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App to wake up WiFi periodically while on sleep
WiFi drastically drains the battery. There is a setting to disable WiFi while the phone is on sleep. However, it's all or nothing: either you are connected all the time (and kiss good-bye to the battery) or you receive notifications from WhatsApp only when you happen to turn on your phone, maybe next week.
Is there an app that would force the phone to connect to WiFi every, say, 10 minutes while on sleep, for WhatsApp to check for new messages? This would both save the battery and permit receiving messages (almost) in real time.
As a workaround, maybe the app could just wake up the phone every 10 minutes, though this is a bad solution.
Preferably I would like a ready app, not a programming way of doing it -- I am not good at programming for Android.

I'd start checking with our automation tag-wiki – one of those apps should be capable of doing something in this context.

While this feature is now bundled in most customised ROMs from manufacturers, you could this achieve this with third-party tools available on Playstore.
Personally, I have used CleverConnectivity (no ads version) app (which comes as ad version or the pro), and if you not worried too much about ads, then the free version is sufficient for your needs.
How does CleverConnectivity work?

Details of features:

Configuration of ON-OFF cycle (Time On, Time Off, Usage Interval Period)
Disable/Enable connectivity (Wifi/Data/Sync)
Enable/disable management of Data/Wifi/Sync connectivity
Sleep Hours: During these hours, all connectivity will desactivated one screen is OFF
Auto Wifi-Off: Wifi will be disabled after after a defined period if screen is OFF and no known networks are available
Possibility to read logs generated by the app
Possibility to deactivate the app while the phone is plugged. The ON-OFF cycle will resume once the phone is unplugged
This application will automatically turn on and off connectivity (data/wifi/sync) while screen is OFF.   You can turn on/off
  connectivity (wifi/data/sync) everywhere in the system (settings,
  toggles on notification bar...) and will be taken into consideration
  by CleverConnectivity

Screenshots:

The app looks relevant. I will check how it works before accepting the answer. On the other hand, could you please elaborate on how I can check whether my phone has this feature bundled in the ROM -- as a user, where do I check?

OOPS no. After installation, Cleverconnectivity says "devices running Android 5+ must be rooted in order to use this app". Then it unexpectedly starts playing loud music with some ad through loudspeaker (I was in the middle of a work meeting, quite embarrassing). It's OK when a free app shows ads to me, but it's absolutely unacceptable when it attacks me by playing sounds to the loudspeaker (!) without even warning me. Uninstalling this malware immediately! So sorry, so far I cannot yet accept this answer.

I apologise for the embarassment, however so far this was one of the most reliable solutions I worked with, you can still block its internet connectivity as use it as if its offline...goodluck :)

Ads are no problem, one can pay. But this solution is for rooted phones. Though I did not specify this in the question, but I think most lay users like me have unrooted phones. Any idea for an unrooted phone? Meanwhile I searched too, but did not yet find anything.

FYI, looks like this specific no-ads version is not available on the Play Store anymore (you may still be able to see the entry on the Play Store if you have installed it before). I could only find this one instead.


text:
Start Page for "Opera for Android"
The problem: I am trying configure my "Opera for Android", the "full" browser for the Android OS, to start at the "Speed Dial", and not at the last loaded website page.  This is an issue of saving data traffic.  I run a website where some pages are long lists, which I don't want reloaded the next time I start Opera.  Yes, I know I could (and do if I remember) close Opera by clicking on the red O, and pick "exit".  This works to close all tabs, but I would like to not have to be dependent on my remembering.  Any help will be appreciated.
I have found no answer for this issue. Usual search results are for everything else other than "Opera for Android".  My apologies if I missed an answer somewhere for "Opera for Android".
The "Opera Forum" is not usefull, because, again, all answers are not for the Category "Opera for Android". Also, this question is not for Opera-Mini.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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Android stops connecting to local hosts
Droid, v 24.91.5.  Router(1) = TC C1100T,  hardwire to second router(2) (at some distance).  I power up my Droid and connect to 192.168.0.xx (a web page), works fine.  Some time later I attempt to connect to 192.168.0.xx and it times out as unavail.  At any time I can connect to anything in the WWW cloud, just not anything 192.168.0.xx.  Sometime I can power off/on and it works, sometimes not.  I can change wifi to the second router(2) and it works.  It's not the TC as it's the second router(1) I'm using.

You need to configure your routers. What's your Android question?

I have a laptop that works just fine.  I can connect to any of my 192.168.0.xxx devices.  At the exact same time & place my phone times out.  And the phone connect to anything in the cloud without a problem.

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


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Google Search On Screen does not work
I have the following problem: when I long-tap home button, a Google Now with search field appears, instead of Search on screen. I've tried to grant all perms to allow it use screen contents, but nothing changes.
I use Xiaomi Redmi 4x with AOSP Extended.

The feature you need is called Now on Tap.
According to Google blog, Now on Tap is available only in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Korean. All you have to do is set one of those as a secondary language in your phone settings to make it work.

I did, English is my primary (on phone, not IRL) language. But still, nothing changes.

I've been playing a bit with this and I could get it working only when English was my second language :c
Maybe Google wants us to use Google Assistant instead?

Well, I don't mind as long as they satisfy my needs. Yet they don't.


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No 'Use system certificates' options on Samsung S9
I'm trying to connect to a wifi network using PEAP, but I cannot find the use system certificate option, shall I enable that in some way?

Have you installed the required certificate? May be the option is hidden if no certificate is available (avoid confusion for regular users).

It says system certificate so I doubt I need to install it. I had the option on my s7 and i did not install anything (at least, not intentionally).

On my Android device when I see the list of Wifi APs in settings the option menu contains an "Install certificate" entry. However my device is not a Samsung device.

I have this too. On a galaxy s8

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/197261/no-use-system-certificates-when-trying-to-connect-to-wifi/201576#201576

Did you find a solution? My Note 9 has no option Use system certificates BUT my LG G6 has ( setting to the same company wifi ). So frustrated!

No I didn't, sorry :(


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Google says No active devices in Find My Device
I have lost my phone this morning. At that time when I go to find my devices there were two mobile phones listed in find my devices including the lost one (and my previous mobile phone). The person who took it switched off it and due to that, in find my devices, it shows the last location as my home.
But in the evening when I check my activities on google, it said I have connect to google by my mobile few hours back. So I thought that thief turned on my device. And I checked find my devices and it says No active devices

What are the possibilities which can be happen. In my phone I have setup every settings to turn on find my device. Even location and mobile data. And in the morning also the device listed in the find my device console. I thought that missing devices won't disappear for 6 months in any case. The other thing is both of my mobile devices are listed in some another find my phone menu.

In the morning, using find my device option in web, I have locked and set a message for my phone. But I did not erase the data. (because it said erase after erasing I will not longer able to locate it).
Also I have used my fingerprint to lock the device and there was pin locked in my mobile. Can anyone help me to sort out this situation..?

Was the device protected with a PIN or password? Otherwise the finder can just remove the Google account which should also remove it from the find my device list.

It was protected with a pin. Is there any possibility to crack the pin of the device using any tool?


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When I move apps to SD card, it said "App has stopped"

Everytime I move an app to SD card, it will say "App has stopped" and the icon changes.
I keep on retrying to uninstall and install it again and again, but it's still the same.
I don't want to lose my data again.
I bought this phone last year.
Device: Samsung Galaxy V
Model: SM-G313HZ
Android version: 4.2.2 (KitKat)

Did you unmount an SD Card (internal or external) before selecting "Move to SD card? After unmounting an external SD card on Android 4.4.2, I selected "Move to SD card" on an app (because I had an internal SD card). I was told com.unity.3d.UnityNativePlayer had stopped.
The solution is to reboot. Your SD card will be automatically remounted, and apps will function normally.


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Oreo 8.0 - How can I bypass root detection for banking app? - Suhide doesn't work
So I just flashed suhide lite onto my nexus 5x after reading around that I could use it to bypass root detection for banking apps and android pay; however even if I set it so my banking app (halifax) can't detect root I open it up and it still states an error code about it being rooted.
Anyone able to help me figure out an alternative or if I'm missing something?

Chances are you failed the SafetyNet checks, that is why it is failing.  You would need to research Magisk, as this can not only hide su but also will not fail SafetyNet.

That's the wierd thing cause I have safetynet checks app installed and it passes it. I even tried virtualapp and parallel space and it would still show in banking app that it phone was rooted.
Surely though with magisk I would have to flash this and uninstall supersu?

There're apps like VirtualApp, VirtualXposed and Parallel Space that can clone your apps into a "sandbox" environment. I've just tested cloning my root management app SuperSU into VirtualXposed and it didn't detect the device has been rooted.
I guess that banking apps may also fail to detect root, but it's not guaranteed. All those apps can be used free and VirtualApp was open sourced. VirtualXposed won't be available for you because banking apps detect not only root but also xposed.
But anyway keep in mind that sandbox apps are always able to see all app's private data inside it.

Ended up switching over to Magisk instead and now it all works and can use android pay and halifax banking app by simply using magiskhide.

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


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Why WhatsApp spontaneously starts a backup in the middle of the day?
It happens once in a while - I'm using WhatsApp (far from backup hours) and it just starts backing up and not letting me to use the app for several minutes.
The last backup was successful and finished hours before it happened, and after that backup popup message, it didn't backed up to Google Drive as usual - so only a local backup.
My guess was that it's kind of "flushing the buffer" to save the current state, maybe as a result of too much new data since the last backup.
Why and when does it happen?
Anything to do about it? (Except from killing the app)
Thanks!
EDIT: Added two more screenshots. It keeps happening and also with the Google Drive backup.

Device: LG G5, android 7.0, custom ROM, no root

Did you happen to adjust the time or date on your phone? That's what usually cause it to happen.

Nope, it could've explain a lot though

I finally think I found out.It is connected to date/time as aBochur suggested, but it's not that I changed the date/time of my phone or moved between time zones.
My findings
I have LG G5 and it has a removable battery.
Whenever I takeout the battery and replace it with the second one, when the phone comes up it has an old date/time - can be hours or days before (not sure what's the rule here, maybe previous shutdown?). This, from some, reason triggers a backup on WhatsApp.
Times after startup:

After 2.5m the phone reception is back and fixes the date/time.
After 5m WhatsApp creates a local backup.
Sometimes, not figured out when yet, it also triggers the cloud backup. If it will - it will happen (~around) 30m after the local backup.

I think it has to do with the time passed from the last cloud backup, but wasn't able to test it deeply yet.

So, the conclusion is there's nothing to do with it, this is how WhatsApp works and it's backup get triggered after it recognizes a date/time change.
This is the notification that sometimes WhatsApp shows, there's not a full correlation between this notification appearance and the backup trigger.

Your phone date is inaccurate! Adjust your clock and try again.

Note: I haven't tried anything, this message just appears on those occasions.

The answer will be updated if I'll be able to collect more information about this.

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


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Can you use USB OTG and charge at the same time?
I have a Google pixel-2.
I like to use a Bluetooth keyboard and wired mouse via the USB-C-OTG canoe that came with the phone... But then I can't charge the phone.
I wanted to buy something... To let me use the USB OTG and charge the phone at the same time.
Can you use USB OTG and charge at the same time?
I was thinking get a gadget that does USB-C to USB-A and USB-C... Where the USB-C would be for charging and the USB-A would be for a hub for the quoted keyboard and mouse.

I've found that that feature depends on the kernel. So wether your phone can charge and use OTG depends on the kernel on your phone. If it doesn't support it out of the box, you can try to find and flash a custom kernel with that functionality. The OTG cable also plays an important factor.
However, similar question was asked about the Nexus 7, which doesn't have support, it is highly likely that your Pixel 2 also doesn't support it.
This should answer your question and give you more insights of how and why.

i found a similar thread about this topic on superuser.com. so that gave me hope. then i went to amazon.com and found lots of USB-micro (i.e. USB-B 2.0) that offer "OTG and charge" so there is some precedence and that gave me more hope. i also found a couple of USB-C hubs that talk about "OTG and charge" but I didn't see in the reviews anything about pixel-2.

I agree that being able to "OTG and charge at the same time" is probably dependent on the phone (both software/hardware).

I ordered a USB-C hub and we'll see if it can do OTG and charge at the same time.


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Can I turn on my Android phone from my computer?
I have an Android phone (Moto Z) and for some reason the buttons stopped responding. This wasn't an actual issue until one night I let the battery die... the phone accepts the charger AND charges but since the buttons don't work I can't turn it on.
When I plug the phone into my computer, and I can see it as a USB device (lsblk). What now? Is there a way to issue a command to the device from my computer (Arch Linux) telling it to turn on?

I'm afraid no. You need some kind of recovery devices to contact your device via special pins on the motherboard.

So basically I have a brick. This is my 3rd Moto Z and I have to say, I cannot recommend it. :) thanks for the comment.

I'm sad to hear that and sad to say this, but it's probably... a brick, unless you have those professional repair tools or bring it to something who has them.

You could just get the power button fixed.

Is USB debugging enabled in Settings?  I think it is possible to boot up the device through ADB on PC.

@Lloyd Dominic: ADB is only available after the device has booted Android. Then you can reboot it via adb. However here the device is off (or in the loading state without running Android) - hence it has no adb interface.

I was in a similar situation where the button didnt work. I actually managed to clean the button and make it work again. It will require some patience, but in this state you got nothing much to lose.
The button consists of 2 layers of conductors where 1 layer is actually a sphere and when pressing it bends down, touches the other layer and its registered as a click.
What happened is that somehow dirt got between those layers causing the 2 layers never to touch. If you carefully open up your phone, and then open up the layers and clean the dirt, you can fix your phone yourself.
Ofc there is no guarantee that this is the actual problem or that the fix will fully work, but if you can't do anything else I think its worth a shot.

There is a way if your phone is found when connected via USB (and has USB debugging enabled for that computer). First, get ADB tools.
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb

Then, try one of these commands.
adb shell input keyevent 26
adb shell input keyevent 224

The screen should turn on or off with these commands.


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Is the "read contacts" permission per account or per device?
I have two accounts on my phone (Android 7.1.2)
If one app has "read contacts" permission can it read the contacts for all my accounts or only the account I install it or use it as?
Does it change the answer if the app also has "find accounts" or any other permission?
This question is motivated by the WhatsApp app, but it would apply to many others.

Thanks @iBug  It certainly looks useful.
I'll probably close this as duplicate soon.


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Changing to static IP android_x86
need some help. I am currently working on a project that needs needs an android operating system. It's running on an Intel Nuc. The device travels around for presentations thus the IP address changes. I am running a local host on the machine. Does anyone know how I can set the IP to be static so I don't need to change the address in my browser? Please note that this is running on a PC and not a traditional mobile device.

What do you mean by "I am running a local host on the machine"? localhost just means this machine.

@DanHulme I am running a local webserver. Every time I change a location the IP changes. So I need to ensure that there is a static ip that I can access via the browser

Why not just type http://localhost/ in the browser address bar?

@DanHulme I did try it but the browser that I am using does not allow me to do this. I am using Kiosk Browser lockdown

How about http://127.0.0.1/?

Just left the office now sir. Will try that as soon as I am at the office tomorrow. Thanks so much for your help


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Unable to flash anything using twrp. "Cannot mount/vendor"
I updated to the latest version of RR 6.0 (2018-04-05 security patch)using dirty flash. After updating I realised that I was not able to flash any zip. "Cannot mount/vendor" error was being shown. I also lost root (magisk) after the update.  Here is the digest file
Updating partition details...
done
Unable to mount storage
Full SELinux support is present.
Data successfully decrypted, new block device: '/dev
/block/dm-0
Updating partition details...
done
MTP Enabled
Installing zip file '/sdcard/DolbyAtmos_for_Oreo_
20180219.zip
Checking for Digest file...
Skipping Digest check: no Digest file found
! Cannot mount /vendor
Updater process ended with ERROR: 1
Error installing zip file '/sdcard/Dolby Atmos_for_Oreo_20180219.zip
Updating partition details...
done
Please help. It's the same for any zip(I was able to flash SuperSU but my phone did not get rooted)

I remember I once had the same issue. Did you try to update your TWRP to the most recent version?

I am using the latest version. Is there any problem in the 2018-04-05 security patch that can cause it?

same problem here. Did anyone found anything?


text:
Google Clock how to remove added city time
I am using default Google Clock application for time and alarm setting on my Moto X4. Moving to clock on it, there's globe icon under home time, which is used to set and display different city time. I have added some cities, and then I cannot see any option to delete that city. On tapping, Menu->Settings on top-right corner, I cannot found any option to delete it. How to delete those added city time?

Open Google Clock.

Switch to Clock menu.

Press and Hold city time you need to remove, then you can see a Delete icon there(globe icon changed to dustbin icon), swipe down to Delete it (Android 8 Oreo).

Open clock function.
Press the + to "search for a city".
Type in the city you wish to remove.
Uncheck it.

Only this method is working on Android latest versions +11

In the new, redesigned app, swiping to the left on the clock you want to remove does the job.

On my Android V. 9 the Help function directed me to:

Open Clock function
Press the location to be deleted
Drag the location to the bottom of the screen, it should disappear

I did this and it worked.
Note: This does not work on the new, redesigned Google clock app.

Just type the city after clicking the globe, then uncheck that checkmark.


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in.android.location.providers_changed: Toggling Location error
Recently in my android smartphone, while toggling GPS the notification popping up "in.android.location.PROVIDERS_CHANGED".
Why this is happening recently & not before and how to disable it?

This is caused by some app that uses your location. What apps have you installed recently?

Thanks for your reply, recently i have not installed any application but certain application received updates from google play.
I also wants to know that, Is it vulnerable safety wise as this pop up is coming while GPS toggling?

No, it's probably a debugging message that the app developer left in by accident. It does tell you that that app is finding out when you turn GPS on or off - if you weren't expecting the app to use your location, you should think about revoking its permission.

Oh ok! Is there a way to find out which application is popping up that message?

Possibly reposted to Samsung India Community Forum.

Resolved by uninstalling the NoBroker app.

According to the response in Samsung Community Forum, this may really help.

There are some apps that give debug messages for location, as in my case one assistant app. As soon as I uninstalled the app, the messages disappeared.


text:
Can i connect my androidphone to the LAN from outside to reach the TV-box?
I have a TV-box from a cableproveider, wich comes with an app to watch TV directly on the phone, but only if the android-phone is connected through wi-fi on the same LAN as the TV-box.
I am hoping there is a way to make my phone "beleive" it is connected to that exact LAN when i am logged on to another network. Even if it is in another country. Is that possible, and if so, how? My router is a ASUS RT-AC66U.

The method to do this will depend on how the app and TV box communicate, so you'll need to give more details. You could start by naming the app.

Here is the app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.altibox.tvoveralt

Usually this should be possible, however it can get a bit complicated:

Check your Internet provider if you really get your own IPv4 IP address when connected to the Internet. If you are sharing the IP address with other people you can just give-up here.
Set-up a VPN server in your LAN (an old PC or a Raspberry). There are a lot of potentials servers and configurations. Make sure you choose a secure on and protect your account with a strong password.
On your router forward the VPN port to the Internet. Warning: If you set-up the VPN not well secured anybody on the Internet can connect to your home network and connect to all your devices that are usually not visible from the Internet
When not at home you must be able to find your VPN server. Usually you use a dyn-dns service. On the computer running the VPN service ayou can also install the dyn-dns client. It updates the dyn dns record in case your public IP changes.
Configure your Android device to connect to your VPN server. After the connection has been established the Android device is visible in your home network and video streaming should be possible.


text:
Configure "Do not disturb" to disable all sounds but phone calls in Oreo
I'm using Android 8.0. For a few months I've been using "Do not disturb" with "Alarms only" and it worked as expected (the phone was completely silent, even when I picked it up to go into Twitter/Whatsapp, etc.).
I was, however, missing calls, so I recently switched to "Priority only". Unfortunately, the phone is now emitting sounds that I do not appreciate (when clicking Whatsapp's voice note or when updating my Twitter feed, for example). I have managed to disable some of them in-app, but others I can't find. They are automatically muted when using "Alarms only", though.
Is there any way to have Android be completely silent except for alarms and calls? Playing around Settings did not help. The phone is a Xiaomi Mi A1.

What phone is this for?  In the DND settings, depending on phone, there should be options for behavior for Calls where you can set them to "From anyone", "Contacts only", "Starred Contacts Only", or "None".  Should be in Settings - Sound - Do Not Disturb (Pixel 2 XL).

@DukeSilversJazz I've updated the question with the phone model. The setting I see to configure calls is for "Priority Only" only. I have the calls properly configured, the problem is that other sounds are also enabled and I can't see where to disable them.


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Android phone camera sets "dav" comment in metadata
Nearly every picture taken by my Android phone has a comment added "dav" in the metadata. I'd like to understand why and if possible stop the comments from being added. They appear to be in EXIF and some other metadata field.
Images taken with fast shutter [hold down shutter release to take a series of images, used for action shots] have the letters "bst" added instead of "dav".
The phone is a Huawei Honor5C (NEM-L51) running Android 6 and EMUI 4.1. I download the photos using Digikam on Kubuntu to my desktop. Even when I strip the "dav" comments from the EXIF comment field, when I upload to Facebook the "dav" comment is read and appears attached to the images; the actual text is in the XMP:Caption, EXIF:Image Description, and IPTC:Comment metadata fields.
It's strange, unwanted, and annoying.
Update: On further investigation, opening in gwenview and looking at metadata, the strings "dav" and "bst" arrive with images via EXIF:Image Description and digikam had been set to harmonise that with other metadata sections. So it's less mysterious, just one EXIF field is being written.

Could you update with the more details you mentioned? You said you see it on facebook - but where and how? Any screenshots and more details would be great

Added note that it's in all of XMP, EXIF and IPTC data.

It looks like you've answered part of your own question. Is there anything left that you want to ask about?

I know that the Exif:Image Description is set to "dav" but not why, nor how to stop it - the why and how are the critical parts of the question. Any thoughts?


text:
No wifi for importing google data in lineageos gapps setup wizard
After fresh install of lineageos 14.1 and gapps ROMs, the gapps setup wizard asks whether to perform a fresh setup or to import data from the cloud, e.g. google backup using your google account.  Unfortunately, wifi is not setup yet by the wizard ensuring that any import from the cloud will fail.  Does this mean it's not possible to directly import your data from the cloud during lineageos gapps setup?

What's your question?

The last sentence is not rhetorical and ends in a question mark.

This is a silly bug, but it can be worked around by starting the fresh installation which will immediately prompt you to setup wifi.  Connect to your wifi then go BACK to the point where the import from cloud option is available and proceed with import of google data / installation of apps.

Should mark this as solved, at least it solved it for me.


text:
How to resize the Android partition on an SD card for the Asus Tinker Board or other SBC
So, I have an Asus Tinker Board, and as of today, I have a stable running build of Android with Google Play that runs nicely, except for one thing. The img file I used does not expand out when writing it to my SD card, and thus I'm left with a paltry 5.69GB total from my 32GB SD Card.
My question is this: How can I expand the storage on the SD card?
Windows cannot recognize my SD card partitions for android at all, and apps like AParted from Google Play just seem to crash my TinkerBoard. Any suggestions? Or should I just live with the joys of a lovingly stable build, and add a USB thumb Drive for additional storage? (Admittedly, I'm only using 1.4GB of the 5.69GB after installing my crap so, it's livable, but still a bit disappointing.)

The tinker board SD card size issue when installing Miker´s Android with PlayStore pre installed: One has to perform a factory reset from the Android Settings /Backup&Reset. Wait 5 min to reboot and once it´s ready update Google Play Services.
For more details see this thread:
https://tinkerboarding.co.uk/forum/thread-1204-page-2.html


text:
File extension for OPUS audio files
The OPUS audio codec is supported by android. According to opus-codec.org the recommended file extension is .opus Android does not seem to see .opus files. It only sees opus audio files in an .ogg container and only with .ogg extension. Is it foreseen that android can read .opus files as described in the opus documentation?
Thanks and regards

What is your question, exactly?

What app are you asking about?

Some Android audio apps (such as BubbleUPnP or USB Audio Player Pro) have support for opus built in. They can play files with an opus extension. Other apps do not have support for opus (such as the Sony Music App of my Xperia XZ1). It can only play files that android natively supports. As andorid only plays opus files that have an .ogg extension, the Sony music app can only play opus files that have an .ogg extension.

I was asking whether android will ever natively support opus files with an .opus extension, so that the Sony app may be able to play them.

Google Play Music can play .opus files, but doesn't index them and don't offer them in its Library (after auto scan).

Same with Pulsar. Trying all until I find one...

Same with Musicolet Music Player ..

foobar2000 does! (Have to force a rescan though!)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000.foobar2000


text:
It the any map app which is using google maps APIs but work perfectly without GPS?
As I have searched - everybody asking about OFFLINE maps, but I am asking about maps which can use just simple google maps, but does not ask any permissions to GPS.
Currently original goolge maps are without GPS location permission, but they are not working until I turn ON the GPS. Maybe there is any option to force google maps working without asking any location data.
Usually, I know my exact location (when I am walking) or I can determine it very fast - just go to the road cross and you know your position +/- 50 meters. Then I just want to find the shortest way to location I choose.
I don't need any offline map - it won't save battery. But turning the GPS off - does.
Edited:
Turn on the battery saving is not an option - the vibration will be turned off. I don't use sound for calls (I even don't know what is the current ringtone). But you gave the nice idea - just turn ON the GPS, launch maps (without any permission) and after that turn off GPS.

On my android 6 (DTEK50) is does...

If your goal is to save battery life by disabling GPS, then simply disable GPS. In Settings, set location mode to "Battery saving" (WiFi + Bluetooth, but no GPS). This leaves location services on, but disables GPS. Android will still locate your device using WiFi techniques, but not using orbiting satellites, which takes more power.

Further, I can use Google Maps without location services enabled, at least on Android 8.1. Google Maps asks you to enable location services, but you can just say no.

I have android 6. something.  Actually, I don't need any location services - just direct access to the google maps - but now I have found the solution - just turn on the GPS, open maps, turn off the GPS.

@XuMuK The screenshot for the location mode is shown. This does not affect vibration. "Battery Saving" under the Battery setting menu may disable vibration, but this is a separate setting.

Yes, I understand, it SHOULD not affect, but id does. With battery saving mode ON all vibrations are OFF. Maybe it is my phone/android feature.


text:
What is in a backup.ab file?
Using ADB tools for Android (my device had root), I executed the following command:
adb backup -all

After confirming the backup operation, I got a file titled backup.ab that is 350MB. A month later, my device booted with a System UI crash, and would not let me access anything on it. I got a new one (same model), and it is unrooted. What would running the command
adb restore backup.ab

restore to my Android? I want to know what is in the backup (and what restoring it would do), because I want to keep my current userdata. The new device also has a more stable system, so I would not want to restore that, either.
NOTE: This question was marked as duplicate and then ignored, so it has been deleted and reposted.

.ab backups only apps data and their apks as well as system settings.
What is contained:

apks and their data
user vocabulary
wallpaper
launcher settings

What is not contained:

contacts
sms
ringtones and custom sounds
activated input layouts

More detailed is here.

Tak he note that SMSs are not backed up might be outdated, or at least vendor-specific. In my experience, they are backed up.


text:
Substratum themes not applying (Nexus 6P, Dirty Unicorns 12.1 Oreo)
I have the problem of Substratum themes not applying on my Nexus 6P using Dirty Unicorns 12.1 (latest version).
I can choose an installed theme in Substratum, choose all the settings I want, and hit compile - that's all going well. Substratum tells me it compiled everything correctly, then, when applying, it restarts the SystemUI and boom - nothing. Nothing has changed and when I check back in the Substratum app, it neither lists the theme as compiled nor as applied.
This happens for all themes, I've tried a dozen or two.
It's extremely sad, as themability is the reason for me owning an Android device with custom ROM.
Info about DU: AFAIK, DU 12.1 has native built-in support for OMS.

Switching off Play Protect (apparently, there is some kind of issue with the recent version of Play Service) and switching on Firebase did the trick.

Curious how you switch on Firebase, since Firebase is usually on the developer-side, not the client-side?


text:
Cannot boot Android-x86 on PC - Emergency remount
I have a 10.1 inch notebook with Linux, but would like to dualboot with Android x86. The ISO file works perfectly in VirtualBox, VMware, and on Live USB. I have tried both install from the Install program and copying the .img files onto a partition, then adding the boot entry to /etc/grub.d/40_custom. I get the following displayed on my screen when I select the boot entry.
Detecting Android-x86... found at /dev/sda2
[     3.697517] sysrq: SysRq: Emergency remount R/0

Then it reboots to the GRUB menu.
How do I fix this, and boot Android-x86?
I have an HP-e010nr with an AMD A4 dual core@1.0Ghz, 2GB ram, and I am trying to start Android-x86_64 7.1 on a 32GB partition (no fake sdcard).
I have stored everything in the parition in an "Android" directory.
My boot code is:
set root = (hd0,2) #/dev/sda2 in the partition where Android-x86 is located
kernel /Android/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.selinux=permissive buildvariant=userdebug SRC=/Android/
initrd /Android/initrd.img

(I ended up installing LineageOS x86 14.1 instead of Android x86, however, these instructions should still work for Android x86)
After trying to find my answer, I ended up removing my partition for Android-x86 and installing the LineageOS 14.1 .rpm. On Debian Linux (or Debian-based, like Ubuntu) install it with:
sudo alien -ci cm-x86_14.1.rpm

where cm-x86_14.1.rpm is your Android x86 package. If you are told alien is not installed, type sudo apt install alien before repeating.
After a while, it will convert into a .deb and then install. However, you will get the following messages:
/boot/grub/custom.cfg: No such file or directory
/boot/grub/custom.cfg: No such file or directory

In order to add the boot code that failed to be added, put the following in /etc/grub.d/40_custom:
menuentry "Android-x86 14.1-r2" {
    search --set=root --file /cm-x86-14.1-r2/kernel
    linux /cm-x86-14.1-r2/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.selinux=permissive buildvariant=userdebug
    initrd /cm-x86-14.1-r2/initrd.img
}
menuentry "Android-x86 14.1-r2 (DEBUG mode)" {
    search --set=root --file /cm-x86-14.1-r2/kernel
    linux /cm-x86-14.1-r2/kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.selinux=permissive buildvariant=userdebug DEBUG=2
    initrd /cm-x86-14.1-r2/initrd.img
}

(I got the boot code from the cm-x86 postinit script)
Replace cm-x86-14.1-r2 with the location of Android-x86 (for example: android-x86-7.1-r1), and replace the 14.1 in Android-x86 14.1-r2 with your Android version number (like 7.1 or 8.1).
Then, reboot and select Android-x86 14.1-r2 to boot Android.


text:
How to pass commands to ADB shell?
I am trying to create a script to automatize a few repeated things I need to do with adb. I can run most of the commands on my local bash. But at one step, I need to find the list of some files. I then use that list in the steps that follows. What I am doing now is manually going into adb shell and copying the list:

$ adb shell
$ ls /Path/To/Folder *.abc
xyz.abc  xzy.abc  uvw.abc

I copy the resulting list and replace it in my script everytime before running the script.
Is it possible to run this without going into adb shell so that I could do something like this:
$ file_list="$(adb execute 'ls /Path/To/Folder *.abc')"

This way I could eliminate the repetitive manual steps and just run the script every time.

The adb interactive shell only starts if you simply run adb shell. If you add a command at the end it will be executed on the device shell and then adb returns (non-interactive mode):
adb shell ls /Path/To/Folder/*.abc

Of course in the end you can send the output to a filellist.txt on your computer:
adb shell ls /Path/To/Folder/*.abc > filelist.txt

Thanks for clarifying it! Now everything I need is in the script.


text:
Do I need a smartphone with more RAM or one with a higher processor in order to load a big excel file faster?
As the title says, do I need a smartphone with more RAM or one with a higher processor in order to load a big excel file faster ?
For instance : Snapdragon 835 with 8GB RAM vs Snapdragon 845 with 6GB RAM, which is faster to load a big excel file ?

RAM should not be an issue with smartphones that have 6GB or 8GB of it (I have 1GB
 and Excel workbooks load fine - not really large ones) . So, in that case, it would be the processor. Also, a factor not mentioned in your question: the RAM speed. A lot of smartphones have RAM at 1033Mhz or 1.6Ghz, making a really fast processor pointless without RAM that can support those speeds.

Normally 3GB or 4GB Ram coupled with the 1.5 GHz processor is enough to open a medium size excel document file. If you use a 8GB ram smartphone device with snapdragon 845 CPU So there is a slight difference in opening Excel file.


text:
Sending SMS to Numbers with Five- or Six-Digit Short Codes Are Bounced
The error message I receive is, "Error: this message was not successfully delivered." This happens whenever texting my bank, or other business services that use short codes like this (e.g., 50292, or 22000) for customer interaction. I can receive their messages but I cannot send back any replies to them. They always fail with the same stated error message. I happen to be using a Sprint Samsung Galaxy S5 running on stock firmware. For SMS messaging I've preferred to use Google Voice (it's linked up to my Sprint number and handles my voice-mail too), but the error still happens on the stock SMS messaging app.

Ultimately, the solution was to decouple my Sprint number from the Google Voice service. The instructions to stop using the Sprint number are at https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1207070?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en. It says,

Stop using Google Voice on your Sprint phone
I use my Sprint number
Use a computer to remove the Sprint number from your account.
On your computer, open Google Voice.

At the top left, click Menu Menu and then Legacy Google Voice.
Google Voice will look different, but you're in the right place.

At the top right, click Settings Settings and then Settings. Click
the "Phones" tab.

You'll see your Sprint mobile number with the note "Enabled by
Sprint." Next to your Sprint mobile number, click Disable.

After you turn off Google Voice, you'll have to record a new
voicemail greeting for your Sprint phone service.

Now I am able to text those five digit and six digit phone numbers and get a reply back using my stock messaging app without an error!


text:
Trouble installing custom ROM in TWRCP (device unknown) getprop ro.product.device shows nothing
I'm trying to flash a custom ROM on my Honor 5x, and it gone wrong. So I installed the old one back. Now I'm trying to re-install the new one, but when I try to install it from TWRCP, it says "This package is for device : kiwi; this device is ."
It looks like my device name has gone. How can I fix this?

This is usually a sign that your system partition has been erased... If you're using TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project) then you can check this by first mounting your system and then using the File Manager to navigate into system... You should see several folders and a file called Build.prop, this file holds your ro.product.device information

So I should override this file to set the ro.product.device info to "kiwi" right?

No, If you see the file then your system is fine, Try backing everything up and changing the ROM to not check the build.prop for device info... Usually if a ROM requires you to be on a specific device then it's dependent on your current system... You can extract the Zip file (ROM) and change the lines that check your device prior to installation. .. It'll be in ROM.zip/META-INF/com/google/android/updater-script  and needs to be edited in notepad++ or Root Explorer ..Newer ROM's don't use the old updater-script but instead use the update-binary, this is harder to modify and outside the scope

So I guess I then need to disable MD5 verification for custom ROMs. Thanks


text:
How to see, which app locks access to the camera?
My Android 7.0 phone has a flaw:
When using the camera often, and the phone's uptime climbs beyond 100 hours (launch camera, capture, lock screen), at one point, the camera viewfinder just freezes, and the camera application crashes.
Then, it fails to connect to the camera, while the battery monitor claims that the camera is still on, even when disabling the camera permissions for every single user and system app.
Rebooting does fix that problem, but rebooting to solve problems is considered as a terrible violation of the Linux philosophy, and only an emergency workaround.
How do I identify the application/service that locks the camera and kill it?There is only one rule: must exclude rebooting.

Didn't you ask that just a few days ago: Which process is locking the camera? It's a terrible violation of this sites policy to re-ask the same question ;)

@Izzy Whoops, I forgot it. I should have improved the phrasing of the previous one. I will do that tomorrow.

@Izzy I have confused it with a different forum I might have asked it on.


text:
App Windows as Widgets
I want to pin an app window to the home screen, like a widget, except that it is a live app.
I need this because there are so many applications which do not have any widgets. Instead of opening an app(which I forget most of the time) I would like to have them pinned as a widget which I can easily view while scrolling through the home screens.
There any many Xposed modules, which allow any app to be viewed as a floating window, but don't know how to make widgets out of them.
Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks!

It's not an easy task. But let me contribute with some milestones.
First of all the Home app will need to handle it. It's not just a view inside the app, like widgets do. Because a RemoteView is extremely limited, it makes no sense to try to convert "normal" activities to a widget.
But the good news is that Android implemented about 2 years ago the "multi window".
Maybe there is someone that made a hack, but I'm sure it'll need a custom ROM, because there is no API to handle multi window from an app. An app can just handle its own behavior in multi window.
I'll follow this question. :P

There are many Xposed modules for multiple floating windows, like XFHW, which works really well. If a widget is pretty limited, will it be feasible to display the contents of an app window directly over the widget, thus giving the illusion of a widget. Or to just display the contents of the app window as a RemoteView, which is updated continuously.

I think the first option is more feasible, display an app directly over the widget area. The second is not possible because many views/widgets are not supported by RemoteViews (https://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/RemoteViews ).


text:
Does Chrome run in separate processes/sandboxes?
On Windows/macOS Chrome runs in separate sandboxes to prevent the whole application from crashing mostly.
This does theoretically use more memory.
I have not been able to establish how this works on Android.  It seems to use one RAM slot from what I have gathered.
I was hopefully that it separated them into separate processes like on the PC so that Android can dispose of unused apps when aren't using them to save RAM usage.  It may just be my phone but it appears to get slower the more tabs I have open.

Yes. Chrome runs in separate processes on Android.
This is what I get from ps -aux | grep chrome in a root Termux session:
u0_a128  14180  5.5  2.2 1530600 175948 ?      Sl   13:04   3:55 com.android.chrome
u0_a128  14418  2.2  1.0 1412520 84168 ?       Sl   13:06   1:31 com.android.chrome:privileged_process0
u0_i9    21115  3.0  1.1 1428008 91124 ?       Sl   14:07   0:13 com.android.chrome:sandboxed_process6
u0_i14   22492 16.2  1.2 1548252 100956 ?      Sl   14:14   0:13 com.android.chrome:sandboxed_process11
root     22686  0.0  0.0   8748  1524 pts/2    S+   14:15   0:00 grep --color=auto chrome

So why does it get slower with the more tabs I have open?

@William More RAM consumption, CPU time occupation, etc.

So why does switching to another browser suddenly work fine?  I actually have multiple browsers installed on my phone and after opening 10+ tabs in 1 browser I open 10+ in another browser and so on.  Each browser is much faster simple because it is a different browser(my assumption).

@William That's some implementstion details that only the dev team of each browser know.


text:
Accessing Gmail Password from Android Device Remotely
I was using a Nokia 5 and I lost it over the weekend. I have the gmail app stored there that has sign ins to 3 of my emails
s*****@gmail.com,
r******@gmail.com &
r1*****@gmail.com
Unfortunately I have no access to the last mailing address because apparently I forgot the password. It was a fairly new account so when I try to recover the password, google cannot verify its my account. The account is linked to my local bitcoins account therefore I cannot log in and have access to my bitcoins.
I have the following question, if I get a new phone and restore android, will the gmail app appear with the accounts logged on? and if not, is there a way for me to find out the password? I am not sure if this is allowed but I will spare some few bitcoins to the person who can help out.( if not allowed, I will edit and remove this part)

by the way its only logged on on the app and not on chrome

If i get a new phone and restore android, will the gmail app appear with the accounts logged on?

When you log in on your new phone using some account, only this account will be present on this device. To read mail from other accounts, you will need to sign in to those accounts as well.

Is there a way for me to find out the password?

When you log in, your password is sent to Google servers, and they check if provided password is correct. If authentication passes, the server returns session token and no password is being stored on your phone. So no, there is no way to find out the password.


text:
Paytm Linked Contacts not able to make phone call
After regular auto update of apps Some of my contacts shows only the option of Send money through Paytm The solution of Removing Sync is also not working and the contacts are still linked to paytm. I tried to change the app permission settings even then it is still there. Pls help


text:
ADB detects my device but fastboot doesn't
i am wanting to unlock the bootloader on my Samsung Galaxy A5 2017. The problem that I have encountered is that fastboot doesn't actually detect my device but adb does!
I have tried 'adb devices' and that finds my device but when i try 'fastboot devices' it doesn't appear with anything.
If you have any solutions please tell me!

Please make yourself familiar with the basics about the two first (our fastboot tag-wiki would already answer your question). It's totally normal that when ADB is able to detect your device fastboot is not – and vice versa.

I have already read that and none of the solutions work.

So you have booted into fastboot mode, and there fastboot devices did not detect your device? What OS you're on? In case of Windows, the correct drivers are installed? Note that many devices present a different device ID when in fastboot mode.

Yes, when i boot into fastboot mode and run the command 'fastboot devices' no info appears. I don't know what drivers exactly if its like usb drivers or something but all i can find on the internet is usb drivers. Also im on windows so...

I have found the problem, the computer itself doesn't detect my phone when its in fastboot mode. idk why but i will do some research.

When you figured it out, be welcome to answer your own question – might help others in similar situations :) Good luck, and fingers crossed!

After a lot of research, i still can't find a solution :( Any ideas? Im not sure if it's usb drivers because i downloaded drivers from smart switch. Plus my phone is detected when charging and turned off completely. Has Samsung possibly put in some kind of security feature like knox? idk i will keep trying

Good look, but somebody else must pick up here – I'm double-out (no Windows, no Samsung here).

According to someone on xda fastboot isn't supported on Samsung and i just need to enable oem unlock in settings :/

That someone might be right, I vaguely remember heaving heard the same: on Samsung devices, there instead is "Download mode" to communicate with Odin/Heimdall.

@Izzy:  You are correct.  This answer confirms it.

Well i didn't know that answer was a thing...

@Slinver I take that as confirmation (and mark this as duplicate). If I was wrong, let me know.


text:
How to hide cookie warnings in Chrome for Android?
On Chrome for desktop I use the extension "I Don't Care About Cookies" to hide cookie warnings that I personally don't care for.
I'd like to do something similar in Chrome for Android.
I've tried searching around for a way to do it, but nothing has come up so far.
I have root and Xposed Framework so I wonder if some adblocker that uses those may have some list I can add to block at least some of the most widespread templates for cookie warnings.
Or there may be some other way to do it.
My phone runs Nougat and the latest stable version of Chrome.

I know this is an old thread, but posting an answer for other people's info.
I use Kiwi Browser - it's Chromium based so works just like Chrome, but unlike Chrome for Android it allows you to install Chrome desktop extensions.

Are you serious? I will try this out for sure. You will be getting a bounty if this is legit.


text:
Wrong music player when connecting to car after Android update
I have a Huawei P10 and I use BlackPlayer for playing music. When I start my car and my bluetooth is active my car (Volvo V40) automatically connects to my phone and starts playing music.
Yesterday I did an update of my phone, now my EMUI and Android versions are both 8.0.0, and since that update when my car and phone connect, my phone starts playing music with the standard build in music player. Before the update it used the (installed by me) BlackPlayer.
When I go to my settings and look at the standard selected app to play music it shows that BlackPlayer is still the default to use app. How can I make BlackPlayer start to play again when I connect to my car?
I have a Huawei P10 model VTR-L09 with EMUI and Android version 8.0.0

After some recent updates the problem is gone


text:
Security tags on library book interfere with phone operation
I've just noticed that the security tag that's usually found on books from library is somehow the cause to my phone (HTC M9) sending out notification sounds incessantly when it's nearby. Google searches lead me nowhere so I'm asking the question here. I'm assuming it's because of magnet. Has anyone else noticed this and how do I solve this sort of problem? Thank you for any help.

After trying out other related searches, I've discovered that turning off NFC (Settings > Wireless & networks > More) will solve this particular problem.


text:
How to root and flash the Galaxy Note 4 AT&T version
I got a Galaxy Note 4 from my father and it is the AT&T version. I think it's been already rooted since I can use other networks besides AT&T on it... But there are some AT&T stock apps/bloatware on it which I can't seem to get rid of. Is there a way to or is there a ROM I can flash on it? I heard there were no ROMS for this. And if there is a way to upgrade the PHONE from lollipop to marshmallow. Thank you.
DEVICE NAME: SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
Android version: 5.0.1
BASEBAND VERSION: N910AUCU2COC5
BUILD NUMBER  : LRX22C.N910AUCU2COC5

Sim unlock (being able to use different carriers) is not bootloader unlock or root. The SM-N910A cannot be rooted. You can root the T-Mobile version (SM-N910T). Your phone will update to Marshmallow baseband version N910AUCS2EQH1 when you check for updates with an AT&T sim card installed.


text:
Developer Mode Dangers
I want to enter developer more, How do you see Memory usage in Android O?, but am wondering if there are any dangers in doing so. Obviously I could change things and mess up, but will I open security holes to other apps by being in developer mode?  Or are there other issues I need to consider?
I am using a Sony XZ1 compact.
Thanks,
Fed

There are not any significant security holes you can open, and the worst case scenario if you mess things up really bad you can just factory reset, but that would be pretty extreme. Developer Options is pretty safe for the most part, it's just options only an advanced user or a tester/developer would use. It is one of the first things I enable in my device so I can use adb to enable GSAM advanced battery stats. I don't have any documentation of this or I would make it an answer. Basically, developer options is just an advanced options menu.

You might wish to see the previously asked question Security risks in case of activation of developer options and its answers.

I missed that when I searched prior to posting. Thanks!

No, it's completely safe to enable developer options.
Doing so only lets you access these options from your phone settings. Some of them may be dangerous under some circumstances, but they have to be explicitly enabled by you, as they are not activated automatically.

Thanks. Which are the dangerous ones I should stay away from?

You shouldn't enable ADB debugging unless you really need it (however Android 4.4.2 introduced secure debugging, so it's no longer an issue, because if you plugged your phone into a unknown PC, harmful or not, your phone would ask for your explicit permission to start debugging session).
Also, be careful with "Smallest width" as this option might break some apps (especially those poorly-written).
And I remember there was a bug (probably in some custom OS), that caused devices to bootloop after enabling "Simulate secondary display" option.

Developer mode is nothing near to the "REAL DANGER" on android.
It's safe for most part unless you click or change something you should not.
If you are just a casual android user go ahead.
If you want really very very technical insight (and probably thilling work) on android, you can try rooting your phone.
I neither recommend nor force to any harm done to your smartphone especially by rooting it.
Remember, Rooting your phone voids it's warranty.


text:
How to disable Google Apps in Mi Phones
I observed in case of Mi phones like Redmi Note 4 & Mi Max2.
We’re not able to disable Google Apps like Chrome, Play Music, Play Movies & TV, etc.
Please let me know, how to disable Google apps?

If you can't disable it normally in settings or the disable button has been greyed out for some reason then I'd suggest you'd follow this procedure given in this MIUI form thread: Disable Google Apps In MIUI 8 (and 9) which I too confirm to be 100% working (tested).

Install Quickshortcutmaker from Playstore
Select normal search - under input box type manage apps and click search

In search results it will show settings click it, you will find "manage apps" under click then click try (or create shortcut by pressing create).

From here a list of installed applications is shown, navigate to the desired google app(s), select the app, and now you can click disable button to disable the app.

NB: No root is required!
Acknowledgements

Disable Google Apps In MIUI 8

I just purchased Mi Max 2 and it taken update for MIUI Global 9.2 Stable. Earlier I was trying with steps explained in https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/188240/what-is-com-google-android-ext-services. I couldn’t find Running Apps. Please let me know how to disable GoogleApps like Chrome, Play Music, Play Movies & TV in Mi Max2 with MIUI Global 9.2 Stable.

Just follow the same proceedure it works!

I will tell you how I achieved this on my Redmi note 5 pro:

Get adb
Enable usb debugging, connect your phone to pc.
Use adb shell to give this command:
pm uninstall --user 0 package_name

This must work, tested on miui 9.2.7.0
The apps will come back after factory reset

More info:
XDA Developers


text:
Multiple links/files/folders download using Android phones/Apps
How to download all links/files/folders from websites/web directories using android phones/apps?

There is an App on Google Play store name: HTTrack Website Copier. You can download whole website with this application .You can download only that file which is allowed by the website server for the users only not whole stuff holded by the server.


text:
How do some system apps prevent themselves from being disabled?
I have been researching about this for quite some time and frankly I haven't found anything that reproduces this effect in any phone that I have tried, as you know there are a few system apps that manage to grey-out the "Disable" button in App info screen in Settings, at first I thought this was only limited to critical system apps but based on my research I know that this isn't necessarily the case as in some cases I found that some regular(no-critical) pre-installed system apps in some phones have this effect e.g Facebook, Weather, Facebook Installer, Email, Gmail etc. and there are even some malware apps that achieve this, these apps don't even appear to be in the device administrators list therefore they have to be using another approach.
I have tried all sorts of install locations in /system; app, priv-app, vendor (phones were rooted) but none have worked, factory reset doesn't change anything therefore it can't be some stored information in /data partition, which has led me to think perhaps has something to do with the app itself or there is some info of apps that shouldn't be disabled that the system uses without involving the /data partition (I highly doubt if this is the case).
I found a somehow related question here and another one on xda but no one gave a definitive answer.

Not ideal but you can disable the Settings with this command "adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.settings"
Is the only way I found to prevent users of a rooted device to tamper with it.


text:
How do I get a version of Android with linux kernel >= 3.18 on a Nexus 5?
According to this post Android 7.1 has kernel 4.1.1 and Android 6.0 has kernel 3.18.10.
I installed Android 6.0 on a Nexus 5 (using the latest google image) and ended up with kernel 3.4. Then I installed 7.1 on a Nexus 6 (also using the latest google image) and ended up with kernel 3.10.
I could go try on a newer version yet on a newer phone but I'm doing this to get dwarf-based callstacks on perf runs and I really want to do it on the oldest phone possible.
Has anyone  gone through this before?

Android devices generally don't receive major kernel upgrades, and Nexus devices certainly never did. Even when OS upgrades take place they only get minor-version kernel patches. The table in the other question is intended to represent what a new device would ship with given the first version of Android it supported, but even that is not a hard-and-fast rule.
For your specific example, Google has no code for either the N5 or N6 with a 3.18 kernel. Both remained on their original major versions (3.4.y and 3.10.y, respectively) for their entire lifetimes. You can check the "hammerhead" and "shamu" related tags in the kernel/msm repo to verify this. If you need a newer kernel on one of those devices you're likely going to have to port it yourself, unless you can find another 3rd party that already undertook this work.

Chipset manufacturers ship close source drivers which makes it impossible to update the kernel to a major version. Huge third party roms like Lineage OS do not update the kernel even if you install a newer Android version.
ASOP maintainer resigned over this issue
https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/9HHRURorE7g
Currently, there are a few efforts fix this issue such as
Collabera is spear heading the effort to run Android on Linux graphic pipeline
https://lwn.net/Articles/733463/
I.MX platform have upstream gpu drivers. I.MX6 is upstreamed and working
I.MX6 Development boards can boot Android
https://www.xda-developers.com/its-now-possible-to-boot-android-on-i-mx6-platforms-without-proprietary-blobs/
This I.MX6 5 in tablet should have full upstream support
https://necunos.com/shop/
In the future, Librem 5 will be the first fully open GNU phone.
https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/
I.MX8 gpu driver development is a work in progress
Anholt has been working on Videocore for Broadcom, but I find it a shame by the lack of adoption among handset manufacturers.
http://www.anholt.net/papers/index.html

This post is just so wrong. Hw manufacturers actually usually support their SoCs for at least 2 or 3 LTS releases. It's individual OEMs then that usually chooses not to rebase their builds (it does happen though). Second, in 2019 there are plenty of devices with LOS that got updated unofficially. And last but not least, you are probably going to see a mainline-ish QCOM phone before librem is really production-ready.

@mirh, you just describe my problem. You need strong political pull to convince hw manufacturers to rebase. All these changes cost money too. Open source is all about reducing support costs too.


text:
"Connection Error" when trying to view FB image full size
Unable to view Facebook images full size. Get "connection error". I do not want to use the FB app. Until recently was no problem.
Samsung sm j120a

Is this really an Android question, or are you trying to report a problem in Facebook's website?

Good point Dan. I was wondering if this was something a future OS update might address but the comment from Lulu seems to point to the real culprit.


text:
What system should i back up ? system_image or system
I am trying to backup my system but i have two partitions, system_image and system.. from inspection i can see that system_image is bigger and the format is ext4, While system is smaller and the format is emmc ..
I may have the formats (emmc,ext4) in the wrong order.
What do i back up, system or  system_image  ?
I also have system modifications that I'd like to keep in the backup.
Device :
Android 5.1

"Android 5.1" is no device but OS and version. To answer the question it might help to know manufacturer and model of the device.

It makes no difference what device I'm using, only the Android version is required to answer this.

If you say so. I have multiple devices, some of them were running Android 5.1. None of them had a partition named system_image. So if that should be specific to Android 5.1 and not to the device, something must be wrong with all of my devices. But it's your question, so I leave it at that. Good waiting then.

What method did you use to view the partitions ?

See my answer on How to list all major partitions with their labels?. Not one method, but all that are available (to my knowledge).

this concerns TWRP only and is just a different method for backup & restore
have a look in /etc/recovery.fstab
you will see the same partition is listed twice
/system        ext4  /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system  flags=slotselect
/system_image  emmc  /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system  flags=slotselect

first entry is listed as ext4 file system type which tell TWRP the partition is mountable. in case of backup / restore only the content (files) are archived into system.ext4.win (tarball archive)
second entry is listed as emmc which makes TWRP think it is raw disk image. in case of backup / restore the whole partition (including empty space) is cloned bitwise into full partition image system.emmc.win (dd image)
usually /system is sufficient for backup purposes.
/system_image is useful for restoring foreign ROM or backup of corrupt data
Note: for system-as-root devices the mount point is changed into /system_root while /system is just a symlink (or bind mount) of /system_root/system (which is not a representative of whole partition)

just added because nobody has answered yet

Awesome write up! Very much appreciate it.

https://github.com/TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project/issues/1591 actually it matters a lot which method for android 10. here some fix for TWRP secontext bug which can be ported to other devices https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-ime-22-06-2020-official-twrp-3-4-0-0-for-htc-u12-aka-imagine.3819343/post-84343017


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Locating a bluetooth device in a room
There is a bluetooth device out of sight in a room that is paired to my Android smartphone, and I can connect to it when I am close by. (It is a muted audio device.) Are there any methods to locate that device within the room with the use of the smartphone? Say, by dynamically measuring signal strength so that I can move the device around to see where it gets stronger.
Both App downloads, Android Studio( with Java), and other sorts of answers are welcome. (But AS is more appreciated.)

Not really, with a standard Bluetooth device and antenna, there's a lot of really big technical problems, and even physics is against you
You may or may not be aware of BLE and Bluetooth Beacons - there is a BLE Specification called Proximity that allows small bits of data to be sent as Bluetooth Advertisements. Devices can be calibrated and made to interpret these and the RSSIs etc and give a fairly reliable (depends) proximity
There are lots of libraries out there for working with them- and apps. I suggest taking a look at Radius Networks' Altbeacon library, it does all the maths and device specific calibrations that you would otherwise have to do yourself. All the big Beacon Manufacturers have their own though (Kontakt.io, Estimote etc)
Be aware, unless you have a directional mic, BLE should not be considered directional without using some kind of triangulation technique (otherwise you can just say "I am X meters from the device" without knowing if that was up, or behind or whatever)
Also be aware, it's incredibly open to being confounded by other sources of EMF and materials that absorb your waves.
Even more be aware, Smartphone BT Adapters vary wildly, they all log differently, have different nuances and react differently in different situations, but typically it's really good. Some devices like the Nexus 4 should not be used for BT, some hardware kink means the WiFi and BT don't effectively share the Antenna well enough and conflict (also I think the form factor just interferes too)
The best way to position a person or object in a room is by using a mixture of processed and aggregated readings from the device sensors and perhaps even some other hardware in the room. If you look at Google Maps, it doesn't wholly rely on GPS, just like indoor navigation using BLE Beacons shouldn't wholly rely on Bluetooth. Beacons just apply context,
Source: Microlocation developer


text:
Mute call from a specific sim card
Would there any way to mute incoming calls from a specific sim card in a dual sim phone? Also, would it be possible to schedule-mute them aswell? Or would both things affect both sims?


text:
Is there a launcher or some software which would ignore top 1 cm of the phone screen?
Our infant son threw me wife's phone. Since then the top 1 cm row of the screen is no longer responsive to touch. The display works perfectly, but touching it has no effect. Because of that she can no longer swipe down the notification tray in portrait mode. She has to open some app, rotate to landscape orientation, and swipe down.
Some apps which do not rotate or reorients the buttons in such a way that it is always in unresponsive zone are impossible to use. We can use split screen as the last workaround sometimes.
Anyway. I was wondering if there is any app for Android which force the whole OS to render in the responsive region only. I can manually select the responsive rectangular region. (Buying a new phone or changing the screen is not an option right now.)

Try finding something in the Settings that will enable an option like one-handed mode or similar.  That mode will shrink the whole screen, including the status bar, so that you have touch access to that top 1cm of the screen.

Seems like One hand mode is not part of stock Android but MUI.

When I had this problem, I think I learned from this answer.

One option is to use adb, i.e., the command line client/tool that comes with the Android SDK. It does a variety of things, but the thing that is most relevant here is the ability to use it to reconfigure your display.
Specifically, you want to access the shell commands to change the window manager's overscan setting with adb shell wm overscan L,D,R,U.
So you will want to use adb shell wm overscan 0,0,X,0 to push the top of the screen down by Xdp.
You can revert to normal with adb shell overscan wm reset or adb shell overscan wm 0,0,0,0.
If you don't know how to adb, it doesn't take much to get to the point where you can type that command in. I can relate because I used to have a device that had a partially functioning screen and I spent a lot of time rotating the phone and using this!
Within Settings > Developer Options is some options that will help you diagnose the problem, such as Show Pointer Location, or perhaps Show Touches. Or you could create a small app that simply displayed touch input.

Shouldn't it be adb shell wm overscan reset? I don't know what is L,D,R,U. From other answer found this to be LEFT,TOP,RIGHT,BOTTOM

Left, Down, Right, Up. Apologies, good thing you worked it out yourself.
And yes it should be, I've now added the missing "shell" to the examples of the command on that line


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Graphics/vnc/ssh connect failed failed
Installed Kali Linux rolling through deploy on coolpad cool1. Debugging mode on. Rooted. Busbox checked. And terminal also fails to start. More info and config in the screenshots given below

What's your question?

Cannot connect through vnc

You installed Kali on phablet??? Wow. So you can easily check lsof -i and see if your ports are listened

No sir. Its not a phablet. Its a smartphone. Coolpad cool 1 dual. I didn't download the kali through Linux deploys native links. I downloaded the image externally but that shouldn't be a problem. I tried so many solutions none of them seems to work. Vnc says the port refused to connect. i could provide u with more details and logs if needed. Thanks in advance.

I downloaded the image externally what means externally?

Either u let Linux deploy app download the kali image automatically or u give a path to the externally downloaded kali image file Which in my case is from  https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxonandroid/files/Kali%20Linux/. Sir can u provide a solution. Why am i unable to install kali linux on my smartphone, which basically is easy to install on most of the very  basic android phone. My root problem is with connecting the gui with the help of vnc. And also the inbuilt terminal app doesn't start. Search "kali vnc fail" for more light on the context for there hasn't been any of a good solution


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Strange debugging mode
I put my Motorola XT912 (ICS) unlocked in my pocket and it started some kind of debug mode. There is bar on top which shows coordinates and every swipe is marked with a blue line.

I don't know how to turn it off, it's there even after reboot.

Go into Settings - Developer Options - scroll down to Input and turn off Pointer Location.  I don't have a Moto phone (instructions based on Pixel 2 XL).

That was it, thanks. Lucky me it wasn't “Show screen updates”.


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Wallpaper on Android: Automatically update to latest Instagram post
I'd like to automatically update my Android wallpaper when a new image appears on a target Instagram account (not my own). Running once a day is fine.
What I've tried: IFTTT recipe tied to custom FetchRSS feed...but it seems the recipe fails to extract the image URL from the markup.

Navigate to URL:
https://web.stagram.com/rss/n/{INSTAGRAM_USERNAME}
For example, https://web.stagram.com/rss/n/puuung1
Verify a RSS feed appears.
Create the IFTTT recipe:
This: "RSS Feed" > New feed item, then enter the RSS feed URL from above
That: Android Device > Update device wallpaper > EntryImageUrl
NOTES

It seems this may not update your wallpaper until a new feed item appears
It seems any RSS feed errors may cause the update to fail...you can run through a validator to confirm (e.g., the FetchRSS feed had an error)
The wallpaper may not be resized properly if a video or other non-image media


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How can I remove adware that I can't uninstall, without resetting my phone?
My device has Android 7.0. I believe my device is affected with some malware.
Symptoms:

Pop up ads in the middle of the screen. When I click on the close button, it starts downloading random apps.
Sometimes uninstall UI appears to be changed and when it says "Uninstall successful", I click the OK button and it starts downloading random apps.
I uninstall suspected apps, but somehow it comes back.
Even if I uninstall suspected apps, it still shows me ads.

I've turned off unknown sources, but somehow it still gets installed.
Suspected apps:

Clock (there are two apps named clock)
Application.app.sdk2.config

I don't want to reset my phone except as a last resort. How else can I remove the malware when uninstalling doesn't work?

Have you tried a factory reset? This should work unless you restore from backup or the malware has somehow installed itself to the system partition.

I don't want to reset my phone, that's why I asked the question here. Resetting should be the last option.

Given that you've observed this malware come back after you tried to uninstall it, I think resetting is the only way you'll be able to trust this phone again.

Backup your contacts and media files. Backing up contacts to your Google account is the best way, your media files can be backed up on your computer.
Do a factory reset Depending on your specific model instructions will vary. You need to enter the "recovery menu," which involves first turning your phone completely off, and then holding a specific key while pressing power. It's usually one of the volume keys. Then navigate the menu using the volume keys to select factory reset.
Only reinstall apps from the Google Play store. Yes, there's plenty of cool apps and games that are not in the Play Store. If they're not in the Play Store, they are likely doing bad things.

General the right advice (+1) – but there're apps even on Playstore "doing bad things". Just "being on playstore" doesn't mean they're "safe" – though of course changes are much higher getting something bad from "some website". Make that "only install apps from F-Droid", that'd lower the risk pretty close to zero :)

There are two ways to do it.
METHOD 1: Uses adb tools.

Download ADB Tools from Google. On Linux run sudo apt install adb.
Enable "Allow USB debugging" in Developer options in Settings. If they aren't there, go to About and tap Build number 7 times.
Run adb devices and select "Allow" on your device when it asks you.
Run adb uninstall (package name). (package name) is not the name of the package (that is the label). It is , for example, com.android.clock for the system Clock app.

METHOD 2: Requires root.

Root your device. One-click root options like KingRoot exist, but only for Android 5.1.1 or below. In your case, you will need to use custom recovery to gain root (do-able with TWRP and SuperSU, for example).
Install Lucky Patcher from luckypatchers.com/download. If i says it is a virus, tap "More Options" then "Install Anyways (Unsafe)".
Allow root access, and then find the apps you suspect are viruses. For example, in the case of the Clock apps, don't uninstall com.android.clock or com.google.android.clock.
Find the app. If it is adware, it will usually say "Google Ads found" in blue under it (Keep in mind many genuine apps use Google Ads, too). Tap the app, and then select "Uninstall".
Afterwards, uninstall Lucky Patcher with the system package manager, and select "Permanently unroot" if you don't want to keep root.


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how to get details from a particular Samsung firmware
I need to extract some information from a given Samsung S7 Galaxy firmware such as build number, if it is 64-bit or not, baseband full version of the ROM. I am using Ubuntu with heimdall. Is there anything else I need to get this info?
Thanks


text:
google device find locked a galaxy tab 8 at walmart
Ok, that title might cause a wt? well its not as it seems to be.
About a week ago I was at a restaurant and went to write a review via google map. Well just before typing in my review I noticed that my display icon and screen name had been change to something..well that I wouldn't use. so next I had google ping the device and saw it was at a local wal mart.  hmmm kids must have my tablet, so finshed eating and went to Walmart.
when I get there I rang device remotely and wasn't hearing it or seeing anyone I knew react. so I figured i'll just lock it and go home and check to see if my tablet is at home. got home and hmmm, my device is at home. powered it up and noticed that I have a tab 4 not an 8. looked back at my phone and saw Walmart wifi and 100% battery, didn't notice battery state first time. so back to Walmart knowing that its a display on my account.
Checked phone area in front, no tabs, went back to electronics and found it.
I let the manager know about things and tried to unlock device but I couldn't.
I don't feel too bad that its a store device, but was wondering how are they going to unlock that device.
Also anyone know of a way for me to kick that device off of my google account?

This doesn't make any sense! How did your account end up on a random device in Walmart??
Did you set it up that way?

how are they going to unlock that device.

Starting from Android 4.0 and up, when locking a device using find my device it will not give you the option to choose a password, rather when unlocking the device you will have to enter the regular password/pattern that was used on the device till now. Therefore, all they have to do, is enter the password they always used.
If however, there was no password till then, and when locking the device, you chose a password, then they will have an issue, and they'll probably have to use some other method to enter.

Also anyone know of a way for me to kick that device off of my google account?

Being that your account was registered with a public device, I'd suggest you wipe the device using find my device. Just log in, and choose the option to erase everything on the device.


text:
Samsung J5 2017 in water.
I dropped my Samsung J5 2017 in water. I tried to turn it off straight away but it wont turn off. I cannot access the battery as it is built in. My touch screen does not work and nor do the power buttons or volume buttons. Is there anything I can do?

For recovering the data or repairing the device?  If you are trying to recover the data maybe it will semi work after a couple of days, otherwise take it somewhere that will charge $ to recover the data.  Nobody sane and truly knowledgable IME will try to repair the device. It is simple to difficult and time consuming.

Just forget it, it's gone. And be cautious next time

Is it fully powered off currently? If not, there is luck.
METHOD 1: Requires screen lock to be None or Swipe.

Plug in USB cable to computer.
Find your phone in "This PC" in Windows, "Devices" in Linux, or download Android File Transfer (android.com/filetransfer/) for Mac.
Copy files. If your phone does not show any storage when found it does not have a None or Swipe screen lock. Try something else.

METHOD 2: Requires USB-OTG supported mouse and keyboard (can be Bluetooth if paired before accident).

Plug in a keyboard and mouse (requires USB-OTG splitter, but also means your kernel has to support multiple USB ports).
Press the "zzz" key on the keyboard to turn screen on.
Use the mouse as you would a touchscreen. Remember: hold down left mouse button to right click.
Use some sort of wireless transfer to copy your data to a computer.

METHOD 3: Requires USB debugging to be enabled for your computer.

Plug your phone into your computer.
For Windows or Mac, download ADB tools and unzip to your user folder. For Linux, run sudo apt-get install android-tools-fastboot android-tools-adb android-tools-adbd.
Open a terminal (or command prompt) and type adb devices. If your device is listed, continue. If not, retry or stop.
Type adb shell input keyevent 26 or adb shell input keyevent 224 to turn on the screen.
To "tap", run command adb shell input tap x y (x and y are coordinates to tap, replace them with numbers)
Once your phone is unlocked, use Method 1 to transfer files.


text:
How can I restore a Whatsapp backup while retaining stuff from after the backup?
For a number of reasons, I just deleted my entire Whatsapp images folder by accident. I backed Whatsapp up yesterday morning, but yesterday night I had a sentimental conversation with a friend about some issues I've been having, and I don't want to lose that either. How can I go about doing this without losing that conversation?

No you can't(realisticaly).  Recovering data from a deleted folder on a phone might result in a couple bits being recovered with the right tools but not even a sentence of the conversation.

If that doesn't work then, how can I restore a backup if Whatsapp came with my phone, and thus can't be uninstalled, only disabled?

your terminology/phrasing does not make sense to me.  I'll take I guess what you mean.  When you restore your phone to factory settings the default apps are not touched at all only the android OS.  If you take to a professional shop $100+ dollars they might be able to recover something but highly unlikely.

I believe you are wanting to merge to backups is that right?  Your question is not clear.

You actually could have a perfect backup that was automatically created after night conversation and before accidental erasing. Whatsapp creates local backup files at 2 am (up to 7 states), also it saves data to Google Drive (if configured). Check dates of files in sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases as well as in Drive interface (again, if Drive backup was configured).
If automated backup was not performed in a desirable timeframe you will need to mess with local backup files and apps reinstallations to get your old, yesterday state, copy images to safe folder and restore a backup with night conversation.
Official FAQ states that you can force an app to restore a particular backup file:

To restore a less recent local backup
Your phone will store up to the last 7 days worth of local backup
  files (Google Drive will only have the most recent one). If you wish
  to restore a local backup which is not the most recent one, you will
  need to do the following:

Download a file manager app.
In the file manager app, navigate to sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases. If your data is not stored on the SD card, you may see "internal storage"
  or "main storage" instead of sdcard.
Rename the backup file you wish to restore from msgstore-YYYY-MM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12. It is
  possible that an earlier backup may be on an earlier protocol, such as
  crypt9 or crypt10. Do not change the number of the crypt extension.
Uninstall WhatsApp.
Install WhatsApp.
Tap Restore when asked.

Sources:
https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/android/20887921/?category=5245251
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6305834?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en


text:
Enabling WIFI hotspot from a computer without usb debugging
Is it possible to enable WIFI hotspot from a computer without usb debugging being enabled?
I got a phone with broken LCD and i'm unable to enable usb debugging.

Broken screen means "nothing visible" and/or "touch does not work"? Which device are you talking about?

No. ADB doesn't work without debugging.
However you can try your vendor native app, like LG PC Suite or Samsung Kies. It probably can have phone management capability and enabling/disabling its features.


text:
How can I restore a Whatsapp backup without uninstalling it (Whatsapp is a system app)?
Could I just go to app settings and click clear data?

If you have a WhatsApp backup in Google drive or a local backup, and you'd like to restore it, all you have to do is clear data for WhatsApp. To do that, go to settings → apps → WhatsApp → storage → clear data.
Now, when you open WhatsApp, it well be as if you have just download the app. It will ask to verify your phone number, and it will then give you the option to restore your chats.


text:
Can you extract files from a Google Drive Whatsapp backup?
I have accidentally deleted hundreds of pictures from my Whatsapp files in my phone, but I can't restore the backup, since Whatsapp is a system app and I can't uninstall it.

Answering your main question - no, you can't.
As for having Whatsapp in a phone firmware, I think reseting an app through deleting its data in Android settings could do the trick, but it may also delete local backup files - so "backup the backups" first (sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases).
Sources:
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6305834?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
https://faq.whatsapp.com/en/android/20887921


text:
Suggestions to boot OnePlus 3T without any physical buttons?
As the title says, any suggestions for this would be welcome as I have lost the use of both power and volume buttons. Device is not rooted, running Oreo. I have access to both Windows and MAC computers.
Thanks in advance


text:
Can I change language for one specific app?
I run my phone in the English language. However, there is one specific app that does not work properly in English but starts working immediately as soon as I change system language. It is not a bug, just poorly translated.
Can I somehow change the language for one specific app?
My phone is rooted, and I could repack .apk if this would help. BTW I also want to cut access rights of the app.

The only solutions I know of require the XPosed framework – and haven't been updated recently: Xposed App Locale and App locale 2. There are some more which might include this.

I am thinking more along the lines of editing apk to cut out the English language. then it will have to resort to native. Or not?

Not sure if "editing the APK" would be considered on-topic here. Though I think it could work removing the language files, though you'd lose the signature when re-packaging (so no automatic updates, and keeping the data would require some specific Xposed tricks).


text:
How do I turn off the notification sound for when apps request the current location
Today, my HTC 10 was updated to Oreo 8.0.0.
Now, whenever an app requests my location, I get the location icon appearing, and a default notification sound plays. "System UI: Finding Location" is what the notification displays.
The sound never played before the update.
I've looked everywhere to try to turn this notification sound off, and I cannot find it.
I did go to Settings > Sounds and Notifications > Advanced > Notifications. When I see the list of apps, I've also clicked on the options menu to include System apps. I assumed I had found it with Location Services, and turned off "Allow Sound" which was turned on. It did not turn off the sound. I also restarted the phone.
I would like to turn off the sound while continuing to allowing apps to request my location. For example, when I go into Instagram, or the camera, I get the notification. I don't care if it shows me the icon for a second, but the sound has got to go.

Edit: Verizon Wireless is my carrier. I didn't think that was relevant, but once I found the solution, I realized it was.

Go to Settings > Sounds and Notifications > Advanced > Notifications.
Click on the three dots up in the right corner and tap Show System.
Scroll down to System UI.
Under Categories, tap on VZW, then tap on Importance, select Medium: No sound.

Why is the GPS location notification in the VZW category of notifications? I don't understand.
I debugged by setting the category sounds to one other than the default, and when going into an app that requested the GPS location, I heard that unique sound, and that let me pin it down to the VZW category.
I do not know what other notifications fall into the VZW category, but they won't be making a sound when the notification shows anymore.

Thank you!!!  Fellow Verizon HTC 10 user.  This was driving me crazy!!!  I actually got to the last step by myself, but didn't know you could tap the categories for even further options.  A million more thanks!


text:
Is it possible to install an app compiled for ARM on an x86 emulator image
I tried to install an apk from online on a virtual device, but it wouldn't install due to INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS.
I'm able to install it on an ARM image, but ARM images are super slow on my computer. So is it possible to convert or modify the apk to use x86?
One of the answers on this post said "If you using Genymotion you need Installing ARM Translation and GApps". But comments on that answer said that it doesn't work anymore.
So is there any way to do this?

If the native part is a common open source library, adding the common library for x86 to the APK and then resigning it could be an option.

@Robert how would I know which library it's missing?

Just open the APK file with a ZIP viewer. Chck the lib folder. Each lib-subfolder is for one platform and in every sub-folder the same libraries have to be present (compiled for the specific platform). I assume the x86 sub-folder is missing which causes the NO_MATCHING_ABIS message.

@Robert That worked. And yes the x86 sub-folder is not there. The only sub-folder is the armeabi-v7a folder. In it, I see a bunch of .so files like libavcodec-57.so, libswscale-4.so, and others. Can I just copy those into a new folder that says x86, or do I need to recompile them?

You need those files compiled for x86 and of course in the correct version - looks like you are lucky as both are open source libs. I would use an hex editor on the existing lib files and check if there is a string included with the exact library version.

No, it's not possible. You need to find a version of the app that was compiled for x86, or without any architecture-specific parts (i.e. Java only).

Please correct me if I am wrong but there should be a setting in developer options for compatibility.

Genymotion with ARM translation
You can use genymotion (the personal use version is free) with an Oreo ROM + ARM_Translation_Oreo.zip (google the filename to download it). Once you download the zip simply drag-and-drop it into the emulator window, accept the prompt and then reboot the emulator. It's not a lightweight solution since genymotion uses virtualbox as a backend but it works way faster than google's arm images available with android studio.
Standard Android emulator with an ARM image
Another option (does not answer your question directly) is to actually use an ARM image instead of X86. In Android Studio > Tools > AVD Manager > Create Virtual Device when prompted to Select a system image select the Other images tab and pick an arm-based image — those images will run VERY slowly compared to X86. You will get a warning that it's not recommended, but you might get acceptable performance if you select the oldest API version possible (depending on your needs) with a low screen resolution.

It works like a charme. Thank you!

In Android emulator https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/emulator page, highlighted that arm based application now can be install and run on android 9 and 11 emulator.
As @K3rnel31 comment, android 11 emulator can't start as writable-system. Android will be your friends. It requires download the "Android 9.0 Google X86_ARM" system image.

as for now android R (11) x86_64 supports arm application , just tested it and it works , but there is no way to root it , if you look for testing applications will be for nothing


text:
how to block a specific URL without root?
i want to block a specific URL (a .json file on a webserver)
i dont have root
it should run on ANY modern android device AND FireTV ;)
would be nice if we find a way ;)

HTTP or HTTPS url?

https:// but would be great to be able to block both - and just a specific URL not the whole domain etc

If you don't want to block on dns level why did you add the DNS tag? Thi s is a bit misleading.

The only option to block one specific url is using a HTTP proxy. Some HTTP proxies also support HTTPS decryption after installing the used root certificate into Android (AFAIR this is limited to Android up to Android 7.0).
Also this only works for apps that use only Android system method for checking the server certificate (no certificate pinning in the app implemented).
There are some on-device proxy apps available, however I don't have much experience with those and don't know if you can configure one to block a specific URL. However it is possible.
What definitely works when using Wifi is to use a HTTP proxy on your PC (Fiddler, Burp, Zed, Charles, ...) and redirect the traffic from your Android device to your PC and the proxy running on it. The proxy on the PC can be used to inspect, modify or block certain requests.


text:
change device-model without root
i want to change the device-modell of a non-rooted device.
is there ANY way to do it (that doesnt involve rooting)?
maybe also an app that sends that the device is compatible.

You should edit your question and elaborate in detail what you want to achieve.

By device model do you mean Android version? In this case, it is possible without root, but you will be left with the company. Some companies offer Android upgrades (to the latest version) for devices. To attempt to get the latest version of Android:
Go to Settings > About > System updates > Check for update.
If it says "upgrading" or "updating" you might be in luck!
If not... there really isn't much else you can do. Unless you want to try root, a custom recovery, and flashing a new version of Android (besides voiding your warranty, this could hard-brick your device). Or contact the company and see if they offer Android upgrades for your device model.

Answer: No.
Because without root you can't change manufacture info that made by company.
But, there are some apps that can simulate it with built-in function. For example:
During Covid-19 there was problem with video's quality. If your device wasn't in list,then you couldn't watch videos at 720p and above. There is an app called YouTube Vanced. This app could simulate supported device model on devices that weren't in list. And thanks to this function all YouTube Vanced users could watch all videos on max quality. It means that you can change model number without root if that function available on program.