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How do I flash SuperSU to my encrypted Wileyfox on COS 13.0.1?
Yesterday my WileyFox Spark+ came in, which is still equipped with COS13.0.1, based on Android 6.0.1.
When I tried rooting the phone though, I got stuck at the point of using the TWRP recovery for flashing SuperSU.
I until then, I had succesfully followed the following process:
-Enabled 'OEM Bootloader allowed to be unlocked' in Developer Options
-Installed USB drivers and such on PC
-Enabled USB debugging, apps from unknown sources, ADB install unsigned apps allowed etc.
-Enabled fastboot by holding correct buttons and enabling it after
-Flashed TWRP Recovery to phone like this in CMD:
fastboot devices (my phone showed up)
fastboot flash recovery twrp3100.img

-Booted into TWRP recovery
A few folders were present there, but almost all were empty. TWRP even said no OS was installed when I wanted to reboot.
I was confused for a while, only to discover the OS was still there after booting into System.
In tried to flash SuperSU from ADB, but that also didn't work. I issued the following commands in CMD:
adb reboot recovery
(ticked adb sideload in TWRP +wipe dalvik & cache)
adb sideload supersu279.zip

TWRP said it executed succesfully, but failed to access /data and /cache.
Turned out the phone was encrypted already from the box. I never considered this an option.
It's weird though, because I believe I have heard that flashing SuperSU from ADB should work even with an encrypted phone.
Now the interwebs and Wileyfox themselves say encryption is disabled when you factory reset the phone:
https://twitter.com/wileyfox/status/685884111551115264
And so I did, but it just booted into TWRP with the same circumstances.
Few folders, almost all empty. SD-card not visible.
I tried sideloading SuperSU again, but without result.
Any idea how i should progress further? Did I miss something? 'Cause I have run out of ideas.. :(
I also can find very little about Wileyfoxe phones, so that doesn't help either.
Is it possible to flash SuperSU via fastboot or ODIN or anything?
Anyway, thanks for the help.
Cheers.
NB: I don't care about my data being encrypted or not, so decrypting the phone is not an issue for me, if possible/helpful. I'd rather have it gone.

In Marshmallow and newer devices, SuperSU must be installed as "systemless". In many devices SuperSU's install script detects this and acts accordingly, in other devices you need to manually do it by adding/creating the file /data/.supersu with the line SYSTEMLESS=true in it. Of course, this could all be avoided by just using Magisk instead of SuperSU. I am not familiar with this device specifically, but in most newer devices adb sideloading does not work to install SuperSU/Magisk, it must be done with TWRP or other recovery.

@acejavelin I have looked into Magisk and Systemless install of SuperSU, but as far as I can see, both involve flashing .zips, which is not possible on an encrypted device. Any other method to consider?

@beeshyams I have searched for a post on his profile, but the only remotely related post is about a LG Optimus running CM11: link I can't find the solution to my question there. Is it this question you were referring to?

This one http://android.stackexchange.com/q/141405/131553

This is the self answered one http://android.stackexchange.com/q/144966/131553

@beeshyams Thanks for the help, but the former just describes the usual process which involves using a zip update. Again, because of the encryption, TWRP can't access anything so this doesn't work for me. The latter one doesn't help either, because ADB is communicating fine, it just can't flash the package due to encryption. I guess decrypting the phone is the first action I must take, but I don't know how.

Well, frankly  i didn't go through your question completely or Izzy's answers. That's why said "may help" as his answers are exhaustive. Sorry for that and all the best

TWRP allows you to format data, this will clear the encryption and ALL your data of course, then you can mount the clean partition with mtp pass zips and flash the usual way.


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Is Mobiwol incompatible with WiFi networks, e.g. my home network?
I recently installed Mobiwol, following this answer, but now, my WiFi doesn't work. I haven't blocked any system apps from accessing the internet, but still, no WiFi. I looked at the FAQ for Mobiwol, which states

Why Won't My WiFi HotSpot Work?
This is not a bug. WiFi tethering and WiFi hotspots are, unfortunately, not currently compatible with Mobiwol being enabled.

I might be unclear on the definition of a "WiFi hotspot," but my interpretation is that "when you have Mobiwol enabled, your phone cannot connect to WiFi," which doesn't seem correct. It's also strange because Mobiwol's page in the Play Store lists "Fixed WiFi and Firewall Loop issues ...", which makes it sound like WiFi should be working.
But, since my router and WiFi works on other devices, so it seems plausible that Mobiwol is the problem. If I disable it, the WiFi works.
Is Mobiwol incompatible with WiFi networks? Or does blocking something like the Google App prevent everything from connecting to WiFi?

Ok you are right, thats how that firewall works. So its not a problem with disabling Google apps or anything. You could try other alternative firewalls and see if the problem persists

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=inc.salzburg.company.easywall
I have created an app, which disables apsp without regard in which network you are in.

The incompatibility of wi-fi and wi-fi tethering is due to the way most "no root firewalls" work.

Sometimes this depends on the Android version in question because some
  Android versions have a bug preventing tethering and the VPN service
  working together.

Some devices hibernate Wi-Fi, preventing tethering from working when the screen is off and this behaviour can be disabled in the advanced Wi-Fi settings.
Currently as it stands, it seems Mobiwol firewall still has no compatibility with wi-fi or wifi-tethering in which case I would recommend installing an alternative no root firewall e.g NetGuard.
Netguard has confirmed support for wifi-tethering as mentioned here:

Can I tether / use Wi-Fi calling while using NetGuard?
Yes, but this needs to be enabled in NetGuard's settings. Whether or
  not it works depends on your Android version because some Android
  versions have a bug preventing tethering and the VPN service working
  together.

You could also browse Izzy's F-droid repo with similar firewalls here: Internet firewalls and choose the one suiting your needs.
Reference

NetGuard: FAQs

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


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get files from sony z5 compact with broken screen
So I run into this problem with my phone: I am trying to get my pictures from the phone after my screen broke. So I already did some research on my own, but now I am stuck. I figured out the following:

Making the USB OTG work in combination with a mouse to regain control over my phone again. I used this topic on android stackexchange
I enabled usb debugging in developer mode.

So now I thought that I would be able to simply connect my phone to my computer, using Windows 10, and that I would have access to all of my files. The idea came from this site. But unfortunately, I can still see no files what so ever.
Can anybody please help me out? If it helps, I also have Linux mint available.
Best,
Koen

Easiest to solve with Linux, as you have USB debugging enabled¹.

Get the ADB tools running on your Linux computer. Should be as easy as sudo apt install android-tools-adb²
Connect your Android device via USB
On the Linux machine, check whether the device was detected by entering adb devices. If it's not listed, our ADB tag wiki² again has some hints
now you can use adb pull to get content from your Android device to your Linux machine

Of course, finding the content is another issue. For that, there are several graphical managers available – in case you don't feel comfortable with „plain shell commands“ executed via adb shell. For those, be welcome to check with the corresponding list on my own site. I personally use adbfs-rootless to mount the storage via ADB, so I can use any file manager for the job.
Also worth a look: our broken-screen tag-wiki

¹ though the same can be achieved on Windows, there you'd have to install a bunch of drivers to get it working
² for alternatives and additional details, please see our adb tag-wiki

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


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Is it OK to remove this SaleTracker app?
I was going through apps I could uninstall and discovered this app called "Launcher" which lives in /system/app/SaleTracker.apk. Googling for the APK name suggests this is some sort of malware (checking with MalwareBytes didn't seem to confirm this) and should be removed, but I'd like to have a second opinion before removing a system component.

It isn't any vital Android component, as I don't have it on my OnePlus One, so you could go ahead and either freeze or remove it and see after a restart if that poses a problem. If so, you should have a backup ready to put it back to its former place.


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How can I automatically clear my chrome browsing data with tasker
i followed these instructions,
How can I automatically clear my browsing data when I exit Chrome?
and works very well on android 6.0.1
I tried on other android 4.1.2 devices, but tasker give me a 255 error?
Are there limitations on android 4.1.2??
Have you any idea??
Thanks in advance

I have tested the scripts and they work pretty well on android 4.3.
However to diagnose your problem I made 2 tests:

Ran the script in Tasker without root - the result was indeed a 255 error see below:

Disabled root and enabled Tasker's acessibilty service - the script is executed normally.

So in conclusion, you need to Enable accessibility service for Tasker or tick use root, however root is not a necessity as long you've enabled the accessibilty of Tasker.
So you just need to follow the Instructions for Tasker and perform the script mentioned by Firelord ,  (credit  to Firelord):

It didn't work for me, I tried using the above script u mentioned but didn't worked out and also Tasker doesn't produce any errors, still I check on chrome and saw the browsing data


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Music Players with Equalizer Almost Killing Battery on nubia
It's a nubia Z9 max Elite (NX518J) equipped with Qualcomm's Burndragon 810 SoC running nubia's stock ROM.
I just installed and tried out Poweramp and it's amazing. However my phone got hot considerably quickly. After unplugging it from wired power, it drained 1% battery in less than even 1 minute. I then got rid of Poweramp without killing other backgrounds, my phone managed to survive for more than 7 minutes with 1%.
Later I installed Poweramp back and turned off equlizer, and the battery consumption fell to a reasonable speed. So it's surely equalizer's fault.
Ah, yes. I can remember that Musixmatch had the same issue if equalizer was turned on. So there's nothing to do with Poweramp.
Can anyone help explain this phenomenon? Quite a bunch of music players have this issue. It's confusing.

Good that you figured it out. Deleting my answer

It's the manufacturer, nubia's fault.
nubia pretty makes a lot of non-regular functions in their ROMs, namely nubia UI. It implements its own fingerprint API (which is not compatible with any existing ones), its own charging detection and its own immersive status bar. This time it's nubia's own music effects API.
Both Poweramp and Musixmatch calls AOSP's MusicFX API for equalizers, but on nubia this does not exist. So everything that should have been done by DAC is done by CPU instead. Adding that Snapdragon 810 is a burny stuff, the phone gets hot very quickly.


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Help with recovering data on encrypted Microsd Card
Hi I was using a 64GB microsd card as internal storage on my Lenovo K4 Note (also known as Lenovo K4 Note A7010a48, A7010, Lenovo Vibe X3 Lite). Due to some issues in the display I had to give my cell phone to service center. While doing so unfortunately I did not take back up of the data. The service center guys factory reset my phone. Now I am unable to retrieve the data on the card and its showing as an empty card. I tried sending it to Stellar Data Recovery however they said it has unknown encryption and hence even though data is on the card it can not be recovered. CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH A SOLUTION???

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts! Have you already checked with our data-recovery and adoptable-storage tag wikis? Hint: If your device is rooted, you can extract the encryption key and use that on a Linux machine to mount the storage. From there on, the usual recovery tools should be able to help you.

If it was encrypted then you're not likely going to get anything back, as far as I'm aware.  I've had good success with Photorec on Linux to recover data from SD cards, so my first thought would be to spin up a Linux VM and give that a shot.

This is correct. If it was encrypted, all of that data is gone, no ifs ands or buts.


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How can termux accept key presses directly into terminal?
I just installed termux and I notice that when you use the keyboard it doesn't enter your key presses directly. It requires you to complete a word and select from the options before it gets entered into the terminal.
Is there a way to enter the key presses into the terminal right away?

Termux does not behave that way on any of my devices so I cannot duplicate the problem. If reinstalling does not fix it then perhaps you could edit your question with more information about your device, android version and how you have it set up.


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Can I connect to both a Wifi router and a Wifi Music receiver at the same time?
I want to be able to play music from my android phone out of my home sound system, wirelessly. Bluetooth doesn't have a long enough range, so I was going to use Wifi. I also want to be able to connect to the internet on my phone (Spotify etc), at the same time.
I was going to buy this:
Amazon link
But I first want to make sure that I can still connect to the internet (through WiFi router) if I am using this.
I do not want to route my phone.
Thanks.

Possible duplicate of How can I stream audio from my phone over wifi to a speaker or receiver?

@xavier_fakerat I think this is different as I'm specifically asking if I can still connect to the internet, while I am streaming the audio.

I believe you can still connect to the internet at the same time, unless you want to stream local files, therefore it should work pretty fine with spotify. Which internet commection do you want to use ? Is it mobile connection? If you are using home Wi-Fi it should work pretty ok

Tell us more about this Wi-Fi music receiver. Does it show up as its own Wi-Fi network, or does it connect to your home Wi-Fi network?


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can not access recovery on htc one m8
What I basically need: I want to access recovery(or bootloader, I am not sure what its really called) to do a factory reset.
History of the problem: My little sister entered the pattern incorrectly too many times and now the phone is locked asking for gmail and password. Although I know it, but the phones wifi is disabled, so it says "wrong username or password" and hence I can not unlock it. I want to do a factory reset via the recovery but the phone is not going into it even though I press volume down + power(I also tried the volume up).
USB debugging is off, and the device is not rooted...
please help me, how can I get around this damn problem?

Where do you end up when holding volume down + (briefly) power button?

the phone boots normaly, it ends up at the lock screen

Your volume down button might be broken.

If your volume down button isn't broken, may be the "fast boot" feature is activated in the settings (not to be confused with fastboot) that can prevent the phone from booting in the HBoot.
Try this:

From the lock screen, press the power button
Then select reboot or restart. The phone will reboot
Hold volume down button before the phone power itself on.
You should be in the HBoot Menu (3 android guys)
From the just select Clear data

Hope this helps you.

Yes, thank you very much. That was the case precisely. I had to restart so that it could go in. Not shut it down

Yeah, I owe you that. I did press the upward arrow head, but it doesnt let me vote. It tells me I dont have the reputation..


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How to connect to VPN while in aeroplane mode?
When I put my phone  (running Android 6) in aeroplane mode and switch on Wi-Fi the VPN option in settings is greyed out (i.e. not enabled), preventing me from connecting to a VPN. Is there any way to overcome this without turning aeroplane mode off?
Alternatively, if I sign up to one of the VPN services that have their own apps, would they connect to the provider's VPN while the phone is in aeroplane mode?

Yes I reckon its possible to do that

The only tunnel solution I know that does this is Shadowsocks, since it uses a no-connection mechanism.


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Can I send myself push notifications from a server without making my own Android app?
I am making a chat box on my website that sends the text to the server which forwards it to my phone as a push notification. The problem is I have basically zero Android or Java programming skills. However, I'm familiar with how to send GCM notifications from the server. I think if I only had the device ID (and possibly a way to subscribe to the messages?) I'd be fine.
Do I need to do any Android programming? Is there a way to receive custom messages without making a new app? Or an app that already exists to do this?

You mean android device id? If thats the case you may want to check device id apps in playstore

@xavier_fakerat I have to double check, but I need to be able to send myself push notifications from a server. Hopefully the device id is all that's required.

I am not really sure with GCM prerequisites, but a source mentions you need Sender ID, I am not sure if that's the DeviceID or Application ID, but do you want to create an app for this? If you simply want device id  then I could probably write a way of doing this in answers section

I want a way to receive custom notifications from my server on my own device. Seeing if there's a way I can do this without programming an Android app myself, or there's an open-source app I can use.

I reckon you need to use a service called firebase and link with your android app ,a few guides for this have been prepared online. Also please refer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/12560639

@xavier_fakerat I don't have a android app lol. But thanks anyway.


text:
Minimum required apps for Android AOSP?
I am building AOSP Android 5.1 to run on custom hardware that should run a single APK application (as a launcher). The hardware has a camera, speakers, microphone, wifi and LCD screen. There is no cellular or phone functionality. The device is similar to a tablet.
My goal is to create the minimum viable build of Android with no extra apps, (such as Browser, Google Apps etc.) except the bare essentials. This build of Android will launch a single Launcher application. This can be thought of as a kiosk type device.
Note: I would like to keep a few apps for debugging purposes such as Settings, Camera and Sound Recorder, but these will be removed eventually also.
Here are the list of installed packages installed.

$ adb shell
shell@tulip-p1:/ $ pm list packages -f

Which can be removed?

package:/system/priv-app/TelephonyProvider/TelephonyProvider.apk=com.android.providers.telephony
package:/system/priv-app/MediaProvider/MediaProvider.apk=com.android.providers.media
package:/system/app/DocumentsUI/DocumentsUI.apk=com.android.documentsui
package:/system/priv-app/ExternalStorageProvider/ExternalStorageProvider.apk=com.android.externalstorage
package:/system/app/HTMLViewer/HTMLViewer.apk=com.android.htmlviewer
package:/system/priv-app/MmsService/MmsService.apk=com.android.mms.service
package:/system/app/SoundRecorder/SoundRecorder.apk=com.android.soundrecorder
package:/system/priv-app/DefaultContainerService/DefaultContainerService.apk=com.android.defcontainer
package:/system/app/PacProcessor/PacProcessor.apk=com.android.pacprocessor
package:/system/app/CertInstaller/CertInstaller.apk=com.android.certinstaller
package:/system/framework/framework-res.apk=android
package:/system/app/Camera2/Camera2.apk=com.android.camera2
package:/system/priv-app/BackupRestoreConfirmation/BackupRestoreConfirmation.apk=com.android.backupconfirm
package:/system/app/Provision/Provision.apk=com.android.provision
package:/system/priv-app/SettingsProvider/SettingsProvider.apk=com.android.providers.settings
package:/system/priv-app/SharedStorageBackup/SharedStorageBackup.apk=com.android.sharedstoragebackup
package:/system/app/webview/webview.apk=com.android.webview
package:/system/priv-app/InputDevices/InputDevices.apk=com.android.inputdevices
package:/system/priv-app/OneTimeInitializer/OneTimeInitializer.apk=com.android.onetimeinitializer
package:/system/priv-app/Telecom/Telecom.apk=com.android.server.telecom
package:/system/app/KeyChain/KeyChain.apk=com.android.keychain
package:/system/app/PackageInstaller/PackageInstaller.apk=com.android.packageinstaller
package:/system/app/PicoTts/PicoTts.apk=com.svox.pico
package:/system/priv-app/ProxyHandler/ProxyHandler.apk=com.android.proxyhandler
package:/system/app/LatinIME/LatinIME.apk=com.android.inputmethod.latin
package:/system/priv-app/ManagedProvisioning/ManagedProvisioning.apk=com.android.managedprovisioning
package:/system/app/WAPPushManager/WAPPushManager.apk=com.android.smspush
package:/system/app/OpenWnn/OpenWnn.apk=jp.co.omronsoft.openwnn
package:/system/priv-app/Settings/Settings.apk=com.android.settings
package:/system/priv-app/VpnDialogs/VpnDialogs.apk=com.android.vpndialogs
package:/system/priv-app/TeleService/TeleService.apk=com.android.phone
package:/system/priv-app/Shell/Shell.apk=com.android.shell
package:/system/app/UserDictionaryProvider/UserDictionaryProvider.apk=com.android.providers.userdictionary
package:/system/priv-app/FusedLocation/FusedLocation.apk=com.android.location.fused
package:/system/priv-app/SystemUI/SystemUI.apk=com.android.systemui
package:/system/app/Bluetooth/Bluetooth.apk=com.android.bluetooth
package:/system/priv-app/ContactsProvider/ContactsProvider.apk=com.android.providers.contacts
package:/system/app/CaptivePortalLogin/CaptivePortalLogin.apk=com.android.captiveportallogin

Note: this question is only asking which app are required by Android. Not how to create kiosk-mode or writing a custom ROM.


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Compacting giant Power Saving notification
I have a Note 4 running 6.0.1 that I recently reflashed back to stock in an attempt to fix issues I was having.
Now, whenever I enable Power Saving mode, it populates my notification list with a giant notification that takes up half the screen:

I remember this happening when I first upgraded to Marshmallow, but at some point I did something that compacted the notification down to just the "turn off" button.
I don't care about having a little notification at the top, but all the "Your device performance is limited..." text is annoying.
Does anyone know what I might have down to fix this before? I'm pretty sure nothing I did was "hackish", and I didn't disable System UI notifications altogether since I still had the small one when Power Saving was enabled.

Figured it out seconds after posting.
If you go into Power Saving settings and disable "Restrict all background data", the notification shrinks down. I must have had this disabled before.


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how to install custom rom in xperia z ultra?
I have recently rooted my Xperia z ultra. and now i want to install custom ROM in it. I have searched internet. but i am not able to find any safe way to install custom rom. how can i do that?

Did you bother spending more effort? XDA-Developers

@AndyYan Got it!

Follow these steps for installing custom rom :
1.Unlock bootloader from sony official website instructions.
2.Install custom recovery like TWRP or CWM recovery to ease your further process.
3.Download custom rom like LineageOS or Resurrection remix whichever you feel good.
4.Boot to your recovery , wipe System data and install custom rom with Gapps.
5.Reboot and enjoy.

Follow these steps for flashing.
1) Download a ROM of your choice.
2) Connect your device to your PC using the USB cable.
3) Copy the Custom ROM.zip file from your Desktop over to the root of your SD card.
4) Turn OFF your device, and turn it back on by holding Volume Up and Power buttons together.
5) Your device should reboot into recovery mode(In the recovery mode, the Volume buttons are used for navigation and the Power button to make a selection)
6) Select Backup and Restore -> Backup.
7) Once done, head back to the main menu.
8) Select Wipe data/factory reset.
9) After this, head back to the main menu by selecting Back.
10) Select install zip from SD Card followed by choose zip from SD Card.
11) Choose the Custom ROM.zip file you copied earlier to be flashed on your device.
12) When the ROM has been flashed, reboot your device by selecting reboot system now, and you will be done.
You can research more over here.

-1: too generic. The most important parts, i.e. unlocking bootloader and installing a custom recovery, are not mentioned at all. The Flashtool link, while useful, is only for stock ROMs and therefore irrelevant.

Hence i have added a link to research more.


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How to remove wifi hotspots from list
I know the general procedure - hold the wifi network icon and select forget - but the icon still stays there! How can I remove it? (Using Android 6-0-1 on a Samsung Tab)

Get out of range? It's probably just in range for you to connect.

Can't get out of range and I cannot turn it off either - I'll just have to put up with it.

Can't get rid of icon, move out of range or switch the hotspot off. Can tell my tab to ignore them and not connect. Went to: https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/make-your-android-automatically-switch-strongest-wifi-network-0172651
Get the Cloudie WiFi Switcher and select the access points you want to use.


text:
Nexus 5X won't turn on, even from Debug Menu
My sister's Nexus 5X won't turn on.  It is charged.  When you try to power on, it makes it to the Google animation but freezes and goes back to black.  You can make it to the debug menu go through the options, but when you choose Start it does the same thing.  We've tried the Google Support suggestions, and nothing is working.

Nexus devices are pretty simple... Try a factory reset in recovery, and if that fails reflash the factory firmware image from Google. If that doesn't work chances are good the device is defective. The processes are well documented on-line... Normally I would document the process here, but the Nexus/Pixel devices are a special case since there is so much support for them online.
BTW, the condition you are in is called a "bootloop", might want to investigate Nexus 5x  bootloop online a bit... The N5x has some history with it.
Factory Reset
Flash factory image


text:
Protecting you handset from FROST attacks?
I'm going through the process of securing my HTC Desire 610. While reading various articles, I found this page: https://www1.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/frost. It details how to gain access to an encrypted android phone via freezing the phone, reseting, and flashing a custom recovery that searches for the key in RAM.
I don't see a question about this exploit specifically, how does one go about protecting oneself from this attack?

lol... How secure do you need a device? For you info, older Sammies didn't have a locked bootloader, so I am not sure what the freezer part about that article is about for a ICS (Android 4.0) device, but it won't do anything for a Marshmallow device with a locked bootloader (if it did work, rooting locked devices would be a piece of cake). Seriously though, there isn't much to securing a device, just set a passcode on your lock screen and register with Google ADM. How much security do you really need?

Looks like my answer was on that page all along:

15) Flash the frost.img file from our download section to the phone: 'fastboot flash recovery frost.img'. For this command to work, the bootloader must be unlocked.

So, to other semi-paranoid android users out there, know that protecting against cold boot attacks is as simple as locking the bootloader (if you haven't already). You can do so via fastboot.

Just an FYI... If your bootloader is unlocked, there is NO SECURITY... period. Anyone can fastboot a TWRP or other custom recovery image to the device and access the encryption key and access all of your data in a few seconds. If your bootloader is locked, and are using the normal Google/Android security features baked into the device, security shouldn't be a problem unless your a terrorist, celebrity, politician, or live on porn and pirate apps. :)


text:
If I select 'lock device' in Android device manager, will it affect scheduled alarms?
I have left my phone at my girlfriend's house - it's definitely there according to the location feature in Android device manager.
There is an alarm set for really early in the morning, which it would be great to turn off.  If I select 'Lock device', will this have any effect on the preset, scheduled alarm set in the stock clock/alarm app?
Presumably I could definitely stop the alarm if I selected 'Erase device' but this seems like a drastic option!

Why not just get ahold of your girlfriend and have her find the phone and turn off the alarm. To answer your question, no, locking the device will not have any effect on alarms or other services, it just locks the screen with a special passcode.

Thanks for that - she'll already be asleep, so was seeing if there was a way to not need to wake her!

Locking device is only to prevent access to it, it does not impact alarms or scheduled operations say like Titanium Backup or any other synch scheduled. So, your alarm will ring - up to you to wake her and inform our let the alarm wake her up :)

No,no effect on the preset, scheduled alarm set in the stock clock/alarm app because the alarming processes are generally given in a 'Android Service', that is a background process. Lock screen will not affect a background process.


text:
timestamp for when an app last used a permission?
I'm interested in is seeing the time-stamp for when an app last used a permission. After looking around it seems that App Ops had this feature, but it is no longer available. Are there any apps out there with this feature? Would it be possible to create an app with this feature?

XPrivacy shows timestamp for various permissions accessed by app -  requires root
Picture below:

Screenshots (click images for larger variants)
Call it via the 3-dots-menu (upper right corner), chosing "activity log or usage data" – when having the record of an app open.

Although you should note that XPrivacy requires a rooted phone and Xposed... (Totally worth it)


text:
Best method to reset Android device?
I own a Huawei P9 EVA-AL00 (bought in China) on Android 7 with no root. Last time I reset my device, some photos were still left.
So, what is the best way to reset an Android device?
I'm not worried about security, privacy and encryption, but I do want all junk files, photos etc. to be removed from the device.
I know the 2 methods to reset - through recovery and settings, but is there a better way? For example, can you reset through Android Debug Bridge?
Thanks,
George

Safe way is to encrypt your phone and factory reset to ensure that files on your device are not accessible to any one

While both methods (factory-reset through settings and through recovery) should have the very same effect, both also usually leave the SD cards (internal and external) alone. So if you really want to clear all things up, you should "wipe" those as well. Some devices/ROMs offer to include the cards in factory reset, with others you'll have to do that manually – either by deleting all files, or by going to Settings › Storage and chosing to format them.
If you were "worried about security, privacy and encryption", I'd instead recommend you a tool to "securely wipe" all partitions, i.e. overwrite everything with garbage.


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Migrating to new rooted phone, how do you restore from your titanium backup from the saved cloud backups
I just purchased a new phone and rooted it to android 7.1 and i'm coming from android 6. I backed up my apps via titanium backup to my dropbox cloud. How can I restore all these apps on my new device from those titanium backup files? Or is there a better way to restore a setup like this? I need these apps as they have specific settings and can't just be downloaded again.

From TiBu FAQ

How can I restore my backups from Dropbox ....

With Titanium Backup 3.6.4 (or above):

If your backup folder is empty, then with you can simply switch to the Schedules tab and hit the “RUN” button in the “Sync to Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive” section to download all backups from Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive back onto your phone.

With older Titanium Backup versions:

Do not use the “Sync to Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive” button now: it’s a one-way sync and would erase your Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive files because you have no backups on the phone.
  You need to copy the “TitaniumBackup” folder back from Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive onto your SD card:
  On a computer, login to Dropbox / Box.net / Google Drive on the web

Click on the “TitaniumBackup” folder
Click on “Download folder”.

Extract the ZIP file that you just downloaded.
  Move the resulting “TitaniumBackup” folder from your computer onto your SD card
Make sure USB mass storage is disabled (ie: your phone is disconnected from the computer)
  Launch Titanium Backup and it should see your backups.

Note: Before restoring do check that the apps that you want to restore are not system apps in the new OS. If they are, don't restore them but manually apply those settings to avoid conflicts and problems in running them
Edit  Thanks to Izzy for adding inputs:

Bold and underline to the final warning concerning system apps! I'd even be careful restoring their data. If you really need to, make sure you've enabled "migration mode" in settings, or you might screw up things (happened to me once).
Some background: a normal restore e.g. simply replaces database files. Especially between different devices/ROMs, their structure might have changed – thus a replace (with the wrong structure) might cause the app to simply crash and refuse doing its job. Migration mode instead doesn't replace the file, but tries to match the data contained to the new/different structures.


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Swype keyboard dictionary migration
How to migrate a swype keyboard dictionary to another device (a new one for instance)?
When I buy a new phablet I have to collect words over again.

From Swype documentation
Backup and Sync Demo: Register all Devices with Swype Connect • Download the latest build of Swype from the Google Play store

• Open messaging application and long press on the Swype key to open Swype Settings
• Select “My Words”, then select “Register Now” to activate Backup and Sync
•In messaging application input names of friends a few times and select “Add word to Dictionary”
• Long press Swype key to open Swype Settings, select “My Words” and then select “Edit My Dictionary” and you can view your dictionary
•Multi-Device Dictionary Sync •

If using a brand new device without Swype previously installed

• Go to “Android Settings”, “Applications”, “Swype”, and select “Clear Data”
• Open messaging application; walk through the Swype registration process with your device email
• Once activation is complete, go into “Swype Settings,” select “My Words,” and then select “Edit My Dictionary” and you will see that your dictionary has been completely restored
• Go through this process with all your Android devices if desired

That's odd. But I can't see backup and sync menu in my swype.

I just re installed Swype and can see backup and sync menu did you forget to register the device? If you don't register, you cannot see. I can see the complete dictionary synced from my previous device

See this https://i.stack.imgur.com/iac43.png

Were you able to register and check ?

Nope. I can't an option of device registering. I've got Note4. Probably Samsung has done something with it...

Quite possible. Sammy messes up things

Since Swype is EOL and no longer supported by its owner, but thankfully still functional, I have found the backup/registration/restore process unreliable. I was able to migrate the app from one device to another fairly easily, but found that the personal dictionary ("word list") is not included in that. The best solution I have come up with is this:

"Manually" capture the contents from the old host/source Swype personal dictionary as described here: Bulk word import into Gboard. The Universal Copy tool mentioned there now supports a 'scroll mode' that allows you to capture more than the ~20 entries that fit on the screen at a time from the old list, but its still slow going.
Transfer the flat-text list to the new host. I used a Google Keep item to do this.
Bulk import the flat-text list to the new Swype installation as described here: Where does swype store the user dictionary?. Caveat: the bulk import process only accepts about 35 entries at a time, so multiple import passes will have to be made, but it works!

2022 Swype-user here. The easiest (albeit still manual) solution allows you to transfer ~20 words at a time:

On your old phone, open your personal dictionary list on Swype
On your new phone, take a photo of your list of words
Using Google Lens (i.e. smart scanner) highlight the text in the photo
Copy and paste the words into any messaging app draft
Highlight all of the pasted words
Press the Swype key
Swype will prompt you to "Add all to dictionary"
Repeat until you've scrolled through your personal dictionary

Not ideal, but it was mindlessly easy. Happy Swyping!

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


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Android's screen is rotated by 90 degrees
So I saw this command:
adb shell wm size 1080x1920
and I wanted to try it, so I did but my screen is now flipped, and I can't even take a screen shot because it says "Prevented by security policy".
 I have tried already to run some screen rotating commands like this: adb shell settings put system user_rotation 3 , and similar commands but nothing works.
I have a Galaxy S5 not rooted and I don't want to factory reset it or root it. It boots fine (the Android and Samsung logos) but the home screen and apps are just rotated 90 degrees.

You can try the solution here. Change the Trigger to Device Boot

Are you just looking to turn it back to what it was? adb shell wm size reset

I'm making this a proper answer just in case...

If you're just looking to turn it back to what it was, use the command adb shell wm size reset.


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Stuck on welcome screen & language selection
I installed custom ROM before this I ported it. The rom is amzen 5 kitkat  but I have problem with welcome screen. I can't choose language I can switch between languages. Is it possible to modify to not show welcome screen and instead of it show home screen and in settings you can choose language?

There's a build.prop line that disables setup wizard, and alternatively you could just remove the APK of setup wizard altogether (albeit with some consequences). Just giving you some ideas to go with, since it's still a ROM development question and thus off-topic.

Own answer
Auto rotate helps.
More concretely the landscape orientation because you see in the bottom half of button without text (i.e no 'go next' or something else) and can go next so I clicked but I don't know why UI is so big. I suppose the author built UI big. That's why you can not see button next in portrait orientation


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Encrypted and factory reset - Do I need to decrypt device?
We can remove data permanently from android flash memory, which is encrypted, after a factory reset.
After doing this, do we need to decrypt the device for using it again or factory reset the device?

It is in the default factory reset state ( like a new device ). You can't decrypt the device even if you wish to as the encryption password (generated from a combination of user lock screen PIN and encryption algorithm ) is lost
From Android's Factory Reset Does Not Wipe Your Data: Here's The Solution

Encrypting does not completely delete the files, but the factory reset process gets rid of the encryption key. As a result, the device has no way it can decrypt the files and, therefore, makes data recovery extremely difficult.

No i don't want to use as encryption device i want to clean data permanently from device.So i have read the solution that if i make encryption in my device and after encryption do the factory reset my device will go to its default setting is it true?After doing this can i sale my device with privacy trust?

Yes. You are right. 1. The device will be in factory reset state like when you bought the device and took it out of the box 2. No one can access your files since encryption key is not available 3. Your privacy is secure. If the answer, meets your expectations please tick the green arrow next to answer ( since you don't have reputation to upvote) . There is no obligation - ticking it means that the answer is accepted

I'm login into my mobile using PIN and my phone is decrypted successfully after that i started factory reset now my all data erased as well as encryption key. My question is when i start factory reset my data will be encrypted or not ?  Because after login into my phone my data is already in decrypted form so factory reset meaning wiping data in form of decrypted format not in encrypted . @beeshyams

@MuhammadFaizanFareed Data stays encrypted, after factory reset, the key is lost, that's why the device treats it as unencrypted and prompts you to encrypt again

Alright. My data will stay encrypted if I'm login into my account before factory reset am i right ?

@MuhammadFaizanFareed yes, if it was encrypted before. If this is not clear, I suggest you make a fresh question, quoting this and explain the complete situation clearly with your doubt

When the device is encrypted, the decryption key is only known by the current OS.
If you know the pin (for that screen you get before the animation starts), the device can be decrypted and get booted up successfully.
If you don't remember that, then you will need to reset the device. This resetting is similar to a factory reset.
Factory reset will not retain your personal data and apps in the internal storage.
Your external (micro) SD card, if present, can be removed before doing the reset only if it is configured as a portable storage in Android.

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


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Gmail for Exchange or Microsoft Exchange Active Sync
We are using Office365 Exchange cloud email accounts.
I have configured Samsung Galaxy A3 and there are 2 email apps by default - GMail and E-mail (probably from Samsung?).
I have added Google account and Exchange account to the phone settings but then could not find the e-mail account in the E-mail app and found it in Gmail app. On the other hand the Gmail account shows only in the E-mail app.
When trying to connect the E-mail app to Office365 account, it creates second Microsoft Exchange Active Sync account that presumably synchronizes independently from GMail Exchange account.
It is quite a messy, what would be the most convenient way for the user to configure those accounts and clients presuming that the user wants to save contacts to Google account and view e-mail & calendar on Office365 account?

There are options here.  You can remove accounts in Settings - Cloud and Accounts - Accounts (based on S7 Edge running Android 7.0):

Currently the way you are doing it
Remove all accounts, log into Gmail with your personal Gmail account, open the Mail app and use "Exchange" to connect to your Office 365 account
Use Gmail to access your Gmail account, then also add your Office 365 account to view in Gmail app (Gmail app supports Exchange accounts)
Use only Mail app to access Gmail and Office 365 accounts
Use Gmail and third-party app for Office 365 access (Outlook, Nine for Android, TouchDown, many others)

There's a lot of options here.  It is up to the user how they best organize and use their apps.

Are Gmail for Exchange and Microsoft Exchange Active Sync accounts functionally equivalent?

All I know is Gmail supports Exchange ActiveSync accounts.


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Native music listening app
I have just made the transition to android(Google Pixel) and HATE having to keep saying no to the Google Play music offer (sort of like Apple Music). It is as though I have bought a cheap product. OR Is there any way to stop the relentless ads?

I dont think there's any dedicated option for stopping this ads inside Google Play Music, but you can change the settings of your Google Ad ID from Google Settings app or Settings>> Google>> Ads
OR
ROOT YOUR PHONE THEN use AdAway!!

… or use a decent (open-source) music player :) There are some in my lists.

Musixmatch could be a good choice.

Based on above, all "good choices" are rather opinion based. If OP wants to go that path, there are better places – see: Where to ask for app recommendations? :)

You can try Lucky Patcher if you have root.


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How to Block Pre-Installed Auto App Installer Malware?

I dont know which pre-installed app is auto installing new apps.
But I think its com.android.system.service (also on few other phones: http://en.miui.com/thread-459132-1-1.html)
Firewall is not supported for this old OS phone (I think its gingerbread)
Also No root available for my phone. I also tried all auto rooting apps for android and PC.
Because its old Android OS, there is no option to disable any pre-installed app.
I think antivirus is deleting only few harmful apps which are downloaded by pre-installed malware app.

The malware app is downloading apps to a hidden folder (.sysAndroid/Download) in sd card, I have no threat to my internal memory because its full.
How to make a folder on sd card unwriteable without root or with any trick?
like making a fake folder with same name to stop virus app from saving new apps in folder again(.sysAndroid or Download)
Or any other method?

What phone model is that?

First, you could make that folder "un-writeable" easily without rooting. As it's located on the SD card, and you're on a pre-Kitkat device, any app should have full access there:

Get yourself a file manager
navigate to /sdcard/.sysAndroid
delete the Download folder
create a new text file called Download, and make it read-only

Now, that malware app can no longer create the directory, as a file with the same name is in that place.
For other measures, we'd need more details (and I could update my answer then):

go to Settings › About Phone and check what Android version is running on the device
find out which app is installing the unwanted apps. I didn't test it with pre-Icecream devices, but my tool Adebar should be capable of that¹: Among other things (which require at least Kitkat), it creates a list of apps installed on the device, grouped by their installer (see here for an example: as you will notice, the package name of the installer is noted along). If your Android version indeed is older than 4, you most likely will not be able to "kill" that app, but other measures might be known.

¹ Adebar will require adb installed on your computer, and Bash being available – so a Linux machine is best suited for that. But it's reported to work well on a Mac, and even on a Windows machine running Cygwin.

The file trick worked. I can't check android version in "about phone settings" because phone manufacturer edited that text to a later version which is fake. Phone interface, gallery looks like its gingerbread.

OK, that makes it harder. Icons in the notification bar are green I guess? Well, as the file trick worked for you, the original issue seems to be solved. Though it would still be interesting to hunt down the culprit. Who knows what else it has in cue. If you're interested in that, I'd suggest you ask a specific question on it (a la "how to identify the app which installs other apps on my device"). We could check Adebar's "ADB tricks" on that manually then (after all, it's just executing some ADB commands and evaluating the results).

malware app is not downloading new apps but still auto installing 1 app again and again without any visible downloaded apk (I check all apks from default file manager > Apks). What should I do now? Thanks for your help!

Have you tried Adebar yet, to find out which app is performing those installs? If so, is it a system app or one you've installed yourself?

I am using phone setting to install apps only in internal memory, so malware app can't install new apps on sd card but in internal memory. Because I thought problem solved I cleaned internal memory but after I know it  can still install a new app in internal memory I again filled internal memory. Now again phone is working better. I am 100% sure that it is a system app because I already checked by uninstalling every single app installed by me. Now should I use Adebar ? (My phone is gingerbread with a preinstalled malweare app)

Up to you. You can also try to analyze it manually, evaluating adb shell "dumpsys packages" output, if you prefer.


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Asus zenphone Max having login with owners mail id
I have bought the Asus phone for my Mom, but for get the Mail ID and password and end with Factory format. Now i am unable to login the mobile without the details. I forget details provided. Please help me to by-pass the google owners login.

Try googling "Asus ZenFone Max FRP bypass", you'll find a working solution for that


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Settings, App and Messages Backup AND restore of non-rooted Android 6+ devices?
I need to send in my phone for a repair. The phone still works normally, so I like to backup all my phone specific data (SMS, whatsApp messages, app settings, account settings (contacts and calender sync), ...) and wipe the phone before I send it in.
I read Full Backup of non-rooted devices - but the question is basically from back in 2012 - and so is the most upvoted answer (adb) which also disclaims "This solution will not back up and restore contact, SMS or calendar information" which makes it seem rather half-baked to me. (sorry.)
Also, Android 6 has a built-in backup, I'm just totally unsure how well that works. (And what app stuff it does or doesn't backup.)
settings > backup&restore > more > manual backup > (sdcard)

Here's what the backup (to SD card) confirmation looks like: (sorry German)

So what did it actually backup (seems like SMS are included / bullet Gespräche") and how can I verify that?
How do I check whether some app settings are included or not?
Can I be confident to get that stuff restored to the factory reset device once it is returned from repair?

Android Version is shown as 6.0.1

Question and answer you refer to (Full Backup of non-rooted devices) are mine – so I can assure you they are still valid. As for the "built-in" backup: that's usually backing up to Google's servers, which works pretty well. What has mixed results, however, is the restore of that – which the user has very little means of controlling. It either works on first startup and configuring the Google account, or it works partially, or not at all.
I'd suggest you follow the procedure described there, and backup your contacts and messages separately. You can find some suitable apps in my app lists.
If your device were rooted, you could simply use Titanium Backup and be done with that, but I understand that's not always an option. If you have a backup device, I'd additionally suggest doing a "test restore" to that, to see that your crucial data can be restored properly. WhatsApp is a completely different case; though it has its own built-in backup, restore to a different device is tricky at best. If you don't mind (and using WhatsApp suggests as much), use it's Google Drive capabilities which should make things easier. Not that I have much experience with that (I wouldn't use WA unless threatened really hard).

Thanks. I backed up to SDcard manually from the settings.  Haven't found yet where it put the backup on the card :-)

I don't know 1) what you backed up and 2) what you used for that (from what settings?), so I cannot say anything for that. If you're sure it backed up to the card, check both of them if your device has both: internal card and external card :)

I added the settings path to the question.  I plan to add an answer myself once I figure this out.

Thanks! Might be interesting to add your device there as well, as I don't think that's a stock feature. Cannot verify, though, as I have no MM device here.


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Cant' uninstall app; it shows up on home screen but not app drawer or installed apps list
An app called APP Lock installed on my phone yesterday and I have no clue how it got there. I can't find the app under the Play Store installed apps, my app drawer, or any folder within the system that might be related to it. I've looked in different folders to find where it might be installed but can't find it at all. It doesn't show up under Device Administrators either, the only trace of the app existing is it's icon on my home screen.
When I open it it lists my installed apps and asks if I want to "protect my privacy" in broken English. I think it's malware so I want to get rid of it.
Is there any way to cleanly remove it or at least find where it's installed?

If your problem is solved please accept the answer that solved it.

Don't know if problem was solved, as no answer accepted. If not,  try this anti malware: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.malwarebytes.antimalware It's free and worked great for me.

Is the app in this question the same as the one you're talking about? If so, you might be dealing with malware.
The reason the app might not be showing up in the installed apps list in the Google Play Store is because it was installed outside of the Google Play Store (by a different app). Try finding the app in the installed applications list of Android itself. Do this like so:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down to Apps.
In the top right corner, click ... and then Show system apps.
Search for the app name in the list, presumably APP Lock, and select it.

Have you found it? Great! Uninstall it by clicking Uninstall.
If this button is greyed out, then the app might have installed itself as a system app and you will need root to remove it with Root Uninstaller, for example.

Yeah, most probable that author needs root for uninstalling, if it's not listed in standard apps.


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Why isn't Google Play updating and downloading my apps
I need to update my Whatsapp and everytime I go on Google Play and press update, it just says downloading but nothing ever happens. I waited and tried many times but it's still the same. What should I do?


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Block all calls from area code unless in Contacts
I need a way to block all calls from an area code, unless the number is in my contact list. Anyone know of a way to do that?
I found plenty of apps that can block by area code, but they'll also block any of my contacts if they have that area code. I could add each of my contacts to a whitelist, but then I have to remember to do that each time I add a contact.

This is not a function Android is capable of in itself... You might be able to find a third party contacts or dialer app that has this capability though I don't know of one with this kind of granularity.

I need to figure out how to work with mobile numbers, but I think it'll work. Thanks!

Good. Thanks for accepting. Fortunately Macrodroid does have this capability without getting into reading contact list etc. For mobile numbers, you may need to consider the numbering scheme as it differs from carrier to carrier  (at least in my country). You can add all these in the same macro, since triggers work in logical OR . All the best : )

Interesting - I'm not familiar with number schemes varying with carrier. Do you know of any references I can look into to get a feel for that?

For India. You may need to search for your country

USA seems to follow geographic codes

automation is the preferred option. Many apps are available. I prefer using MacroDroid , since it is free (upto 5 macros) and easy to learn.

You would need two macros for this
First macro would be to set a flag when the call is from an area code
Macro : Area code (name of macro as example)
Trigger:

Call incoming → Select number → abc* ( where abc is numeric area code you are interested in and * is wildcard to represent any number . You need to know / experiment here - in my case I needed to type +<2digit country code><2 digit state code>< * wild card > to test with land line telephone

You would need another similar trigger for identifying mobile numbers from that area if / as applicable

Action: Set Macrodroid Variable → New variable → from area code ( name of flag, it can be anything ) of type Boolean to true
Constraints: Leave blank
In the next macro we reject the call when the twin conditions of calling number is a non contact and from that area code are met
Macro : Reject call (name of macro as example)
Trigger:  Call incoming → Select Contact → Non contact
Action:

Call reject
add constraint to this action by long pressing action

Macrodroid Variable →from area code = True (Macro only runs in this case, satisfying twin criteria conditions)

Set Macrodroid Variable → from area code to false ( initialisation of flag )

Constraints: leave blank
I have only tested with landline available to me and it worked. Logic has been explained and you would need to configure with special attention to area codes of landline / mobile

The wild cards don't seem to be working for me. If I enter an exact 10-digit phone number in the trigger, macro droid picks it up just fine. But if I use ? like you showed for the last 7 digits, the trigger misses the call. Any ideas why that might be?

Let's isolate the problem. First, disable macros already created ( slide toggle on top). Second, create a simple macro. Trigger: as confused by you which isn't working ; Action: call reject; constraints: blank. Save and test. If it didn't work to reasons- a) area code or number of wildcards used is wrong b) macro isn't getting activated at all- from top left of main menu of app go to system log and see if the macro is being called and time. If you don't find the macro referred there, it isn't being called at all and confirms wrong entry of area code or wildcards

Typo - for "Trigger: as confused by you " read "Trigger: as created by you " - auto correct will kill me one day

The process that you described is almost exactly what I did. The only macro in there right now is to pop up a message when I get a call from an exact 10-digit number. The message pops up as expected here. But when I replace the last 7 digits of the number with "???????" or "?" or "******" or "" (all without quotes), the message doesn't pop up. If I put the exact 10-digit number back in, then the message pops up again as expected.

Very surprising. What does the system log say? If it doesn't reflect macro being called, then most likely it's area code issue

I just tested your macro of popping up message on the latest version of app and it works fine I used single wildcard "*"

Also please double check the area code convention followed in US . What was given in the solution is what works in India .  All things considered, that's what I suspect to be the culprit. Also let me know what the system log days

Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on. I may come back to this later, but it's proving more of a struggle then it's worth to me for now. I appreciate your help with it.

Is there a way this could work with 10 area codes in just 1 trigger?

@Kyle No. Make multiple triggers, only one of them is going to get triggered.

beeshyams' solution did not work for me, but i was able to modify it and get it working. The issue that i encountered was that the "call incoming" trigger only happens once when you first receive the call. this means if you check for a boolean triggered by the incoming call, it won't be set yet.
first thing i did was find out what format i needed for the phone number by creating a very simple macro:
trigger: call incoming -> contacts -> any number
action: logging -> log event -> call number

i checked the logs and saw that the number was +12345678900. (im in the us)
next i deleted that macro and made the following:

T: call incoming (+1234*)
A: set variable (areacode: True)

T: call incoming (non contact)
A: set variable (noncon: True)

we are going to use the variables being set as our trigger to reject the call. these variables seemed to be set in a random/inconsistent order, so i just made two triggers, that way it didn't matter which was set first. this is a very janky solution, but it works.
T: macrodroid variable change (areacode = True)
A: call reject, set variable (areacode: False), set variable (noncon: False)
C: macrodroid variable (noncon = True)

T: macrodroid variable change (noncon = True)
A: call reject, set variable (areacode: False), set variable (noncon: False)
C: macrodroid variable (areacode = True)

finally, we need a way to reset the variables if our call blocking macros haven't been triggered. the best solution i found was to clear them after a call was completed or missed.
T: call missed (any number), call ended (any number),
A: call set variable (areacode: False), set variable (noncon: False)

i'm sure there is probably a more elegant solution, but this is at least working for me. (hooray, no more scam calls at 6am!) luckily there are exactly 5 free macros in the app, and 5 in my solution. if you have multiple area codes you need to block, you can put them all into the one macro with a separate trigger for each i think. (didn't test this)
all of this pain could be solved if you could have a trigger be caused by two conditions being met. that would mean we would only need a single macro, but from what i can tell, this isn't possible. unfortunately the constraints don't let you access the incoming call information so that doesn't work either. maybe there is a better app.


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Wifi problem on the first start droid turbo
I reseted to factory defaults and in first boot in initialization step it requires wifi connection to setup but not detecting wifi network, how to get through this help please

Put an activated SIM in the device, if there is a valid mobile data connection you should have the ability to Skip this step. Some newer devices cannot be activated without a data connection of some kind so they can check FRP.

BTW, this is a Verizon specific device I believe, often newer models cannot be activated without a connection to Verizon's network, you may need a working Verizon SIM.


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What's the "Thumbs up" setting in Motorola Camera app
I have Motorola Moto Z Play phone. When switching to front-camera in Camera app, there is a setting that I haven't figured out it's purpose. It has three possible options:

Off
Manual (shows a slider which its value can be chosen from 1 to 7).
Auto

Here is a screenshot of this setting:

There is no reference to this setting in the official manual and I haven't found any resources that explains it. Does anybody know what's it for? There could be a similar front-camera setting for other phone brands too, but I haven't much experience about that.

I believe it is the beauty mode

The 5MP front-facing camera adds one extra control to this menu and that is for beauty mode. There are three options: auto, manual, or off. The manual option lets you move a slider like most other smartphones that offer a beauty mode which blends the skin tones to hide imperfections

Also called beautification mode

We start off with self portraits, which include a Beautification mode, which is a first for Moto, but not a first for Lenovo at large. It mainly enhances clarity and colors while smoothing out lines on the face, to varying degrees of success.

Off would be to disable the mode, manual would be adjust the beauty effect and auto would let the camera decide
Edit: It's not a thumbs up, it is a silhouette of a female face sideways - you can see that clearly from Lenovo feature, with the 7 step sliding scale. Moto seems to have added auto feature in addition

Samsung, LG and maybe others have  this mode with different functionalities, but quoted Lenovo in the solution since they own Moto


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How to update custom ROM with CWM
How to update custom ROM with Clockwork Mod. Currently I have amzen 5 kitkat and want to update to version 6. I know how to flash ROM but I don't know how to update it. Does install .zip from sdcard overwrite earlier ROM or will make bootloop. Other option is to update in settings 'system's updates' but I don't have Internet connection and also this custom ROM probably doesn't support reverse tethering (Internet USB)

Assuming you are on a previous version of the same ROM, the recovery shouldn't matter, just flash the new ROM ZIP (and Gapps if not included in the ROM) and wipe caches... Do not wipe data, and reboot. That is normally all you need to do. Whenever upgrading, make sure to do a backup of your data first, because issues do occur sometimes and one of the first troubleshooting steps with issues on custom ROMs is to clean flash.

@acejavelin Must I port update before updating from earlier also ported rom or only download .zip file with update and flash rom?

I'm afraid I don't understand... What do you mean port ROM? It's either for your device or not.

ok understand this


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HTC One Mini 2, lately the GPS apps have not been working
I have an HTC One Mini 2, lately the GPS apps have not been working.
It locates btwn 14 - 23 satellites, but it doesn't gt any FIX.
Google Maps and Here Maps do not work well and locks at a position usually about 2kms away.
I have tried several GPS diagnosis apps on Play store, all I still get is NO FIX.
I also have set the GPS positioning mode to High Accuracy, all to no avail.
Help needed please.


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Huawei Ascend G7 Stuck in Fastboot & Recovery
A few days ago, I must have been pressing some buttons by accident and my phone entered fastboot & recovery. Restarting does nothing, it doesn't matter what combination of buttons I hold down. Every time, it starts up with the standard Huawei boot logo then a black screen comes up saying boot image verify failed and then it goes to another screen that says:

"FASTBOOT&RESCUE MODE

 Please Connect USB Cable to your Computer and Open Hisuite

PHONE locked"

I've tried connecting to Hisuite, but my PC doesn't register that my phone is connected. It does charge the phone, though, so not a problem with the cable/USB port. I suppose I didn't have USB debugging enabled? Can you enable it from PC?

My phone isn't rooted, by the way. Also, you can't remove the battery from this phone without messing around with hot air guns, etc.
I've tried letting the battery run dead and then charging it again and restarting the phone, but nothing different happens.

I don't know much about phones, really, any help would be appreciated!

Data on the phone are corruption. You need to flash the phone. Download the firmware


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Galaxy Edge 7 edge lighting reminders
How would I go about setting a repeating reminder that just lights up the Edge on my S7 Edge?
I have a need for a reminder that just lights up the edge in the same way as it does when the phone is face down and you receive a call (Edge Lighting in Settings).
I have to do something every hour but I don't want the phone to vibrate or make a sound whilst I am in the office do as not to distract my colleagues.
Ideal situation:

I set a reminder for 9am to repeat every hour
At 9am, 10am, 11am, etc. the edge lighting comes on with no sound or vibration

As per this blog , edge lights up only when selected people call . Is there any other condition under which it lights up? Please mention all events that trigger that to think of a solution

I'm not aware of any other condition. I can't believe it hasn't been done already though, seems like a really obvious feature to add given the capabilities of the device. I don't want to have to write an app, I only need to use it for a few weeks.

I suspect the answer to this question is "no, not without a 3rd-party tool". Might have to resort to some third-rate Q&A site like Quora if that's the case.... shudders

Hmm..I was thinking of automation since you are talking of hourly schedule but that would mean that the automation app runs on another device and gives you a call every hour. Not convenient, but that's the only idea I have

Have you checked your alarm app to see if it lights up?

Yeah, having something call me every hour seems like overkill. Maybe Samsung will read this and add it in their next update package.. Now there's wishful thinking for you :D

I have checked the alarm app, I added an alarm set not to make a sound or vibrate but it didn't light the edge up unfortunately =\

Lighting up notification LED seems doable though , but then they may not meet your needs

Yeah I won't see the light but I can see the Edge... "This awkward bugger.." I hear you say. Well, you're not wrong :D thanks for all your suggestions though :)


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Lost weather "widget" after factory reset
I was having some hardware trouble with my Pixel (not resolved, but that's another issue). I ended up doing a factory reset.
Now, however, my home screen time/weather information. Instead of the date, time and (when available) weather showing at the top of the first screen with an abbreviated search field (see image below)

The above is what it should look like. Now, that "widget" is gone, and the search field takes up the whole top line of the screen.
There are no updates for the Pixel Launcher for me in the Play Store (and, in fact, no buttons to go with it).
I've tried force-stopping the Pixel Launcher app.
If there's a setting for this I can't find it.
Any ideas?

Read this : http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/03/29/new-pixel-launcher-design-showing-users/

@Six: I think that's probably it.

Oh! I stand corrected. I finally found it.

Have you tried the steps from Scrapshark's reddit post?

Also, I'm reading that this problem could be the result of the Pixel launcher losing its location permission, so you should check if it still has that by following the steps in Google's help article under the section called Turn permissions on or off.

Clearing all of the app data fixed it for me (although it cleared all of my restored app icons). I think what was throwing me is that the "Clear Data" button is buried a little further in the app settings than it used to be.


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What's /system/vendor/lib/liboemcrypto.so?
and where does it come from? I'm on lineage os and I have an app that crashes because this file doesn't exist on my sytem. When I do an internet search for the file, I see that there are plenty of people getting things working by removing it, or renaming it to liboemcrypto.so.bak or something, but no one seems to be missing this file. Can I get it from anywhere?

What app is crashing?

The app's name is magine

That's (part of the) implementation of Android's "modular DRM", which came into being in Android 4.3 (API level 18) -- see MediaDrm. Essentially it's the component that allows media player apps, under certain conditions, to play back DRM-protected contents.
If you are running on Android 4.2 or lower, however, you're probably out of luck. To confirm, you can install an app like DRM Info, which will tell you whether any DRM library is installed on your system. If not, am afraid there's nothing you can do on this specific device.

Sorry, I could have mentioned that I'm on lineageos. Any idea why this file might be missing. I've installed DRM Info, and it says that "Google Widevine Modular DRM" is supported, but "Microsoft Playready DRM", "Marlin DRM" and "Veramatrix VCAS" are not.

Not familiar with LineageOS per se, but my best guess is that -- since liboemcrypto must be implemented by the device's OEM (for robustness reasons, as it is tightly integrated with hardware security components such as TrustZone) -- a device reflashed with a 3rd-party OS will not be able to have that hardware integration and will therefore need to omit that library.


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JuiceSSH android rsa key
I am using JuiceSSH on android to connect to an ssh server running on my linux box.
I would like to authenticate using an RSA key pair.
Am I able to do this using JuiceSSh on android?
Does anyone know where the settings are to import an RSA key. I can't seem to find them anywhere.

I disagree since this se is for super users and says nothing about your OS right. It belongs here.

"android" is the OS in question, "JuiceSSH" is an android-only ssh client app.  see instructions in the SU android tag.

Super User is for "computer enthusiasts and Power Users", not for any specific OS. SSH is for power users. It belongs here.

true, and true, and irrelevant.  your question is about configuring a particular SSH client, not a general SSH question.  don't worry, if the moderators decide the question belongs elsewhere it can be moved.

@quixotic unless they specifically involve interaction with a computer I think could apply here.

The purpose of this restriction isn't to keep people from asking question we don't want to see on SU, it is to make sure the question gets asked in the place best able to provide the best answer. It is also to avoid tension between the various communities from the idea that one may be accepting questions that would drive traffic and users to the sites that question may better belong in. Importing of the key occurs on the SSH client, and therefore the primary topic of your question is within the Android ecosystem, not the host you're connecting to.

When you create New Identity you have Private key option, you can paste or generate new keys.


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Factory reset not working
S7 mobile is continuously coming up with a warning on a blue screen ,OS and ODIN are written in capitals then a screen shows with download do not turn target off and just freezes on that page

Hold power until it reboots.


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Recover photos from Google Photos cache
About two months ago (just over 60 days so they are no longer in Trash), I manually deleted thousands of photos off my Google Photos account due a problem I had with duplicate files. I had a back up of all the photos on SD cards which I needed to clear. I moved the photos to an external hard drive. Later, I discovered that Windows had somehow decided to not copy about 1600 of the files.
The only trace I have left of the missing photos are the cached images on Google Photos on a broken android phone (LG G3) which I've turned on without any access to the internet. Even if they are low quality, I am desperate to recover these photos. Does anyone know how to access the cached photos (or thumb nails) of Google Photos?
My plan, if I can access them, is to create a wifi hotspot with another android phone without access to the internet and use something like airdroid to move the images to a computer. I could also maybe put an SD card back in the phone and move the files there instead?
The phone is not rooted. I've looked around using the file manager but have not been able to locate them. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Do you still have the SD card you copied the photos to? If it is being used currently remove it from your device. Depending on how much data you've written to the SD card so far, you might be able to restore it using something like http://www.easeus.com/data-recovery/card-recovery-software/sd-card-recovery-freeware.htm

@SamDenty There were two SD cards, ones already full of new photos but I will try recovery on the second on the off chance that the photos I need were on the (now quite small) unused section of it. Have you tried the software you have linked to? Does it work well?

I've used Recuva in the past and was able to recover about 20/40GB on a harddrive, you may get some photos back, but because you've stated that data has been written to the card, your chances are limited.

You're best option is to try recovery software such as Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery on one on the SD cards which once contained the deleted photos. The chances of recovering your data this way are slim, as even just a few missing kilobytes can corrupt whole photos and videos.
Android stores cached images in the following locations:

/sdcard/DCIM/.thumbnails
  /data/data/com.google.android.apps.photos

If you're not rooted, then refer to this guide on how to use ADB to pull the data from the Google Photos application.
If all else fails, then your last two options would be to try contacting Google Support to see if they still have the files on their servers. Hardware data recovery could restore your photos at a price.

Thanks, miraculously the photos were on the very small unused section of the right SD card and I got them using EaseUs (Recuva found nothing). Thanks or the other tips, if the phone wasn't broken I would investigate just to see if it would have worked but it's too frustrating to try use it when I no longer need to. Incidentally, contacting google was the first thing I did (via send feedback in google photos as I did not know how else to. They did not respond)

@Dan Glad it worked

I think you can Android Data Recovery software to scan your LG phone and find the deleted photos for you. This software can scan your phone and SD card deeply to find the deleted photos for you. You can preview them and then recover them from your LG phone to computer. Try to find the best Android Data Recovery software on google and download one of them. Good Luck!

Thanks but unfortunately the photos were never on the phone, they were in Google Photos but uploaded from a laptop. The Photos app on the phone has many of the lost photos in at least thumbnail format which is what I'm after as it's my only shot.


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Installing APK signed with different key possible through adb install -r?
Android will refuse to upgrade a package, if it is signed with a different key, making me to uninstall first (and lose user data) and re-install.
If I install the new APK via adb install -r XYZ.apk, I switched to the other APK and kept user data. Is that a correct workaround?

Rootless method:
As is mentioned above, you can uninstall an app while keeping its data with adb.
adb shell pm uninstall -k PACKAGE
Do note that it failed to keep data in my test case.
Then you can install the new app with adb install.
Be aware that adb uninstall is invalid as there's no uninstall subcommand for adb. You must connect to a shell on your device and run pm from that shell. However install is a subcommand for adb but it does not take any options, so if you want to run adb install -r you must type in adb shell pm install -r instead.
Root method (Recommended):
If you have root, you should never miss Xposed Framework. Get Xposed Framework and get XInstaller. Navigate to "Installer Settings", scroll down and tick "Disable Signature Check". Now you can install the replacement app in any way you like.

Strange, I did adb install -r XYZ.apk and it worked. The --help says clearly adb install [-lrtsdg] <file>. So please write what is at least true.

The ad for Xposed, whatever it is, is really not appreciated, either.


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Unable to get past odin mode
I have a Galaxy S5 that had Cyanogenmod + CWM for about a year. The other day it started randomly shutting down and getting stuck in the bootloader screen ("SELINUX ENFORCING" + Samsung logo). No matter what I did it kept getting stuck in the loop of rebooting and then going back into this mode.
I couldn't even get it to load Philz Touch in order to try and flash it.
In the end I did a factory reset but this didn't help. I tried to install TWRP via Odin and Odin says "PASS" but when I start the phone all I get is the same bootloader screen and no TWRP.
When I try to run fastboot all I get is a message saying "waiting for device" even though it does show up in Odin 3.
I am trying to install the latest version of Lineage but need to get TWRP installed first.
Currently the phone is in a crash loop on the Samsung logo screen with "RECOVERY BOOTING" "Set Warranty Bit: recovery" printed in the corner
Any tips?

Samsung devices don't really have a bootloader, so fastboot commands won't work. Just flash stock firmware and your problem will be solved!

Have you double-ckecked that you are using the correct version of TWRP to flash? Have you tried to flash the latest version of CWM?


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Which is less insecure - mounting /system rw or disabling SELinux
I recently upgraded my (rooted) Oneplus 3 to Nougat, and Adaway - which modifys the hosts file broke.
I have been unable to get symlinking the hosts file to work because SELinux gets in the way.   Unfortunately I appear to be unable to remount /system rw temporarily, presumably due to a large number of processes started from it at boot.
I believe I can hack the ROM to mount /system RW instead of RO, however I'm uncertain whether mounting /system rw or disabling SELinux is less secure.  If I disable SELinux, I need to do it permanently - otherwise the hosts file is unavailable.

I'm not an expert, but disabling SELinux is almost certainly more insecure.
Nothing that's not already in /system should be able to write there without root in either case, or an exploit that would let malicious code remount it anyways.  But disabling SELinux hamstrings Android's process sandboxing and access controls, meaning a malicious app could modify or steal data from others.

Did we have SELinux back when Android was on JB?


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Problem in usb debugging
I wanted to move all inbuilt apps on my Samsung Galaxy On7 to the sd card to free up space. To do this, I followed this site.
However, even after enabling USB debugging, the desktop is not being able to show the device in adb devices list. I had previously uninstalked all android emulators (like BlueStacks) and have the full android sdk tools and Android versions 5.0 to 7.0 installed on my computer.
Anyone can suggest why this happens?
Any other way to move inbuilt apps to sd card without rooting the device?

On the site you linked the author wrote: "After all of the comments I’ve seen up to this point, I think it’s safe to say that this tweak will not work on Lollipop (and probably Marshmallow) unless the device is rooted."

@kirodge what are the potential problems I might face if I root my device? Can the process be reversed?

@WRICHIKBASU see our rooting tag-wiki and the details linked from there. Apart from that: if your device doesn't even show up on adb devices, and you're on Windows, it's probably a driver missing.

@lzzy My Driver was properly installed, and phone USB setting set to MTP.


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What are the problems of rooting device?
I want to root my android device (Samsung Galaxy On7, 6.0 Marshmallow) to move my inbuilt apps to sd card to free up space.
I'm doing this as per this site:
http://techgage.com/article/moving_your_non-movable_android_apps_to_an_sd_card/
What are the potential problems I might face?
Will I lose data?
Is this process reversible?

See the questions at rooting tag wiki. They answer your questions. If you still remain in doubt, revise your question to specifically address that. Also, this site works best on one question or post -  dont bundle multiple questions in one post

See our rooting tag-wiki, and especially Are there any risks to rooting a device? / What are the security disadvantages of rooting an Android phone? While the process usually is reversible, it might trigger the "Knox flag" on Samsung devices – which usually is not reversible.


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how come google contacts on web have no last name, only name
On my android the contacts have first and last name, where in contacts.google.com there's only a name field?
I'm asking because whenever I change my name there I see no effect on my android device, and thought this might be related.

Please see if sync is activated on your phone. It may be because of syncing problem that the change is not reflected.

it is activated


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Apps not appearing in Device Administrators
I'm running Nougat 7.1 on device and I've came across a strange issue.
Newly installed applications are not listed in the device administrators page in security. The list just doesn't show newly installed apps, they used to appear on Marshmallow, but the Nougat update broke it. This means that I can't enable any newly installed apps as device administrators.
Some apps show the popup to enable them as 'device administrators', but clicking on Activate does nothing
'Greenify' should be in the second list, but it isn't:

Things I've attempted (That failed to fix the problem):

Clearing Dalvik cache and reinstalling apps
Booting into safe-mode
Performing a factory reset

Question:
The device administrators are stored in a list at /data/system/device_policies.xml. Is there any other configuration files relating to the entries of the Device administrators that could prevent new entries from being listed?

And what happens if you try adding them manually? Will they appear in the list?

@xavier_fakerat They still don't appear in the list, even if I add them to device_policies. I've also tried deleting that file, and resetting the permissions

Has any on the solutions decribed here: http://android.stackexchange.com/q/45601/209414 work for you?

Ok I am still looking for possible resolutions, will let you know if I come up with something interesting.

@xavier_fakerat I've found this issue, turns out it's a bug with Adoptable Storage

I am glad you managed to resolve the issue, so I will upvote because it will help others with similar issues in the future.

After thoroughly debugging this issue, I've found the cause. It seems to be a bug with how Adoptable Storage is implemented on my ROM. Any apps that are stored on external storage are not shown in the Device Administrators screen.
When using Titanium Backup, I came across the same issue as newly installed applications were not visible.
As Android automatically manages storage, it installed all new apps on the External Storage which led to this issue. Applications marked as device administrators are forced onto the internal storage, meaning any updates they receive won't move them onto the internal storage
How to fix:

Open up Apps in Settings and navigate to the problematic application
Click on Storage and select Change
Select Internal Shared Storage and then confirm by pressing Move


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Can't access internal storage from normal system but I can in TWRP?
I have Lenovo K3 Note and I flash NEXUS-V2.5 rom. System works fine I think but I can't access anything through file managers,sdcard, sdcard0, sdcard1 are empty, but they have files on them, which are available when I boot in TWRP. TWRP version is 2.8.6.0. When I try to push files from adb I get error Read-only file system. adb works fine in recovery.

Are you rooted?

Can I install custom rom and custom recovery TWRP if I am not root?

Yes, I am rooted.

@dukasvili Yes, as a recovery can also be installed from a computer, and yes, because not every ROM comes pre-rooted.

Try to execute following commands via ADB if you are rooted (in what I strongly doubt):
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw /system

or
adb shell su -c "mount -o remount,rw /system"

After that your push should work.
If you are not rooted, you will fail on the second command. If so firstly you should acquire root on your phone.
What concerning your question about customs ROMs/recovery: most custom ROMs already contain root patches. However, flashing TWRP has nothing to do with root and is done separately.

I don't know what I done but I now have access to internal memory from OS.
I tried to flash another rom and that get stuck on boot logo and I flash first rom second time and now is working. I  thought that unlocking bootloader is same as rooting, my mistake...

Cool! Anyway anyhow the job is done:)


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Since Nougat, Power saver causes streaming to shut off.
I have an HTC One M9. It got an update to Nougat recently. Since the update, after about 2 minutes of the screen shutting off, streaming music stops playing. This happens regardless if i'm on WiFi or not. This happens with Pandora and iHeartRadio.
I figured out that shutting off power saver will keep the music playing. This has never been a problem in the past.
How can i keep the music playing and keep power saver on?

I found that if you remove the particular app like Pandora or iHeartRadio from the optimization list then the music will keep playing. My best guess is that when the app is moved from optimized to not optimized the battery optimization will not suspend it's processes in the background.
To do this go to Settings->Power->Battery optimization
From the drop down menu at the top select all Apps
Find the app you want and tap on it. From the menu that appears select Don't optimize and tap done.


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Mount `corrupted` adoptable storage
I have an SD card that is formatted as an adoptable storage.
This morning, I tried to delete photos from my phone but the operation failed and after that my SD card cannot be read by the device.
I inserted the SD card in my tablet and the tablet says the device is not supported.
I also tried accessing it from my Linux computer but running it can't be mounted. Running sudo fdisk -l displays in the following:
Disk /dev/sda: 238.5 GiB, 256060514304 bytes, 500118192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x870c5a1b

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1  *         2048 459380735 459378688 219.1G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2       459382782 500117503  40734722  19.4G  5 Extended
/dev/sda5       459382784 500117503  40734720  19.4G 82 Linux swap /
Solaris

Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 59.8 GiB, 64222134272 bytes, 125433856 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: A5B52D41-3B56-978D-9A23-B12B54DAD545

Device         Start       End   Sectors  Size Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1  2048     34815     32768   16M unknown
/dev/mmcblk0p2 34816 125433822 125399007 59.8G unknown

I'm assuming the details of the SD card is the last 2 entries there and their Types are unknown...
According to the answer here, there's a way to decrypt and recover the files but given that I can't even mount my device on my computer, I'm lost.
Any ideas, guys?

In my case, mounting the volume as f2fs did the job.

Could you elaborate in this answer? Give more details of exactly what and how you repaired, recovered, or mounted the volume?


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Why the F-Droid repository doesn't show latest version of Firefox to download?
The latest version of Firefox available for download is v50.0 but on Play Store v52.0 is available.. Why F-droid doesn't show latest version?
Firefox (Browse the web) - https://f-droid.org/app/org.mozilla.firefox
https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/org.mozilla.firefox

At the moment the question is rather: "When will F-Droid be updated again at all?" Updates are currently stalled. Last update was more than 10 days ago – since then, not a single app was updated there. Apart from that, this question is rather better asked at the F-Droid team, as we here can only speculate. There are other apps with the same issue; often updates for a specific app stop because the dev started including non-free components.

F-Droid doesn't include Firefox anymore (*) but some builds from Firefox code, such as Fennec and Icecat.
(*) It is due some privacy concerns, Tracking, UpstreamNonFree and Non-free Addons
At the moment
Icecat 52.4.1
Fennec 56.0
Version code: 560020,560010,560000
Current scheme: XYZAR, where X.Y.Z is upstream version, A is architecture (0 = ARMv7, 1 = x86, 2 = ARMv8), R is revision (if we need to re-release)

Fdroid hosts an application called FFUpdater, which automatically detects and downloads the latest version for your device. I have used it a few times and it works on most new devices.
However, on old Android devices (4x), I found that the latest APK that it downloads is not installable.