text:
How to disable in-app browsers
I am currently using Google Family Link for my child's Samsung Android to disable web browsing but they are still able to click links within certain apps and open in-app browsers. This is the case in Skype and just about any other app with links within it.
Is there a way to disable in-app browsing altogether?
Thanks for the help.

You can try disabling Android WebView and all the browsers that are installed in your device. It is unlikely those certain apps have built there own in-app browsers and so must be depending on external browsers with webview offering. To know how to disable an app, search pm disable-user term in our website.


text:
What is the format for an Android ROM?
I downloaded a ROM for a Xiaomi phone to see what's inside. It's a zip file, that has these inside:
boot.img                    META-INF               system.new.dat.br     vendor.patch.dat
compatibility.zip           product.new.dat.br     system.patch.dat      vendor.transfer.list
dynamic_partitions_op_list  product.patch.dat      system.transfer.list
firmware-update             product.transfer.list  vendor.new.dat.br

I understand that boot.img is what is loaded on boot. It has the kernel and a ramdisk. But how can the bootloaded, or the kernel, or the ramdisk access the other files like system.new.dat.br? Both system.new.dat.br and product.new.dat.br are 1gb large, so I guess they have the system.
So my question is: what are these files and how does the boot.img contents load them?
ps: .br is a compresses archive. It decompresses to .dat, but what are the contents of these?

Based on the file names I would assume that you don't have a full system firmware, instead you have a partial OTA update, hence those files only contain the changes that are applied to each partition on your device. How such a patch is applied can be seen e.g. in this tool: https://github.com/erfanoabdi/imgpatchtools

Does this answer your question? Is it possible to flash a custom ROM without a custom recovery image

brotli --decompress --in system.new.dat.br --out system.new.dat;
python sdat2img.py system.transfer.list system.new.dat system.img;

@Robert do you know a full ROM that I can take a look? I'm intersted in seeing how it looks fully

@alecxs thanks, there's a folder images/ with lots of .img. Do you know where I can read more about it?

very good explanation of android partitions on xda-developers
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/215683/trying-to-understand-the-options-in-twrp-backup#comment276228_215683

Mediatek partitions explained https://blog.csdn.net/zhangbijun1230/article/details/81092381 Mediatek secro seccfg special partitions https://blog.hovatek.com/so-whats-all-this-talk-about-meditek-secure-boot-and-da-files

you might have already noticed but of course the partition naming for qualcomm chipset is entirely different from mediatek. also kirin, spreadtrum and nvidia tegra have their own layout, it's always OEM specific https://android.stackexchange.com/q/219699

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Why does my phone battery die at 0% then it has more battery when I turn it on again?
So after dying at 0% when I turn it on again, it can have more battery like 26%. Why does this happen?
Does this mean my phone has a virus?

a battery is not a glass of water where you can measure the exact filling level. percentage is only calculated from voltage (fluctuation = unsteadiness). it does only mean your battery is weak and should be replaced soon

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


text:
Is the fingerprint template generated by the vendor-specific library or the sensor?
My understanding based on the online resources is that there is a vendor-specific fingerprint library running in the TEE which is responsible for communicating to the fingerprint sensor hardware as well as enrollment, matching, ... of fingerprints.
What is unclear to me is what the sensor's output is? Does it generate the fingerprint template, or it sends just the raw fingerprint data to the library and the template is generated by the library?

I would assume that the finger print sensors are pretty dumb and just send the raw data to the TEE. See also https://source.android.com/security/authentication/fingerprint-hal#implementation

Yes I've seen this page, but even this page doesn't say where the template is generated.

best is to follow enroll() in sources down to the rabbit hole, don't you think?

It is not specified, but as only the TEE and the fingerprint driver has access to the raw fingerprint data the template generation has to be performed in one of them (or directly in the fingerprint sensor).


text:
How do I test the headset microphone on android, whilst ignoring the phone's internal microphone?
I can't find any apps that do this on Google Play and testing the microphone in Discord isn't any help either.

use a long long cable ;)

If you want to see if the headset microphone works at all just touch it with your finger. This will cause sounds that are only recordable by the microphone you touch.


text:
How to setup employee device without Google Cloud
My organization has several phones which I would like to setup for employee use.  It appears that the Google Admin app has this functionality but requires a Google Cloud subscription.
If possible I would like to know what my alternatives are.  I want to be able to manage what apps are installed on the devices and allow app installs but be able to at least monitor what is being installed allong with basic features as an admin.

If you want device management, you'll have to look at some type of Enterprise Mobility Management solution provider. Note that you may already have some path with your existing IT solution partner.

I don't have an IT solution partner.  We are a small company.  I'd like to know what my options are. Yes, I'm looking for "full device management" of about 3 phones for now.  Is there an app for that or do I need to go through Google and am I forced to pay them?

I have no idea the cost involved but I was hoping it would be near free  or around $5/month.  We don't have a big budget here.

I checked out some of those providers and it seems overwhelming.  I just have a small company with 3 devices.  Isn't there something in the play store I can use to govern my 3 devices but allow employees to use them?  At first I tried parental control apps but they just barely miss the mark

Edit your post with your details as to why parental controls aren't enough. 2. Also Google Workspace for Business Starter does seem to have some basic mobile device management features, but check if the plan has the features you need.

It should be obvious though; the phones are for adults to use.  Parental controls imply the devices be setup for children.  Many of them require that you enter a birthdate and name for the child.  In my case they are all for employee use.

Depending on how the devices need to be setup, your "child" doesn't need to be a real person with a real birthdate. Regardless, stackexchange sites are for Q&A than forum so the links provided should provide one direction for investigation.

Thank you.  I have the information I need now to possibly better phrase the question.   But now I first need to answer another question in another thread.

It seems that I need to first learn how to generate an IT Admin code that I can use to "enroll" devices.  Once I learn that, I will be able to understand what it means to use an alternative solution to Google enrollment program.  I hate the idea that my business devices are all basically owned by Google if I go through them.  By using Google to become an admin to several devices, I make Google the overarching admin, which aggravates me

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Might help in understanding concepts: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/231596/218526


text:
Color temp changes depending on content
I have a OnePlus 6 and recently (past few months) I've noticed the color temp changing between a "warm" white and a more "pure" (not the bluish "cool") white.
You can't see it in the screenshots (because the phone doesn't see the difference), but I get the yellower temp with

and the whiter one with

The difference is the ad at the top of the first one.  When that scrolls into view, it goes yellow. When is scrolls out of view, it goes white.  (If I need to, I can record it with another phone.)
I have night mode, reading mode, "vibrant color effect," and adaptive brightness all turned off.
I'm quite confused, and it's really annoying.  Any ideas how I can get it to stop?

Most likely this is the night (shift) mode which reduces the blue color brightness on screen to don't disturb your "sleep hormone" melatonine. Typically the night mode is (de)activated automatically based on sunset/sundown (calculated for your position).

This happens dynamically. In this case, the ad scrolled into view and it went yellow, out of view and it went white.  It's very reproducible.  And as I mentioned, I have night mode, etc., turned off.


text:
How do I generate an IT Admin code to enroll devices
I want to setup a work profile on several devices but I need to be an IT Admin to do that and generate an IT admin code.
How do I do that?
I have about 3 devices that I wish to enroll.

I think this is off-topic as you need to get that information from Google Workspace (was known as G-Suite). Given that the product targets small / mid-size business there should be Youtube videos to assist. Also specific questions about Google Workspace is probably more appropriate in ServerFault which covers IT admin for business.

Thank you for the advice.  Do you have the ability to move my question to ServerFault or can I?

Better ask directly in Google forums. For device management IMHO ServerFault is the wrong address, as there is no server involved. And if you open up a question there most likely to will get closed  when they read "Android" in it.

Is there a Google stack exchange?

Hi, sorry that this question is off-topic since it's more about enterprise-level device management rather than operating Android itself. Android Enterprise help might have a clue for this. And unfortunately, there's also no Google Stack Exchange.


text:
Android 11 supports creation time (crtime/btime) for local folders and files?
is there a way on Android 11 (OnePlus 8T) for file manager to display creation time for local folders and files?
Is there in recent years the support?
Because have an iOS 14 device and use macOS 10.15 devices and the Files app and Finder shows here for local folders and files the creation time (crtime/btime).
Just like my KDE neon 5.20 and Linux Mint 20.
Are there any improvements in mtp protocol under Android 11, because so far I have heard that it is very sluggish from the user's point of view. For example, if a user copies a large file to computer (Windows 10) and at the same time copies another large file in parallel to computer, it does not work. It comes a message that you have to wait for the first copy process.

As far as I know MTP does not allow parallel operations. This is a fundamental concept of this simple protocol. May be a better alternative for you would be a file manager that uses Androd Debug Bridge (adb) for file-transfer. adb "feels" more like scp and there are advanced tools available such as adb-sync.

For the first part of the question, I think the answer is to search for and try other file manager apps. If an app doesn't have a feature you are looking for in it settings, the solution is usually to be stuck with that or look for an alternative.

mtime is preserved from 'adb pull -a /sdcard'

On many devices birth/creation time is not supported by underlying filesystem as it requires statx syscall from kernel side and large inode size: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/209243/218526

This problem exists since the first Android version. I can confirm on Android 11 there is no such support. I asked Google a few years ago why they can't add it. I think it is a problem with Android system design. On Linux itself it is possible and there are already Linux distributions that show it by default in their file managers. By the end of 2021, all Linux distributions with GNOME (Nautilus) should display it. That means Ubuntu will soon display created date by default.
Android needs root rights or something similar for this to work (without root) and Google developers would have to do a lot of customization in Android system to use Linux kernel functions for user space programs. I think in the future Android system will support this and Google developers will add it. Maybe in Android 12 or Android 13.
Windows XP (2001) for example supports created date in Windows File Explorer for a long time and displays it by default e.g. by right click action on a file.
Just like Apple desktop systems. I know myself the System 6 (Macintosh System Software 6) from year 1988 the "Finder" (standard file manager on Mac devices) supports created date. Most likely the predecessor version of System 6 already support this.
Since iOS 11 (2017) the Files app has been integrated and shows created date for files and folders by default for users.
If you want a Linux smartphone that already supports created date then you can use a PinePhone. It uses Plasma Mobile (mobile version of the KDE Plasma Desktop) and since 2019, Dolphin (standard file manager of KDE) shows the created date.


text:
How are AOSP compiled .img stores in phone flash?
There are the contents of a Xiaomi image for some phone that I downloaded. It is a fastboot image. I think that it means that it can be flashed by fastboot.
├── AP
│   ├── APDB_MT6768_S01__W2006
│   └── APDB_MT6768_S01__W2006_ENUM
├── BP
│   ├── DbgInfo_LR12A.R3.MP_HUAQIN_Q0MP1_MT6769_SP_MOLY_LR12A_R3_MP_V98_P75_2020_12_11_16_34_1_ulwctg_n
│   ├── MDDB_InfoCustomAppSrcP_MT6768_S00_MOLY_LR12A_R3_MP_V98_P75_1_ulwctg_n.EDB
│   ├── MDDB.META_MT6768_S00_MOLY_LR12A_R3_MP_V98_P75_1_ulwctg_n.EDB
│   └── MDDB.META.ODB_MT6768_S00_MOLY_LR12A_R3_MP_V98_P75_1_ulwctg_n.XML.GZ
├── BP_IN
├── CheckSum_Gen
├── check_sum.sh
├── flash_all.bat
├── flash_all_except_data_storage.bat
├── flash_all_except_data_storage.sh
├── flash_all_lock.bat
├── flash_all_lock.sh
├── flash_all.sh
├── flash_gen_crc_list.py
├── flash_gen_md5_list.py
├── flash_gen_resparsecount
├── hat_extract.py
├── hat_flash.sh
├── images
│   ├── boot.img
│   ├── cache.img
│   ├── Checksum.ini
│   ├── crclist.txt
│   ├── cust.img
│   ├── dtbo.img
│   ├── exaid.img
│   ├── gsort.img
│   ├── lk.img
│   ├── logo.bin
│   ├── md1img.img
│   ├── MT6768_Android_scatter.txt
│   ├── oem_misc1.img
│   ├── preloader_merlin.bin
│   ├── recovery.img
│   ├── scp.img
│   ├── sparsecrclist.txt
│   ├── spmfw.img
│   ├── sspm.img
│   ├── super.img
│   ├── tee.img
│   ├── userdata.img
│   ├── vbmeta.img
│   ├── vbmeta_system.img
│   └── vbmeta_vendor.img
├── libflashtoolEx.so
├── libflashtool.so
├── libflashtool.v1.so
├── Log
│   └── ADPT_20201218-033445_0.log
├── md5sum.xml
└── misc.txt

I never compiled Android. I'm gonna buy an SSD just for that, but meanwhile I'm trying to understand the output of the AOSP project when I build everything.
I found this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65450678/how-is-the-aosp-project-built/65527251#65527251 which explains how some .img are built. For example, this is how system.img is built: system.img
Looking at the structure of the ROM above, I guess the only things produced by AOSP are the .img. I guess the flash_all.sh is an script that flashes all the images to the flash memory.
How are those images stored in the flash memory? How does fastboot knows where to place each .img?
If we look at the flash_all.sh:
fastboot $* flash cache `dirname $0`/images/cache.img
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then echo "Flash cache error"; exit 1; fi
fastboot $* flash recovery `dirname $0`/images/recovery.img
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then echo "Flash recovery error"; exit 1; fi
fastboot $* flash boot `dirname $0`/images/boot.img
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then echo "Flash boot error"; exit 1; fi

it passes a different name for each .img. Maybe there's a 'fastboot server' on the phone that knows where to place each image?

partitions have labels. kernel creates symlinks you can show 'ls -d $(find /dev/block -name by-name)/*' in adb shell. actually the fastboot commands are very basic. preloader decide which boot mode and will execute fastboot program from lk partition (i believe it's already the 3rd state in boot chain) https://www.lieberbiber.de/2015/07/04/mediatek-details-partitions-and-preloader. scatter file is for SP Flash Tool in download mode (not fastboot)

please note that super is actually three partitions in one (system vendor product) and fastboot can not handle this. therefore fastboot is splitted in two stages and the second stage is executed from somewhere different https://source.android.com/devices/bootloader/fastbootd


text:
Android Studio emulator: Failed to start monitoring emulator-5554
I am forking this app and trying to make some changes to it and run it. I've managed to do so on my laptop but it's painfully slow, so I am trying to set up the whole thing on my PC but I get the following error:
Failed to start monitoring emulator-5554

the emulator started and it showed the Google logo but then it closed.
This is happening on a device called: Pixel 3a API 30 x86.
I have another device (Pixel XL API 29) set up but there the emulator doesn't even show up and there are no errors in Android Studio.
The only resources I found matching my question is this and I've tried restarting my computer several times but it didn't work. And this one but my android emulator seems to be the latest version.
All this is happening on Ubuntu 18.04.
Android Studio version is 4.1.1.
Any ideas appreciated!
EDIT 1:
Currently, I am trying to run the emulator from the command line. At first, it was complaining of another instance already running even after restarting my PC. So, I found some multinstance.lock files and deleted them. Then, it complained about permissions in the particular AVD folder so I did chmod -R 777 the whole avd folder. Now, it complains that it cannot create a vulkan instance or something similar and that it doesn't have access to a particular file in the user's home folder, I couldn't copy the whole output cuz my PC got stuck and I had to restart it. This happened several times.

Start the emulator from command-line and check if there are any error messages.

I get the following error: ERROR: Another emulator instance is running. Please close it or run all emulators with -read-only flag. - even after restarting my computer. Very weird.

Does this answer your question: Android Studio : emulator is already running

I saw that one but I couldn't find any .lock files in the emulator directory.

AVD uses lock directories not files. They should be located in ~/.android/avd/<avdname>.avd/.

I found some multiinstance.lock directories/files which I removed but I get some permission errors from the emulator now.

I've added more info in my question.


text:
Do all android phones store videos with rotational metadata?
Do all android phones store videos with rotational metadata?
For example, I just recorded a video on my 'phone', holding it in portrait, and using the front-facing camera (used the front facing camera so I can easily see what I am recording, with me on the same side of the 'phone' as what I am recording).
C:\blah>mediainfo VID_20210106_215520866.mp4
.....
Rotation                                 : 90°
....
C:\blah>

There's rotational metadata there so instructing video players to rotate it 90 degrees clockwise for it to be oriented the right way up.
I'd rather a phone that records it the right way without rotational metadata.. so I was wondering if it was phone specific or something to do with Android.
I thought the problem may be unique to my Moto G7 Power, as I asked somebody else that had the same 'phone' and they claimed that they didn't have that with theirs(though I doubt their claim).  Then I got another 'phone', an Oppo. And it too did the same thing.
I then ran into this webpage which suggests that it's actually an Android feature.
Do all Android phones place rotational metadata on videos they record with 'phone' in portrait position?
While I normally get that so eg if it were recording a person, then their feet on the right, their head on the left.(hence 90 degrees clockwise rotation required), funnily enough i've also had videos come out oriented 90 degrees the other way and so have rotational metadata of 270 degrees e.g. if it were recording me then my feet on the left my head on the right, requiring and having metadata instructing 270 degrees clockwise  / 90 degrees anti-clockwise rotation.

interesting side note I think it looks like maybe now,  youtube and google drive obey rotational metadata.. also WMP in W10 does. And maybe a quick way to remove it while having the video oriented right is simply ffmpeg -i vid.mp4 -acodec libmp3lame -vcodec libx264 xyz.mp4

Videos recorded using mobile devices contain a lot of metadata.
One piece of such data is the rotation metadata.
This data is used by browsers such as Chrome and Safari and by video players like VLC and QuickTime to display the video the way it was shot: portrait or landscape.
The rotation metadata is stored as an integer, it represents degrees, and has 4 possible values: 0, 90, 180 and 270. Here are the values for each device orientation for both iOS and Android:

You just dumped lots of stuff irrelevant to answering the question. I'm well aware of the values and the purpose of them. And I see you just copy pasted from https://blog.addpipe.com/mp4-rotation-metadata-in-mobile-video-files/ or wherever they copy pasted. But anyhow it doesn't answer my question that was very specific


text:
Termux (specifically npm) can't install in internal storage
Everytime I try to use NPM to install something into /storage/emulated/0/dir it would always do this:
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime
npm WARN tar EPERM: operation not permitted, futime

It has access to download things using git and other methods but it never seems to work using NPM.

When installing something with npm try the --user option: npm install --user

Probably it would work with a HOME=/data/data/com.termux/files npm -i ..., does it?


text:
All apps deleted
Please help, I was trying to power on my Android phone, it took longer time than usual but when it eventually Powers on all my third party apps had been deleted but my files are still intact, what caused this and can I recover my phone back?

Backup. Backup everything. What if you lose your phone? That no one can recover. There are a lot of apps for that. Probably you can not recover your data, because rooting it deletes everything. There is a little chance that there is some loophole what you make an answer for you, but don't have too much hope.

But how can I back up some app data for example I have 7gb of courses i downloaded on pluralsight app for offline use and I can't see the files on my phone storage

Sounds like you may have booted up in SAFEmode on your Android device. When you boot into SAFEmode all 3rd party apps are organically disabled to allow for more accurate troubleshooting of the device. You will know that you are in SAFEmode by looking at the bottom left corner of the device, If it reads SAFEmode than that would be your issue. In the event that is not the issue please let me know

Safe mode is not the case because there's no safe mode displayed and I even tried later and was able to put the phone on safe mode and back to the normal State but the problem persists


text:
How to insert 2 SIM cards on Ulefone Armor 9?
I have the Ulefone Armor 9. It states it has a Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by). In the settings, it seems it says there are 2 slots for SIM cards. But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to put in 2 SIM cards.
Opening the slot seems there's only a place for 1.

Has anyone seen this before? How is it supposed to work?

A hybrid dual SIM slot is a technology that offers both features of a SIM card and a MicroSD card.
The hybrid dual SIM slot also means the OEM provided just two spaces instead of the traditional three slots for dual SIM cards and a MicroSD card. In other words, either two SIM cards are used or one SIM card slot is sacrificed to serve the role of a MicroSD slot.
Simply put, you have two options:

Dual SIM (one micro/nano SIM + one micro/nano SIM)
One micro/nano SIM + MicroSD card

ah ok, thanks! How do I open the right hand side to put in the sim/sd?

To open the second slot, push the pin-like end of the tool that's supplied with the phone (or a needle or other small pin) into the tiny hole at the end of the secondary cover.


text:
Wipe option is missing
I lost password for my phone and now I cannot unlock. I think only option what I have is completely wipe device (data lost is not matter). I googled many manuals and videos and it looked very easy. Boot into recovery menu and click to wipe button but in my case there is no wipe option. I's really weird because the resources what I found was for the exactly same device (region differences?).
How to wipe this device? Do I need to have special cable? Which one?
Model: Lenovo K5 PRO (L38041)

Does your device has a Google account signed in and can it be connected to internet? If yes, you should be able to wipe data using Google's Find my device. https://support.google.com/android/answer/6160491?hl=en

even after factory reset google play password is required because of FRP (factory reset protection)

@Firelord Awesome man! I tried the same post at XDA forums a few weeks ago and without response. Now, your idea saved my nephew phone :) Fortunately brother in law enabled location services when installed this phone so wipe using this service was successful.

Cool. Have you been able to successfully boot into home screen after wipe?

Yes. I'm not an android user but it looked like setup screen.


text:
Use Powerpoint inking feature on my laptop from Android Tablet
When presenting Powerpoint slides via zoom on my Win10 laptop it is convenient to annotate on the slides in response to audience questions etc. Powerpoint has a convenient annotate feature but it's not easy to draw using it via the mouse or laptop touchpad.
On the other hand I do have a nice Android Tablet with an Active Stylus (Samsung S6) where it's a breeze to draw. But is there any way I can hook up the Tablet to the laptop (via a third party app etc. if needed) so that I can use the native Powerpoint annotation feature but via the Tablet.
PS. Right now I use a hack: I open a second zoom instance on my Android Tablet and use zoom's annotate feature (so I can use my stylus). But then the annotations have to be erased after each slide and cannot be saved easily etc.


text:
How change language of location names in google maps
It seems google maps recognizes my android's phone language & configs itself based on that language.
My phone language is english.(But this is not my local language)
So google maps shows all location names in english language.
How can i change those names to local without changing my phone's language?


text:
Apps use mobile data when mobile data is off
My Android 10 phone seems to be using mobile data even when mobile data is turned off:

The setting called "switch to mobile data automatically" is off FYI. The data, in very small quantities, is used by different apps including Facebook, Skype, Gmail and Google assistant; when the Wi-Fi is disabled, connected-no-internet or out of range.
How can I make sure the mobile uses mobile data only when mobile data setting is on?

On modern devices like yours "mobile data" is not only used by apps.
Instead basic services like phone calls are also transmitted as "data". This is calls Voice over LTE (VoLTE). In a LTE network this is the only way to do voice calls, there is not voice network anymore. LTE devices that don't support VoLTE have to downgrade to 2G/3G for voice calls.
Even if you don't do any voice calls the phone registers itself in the network, and for doing so it needs data. Also new voice calls are signalled via mobile data. Those signaling data is not a high amount of data, but a value as you have shown in your screenshot should be reasonable for a month of VoLTE data usage.
The strange part is that the LTE voice data if you do a voice call is typically not counted as "mobile data".
Typically this behavior is making big problems when you are abroad in a roaming network with extra charges for roaming mobile data, because the mobile network providers seem to be unable to correctly mark this VoLTE signalling data as VoLTE data for which you are not charged. Instead the say "you have transmitted data via mobile roaming" now pay us the base fee for using mobile roaming data.
A second use case where data is is always use are MMS. This is the way it works for mobile generations.

I am going to accept this although I don't understand anything you said. I called my cell phone carrier and they told me that small mobile data consumption when data is off is a feature of 4G; to stop it switch to 2G/3G, or better, buy a data package, even a small one would be cheaper than standard data rates.


text:
Android PC linux installation on Acer DA220HQL
I have got an android PC (Acer DA220HQL) running Android 4.0.4 with the following specifications and i would like to know if there is any installation procedure step by step to install other (linux-based) OS such as Zorin OS lite as many Google android tablets are locked from installing other OS.
That would help me a lot!
Regards

as for all embedded devices only if someone built a ROM especially for that device. there are solutions to run chroot linux on top of android, but that tablet has very low hardware ressources. so the answer is no

Thanks a lot. I have found other alternative such as bliss OS (https://blissos.org) that might be a fit as this PC tablet has got x86 and ARM architecture ? Is there any safe step by step installation procedure because it is locked from installing other OS. That would help me a lot!

blissos won't work too

Low hardware resources or lock installation. If there is a safe installation at least I want to try it before get rid of it. Thanks.

if you want to understand why it is impossible read that around ~ 20 links starting from here (in short: embedded device is completely different from PC)

please refer to comments from Andrew T.♦

https://zorinos.com/help/system-requirements

How to boot Ubuntu persistent live USB on Android?

The device has an "ARM Cortex A" CPU, thus all x86 based OS (blissos.org, ...) do not work.


text:
How to select whole line of text?
Sometime there is a need to select only one line of text or paragraph from very large article?
Instead of manually enlarge the range of selection, is there an option at popup that can select line in one/two clicks? I had trouble of selecting long instruction that are outside of the screen.
Selection is in chromium based browser, (also other apps like sms reading, simple text editors). OS is Android 10 at phones with touch screen.

You should give a bit more context. What app are you asking about?

Please edit your question and describe an example in detail. Please also name the used app, and you device model + Android version.


text:
How can I make a persist property take effect without rebooting?
I am trying to switch from mtp,adb mode to mass_storage easily, preferably with a script. I can go to two different places in settings and toggle both things there. Or I can use setprop or echo to set it from the command line but that requires rebooting. As I was writing this question I thought to my self that I might be able to use settings put but I could not find a key for USB computer connection. There was a key named usb_mass_storage_enabled but that key does not appear to control the USB connection.
After reading on meta that this is apparently the proper way to do this instead of answering a comment with an unreadable comment, I have deleted my comment and moved it here.
@Irfan Latif - cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions does in fact reflect the changes when I use settings to change modes but when I try the simple script of:
echo -n 0 > /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable
echo -n 'mass_storage' > /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions
echo -n 1 > /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable

Even though cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions returns mass_storage the mode does not actually change.
I'm sorry I was mistaken, after further experimentation changing the /sys/class/android_usb/android0/functions file will in fact change the functionality of the usb connection. However, this change will not be reflected in the settings menu, nor will it be reflected in the usb id reported by lsusb. I did find though that should one turn off the usb with the enable file, issue command setprop persist.sys.usb.config, then turn usb back on the same way, that although it still won't be registered in the settings menu it will cause lsusb to return the correct mode id. Thanks.

Switching to UMS doesn't require reboot: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/205559/218526

If you can move your comment to an answer I would gladly accept it.


text:
Enabling logcat on boot
I'm trying to debug a ROM problem, that cause Android animation boot run forever, occuring after the first reboot.
Trying to read the log with logcat ,executing from shell adb logcat -d before powering on the phone, but adb remains in < waiting for device > state
Before rebooting Android, I test adb logcat and it was working fine.
Anyone can help? How to read boot logs?

Logcat is part of the OS, hence it can not run before the OS boot process has at least started up to the point where logcat is loaded.

I found some log files in /cache partition, but they are completely empty

You can persist the logcat: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/216659/218526 and https://android.stackexchange.com/a/216857/218526. Or persist the kernel log: https://android.stackexchange.com/a/213460/218526


text:
What level of permeability is there between Android and installed apps?
I just installed Protonmail on my Android device, and I was wondering how much data can Android (Google, really) can get from my use of that app, or from any app in general for that matter. I write this post with a faint level of paranoia, as you can guess - with all the mail scanning that gmail does to get data on you, one can tend to think that anything entered or typed on a Google-powered platform is being analyzed, be it Gmail or Android. But of course, I'm assuming it must not be that simple or even that bad. The problem is that getting actual data on what is going on can be quite cryptic.
So, what can Google really get from my use of any given app? Can they somehow "see" what I type in my Proton mails (I'm not thinking about keylogging, that would be illegal), do they collect any kind of metadata that are a bit too comprehensive, etc?

Most installed Google apps are just regular apps and are thus restricted so that they can't access private data of other apps. Only system apps can theoretically access app data from other apps. Some Google apps like PlayStore or GoogleServices are system apps, but these apps are often decompiled and often investigated therefore I don't think that they contain such illegal code to spy on other apps.

Ok, thank you !

Regarding "see what you type", a more relevant topic is the Keyboard apps themselves, which can indeed see what the user types. The user will see a warning when enabling new keyboards to let them know that the keyboard is possible to see what they type and whether they trust them. Most trusted/popular keyboard apps are usually safe, but we can't say the same for every keyboard app...

Probably they can not see what you write in proton mail. As comment explains, typically the apps have no access to the data of the others, thus the apps of the google have no special permission, and no access to other apps (and not even to the data of each other - for example, gmail can not see your google maps timeline).
However:

The OS itself is developed by the Google, and although it is open source, it is very complex. Furthermore, this is customized by the phone manufacturer company, and their version of the source code is already not public, but it arrives in binary form, as system update to your phone. Thus, both google and the phone manufacturer can access all the data what is your phone, if they really want to.
Even if it has no access to your protonmail, a large part of the people with whom you are exchanging mails, use gmail. Google obviously can see what you send or get to/from a gmail user.

Snowden's leak revealed that U.S. secret services have big data processing facilities where they collect information from many sources (gmail, facebook, yahoo, your bank account operations, your phone calls). The important thing is, that they listen from many sources and collect them.


text:
Proximity Sensor is mocked to 5cm, screen still goes dark
After replacing the display of my Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, my proximity sensor is giving me wrong values (saying, my phone is always covered).
I mocked my sensors using the XPosed Sensor Disable App, and the various sensor test apps tell me, that the distance is 5cm (the maximum). Still, my phone's screen goes black when playing audios or making a call. Am I missing something? Maybe another sensor's setting?
The way I mocked my Sensors was the following:
LTR579 ALSPS: 5cm, LTR579 ALSPS-Non Wakeup Secondary: 0cm
I'm really out of ideas, it would be great if someone could help me! I'd hate having to open my phone again, and I'll happily do without the screen going black feature. I honestly have no idea why the test says "5cm", but the phone still decides to go dark. >:(
Thanks alot for any ideas!

The proximity sensor is usually only used to disable the screen immediately in phone calls. Otherwise it is not used. If your screen goes black most likely it is simply the display timeout. But this timeout is not influenced by the proximity sensor.

@Robert the screen is immediately disabled when playing an audio in telegram/whatsapp or when making a phone call, that's the issue that I'm having

Well, I thought I had tried all possible combinations, but seems like I forgot to save the mocked values. With LTR579 ALSPS: 0cm and LTR579 ALSPS-Non Wakeup Secondary: 5cm, it now works as I want it to. I have no idea why the sensor testing app gave me wrong values.
EDIT: Turns out that the app i used to calibrate the sensor with at the very beginning was the reason for the unwated behaviour after all. Just uninstalling it was not enough, I had to reinstall it, choose the option to reset the calibration, uninstall it, reboot the phone, and THEN override the sensors in the XPosed app.


text:
Android *tone selection menu shows titles different to the actual filename. Why?
After i scp an audio file to my android devices alarms/notifications/ringtones sdcard folders, the file itself is named correctly, but the settings menu for selecting alarms/notifications/ringtones may or may not show a completely different name.
I have used 'sdcard refresh' tested, and then rebooted to check again every time I have copied the files.
I do not see any metadata that might contain a name.
I have converted mp3 files to ogg with ffmpeg specifically to discard any hidden metadata, yet it still happens.
caveat: I have renamed these files on the source machine, ie: PRIOR to copying them to the target device, so that I can more easily find them among the endless list of useless stock-android sounds. But somehow android is ignoring this in some cases, and not in others.
Do I need a specific tool to force the name-metadata that I want?
Do I need to clear some android database that may be clinging to the original filename and not accepting the new, despite deleting them on the device, rebooting, copying them again, and rebooting before checking again.
Android version: 9

image above:

at left:files on pc, with original names
at right: filenames after
being renamed on source machine (PC) and scp'd to the target device

image above:

delete all files on device sdcard 'Alarms' folder
power down, power up (previously i had been rebooting, but thought i should try actually powering down for a moment and then back on again - no difference)
scp renamed files to target device
power down, power up
check sound settings for Alarms

For coompleteness, or general interest: the script that converts non-ogg to ogg and copied them to the scp target:
scp-hostPath-fileList.sh
#!/bin/bash

hostpath="$1" #phoneXI:/storage/emulated/0/Ringtones/
shift
for input in "$@"; do
    [[ ! -f "$input" ]] && continue
    exportName="${input%.*}.ogg"
    [[ "$input" != "$exportName" ]] && ffmpeg-bar -i "$input" -c:a libvorbis -y "$exportName" </dev/null
    string+="\"${exportName}\" "
    msg+="${exportName##*/}\\n"
done
cmd="scp $string $hostpath"
# echo "cmd: $cmd"
error=$(eval $cmd)
[[ $? -ne 0 ]] && kdialog --title "ERROR" --passivepopup "$error" 5 || kdialog --title "OK: $hostpath" --passivepopup "$msg" 5

exit

# tests

/home/user/documents/scripts/net/scp-hostPath-fileList.sh \
phoneXI:/storage/emulated/0/Alarms/ \
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Alarms/BETLOG-9000.mp3
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Alarms/BETLOG-cavalryCall.mp3
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Alarms/BETLOG-marioMessage.mp3
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Alarms/BETLOG-marioPowerup.mp3

/home/user/documents/scripts/net/scp-hostPath-fileList.sh \
phoneXI:/storage/emulated/0/Notifications/ \
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Notifications/BETLOG-carlock.mp3
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Notifications/BETLOG-drip.oga
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Notifications/BETLOG-wz2100-beacon.ogg

/home/user/documents/scripts/net/scp-hostPath-fileList.sh \
phoneXI:/storage/emulated/0/Ringtones/ \
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Ringtones/BETLOG-bellphone.ogg \
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Ringtones/BETLOG-oldphone.mp3 \
/home/user/music/audio/_all-alarms-notifications-ringtones/KoganAgoraXI/Ringtones/BETLOG-telegraph.mp3

Can you show us an example of the file name and how it appears in the list?

What is your Android version? In the end the media info always comes from the central database. Therefore this answer should also apply here. By renaming the files in file-system you have confused this database. Newer Android versions (9+) do usually detect such file operations automatically, but older systems require a reboot or a manually started media scan.

Original text edited - please refer. Also; i am aware of the database issue, i have been using 'sdcard refresh' and also rebooting between any change. Initially i copied some files with their original filenames, often those are fugly or not easy to find in the stock-android list, so i rename them locally, copy them to the device with scp(ssh), use sdcard refresh on the new files specifically, reboot. Some files are successfully renamed, others are not. I have tried deleting all, rebooting, copying, rebooting, which still fails. It's very unusual.


text:
Where are the location settings on Asus ZenFone 5?
I can't find the GPS settings on the ZenFone 5 (ZE620KL), on Android 9. I am specifically interested in the location mode, with 3 different values (high accuracy, battery saving, device only).
Asus has rolled out Android 9 to ZenFone 5. I don't have a Security & Location entry in the Settings menu. Here is what my Settings menu looks like and once in Security & lock screen:

(source: digitaltrends.com)
I can't find where to choose the location mode. All I have is an ON/OFF switch.

Your phone should run Android 8 hence it is located Security & Location -> Location -> Location -> Mode - see https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3467281?hl=en#zippy=%2Cchoose-location-mode-android

@Robert, please see my edit

I see "Security & lock screen .... Location". So why don't you use this entry? Alternatively, use the settings search (the magnifying glas up right) and enter "location".

Thank you both, I honestly didn't see it when I searched. My phone is set to French and If I hadn't changed the language to make a screenshot, it wouldn't have been shown, as it would have been buried further down. And I didn't think it had anything to do with some services with some google logo on it, so my quick glance didn't catch it

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38578575/androids-most-accurate-location-api

i am german native speaker but when it comes to devices (linux pc, android phone) i prefer english gui, that make things easier as most tutorials are english. also searching for english error messages is more sufficient :)


text:
Flash system.img file without fastboot over USB
I want to flash a different version of a system.img and normally this would be done with fastboot via USB but the device I am trying to do this to I cant use adb/fastboot over USB and I have to use adb over Ethernet instead. Once I reboot into the bootloader to try to use fastboot it obviously wont see the device since I use Ethernet so is there a way to just flash the new system.img file without fastboot?
Device has an sdcard slot, is there a way to use that?
Also note I dont have any of the other image files (boot,recovery,etc...) so I wont be able to create a zip file

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.


text:
where is the "Keep wi-fi on during sleep" settings in Samsung s9?
My Samsung S9 phone wi-fi connection goes off when it goes to sleep mode (after a while whenever the screen turns off ).  I've found there where a setting option called "Keep wifi on during sleep" in the wi-fi settings advanced menu before the Android version 9, but I can't find such an option in my phone setting. It is very annoying nowadays during remote work from home.
any help would be appreciated.

Welcome on the Android SE! I find it surprising - I have never seen such a phone which turns wifi off on sleep. But I experienced many times that the wifi part of my phone far from the typical quality of the laptops. It might be because making a good wifi in the size (and power consumption) requirements of the typical phones is far more hard. Possibly it can be the cause of your problem, i.e. only your wifi connection is sub-optimal, but hopefully you will get an answer, too.

@peterh-ReinstateMonica Hi, I don't think the problem is the wifi connection, there are many other phones in the area with no problem. the main problem is why there is no  "Keep wifi on during sleep" option in phone settings?


text:
Exporting a CA certificate from Android to Android?
I'm trying to install an openssl CA certificate on my Pixel 5, previously I was able to install it directly through the app I was using on my old Pixel 2 but with the new security measures this is no longer an option and I'm attempting to take this into my hands.
This is my first time trying to do this on any of my phones.
I got the CA certificate off my computer by downloading the app through an android emulator. The file was originally saved as a .dll file and I just changed the end of the file to a .pfk. I believe it is now in the correct format as it recognized by my phone.
When I go to install the ca certificate I am asked for a password to extract the certificate. I opened the file as a text document and read through it thinking I would be able to find it in there. After reading I thought the password was "callback", but that doesn't seem to work.
Is there some kind of application I can run to retrieve the password?

There is something wrong with your question. A dll files can never be used as pfx file. Only p12 files can be renamed to pfx. May be you should give more details on what certificate (with private key) you want export/import and seven more important for what purpose you need it.


text:
Need help connecting a Pixel 3xl on Android 11 to a Sony ax5000
Wondering if anyone has any troubleshooting tips for my problem. I have a pixel 3 XL that is running up to date android auto and Android.
When attempting to connect my pixel 3xl to my Sony ax5000 head unit, my phone doesn't seem to recognize that it is connected to an android auto cable. I'm fairly confident everything is fine with the head unit and cable, as my wife's phone (a Samsung) and other devices are able to detect and connect to the device without problem using the same and other cables. Because nothing is ever prompted, I don't have any more ideas on how to troubleshoot this issue. Do you have any suggestions?
I went to check the default USB configuration in the developer options and confirmed it is set to File Transfer / Android Auto. Are there other settings there (or anywhere else) I should check?
Thanks!


text:
New Galaxy A10e Galaxy install gets 250mbps over WiFi then slows down to 30mbps after mainstream apps install (nothing special). Why?
I factory reset my Galaxy A10e then immediately install Ookla's Speed Test app. Over Wifi I get 100 to 200mbps on repeated tests.  After installing basic mainstream apps like Spotify, Pandora, etc and updating Google's and the Samsung phone's preinstalled apps the Ookla Speed Tests give me a maximum speed of approx 30mpbs.  I have to factory reset my phone and not install apps to keep the higher speed.  What gives?

I would assume that this is coincidence that you get high values after factory reset. What access point/Wifi router do you use (which Wifi version doe sit support)? Do you have a connection on 2.4GHz or 5GHz? How far are you away from your Wifi access point when testing? How many other Wifi networks are around you (Wifi is a shared media, if other Wifis on the same frequencies are quite active this decreases your speed).

Ok I factory reset my phone again then installed all my apps one by one while running a speed test between each installation.  I found that after I install Pandora Radio that's when the slowdown occurred.  I uninstalled Pandora Radio then rebooted my phone and the problem went away.  The Pandora Radio App seems to be causing the problem.  I suspect malware may be in the app or poor security design.

I guess Pandora Radio gives modern meaning to the term "Pandora's Box"

Is this an app from Google Play? If yes please post the link to the Play Store app page so that other users who also run into this problem can identify the app without doubt.

Yes.  Open up Google Play Store app right after you factory reset the Galaxy A10e phone and install Pandora Radio.  That is what I did and that is what caused the problem.  I installed no other software from any other source.

Can you please add the direct link to the app in Google Play? Because the name does not uniquely identity the app.


text:
Remove notifications sound (add "silent notifications" setting on Android)
I have a Pixel 3a with Android 11 installed on it.
I have a lot of notifications, like SMS, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc... all beeping all the day. I would like to remove just the sound of all these notifications, letting them vibrate, flash... whatever other things it does...
However, the calls should not be muted, I would like to have normal sound when someone calls me (via normal call, or via WhatsApp, Messanger, Viber, etc).
I can't believe at this day is not possible a thing like this on Android 11...
The idea is not to manage all the possible applications individually, but to mute all NON-call sounds in general on the phone, except "long calls" (phone and messengers calls, wake-up alarms, all calls that are waiting the user to 'finish' them).
I suppose there should be a more standard solution than this tricky one. I think there should be a setting like SilentNotifications On/Off, if such thing is not present, it should be (Google tracker issue created)

have you seen the options for settings - notifications (i don't use such apps do they have call function implememented as notification)?

@alecxs the idea is not to manage all the possible applications individually, but to mute NON-call sounds in general on the phone

there is something like a solution here https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-allow-call-ringtone-while-keeping-notifications-on-silent/ but is still tricky usage of "do not disturb" mode...

ok that came to my mind next - so do not disturb settings is no solution?

@alecxs, I suppose there should be a more standard solution than that tricky one. I think there should be a setting like SilentNotifications On/Off, if such thing is not present, it should be.


text:
Messages for web not updating with new texts and statuses
I am trying to use Android Messages for web. I am able to connect to the phone using the QR code, but after the initial connection, I do not get new messages automatically or any notification – I have to reload the page to see them.
When I send the message, the “Sending…” status remains and is not updated to “Distributed” either.
I have tried in Firefox and Chromium. I am using Ubuntu. The computer and phone are on the same network, and I tried with the computer using a cable or WiFi. The phone is a Samsung Galaxy S9 and the app is allowed to run in background (no battery optimisation).
I have also tried on Windows with Chrome on the same computer, and I have the issue as well. I would thus assume it comes from either the phone or the network.
I have had the problem for quite some time now, I couldn't say if it used to work in the past.

I don't know what changed, but the issue seems to have solved itself magically.


text:
Android keeps disconnecting wifi when the signal is weak/poor
I've recently bought a pixel 4a 5g phone and I'm running the latest version of Android. I'm really happy with the phone but there's one thing that is really bothering: it will use mobile data when the wifi signal is considered weak/poor.
In the old days there was an "avoid poor quality wifi networks" (or something like that) in the advanced wifi settings which used to control this behavior. However, it seems like that option is gone. Is there any way to tell Android to stop transitioning to mobile data when the wifi signal is weak?
Thanks.

Check the Wifi advanced settings. There you should find an entry named "Adaptive Connectivity".
Disable this entry.

This option on Android 13 on a Pixel 7 is in Network & Internet settings, not Wi-Fi settings. I couldn't find it at first.


text:
Is there a one click way to make a kindle fire a pure Android device?
For non-technical users, is a one click way to get rid of the amazon stuff & install stock Android?
I am trying to help a friend on another continent who has a kindle fire 7 running OS v 5.6.8 (auto-updated just a few days ago, which looks like it might be a problem).
Solutions seem to involve downloading scripts to a PC, then using Android Studio to side-load the scripts to the kindle, then running them, which would beyond my friend, even with assistance - even if they had a PC, which they do not (nor access to one), just the kindle fire.
Does anyone know of a one-click solution, or something close to it, involving only the kindle fire (7 OS 5.6.8)?

freeze app from settings. don't know kindle os, so universal way is via package manager. unfortunately that is from cmd line. but you may find some app doing this

I suppose that I could accept a command line solution, as my friend could copy/paste, as long as it i snot too complicated. Free free to post an answer, if it is simple, although it seems like there maybe complications with the newer OS. However, we can only try.

can you share links to scripts please? maybe there is a way to run that scripts from tasker https://www.xda-developers.com/tasker-5-9-2-beta-run-adb-shell-commands-without-tethered-pc

https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Default-or-Core-System-Apps-from-an-Android-Phone

that is the universal method from cmd line (adb shell) https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android

that is such kind of app, just find some with better reputation ;) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slajedteam.systemappdisabler


text:
Android Car Unit - Touchscreen not working after ignition off and reboot
I have an Android 9 radio from Klyde (CSN2_D, PX5, Rockchip rk3368). There is a power-saving feature that cuts most of power consumption after 30 sec. when ignition is off (do you call this deep sleep?). Technically yellow main power cable stays connected, red ignition power cable is cut. When I start the car the unit reboots.
My problem: Touchscreen does not work after boot. This happens only with this mode. Forcing reboot from the unit or from stock recovery or rebooting after all power cables were cut works fine. Same problem when unit is removed from the car, so it is not a wiring issue.
The problem occurrs since I tried a different launcher and removed it. It looks like this launcher changed some settings which remained permanently saved, because FM radio stations that were stored at that moment are permanently stored in the unit as well.
I tried a lot:

Firmware update Android 9
Upgrade to Android 10
MCU update with different versions
Factory and cache reset
Complete new installation with Rockchips' AndroidTool after forcing unit in Maskrom mode
Erase flash with AndroidTool and new installation

I saved dmesg.log-files and here is the difference:
Working:
[    0.907815] of_get_named_gpiod_flags: parsed 'touch-gpio' property of node '/i2c@ff140000/gt9xx_main@14[0]' - status (0)
[    0.907841] of_get_named_gpiod_flags: parsed 'reset-gpio' property of node '/i2c@ff140000/gt9xx_main@14[0]' - status (0)
[    1.004583] Goodix-TS 2-0014: GTP X_MAX: 1024, Y_MAX: 600, TRIGGER: 0x01
[    1.016532] GTP Sensor_ID: 0
[    1.016554] ## GTP: 1024x600 customer touch type: -1 ; customer type1125 index: -1
[    1.016792] input: goodix-ts as /devices/platform/ff140000.i2c/i2c-2/2-0014/input/input1

No touchscreen:
[    0.909817] of_get_named_gpiod_flags: parsed 'touch-gpio' property of node '/i2c@ff140000/gt9xx_main@14[0]' - status (0)
[    0.909843] of_get_named_gpiod_flags: parsed 'reset-gpio' property of node '/i2c@ff140000/gt9xx_main@14[0]' - status (0)
[    0.995911] <<-GTP-ERROR->> I2C Read: 0x8140, 6 bytes failed, errcode: -6! Process reset.
[    1.071450] <<-GTP-ERROR->> GTP read version failed
[    1.123893] <<-GTP-ERROR->> I2C Read: 0x8140, 6 bytes failed, errcode: -6! Process reset.
[    1.168453] usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-platform
[    1.199449] <<-GTP-ERROR->> GTP read version failed
[    1.199471] <<-GTP-ERROR->> Read version failed.

dmesg.log (crashed)
dmesg.log (working)

Any ideas what happened and how I can solve the problem?

The entry I2C Read: 0x8140, 6 bytes failed, errcode: -6 indicates that the communication on hardware level (using I2C bus system) does not work correctly. That the problems started when you changed the launcher may be coincidence, especially as you have performed a factory reset and more.

Okay, but shouldn't a hardware problem occur always and not only while rebooting from deep sleep?


text:
Changing Wear OS AVD build properties
I'm trying to get hold of one specific app: LV Watch Faces 2. I cannot find this anywhere. It's possible to extract it from an LV Wear OS watch, but I don't have them. I got an idea, maybe it's possible to change the device name/model on the Wear OS emulator for an app to appear on the emulator's Google Play Store.
I tried changing build.prop that's located in C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\system-images\android-28\android-wear\x86, but it seems like it didn't work (it shows the same default name sdk_gwear_x86)in the Settings)

Could anyone help with changing Wear OS's AVD build properties or generally suggest - does this idea make sense (changing those properties for having hardware limited store apps to appear).

Play store usually does not only use the device name for filtering. Additionally you can set-up an app to require certain features and system libraries to be present. Both can be manufacturer or even device specific. Therefore the chance of being able to download a (wear) app by just forging the device name is very very low.

@Robert Thank you, Robert! But I'd like to try anyways. I'm actually reading your instruction how to launch an avd manager (apparently, I need it to use commands for changing props). I don't get it. I open powershell in the emulator path and avd commands don't work. How would I open it?

@robert https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/182920/launch-avd-manager-from-command-line

Hi, perhaps this is an XY-problem (installing specific watch face vs changing Wear OS AVD's build properties), though Y is also a valid question. However, for tackling the X directly, have you considered alternative sources/mirror sites to download the APK (we can't guarantee its safety, but just in case...)?

@AndrewT. Hey, it really is, I'm sorry. I tried almost every mirror site - they don't have this apk.

I just tried searching for "com.sfeir.lvmh.watchface2" apk and while there are some sites, I guess you're right that they don't actually have the APK due to it being a Watch OS app...

@AndrewT. They don't.


text:
How to recover glitching Galaxy S9?
The bad
Last week I totaled a Galaxy S9's screen which I owned for over two years. I liked the phone so I headed up on Facebook market to look for another one.
I discovered a phone that I liked and went on to buy it.
When I had the phone in my hands, before paying, I run a service code (#0011# to see if all sensors/screen etc worked). This passed so I bought the phone.
Also, the phone won't do Samsung updates. It would either throw an error after download (The downloaded file is not correct) or restart when attempting.
The ugly
Here's the harsh part: not long after leaving the dodgy seller, while going home, the phone started behaving really weirdly: sudden restarts, some screen glitches, and artifacts. The phone also loses battery pretty quickly, either due to the weird sudden restarts or else.

Note the purple glitches. I was able to record these with a screenshot, meaning it comes from the GPU chip?
The good
The first thing I looked at was the water damage sticker beneath the sim tray:

I then managed to charge the phone fully and log in with a Google account, which allowed me to do further diagnostics. I installed Geekbench and run a test. The phone has a normal score for this model.
I tried filming, calling, playing games on the phone and all seems well.
The only times when the phone restarts are after receiving an error like "Google Services App crashed" or "Samsung Services App crashed" or suddenly when I try to use a service or disable/uninstall blootware.
I also managed to get the phone to update through Samsung Smart Switch to the latest update (Security Patch 1 Dec 2020)
Resolution:
I have a few options for repairing this weird phone

Find what version of firmware I could flash on the phone and hope for a stock experience (including bootloader etc) - This option assumes that the hardware is intact, the chipset has no water damage, etc.

Open the, in which case I lose IP68 (assuming this is not lost already) and change the motherboard with my old phone's.

How to proceed from here?
I am a bit unfamiliar with choosing the right firmware etc. I have the following information in the phone's software info:

One U.I 2.1

Android 10

Baseband version: G960FXXSBETG8

Kernel version: 4.9.118-18847185 # 1 Mon Aug KST 2020

Build number QP1A.190711.020.G960FXXSBETH1

Knox 3.4.1 API level 30 TIMA 4.0.0

Service provider SW ver.: SAOMC_SM-G960F_CKH_DRE_QQ_0009 / 2b282a7f23017ece (DRE/DRE/DRE)

CSC: G960FCKHCFTK1

AP: G960FXXSCFTK2

CP: G960FXXUCFTJ1

I tried downloading this firmware version, but from what I've read the bootloader version here is too old and cannot replace the current bootloader. How can I determine the bootloader version on my phone? XDA forums say it's the 5th digit from the Build Number. However, my Build Number doesn't seem to respect the format of the above file.
Can anyone suggest what to do next? I'm itching to open the phone, but I think it's wiser to try and repair it from firmware.

https://www.xda-developers.com/samloader-download-updates-samsung-galaxy

https://android.stackexchange.com/q/202491 https://android.stackexchange.com/q/205892

Thank you alecxs for your support. It kept restarting and showing a bicolour (green/blue) padlock which I assumed was a security feature from the carrier. The phone will work for extended periods of time, however, it would randomly restart when using standard google/samsung services, even with a new firmware.

bootloader level is increased in 1 digit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D
G960FXXSBETH1 = B
G960FXXUCFTJ1 = C
you can download rom for SM-G960F from updato, samfirm, frija or samloader. try lowest bootloader first, as you already stated downgrade is impossible (and higher version usually comes with higher protection against rooting). you can check bootloader version from download mode screen

related: RMM state is one of these problematic features in bootloader


text:
Get app's compatibilty matrix from Play Store
I am trying to figure out why Play Store claims that an app is incompatible with my device. Sideloading the app works fine, I'd just like to get it over the Play Store so that I don't have to update manually.
I know that, as a developer, you can set criteria on what devices are compatible to your app.
Is there any way to get those criteria as a customer?

Related: How can I find a compatible device for a given app on Play Store?

But if the manifest states incompatibility it should block the user from installing, independent from the Play Store. The app I am talking about is Netflix, and it is fully working on my phone.

Some years ago the protocol used by Google Play Store internally to query and download app was so nice to present you the exact reason why you can not download an app (e.g. the responses on network level contained the data what feature, library or what so ever your device misses).
Unfortunately some years ago (I think it was about 2016) Google changed the protocol and nowadays you only get the response like INCOMPATIBLE but no further details.
If you manage to get the APK file you can decompile the app and check it's AndroidManifest.xml for the technical limitations. However using a device that satisfies all the requirements defined in AndroidManifest.xml does not necessary means that Play Store allows to to download that app.
Play Store only allows you to download an app it the rules defined by the app developer allows to do so. When uploading an app app developer can explicitly allow or deny certain devices, manufacturer, countries, network operators and many more. Most of those restrictions are not mappable to the restrictions in AndroidManifest.xml. Therefore side-loading may work even if Play Store doe snot allow you do download an app.
As far as I know there is no way to view those rules defined by the app developer. Hence the only way to regenerate those rules is using a large number of devices and test on each one if an app is available or not. Based on that results you can reverse-engineer the rules.
There are some services that collect these information using multiple devices in many countries and provide those information. Service are for example: 42matters.com AppBrain.com and many more.
Most of those service are not free or only provide a very limited data set for the free accounts.


text:
How to tell which partitions to backup in recovery (TWRP)?
I have TWRP as my recovery on a Galaxy phone. There are so many options to choose which partitions to backup. What do they all do? My goal is to be able to recover from the largest number of disasters. However I think restoring some partitions can lead to a boot loop, because this recently happened to me.

depending on TWRP fstab you should see only rom related partitions. for full backup compare partition list from terminal 'ls -d $(find /dev/block -name by-name)/*' usually all (or most) partitions can be downloaded, no need to backup. for daily use just backup /boot /system /vendor /data /data/media/0 and do not wipe other partitions


text:
How can i get back my files from userdata dump (dumepd via LGUP)?
A while ago i soft bricked my LG V30, then before i flashed a new Rom i created a LGUP dump which gave me lots of files includung a 54 GB userdata file.
The phone is currently up and running with the new Rom after a factory reset, the thing i am after are my Files that are in the Userdata dump.
What i have tried/googled:

I have mounted the system Partition as EXT4 under Ubuntu which has worked perfectly fine, but when i try this with the userdata it doesnt work.
I have read that it is possible to (somehow) create a flashable KDZ or TOT file that apparently can be put back on the phone. I had no luck finding a tool or any instructions on how to do this.
I have heard that you can push a partition to the Phone via ADB. This went similar to #2 as i wasnt able to find any instructions or something like that on google.
Also i have tried to mount the userdata file on my phone through the ADB shell, but this wasnt successful because the shell doesnt have root permissions.
I also have tried the partition dl feature in LGUP with the phone in Download mode but UP gives me an error that the file isnt in a KDZ or TOT format.

Can anyone help? I am desperately trying to get my files back.
Does anyone know why the mount under Linux doesnt work? This would be the easyest way to get the files.

The user data partition is most likely encrypted (Full Disk Encryption) and can only be decrypted using the key integrated into the hardware of your old phone. You can test your user data partition using the Linux command ent. For en encrypted file the entropy result should be next to 8 bits per character (7.9... would be a an expected value).

as Robert stated 1. is impossible. regarding 2./5. please provide file names (backup)


text:
How do I get any browser available on Android to open a fixed set of urls on startup?
How do I get any browser available on Android to open a fixed set of urls on startup?

This solution requires Tasker (paid; trial version here) app. It is tested on a OnePlus 6 running Android 10.

How do I get any browser available on Android to open a fixed set of urls on startup?

You can't, unless a browser app (doesn't matter which browser) is selected as default Browser app or is selected as default app to handle certain protocols (such as http, https, etc.). So this solution is assuming that one of the installed browser apps is already set as a the default Browser app or as default app for the said protocols. Otherwise, the solution would not work.
Before you proceed, create a text file in your Android (or copy into it) with a list of your URLs. Make sure that all URLs are separated with a common separator. A common separator can be a new line -- each URL limited to a separate line, or each URL separated by a comma, or anything that is easier for you to setup. I suggest separate line. Example:
https://www.urlone.com
https://www.urltwo.com
https://www/urlthree.com

You also need to make sure that each URL starts with a protocol identifier. In my example, it is https://. If you don't prefix the protocol, the intent that Tasker would be sending would not be resolved to our satisfaction.
Now, let's move on to Tasker. Following is a profile and a task (with actions) that you need to setup in Tasker. If you are new to Tasker, you can get yourself familiar with tutorials on the web.
Profile: Event → System → Device Boot
Task:

System → Send Intent

Action: android.intent.action.VIEW
Cat: none
Data: https://www.google.com
Target: Activity
leave rest of the entries untouched

File → Read File

File: use lens/search icon to select your text file containing list of Urls
To Var: %data

Variables → Array Set

Variable Array: %urls
Values: %data
Splitter: press Enter key once so that new line is used as spliiter

Task → For

Variable: %url
Items: %urls()

Task → Wait → MS: 200

System → Send Intent

Action: android.intent.action.VIEW
Cat: none
Data: %url
Target: Activity
leave rest of the entries untouched

Task → End For

Alright. So what is happening here is that I am sending an intent to launch the default browser with URL https://www.google.com. I am reading the text file into an array, and than I am running a For loop on each element of that array. Each element is than used as a data (URL) to send the intent. That intent than is resolved and the tab with the corresponding URL is opened in the browser app. I am  also using a wait/timer of 200 milliseconds so that the browser doesn't miss my URL when intents are resolved rapidly.
If your device is slow, you may have to increase the wait time.
Also, the reason I am launching the browser app in the first action is to make sure the app is loaded into the memory already. I had noticed that Tasker continued to fire the intents but the browser only loaded the URLs when it was ready.
This method worked for Firefox and Chrome (both with latest versions at the time of writing this answer), whenever any of them was set as the default browser app.
Note: for some reason which I didn't investigate into, Firefox didn't load all of my 42 URLs in the text file. 1-3 URLs were never opened. Worked fine on Chrome.
Try it out!

Do you know if it is possible to use a free app like Automate or Macrodroid to do this?

I tried them (because Tasker is a paid app) but could not get them to do this. :(


text:
Android - Simulate display with cutout
The new 'Simulate display with cutout' feature is very useful for android development for making sure an app will work on all devices, however there are some types of cutouts I would like to try for which I am not given the option.
Does anyone know how to add new cutout presets for this feature?

There is a class named android.view.DisplayCutout that is used to define the cutout areas. Unfortunately it seems like the only way to add a new cutout is to change it in the AOSP sources, hence you have to compile your own ROM.


text:
Looking for a pseudo-random shuffled classic Android Klondike solitaire game
Hypothesis: Most classic Android Klondike solitaire apps are "rigged" to allow the player to win more often than they would if they were playing from a pseudo-random shuffled deck.
Opinion: This is done to maintain interest in the particular app; vis-à-vis, the possible frustration of frequently losing.
Request: Can anyone recommend a classic Android Klondike solitaire app such that the shuffle is pseudo-random?
Thanks!
Joe

What if you are simply good? :-)

There are a number of open source solitaire card apps where any "rigging" should be easily identified in code or at worst ask the respective owners/maintainers.

PeterH, Thanks for the kind words. The difference between my performance when playing with a well-shuffled deck of cards and when playing electronic solitaire is significant. Not necessarily an order of magnitude different, but likely 4X or 5X.

Morrison, the last time I read, wrote or modified code of any sort was in the mid- to late-80's. Maybe I should look under the hood of some open source solitaire apps for laughs and giggles. Unfortunately, all of the 7 or 8 inquiries I made went unanswered.


text:
Problem with a sdcard under Android 7.1.2 three partitions can not be mounted / used
Happy New Year!
there is a problem with my sdcard under Android 7.1.2 (Custom Rom) (root=true, adb=possible).
The vFat Partition can be used, but the rest is not mounted and can not be used.
mmcblk1p1 vfat 183 GB Status : OK
mmcblk1p2 ext4 16 MB android meta Status: not mounted
mmcblk1p3 ext4 64 GB Status: not mounted (primary) (want to use that partition as adoptable Partition for extra internal memory)
mmcblk1p4 ext4 2 GB Status: not mounted (primary) (want to use that partition as SWAP Partition for extra RAM)
Trying to mount the Partition3 (64 GB) gives the error

mount: mounting /dev/block/mmcblk1p3 on /data/sdwyt2 failed: Invalid argument

Other similar error messages may also occur.
Any help welcome !

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

Found the answer to my question myself here:
Solution: On devices running Android 7.0-8.1, file-based encryption (FBE) can't be used together with adoptable storage.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60173545/why-i-got-this-error-please-adoptable-storage-not-available-on-device-with-nat


text:
Is it possible to recover the digit prompts given a phone number?
Let's say I call a number and enter a certain sequence of digits in response to the machine prompts. Is it possible to recover that sequence as part of the call history?

@peterh-ReinstateMonica I guess OP is talking about entering digits in response to input asked by an  IVR system on call. OP wants to know what digits they had entered. That's my guess.

@Firelord is correct, I'm not sure how else to describe that.

depends on phone app. try another dialer from google play store


text:
Is there a window zoom shortcut on android 10 without using physical buttons?
On android 9 I was able to utilize the "window zoom" vision accessibility feature by triple tapping on the home button to bring it up. On android 10 I cannot find that option. The only shortcut I can find for accessibility settings is to press the volume up and power button at the same time. Is there any way to get window zoom by tapping virtual buttons on android 10?
To clarify, there is a zoom feature that magnifies the whole screen by triple tapping anywhere on the screen, but I do not like this feature as it causes apps with virtual buttons like calculators to become laggy and less responsive. I specifically want the "window zoom" feature for when I play a game with text that is too small at times and I would like to activate it in-game without using the volume and power buttons.
Edit: My phone is an LG G7 thinQ

Is there no setting named Magnification?

@Firelord I get no search result in settings for "Magnification"


text:
Fastboot mode in my violet is blacked out
The thing is when I get my phone into fastboot mode, the interface is like nothing; it's totally blacked out.
I thought of connecting it with my PC and it is detecting the phone successfully. But when I wrote the commands to detect the fastboot, it isn't showing up.
I'm very frustrated that I can't change my custom recovery. My custom recovery is showing some errors so I also can't change my ROM.
How to fix this issue?

Blacked out means the logo isn't showing up

In fastboot mode no logo is shown. Only in stock recovery mode a "logo" (usually an Android robot in background) is shown. In fastboot/bootloader mode a text menu is shown, controllable via vol_up/vol_down + power.

By "violet", did you mean Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro (violet)?


text:
How can I use Termux with the JuiceSSH interface?
I would like to use Termux and its package manager as a local terminal, but I cannot get used to its keyboard. The volume buttons are a poor choice IMO, as they require significant finger pressure and only work some of the times, at least on my phone (OnePlus 6.)
On the contrary, I find JuiceSSH's keyboard and overall terminal interface perfect.
Can I use JuiceSSH to open a local Termux session? How?
If that's not possible, is there a plugin for Termux that makes the keyboard work more like JuiceSSH's?
I tried executing Termux's bash from a JuiceSSH "local" session, but they are run under different Unix users (u0_a214 vs u0_a198) and so anything I try to do gives Permission Denied.

Termux is an open source app. If you have suggestions how it could/should be improved you should create an issue in the GitHub project: https://github.com/termux/termux-app

It's already supported.
I created a ~/.termux/termux.properties with the following contents:
extra-keys = [ \
 ['ESC','|','/','-','HOME','UP','END','PGUP'], \
 ['TAB','CTRL','ALT','DEL','LEFT','DOWN','RIGHT','PGDN'] \
]
extra-keys-style = arrows-only

It's enabled by opening the left sidebar (swipe from the left screen edge) and long-pressing on the "keyboard" button.
Documentation here: https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Touch_Keyboard


text:
Recover data from a phone that says decryption unsuccessful
I have a OnePlus device which is setup with face unlock, fingerprint and pattern unlock. Non rooted, stock Oxygen 10 and stock recovery. Locked bootloader.
My phone recently froze while unlocking and after a reboot it now says decryption unsuccessful. I seek some help in figuring out what my options are from here on. What must I do, so that I do not loose my data?

Will it be possible to perform a device dump from fastboot/adb and flash it to a similar device with similar pattern lock and get my files back?
Is there a way to backup the /data (apps, books, pictures, music) from fastboot/adb and have them decrypted in some other way? Or pull /data from adb/fastboot, reset phone and reflash the /data and hope for decryption?
Can I reset my phone without losing data?
Or should I reflash the stock OS?

Any pointers will be appreciated! Thank you!

Encrypted user data dumps are encrypted with a key that is bound to the chip in your phone. An identical phone can has a different key and thus can not decrypt the dump.

So can we fetch this key assuming I dump my data and rest my phone, and them attempt to decrypt the dump on my same device?

The key is bound to the hardware chip and the installed OS. You can use it on the device but extraction is not possible as this is not supported by the installed OS.

Does this answer your question? FBE encryption bootloader state in keys


text:
Plug Android smartpone into PC without loading | LineageOS
I am using my main smartphone for developing Android apps and doing research.
I set everything up and searched for a specific option under USB Preferences, when connected to my computer.
As I don't want to drain the capacity of my smartphone, I'd kinda like an option like Data transer, but do not load, so that the battery can have normal battery cycles instead of always staying at 100% because it's connected to my computer.
However, I didn't find anything in the preferences or on the internet.
Does anyone know if there is an option for enabling adb to still function but disable charging while connected to the computer?
Btw, I am using LineageOS 17.1.

There are multiple questions here about disable USB charging, e.g. Disable USB charging. As you have LineageOS you can root your device easily and try those solutions if they still work. On some Lenovo devices I have seen on option to disable charging unless battery is lower than 40% and stop charging when it reaches 60%).

Alright, thank you, @Robert. Indeed, I have access to a root adb shell, but I cannot root the device easily, as the root kit is no longer provided since LineageOS 17. I'll try those solutions, though.  My smartphone is indeed a Lenovo, but I couldn't find any of the options you described.


text:
Google Photos deletes copy and original on device
I'm facing a very strange issue with the Google Photos app. Every time I copy an image with "copy to folder" (specifically not "move to folder") and then delete either the copy or the original image, both are gone.
In the trash only one image appears after that. If restored both images are back.
This is not the behavior that I natively expect. When I delete one image, I want the other one to still remain untouched in its folder.
I have searched for a solution myself, but was unsuccessful. (I only found unanswered threads like this one.)
My question is: Why is this happening and is there a way to change this behavior?

Google Photos version: 5.23.3.348108244 (newest to date)
Android version: 10

After a while of trying around, I found a solution.
This behavior of the Google Photos app seems to be intended, because it is more an interface for the network service to synchronize images, and less of a gallery app. It keeps track of exact copies and synchronizes them as one. Therefore they are deleted as one instance, even though they are stored multiple times on the device.
Nevertheless, there is a (rather hidden) function implemented that does exactly what I wanted instead.
Instead of using the trash icon...

                            Screenshot of a device folder opened with Google Photos. Trash icon highlighted.
... under the available options, when an image is selected, there is a "Delete from device" option doing the trick:

        Screenshot of a device folder opened with Google Photos. Option menu open. "Delete from device" highlighted.
Note: With this method the image remains in the cloud even if it's removed from all synced folders.
I hope I could help someone who has encountered the same problem.


text:
How to turn off vibration for incoming messages in Google Chat (not Hangouts) - Android 10?
I can't find a setting anywhere in that app. I'm aware of the options present: All messages, New threads, @mentions, etc.
I want those notifications. I just don't want the vibration.
Tried going into Manage your google account. Couldn't find anything there either.
Tried several google search queries:
turn off vibration notification google chat site:reddit.com
turn off vibration notification "google chat" site:reddit.com
turn off vibration notification "google chat" site:reddit.com -intitle:hangouts
turn off vibration notification "google chat" site:superuser.com -intitle:hangouts
turn off vibration notification "google chat" site:stackexchange.com -intitle:hangouts

Nothing was useful.

I noticed, just by accident, that on my phone vibration is turned off when the battery manager is on. So this might be a fallback for other vibrating apps.

Go to App Info

Click on Notifications

Click on the Messages (didn't know that it could be clicked; was assuming it'd just toggle)

Expand the Advanced section

Toggle Vibrate

Was desperate; so decided to ask SE.
But, found the answer right before submitting it; so, sharing it.


text:
How to send (email-)file(s) from phone to phone using phone numbers instead of an email account?
In the good old days files were sent from computer to computer using modems and (copper wire) telephone lines. No email account needed, no server between them, just the computers, the phones and the telephone numbers.
I would be shocked if that would not be possible today.
So question is: How can I send (email-)file(s) from phone to phone using phone numbers instead of an email account, especially not using Whatsapp or anything else between the phones.
I'm new here and so probably there will be better tags then those used now.

Direct phone-to-phone data transfer, on sound channel, is today inherently incompatible with the system. Some decades ago, an (even at the time) slow communication was possible by modems (with maximal transfer rate of 56 kb/s). Today the providers use various compression algorithms which optimize the sound transfer (for human voice), but limit the bit rate to about 800 bit/sec. Furthermore, doing it is inherently alien from the androids (although still possible).
What remains, that is the tcp pased, direct digital communication between phones.
Here the case is far more easy, if both phones are on the same local network. Namely:

You can send and get files by bluetooth. It is similar to wifi, except that the practical range is only some meter. Bluetooth is a well integrated builtin functionality of all android phones.
If the phones are on the same wifi network, you can install an sftp server on one of them (example), and then use an sftp client (example) to send/receive data. This is painful at first, but after everything is set up, it can be done nearly so easy like the "common" solution.

You can also have your own server (accessible over the internet, or accessible over a vpn) what you can use for a cloud-independent intermediate storage. This requires some skill to set up.
Direct phone-phone communication over the internet is problematic, but sometimes works. Typically ISPs dislike the incoming connections and they often filter them. Their reason is security, what could be an acceptable reason - if the whole behavior of the whole system would not point consequently to the direction, that somehow you always need to upload all your data to hostile USA companies (and "services"). If the ISPs you use do not filter so vehemently, you can do the sftp-based data transfer even if you are not on the same wifi.
You can also use your own home wifi router as a VPN access point. That means that anywhere on the world, you can connect home and enter virtually into your home network, accessing also the phones on it.
All of them requires work - "the system" very clearly does everything to prevent you from doing this, but it is still possible and you can do.
Another option is using tor to make your phones accessible from everywhere. You will need to learn, and in the reality, this is what prevents the commoners to doing that massively. A legal prohibition would not be so efficient.
Your exact system configuration, well that depend on a lot of things, but it is possible. All your options will require learning and work. Only direct data transfer over phone lines, over sound channels, is not possible.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.


text:
How to make a bootable ISO from Android CLI? (via Termux or Proot-distro)
I know there are some .APK apps that do it, but none seems to work for me (but if you have any suggestions, I'll try).
I have LineageOS on my PC. So, my question is How to make a bootable stick with in Termux?
Which commande should I install?
I have also installed some proot-distros installed (I'm currently testing them as a newbie), so, could I use one of them? Should I try to use Multisystem?
I had good success with Multisystem, so if I could use it either as their bootable ISO or their .deb with success, if you think it's possible, I'll listen to your suggestions.
EDIT: As asked, I add some precisions about my goal.
I'm trying to install a Multisystem ISO (or as a .deb package)
Installation inside a distro, as a .deb package: http://liveusb.info/dotclear/index.php?pages/install
Multisystem as an ISO here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/multisystem/files/iso/
I need to resize my /system partition, and If I can, create a /recovery partition, so I need to use Gparted ISO. And on the same USB, I need Also a recovery if my AndroidX86 fails to start.
So I decided to install Multisystem to make a multi-ISO stick.

Have you considered using dd? For an Ubuntu ISO, you can try this.  Also, it is best if you mention the link of the ISO you are using to make your USB bootable. How to make a bootable stick with in Termux? -- this makes things unclear. A stick is useless in itself in terms of making it bootable. What you are trying to boot from it is what matters.

Could you make it an answer? I think it worths it, I will try your method. I'll add the ISO link.


text:
Backup / Restore Titanium Backup's labels
When I move to a new phone, I only want to install my previously installed user apps.
I use a label to identify which apps are currently installed, vs old ones, vs system apps.
How can I backup and restore my TiBk labels?

From the old ROM, save a copy of /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/databases/custom.

Settings->Apps, force stop TiBak, wipe its data.
Run TiBk (this creates an initial set of databases). Check busybox, etc are OK.
Again: Settings->Apps, stop TitBak.
Replace /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/databases/custom with the copy from the old ROM
Restart TiBk; profit.

Credit


text:
How to check existing Android Exchange Domain settings?
I am installing my wife's new phone using Samsung Smart Switch.
It nicely installs all apps, including Outlook, however it does not copy the account settings for her Exchange mail.
I know her Outlook mail address, mail server name and password, but have not been able to find her domain setting in any documentation or in the settings of her old phone (domain\username).
Is there any way to discover that domain setting on her old mobile? I have tried to find it, without any luck. And service desk of her work is unavailable during the weekend. Hence my question.

Are you aware that by using MS Outlook app the credentials are saved in the Microsoft cloud which acts as a man-in-the middle between Outlook app and the actual mail server. Hence it is not a mail app, instead it is a mail viewer for a mail system that is located in the MS cloud. As we are talking about a work profile this may be disallowed by the company (give foreign companies access to the work mail system).

Hi Robert, tnx for your feedback.. it is allowed by the Company... and we discovered the domain credentials in the meantime ... It's working now..Cheers, Albert

Do you use office365 or a company exchange install? In both cases, she can likely find the domain in her desktop outlook settings (probably she uses a desktop machine in work).


text:
Device or resource busy when deleting Youtube folder from /data/app
I am trying to delete my /data/app/com.google.android.youtube-DVUYe6iX9r5J1nYk8PlC2w== folder to fix the bug described here; however, I keep getting a "Device or resource busy" message. I tried using this command
adb pull /data/adb/service.d/vanced.sh > %UserProfile%\Desktop\vanced.sh

and also Total Commander file manager but received the same error. How can I delete the folder?

Is your device rooted?

A reboot has a good chance to solve this resource busy thing - do the deletion before starting youtube. But as Andrew suggests, probably you have simply no permission to delete that folder without rooting.

Yes. I am rooted with Magisk. I tried deleting it as soon as I rebooted but same problem.

Checking with https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joeykrim.rootcheck also confirmed I had root access.

The problem was caused by the Vanced-related files in /data/adb and /data/adb/service.d operating on the Youtube folder hence it being busy. The solution was to delete all of these files, reboot, then delete the Youtube folder. It seems the Vanced contributor failed to realize this and instructed me to delete the Youtube folder while Vanced was still operating on it.


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How to fix error messages (failed /efs unmount; failed to find misc partition) on stock recovery screen?
This Samsung phone was given to me. I had no clue about the frp when I reset it.  I wondered the easiest way to get past it because I'm like two days into starting to learn this stuff and I'd like my phone back. There are two messages on the recovery screen I don't understand. The first is:

E:ensure_path_unmounted failed to unmount /efs (device or resource busy)

I would also like to add that I did factory reset it once without the sim card in it I'm not sure if that affects anything.
The second message this one is at the bottom (the other is at the top under the menu says):

E:failed to open /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/misc: No such file or directory

Actually reading through it there are two more similar to these two.

When you got the phone was it working?

Yes and the verizon software update and repair thing was working on it all night but I don't know how to put it into the proper mode to transfer the software to it without getting into the phone which I still couldn't do.  Oddly, I restarted it a moment ago and got a weird green screen with gears saying android was starting which I'd never seen before.  I tried all those tutorials where they get to google, I couldn't before but my screen isn't quite so monotone now so maybe I can now who knows.  I'll try and let you know.

ignore that messages, that are leftovers from previous rom version. missing misc partition is due a change to fota partition, most likely some lazy samsung developer forgot to fix recovery.fstab

Does this answer your question? How to bypass "Verify your account" (Factory Reset Protection)

frp = "factory reset protection", nice to know. Before you buy a device, first always google, does it have similar dishonest practice. If yes, boycott the whole manufacturer.


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How to get Android Pie style recent apps on Android 5?
I'm back with another question. Let's make it simple. I want to have the horizontal style recent apps view ie Android 9+ style recent apps view in my rooted Android 5.1 phone. I have searched both on Google and YouTube but no solutions found. Any answers to this?
I am looking forward to the community's answers.
Edit:
After a comment from William, I am adding the picture of what I mean.
Recent apps preview:
How I have it now:

How I want to have it:

I hope this helps to further understand my question.

System-wide customization usually needs root or even custom ROM. I don't think this can be solved only with apps.

I've already mentioned that I have root. So, any solutions now?

Could you add a picture I'm not sure what you mean.