SafetyNet, CloudMessaging and many more. I can't tell you what app uses which API because I'm not an Android developer.


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How to increase time of holding buttons to take screen shot on Samsung Note 8
I have looked around online and not found an answer since the question seems too specific! My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
I find that even a quick accidental press of volume down and power button causes a screenshot (this seems to happen a lot more often than one would expect). Is there any way to increase the time one would need to hold the buttons down in order to take the screenshot?
Thanks!

To be honest, I don't if it is possible to increase the length of time it takes to capture screenshots using buttons.
However, since you get unwanted screenshots when using the buttons, I advise you try using other methods that your device is capable of.
A method that may help you is to use your hand to swipe and take a screenshot.

Goto Settings -> Advanced features -> Enable "Palm swipe to capture".
Open the app you want to capture.
Swipe the whole screen with the side of your hand.


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is eMMC dead?Cant fix encryprion unsuccessful
After seeing encryption unsuccessful error I tried to wipe, format but nothing changed.Then tried to flash firmware with sp flash tool.First error was "to format code are is forbidden in this phone".Then disabled preloader and flash again.Now error was "sddmmc_read_failed ,err code 3148".When I tried to emmc test on memory test tab, it was giving me error again.So probably my emmc is dead.
My question is it a certain death of emmc, or can it be repaired or replaced?If it cant be recovered, what should I do, what are the options?Thank you.

Easy way is to get eMMC replaced if it's possible. Otherwise try booting from external sdcard, but it's not easy way. See this what I did.

@IrfanLatif i already saw that but it looks too complicated, i really dont know where to start.There are almost no tutorials for booting from sd card.

What device is affected? Some old Samsung devices are known to end up with defect eMMC because of a bug in the eMMC firmware.

mtk based huawei ascend phone is the device.


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Android Storage Grab
I am having internal memory grab, typically eating about 3gb.  Similar to this problem on a tablet Something is secretly eating up my Acer Iconia A500 internal memory and I need help finding it
However my device is a Moto X second gen.  I though it might be device specific, because after a factory reset and then a reload, I find the memory grabbed sometime later, usually 3 to 5 gb.
Then I saw the same thing happen for 1gb on a Samsung tablet with some of the apps I have on the Moto X.  So I am currently thinking that this is application specific.  However, without a rooted device I find few tools or methods which appear to be able to help me.  Hence my appeal here.
Any suggestions as to how to get to the bottom and resolve this?  Loading apps one at a time could take months, until they are all loaded and the problem pops up again.
I may have to root the device, and then I will look in /data for growing subdirectories.
Addendum 1.  I used another utility, DiskUsage, and saw that there was 5gb in system storage allocated.  It appears that this could be something such as logs or some other cumulative data managed by the system.  So it appears that I will likely have to root the device to dig deeper.

Force the reset and Grab to happen again... After it has grabbed the storage, use this command in Terminal emulator to find what has been added recently... go through them 1 by 1 ...
Also you can use Sort to Sort By Size, and locate the larger files on your Internal Storage...
find /storage/sdcard0/ -mmin -1 (mins)
find /storage/sdcard0/ -mtime -1 (days)


text:
Pattern unlock required when starting phone
AFAIK on Android 7 Nougat, when you set pattern unlock, the user is not required to enter the pattern to power up the phone. However, on Android 8.1 Oreo (I'm running a Wiko VIEW MAX Android 8.1 phone), you cannot power up the phone unless you enter the pattern. Why was this feature introduced in Oreo?
Why require it? After all, once the bootup is complete you will have to enter the pattern again to unlock the phone.
Thanks.

Is your device encrypted - also is "full disk" (FDE) or "file based" (FBE) used? If yes does it use the hardware security mode (visible somewhere in the security settings)?

It is to stop data extraction pre-unlock ... Using ADB or another method... it is Forced Encryption..

Simply put...

Android Oreo - 8.0 uses Forced Encryption

The data is now encrypted for safer usage on Android, older devices had the option to encrypt in security settings.

Nowadays it is a requirement of Android to safely protect your data.
Why is so important ?
Encryption helps to stop personal information theft fron even the most persistent malware and spyware.
If the device was compromised at a kernal level, your sensitive information could be leaked via USB prior to the device ever being started...
Due to significant amounts of custom ROMs with vulnerable kernals and custom recovery programs, most information can be extracted using the recovery program or othe means like pre-boot software and even CPU EMMC Storage access using USB Cables ..
SP Flash Tool's Read Back function is a great example of an extraction method that can access your unencrypted private information without ever needing to even have a battery in the device...
Once the unencrypted DATA partition is extracted your information like the Passcode used for Unlocking can be easily extracted...
Using the annoyiy Double Unlock method seems more of a burden than anything i agree, however it is a much needed level of protection.
Encryption will not help with Online security as some people think, because Android uses the first Unlock screen to Unencrypt the Data partition.. The fact is you still run on an Unencrypted device, however the Data partition is encrypted Prior to Boot.. .
I hope that clears everything up...


text:
How to disable camera → Google Photos sync on Android 9?
Similar to this, but Google has somehow wormed their way around my settings:

Photos → Settings → Backup & sync is off.
Photos → Device folders → Camera → Back up (sic) & sync is off.
Camera → Settings → Data storage is set to "Save picture to phone."

Even so, this morning I got a creepy reminder that Google Photos has my image, and that they have "helpfully" post-processed it. Short of breaking my phone in half (or rooting it), how do I stop this from happening?

One option I'm not sure you like probably is disabling that app. As you're short of rooting, installing LineageOS with F-Droid instead of GApps… OK OK, I won't go any further :) Works fine for me many years now, but YMMV.

Thanks, I've disabled it and taken away its storage privileges :) Do you mind posting that as an answer? I did go down the alternative OS a couple times, but the pain was excruciating.

Sure – done with additional details for those who don't know where to do so. // No pain for me at all with LOS, and the battery lasts much longer without GApps. Not sure what hit you as excruciating; be welcome to talk in our chat room, I'll see that I can respond (even if asynchronously). Maybe that can be tackled, too.

The easiest option (and maybe hence easiest overlooked) is disabling the Google Photos app altogether (in Settings › Apps make sure you show "all apps", scroll to Google Photos and tap the "disable" button).
Revoking storage permissions from this app cannot hurt (who knows what might still invoke one of its intents; still in Settings › Apps tap the "wheel" icon in the upper-right corner, select "Permissions", then "Storage", scroll to the app, and toggle it off; you might have to do that before disabling the app as afterwards it might no longer show up here).


text:
Does buying thousands of apps (but not installing them) cause bloat in Android?
A few years ago, Google added the ability for app developers to place their apps "on sale".  They included the ability for developers to temporarily offer their apps for free.
I started "buying" these free apps via Android's Google Play store, but not actually installing most of them.  Over the years, I have now "purchased" thousands of paid apps that were offered for free.
Ignoring space occupied by apps actually installed, will continuing this habit cause bloat or slowdowns within Android?
Is the history of all those purchases being stored locally in Android as well as on Google's servers?  Does it affect application memory (RAM) available on the Android device?

No, they are not installed on the device... Your device doesn't even "know" you purchased the app. It has absolutely no effect on your device at all and your purchase history is stored on Google servers, not your device itself.
Your device has nothing to do with the "purchasing" of the application if you don't actually install it. You don't even need a phone to buy a free app, you can just go on any computer, log in with your Google credentials, and go to the Play Store and have the free app added to your Google account.


text:
How can I factory-restore a Samsung J5 (2015) SM-500FN?
What I have:
I have a Samsung J5 (2015) SM-500FN which ran out of storage and basically hung itself up. There is no data I want to recover, but I want to install either a stock ROM or (preferably) something else like Lineage - I just want to get a usable phone again.
My problem:

I have tried to download many stock ROMs from reputable sources like SamMobile (for this specific phone, but trying different release dates and country codes) but every single one of those ZIPs is corrupt, even when downloading from a different computer.
Flashing with ODIN anyway gives a FAIL result and a device that cannot boot, not even into recovery: It gives a green screen with the text: An error has occurred while updating the device software. Use the Emergency recovery function in the Smart Switch PC software.
Ironically, the Smart Switch software just says this device is not supported. The older Kies3 software lets me enter the exact model# followed by the serial# - but then it says this device is not supported. So neither Samsung software is usable, but I can still use ODIN.
Even with the phone in this broken state, I can install TWRP again. So it is not completely bricked. I boot into TWRP and copy a LineageOS ZIP file to /sdcard, but when I try to install that, the TRWP console says: E3004: This package is for device j5nlte,j5nltexx; this device is . Note it doesn't appear to recognize that this device is indeed the model j5nlte!
Android.SE says that "E3004" means my TWRP is too old, but I use twrp-3.1.1-1-j5nlte which is currently the newest version for this phone.
I would also like to try a factory reset, but that requires the stock recovery which won't boot (see step 2 above).

My question:  How do I get out of this catch-22?
It seems that if I could just get around that E3004 then I would be fine. But I have found no ways to trick the installer into ignoring that error.

A friendly forum user pointed me to this updated version of TWRP which I could install using the already installed TWRP.
After upgrading the TWRP itself, I was then able to install the ROM I wanted. Problem solved!


text:
How can I create a custom popup message when I open an app?
I want to be able to have a popup message when I open an app, say Facebook, that reminds me that I'm wasting time..
That is:

Click on Facebook app.
Facebook opens.
A message pops up saying "You should be working" (or any custom message I would like).
I can accept and continue on Facebook.

I'm thinking there could be an app for this but I can't find what I'm looking for.

Use an automation app to accomplish it. Here is how to do it with MacroDroid:

In the Triggers tab, in the Applications section, select "Application Launched/Closed, choose Application Launched and enable Force legacy mechanism, click OK. Select an app on the list, then click OK.
In the Actions tab, in the Notifications section, select "Display Dialog". Enter a title and the message to display.
Give the macro a name and save it. It will look like the image below.

Whenever you launched the selected app, a message with the title and message you set will be displayed.


text:
Yet another how to bypass "verify your account this device was reset"
On my phone (Alcatel mt6737m aka Optus X Spirit, android 6.0) I had screen lock set up, and also had "require PIN on startup" (when it asks for pin on every reboot, even before showing unlock screen). And I had google account, which I only set up because it's required for google play. I don't remember username or password for the google account. I still remember the old PIN for the phone.
I did a factory reset via boot menu. Now I got this "verify your account this device was reset" message.
I managed to open settings using one of the exploits I found here, but even if I do factory reset via settings menu, it still asks me to "verify your account". I also tried to set PIN to my old PIN and then disable PIN and do factory reset from settings - no change.
I can start Chrome or almost any other app (if i place shortcut on the lock screen), can modify settings, can start file browser, install apk from sdcard. I can not create a new google account - it shows me the same  "verify your account" screen. I can not enble developer options.
Any ideas?

phone is not rooted

from the settings: android security patch level 5 nov 2017

I have written many articles covering FRP Unlocking.. it eventually lead me to write a guide on XDA Forums...
Here.. FRP Lock Removal Methods for All Androids..
..
I still need to format the post, but main information is up...
One addition i didn't add is a new discovery...
• Build prop contains the path to FRP Partition and removing the build prop line will remove FRP Locks...
So edit system/build.prop and remove the prop ro.frp.pst=/dev/... ---
Or Comment it out with #   # ro.frp.pst=....
Please read it all to understand FRP ...
Hope this helps to get an Answer for your specific device.
Here's example.
Method 2 - MTK Device's ( Old Method, Use New .)

Download FRP Destroyer.zip
Extract FRP Destroyer.zip
Open Android_Scatter File.
Edit FRP isDownload to True
Save Android_scatter.txt.
Open new Scatter in SP Flash Tool
Unselect all partitions.
Select only FRP location
Choose blank_frp.img  from FRP Destroyer folder.
DOWNLOAD ONLY The FRP Partition.
Reboot device.

Alternatively,
• Use SP Flash Tool & Wipe the FRP Partition Manually as per your scatter file information for FRP.p


text:
How does init knows when to relaunch a process?
I know the Zygote listens to a socket in /dev/socket/zygote in order to know when to fork a new process. I want to know how init usually does it.
I have a persistent process (not service) X whose PPID=1 which corresponds to init and everytime I kill it init relaunches it. Is it normal for init to start processes instead of services? If so how does it usually knows the process needs to be relaunched?

Init only re-launches services started from its *.rc files. Init starts its child processes in foreground, so when a process is killed, being the parent process init has to handle its exit status. Its also the duty of init to reap all zombie processes.

nice! Do you know what happens if init does not handle that exit status? (For example if init exited before it). In this case is the process re-launched or don't even exits?

init can't exit when the OS is running. It has to take care of processes unless the device is fully shutdown. It's the first process launched at boot and last process killed at shutdown. Init has special protections against being killed, but if you somehow manage to kill it, it will cause kernel panic and device will reboot.

yes, but imagine a random parent process is exited before it's child then you try to kill the child, do you know what happens? (init is an exception)

Any process whose parent is killed or exits deliberately, is owned by init. This is programming related question. Read how fork, exec etc. work in C language.

oh yeah i didn't update: init simply creates an UNIX socket after the SIGTERM that connects to the system server and after a bunch of system calls it clones another process


text:
How to toggle portrait / landsape screen orientation with launchable command?
I would like to get screen rotation under manual control.
Action A: set portrait mode
Action B: set landscape mode

Both actions with immediate effect, no menu, no confirmation, etc.
I would like to have these commands reachable as regular launchable app so I can add them into customizable actions in other apps, i.e. to on-screen drawer (Jina), as Bixby/Google voice command, Bixby button action etc.
Apps I reviewed put such rotation commands into toggle buttons area or to a widget. So they are not launchable on their own. Any idea how to get commands A and B (or one which toggles A/B) available as app?
The device is not rooted.

You should consider using automation apps. Rotation commands: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25864385/changing-android-device-orientation-with-adb

@ReddyLutonadio – that's also a good idea, if they can accomplish the above. Any specific pointers where to look? If you have an idea how to reach the same effect (possibility of using hardware button, voice command or standalone app icon) with their assistance, post it as an answer, I'll be happy to evaluate it. Or if I can make those adb shell commands launchable in the device, let me know.

You are looking for this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.appfactory (requires Tasker app installed).


text:
WiFi scan limits on LineageOS and LineageOS for microG
Starting with Android Pie, wifi scans are heavily throttled: the limit is up to four times every 2 minutes for a foreground app, and once every 30 minutes for all background apps combined. This has massive impact on apps that rely on WiFi for geolocation, mapping or other purposes (see e.g. this issue).
Does anyone happen to know if LineageOS (and its derivative LineageOS for microG) introduce any changes that relax these limits? (Especially since microG comes with location providers which utilize wifi.) Or do they simply copy that behavior?

Note that the used method for Wifi scanning WifiManager.startScan() has been marked deprecated. It will be removed in a future Android version. This means that may be starting with Android 10 (or 11) Wifi scanning is longer available to apps.

I’m aware of that, also of the discussion surrounding it. Is there any other way for an app to find out which wifi networks are available nearby, with a frequency in the range of a few seconds? (How does Google solve it for their own network location service?) Though I realize that is probably a separate question…

According to an XDA article the next Android version (Q) will allow to disable throtteling via adb command: https://www.xda-developers.com/android-pie-throttling-wi-fi-scans-crippling-apps/

Yep, I saw that already. However, according to Google (and unlike what is stated in the article), this requires a rooted device (source: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/129900566#comment11). It may not work for others, but at least LineageOS provides a root add-on, thus any LineageOS user should be able to relax these limits. Still this is a setting which needs to be made per device.


text:
WIFI handover between AP with same SSID on different channels
Using devices (Zebra Mobile TC25) running Android 7, I am having problems with the WIFI handover not happening.
The situation is that I have several access points set up with the same SSID but broadcasting on different channels.
As I walk around I would expect that the WIFI would connect to the strongest boradcasting AP. This is not happening.
Is this a consequence of the APs having the same SSID? Is it something to do with once a connection is established Android OS is not keen to switch even if SSID has same name, irrespective of signal strength?

As nearly every device manufacturer modifies the Android OS you should always include the device mane and manufacturer in your question. Regarding Wifi this may be even specific to the Wifi chip and used driver.

thanks, good point, have updated with the details you mentioned.

Looks like the Zebra TC25 supports "Wifi Fast Roaming 802.11r" - AFAIK this requires also that your Wifi network supports this protocol.

thanks will have a look into it.


text:
Where do I find emails sent from the Samsung Mail App using a POP3 Mail Account?
I have a Samsung Smartphone with a POP3 Mail Account on the Samsung Standard Mail App.
I need the Emails I've sent with this account in my new Exchange Account on another device?
I think I may be able to transfer them if I find where they are stored on my phone.
Any ideas?

Maybe you can just move messages from POP3 Profile to IMAP Profile from your favorite email app.
If not, emails are stored in /data/data/com.android.email/databases/EmailProviderBody.db .
The non-rooting method

You can get these files with adb when usb-debugging is enabled in developer settings, then run from cmd.exe:
adb backup com.android.email

Convert backup.ab with android-backup-extractor after java is installed:
java.exe -jar abe.jar unpack backup.ab backup.tar

Extract EmailProviderBody.db from backup.tar with 7-zip.

Convert emails to *.eml with AndroidEmailExtractor after Groovy is installed.

Import the *.eml files in outlook express, move the messages to imap Sent folder, sync imap with new device.

The root method:
(If POP3 on your new device is ok for you)

View the ownership and file permissions from adb shell (new device)
adb shell
su
ls -lnZ /data/data/com.android.email/databases

Copy all EmailProvider.db* EmailProviderBody.db* to the new device (or folder database) from cmd
exit
exit
adb push C:\Android\Backup\email\databases /data/data/com.android.email/

Restore ownership and file permissions from adb shell, where 100xx is the uid from above
adb shell
su
chown -hR 100xx.100xx /data/data/com.android.email/databases
chmod 0660 /data/data/com.android.email/databases/*
chcon -hR u:object_r:app_data_file:s0 /data/data/com.android.email/databases

Reboot the device. Old emails should be restored to the new device.

I'm having the same problem, with Inbox and Sent Items, but I do not understand how to execute these instructions. A bit more detail perhaps? Step by step with images if it's possible?

You don't do this steps on the phone, but windows over those programs or CMD codes. Just need to coppy all mails from my phone. My account was deleted from the server. Only way is to copy all folders to a zip file, like backup option, but somehow Samsung E messaging app don't even have a coppy option. Will start now and hear your soon with results.


text:
Disable ringtone fade-in
My Moto Z2 Play includes a "feature" where call rings and alarm sounds start out nearly silent and increase to full volume over about five seconds. I have been unable to find any setting to change this behavior. Media audio (games, apps, etc.) is not affected.
In the stock clock app settings, I have "Gradually increase volume" set to "Never". I'm seems that there is an OS or hardware level setting or feature that is overriding the clock app setting.
I have found an app that purportedly solves this problem, but it requires an unsettling number of permissions to function. Is there no native way to disable this "feature"?
(I understand that this behavior provides utility for some people. For me, it merely ruins my ringtones and makes me more likely to miss calls.)

Did you try adb shell? Execute settings list system and see if something like increasing_ring exists.

For alarm clock there should be checkbox called "increasing volume" or something like that.

In the clock settings, I have "Gradually increase volume" set to "Never". I'm seems that there is an OS or hardware level setting it feature that is overriding the clock app.


text:
How do I diagnose the last shutdown? adb root?
Everything I've read indicates /proc/last_kmsg used to be how, however that seems to have changed with Android 6.0 (I'm on 8.1). I've also seen reference to /sys/fs/pstore/console-ramoops for Android 6.0+, but I have no file called that. I can't ls the directory either, because apparently I don't have root shell with adb.
I've tried adb bugreport, but that doesn't seem to contain shutdown logs.
I've tried adb root, but I get the message:
adbd cannot run as root in production builds

I have a Nexus 5x that is rooted, with TWRP and Magisk.
The only other suggestion I've seen is to edit '/system/build.prop' to include the line ro.debuggable=1, but I can't access that file either due to a lack of root access.
I've spent a week trying to sort this out. Surely it can't be this hard to find shutdown logs?

Persistent store doesn't exist on your device because your kernel isn't built with CONFIG_PSTORE_* options. Last_kmsg also works if phone isn't manually restarted. Yes, only on userdebug and engineering builds of ROM, adbd can run as root, not on user builds. In fact you can't do any reasonable debugging on non-debug ROMs without root access. Btw why are you looking for kernel logs? Are you building some ROM?

Why are you trying to read the shutdown logs ?
May be there's another method of diagnosis.
Have you tried logcat ?


text:
Can I get rid of fake messages from the preview?
On a Galaxy tablet, underneath "Messages 3 x 2", or "Email 3 x 2", some fake messages are appearing.

John Doe
  Tomorrow's event
Marissa Haro
  [illegible]
Raye
  Re: Re: How's it going in Seoul?
  Sweetheart. I miss you so much. Having a ...
Zuno Du
  Here is our plan :)

and

Peter Leiagh
  OMG! I didn't know it! Why didn't you tell me?
Sam Martin
  I will never gonna tell you :-p
John Smith
  You're BACK!!!
Marissa Haro
  Hello. Here is the [illegible]
Eva green
  This is the last remind message

Based on these messages featuring John Smith, John Doe (I assume this was intentional, though it could be intended as someone with a surname of Doe choosing an English name of "John"), and Eva Green, I suspect that they were intentionally fake names.
Clicking on the preview item opened it up, and it was empty.
I wiped emails from the GMail application, and wiped the tablet clean, prior to seeing these fake messages.
The tablet isn't intended to send or receive text messages, though it received a few in the past prior to me wiping it.
How can I stop these fake messages appearing?

Alternative question title: "How can I stop Raye from saying that she misses me in Seoul?"

Have you noticed the number or the email address from which those messages came?

If possible, just disable the app.


text:
Controling YouTube using keyboard with Samsung Dex
In the YouTube app using Samsung DeX, I can't figure how to use the keyboard to do things like turn the volume up/down, pause the video, and things like that.
It looks like the app is not configured to take input from the keyboard.
Is it possible to control YouTube using just only keyboard? Is there any workaround?

Looks like pressing Meta + ! (exclamation mark) will show a shortcut list? Have you tried it?

Tried, the shorcut list is about the system keymapping

What keyboard do you have?


text:
Redmi 3 stuck on bootloop with no recovery mode access
I have a Redmi 3 MIUI7 that I recently flashed with MIUI9 using TWRP. Right after flashing, I tried to boot it but it stuck on a bootloop. Since I haven't booted into the ROM and can't do so because of the bootloop, I have no access to enable USB Debugging AND TWRP recovery mode. No USB Debugging means the device will show as unauthorized when using adb devices, though I can Vol. Down+Power to get into Fastboot. I have flashed several ROMs before flashing to MIUI9 (Resurrect Remix and LineageOS, both Android Oreo and had root access).
I just need way to boot into TWRP recovery mode to a) flash my way out of the loop b) restore a backup.

If you have access only to fastboot you will need complete ROM (including BOOTLOADER and FULL SYSTEM) because ota upgrade can broke custom bootloader

I can't use adb/fastboot commands because the device is "unauthorized"

Congratulation to new BRICK. Since you don't have any access to the device. The manufacturer may be able to reflash it on the board level.

You can use fastboot commands in fastboot mode. Fastboot has no relation to the USB debugging setting which is only for the ADB.

@singhnsk Fastboot can be disabled on some phones from os. Then they can reject commands.

@Aroly7 that's interesting. I haven't encountered such a setting on MiUi though. Is it the case, @dsw?

@dsw can you run fastboot oem device-info in fastboot?

@Aroly7 yes, tampered: false, unlocked: false, charger screen enabled:false

@singhnsk As I said. With bricked fastboot, He cants do anything.

I can not answer in comments nor edit previous answer, so i have to post here. If you already downloaded AdbWinApi.dll AdbWinUsbApi.dll fastboot_edl.exe and started EDL Mode with edl.cmd with no result, then try this
1) Turn off your phone.
2) Now plug one end of the USB Cable into the PC port and the other end does not connect to the phone.
3)  Press the Volume Up and Power buttons and immediately connect the other end of USB Cable to the phone.
4) Automatically the phone will go to EDL Mode with LED lights will light up blinking.
If this not working you should watch a tutorial how to build Deep Flash Cable or how to open the case and boot into EDL from test point.

source: https://www.smartphones.how/repair/edl-mode


text:
Restore LINE chat from Google Drive
I always back up all line chats regularly to google drive. When line is re-installed I tried to restore the chat but it says "No chat history backup found". Does anyone know how to deal with this?


text:
Need to set up a phone with limited permissions to help with a learning disorder
I need to set up a phone that will allow the user access to installed apps but will not allow them to install new apps.  In addition I need to allow access to only a whitelist of websites.  These constraints need to be unbreakable short of a factory wipe.  My thought regarding privacy was to have a superuser account that the user and administrator each have half of the password, so the administrator can't get on the phone without the permission of the user.
I'm kind of desperate here.  I asked this question twice on r/androidroot and both times people told me to just install apps that "reward good behavior" etc.  We're way past that point.  The user really needs email, text, maps, and a few work related apps (plus definitely some apps like Habitica to reward good habits!).
I haven't rooted a phone before but am fairly technically proficient.  If Tasker is any part of the solution I'm pretty handy with that, otherwise I will do or learn anything necessary to make this happen.  I have a google pixel to work with but if absolutely necessary will get a different phone.
Thank you very much for any help you're able to provide!
p.s. the disorder is a pretty strong Executive Function disorder - despite 18 years of therapy with 6 different people the user is basically unable to build good habits or demonstrate much willpower.  It's been pretty devastating for them.

that's pretty sad condition you have there, I hope what I am going to provide will be much useful for you.

In order to prevent the user from installing new apps from Play Store, you may try any of this method from this article:

https://useboomerang.com/2018/07/25/3-ways-block-kids-installing-apps-android-phone/

Regarding with allowing only specific websites to access, you can try from any of the followings:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-block-websites-android-4179021
https://techwiser.com/block-websites-on-android/

I am not really sure if we are able to set this up, however, try this:

https://superuser.com/questions/1156080/how-to-stop-users-from-viewing-saved-passwords-in-chrome

Maybe the link below can be a good addition:
- https://www.howtogeek.com/223530/how-to-lock-down-your-android-tablet-or-smartphone-for-kids/

Thank you for these - The first article talks about Google Family Link and if it's not easy to defeat that does everything I'm looking for!  It involves me pretending to be ten years old which would've been humiliating a year ago, but now I just care about results.  It's kind of weird, but I don't want to do too much reading about if it can be defeated because I don't want to know how to do it :-)


text:
I can't install showbox apk into Huawei P10
I installed showbox apk to my xiaomi phone it works well.
But, when i install it to my other android phone (huawei p10)
it just get stuck near at the end.
i have enabled install from unknown sources as well. help.
Link: https://showbox.guide/download-apk/

I guess you updated your Huawei device (Android 9) and Showbox doesn't compatible with this version of android.

My huawei is android 8.0.0 and is compatible. is just stuck at installing forever

anybody knows how to fix this issue???


text:
How do I free up internal storage if I don't have any apps downloaded?
I have an Android Voyager, RCT6773W22B. It's version 5.0.
When I first got it, and years after that, I could download at least five apps downloaded at a time and have a great sum of pictures in my gallery. I would still have space after this. Over time, I would delete apps I didn't use anymore. If I wanted to download something else and there wasn't enough space, I would delete apps and/or pictures I don't need.
Now, I can't download anything due to internal storage. I have no apps, five pictures (not taken with the camera), and I've cleared the cache on everything except Chrome. It tells me my internal storage is completely full and I can't move anything to an SD card. What do I do?

Do you use WhatsApp? If you use, then you need to delete the media files from the WhatsApp folder.

@PuspamAdak: You need to backup them somewhere first and then delete them from the WhatsApp folder. You cannot access them otherwise afterwards, as far as I know.

There are a lot of reasons that can cause this:

leftover artifacts from uninstalled apps or updates
download content from apps (videos/ photos from chat applications, maps for navigation, audio files for language learning apps, etc)
currently kept open browser tabs (my chrome had at one point 50 tabs, it reserved ~1.5gb of space even if closed it but kept the tabs)

If you do a backup of your contacts and other important data, you can try to reset it to factory settings with a wipe of all sd/ internal memory.
If you have a pc to connect your phone by cable AND the knowledge, you could browse the file folders and find the culprit (I would still recommend to clean the files over the phone afterwards but its easier to find what is taking the space)
You could buy as a well a bigger sd card as a temporary solution.

Interesting. I never thought about the browser tabs needing so much space just for offline viewing.

Yes, find any apps that don't have files you care about, and "Clear Data" for them, which resets them as if you'd just first installed it.

Additionally to add to @EricDuminil . There are some file management apps that you can download and it will list all the files you have on your phone by largest to smallest allowing you to easily clear up some data. I didn't realise how many downloaded large PDF's I had on my phone and was able to delete them using the file management app.

The old (original) applications that came preinstalled on your phone are stored in the operating system part of the flash. As new versions of those applications appear, they are installed in the user part of the flash.
One way to recover some of the "lost" space is to bring applications to the "original" version - the one from flash. This will clear the "new" version that is installed in the "user" flash, freeing space available to you.
Of course, this does means you run older versions of those applications, which is not optimal.
This problem is most critical on 4GB storage phones (old budget smartphones). Some of them have SD card hardware support, but you can't move applications from the internal memory to the flash.
Another relatively easy way to check the storage is to connect the phone to a PC via USB cable and activate on the phone the "file access" mode - you will see "Internal Storage" and "SD Card" sub-folders (or something similar).
Also, +1 for WhatsApp storage of images/videos/...

I have been able to successfuly clear space this way, especially with Google apps that often come pre-installed on Android phones.  In addition to reverting to factory "original" version, if it's an app you know you don't use, you can disable it as well, which I believe will prevent the updater from trying to re-install the newest version again that you just got rid of.

You need to disable automatic updates , otherwise your apps, even if disabled, will get automatically updated.  Only uninstalling can prevent apps from being automatically updated, and of course there's only so much you can uninstall.

@Milwrdfan: I forgot about "disabling" pre-installed applications - unfortunately, there aren't many applications that can be disabled on an old budget model (or the ones that can be easily disabled, and the ones for which you can be certain you won't break anything else won't save you much storage space)

I think this is the very similar problem I was having with my old phone.
First, check your Storage in Settings for the information of what takes up your phone's space
Second, if First step doesn't help, instal 3rd-party app, like Disk Usage, and check from there
My suspicion is the .thumbnail files and the database

How would one install an app to a completely full internal storage?

oh damn, i forgot about that. thanks for reminding me @Ruslan, lmao, my bad

I solved a similar problem in android 5 doing this:

Settings --> Apps.
Go to All apps tab.
Look for "Download Manager" or something similar (I do not know the exact translation). It has an arrow pointing down inside a blue circle.
Select it and clear cache. For me, it had more than 1GB cache when I found it.

you can check what files or folders occupying storage from adb shell, and delete it from command line. for example (du) disk usage, (rm) remove:
du -hxcd1 /storage/emulated/0
rm -r /storage/emulated/0/Android/data

If your problem is lots of residue files from apps that are redundant and previously uninstalled. Then I'd recommend one of those cleaning apps like clean master, ordinarily its not the sort of app I would regularly use by any means. But I managed to free up >1GB on one my tablets and the next thing I new I could install loads of apps again - to my surprise.
May be worth looking at your apps in settings as well to make sure there's no excessive disk usage from a particular app.


text:
Block Instagram for Android to access the Internet, using a software like SQUID on my Laptop/Desktop
Is there any way I could block Android Apps for example Instagram from accessing the Internet, using the SQUID software or something similar on my Personal Computer?

If you have access to the WiFi Router you can block traffic and/or mac address. there are custom firmware for some router models like DD-WRT or Open-WRT. But the phone still can by-pass via mobile data.
Filter rules are complicated and may have unwanted effects. This is just a example
"Instagram" uses TCP protocol for communication.
TCP traffic analysis
Ports Range
Remote tcp port(s): 443, 80.
HTTP traffic analysis
HTTP traffic is found in Instagram's traffic.
Host(s) being connected(regular expression): ^..ak.instagram.com, ^..cdninstagram.com.
TLS traffic analysis
TLS connections are found in Instagram's traffic.
TLS Host(s) being connected(regular expression): instagram.com.
How to block Instagram?
Block the listed ports to block Instagram.
Block the listed http and tls domains to block Instagram.
Setup a content filter(ie: WFilter), which can block Instagram via signature
http://imfirewall.us/protocols/view.php?proto=Instagram


text:
What data does the Google drive app contain in an android smartphone?
I want to delete some of my android apps data due to storage problems. I see that my Google drive app does contain a lot of data and cache. I have already deleted the cache but I am not sure if I should delete the data associated with this app because I don't want to lose any of files both in my android phone or in Google drive. What does does this app exactly contain and what I may lose on clearing this app's data?

You do know of the Google Drive help page along with How to delete and restore in Google Drive

What does does this app exactly contain

The app's files and settings, plus the files that you have made available for offline use.

and what I may lose on clearing this app's data?

Nothing. Only the data that were on the phone. Files that were uploaded to Google Drive wont be affected. They can only be deleted if you delete them from within the app. The app will return to the state it was in the first time you use it on the phone.


text:
Backup System App
I have my phone rooted with magisk and am running a ROM based on Android Pie, which doesn't come with GApps, and therefore has builtin apps to do stuff, my interest is in the gallery app. I configured OpenGApps to not install Google Photos, and preserve the existing gallery app instead. I would like to take a backup of it so I can use it anywhere in the future, however the obvious way fails: ES File Explorer doesn't even see it, Lucky Patcher doesn't allow .apk backups of system apps, and I went into the directories manually only to find the lib folder outside the .apk. Am I safe to just copy the .apk and ignore the lib folder, or is there any other way I can try?
Thank you for your time.
Note:
I would like the app saved as a single "normal" .apk file, instead of having the lib folder outside and having to carry that around, plus I wouldn't be able to place it if I didn't have root (for example, a new phone).

The apk file should be in either /system/apps or system/priv-apps if you have not removed it. You have already said that you found the file but don't know about the lib folder being outside. Copy the folders related to the app and note their locations. That way, when you restore them, you will be able to know were to copy them back.
Another way to get access to the apk, if you are not sure that all the files will be copied/backup, is to check the package name in Settings -> Apps & notifications, then look for it online and download it.

Lucky Patcher doesn't allow .apk backups of system apps

Open Lucky Patcher, click on the app, you want to backup, select Tools then "Share this app".
(I have tried it and am able to backup and save system apps' apk to the SD card or any other location of my choosing).
Use Titanium Backup to help you backup the app.

You can backup, restore, freeze (with Pro) your apps + data + Market links. This includes all protected apps & system apps, plus external data on your SD card. You can do 0-click batch & scheduled backups

Another app that you could use to backup the app (and produce a single apk file) is System app remover

Unfortunately that didn't produce what I wanted, which is a single .apk file. Furthermore, I checked the files it generated, and I noticed it didn't contain the .so files from the lib folder either. Any other suggestions?

See the edit made

The issue persists, I can obtain an .apk but the .so files remain outside, and am concerned as to how it would affect usability as a backup. As far as I know, those should be inside by default, so is it possible to "shove it in" somehow? Also google didn't manage to find this specific app, not on the first few pages at least. Any other suggestions?

I am out of ideas. Can you tell us the package name & version? Maybe, other users can know where to find it?

It seems to be a gallery app used by AEX, I'm using a Lenovo P2a42, it has a pretty generic name of com.android.gallery3d and a version number of 1.1.40030. Could it be in the AEX installer zip?


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Whatsapp conversations following hack
So I've been incredibly stupid and allowed my whatsapp account to get hacked and am now locked out (after the hacker set up 2 step verification). I'm awaiting a response from whatsapp.
My question is, if I had a google drive backup (which i did), can the hacker view all my old messages and photos? Or do they also need my google account login details?

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! How did the other person obtain your SIM number and use it during Whatsapp's registration? You should have received the SMS.