text:
Pixel imported contacts' names not showing up at top of messages
I'm coming to a Pixel from an iPhone. When I set up the Pixel, I imported my messages (using the switch process) and contacts (synced through gmail), among other things. However, I wasn't aware that my iPhone contacts were all saved in Google's Exchange account (not gmail), which no longer exists (as of 2012). So when I imported my contacts from my iPhone, every contact I had added since Google migrated away from exchange was not added. To fix this, I exported all my iPhone contacts as a .vcf (using an app) and then imported them to the Pixel.
It seemed to work smoothly, as all my contacts were now showing up in the contacts app. However, in my messages app, I am still showing phone numbers instead of names for all my contacts that were imported through the .vcf--even though google associates those number with their correct contact when I click on the image/letter representing the person in the chat. It also shows the persons name on the lock screen when I get a message--but again, just shows their number at the top of the messages app when texting them. How can I get messages to show the contact name and not number at the top of messages? Should I not have imported my messages?
Related, but outdated: Contact names not showing for the calls and messages

Why did this question get downvoted?

After a long support session with Google, some combination of the following things resolved the issue: (although it was unclear what happened when because there were numerous glitches that occurred throughout the process which were corrected by clearing data and rebooting)

Force closing the contacts and Messages apps and restarting the phone
Clearing the cache of the Messages app
Clearing the data of the Messages app (note: this does not delete all your conversation threads as I feared it would. The warning may sound ominous, but at least for me, all my conversation threads were resynchronized following the data clearing and reopening the Messages app).
Going into settings of the Messages app, and changing the default SMS app to Hangouts, and then back to Messages (note #1: this requires the Hangouts app. note #2: upon opening Hangouts I was prompted to try the Messages app--I hit OK and this fixed >50% of my contact formatting issues)
Rebooting the device

This was on a Pixel with Android 7.1 and Messages 2.0.

This happened to me when I got my new Pixel 2 after RMA'ing my broken one. The only thing that helped is "Clearing the data of the Messages app" as you said. And it did NOT delete all my information. Thanks!

I had the problem changing to a pixel xl where some names would show up and others would be phone numbers.  There is an easy fix!   Change the color palette of the person sending the msg and their name will show up instead of their phone number.
Don't know why it worked but it does.


text:
If there is no corresponding cyanogenmod rom for my Samsung Galaxy On5, how do I install Cyanogenmod?
My phone is rooted and I have the TWRP installed. I am not sure where to go from here though.

You can't - you already know there aren't any.

If there isn't either an official or unofficial port, you can't, and don't try to with a version that has not been specifically been made for your device. I'd recommend installing plain Android (with or without Gapps, as you wish) and wait for someone to do the port. Developers tend to port Cyanogenmod to the device they have if there is no port so far.
Of course, you could do the work yourself, but I don't think you want to do that because it involves messing with the core software of your phone and you need much experience in quite a few programming languages to make a port yourself.

I'm relatively experienced in Java, Python, C, and Bash. I tinker with Arch n modify the kernel when I need to. Do you know of any guides to building it yourself?

For porting this https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Doc:_porting_intro is a good place to start. For just building, give this a try: https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Development#Learning_To_Build_CM

There are likely sources to build CyanogenMod from scratch. I did find the forums at xda  helpful http://forum.xda-developers.com/t/samsung-galaxy-on5 I wouldn't be suprised if you see CM 13 or 14 in the near future. If you are on a linux box you could possibly build from scratch.

Somebody has to write device/kernel stuff before it can be built - I don't expect OP to be able to do that...

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
developed apk installed in bluestacks lost lower part
I installed an app-invenetor2 developed app, then installed it to bluestacks.
I cannot see the lower part of the app. I've
tried to adjust the resolution of bluestacks using methods suggested by How do I increase the resolution of BlueStacks?, especially the height from 400 to 1800. But it's failed.
Although the height of bluestacks window is increased, the lower part of installed app didn't appear.
How to see that lower part of the app?

Can you provide a screenshot?

Lower part just disappear. Even I set the screen to be Portrait type.

I've tried it out. Just clicked "Change app size" on the left of BlueStacks to turn Tablet screen(Landscape) to Smartphone screen(Portrait), and it's done.

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


text:
how to change the IMEI of a generic ANDROID cellphone
First of all,
I live in Brazil, and my country still deny the entrance of generic cellphones from China, the politicians here want to receive more tax from buying a original cellphone at a price of an Apple top line.
Then I buy a generic cellphone.
The problem is, the IMEI isn't into the Federal database of cellphones, this alarm the services providers to troll me with a low traffic bandwidth, unable to call, and when I can do a call this goes down after some minuter (not more than 3).
I think the only way to bypass this protection is copy an IMEI from a digitally assigned device, the Federal lawyer in communications called ANATEL.
Well, I rooted my cellphone, I don't know the techniques to place a new IMEI on it, but, i find these files http://pastebin.com/bgBybbnL. I think the IMEI comes with a private key to ciphers the communication, then, how can I get this informations?
Thanks guy! u will help me a lot if you can answer!

The method to change the IMEI varies for different devices.. What is your device name or model?

As you already have a rooted phone, you can use Xprivacy which is a very powerful tool to spoof mobile identifiers. Xprivacy is required xposed framework to work.

If you've xposed framework installed, you may be able to change by installing This module. I've tried changing IMEI with module and it worked.

I assume that "it worked" means that you see the modified IMEI in every app/settings on your device. However this does not necessarily means that the modified IMEI is used when you do a call. The network connection is established by a separate sub-module which can not be modified with Xposed. Therefore I doubt that the modified IMEI is used when communicating with the cell tower.

I checked by *#06#. OP can give it a try and comment. If he's still blocked in Brazil that means it didn't work.

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


text:
Is there a hidden trash can I can empty?
I keep deleting things and clearing cache to try and clean up space on my android and it seems I just keep losing memory, as if it's all going to some huge trash bin and still taking up space. Is there a way to find and empty this trash?

Can you post your storage use. Go to settings>storage>internal storage this will help us know how your memory is being approportioned.

@Abby Go to settings and look for storage click it. It should show you your memory allocation. Edit your answer with the screenshot.

My LG V20 Running on Android 7.0 with a gallery app v5.30.24.1 has a Trash can in the menu under the MANAGE section that saves Everything deleted for 7 days before permanently deleting it and then freeing up space. You can also go into the can and delete everything yourself. So Yes, android can have a recycler bin. A very useful feature for those accidental deletions.

Turns out there is a "hidden" trash can!  I was desperate for room on my LG V20, and I deleted about 30 GB of photos.  And I got zero space back.  I was waiting, thinking Android just needed to update itself, but after several days, I was still at the cusp of no space.
I used the PC-based Tree Size program (free, can find via search) that friends recommended.  After installing that on my laptop and letting it run for a while, lo and behold, I found there was a .trashcan buried deep in the phone.  Going there by navigating on the phone produced a blank screen, but using the program I could see more than 30 GB of deleted photos!
The location of my trash was android -> data -> com.android.gallery3d -> files -> .trashcan
Good luck to anyone else with this issue!

Note that trashcan looks to be specific to the stock gallery app, which may or may not have been the issue in the question. Triton's answer covers it in more detail.

To answer this question I'll need to get you to understand what deleting means.

Deleting is basically telling the operating system, I'm done with this
  storage space, give it to someone else.

Think of it like a room where an app comes with his stuff then if it so happens that the app gets uninstalled, they leave the room there. So when android is installing the next app, it comes takes up the room. Just because the app was uninstalled doesn't mean the room was also demolished.
This would also explain why it's possible to recover data(through third party apps) even after having 'deleted' it. Now Android and I should believe all mobile phone operating systems don't have a native way of getting this data back. By native I mean you can't recover data by using the OS like the way you can use recycler bin in windows. This is due to the fact that memory is a very very precious asset on phones (it's very limited and the OS would rather have it stored for some other reason) and having a recycler bin would simply end up taking  crucial memory making it more expensive to manage the phone.
So no, android doesn't have a recycler bin; but that doesn't mean you can't recover data. As to what might be taking up your memory consider wiping caches of your apps.

Cache is app data used on the go that is stored temporarily

.  Also some apps have a nasty habit of leaving behind files after being deleted. They do this in anticipation that you might install the app again and if so you can just come back from where you picked off. I would recommend clean master app from the google playstore as I've I'm used it before and it works superbly fine in determining which apps you don't need and finding out whether your storage is being misappropriated and by who. They also fully uninstall apps and bloatware not leaving any files behind.

Thanks. I both hit the claer cache button in my operating system and also go into each app and clear it and it just seems that the memory space goes up then even further down very quickly. I've uninstalled just about everything and deleted or taken most my pics and videos off. It's now saying I have no room to even open my photos or get text! Like it's nearly worthless and I haven't even had it a year! I will have to try the clean master app if I can get it loaded, maybe I have a lot of hidden app trash. I'm using someone else's phone to use the internet! I'm so frustrated!

This is not entirely true.  Some versions of Android do include a "recycle bin" or "trash bin", such as my Samsung Galaxy. (Also maybe it's just me but your answer seems kind of condescending.)  Also I will warn others to be cautious of 3rd party "cleaning apps" as they are notorious for spreading malware, which is made easier by all the permissions a "cleaning" app supposedly requires.

My Samsung Galaxy S8+ running Android 9 has an optional "Trash Can" that's hidden away, yet enabled by default, that stores deleted photos/videos for annoying 30 days. (several GB in my case!).
Go to your apps to open the "Gallery" app, then tap the "3 dots", and then "Trash" to open & delete files... Or, on the "3 dots menu" go into Settings to disable the Gallery Trash Can completely.

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


text:
Downloading using youtube-dl and QPython on Android
I used this tutorial to install youtube-dl and QPython on Android
But when I run the command youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5nxkynkSDI It throws the following error:
[youtube] D5nxkynkSDI: Downloading webpage
[youtube] D5nxkynkSDI: Downloading video info webpage
[youtube] D5nxkynkSDI: Extracting video information
[youtube] D5nxkynkSDI: Downloading MPD manifest
ERROR: unable to open for writing: [Errno 30] Read-only file system: 'Ezekiel Elliot Touchdown Run Dallas Cowboys Win Against Pittsburg Steelers Fan Reaction Upset-D5nxkynkSDI.webm.part'

As per the answer given here:  I tried creating /etc/youtube-dl.conf using ESFileExplorer but failed to do so. The device isn't rooted.
So here are my questions:

How do I enable writing permissions? or Specify path to a directory on external SD card as output directory?
I actually wanted to batch download few links using youtube-dl -a 'batchlinks.txt but I don't understand the current working directory. So I don't know where to put my 'batchlinks.txt'
Do I need to go to "QPython Dashboard > Libraries > PIP Console" to run youtube-dl? Why can't I run youtube-dl from "QPython Dashboard > Console"?

Note: The 'batchlinks.txt' doesn't contain YouTube links.

I solved this by using a Python script inside which I used youtube-dl not from the command line but with the YoutubeDL API (their documentation is good). Then, add this code Python script in which you are using the YoutubeDL API.
import os
os.chdir(r'/path/for/download')

It seems that it is trying to write to a read only file system. Try and use the -o argument to specify the downloads folder.
youtube-dl -o /sdcard/Downloads/YourVideo.mp4 https://www...

Try to identify where the sample scripts are stored on the device: I found it by clicking under 'Programs' which showed they were stored at (Android 7.0) :

/storage/emulated/0/qpython/scripts

I'm thinking this means the app has permission to write under this directory. Then I created 'ytdl' using mkdir - either using adb or from within the shell inside Qpython (this is the one location that mkdir does work when doing it from within Qpython.
youtube-dl -o /storage/emulated/0/qpython/ytdl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5nxkynkSDI

With the added benefit that this runs in the background, not sure if Doze
mode will pause this, so leave it running in the foreground (by
disabling sleep).

Navigate to the

/storage/emulated/0/qpython/ytdl

and insert a text file batchlinks.txt at this location (possibly with a file manager (I used Solid Explorer)). Then while in that directory run (you don't need to specify -o since you are running from this dir and you shouldn't have to specify batchlinks.txt because it should see it from the current location (if it doesn't include the absolute path):
youtube-dl -a batchlinks.txt

Same place you installed youtube-dl from: Libraries -> pip console where the cursor is:

--> youtube-dl --version
Also you can come out of the pip shell to the phones shell, and run from there (I did it by doing Cntrl-Z on a bluetooth keyboard connected to the phone).


text:
Taking the odd photo that is confidential and shouldn't be synced or posted anywhere
I use Google Photos to backup all photos. For my camera app I use OpenCamera. On the occasion I take a picture of something confidential (for work or personal use). What is the easiest/best way to to take a picture and have it only stored locally on the phone (even better if password protected)?
I tried putting the phone in airplane mode but this doesn't work so well as I need to use the internet before I can delete the picture.
I tried turning off google photos temporarily but this is tedious and I think there's other apps that automatically get the picture, for example Facebook was asking me if I wanted to post the new picture and gave a preview.

Use Signal Messenger. It has the option to send notes to self.

Use any file browser and rename you image extension to say .xyz. As its not a image file anymore no app will take it as image and will not sync it. When you want to view that image just open it as image. Best file browser to do this is ES File Explorer and is available on Play Store.

That would still require him to turn off the internet before naming the picture.


text:
Failed to load Android and TWRP recovery after flashing twrp recovery image
The device is Lenovo Tab 2 A8-50LC
I flashed the device with a (apparently) TWRP recovery image.
./fastboot flash  recovery recovery.img
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
sending 'recovery' (10454 KB)...
OKAY [  0.904s]
writing 'recovery'...

OKAY [  0.306s]
finished. total time: 1.209s

After that:
./fastboot reboot
rebooting...

finished. total time: 0.052s

But the device can not load TWRP or Android and restarts consequently.
No power-off, volume-up or down or any combinations work here. Nothing works:
./adb reboot recovery
error: no devices found

./fastboot devices

./adb reboot bootloader
error: no devices found

The only way is to disconnect the battery from the board.
Any suggestions highly appreciated.

where did you get the twrp image?

You can find it over here: https://twrp.me/app/

I cant find it under https://twrp.me/Devices/Lenovo/, nor when searching for A8-50. A direct link would be much appreciated.

I tried adb reboot recovery at the earliest time I see Team Win is starting up. That works and give me the fastboot mode.
Then I flashed another recovery image.


text:
Android Permissions and Malware
Can an Android Malware App "hide" certain important permissions thereby fooling the user to be "good" (or intended to do only what its posed purpose is). Thus can the user "believe" the App to be genuine and install it?
In short is there anyway an App can fake its permissions? I know that there is an AndroidManifest.xml which every developer of App must customize in order to get the necessary permission. And most certainly this is what gets displayed to the user so that he/she can acknowledge before he/she installs the App.
Now my question is, is there a way the user is not "shown" any of the permissions??

No. At least not without bugusing. All permissions not written into the manifest, will not be granted to the app by android. Since Android 6 an app can also request permissions at runtime. Then they are not in the manifest and the user does not grant them when installing but as soon as the app requests those permission, the user will have to grant them.
In short: you have control over the permissions and there is no easy way to bypass this system.
There is however the possibility to use other apps to bypass the permission handling. E.g. if your app does include a chrome browser window, it's not necessary for your app to have the internet access permission since chrome already has that permission.

what about the native Apps. Should any native component which does several actions within the main Android App also need to explicitly request permissions?

To my knowledge: Not directly. But with the current permission policy on Google's end, it can still fool you:
The usual approach here is to first publish a "clean app" that requests only basic permissions – but takes care to cover all "permission groups" it later needs (see: Android Permission Groups). So it could e.g. ask for the INTERNET permission (which is even automatically granted, and requested by about 80% of all apps, thus being unsuspicious), which belongs to the NETWORK group. Lateron, the developer will publish an update, which then additionally asks for e.g. the permissions to CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE, CHANGE_WIFI_STATE, and DOWNLOAD_WITHOUT_NOTIFICATION – which also belong to the NETWORK group.1 As the installed app already has one permission of this group, the user will NOT be made aware of these new permissions (the install dialog of Google Play Store will show "This app requires no significant new permissions"), thus considering the app "safe". But with those new permissions, the app is now able to establish connections to networks of its choice at the time of its choice, and downloading "stuff" – without the user having to do anything.
Of course one could always check the full permission list before each update. But 1) the corresponding link is not really obvious (you had to scroll to the very end of the app's playstore page to see it), 2) that would mean you remember which permissions the installed version already has, and 3) this is a tedious job at least when it comes to 10 permissions and more (not a rare case: about 25%+ of all apps require 10 permissions or more). Apart from that, 4) if "auto-update" is turned on in the Google Play Store app (which is the default), those updates would be installed without the user having a chance to verify before.
So this is not even possible, but Google makes this scenario even very easy for the "bad guys" to use. It was not always this way: until mid-2013, on updates each added permission was brought to the attention of the user. This new system was rolled out to "improve the user experience" and "make the Playstore more user-friendly". Despite of critics with security concerns, it was kept that way.

1: This is just an example constellation. Consider other Permission groups and their permissions as well – e.g. BLUETOOTH and BLUETOOTH_ADMIN.

So in short one can "hide" permissions during installation and then pose them during runtime and if the user allows, then the App can be granted anything.  But back to my question, it is still not "possible" to have "illicit" permissions-> that is, those the user is unaware of, right?

@user907810 No, an app cannot hide permissions, the Google Playstore app does. If you'd activate unknown sources, download the .apk and trigger its installation via e.g. a file manager, the installer would show you each added permission. And thanks to Playstore hiding certain permissions: Yes, unless the user checks the complete permission list before install (or via Settings › Apps when already installed), there might be plenty permissions (s)he stays unaware of (I could name 20+ straight away).


text:
SD Storage - Apps move back to internal Storage after update
I have a query pertaining to the moving of Apps across the various storage drives in android. I recently purchased a VFD 700 , running on Android 6.0. This has 16 GB Internal storage, along with which I have added a 128 GB SD Card for additional storage.
I have formatted the SD card as Internal storage to facilitate movement of the applications from the main storage to the secondary storage which is my SD  card and this works fine sans issues.
However when the apps get updated, the apps move back to the internal storage , depleting  the storage and forcing me again have to move them to the SD card. This is how android works or is this a bug in the Android v6.0.
Please suggest any settings change or app which can manage this , i.e. retaining the Apps  in their installed location, without having to manually move them across every time an update is done.
Cheers,
Ashoka

Did you migrated data to adopted storage? If yes, than apps probably move to internal storage because of poor design.

hi @ЈеднорукиКрстивоје , I did. I used the Apps2SD app to move the app to the SD card. They work fine all data got migrated to the storage, but say  when the app publisher releases an update, I take the update of the app, then the app moves back to the main storage. It is strange and I've got to move them again.

Does that happens with all apps or just some of them?

Most of the apps , as far as I can remember

Oh.. Btw, did you used marshmallow's feature to format sd card as adoptable storage? If you did than you don't need aditional apps you could move apps from app manager?

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Can't use Jio and data on another sim together!
I have Moto Z play. It is a dual sim device.I have inserted Jio and Vodafone sim.
Once I am switching Vodafone for data. It is automatically switched Vodafone sim to 4G.
Is anyway to use data using another sim and JIO sim together?
Please advise.
Thanks

My OnePlus 3T lets me change the data SIM, but the problem is that not both SIM is a phone can be 4G / 3G, if one SIM is 4G / 3G, then the other has to be 2G.
JIO will not stay because Jio is a 4G only network, and it will lose network once other SIM is set as 4G / 3G. You can try using Vodafone's internet in 2G.


text:
Redmi 2 Prime stuck on boot screen
I installed SuperSu on my Redmi 2 Prime via Stock recovery mode.
After that ES file manager asked me for root permission, which I accepted. After reboot my phone got stuck on Xiaomi Mi logo boot screen.
I can no longer enter recovery mode. When I try to connect my phone to PC, fastboot command wont detect my phone even though I installed all necessary drivers.
What can I do to repair my phone? Please help me!

Are you able to access recovery menu or fastboot menu (that dog doctor menu). If not then there's another slight complex way to get your phone back to work

If you can't enter recovery mode or fastboot, I'm afraid you've just hard bricked the phone, and there is nothing you can do now.
Time to buy a new phone.

I guess you are from India and you do have your warranty left(I guess). You can give it to your nearest service center and pay some amount to fix it(If they find out that your device is rooted, but in my case they didn't find it so I got a free fix).
I hope this helps! Good Luck!


text:
Getting "not enough space" error even i have enough space in sd card
I have a android jellybean phone [model - ETEl-I4] .i cannot install any apps anymore.i have installed lot of apps before.i can see i have enough space in sd card and i have set default write device to SD card.but when i try to installs apps like skype,viber..etc.i'm getting this error.i read some answers but i think i don't have any cashes problem i have enough space in sd card.
please help me how to fix this issue.
error

I have set default write device to SD card.

As you can see i have 5GB space and apps i'm trying to install are less than 50mb.

You can't place/move apps to SD card from settings, you can do it with apps like link2sd or apps2sd, but your phone has to be rooted

Have you ever been able to download apps directly to your SD card? I believe the reason for this is that you can only install apps onto the internal memory; not any SD cards. I think you can only move apps after you've downloaded them. If someone can confirm that this is the case, see if you have any images or videos that you can move to the SD card to allow for more space inside the internal memory? Let me know how you get on :)
p.s. I also think the write disk system only works for pictures and the sort.

Yes, you might have abundant storage on your sd card but that does not mean you can install many apps. Some part of the app (i.e. may be data or other stuff) are only transfered to sd card. The core part is to remain in internal. Hence, this might be causing problems in your app installs.
Try clearing out some of your internal storage.
Hope this helped.Good Luck!

Many apps has their own cache. Try to clear cache data in the application manager for each application, which collects a huge cache data.
Note: applications are cached after installing, so required size may be greater minimum of 2 times.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Transfer paid apps from iPhone to Android Account
Let's say I have a paid app on my iPhone called "App" that costs $6.99, and I want to download that same app onto my new Android Account (because recently, you are able to download Android apps on Chromebook, right?).
Is there a way to do this easily? Maybe with a redemption code?

You could contact the developer, in the case of "expensive" apps, some will give you a redemption code to get it on the other platform at no charge... but this is very rare. Otherwise, you will just have to buy it again as the answer states below.

The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store are two different stores.
It is in their best interest to make it impossible/not allow anyone to transfer an app from one store to another.
It's like how you can't buy a phone from Samsung and then claim on the warranty with Apple.
It's often possible to transfer progress in games across platforms but you have to buy the app a second time, sadly.
You can transfer almost anything from iOS to Android but not apps.


text:
How do I get my dual clock back on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on Android 6?
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on Android 6.0.1 (Build Number MMB29K.G935FXXU1APGO). So I have a relative who's spending some time on the other side of the planet (Japan). To facilitate communication, I had set up a dual clock a while back to show both, local and Japanese time on the lock screen. Now - probably due to some update or other - it doesn't show up anymore, just local time.
I checked the settings and it's changed. "Dual clock" is still turned on but I cannot select what times to display, anymore. Instead, the option now reads "show both local and home time zones when roaming" (unless that's a different clock, in which case I'd like to know where the other went).
I tried setting my home time zone to Japan, but that didn't trigger dual clock -- my guess is because I'm not roaming. Disabling automatic date and time doesn't change anything either.
How do I turn dual clock back on?

I believe that the Dual Clock only works when you are roaming. I could be wrong of course, but last time I left the UK the Dual Clock only appeared when I was connected to an internet connection and was in the location; when I got back into the UK the Dual Clock completely disappeared, and it hasn't turned on since. Hope this helps :)
If you're happy to not have Dual Clock you could just check the Clock app; but I'm sure you're not happy otherwise you wouldn't have posted this.


text:
Why has my SD Card suddenly stopped working? It is not visible on phone and I cannot format it on PC
In the morning, I tried to start my Android 4.4.2 phone. There was no response from the phone for some time, which was unusual. Then it started suddenly, and I noticed that there was a notification- 'Preparing SD Card, Checking For error'. All my apps and data installed on the SD card were missing.
After some time, the notification vanished, with the problem persisting. I tried to shutdown my phone, but in the middle of the shutdown process, the phone hanged. I waited and after some minutes removed the battery and restarted. No progress. Now, whenever I shutdown the phone with the SD card on, it hangs in the middle of the process, and I have to remove the battery. Without the SD card, the phone runs fine.
I then tried backing up the data and formatting the SD card on PC. It would not get formatted, and show the message- 'Windows was unable to complete the format'. I tried formatting with quick format on and off. Also, if I manually delete the files from my SD card, they come back after a while. Though the backup version of the data that I have saved in my PC behaves normally and gets permanently deleted if I delete it.
I scanned my SD card with two antiviruses with no result. I also tried easeUS Partition Master to format the SD Card on PC, with no result. I also tried formatting via Disk management on PC.
I would like to know the cause of this random error. The card could not have been damaged because it was securely installed in my phone when this happened. Also, I downloaded some songs from a known website the last evening, and virus could have infected my phone then, although I have previously used the website with no problem.
Please explain any possible reason why this could have happened, and a solution if possible.
I also notice that when SD card is in the phone, the battery gets consumed very fast.
Also, i tried formatting it using command prompt, and got an error message-'invalid media or track 0 bad - disk unusable'.

It's just a call for a "new SD card". Remember to buy a original product if you don't want this to happen. (Talking From My Experiences)

It sounds like the SD card went bad, things like that happen.  I would recommend getting a replacement SD card.


text:
Can I Make One-side/Two-side Video Call To An Android Phone Using HotSpot Or Within A WiFi network (without internet charges)
File Transfer Apps like Shareit can transfer files with both methods:
1.With Mobile Hotspot (without internet)
2.Through WiFi Router when both phones connected with same (without internet)
Is there any Android App available to make video call to another android device  without internet charges (through phone hotspot or same WiFi router with no internet)?

Are you strictly looking for one that does video calls only or maybe just calling as an allternative?

After searching around on the internet I found two apps, one called WalkieTooth and another called Atasoy LANPhone.
WalkieTooth
WalkieTooth allows video and audio chat over WiFi, WiFi Hotspots, Bluetooth and WiFi Direct. To set it up:

Download from Google Play on both devices
Select the Camera icon on both devices
On the first device select 'Server', under 'WiFi'
On the second device select 'Client', under 'WiFi' and input the IP address displayed on the first.
You should now be in a video call, press the camera icon to turn on your camera

Walkietooth allows to establish a full duplex communication channel between two Android devices, letting them to communicate for all the time needed, better than having two walkie talkies.

Atasoy LANPhone

Download the APK from the 'official' site
Install the APK by opening it (You may need to enable 'Unknown Sources' in Settings > Security first)
Open the app and press the menu button on the navigation bar
Select 'Settings' to open the settings page
Find the option named 'Camera' and choose which camera you want to use
Repeat process on other device and press Menu > Refresh List to scan for devices

Screenshots:

For just WiFi chat, files and audio calls, then these apps support it:

Wi-Fi Talkie FREE
BlueFi Phone


text:
Low memory memory full notification keep popping up
How do I restore the memory in my Huawei cell phone I keep getting memory full notification

Uninstall sonme apps already!!

For a starter: Check with the first-aid and links provided from our insufficient-memory tag-wiki. If you cannot solve your issue that way, you will need to [edit] your post and give more details.

You can try following:

Uninstall Apps
Move apps to external storage or money card. You can do that by going to app settings. You may be able to move some apps by app settings option.
If you're still getting low memory issue, then you use This app. This is only app I found on play store which can move those apps to SD card which android app settings couldn't. But to use this, you need to be rooted.


text:
Can I trust MoboClean to deny specific permissions of other apps?
A couple of articles on the Internet about how to block specific application permissions refer to some app called MoboClean.
It doesn't seem very popular and well-known trusted-by-users app so I wanted to ask for some more expert opinion about how safe this app is (it's not open source AFAIK) and whether should I bother installing it at all.
Moreover, it's not provided in the android market; you have to download the apk yourself and install it manually, which leads me to additional suspicion.

For alternatives to that app, see http://android.stackexchange.com/q/3091/96277

If any task can be done by the user without any app, then I prefer doing it that way. Installing an app that is not quite popular (like the one you're saying) has the risk of bringing in adware in your device. If you don't have infinite number of apps, then I think you should manually deny permissions from the apps rather than depend on another app.


text:
Locate phone without GPS
I was thinking what would be the best way to locate a stolen motorcycle. The simplest solution I tough of was to hide a small smartphone inside the bike and use it to locate it. The problem is that thieves often transport stolen motorcycle insides shielded vans to avoid GPS tracking. But GPS signals are "easy to be shielded", GSM less easy. So my question is: can a phone (tuned on) be located by law enforcement only with IMEI and phone number after having pressed charges (European jurisdiction)? I'm talking about grid location, even in case internet connection isn't available (no google location services).

This is not accurate at all, although network based positioning in a very congested urban area can be accurate down to a sub-100m radius with a sufficient concentration of cell sites, in most cases of suburban areas it is more like 1-2km radius at best, in rural areas can be in excess of 10km, and in some areas where cell sites maybe 30km+ a part and none or minimally overlapping, you can only say it's within a 30km-60km circle.

Source plus personal experience working in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years

But that is just the technical aspect of it, the other aspect is the legality of it... You can't just call the local police and say "My phone/motocycle/car was stolen, but you can cell site position it from my phone that the GPS isn't usable" and they flip a switch and get the information, this requires a court order, and in non-life threatening cases this can take several days to weeks to obtain, and to be honest, some carriers don't track cell site positioning data that long, not to mention your stolen bike has probably been striped down or shipped a thousand miles away by then. Again, this comes from my experience in working in the telecommunications industry, both in the wireless industry and PSAP infrastructure.
So, is it possible, yes... is it viable, almost always no.
There are devices meant especially for this type of situation on the market, but to be honest unless your wheels are extremely rare the cost of them would likely make it a better decision to lower your deductible on your insurance and in the rare chance a thief does make off with your ride, let him have it, pay the deductible and get a new one and you will be money ahead.

Thanks for the answer. Yeah, I know it wouldn't be a precise way to locate a phone, (I know it's base on towers density). But better than nothing. I didn't know it required a court order. That was my fear.
What devices are you taking about? ..just curious

@user3206193 Just cellular location in general, and the legal aspects would vary by country, but in most "free" nations information like cell phone location isn't freely available to law enforcement, it's considered an infringement of privacy.


text:
Balancing earphone sound
I'm using Moto G3 unrooted nd using Sony earphones of MDR series. Suddenly the left side of my earphone started producing lesser sound than the right one.How to balance them???

Possible duplicate of Altering left-right sound balance on Android 6.0.1

Android itself has a.f.a.i.k. no balance setting (which is a shame!).
But you can try in Googles Appstore "Bass Booster and Equalizer" - which installs itself as MusicPlayer and allows - amongst many other audio settings - to adjust the balance.
The only disadvantage is that the settings are limited to the application itself (the music player), and not system-wide effective.


text:
understand root and su
As I understand to "Root" a device, means to gain privilege to do all sort of things with the device, without restrictions, which probably means "root privilege".
Isn't that what "su" utility provide , i.e. root privilege ? I mean is all we need is to run su in order to have root privilege or are there any additional things, that should be done ?

Yes, the su utility is all you need, but the problem is putting the su binary (basically the .exe of Linux and Linux based-OS's) onto the phone. In order to put su onto the phone, you need root in the first place. su is usually added to the phone by unlocking the bootloader, which allows it to run a recovery which can flash su onto the phone.

I've create a new system.img with su inside, and flashed it into device, but it shows me ("ls") the su as "Permssion denied", though I created it with 777 permission.

In Android, all applications have User ID numbers. These ID numbers let the OS identify the apps and what privileges they have and to what they can access to.
There is a special user, whose ID number is 0. That is the root user and it has all privileges and can access everything.
When you root your device, you add a binary that lets other apps run with the privileges of the root user. The moderation of this binary is usually done with a GUI application like SuperSU.
Alternative methods of rooting have been invented after Android 6.0 implemented new bug fixes that prevented the traditional method from being used.
Also, with the introduction of SEAndroid, root user too now can be enforced to act in a way that it doesn't have limitless power anymore.

I've create a new system.img with su inside, and flashed it into device, but it shows me ("ls") the su as "Permssion denied", though I created it with 777 permission.

@ransh That's one way of telling you that you need a management app (like SuperSU). Look into the SuperSU flashable package and you'll see it installs a lot of stuff along with the actual binary.

@ransh What su did you use? Most su binaries usually reply to the calls made by the apps in accordance with the lists generated by the GUI management apps like SuperSU.

That's partly correct but you also need some way to manage root applications and deal with  prompts. This is called a root manager. Some include SuperSU, Superuser, etc.

You don't strictly need a root manager, but it makes things more secure.


text:
Change DNS to openDNS but keep DHCP, NOT static
I want to change my DNS settings to open DNS but I want to keep the setting at DHCP not static since that won't work on this network. Is this possible?

Instead of setting DNS via the native WiFi setup, try some alternative DNS apps (which may or may not require root).

Some example helpers can be found in my DNS Configuration app listing. There might also be ways to achieve that at the command-line, e.g. via adb shell (just mentioning it so it might trigger an answer from someone who knows ;)

Speaking of apps try Override DNS (which which I personally use)


text:
Android v4 or v5 icons on android v6 smartphone
How do I install old default icons form any android v4.x or v5 on android v6?
I really hate the default Marshmallow icons. Thanks.

Well if you want them just on your home screen and app draw you can use a custom launcher such as nova launcher, go launcher, lightning launcher, etc. Then you could use a KitKat or lollipop icon pack and change your icons that way. Another way to do this system wide is with an Xposed module called Unicon which replaces icons system-wide but requires root, Xposed, and costs money.


text:
Settings has been deleted with root system app remover
I know its dumb I deleted my settings on accident with a root system app remover please help i cant factory reset my phone and i really want to reset it to give it to my brother for christmas

You need to flash the stock ROM of your phone. The process for doing that, and where you can find a stock ROM for your phone, are both different for each model of phone.


text:
Battery temp too low?
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and it doesn't want to charge. When I plug it it it says "Charging Paused: Battery temperature too low." Sometimes it will charge but most times it won't. It's really annoying and I can't afford to buy a new battery or phone. Any suggestions? Please, I'm desperate.

Have you tried basic troubleshooting (rebooting phone, clearing system cache, even full factory reset)?

Well, at least you know it isn't on fire. :-)  (Or the temperature sensor has already burned up...)

I have already done a factory reset, I left it off all night, I let it die completely and then tried to charge it but it won't charge more than 1%.

What's the warranty status? Is it already void? What do you see if you plug your phone, while it's shut down?

I've personally never seen anything like this before.
I decided to look it up to see whether it has been resolved before. According to forums the reason for this issue is that the battery has been tampered with. Now I'm sure you haven't touched your battery so I kept looking. The main other suggestion I could find was that the battery is simply damaged, and a lot of people within forums are suggesting that a new battery may be required. I see that you say you can't afford to buy a new battery, so may I request that you search online to see, and if there are any other methods available, to try them? If you do have a small source of income from anywhere batteries are not too expensive online, so maybe have a look if you can :)
I wish you luck,
Regards


text:
ANDROID System Recovery
I am in recovery mode option, to restore user data.  What file do I need to choose to recover  boot partition.I can apply from update, apply from cache, but still need to choose a file which one do I apply to get my phone to boot normally again so far I chose a frw , but when the I reboot the phone it stopped on starting android apps 32 of 135, then it turns off and repeats again . Never moving up than 32. please help to solve

Try wiping the dalvik cache,
The dalvik cache stores app's code that has been optimized to run on that particular set of hardware (CPU architecture).
If you wipe the dalvik cache, android will "optimize" all the apps, and maybe the 32-34th app will start.
Edit: In order to suggest a better solution if that fails, can you please answer the following questions.

Is the device rooted?
Do you have custom recovery installed? If so, which one?
Do you have a warranty that you don't want to lose from trying recovery options?

no it is not rooted ,and i am not trying to be rude but,  if i had a custom recovery file ,i doubt we would be having this  exchange.i have no file with that name all i have are basic android files like,DCMC, and , image,downloads, games,and the such if i click on recovery, the only file that comes up is .../ thats it, if i click on it all it does is say ... no file chosen please choose a file ans press vol.down to select. there is no other file.

@TATTIANNAAMARA that sounds like you have to do a factory-reset then.

been there and done that same thing happens,.


text:
Writing hebrew vowels with my phone keyboard
With my phone I can easily write English, French and Hebrew.  But I'm wondering if there is a possibility to add vowels to hebrew words, as it's possible with a keyboard with Windows.

I was able to successfully type Hebrew with vowels on a Samsung using the steps I found on another forum:

Since a few weeks ago it became possible to type vowels in the Gboard
  app—Google's own keyboard. I strongly recommend it. I switched from
  Samsung keyboard to it.
To type the vowels, type the consonant first, and then hold down the
  letter that begins the name of the vowel sign:
Patakh, Hataf Patakh: פ
Kamats, Hataf Kamats: ק
Segol, Hataf Segol: ס
Tsere: צ
Hirik: ח
Holam and Shuruq go with the letter Vav, so hold down Vav (ו) to type
  them.
Dagesh is the same character as Shuruq, and it's available also on
  Dalet (ד).
Kubuts is on ק, together with Kamats, even though it's a different
  sound.
For Shin and Sin dots, use the letter Shin (ש).
A similar system exists on Windows since Windows 8, and on recent
  desktop Linux systems (since 2013 or so). Use the Alt key and the
  above letters to type the vowels.
For Kubuts, use \ (the backslash; mnemonic: it's diagonal, like the
  dots in Kubuts).
For Shin and Sin dots, use the Q and W on a QWERTY keyboard (mnemonic:
  they are above ש on the physical keyboard). For Hataf characters, use
  the key to the right of the letter:
Hataf Patakh: ]
Hataf Kamats: ר
Hataf Segol: ב

Taken from: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/21743347/Lack-of-Hebrew-vowels-on-keyboard

Uptoday it's possible with Google keyboard

@kouty Google keyboard doesn't work for me. Holding down shows the vowel options, but it quickly switches to the wrong option.


text:
Difference between requiring an encrypted device password pre-boot or post-boot?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 with device encryption enabled. I unlock my device with a secure password upon booting it, and then use a fingerprint afterwards. When I first enabled encryption (Lollipop), my device would ask for a decryption password as soon as it began booting. Since upgrading to Marshmallow, the phone boots up completely, but will not accept a fingerprint to unlock the device until the password is entered once.
The secure startup settings allow me to choose to require a password before boot (like it was previously), or not to require the password until the device has booted (the default now). The description on the settings page states:

In addition to using your fingerprint to unlock your device, you can further protect the device by requiring a password be entered before the device starts up. This helps protect data on lost or stolen devices.

What is the difference, from a security standpoint, between the two options?
I at first assumed that data at rest would be encrypted the same for both options, but the description seems to indicate that a pre-boot password increases security. Since the setting is easily switched back and forth I assume no underlaying changes are occuring to the device encryption when the setting is changed, but something must be changing if security is improved.
The fact the phone can fully boot without my password seems to indicate the data on the phone is actually decrypted without my password, and the password is merely protecting my fingerprints and access to the phone. In this case, how is the device encryption functioning as anything other than a lock screen if the phone is lost while powered on?

If the phone boots up without asking for a password, it is most likely not protected by encryption in the way you would expect.
In theory, it might not be encrypted at all. But as you note, that's not plausible if you can change between the two options on the fly. More likely, it is encrypted with a default password, meaning that anyone accessing the phone's storage outside the normal UI login procedure (e.g. by flashing a custom encryption-aware recovery like TWRP or via ADB) can access your data. Your password is then only used to provide entry to the user interface – not protecting you from outside access to the phone's storage.
If you need to enter your password for bootup, it is that password that is (hopefully) used for encryption, meaning that outside attacks should only be possible by cracking your password (provided that Samsung's custom implementation is cryptographically sound). You can check that encryption is active by trying to mount your data partition in TWRP.
It is surprising that Samsung doesn't clarify the fundamental difference between the two options. But then, Google themselves are possibly even more careless in Android's default implementation as indicated in this blog post.
The author states that on enabling accessibility services, all you get is a cryptic message that "your device won't use your lock screen to enhance data encryption" before the encryption password is reset to the default password – effectively disabling encryption for all practical purposes and giving anyone with a bit of technical understanding full access to your data. The Android encryption documentation seems quite proud about the default password encryption being "resilient against off-box attacks", but attackers will likely not care as long as they can access your data "on-box", ie. with the storage installed in your phone.
Whether Samsung's implementation uses Android's default behaviour described above or a proprietary way of switching between encryption passwords, it is quite likely that only one of the two options provides any meaningful protection that goes beyond using a password on a non-encrypted phone.

Thank you for your reply, the blog post you linked was very helpful. It seems that by choosing to only require a password after the device is booted, the device encryption key is changed to a default password which is common knowledge, providing good security against off-box protection but terrible on-box protection. I was also not aware of the implications of enabling accessibility access to apps, as described in the blog post.


text:
How can I know the name of my SD card
I have read this thread :
How can I move apps to SD on non-adopted Marshmallow storage?
Now, I have a question about this. How can I know the name of my SD card, I want to follow one of the answer.
And, he says that is SD card is disk:179_64, but how can I know which name has mine ?
And By the way, I named it as SD CARD. Is that what its name is ?

On the answer, it says to run
adb shell sm list-disks adoptable

To get the name of your SD card.
This requires you to setup adb (a google search will provide instructions) and you would run that command from a computer.
A possibly easier way is to download a terminal app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jackpal.androidterm and run the commands, omitting the adb shell

@DarkDarkai dark or you can do this even from terminal emulator. Just type 'sm list-disks' and hit enter

Oh on adb it didn't showed any disks but the teminal emulator did so now i can try the rest i'll recoment if i'll keep commenting here if i have another problem

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Fetch date and time of last activity by any Android app
I am trying to find the last used time of an Android application.
UsageStats is the way, but prior to Android Lollipop, this information is not accessible programmatically. Please suggest to me some way if it is possible to access UsageStats for the version below Lollipop.
What I tried to get the last used is the access date and time of the folder generated by apps in /sdcard/Android/data/pkg_name, but the problem is not all the apps make this kind of data folder.
Is there any other possibility to access the date and time of the applications?

Note that app development is off-topic since Android Enthusiasts focuses on end-users or power users (but not necessarily developers) solving their issues. While the community may provide answers using tools generally used by power users like adb or shell, code that calling Android API is generally off-topic if end-users can't call it directly from the phone/PC.

One can access the last modified date of /data/data/{package_name} programmatically. The directory structure inside {package_name} is not visible in a non-rooted device, but the last modified date of the {package_name} folder can give an approximation when the user last access an app.


text:
why Android Mobile phone drive folder is not visible in my computer?
when i connect my infocus mobile with my desktop through data cable. only Driver Setup file opened. Internal memory drive not visible in the desktop. but till yesterday its working properly. today i have deleted 2 files, after that it's not working and I don't remember what file i have deleted. I tried to repair Phone Driver software but it ask's me to insert disk.  i don't know what disk it asked to insert. kindly give me the solution as soon as possible because i kept all of my official files in my phone.

Maybe you are looking for that USB driver:
http://freeandroidroot.com/download-infocus-usb-drivers/
http://flashtool.org/2/download-infocus-usb-driver.html

There are too many possibilities and I faced few of them so I'm suggesting here not answering directly. From your description the files you deleted probably the problem but I don't know where did you delete them from !. So, tracing the issue this problem could be simply an issue at the driver and one of the fixes regarding that is to plugin your phone, check the drivers manager (assuming you are on Windows) for the ADB driver or interface (You can use USBDeview instead of the devices manager if it doesn't show there). Uninstall it then plug off your phone and restart your PC and connect now.
Another solution is simply doing same steps but after the restarting step, install your phone usb driver. Search for this one since I have no info about infocus usb drivers. Then plugin your phone.
Another one is to use debug mode. sometimes this method does work. To activate debug mode, go to Settings > Developer options > and check USB debugging.  Plug in your device. Go to Settings > Developer options. When a warning about this mode for developers..etc, Click OK.
Las suggestion I can remember is to change the cable and/or try plugging on another computer just to make sure it is NOT the cable.


text:
unlock the tablet
tablet has been locked by attempting many times pattern password. and now tablet has been asking for username and password but we don't know the username and password.the code of the tablet is AGP007
                                                 A0313

version of android & model of tablet??

If your tablet has root access and ADB debugging enabled then you can consider trying this video for by passing android lock screen.
And this one too. Without root.


text:
Why isn't my Android not charging at night?
I have a Motorola Turbo 2. It's not charging properly at night. Yesterday I woke up and the battery was at 1% even though I had it looked up to the charging cable. Last night my phone was fully charged, yet this morning it was down to 45%. I kept it looked to the charging cable.
How do I find out if my Android's battery is defective or the problem is with the cable?
Is over charging a phone's battery damaging to the phone?
Thanks for your help.

Have you tried a different cable and/or charger? If it still occurs then it suggests an issue with the battery. If it doesn't it is an issue with the cable and/or charger.

Take the battery out and leave it out for 30 seconds. Then put it back in.

Why isn't my android not Charging at night? That's a double negative. I think you meant why isn't my android Charging

I might be overcharging it. Of course, it might be my charger itself. I know I have overcharged it. As for taking my battery out of the phone, I don't believe I can.


text:
Difference between Android ID and device ID
What is the difference between android ID and device ID?
Here's how I obtain them:
Android ID:
String androidID = Settings.Secure.getString(MainActivity.this.getContentResolver(),
            Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Device ID:
String deviceID = ((TelephonyManager)getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE))
                    .getDeviceId()

I need to uniquely identify my android device. Using deviceID needs the permission to "make and manage phone calls". While using androidID doesn't. Therefore, I'm going with androidID as I don't need any call-management privileges.

What is the exact difference between the two? If there's none, why are there two IDs?
Will both the ids reset if I factory reset my device?
I know deviceID works for all versions of android. Will androidID work for all versions?

While your question targets a development issue (which is off-topic here), the answer is relevant for users as well, so I'm going to answer it:

DeviceID: This is the serial of the device, which should persist even a factory reset.
AndroidID: This will be set at the first boot (either with a brand new device, or after a factory reset). As implicated, it does not survive a factory-reset
There's a second "Android_ID" which is generated and used by the Google Services Framework (GSF), and thus often referenced as "GSF ID". Behaves basically like the AndroidID mentioned before (e.g. doesn't survive a factory-reset), and co-exists with it.
Furthermore, there's the GAID (Google Advertising ID), which can be reset by the user via the Google Settings app.

During "normal operation" (i.e. as long as you not factory-reset your device or reset the GAID), all these IDs can be used to identify the device. When using multiple users (via user profiles) on a device, all except the DeviceID would even identify the user (profile).
To my knowledge, all those IDs are available across all Android versions (at least across those which are currently relevant, i.e. GB/2.3 and up). The last two obviously only if GApps are installed – so on devices running a Custom ROM without GApps, they might not exist.


text:
Wifi On/Off toggles 5 times per second!

Phone: OnePlus 2
OS: Marshmallow 6.0 latest updates

When I go to the Android system wifi settings and click the slider to turn wifi off, the slider starts toggling back and forth very rapidly (4-5 times a second) and it seems to be almost impossible to stop it from doing so.  If I get lucky and hit the slider at just the right time it turns on the wifi again and seems to settle down.  This problem is easy to reproduce, and a reboot doesn't solve it.
Going into airplane mode turns off the wifi but coming out of airplane mode causes the toggling to resume.  This is a recent issue but I have not installed any apps lately nor changed any of the phone's settings so I wonder if it's a system update that has broken something.
When I am at home and connected to my home wifi this issue doesn't occur (as far as I've noticed).  When I am at work I usualy turn off wifi to save battery power and use LTE for data when I need it.  There are wifi networks available at work but I do not connect to them (I always remove the passwords to prevent accidental connections).
I can't find anyone else online who has had this exact issue.
What should I do to solve this?  Could this be an app-related issue?

fixed it this way: Settings, location, improve accuracy and turn off wi-fi. So far problem seems to be fixed.

I currently am using the same device OnePlus 2, on Android 6.0.
Here are some other threads that describe these symptoms that also have occured within the past week:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/android-wear/nunjJT1dGBU/2-XZea_5BgAJ
http://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-edge/help/wifi-off-constantly-t3499683

This had started happening on the week at the earliest on the week of November 14th. I am experiencing the exact same symptoms you are describing. I hadn't changed any system settings that I believe would have caused this. My hunch is that it is related to Google Play Services affecting version 10.84 (448-137749526). It is the only app that has all of these system wide permissions that updates in the background. I have turned off Can modify system settings and will see if this resolves the issue.


text:
Can not install/download APPS via Play Store to my Tablet ....how can i fix this?
Over the past 2 days, whenever I try to download/install an APP via the Play Store/Market app on my TABLET, the app thinks for a while and then displays this error message:
Authentication is required. You need to sign into your Google Account.
But I am indeed signed into my Google account, and as seen if I open the menu in the Market app and click the "Accounts" button.
Does anyone know how I can solve this issue?
thank you in advance!

I had to re-authenticate on my tablet, too. I assume Google is trying to detect fake accounts used to push fake-apps into the top apps list.
May be in your case there is a conflict between the cached data and the actual store data.
You can try to clear the app cache of "Google Play-Store services" app and the Google Play-Store app.
Additionally you should check your Google account in "Settings" -> "Accounts". Manually perform a synchronization.


text:
Fake missing network connection for single app
I have an app that I don't want to have network access. It does work when I put the phone in plane mode, but simply blocking it with AFWall causes it to hang, probably waiting for network replies. It seems to check, if the device has an internet connection and switch to an offline mode based on that.
Is there a way to not only block the network access, but also fake the device's connection status for specific apps? Solutions needing root or Xposed are fine with me.

Not sure, but Xprivacy might be able to deal with it. AFAIK it fakes "network not available" instead of denying access to network, or at least can do that.

@Izzy I just tested XPrivacy and it works as expected. I additionally blocked network access with AFWall to make sure it does not try to connect even with faked status and the app used its offline mode. If you post it as an answer I'll accept it.

Thanks for the feedback! Made it an answer then with additional details. You might wish to mark that answer "accepted" to show it worked for you. Enjoy!

You can use Xprivacy for that. In case you don't know, this is an XPosed module (available from the XPosed repo) dealing with privacy related permissions; details can be found in its XDA Thread). Instead of simply blocking access to the internet, Xprivacy fakes its inavailablity. To be on the safe side, you additionally can block internet access for that app using a firewall like AFWall+ – cannot hurt.
Side-effect: You can block/fake a lot more – e.g. your location, device IDs and other things. This can be done by defining a fixed value, or even in "random mode" – having Xprivacy either randomize data on boot, or even on each access.


text:
"Unnamed Device" listed on Play Store
I was looking to install an Android app on the Chromebook and this device pops up:

And no, it's not on my signed-in devices.
How can I remove it?

Open the Google Play Store in your web browser and click the small gear icon in the top-right of the screen and click the sub-menu called Settings.
You will now see the My devices page where your device activity in Google Play is recorded. You'll see all the devices you have ever logged into Google Play with, and a few details to the right of each device.

it only shows shop for devices

@Sailormanenzo edited

@Sailormanenzo out of pure curiosity, when did this first show up?

About October, I first thought it was an error.


text:
Cannot click "Ok Google" detection and "Screen search" on Nexus 5

Click image for larger version
This are the screen shots from my Nexus 5. Recently I flashed Android N and installed Gapps but I am not able to turn them on.

Is your default language in your phone settings (not Google search settings) set to English (US)? If it is at English (UK), or any other language it might not work.


text:
Removing Knox and SElinux
I am having problems setting the kernel to permissive (SElinux). I have already tried the setenforce 0 command with terminal but it immediately goes back to enforcing as soon as I set the setenforce 0 command. So I finally got fed up and decided to monitor what was actually going on in my phone by using a logcat. After looking at the logcat, I found a line of code that could be setting the kernel to enforcing by default.
Here is the code:
/audit   ( 6001): type=1404 msg=audit(1479393162.929:264): config_always_enforce - true; enforcing=1 old_enforcing=1 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295

The config_always_enforce is set to true so that means I should probably set this to false.
Unfortunately I don't know where this value is in my system. Does anyone have any idea? I have a Galaxy S6.
Also, I removed all the Knox apps, but everytime I reboot, I get Knox folders reappearing and a file called knox emulated in the /storage folder. Have I not removed all the Knox apps?
I will post my logcat that way ya'll can take a look at it.
I hope you all can help me because I really want a custom ROM so I can use Xposed.

Alternate Solution: Try a custom kernel, if that helps..

They don't have custom kernel available for my phone as of now. My phone is a Straighttalk.

Here's someone who says custom kernel from a different variant will work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/straight-talk-s6-sm-s906l-phone-costom-t3317269/post68785114

What about the knox?

@RyanNoles Wait a minute. What's stopping you from flashing a custom recovery and then a custom ROM?

I got a recovery, but cant get custom roms to load.

If you want permanently change your SElinux status, you can handle the situation by changing two functions of selinux.cpp placed at system/core/init in AOSP 13 source code. You need to only return SELINUX_PERMISSIVE and false for functions StatusFromProperty() and IsEnforcing(), respectively.
For more information, I recommend to check this solution in details.


text:
Place icons anywhere on Droid Maxx
I have a Droid Maxx. Unlike any other Android device I've had, I cannot place app icons anywhere on the screen. They fill in towards the bottom of the screen, just like iOS.
Is there an option to turn this off?
Failing that, is there an invisible icon app to use to fill in?

Long press the icon of the app and move it?

It slides back down when I do that.

Do you use any kind of launcher?

I do not use a launcher

Could you make a screenshot of display settings?

added screenshot

Long hold on the app icon, and drag it to the remove button the appears on top of the screen. This will put it in the app drawer, but it will stay on the phone.


text:
Any way to have hardware accelerated virtualization without changing HW?
when I installed Android Studio on my Windows box, at the end of installation it told me
"Android SDK is up to date"
but it complained that
"your computer does not support hardware accelerated virtualization".
Then it listed some alternative options.  Looks like this is because my native HW has non-Intel (AMD) CPUs.
So my question to Android developers is,
does anyone know of a way to have hardware accelerated virtualization without changing my PC hardware?

Thanks @GiantTree. Could you submit that as an answer rather than a comment? Useful info I think, that other users would be interested in seeing in an answer where it would more easily be seen.

Basically you can't.
Your best bet would be a Virtual Machine in VirtualBox but this is more like hoping for it to work and not break after installing.
The reason is Intel HAXM that is building on Intel's virtualization technology, VirtualBox also supports AMD's virtualization technology and should be better than using no hardware acceleration at all.


text:
How to find out External SD card mount block?
Im going to reformat my sdcard to have an ext4 partition for installing linux on my phone.
I'm using Aparted app to do this:

5GB Fat32 for android to work with.
10GB ext4 for Linux.
1GB swap for increasing memory.
It has an internal storage protection so it won't wipe the internal memory.
By default it wont format because it says it's currently on internal storage.

So i searched a bit and found that external storage is "mmcblk1p1" mostly.
I checked out the settings and it was set to this:

So i added a "p1" at the end of it but I see this result...i think there is no such a thing?

I also tried the "detected devices" option and taped on "usbdisk" but still no good results:

I tried the "mount" option but I'm not that professional to findout something from these:
su (i set this starter "su" on terminal so it's always on root)
u0_a247@D5803:/ $ su
root@D5803:/ # mount
rootfs / rootfs ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,size=892968k,nr_inodes=163604,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
none /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,size=892968k,nr_inodes=163604,mode=750,gid=1000 0 0
none /sys/fs/cgroup/memory cgroup rw,relatime,memory 0 0
tmpfs /mnt tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,size=892968k,nr_inodes=163604,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
none /dev/memcg cgroup rw,relatime,memory 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,relatime,cpu 0 0
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,size=892968k,nr_inodes=163604,mode=755 0 0
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,discard,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,discard,noauto_da_alloc,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache /cache ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,discard,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/apps_log /idd ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,discard,nobarrier,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/LTALabel /lta-label ext4 ro,context=u:object_r:lta_label:s0,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,data=ordered 0 0
tmpfs /storage tmpfs rw,seclabel,relatime,size=892968k,nr_inodes=163604,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
/dev/block/loop0 /system/etc/product/orig.applications squashfs ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
securityfs /sys/kernel/security securityfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/default/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /storage/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/read/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/write/emulated fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/block/vold/public:179,65 /mnt/media_rw/039B-1DF0 vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1023,gid=1023,fmask=0007,dmask=0007,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/vold/public:179,65 /mnt/secure/asec vfat rw,dirsync,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,uid=1023,gid=1023,fmask=0007,dmask=0007,allow_utime=0020,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/default/039B-1DF0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /storage/039B-1DF0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/read/039B-1DF0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
/dev/fuse /mnt/runtime/write/039B-1DF0 fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,user_id=1023,group_id=1023,default_permissions,allow_other,allow_utime_grp 0 0
root@D5803:/ #
Wich block is my external sdcard???
I gotta tell my internal is 16GB and my external is 16GB too...Yeah I think that may make some confusions...
I will try to borrow a 8GB from a friend and see if the Aparted changed to 8GB or not...if yes...i think it just misunderstands the storages, I will try it ASAP and tell the result.

I'm posting this from phone so there is no highlight or code option to make things prettier and organized, so I'm happy if you do it.
    Thanks in Advance.

INFO:
D5803
Xperia Z3 Compact
Stock kernel
SliMM Rom
Android 6.0.1
Locked bootloader
I found out my SD card won't show up on this app too:

But ES file manager finds it and I have access to it fully...anything works:

Maybe it's because that I mounted it as "portable storage"?


text:
"Obtaining IP address" when connecting to WiFi
My phone is suddenly stuck at "Obtaining IP address" when trying to connect to a WiFi. I've tried rebooting, deleting and re-adding the WiFi networks, restarting the router (all other devices connected to the router work fine), to no avail.
I'm running Android 7.0. I'd like to avoid a factory reset, so if anyone has an idea what else I could try, I'd appreciate it.

Hard to say, but some details from the logs might help. Please check with our logging tag-wiki for ways to get logging information. If you succeeded, please [edit] your post with your findings. Thanks in advance, and good luck!

Beginning with with Marshmallow (possibly Lollipop, I was on it for such a short time I can't remember), there is an option in Settings,  Backup & Reset called "Network Settings Reset" described here. This will reset all network settings only in the device, leaving other data intact. Note that all your WiFi passwords and any security certificates will be removed as well, but this will often correct the error you describe.

I had this problem across Android Gingerbread, KitKat and Marshmallow and solved it by changing my router's operation mode from 'Auto' to 'n only'.
All of my devices support on 802.11n. Don't know exactly why the android was not connecting when the setting was Auto (Read on the internet that there can be interference issues due to other RF signals). But changing over to specific mode helped.
My router model is ASUS which supports 802.11b/g/n. Slightly old. New devices with 802.11ac support might work flawlessly but they cost a premium at this moment.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
How do I stop my text messages from coming through my emails?  Text messages are coming through my work email computer.  I am trying to unsuccessfully find the turn off for the sms.  However, I cannot find it or directions.  I have found directions for the S4, but those are incorrect.

Open the Native Email application
Select 'More'
Select Settings
Select your work/email account
Scroll down to 'Exchange ActiveSync Settings'
Turn 'Sync Messages' to OFF


text:
How can I list all files in a directory with timestamps (in a touch compatible format) on Android
For starters, I am on a Nexus 5, on Android 6.0.1 and I am rooted.
Normally, I'd just do this
find /path -maxdepth 1 -type f -printf '%TY%Tm%Td%TH%TM%Ts %p\n'
However, it appears that busybox, though it gives a lot of functionality, does not include the printf feature of find.
Is there any way I can do this, or possibly even get a fully functional version of Find?

I found a version of findutils compiled for Android here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1268589
I did the following.

I copied the find binary to my phone
I moved it to /data/local/tmp/find
chmod +x /data/local/tmp/find
Ran the find command I wished to run

(I am rooted, but I did not use the su command here, so I'm not certain if this requires root or not.  I have an unrooted phone I can test this on later to see if it's still possible in those circumstances.)
I made a shell script to assist with my ultimate goal.
cp /sdcard/find.bin /data/local/tmp/find.bin > /dev/null 2>&1
chmod +x /data/local/tmp/find.bin > /dev/null 2>&1
/data/local/tmp/find.bin "$1" -type f -printf 'touch -t %TY%Tm%Td%TH%TM '"'"'%p'"'"'\n'
rm /data/local/tmp/find.bin > /dev/null 2>&1

EDIT: This appears to work on an unrooted phone as well!!!!
EDIT2: While this step works, you need to be rooted to change the modification time with touch, so this isn't useful for what would come next.


text:
Buy an app on mobile, but confirm (password) on desktop via email?
When I buy an app on my Android mobile, I am asked for the password of my Google account. I could tell it to remember my password forever, but actually I like that I have to confirm this action.
My password is quite a lengthy random string which I manage with a password manager on my (Linux) desktop. It is quite inconvenient to type it on my mobile.
I was wondering if there is a way to let Google send me an email when purchasing an app, which sends me to a confirmation page, which I can fill out on my desktop.

Not that I know of, why not:

Install your password manager app on your phone (I use LastPass) and have it auto-fill your password (or copy/paste)
If you are going to be purchasing the app from your phone and were going to your desktop anyways, instead just go to Google Play via your desktop and purchase it from there, and have it then download to your device

I trust my desktop more than I trust my phone. This is why I don't manage my passwords on my phone. But purchasing it via desktop seems fine!

I do it either way, I understand your dilemma, I will go via computer first if I have it up already.


text:
How do I run a Tasker task from inside Llama?
I want to run a tasker task from inside of Llama.  If possible, with a parameter.  Setting up intents is extremely painful, and not user friendly.  I'm fine with intents if there is a simple, consistent way to do it.

A user-friendly way (as of Nov 2016) is to:

Create a llama event
"Add Action"
** "Run App Shortcut"
** "Task Shortcut"
** (shows list of Tasker tasks -- pick one)
Test it

You could create several tasker tasks, if your number of parameters is limited to a specific subset (e.g. location profile names).
Not sure how to add parameters, or how android intents work.


text:
Will other members get notified when an admin makes someone a group admin in WhatsApp?
In WhatsApp groups, I don't want other members to get notified that it is I who made them group admin.
Will other members get notified that 'certain person has made you admin' when an admin makes someone group admin in WhatsApp?

On WhatsApp, anytime someone joins/leaves or there is a change of privileges, in the chat there is a green notification in the middle saying that X person made Y person an admin.
There is a notification for it, although if you don't want your friend to see it you might be able to get away with it by spamming a bunch of stuff afterwards, although I wouldn't necessarily call that foolproof.


text:
How can I tell if an Android app supports Wear, before installing it?
Is there a way to tell if an Android app has Wear support, before installing the app on a phone paired with a Wear device?
Shazam for example supports Wear, but there's no metadata (apparently) in its Play listing indicating Wear support. Yes, the description says "Wear", but that is up to the developer, and may be missing - Foursquare doesn't have "Wear" in its description, but they did publish a Wear app.

Not sure on the web side when viewing from a computer, viewing the app in the Play Store on your mobile device it'll show a watch icon in the Description area right above "Read More".  If you hit "Read More" and scroll all the way down, if it is "Enhanced for Android Wear", you'll see the same watch icon and information about Android Wear.


text:
What is the sidebar in Android emulator called and how to get it?
What is the sidebar called that is marked with Black color in the Android emulator ?
How to get it in a new emulator ?

Your question better suits to StackOverflow.  Move there and don't forget to explain what is "New emulator"

Try to press F1 ,when emulator is open
it will show you all the shortcut key's for your emulator with that sidebar on right.
Hope it helps ..!


text:
Extract files from Android system image?
Is it possible to extract files directly from an Android system.img file or do I need to load the system.img to a device first and then adb pull the file from the device?

Dunno. Still, +0 for now. Why would you want to extract files from an Android system image? Which files do you want? Please [edit] your question and enlighten us.

Just want to extract an executable from one system image to include in another. Ended up just flashing the system image then using adb pull. Thought there might be an easier way.

There are tools to extract that; however, not all files named system.img have the same format, so there's no guarantee that it could be done. Nevertheless, check out the tool I've been personally using: LINK. This is meant to extract system.new.dat files introduced in Android 5.x, but also includes system.img capability.

In your experience, unpacking/repacking a non-custom ROM for purposes of removing bloatware, is it easier to do at that stage, instead of after it's installed? I mean just deleting those system apps, putting the whole thing back and flashing that. This is for those pesky ones that cause bootloops if you remove them afterwards

@Emil I always have them removed before they have a chance to create a mess in /data. It doesn't have to be done using the "unpack and repack" way though - for example, I have a simple flashable zip that contains a script that adds what I want and removes what I don't. After flashing a ROM and before booting, I'd just flash this additional package. This is of course based on that you already know what you want to remove, though.

Wow, that is so much better than unpack/repack way! Could you please share the script and a way of making this zip. Or create question/answer if it's better. I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate this and find it very useful. Thanks!

@Emil Actually I got my zip from XDA and modified it quite a bit, though it's been 2 years I can't really find the original anymore... The Edify script language is fairly straightforward, you should be able to sort it out quickly. In the meantime, let me see how I should share this with you... I'll probably strip it down and have it uploaded to my AFH later.

That would be awesome! I mean as long as it has one or two working examples. And how to make the zip so that TWRP would install it, that would be sufficient. I've been trying to remove some packages, and though I can do it while the system is running, after I reboot it never boots. But right after I remove those things the phone becomes sooo fast. I fail to see how something like Updater being removed can prevent the system from booting, unless there's a specific intention to do so from the manufacturer...

@Emil Grab the sample here. It contains examples of removing files, extracting files from within the zip to a destination, and executing a custom script. The magic is largely in META-INF\com\google\android\updater-script - give it a read and you should get the basics. Again, this is all based on that you already know what you want to remove and where they are located.

Thanks tested it out and it works as expected, very useful tool. Although if I run it after installing OS, it switches off the screen and the only way to turn it back on, is reboot. So I have to be careful when rebooting to boot into TWRP again and do install again.

@Emil Hmm? This script is meant for custom recoveries only. Don't run from within the OS.

I ran it from TWRP via its Install function. So Install OS, then run the script, and it blacks out the screen. Seems it's not a shutdown though, because holding buttons to go into recovery takes quicker from power-down state. But if I reboot and (before going into OS) go back to TWRP, then using Install again on the script, everything goes smoothly. Maybe it's just my device's peculiarity.


text:
What is the cause of a "No network connection" banner?
This banner randomly appears, persists across mobile and WiFi networks, and then randomly disappears, and I don't know where to begin to search for the issue.

I'm seeing the same banner on my OnePlus 5. But it's on the bottom for me.

What browser?..

In my case the bar is gray and at the bottom. The bar is drawn over all other apps and is always visible.
To check which apps have this capability:

Open the Settings.
Navigate to Apps (under the Personal section).
Open the configuration by tapping on the cogwheel icon in the top right.
Open Special access (under the Advanced section).
Open Draw over other apps.

This already made it much more apparent which apps are candidates for this issue. The next time the issue appeared, I closed apps one by one until the bar disappeared.
In my case, the app causing the bar was Office 365 Admin.

I do have that app installed on my device, I'll check that next time it comes up, thanks for the tip!


text:
Cellular radio dead? No carrier signal, "No service", no mobile networks
I own a Motorola Moto G 4G (XT1040). Original stock ROM, Android 5.1,  unlocked bootloader, custom TeamWin recovery, rooted. I only install apps from Google Play, F-Droid or trusted sources.
Last week, a strange issue appeared out of the blue -- I haven't flashed any new roms, recoveries, nothing out of the ordinary, just my normal daily usage like the last entire year. Until then, I had been using the same retail stock ROM it came from factory, without ever flashing any other ROMs.
(I have had this very same issue before once, with exactly the same symptoms, but I can't remember what I did in order to fix it - however the fact I was able to fix it could mean it's not a hardware issue. Maybe. Who knows).
The mobile signal icon started displaying zero bars, and a "no service" message:

I can't make or receive any calls, or use mobile data, despite a "G" icon that, I think, indicates some sort of data connectivity.
I've already tried:

Enabling and disabling the airplane mode,
Rebooting the device,
Changing the "preferred network mode" to either 2G, 3G or 4G,
A factory reset,
Installing CyanogenMod 13.0 latest snapshot,
Restoring a known good TeamWin full backup (which includes the modem partition)

I've performed adb logcat -b radio -v time -d and it includes the following line:
12-13 03:42:01.520 D/RilRequest( 1653): [3660]< RADIO_POWER error: com.android.internal.telephony.CommandException: GENERIC_FAILURE ret=

I'd include the entire log here but it's a 300 KB file and I'm not sure how do I anonymize it properly.
So far I'm considering:

A hardware issue;
A bad SIM card - My SIM card works on another phone;
A blacklisted IMEI (very unlikely) - according to random sites, there's no block.

Related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/132863/my-phone-is-not-connecting-to-the-cell-network-no-service

My guess would be hardware issue. I'm having a similar problem with my D855.

Also related: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/130744/droid-turbo-radio-off-when-no-signal-happen-then-cant-turn-radio-back-on?rq=1

Try other sim card and see what happens. Also try to flash some other rom, maybe baseband doesn't fit..? Wait the signal dissapeared for no reason, did you done update or such?

@ЈеднорукиКрстивоје Yes, the signal disappeared for no reason at all; at least that I know if. I had been using the same retail stock ROM it came from factory. How could the baseband suddenly "not fit"? I have no other SIM cards available, will buy one and test.

Well I assumed that baseband doesn't fit because you wrote that you have twrp so I tought that you maybe use custom rom. Well if other sim doesn't work either, you can try custom rom. Or less likely maybe sim is dirty or doesn't fit well so try cleaning it with earser or any rubber.

Oddly, one fix for this on Moto devices is to reflash the radio stack, and if that fails flashing of the full factory image via fastboot often corrects this problem. If you have the latest stock firmware image that matches your devices current ROM, extract NON-HLOS.bin and fsg.mbn and copy them to your fastboot directory, and enter in order
fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin fastboot erase modemst1 fastboot erase modemst2 fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
and reboot and test again.

authors: Једноруки Крстивоје


text:
Eight seconds after powering on, my phone goes dark and becomes unresponsive. What can I do?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S Relay. (This is kind of like a Samsung Galaxy S III plus a slide-out physical keyboard.) It's running stock Android 4.1.2, rooted using TWRP and SuperSU.
I was using Spotify yesterday when things started to go wrong. Soon, I saw only blackness and the phone's buttons stopped working — even the power button was useless. Also, when I connected my phone to my computer using a USB cable, the computer's lsusb command reported that there were no USB devices plugged in, and the dmesg command indicated that there had been nary a peep from the phone. Maybe the phone was off.
I had no choice but to remove and reinsert the phone's battery.
When I reinsert the battery, the phone seems to start working again, but only for eight seconds. I can take advantage of these eight seconds in different ways:

I can attempt a normal boot. I see the "Samsung" logo screen, then the Galaxy S Relay logo screen, then everything goes dark.
If I press certain buttons, I can enter Download Mode very briefly before the screen goes dark.
If I press other buttons, I can ask the phone to enter recovery mode. I see "Samsung" and "Recovery booting...." before everything goes dark.
If I connect the charging cable and the battery at the same time, I see the usual graphic telling me to wait for the charging status display software to load and start itself. But the screen goes dark, and the charging status display never appears.

Once the screen goes dark, it stays dark. Even if I hold the power button down for 30 seconds, then let go for a bit, then hold it down for another 30 seconds, nothing happens. If I want to make the phone work for another eight seconds, I must first remove and reinsert the battery.
I don't think the battery is empty. My multimeter says that the battery is at about 3.9 volts. For a lithium-ion battery, 3.9 volts means "90% full".
What troubleshooting steps can I try next?
[Edit: This post is basically a verbatim copy of a Reddit post of mine.]

I have owned several Samsung galaxy devices (including an S3 which is somewhat similar to your phone). Often I find that the battery becomes faulty after 2 years of usage. The symptoms you mention also sounds like battery related problems. The key giveaway is that you unable to sustain download mode before your screen goes dark.
Troubleshooting

Try replacing the battery. This will eliminate the possibility of a
faulty battery. After replacing the battery, see whether your phone
will stay on for more than a few seconds.
If you unable to acquire a second battery,  try booting your phone whilst in the charger. It should be noted that using the phone
whilst charging isn't usually a good idea, however for
troubleshooting it should be fine.
Check your charger, wires should not be frayed or worn. Worn
chargers can affect your phone's battery.


text:
Phone numbers won't save
My Samsung-g890a phone worked great until about a month ago, now when I put a phone number into my contacts, it stays for a short period of time but the disappears. What is causing this and how do I fix it?

Problem seems to be that your settings has changed, you probably store the numbers under one default account (gmail, hotmail , yahoo) and you display another.
Try to save a number and check under wich account are you saving, then check with account are you displaying.


text:
Why does :) sometimes display a blushing emoji on Android? Can you stop this?
There are a few apps (including at least the stock Android 'Messaging' app, and Bumble) in which when I myself (or other people) type :), I see a blushing face emoji instead. Why does this sort of thing happen, and can you stop it?

Why does it happen?
Because the app renders such text as an emoji. Users of old MSN (or new Facebook) are more or less used to it. The app reads the text, sees a specific string of characters like :) and replaces it with the emoji it is linked to.
Can you stop it?
Depends on the app. Far as I know, stock messaging apps usually offer the option to turn it off. But third party apps might or might not.

Thanks, but the question was why some apps render the emoji text incorrectly - as a blushing face rather than a plain smile.


text:
My moto 4G play treats incoming messages as if they are group messages
For some reason the messenger app that came installed with my Moto 4G Play is treating some messages as if they are group messages.  Even though these messages were sent from a friend to only me when I receive them on my phone they show as a group message, with myself, the friend, and 1 other phone numbers not contained in my address book all showing.  If I try to reply back it sends the message to all those in the group message, including resending the message to me.
I have noticed this effect occurs when different people message me.  When someone messages me it may come in as a standard message or the odd group message, with no apparent indication for why some are converted to group messages and other's aren't.  The very first text I got was a group message like this, before I installed any apps other then those preinstalled by Amazon.
Has anyone seen this behavior before or know how I can prevent it from happening?
I'm running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1

After some experimentation I discovered that the other random number that was being texted was my number.  I had been assigned a number by my carrier (republic wireless) and them immediately switched over to my previous phone number.  The number I believe republic wireless originally assigned me is the other number showing in group texts.
I believe the problem is therefore with republic wireless trying to send text both to the default number and the number I switched to.  Since these issues mostly showed up right after I changed phone numbers I would guess this is an intentionally attempt to ensure I get the text regardless of rather I switched over to my new number yet?  I'll wait to see if they stop doing this in a week after their confident my phone change over has stopped, and if not contact them.  However, in any case I think this is an issue with the carrier rather then the phone.

Try uninstalling any updates, disabling and re-enabling the stock
app. To do this go to settings > Apps > (your default messenger
app).  Then press disable/uninstall updates.
Try using an alternative messenger such as WhatsApp , BlackBerry
Messenger or Telegram. All  of these are available for free on the
Google Play store.
Try resetting your phone by doing a "Soft-Reset". To do this go to
settings > Backup and Reset > Factory Data Reset.  Be sure to backup
all your data, app data, documents and media  on your phone before
doing this.
If a soft reset doesn't work, try resetting your phone using a "Hard
Reset". This completely reinstalls your Android system. Like before,
be sure to backup all your data before doing this. Here's a link
with instructions to do so Motorola G 4G Factory Reset
Instructions


text:
Disconcerting security message in tangerine bank app, should i be concerned?
Using a One Plus Three,  not rooted.
I get this popup when i start up the Tangerine banking app:
They recently updated the app and it wasn't doing this before

I'd contact the dev asking how they define "unauthorized modifications" here. It could be something wrong – but it could also be simply due to the fact the 1+ runs a specific "own OS" (either CyanogenOS or their own OxygenOS), in which case the devs would need to adjust their checks.

thanks @Izzy, I've contacted them, we'll see if they can shed some light on the situation

Anytime. Please don't forget to report back in case you get a useful answer :)