text:
Disable "Charging slowly" warning
When charging my phone, a LG K8 V, I get the message "Charging slowly: Use the charger and cable that were provided with this phone, or check the cable is properly connected." The charge rate is fast enough for my purposes (I haven't noticed an actual slowdown) and everything's plugged in properly so far as I can see. But, the warning is annoying because it pops up every time I plug in the phone and I need to manually dismiss it to do anything with the phone, even to answer a call. How can I disable it permanently?

did you charge from usb port?

@RahulGopi Of a computer? No, I'm charging it from an outlet.

You will find a good explanation of charging slowly in answers to this question Android phone "charging slowly": How to make it faster

...charge rate is fast enough for my purposes

It is not what you feel, it depends on the power as you can see from Andrew's answer there. Depending on the power the toast is displayed

Try methods suggested there to improve charging power. If that doesn't help, there is nothing you can do to prevent the notification from showing up

Edit: What finally did work for OP was a thicker Charging cable as was one of the recommendations on the linked answer

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Getting a new, thicker cable fixed it (and nothing else did, sadly).

Good that it worked :)

My phone gives this warning even with the stock cable it came with.


text:
Settings has stopped on Nokia 8
I bought a Nokia 8 two days back, and updated it to Android Oreo 8.0.0. No more updates are available.
I have only installed some basic everyday apps such WhatsApp or Facebook.
I'm able to change wallpapers from the gallery. However, if I go to Settings > Display > Wallpaper, an error pops up, saying "Settings has stopped; open app again".
What can I do to correct this?
Clearing cache+data for the Settings app and restarting phone did not solve it. Rebooting into safe mode also did not help.

On repeated trials, I see a slightly different screen.

@beeshyams Ah, the dreaded factory reset. I'll see to it, if nothing else comes up.

That edit reinforces factory reset recommendation

I finally went ahead with a full reset. It was solved, but caused some other issues on the side.
Trying out various approaches to reproduce the issue, I found that disabling the Google Wallpapers app can cause it. I do not know how it was disabled in the earlier case, or if at all that really was the cause.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Android Phone Off State and Boot process - Does Android consume power when switched off?
I am curious about the "turned off" state and the boot process after that in details.
I found some good articles on this topic like this one:
http://www.lieberbiber.de/2015/07/05/mediatek-details-little-kernel/
but it's still not completely clear to me what's the exact process.
I know that the basic boot sequence is:

Boot ROM
Preloader
Little kernel (LK)
And then it may split into going to:

Download mode (in case of a Samsung device for example)
Fastboot mode or
Recovery or
Normal boot (starting Android boot itself)

But is the phone really off when we turn it off and the battery is inserted?
I know that Android is really shut down but is the phone completely off regarding the software level?
As the article linked above says, the little kernel is doing the charging animation,
or selects the next boot image when pressing the keys (recovery, fastboot, normal boot, etc).
So my question is: when the phone is off and we press the power button is it the hardware
which starts the boot really from zero (from the boot rom) or at this point the phone
has already been finished with processing the boot rom, the preloader and loading
the little kernel as well which is watching the key press events?
It's not clear to me because I checked the source code of the little kernel as well
and there are some keyboard ckecking routines for example to enter to recovery mode.
Thanks in advance!
Cheers!

This should very well answer your question: What happens when I press the power button on my phone to turn it on?

Clarification
You're asking different things in each part of the post. The title asks "Does Android consume power when switched off?" but the latter part of the post asks "which is watching the key press events?", with a few different questions in between, which adds further distractions and confusions to the possible answerers...
Anyhow, I guess it all boils down to:  "Once an Android phone is turned off, what wakes it up to start a process in each appropriate situations?".
Backgrounds
To answer this, I'll have to take you to even lower level of an electronic device: hardware.
You may argue,

"What are you talking about?! A hardware is nothing when there's no software! Something HAS to be there watching the button input and I'm simply asking what that could be".

Be patient, please. Well get there soon.

"But...!"

Believe me. Besides, you might need to remind yourself of the definition of 'software' and 'hardware' now, since we're about to dive deep into such a low level.
I wonder whether you've ever played with an Arduino, those little boards that get clicky button inputs and put flashy LED outputs. A chip working as the brain in one of these devices* is called an 'MCU', or a 'microcontroller'. A computer - including Android devices - is equipped with a few of these. Every firmware/ROM chips, BIOS chips, or any programmable ICs is likely another microcontroller.
Simple Answer
These MCUs are quite simple compared to CPUs, but more robust and energy-efficient. For this reason, MCUs are often used to aid CPUs to set things up for them. How do they work? Essentially, they behave just according to how a firmware is programmed inside the ROM.
"Ha, so it's simply the Boot ROM, isn't it? You could have just said so!" Well, you'll have to know a bit more to understand better to get an answer for each of your oh-so-many questions.
Deeper Explanation
The keywords are interrupt and sleep mode (the terminology of the latter may vary).
(Wrong) Example
The firmware could be coded in a way that the chip would constantly be looking at the external inputs. However, this is not the ideal way. The chip will have to retrieve the state of a button, compare whether it's on or off, and then count up to 50ms or so to simply wait. Now back to retrieving the state, and so on. The poweroff state could last hours, days, or even years - all the while unbeknownst to the poor little chip is whether the moment for it to shine again would ever come...
Sorry, that was a little bit disturbing. The existential crisis is not the only problem though, if that helps. Even if the chip were to be actively working, each glancing costs valuable resource as well!
Interrupt
Interrupt works the other way round. It's more like giving a notification to the main computational part. An MCU with the capability, essentially every modern one, is prepared with a procedure where they could push away & forget whatever they were up to before, execute a specific function to respond to the interrupt signal, and then get back to the task they were doing before. This way, an MCU doesn't have to actively, repeatedly compute a retrieval & comparison set. In the case of a typical Android device, you could assign interrupt for [power applied/removed on the charger pin], [power applied/removed on the charger pin] and [power button pressed].
Sleep Mode
You may ask,

"Okay, sooo... now that MCU doesn't have to be burdened with that, it could happily sleep?"

HA! No.
...well yes. MCU could just sleep there.
Actually what I want to remark here is that, don't quote me on this but, what they sip when they sleep should be comparable to self discharge of a battery. At this point, there's so little software involved here that I would say those running at this point are all purely implemented in the hardware - but that's just my opinion and I don't consider myself expert enough to get you necessarily convinced.
Closure
So, basically, when in the poweroff state, Boot ROM is barely running that battery consumption is minuscule. When awakened, all it has to do is to call Preloader and/or to tell LK about what happened. I'm not sure of even deeper details; I have no idea but I'm willing to say it should be implementation dependent.
Clear Ups
I guess at this point, your main question should be answered.
Followings are answers to your other questions.

Does Android consume power when switched off?

No.
It is not any part of the Android OS ("Normal boot", you said) that consumes power.

Does Android consume power when switched off?

Yes but barely.
Note that there could be additional power consumption to run other parts, notably RTC (Real Time Clock) module.

But is the phone really off when we turn it off and the battery is inserted? I know that Android is really shut down but is the phone completely off regarding the software level?

No but almost.

when the phone is off and we press the power button is it the hardware which starts the boot really from zero (from the boot rom) or at this point the phone has already been finished with processing the boot rom, the preloader and loading the little kernel as well which is watching the key press events?

More like former.
Except Boot ROM is constantly running but barely.
Hope you got better idea about how everything works now!
*Note: Most Arduino boards have two MCUs, one in the center and the other to control the USB interface.

Good answer. But might have been better if it were a bit less funky and a bit straight-forward in answering.

@GokulNC Thanks for your feedback :) I will try to next time. Maybe Quora ruined me a bit there?

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

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


text:
Unable to free up space on internal storage, removing cache & apps has no effect
new to Android Stack Exchange. - Average Android user.
I have a storage problem on my phone. When I try to install an app via Play Store it says there isn't enough free space available, e.g. it is 45mb short. Play Store then offers an option to uninstall other apps to clear up space. So, I select a large app (of e.g. 130mb) and allow PlayStore to uninstall it. It then removes the selected up succefully. However, after doing so it still fails on installing the newly selected app, claiming again it is short on free space (still claiming to be 45mb short).
This has caused a situation in which I have deleted pretty much all my apps but Play Store still refuses to install any new app or any update because it claims to be short on space.
When I go to Settings-> Storage and USB-> Internal Storage it reports that 4.09GB out of 4.54GB is used. However, in the details below it only reports that 2.39GB is used for Apps and 5.33MB is used for cache (which I've cleared many times allready, hoping it would solve the problem). But this means that I am unable to diagnose where 4.09GB-2.39GB-5.33MB = 1.7GB of disk space is apparently being used for...
I tried connecting my phone to my laptop via USB, in order to be able to browse the internal memory but somehow when I use MTP I am only able to browse my phone's SD-storage via my laptop. The internal storage directories simply do not show up and I am left clueless on how to get any access to them..
I am looking for any insights or any tips on how to further diagnose what the problem might be..

Phone details:
Moto G3
Android 6.0.1
  Kernel: 3.10.49-g2e9678a

I believe that that missing space is the system files. Unfortunately without rooting the device you can't really do anything about that. Try using an app like SD Maid, which can remove various junk and temp files safely (SD Maid is one of the best cleaner apps out there). You can use its "Corpse Finder", System Cleaner", AppCleaner", and "Databases" features to reclaim some space back.


text:
Samsung GT-N8013 tablet listed as a GT-I9100 phone in lsusb on Linux
I have a Samsung GT-N8013 tablet in Download mode, using the stock recovery since TWRP coulnd't work (go here for more information), connected to a Linux machine. adb cannot classify my tablet as a device on Linux, so I had to follow this answer. When I found its ID, I found that it had a different name entirely:
Bus 001 Device 013: ID 04e8:685d Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9100 Phone [Galaxy S II] (Download mode)

How is this possible?

Update 23-02-2018:
I plugged in the tablet again and booted it normally. It ran into the "encryption unsuccessful" error, however I ran lsusb and it yielded
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04e8:685c Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd GT-I9250 Phone [Galaxy Nexus] (Mass storage mode)

What's going on to the tablet?

I do also want to point out that it has LineageOS installed before I flashed the stock ROM and recovery, but it has not been working ever since.

what is listed when you type adb devices?

Nothing, adb can't detect it.

Did you enabled USB Debugging before you tried with adb devices?

I'm not certain I did. The problem is, the tablet is bricked, so I can't really access it at all. I've tried to flash it with the stock ROM and recovery but nothing has changed.


text:
Universal ADB driver vs "Regular" ADB driver
What's the difference between the Universal ADB driver provided by clockwormod.com and the one that comes with Android Studio?
If one doesn't work, can I have both installed without causing any conflicts?


text:
How can I get one month of battery time for an IOT application?
I like tinkering with Arduino and similar prototyping platforms for IOT applications. Often I want to read a sensor value and send it to some cloud service and repeat this, say, once every hour.
Today I realised that my old Android phone that currently lies unused in my underwear drawer has huge potential for being a powerful sensor platform.
Let's say I only want to run a single app on the phone that does the following:
1. Read sensor value (accelerometer/temperature/light/...)
2. Send value via http
3. Sleep for one hour
4. Goto 1

Would it be possible to get one month of battery time on an Android phone running this program?
My first test would probably be to enable flight mode and uninstall as many apps as possible. Is there a better way? Maybe there is a custom ROM or similar that is specially made for this?

Well, this might be of help:   https://developer.android.com/work/cosu.html

Also seeing your requirements it looks like you will need to build a custom ROM yourself. But even then, one month might be unachievable.


text:
How do I stop Archos Video Player treating some television shows as movies?
When Archos Video Player scans the "Television" folder on my microSD card it treats some of the shows as television shows but some of them as movies. As a result, it tries to (badly) to match the titles to movies and then ends up displaying them in the "Movies" section of the app instead of the "Television" section.
How can I get it to treat everything in the "Television" folder on my microSD card as a television show?
Further details
My folder structure on the microSD card is as follows:

Movies/Title (year)/Title (year).m4v
Television/Show/Season X/Show - S0XE0Y - Title.m4v

One example is Postman Pat- Special Delivery Service/Season 1/Postman Pat- Special Delivery Service - S01E20 - A Surprise.m4v which is treated as a movie and displayed in the "Movies" tab as Dreamship Surprise - Period 1. I would expect it to be shown in the "Television" tab, as it should be.
This misidentification of TV shows is not limited to specific shows, seasons or episodes. It doesn't appear to matter if you have complete MP4 metadata or none.

On second thoughts, deleted my answer as it is upvoted and may wrongly give an impression that it is a possible solution

After further digging, it turns out that if the video file has the ©nam atom populated, Archos Video Player will consider the file to be a movie and use that value to search TMDb.
In the example I provided, the video file had the value A Surprise which was the name of the episode. Since the app incorrectly treated it as a movie, it performed a search for A Surprise on TMDb and the first result was Dreamship Surprise - Period 1.
To add further confusion, if there are no results from TMDb then Archos Video Player resorts to (correctly) treating it as a TV show. As a result, it can look quite random as to whether or not a video file is considered a TV show or not!
Should you need to force Archos Video Player to treat certain video files as a TV show, then you need to remove this value.
To do this:

On Windows, right click on the file, select Properties then the Details tab and ensure that the field called Title is empty
On Linux, install AtomicParsley and run AtomicParsley filename.m4v --title "" --overWrite

Once you've done this, the video file will now be correctly treated as a
TV show.


text:
How can I get rid of this anonymous app?
I have just found an app in my apps menu (pictured below), but it doesn't have a name or proper icon.
I have looked in the app info menu in settings, but I can't see anything.
My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ. It's running android 8.0.0
Does anyone know how to get rid of this?

Can you find it in application list in settings? Can you frag and uninstall it? What does it do when you click on it?

As I said, it's not in settings. When I tap on it in that menu nothing happens. If I long tap then I can move it to home, but nothing else.

Try using Malwarebytes Antimalware.

Did you try restarting your phone?

This may help

@abochur that seems to have fixed it.

Usually that is a virus app(no name and no icon and can"t uninstall) and you can uninstall it by using malware cleaner apps

Android doesn't have viruses. Maybe a malware.

I tried AVG, but it hasn't found anything

Try to use Kaspersky mobile if it don't work that mean your malware is very bad

Go to app store and see if there is an app which is on hold and has not been downloaded yet. It might have some error and so is stuck. Else scan your phone once. It can be a malware.

I don't know why this fixed it, but A bochur's suggestion to restart my phone has removed the app from the app menu.
If someone know what caused this behaviour I'd be grateful to know, otherwise: case closed.

One possible reason is aborted download - I linked one such case in the comment beneath the question

Oh! Thanks. I don't remember doing that, but it's possible.


text:
Shuffle songs across albums on Google Play that have been downloaded to Android phone
I'm new to Google Play and have just downloaded a good bit of my music to Android phone. I like to shuffle but am dismayed to find the only facility for shuffling appears to be within album and not across albums (may be specific to downloaded tracks).
Is there a way to do it?

If you're looking to play all the songs you have, in shuffle, simply open Google Play Music. Open the menu -> Music library -> Shuffle all.
If you want to shuffle between specific songs, find the desired songs, press on the three dots next to the name of the song, and click on 'Add to playlist' -> New playlist. After adding all your desired songs or albums, go to the playlists tab, and next to your newly created playlist, press on the three dots -> Shuffle.

On Google Play Music version 8.16.7620-1.J
Menu -> Music library -> Songs -> Shuffle all
As far as tabs go, I only see a shuffle switch on the Songs tab. Would be nice on to have that ability on Artist and Genre, but I don't see it.

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


text:
want to use whatsapp account in 2phones
I have 2 phones with same MAC address and same iP address  Samsung grand and Samsung core with me I used my sim card in grand there is no sim in core I just use it for Internet through wifi is it possible to use same whtsapp account in both phones without using QR code once I tried doing it but when I open whatsapp in 2nd phone it request verification in my 1 phone

Two phones with same IP? How's that possible?

You can't register the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones at once.
From WhatsApp's FAQ

Your WhatsApp account can only be verified with one number on one
  device.

Here's a workaround:
Use WhatsApp web on the second phone, that way you'll be able to see your messages on both phones.
On the primary phone, open WhatsApp, in the menu click on "WhatsApp web"
Now, on the second phone, open your browser, and go to web.whatsapp.com then, go to your browsers menu, and click on "desktop site" (depending on your browser, the name of that setting might differ)
Now scan the QR code using the first phone. You will now be able to use both phones with the same WhatsApp account.
This is not ideal, but that's the only way to have the same account on two phones at the same time.


text:
Dialed names are not shown (htc u11)
Contact name is stored in Google. But when I dial it, and finish the call, it shows only the number without name as if I don't have the name stored. And it only happens with my new stored numbers, and since one week till now.
How to solve this?

Do the numbers show up when you search for them in your contacts app?

It's possible that you have saved the same number in two or more contacts. Either that was by you or it was caused when importing contacts from another source. I had similar problems and it was solved when I deleted duplicates.


text:
how do I delete search history on Firefox on an Android phone
I've been reading countless articles about deleting the search engine history on Firefox on my Android phone.
Let me be clear: I'm not talking about clearing my browser history, rather clearing the search history, which still remains after I've cleared my browsing history.
None of the said articles helped.
Attached is a picture of problem.
I'm running Firefox 57.0.4

Firefox settings → Clear Private data → clear search history


text:
Moto G5 Plus: Can you use a different USB cable (with the original charger) for charging?
I know using a different adapter than the original one can cause problems later on, but is that the same for charging (USB) cables?
This guy here says it's fine

It's perfectly fine as long as the cable supports charging and not data only
For help on choosing non OEM cable see my answer here How to choose micro USB cable for my device?
My wife has the same device and it works perfectly fine with cable recommended above (or any other cable that supports charging)

Edit: If you are wondering if they support turbo charging - yes they do. Verified on my previous device Moto X Play and my wife's G5plus. Search for cables that support fast charging as they are usually thicker and more efficient

Edited to add more detail about Turbo charging

Did you try as suggested?

You can use any kind of good data cables (good means original ones made by a registered manufacturer), but make sure those cables are not bought by roadside vendors or a product of local Chinese manufacturer.
As Chinese data cables are very low rate of data transfer and they really don't prevent from shocks or electrical glitch, that can seriously damage your phone.
You can also use different Adapters for charging your phone, but make sure that the Input and Output parameters (mA or Amp) are same as yours. As phones are made for specific Input Amps.


text:
Android notification dots appearing on random apps
I'm seeing a pale red notification dot randomly on apps in the launcher, even though I dont have notifications from that app.
Couldn't find much details online. Is it an indication that there is some background network activity from those apps at the moment? Is there a way to enable/disable this?
I have a OnePlus 3 with OxygenOS 5.0.1 (Android 8.0.0)
Here are a few screenshots, taken a few seconds apart.

No, I have never enabled/used parallel apps. I don't think its about parallel apps (like in the question you mentioned). This dot is exactly like the Oreo notification dot, but pale red in color. And I have not seen it before today.

I just checked, all app notifications are enabled, in fact by now I have seen the dot shift from one app to the other, and on almost 30% of the apps in the launcher! (I have a few hundred apps). Edited the question to add Facebook image, whose notifications I am actively receiving.

This is reported here with a solution

According to this you need to update launcher and clear cache. On device forums reported and closed as bug

Its localized to only OnePlus devices I see, a quick restart is solving it for a while. The Oreo update by the folks at OnePlus has been a little buggy, it breaks my network connection every now and then, but gets temporarily fixed after a restart. Anyway, keeping the question open in case someone is looking for what it is! Thanks :)

Added an answer, will keep it up to date

As of now, this seems to be a bug and only appearing in OnePlus phones post the latest Oreo 8.0.0 update. It is unclear what they denote though.
Restarting the phone solves the problem temporarily. It will be safe to assume that a fix could come out in the next patch from OnePlus.
As @beeshyams discovered, this has been reported few times on the forums


text:
How to import user data partition into an Android virtual machine
I have extracted the user data partition from a physical dump of an Android phone. I am searching for a way to import this user data partition into a virtual Android machine, so I can see the contents of the installed apps and the user files as on the phone.

What's the format of the dump?

It is a binary UFED physical dump file (.bin)

userdata partition has a filesystem (usually ext4 or f2fs). Simply mount it on Android or any Linux OS, no VM needed.


text:
Install google play games without internet connection
I have a tablet that can't connect to the internet (I don't know why) and I want to install some games from google play. Is there a way to download them in another device and then transfer to the tablet?

Yes. See how to install APK files: https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=install+apk

You can download a game and the use a similar application to get the install file (APK) and then move it using a micro sd card but most of the games on google play store require internet connection to download some content . I don't see any utility of doing this


text:
adb restore <freeotp backup> does nothing
I followed the guidance here to do a FreeOTP backup with adb backup -f <backup path> org.fedorahosted.freeotp. After I wiped my phone and tried to do an `adb restore  I get the message "Now unlock your device and confirm the restore operation." but nothing on my phone happens or prompts, nor does FreeOTP have any keys installed.
I am on Android 8.1 with adb 1.0.32 on Ubuntu 14.04.

I guess the adb from sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb was a bit too out of date. I downloaded the latest version from https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools.html and extracted just the adb command, which is Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.39 Version 0.0.1-4500957, ran it and my phone prompted for a "full restore" which sounds scary but in the end just did a full restore of the FreeOTP. After it was done I have my keys back, yay!

I'm having the same trouble, but simply updating adb to the latest version doesn't seem like a reliable way to fix. It seems like I read somewhere that the version of adb on your desktop is supposed to match the version of Android on your device. And that there's a backward incompatibility after 1.0.39. I don't know.

the new version (Jan 2023) of freeOTP allows backup and restore within the app. it updated automatically from the old version via google playstore.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fedorahosted.freeotp
when you open the upgraded app for the first time you need to chose a password to encrypt the backup.
Attention: to restore from backup (e.g. on another device), it is required to use freeOTP/restore and there enable settings/display advanced devices and then navigate to the backup file 'externalBackup'
without advanced devices enabled, the app doesn't see the file externalBackup


text:
Is it possible to disable gmail sync completely, without logging out?
Is it possible to completely disable all Gmail synchronization, without actually logging out of the account?
The use case is a phone for a senior who does not read email on the phone.  For senior reasons the phone is set with no passcode to unlock.  As it stands now I've set the sync to the minimum possible (1 day if I recall), but there's still the ability to search for and find private email messages.  There are potential nosy persons with access to the phone.
See also Logout from Gmail account without logging out Google Play Store account and How can I set up my Google account without syncing Gmail?
And as everyone should know: anyone with access to a phone can reset the password on almost any online service account.  A few banks are smarter than that, but not all of them.

Auto-sync can be disabled for Gmail in Android from Settings->Accounts->Google.

Can you achieve your goals by using a separate Google account for this phone from the actual gmail account?

Disabling sync and removing email history is possible, but it will not stop others from simply enabling sync.
Option 1.
To disable sync for Gmail, go to settings -> accounts -> Google. And deselect the Gmail sync option.
Now, go to settings -> apps -> Gmail -> storage -> clear data. This way, when you open the Gmail app, it will not show the email history.
Option 2.
disable the Gmail app. Go to Settings -> apps -> Gmail -> disable. This way the Gmail app will simply not show on your home screen, and you will not get any notifications from the app.
But to fully disable sync without anyone having a way to enable it again, is not possible as far as I know.
Email could be access in many ways, like open the chrome browser and going to gmail.com there, it will not even ask for you password because the phone is already logged in.
In short your options are: lock the phone with a simple code that can be used even by seniors, or remove the current account and add a different one, or use the options above, leaving the phone vulnerable.


text:
How to get Google voice input to "submit" / "enter"
Voice typing is convenient, having to press a keyboard button to submit or press enter is less so.
While 'native' apps like Google Assistant know when to submit according pauses or natural sentence structure, using Google voice typing in other contexts (even just the browser) doesn't automatically submit as far as I can tell.
How does one, using their voice, perform the enter/go/done action for Google voice typing in lieu of the keyboard?

I upgraded to Android 13 and it has done for Keep notes and send for SMS, but I havent found enter which would really expand the functionality to many more apps, even without official support like v13 has for specific actions like Chrome "new tab".


text:
How can I change my wallpaper daily?
I am trying to set my android device's background image to change daily. I have been using Google's Wallpaper app but recently have been getting repeats. I am trying to use unsplash source instead. Is there a way I can do this, without root, using unsplash source?

There's an app called Casualis this app let's you do exactly what you're looking for.
Features:

Set a random wallpaper every 1/3/6/12 hours or every 1/3/7 days, at the time you prefer;
Choose a wallpaper manually among over 3000 high-resolution images or use your own images;
Set a random wallpaper using the widget or with a shake of your smartphone;
Apply random effects to the wallpapers;
Customize Casualis by buying extra functionalities.

I never used the app, but it seems to have some good reviews


text:
A few questions about android 7 on a new phone
Why does my mobile provider only show in the topbar on the lock screen? How can I get it to show on the topbar when unlocked?
Also in the drop down menu with the icons for some often used settings I see "no sim card", what is this for? I thought maybe as I can't see the provider in the topbar that there was a problem with the sim card, but I without wifi I was able to call someone.
When I look at the sim "settings->sim cards" there is a telephone number on my sim card, but it is not mine (the card was new to replace my old one). Is it ok to update this number?

Did you double check that you have  a Sim card in the phone? Like opening the Sim card slot and removing the Sim? What phone do you have?

yes new sim card, nano. Moto g5

Strange. Not sure why it tells you that you don't have a Sim card while you actually have it in. Restart your phone

Apparently, on dual SIM phones, this is normal. The provider name will only appear on the lock screen.
Also, in the quick settings menu, it is normal to see the 'no Sim' setting. It's there in case you do insert a second Sim, you'll be able to change different settings.
There is no problem with changing the phone number in Sim settings, to your current number.


text:
Quickest ways to selectively sync iTunes artists (and ideally playlists) to Android?
What are the quickest ways to selectively sync iTunes artists (and ideally playlists) to Android? Has anyone designed any software that provides a quick and semi-automatic interface to do this, other than https://www.doubletwist.com/desktop ? Or is that the best option?

While this isn't a place for recommending software, you could use Winamp to filter your collection by Artist, transcode all of the artist's music to the format you need (I use m4a), then manually drag and drop the transcoded music into the device's music folder. WInamp does work with your iTunes collection.

Thanks - hardly as smooth a selective sync as iTunes offers though, so I'm still searching!


text:
How to restore my old deleted WhatsApp messages
Is it possible to restore my old WhatsApp messages which I have deleted earlier from my whatsapp if yes how can I restore them?

How long ago have you deleted them?

I have deleted message nearly 1 month back is it possible to restore it

There are usually two ways of restoring your messages. Local backup or Google drive backup.
Local backups are stored on your phone for up to 7 days only. After that, they are automatically deleted. Therefore, if more then 7 days have passed since you deleted the messages and you haven't manually saved those files, you will not be able to restore the deleted messaged that way.
Google drive backups on the other hand, are made periodically in the time specified by you. Check your WhatsApp settings to see when the last backup was made. To do that, open WhatsApp, go to settings -> chats -> backups. If the date of the last Google drive backup is before the time that you have deleted the messages, then you can still restore them.
To restore your Google drive backup, follow the steps provided by WhatsApp's FAQ page here
Have in mind that you will lose all the messages that were written after the time of backup.
Otherwise, if the conditions above don't match, you won't be able to restore those messages.


text:
How to USB tether on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A?
I want to USB tether my Samsung Galaxy Tab A (10 in) to my laptop so that I can use it as a second monitor via SpaceDesk in locations with crappy Wi-Fi. So this question will be about USB tethering, but if you know of a way to reliably use my tablet as a second monitor that doesn't require USB tethering, I'd love to hear it!
The tablet doesn't have cellular connectivity, and perhaps for that reason, USB tethering doesn't appear under Settings / Connections (or anywhere else that I can see). I'm looking for any practical way to enable it. This can involve rooting or installing a modded OS, although of course if there's a more straightforward way, I'd prefer that route.

For anyone also looking to use Spacedesk when the WiFi is crappy, see my post and answer here:  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48729541/how-to-use-spacedesk-over-a-wired-connection/48780162#48780162

You can enable usb tethering through adb shell. Root is needed in order to execute these commands:
After adb setup on your machine (if you haven't already setup adb, please see detailed instructions here: Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot Tool & Setup guide, perform these commands:

The following commands call
  ConnectivityManager.setUsbTethering(boolean enable) in Android 4:

adb shell su -c service call connectivity 34 i32 1 turns on USB tethering.
adb shell su -c service call connectivity 34 i32 0 turns off USB tethering.
(For other Android versions replace 34 with the following setUsbTethering calling codes per Android version):
5.1.0: 30
6.0.1: 30
7.0.0: 33

Credits
Is it possible to USB tether an android device using adb through the terminal?

Thanks. I did this (using code 33 for Android 7), but the "USB Tethering" option still isn't showing up. Any ideas?

I think some manufacturers make this feature unavailable due to a variety of reasons probably in favour of carrier specific tethering apps, you may also oversome this using some third party usb tethering apps e.g foxfi, pdanet to mention a few


text:
I need to backup my contacts & information
I saved my information on gmail then lost my phone. I bought another phone but when I tried to restore my information from the lost phone I remove or delete my all information by mistake. Can you help me to please to restore my information?

Backup or restore? Backup- save what's in your phone to your Google account. Restore - take what's in your Google account and add it to your phone

If you are talking about contacts, you can go to https://contacts.google.com.
Under "More" press "Undo changes" to restore any changes you did to the contacts.


text:
Nokia 8 does not read contents of SD Card after phone reset
Trying to solve the "settings has stopped" issue, I did a full reset, and then another issue came up.
On re-inserting the external SD Card, the Files app (or any file manager) can see the contents, but gallery and music players don't see the media. And on connecting to the PC, the SD card shows only one or two folders, and nothing else.
The SD card is a SanDisk microSDXC Class 10 64GB, which was initially formatted from within the Nokia 8 on first use, as was required for some reason.

Trying out this method oddly did not work, so I went ahead with formatting the SD card from within Nokia 8 once again.
Luckily I had made a backup of everything from the phone memory and from the SD card onto my PC, before I did the full reset.


text:
Delete a single dex file
After I unstalled a system app (guvera music) using es file explorer, its .dex file still exist in the /data/dalvik-cache/arm folder even after restarted my phone. Why Android is not smart enough to detect the change and remove it？Can I manually delete it to save space？FYI, the phone use rooted Android 5.0.

If you removed a system app without notifying PackageInstaller (which is often the case), the Dalvik cache won't be removed automatically. You of course can manually delete it to save space. It's 100% safe to delete Dalvik cache for a removed app.


text:
Nokia 8 touchscreen issues
It's a brand new Nokia 8, running Android Oreo 8.
When the phone is lying down on the table, the touchscreen becomes somewhat unresponsive. The effect is increased when it's plugged in for charging.
If I touch the screen, the touch does not register on the correct point, or if I draw a line, it breaks off into multiple dots or dashes. On picking the phone up, the issue sort of disappears.
I don't remember the brand name of the tempered glass screen guard I have, but I think it's of good quality, and do not believe it's an issue.
Some users on Nokia support have said they don't have any screen guards installed, and yet they have the touchscreen issue. I see that many users on XDA have the same issue as well.
I contacted Nokia support via the built-in app, and their response is that I should bring it to a service center for a close examination. I will do so later.
I'm keeping this question here for posterity. Maybe somebody will know what's going on.

Blame electrostatic charge for the fault.
The touchscreen in modern phones and tablets is capacitive. When you put your finger on it, your finger and part of the screen forms a capcitor, which allows the touchscreen to determine its position and size by examining its physical indications.
When there is unwanted electrostatic charge, either from another charge source like a metal furniture, or from a badly grounded charger, it can mess up the detection of capacitor of the screen, making it into thinking you're tapping every where. This is the cause for the strange behavior you see.
The solution is to keep your phone away from electrostatic charge, or release it if you happen to see the misbehavior. Releasing charge can be as simple as touching something metal and well-grounded, or touch your phone while you are well-grounded.

I see. I have been using dozens of smartphones over these years, and now this is an issue. I blame Nokia for not knowing how to overcome this issue in the first place. :)

How does me picking the phone up from the table solve this then? Ideas, any?

@NVZ The table is a big "charge pool". If your phone stays on it, your body isn't competent at releasing all the charge, But when you pick it up your body only needs to release the small part of the charge on the phone instead of the whole table.

But isn't that applicable to all such phones? Why is it affecting my new phone?

@NVZ You know, electricity doesn't go through insulators. Some phones either have a plastic shell that prevents the charge, or have their circuit insulated from the metal shell.


text:
ZTE Prelude 2, cricket wireless change over to tracfone
I just bought a used ZTE Prelude 2, a cricket wireless phone, but am trying to change over to tracfone. I followed all of the steps through tracfone, bought a sim kit and installed it, but now the phone is saying it is Perso locked. What does that mean, and how do i unlock so tracfone will take over?

Perso locked in your case means that the phone is locked to cricket wireless, and it can't be used with other carriers unless you unlock it.
To unlock your phone, follow instructions below:

Our phones work best on the Cricket network, but we'll provide the
  unlock code if you meet the following requirements:

The device you want to unlock has been active for at least six (6)
  months of paid service.*
The device you want to unlock is designed for use on and is currently locked to Cricket's network.
Your device hasn't been reported as lost or stolen. Your device isn't associated with a fraudulent account.

*The 6 months paid service requirement does not apply to Cricket devices purchased by Unlimited Plan customers before January 4, 2018.
If you meet these requirements and would like to unlock your device,
  please call (1800-274-2538) a Cricket Support Advocate or visit your
  local Cricket Store
Source

I was just about to leave a comment about Link-only answer...

And then what happened?

You expect anything to happen? Surely no. I realized it's a fine answer.


text:
preventing current app from being killed while screen is off and running off AC power
Is it too much to ask to be able to start an app before I go to bed at night, turn off the screen, and then turn the screen back on in the middle of the night and have it still there, undisturbed?  Instead, after 4-5 hours of inactivity there is a good chance that the app will be killed!  Why does Android even do this?  It can't be for power saving, because the device is plugged in all night (battery charged), and it can't be for speeding up the device because nothing else is running (aside from a few CPU seconds an hour for push notification checks), or for dealing with running out of memory because the device in question has 3GB and almost 600MB is being reported as free.  The app is not even in the background, so if the app explicitly foregrounds itself it doesn't really fix the issue.
Even with apps that do a good job of saving their current state and restoring it after being killed (and most do not) it's still a pain because the app is no longer on the screen so it has to be located and started, and then it takes a bit of time for it to for initialization code.  During the middle of the night is a very inopportune time to have to do this!
In older versions of Android there were certain hacks you could do to the underlying Linux proc or sys filesystems to try to combat this problem.  There is an existing question but it is nearly seven years old.  But now I am running the latest version of Android (8.1) and I'm wondering about the current state of the art in solving this problem.

It's Doze feature that you want to fight. One way to prevent Doze kicking in is when device is on charge. With fast charging being the common mode now, that's not going to help much. Leave it on charge with a USB 2.0 computer port, that would take time to charge. This is the closet solution

@beeshyams are you saying that Doze won't kick in when charging, but once charged but still connected to power it will start kicking in?

Yes. Connected to power is not same as charging. You can experiment

That's my understanding of how Doze works


text:
How to delete Alcatel File Manager?
I have an Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 model 60451 running Android 6.0.1 and it updated a few days ago turning File Manager into adware that would reinstall itself no matter what I did. I tried everything I could find on the internet, including from Is this "Boost" / File Manager app a true system app or malware?.
I did as suggested and stopped auto-updates in Google Play. The only difference was that Google Play wasn't showing any apps when I clicked there. But I still was able to select no auto-updates in settings in Google Play. It hasn't reinstalled again for a while, but it's back. It's beginning to look like a factory reset is in order and then doesn't allow any more updates.
Finally, I did a full factory reset after stopping all updates on Google Play and the automatic restore on the phone and it not only appears again, it has another toolbar with it. Actually I did this 4 different times, all the while stopping everything that could be stopped. Finally, I closed down my Google account entirely and then did a factory reset. The result, it's back. File Manager comes with the phone but until an update last week it was unobtrusive.
I have never downloaded it deliberately or rooted my phone or downloaded an APK file or anything other than Google Play apps. I have been working on this for the past several days (obsession) and don't find any way to get rid of this.
Is it possible to delete Alcatel File Manager completely?

I just found a post that said, "This issue is there in most of the cheap Chinese phones and tablets. These phones have a pre-installed trojan program which cannot be removed from the phone."
They suggested NoRoot Firewall (available at Google Play) and it really stops programs from using the internet without your permission. It stopped File Manager as well as OfficeSuite (which I had previously uninstalled) from internet access. Now File Manager cannot reinstall itself. Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed.

In Settings - Apps - File Manager delete the updates of this app. This will revert the app to the initial version.
If you don't want to use the app anymore (which would be my advise since Alcatel File Manager is not so great), disable it completely.

Thanks but I have done that at least 50 times (yes I am obsessive) It just comes back in less than a minute and that is after Disable and Force Stop and Clear Data. Oddly enough after searching the internet for days, as soon as I asked here for help I found an answer at least so far and I will put it in Answer Your Question.

It's strange. I disabled the app and it doesn't bother me any more.

I think this may have something to do with Alcatel phones in particular. At least that is what others have said who have the same problem.

I've got One Touch Idol 3 too, but 6039K, not 60451. No problems with it.

I am glad you are free of this problem. I have actually enjoyed my phone up until now and really haven't had many problems with it. That is until the last update.

I had the same problem with file manager as well as joy launcher. I read something that worked for me. Turn off your Wi-Fi and your mobile data. Then Settings > apps > file manager > click on the three dots at upper right > Uninstall updates. This finally worked for me. I chose Google Now Launcher as my replacement launcher which I installed from Google Play Store before beginning this process.

The process mentioned above about Turning off wifi and mobile data etc. Worked for me. Thanks

First off this doesn't work at all. So ignore all of that. When next you go to use your phone, it reinstalls itself. Updates automatically install. Can't use Force stop or go to MS to stop updates. Doesn't work. Need to uninstall the app comepletely. No one has a working solution.


text:
Only allow websites to open apps to after user confirmation
There are links such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Play store. etc. which can only be opened with one application.
If I accidentally tap on “open inside Quora app”, Android does not ask me for confirmation and directly switches to the Quora app.
I would like Android still to ask me for confirmation.
Uninstalling the app is no solution for me.
Sometimes, advertising websites enforce opening the play store.
With an operating system, which is marketed and always shown off to be the customisation god, this is one of the least things to expect from it.

If I tap on "share using Twitter" using the Internet browser, cross-app access opens the Twitter app without confirmation. Because that is my only Twitter client.

If you "share using Twitter", you are explicitly asking to open the Twitter app on your phone. Instead try share > copy to clipboard and then paste that link you copied into a browser of your choice.
Or if you'd like to continue browsing thru the Twitter links inside the same browser, maybe press and hold to then open the link in a new tab. If simply clicking a twitter link automatically opens the Twitter app, see Leon's answer.

When clicking a link, e.g. some twitter.com/etc, Android will probably ask if you'd like to open it with the browser or the Twitter client. At that point, there should be a check box available saying 'Always open with...' and then the option you choose. If you untick that box, it will ask you again next time.
As I read your question (although no question marks involved), you should disable the Twitter client to open by default. You can do so by going to "Settings → Apps → Twitter client".

I dd this, but it still opens using the app. The actual reason for my question is, that some websites automatically open random apps on my phone.

Okay, then I am not sure what causes this. Could you elaborate more in your question? Especially what you mean by 'random apps' and give a detailed example when it happens? Maybe we can help with that additional information.

Sure, @LeonJosse.

The thing you want to disable is called App Links Android Developers

Android App Links on Android 6.0 (API level 23) and higher allow an app to designate itself as the default handler of a given type of link. If the user doesn't want the app to be the default handler, they can override this behavior from their device's system settings.

To DISABLE:
Go to Settings->Apps->Configure apps(settings icon in top)->Opening links there you will see list of apps with their supported links, tap on any app and it will show supported links and options for that app, something like

Just tap on Ask every time and you are done.


text:
Is it possible to create a HTML signature for the Outlook for Android app?
I have been trying to get the full signature that I normally use on desktop Outlook to work on my mobile phone for the Outlook for Android app. So far I have tried multiple solutions such as
facemail however I don't really want to pay to get it working.
This website says that the Outlook for Android app does not have HTML support but I was hoping there was some way to get it working.
Another thing to note is that my business will not allow an app other than Outlook for Android so I am limited from getting other android apps which can do the job.

As of the wtiting of this answer (9 March 2019),Outlook for Android does not support HTML signature.
There is a thread on UserVoice asking for:

Support HTML features in signature such as images and company logos as well as hyperlinks and formatting.

However,although the request has more than 7 thousand votes, it was declined by Microsoft:

We have had to make the decision that this isn’t something that we’re going to have on mobile. We have a team spending their time on making sure our HTML rendering and message composition experiences are rich (formatting support is coming in the future). We are still taking your votes and notes into consideration and we highly appreciate them: Sometimes we have to make decisions to improve the overall experience for the widest amount of people. Thanks for your understanding and keep letting us know your thoughts.

Maybe in the future, they will revert their decision; but for now, HTML signature is not supported in Outlook for Android. You can only add a text-based, nothing fancy signature.

Outlook app DOES support HTML signature but can only have one signature in HTML. After you paste in HTML code if you go back in to edit it, or add a second signature, it destroys the first one.


text:
Android calendar data storage & transfer
How can I transfer ALL stored calendar data (android, HUAWEI MATE 9 app) to Samsung galaxy note 8? Transfer has  been possible only for last year's data (2017). Not all previous years' data in calendar could be moved to new phone. I have used the "Smart Switch" app on both phones.

Try and use an app called "Copy my Data" on both phones to move calendar data.


text:
How to root Nokia 8?
I want to root my shiny and new Nokia 8 64GB, running mostly pure Android 8.0.
This will later become part of the "how to root" series we have as a CW, following the wisdom of this meta.

Someone on XDA has rooted their Nokia 8 (proto), which has an unlocked bootloader though...: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-8/development/question-nokia-8-partitions-t3682617

Update April 23, 2018: I just found it possible to unlock the bootloader for certain HMD Nokia phones, according to this post on XDA forum.
Do it at your own risk.

So far HMD Nokia is not root-able, that's because HMD doesn't want to let the bootloader of Nokia 8 be unlockable. Without an unlocked bootloader, it's impossible to root a device (let alone system vulnerabilities - that's an ancient thing).
Don't attempt with any "This Root" or "That Root" tools or tutorials found online. They won't work for a rather new Android version (8.0). On the contrary they may harm the system in unknown ways.
Here is a post on XDA Forum concerning about rooting Nokia 8. The result is the same: not possible so far.
I'll update this answer if things change.

at this moment there is no way to root the nokia 8 because of the locked bootloader it has.


text:
What is the No Sim card icon for?
On Android 7, when you pull down the top bar drop-down window (Quick Settings) a grid of 3x3 icons appears with tiles like Wifi, screen rotation on/off, Aeroplane mode etc.
On my new phone with a new SIM there is an icon called "No SIM card". What is this for?
I have a dual SIM phone with only one SIM card inserted, is it there to allow me to swap them? Is there anyway to get rid of it when I only have 1 card installed?
Here is a screenshot:

is there another icon that shows the inserted SIM card? Can you provide screenshot?

https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/quick-settings-improved-1-840x495.jpg

"No sim card" (middle of image) ... but on the lock screen it shows my provider and with wifi turned off I can still send text messages. Strangely I only see the provider name on the lock screen, when unlocked the provider does not show on the topbar like it did with my old phone (Android 4.4)

And what's that 'Emergency calls only' icon, is that same tile?

Ah.... sorry that is not my image, I just used it to show what I see. On my quicksettings the icon is white and says 4g and under neither it I see my mobile provider name

There is no problem sending texts or phoning, I'm not restricted to emergency calls

You can remove that icon from quick settings by clicking edit and drag it to disables tiles.

Ok, but what is it for?

you said "the icon is white and says 4g ", so is it enabled? And it will make everything easy to understand if you provide screenshot.

yes, the emergency calls icon, i'm interested in the no sim card icon. I'll try and make a screenshot

Here: https://imgur.com/a/6cfD7

Since you have pointed out that you have dual SIM phone with only one SIM card inserted, so it is obvious that given icon is a Quick Setting tile for another SIM slot, which is empty in your case, hence No SIM card.
That tile works same as another tile shown there for your inserted SIM. It takes you to SIM cards menu in Settings
If you will insert another SIM card then it will be enabled.
You can remove that icon by enabling System UI Tuner and then hide that tile by drag and drop Quick Settings tiles.


text:
SHOULD I remove stock internet app on galaxy J5 2015?
I have rooted my samsung galaxy J5 (2015), but I am not sure whether or not I should remove the preinstalled "Internet"-app. The phone came with both that AND google chrome, and so the question is whether it's a good idea or not to remove it in order to free 50+ MB of storage on a phone that only has an 8GB total.

The app resides in the system partition. Removing it will not give you 50MB of space back in your data partition. It'll give you only a few MB at most.  If you don't know if removing a system app will break anything or not, then don't remove it.

you can remove it without any problems but i would recommend to flash a custom "lite" rom the is debloated even more depending on you model number of the J500


text:
Apps and Interface looks different
Why is Android on mobiles made by different companies different, and why do apps like Facebook also differ likewise?

The operating system on your phone isn't put there by Google: it's put there by the manufacturer of the phone (the OEM). Google gives OEMs the source code to Android, and the OEM has to integrate its drivers into the phone. The OEM can also make any changes to Android, as long as it still passes the compatibility tests (so that apps will run on it).
The OEMs like to use this facility to make changes, first to add their own branding, and second to add features they regard as "value add". OEMs want to differentiate their phones from their competitors this way. They don't want to become like PC manufacturers, who don't have as much ability to customize, because PC manufacturing has much lower margins.

Beat my wasted draft to it.

But why apps like Facebook are slightly different from my lg mobile in other mobiles made by lennovo and samsung ?

@Arunkumar I don't quite see what you mean. Could you [edit] your question to explain what differences you're talking about? Add screenshots if it helps.

I mean the  user interface of Facebook is not similar in my lg mobile and in my friends lennovo mobile. Iennovo has a different layout for Facebook app.

It's because Android is open-source. Anyone can modify it at their own wish. OEMs, original equipment manufacturers, specificallt like differentiating their products from others' by customizing Android.
There are several popular modified Android UI variants like LineageOS (previously CyanogenMod), MIUI and whatever UI it's called. Most modifications are intended to either provide more functionality, or make Android look better. A lot of modifications do mot intefere with the lower part of Android - they only change what it looks like, but not how it works. This can be easily done even by installing another launcher (so you have a different desktop look and functionality).
As of now, the vanilla Android can only be found on Google phones like Pixel's and Nexus'. But that's not a big issue unless you're a Google maniac. OEM-modded Android are required to pass a series of tests to ensure it's compatible with Google's vanilla Android so that apps and games and run.


text:
How does "virus been detected" on android pop up on chrome when visiting some sites?
What is the cause of this chrome bug on android? The last site I went to was www.destructoid.com and all of a sudden it gets redirected to the following url. This happened previously awhile back, but I didn't document everything as I did today. I'm also on android chrome canary if that matters.
I took some screenshots before closing out of that tab. But my question is:

What chrome bug or malware is causing these random redirects?
How can one detect if they have this vulnerability?

The url is: warning: open in incognito mode

These are never real. A website cannot know if you have a virus. It's usually a scare ad making you download their app

yea but how did it redirect me when i was viewing another site? or was that site infected with a virus and not my phone?

In short:
Nothing to worry about, unless you have downloaded an app suggested by the pop-up.
In More detail:
It's an old issue. You visit a normal website, and suddenly you see pop-ups telling you that your phone has a virus.
It's called scareware. It's basically "ads" which scare you into downloading their "anti-virus" apps. Many times, the apps you will download are the ones with malware.
Why they show up:
When you see it on big websites like New York Times, it's not because the website is intentionally sending these ads; rather, it's because the innocent looking ads that the website is selling space to are laden with hidden code, which then allows them to display scareware without the website publisher knowing about it.

Many social media posts lamented that even top-tier publishers like
The New York Times and The Atlantic were willing to run such intrusive
ads on their sites. But experts say the problem isn’t with lack of
discernment on the part of site publishers but with an extremely
complex online advertising system that makes it hard for publishers
involved to detect, let alone weed out, misleading and malware-laden
ads. Source

Every website you visit is able to tell what phone you are using. This info is sent to the website by your browser. The scareware ads then use that info to make their warning look more real and scary.
You can even have a look at this website using your browser, it will tell you exactly what phone and Android version you're using.
What to do:
There is nothing to worry about, as the websites you visit have no way of knowing if you have a "virus" and therefore, the info cannot possibly be true.
When you get such a warning, simply close your browser. You can also clear the cache just in case (settings → apps → [browser name] → storage → clear cache).
If you do download the advertised app, make sure to uninstall it, or even factory reset your phone.
the Good news:
There's a simple way to disable these popups as explained by Android Police:

If you want to manually turn on the feature, and deal with whatever
lingering bugs it currently has, it's pretty simple. Just copy
chrome://flags/#enable-framebusting-needs-sameorigin-or-usergesture
and paste it in the address bar (you can't tap on that link directly).
Then tap the highlighted dropdown menu, change it to 'Enabled,' and
restart the browser when asked

Great answer. Have an upvote. You could also elaborate on how the scareware is able to discern the device being used, for the sake of completeness.

@DeathMaskSalesman great idea if I'd know myself. I did write that the browser provides that info to any website you visit. How exactly it is sent, i don't know. I'll do some research

This particular piece of info is known as the user agent. You may want to look up why it is sent around and how to supply a dummy one.

I'm using Chrome 64 when I got same message and now I'm on 65?

@alexus I'm not sure i understand your question

"the good news" you said, this no longer an issue if one using chrome 64+, I'm saying that's wrong as I still got scrareware with Chrome 64.

@alexus I'll look into that. I was just saying what was being reported...

@alexus it looks like they change their mind. You can see that here https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/02/05/chromes-blocker-redirecting-ads-wont-turned-april/

@alexus thanks for pointing it out. I edited the post


text:
Can I backup on oxygen OS and restore to lineage OS using adb backup?
I have a OnePlus 2 that is running stock Oxygen OS. However, lately, I'm not happy with the phones performance. Therefore, I would like to try lineage. I would like to keep all my data (apps, chat history, photos, contacts, etc.). If I use adb backup, can I restore this backup after installing lineage to achieve the desired effect?

It's possible, but be specially cautious when proceeding.
An ADB backup contains system settings, which is likely to be different across ROMs. Blindly restoring an ADB backup from another ROM may render your device unbootable.
If you restore only the apps and their data, you'll probably succeed.


text:
how to check if my OS is not modified (is original)
lets say, someone gave me an android phone ( with custom rom, lets say CM or etx). i did hard reset to erase alll data and usr apps.
but i am interested, how to know if that custom rom is not modified ( if i am afraid of spyware hard-coded into that os).
how to check if that system is clean from such custom modification, and is an original CM?

EDIT:
I've found interesting answer here - How to tell if phone's ROM is original or tampered?

No real way to test it unless you know what you are looking for (in terms of spyware) the best solution is to flash a new CM rom from an approved site that is known to be clean.

Just make sure to do a "clean" install... Wipe all accessible partitions with TWRP/CWM recovery prior to flashing.

You haven't been informative in your question.
Clean install with formatting or wiping of partitions is already suggested.
But, if new installation is out of options for some reason - ROM not available, can't install because you must use supplied platform or you actually want to discover whether something malicious is installed or not, you can do debugging and/or traffic sniffing from device.
I recommend Android Studio for debugging - Android device monitor.


text:
Android doesn't delete folders completely
Redmi 3s, MIUI 9.2 MultiROM Stable. I had some music on SD card in Music folder, then I deleted it (using Poweramp or file explorer, same for both). Tried to send music from PC using Foobar2000 extension OneWaySync but get error

One way sync failed: Error: Could not create directory on WPD device. Another item with the name \Redmi 3S\Samsung SD card\music\Bob Dylan might exist already, or check permissions.

Then I tried to create folder Bob Dylan manually from PC, but nothing happened, only sound to indicate that it failed. If I create folder manually via file explorer on the phone, then it appears (sometimes with errors already exists), I delete it, and finally I am able to sync normally. However, there are way to many folders to recreate by myself, so I am looking for some easier method to remove folders from Android completely.
Thank you.

It seems that delete from PC works normally.


text:
Can not disable Software Update application
I have an older Android phone and recently updated to Android v5. Since the update I keep receiving a notification on my screen to update the software again (it also automatically downloads a 250mb file). This update however has no effect (it keeps re-installing the same version). I am therefore looking for a way to disable it.
A previous post on this site suggested to go to the Application Manager > All > Software Updater and then subsequently to Disable the app and clear the cache.
I did this but it had no effect. In fact it made things more complex:

I have now two Software Updater apps (one is v3.19 which I cannot disable, and the other is v4.2 which I turned off)
After disabling v3.19, I cannot do anything anymore when opening it. It is not turned off and all buttons are disabled (see screenshot below).

Is it rooted? If yes then things are easy.

What is rooted?

Read this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooting_(Android) . If you haven't done any of the following, then your phone is not 'rooted' :D

@papakias We have a question What is root? What do I gain from rooting?.

And without rooting?

Without rooting, you have limited control over your phone, and may have trouble trying to disable some apps, like the one you're facing.

Thats quite a lot of effort just to disable a notification

@JohnAndrews That's because the average user is supposed to stay up to date, I guess.


text:
Why is Android System using Data
Hi guys I have an android running custom rom on 8.1 . I found this problem when I was downloading files from ANDROID DOWNLOAD MANAGER the speed shown by ADM was very less in comparison to that shown by INTERNET SPEED METER LITE( which I think is good app because of having 10 million downloads) ,to find the culprit who was using data in background I got into SETTINGS

How can android system use so much data of 691 MB(remember its not play services or any useless google apps since I have only pico version of gapps installed)

I run my net on mobile data where I get 1GB per day , if  i am getting 641 MB robbed How can I stop it without affecting my Android  and is that possible that Cistom rom developers may add some Traffic Bot or Cryptocurrency miner bot to my Android  and name as SYSTEM APPS.

For various concerns, some system apps are run within the same process. This makes it hard to distinguish activity from each individual apps (except for storage access). So the "Android System" you see is the sum of all system apps running in the same process as the real "System".

I don't understand Why System Apps need data

For example, don't you think WhateverSync or Push Services need data?

Push services like that of samsung

@Pranjal Yep that's one possibllity.

No download manager is not part of Android System its part of pre installed apps and data usage of both are shown separetly.

@Pranjal That's a minor mistake. My answer should be overall correct.


text:
How do you disable autoplay in the YouTube app when you are watching a playlist?
I have set autoplay to off in settings, but when I enter a playlist video, the next video still starts when the one I am on ends.

No, you can't set Autoplay to OFF for playlist.
Since it is a playlist, so the concept of Autoplay doesn't lies here as you are playing a list and not a single video.

It looks like you're right.  I had thought that you could turn off autoplay for playlists in the browser but not in the app, but I cannot do it in the browser, so I was mistaken.

Your answer is correct, and your reasoning makes sense at first glance. But remember that a playlist is often not intended to be played as a long chain, but rather just a grouping of videos. For example, the YouTube default Favorites "playlist", and the "playlists" that channels use to organize their content by topic, are really just groups of videos.

Google's main concept is to make you watch more whether you want it or not

Despite being commonly used to organise channels videos in to themes, rather than as more traditional playlists, this is an oddly unavailable option.
This is a particularly odd omission as there is ordinarily an auto-play on/off toggle within the video controls and this option used to be available for playlists in the browser, but only when not using a playlist.
While a bit of a cop-out, your best bet is to use a browser such as chrome and a plugin to do this for you.

Note that Chrome on Android doesn't allow browser extension though.

If you install NewPipe Legacy from the F-Droid store, you can share a single video from the playlist to it and play it this way. This way, it will stop playback when the video finished.

Turnoff the loop option. Check the image

That is to loop the whole playlist, i.e. if the playlist ends it will be played again from starting if loop is enabled.


text:
Sync contacts between different account types
I have two account types on my phone: Exchange and Google.
I'd like to sync the two, to make sure that an account that exists only in Google exists in Exchange as well, and vice-versa. I'd also like to sync the photos (in my case, the Exchange photos are all very old and low quality, and I'd like to fix that).
I couldn't find a way to do this using the standard Contacts app on my phone (Galaxy S8). I'm guessing I'd need to use some kind of app for this, but most searches yield backup-restore applications which seem to be designed to, well, backup to a file / restore from a file (which isn't what I need), and completely ignore the photo problem.
Any suggestions?

After doing some research it seems it's impossible to do this using stock Android software.
Sync can be done with Contacts Optimizer. This should transfer basic contact information between account types, however leaves out picture information (at least I've found it to copy low-res photos only).
So I've tried apps like Sync.ME and CoSy for pictures (at least to get the latest info from social media sites). The former was a miss - it doesn't actually store the downloaded FB information as part of the existing contacts. The latter seemed to work much better, and actually stored high-res photos as part of the contact information.


text:
Where to get old systrace(platform tools) for SDK 17 and less?
I am using an older Android device which uses Android 4.2.2.
Older devices can not use the newer CPU profiler so I want to use systrace.
I tried using the current version of systrace but got the warning:
"Device SDK version < 18 (Jellybean MR2) not supported. Your device SDK version is 17."

I found the links below, which gave me a link to download tools and adb, but I can not see systrace anywhere:

Where can I download an older version of the Android SDK?
Download & Install Android tools, platform-tools, build-tools (Offline)

Where can I find the old systrace?

Check the repo maintained by Izzy, one of our mods. Please confirm so that I request Izzy to post as answer

@beeshyams I downloaded a couple of the windows adb binaries but couldn't see systrace.

Okay, thought it would be included

Note that systrace was integrated into DDMS in ADT 21: http://tools.android.com./download/adt-21-preview so you would need to download the full tools zip from your first link.

I found the download page for SDK version 17 through https://web.archive.org.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120327202205/http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
After downloading, there was no platform_tools folder, so I checked tools to see adb_has_moved.txt which suggests that android.bat should be run to generate the folder. After execution, the SDK manager opens with the option to download platform_tools. This downloads platform_tools with systrace inside to the folder.

Unfortunately, systrace seems to be outputting the following error:

C:/Python27/python.exe ./systrace.py --time=5 -o mynewtrace.html
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./systrace.py", line 212, in <module>
main()
File "./systrace.py", line 124, in main
ready = select.select([adb.stdout, adb.stderr], [], [adb.stdout, adb.stderr]
select.error: (10093, '


text:
Google maps audio navigation isn't working
I have a Samsung Galaxy S6. When driving somewhere, I start navigating in  Google Maps, and the route appears on the screen, but there are no audio (spoken) directions. Bizarrely, the only time anything is said is "you have arrived" once I reach my destination.
The problem isn't something obvious like audio being muted because when I play a test sound I do hear it. I have Android version 7.0 and Google Maps 9.69.1 installed.

under map settings > navigation > voice selection - check if it set to default and also disable Google voice detection ( sometimes that messes up , though not supposed to)


text:
Disabling data traffic notification "A total of consumption during the lock screen" on LeEco Cool Changer S1
A couple of days ago I received my new phone, a LeEco Cool Changer S1/Coolpad Cool S1. Every time I lock it, I get a notification titled "A total of consumption during the lock screen..". If I open it, it launches the Android settings app and shows me a list of how much data each app has used while the device was locked. I don't really need this and I find it to be quite distracting, I have looked everywhere in the configuration and I could only find options for disabling a daily data limit reminder, which was also set by default, at a measly 30 MB.
I believe this may be something specific to this model in particular, and I could not find any useful information by looking for the exact name of the notification online, which oddly is also one of the few messages that are not translated.
Is there a way to get rid of it?

Does this notification stay even after you unlock your phone? Like if you pull down the notification bar, do you see that one there?

@Abochur Yes, actually, the screenshot attached to the post is taken from the notifications bar, after unlocking the phone.

Oh didn't realize

Here is something you can try:
Long press on the notification, you will then see an icon like this "i" press on it, and you will see a setting for disabling notifications. Set it to 'off' and you will not see it again.
There must be a more direct way of doing this, but I don't have your phone to test it.

Thanks, I just tried it, but unfortunately, the notifications are sent from the "Android System" application, and the option to block notifications coming from it is greyed out. Screenshot


text:
How to permanently enable desktop mode on a browser app?
The tablet is brand new so rooted methods are not an option. I seem to remember there being a Firefox add on that had a similar function, which is now dead and and buried. Are there any other tricks out there?

Try the solution I gave to another question.
https://android.stackexchange.com/a/189824/137930

If you can afford to switch from Firefox to an another browser, I suggest you pick any one of the following:

Puffin
Opera
Lightning

The said browsers feature inter alia universal user agent/ website preference for websites visited and also permits overrides per website. I have tested all of them in Desktop mode.
Note that Opera may require a restart of itself for settings to take effect.


text:
Backup boot.img via terminal one-line command
I am trying to make an image backup of boot. The script must work on any android. I think on any Android the boot location is
/dev/block/platform/???/by-name/boot

My command line
find /dev/block/platform -name boot -exec dd={} of=/sdcard/boot.img \;

doesn't work: {} no such file or directory

Fortunately, there's a static path available for you:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot
           ^^^^^^^^^^

Problem solved
dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot of=boot.img

Stay away from /dev/block/platform, it'll only make things harder.

wow, it's really works with any android version, CPU and ROM?

@СергейГрушин Sure.

@iBug Will this work on the A/B partitions? I see in the directory that there is boot_a and boot_b. I tried to extract boot_a and it comes out at 64MB, whereas I'm sure that the boot.img in the stock ROM is only 32MB. Any leads?

@singhnsk It works, despite a few differences. You need to back up the image from ghe slot you're running. And the backed up image will be the size of the partition, not the size of actual data, because of the use of dd.


text:
Do not trap home key for TV PC
I recently changed out several android TV PCs to TX92 hardware with android 7.1.2. I use them to remote into Windows as a thin client among other things. The last nuisance remaining is the home key. If using Windows and I press the home key on the keyboard, android goes back to the launcher screen. How can I disable this? The units are rooted.

I doubt this is possible.
From Android Developer Center (Google's official site):

Key code constant: Home key.
This key is handled by the framework and is never delivered to applications.

And the Home key on a generic QWERTY keyboard is mapped to the Android "home" button, so it's treated the same as the real home button.
You can try modifying /system/usr/keylayout/qwerty.kl but as per my attempts, it doesn't work. Just in case it would work for you, for what it's worth, I changed
key 102   HOME

to
key 172   HOME

The boxes I replaced had android 4.4.2, I think it was, and there was an option in settings whether the OS should recognize keyboard hotkeys. In many ways they worked better than what I have now with 7.1.2. The processor was just too slow. I waited a long time to swap out.

This worked! There was a note inside qwerty.kl saying it isn't the default for android any longer, but Generic.kl. I commented out anything saying home, which did not work, but did the same for all files in the folder. Some had a home assignment, some did not. Probably a vendor specific file is being used.
For people reading, you must reboot after changing keyboard files for change to take effect.


text:
Nexus 5X can't connect to internet over cell connection; X on signal strength indicator
I have a Nexus 5X, which I've had for 2 years and used without any serious problems until today. It is now running Android 8.1. I have Ting as my carrier.
I'm having a strange issue. Most of the time, I see an X over the signal strength indicator, and if I try to connect to the internet, it takes a long time and then tell me the site can't be reached (see the first screenshot).
Here is the strange part: if I connect to a WiFi connection, everything works fine and the X goes away (see the second screenshot). If I disable WiFi, the X comes back and I can't connect. I can't stay connected to WiFi everywhere I go all the time, so I'd like to fix this problem.
I tried googling for problems like this and tried everything that was suggested: I restarted my phone multiple times, I removed and reinserted my SIM card, and yes I'm sure I have mobile data enabled.
Does anyone know why this is happening or how to get my internet connection working like before?

Does calling with fine? Also, did you have a look at your apn settings?

I figured out what was causing the problem. I had been using my phone as a hotspot, and it used an unusual amount of data, causing Ting to cut off my connection. I called their support number (1-855-846-4389) and talked to someone, and they re-enabled it.

There may be two possiblities, 1. With APN settings.   2. As you said that, you're using your phone as hotspot, may be your device's data limit(mobile data, not wifi) had been reached, and device may have  stopped it.

I don't think my device stopped it. According to the support person I talked to, Ting automatically turned off my connection to prevent my bill from becoming too big.


text:
Cannot connect android phone to pc on both Windows and linux
When i connect my android 5.1 phone to pc as mtp device to send and receive files it shows unrecognised device in Windows (tried in win 7and 10) and can not open mtp device on linux (tried in ubuntu 16.04).
I also tried to update mtp drivers on Windows but still it doesn't work.

I have ever had experience the same problem as yours. Mine problem is the cheap USB cable which I use to connect my android phone to pc. Once I replace it with a higher quality USB cable this problem was solved.

I've had this problem with a lot of devices especially after lollipop. But you can definitely try this. Get a file share app like shareit or Xender and connect it to your computer via WiFi or hotspot. It's wireless, free, fast but not as fast as through cable and it works very well. Hope this helps.

Wireless file transfer is good. I used adb pull to copy files it is working but the problem is with mtp device, no drive is visible in file explorer when the device is connected


text:
Afwall+ Android Firewall for multiuser
Hi guys After rooting my andoid phone to prevent excessive data usage by Android  system and installed AFWall+ that is based on iptables.
U have two users on device both account are handled by me by this It is easier to separte work and home profile separetly
AFWall works as supposed in owner mode but on switching   user Apps are not able to work (browsing,load pics do chats all stuff related to internet) but on again switching to owner mode I am able to browse internet

What is the question?

Looks like they're asking why this AFWall+ app doesn't work when they switch users on the device, which probably has something to do with how users are handled on Android.

Go to Preferences/Experimental in Afwall+ (I am currently using v3.1.0), and enable Multi-user support!
Source: Android Island work profile apps and AFWall

2018-12-09 Same problem on Samsung Galaxy tablet, Android 8.0.1, Afwall+ 3.0.1, rooted with TWRP 1.19, Magisk 17.3. I'm new to Afwall+. Did what I thought is basic application on/off settings. Afwall+ performs as expected for owner account, but seems to completely block internet for other users. Disable Afwall+ and internet works for all users.
Was unable to find Afwall log entries that appear relevant.
Selecting "(Any app) - Same as selecting all apps" allows internet access for all users. This is different from selecting all of the apps individually, not including (Any app), which does not allow internet access for other users.
Hope to contribute more as I learn how rules are implemented. Thanks.


text:
How to install P12 certificates in mobile Firefox?
I successfully imported my .p12 certificate to my two android devices (Galaxy Tab E SM-T560 (Spreadtrum SoC) running Kitkat 4.4.4 and Xiaomi Mi A1 Global Version (SD 625)(was) running (Oreo 8.0.0) Pie 9.0 . Now I would like to import the cert  to Firefox on both devices, but I don't actually know what to do. I searched for answers on reddit, but couldn't find a general procedure to do this. Is this even an option in the mobile version of Firefox?

At this time, Firefox for Android does not support importing a PKCS #12 certificate.  This is bug 868370.
If you have root access to your device, you can import it manually using a Linux computer attached to the phone with adb.
If your client certificate came from a <keygen> form, you can use the same form in Firefox for Android to generate and install a new certificate directly (skipping the PKCS #12 step).

Thank you for you information. I'll give it a shot with magisk and se how this work out. I have root access to both devices, but still I'd like to some official way.


text:
Why is my android phone portscanning my PC?
I have bitdefender whining about my PC being portscanned.
The logs show that it is coming from my android phone (which has static address).

Is that normal?
How can i figure out the app that is doing this?
Asked over at the superuser forums but it was suggested that here i could get more detailed information.

I don't think there's much we can say without knowing what the actual behaviour is that triggered the warning. Do you have any apps that have features for sharing data on a LAN, such as SHAREit or SE File Explorer?

I have file commander which has such an option, but i dont have that feature enabled right now. Is there some app for android perhaps that would monitor which app is doing that?


text:
Overview shows open apps that I closed a while ago
I will periodically close any apps that I'm done using via the overview screen. Occasionally, I will see several apps open that I did not start, but had open days ago. Is this a bug or a virus?

I close via the overview screen, by swiping them horizontally. Usually after I close an app it disappears from the overview screen until I open it again. Occasionally I will see a handful of apps that I closed days ago on the overview screen. I think it may happen more often when I close several open apps at once (maybe around a dozen).

I would have expected that kind of behavior to occur background, invisible to me. Oh well. I think your comment is high-enough quality that you may consider putting it into an answer.

Disable autostart on boot and restrict background execution

If one thing for sure has improved with successive Android versions, it is memory management
It's likely that the apps you see after closing are apps which have a schedule (like scheduled scan) that wakes them up or are apps that get triggered on action like taking a photo and Dropbox gets activated because auto upload of photos is enabled. Look into that aspect.
It doesn't sound like a bug (incidentally, even after reboot you will see apps , unlike pre lollipop versions)
By swiping you aren't killing the app
See What actually happens when you swipe an app out of the recent apps list? which discusses at length what happens when you swipe an app

Actually, removing an entry in recent tasks will kill any background processes that exist for the process. It won't directly causes services to stop, however there is an API for them to find out the task was removed to decide if they want this to mean they should stop. This is so that removing say the recent task of an e-mail app won't cause it to stop checking for e-mail.

Also from Android Developers you can see that an app can generate multiple views in recents and can even retain finished tasks


text:
How to open all numbers from WhatsApp directly in Truecaller?
I'm part of some WhatsApp groups and there are people whom I know but am unable to map them to those phone contacts which do not show anything but blank profile photos and no name. Asking everyone will be too much work.
Is there any way to directly open the contacts in Truecaller instead of the default Android app?

Aren't there names present in the group information?

@beeshyams Nope, I only see numbers. They are not my contacts so.

What i do in your case is, i copy the contact to true caller and then i see the name. I don't see a more direct way of doing this

@Abochur isn't this too much work? This is crazy frustrating man

The simple way to get people's details for WhatsApp messages is to use Auto-Search in Truecaller by allowing Notification access to Truecaller.
Go to Truecaller->Settings->General->Auto-Search and switch Messaging apps to ON.

And whenever you get a message from person who is not in your contact list, you will get a notification like:

This also works for messages from groups too, but you will get notified only when someone sends you a message (can't fetch all unknown contacts from the WhatsApp group).
Allowing notification access is a dangerous permission.

Truecaller will be able to read all notifications, including personal information such as contact names and the text of messages you receive. It will also be able to dismiss notifications or trigger action buttons they contain. This will also give the app the ability to turn Do Not Disturb on or off and change related settings.

P.S. WhatsApp does show names (which the user has set in his WhatsApp profile) in group info for each person.

I needed Copied numbers also to be enabled. Anyways thanks for this!

Yes, that will immediately pop up information of any copied number.

Yup, the copy number option makes life a little easier. But it's still too much work. Can't WhatsApp by default integrate TrueCaller into it?

I don't think that's gonna happen. Since they both are completely different apps.

Since WhatsApp Groups are meant to "keep in touch with the groups of people that matter the most, like your family or coworkers" so they don't assume that unknown people are bunched into Groups.


text:
Google Maps, copying GPS coordinates, getting plus codes
This question explains how to get the GPS coordinates
How can I copy GPS coordinates from a marker in Google Maps app?
I did all that but I come up with a "plus code", this doesn't work for me.  How to get the coordinates instead of plus code?

Can you attach a screenshot please?

I answered the question you referred to and  checked the reason
Your GPS is off
Switch on your GPS ( wait for the faint blue circle to show up indicating your location) and then drop marker ; you can't get GPS coordinates keeping the GPS off ! (not to sound snarky )

Amended by answer in linked question to make it clear

it is on and you don't sound snarky, it's all good.

In that case, you can accept the answer by ticking the green arrow next to it to indicate that the solution provided solved your problem


text:
How to use "USB Mass Storage Mode" on Android 4.3+
Followup on How has USB File Transfer changed in Android changed over the years?
I've learned that Android 4.3 and later versions don't have this feature because Micro$oft.
Newer options, Media device (MTP) or Camera (PTP) mode, are horrendous.
It also causes other issues for (Windows) programs that relied on android having USB Mass Storage Mode.

Off hand reasons why MTP is awful.

Can't copy more than one thing at a time. (Device is busy warning)
Warnings that I need to convert files before copying every single time.
Just seems to be a lot slower at copying files.
Can't edit files on the phone from Windows.

So, how can you enable USB Mass Storage Mode on newer versions of Android?
Let's say I'm rooted and can install a custom iso if that makes a difference.
I've tried searching google, the app store, and xda forums for solutions.

The reason this was changed is because it allows the storage to be accessed by the PC while still mounted on the phone, whereas MSC required the SD card piece to be fully relinquished to the PC when attached. That caused issues where phones would have to have a partition boundary for the external storage space, meaning it could not be used for apps (so a 16 GB phone may only allow 2 GB of apps, and 14 GB of "files", and no way to alter that without re-partitioning). I assume it also would have caused problems for the adoptable storage feature added later on.

Here's the explanation from one of Google's engineers, BTW, which is the original source for my description: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/mg14z/whoa_whoa_ics_doesnt_support_usb_mass_storage/c30q93p/

@eldarerathis I'm aware of why they think its a good idea. It has it's down side though. For example usage in Windows. I'm sick of it warning me every time I copy a file that it's format isnt compatible format for my phone and that I should convert it when it's fine. Also it's just slower and you can't multitask copy operations. I have an older android phone that I like to use just because it has USB Mass Storage Mode. Well I don't want to be forced to just use that forever for my needs.

Also, the answers here are probably applicable:  How can I use my Galaxy Nexus as an external USB storage drive?

I'm not claiming that MTP is all roses, I'm merely pointing out what Google's rationale was since you've asserted that it was some kind of pressure from elsewhere (whereas Google - or at least their developers - have explicitly outlined the reason). There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding this decision, and there has been for a long time, but they actually did have what they perceived to be a good reason (in reality, whether or not the pros outweigh the cons lies in the eyes of the beholder generally).

@eldarerathis I understand. I agree it has benefits. Thank you for elaborating on google's decision. I'd still like a solution though to use USB storage.

Thank you for clarifying why MTP is bogus. I understand it's benefits, but it's useability is close to none.

Related: Why can't I see Android storage as a partition on PC?

I reckon there might be workarounds. Currently, there are a few apps offering to restore the lost UMS option
Given that you device is rooted there are some options worth exploring:

Using USB MASS STORAGE (UMS) Enabler

This app's function is to enable Mass Storage Mode for mounting your
  Memory Card as a USB Drive in Computer from your rooted device
  [Android 4.0+].
It does not mount internal storage, and it will not work if your
  device doesn't have External Memory Card Support

Steps to Enable UMS:

Connect phone using USB cable to Computer or TV or DVD/Audio Player or Mac (or even to other phone with OTG) or whatever.
Open the 'UMS Enabler' app and press 'Enable Mass Storage' and give it root access.
(Try 2-3 times if it doesn't work the first time itself)
Before disconnecting USB, eject from Computer and then press 'Disconnect Mass Storage' in app.

If it doesn't work, go to App Settings and choose the required settings, and try again.
Avoid using memory card from phone when in UMS mode. Learn more here

Using QtADB

QtADB is an app based on adb. It requires working  android sdk
  (command “adb devices” listing your device),requires Qt libs version 4.7, root
  and busybox installed on phone.

Wow this is perfect. I don't mind losing internal storage if I can mount external as USB. I'll give it a shot and report back

Did you get to try out this method?

Installed the app and I found out my custom rom wasn't pre-rooted like I thought. I'll root it tonight and let you know.

#1 didn't work for my rooted note 4. I'll try #2 later.

Thanks @ lateral terminal for feedback. I hope the latter works Good luck:)

No solution.
So Google provides a Android Compatibility Definition Document for vendors to follow so that they can get Google Play Services on their devices.
From The Android Compatibility Definition Document -
 Section 7.6 Memory and Storage
Lists USB Mass Storage as

If device implementations have a USB port with USB peripheral mode support, they:

MAY use USB mass storage, but SHOULD use Media Transfer Protocol
  to satisfy this requirement.

So Device Manufacturers who want have Google Play Services on their device do not need to have USB Mass Storage support. So any driver or kernel modifications need not be implemented.

This answer somewhat suggests that it's possible? "MAY use USB mass storage, but SHOULD use Media Transfer Protocol" I'm confused. I'm open to, rooting, cfw, custom rom, whatever it takes to get USB mass storage.

Today I realize that in 2023, Android doesn't support USB Mass Storage. I don't understand, because even Windows XP started in 2001 support it.

@luigifab This is about treating the Android device as a 'mass storage device' connected to a PC. While optional, I'm not aware of any consumer device manufacturer not supporting MTP.