text:
How to disable "Flash while ringing" on the Xiaomi A2 Lite
My Xiaomi A2 Lite flashlight illuminates whenever I get a phone call. How can I disable this feature?
I tried looking at Settings > Apps & Notification > Phone > Phone > App notification > Incoming calls. Unfortunately there is no "Flash while ringing" option there.

Try this:

Go to Settings.
Tap on System Apps.
Tap on Phone Section.
Choose Incoming Call Settings.
Now disable “Flash when ringing” option.

Try this:
Open Phone App → click the three horizontal bars in the bottom left corner → Settings.
Alternatively, go to Settings → App Settings Section → System Apps → Call settings. You should now be in call settings. Now go to Incoming calls settings → Flash while ringing.
If you require pictures, you can follow the introduction and #3 in the 10 Best Xiaomi Redmi Devices Call Settings Tips & Tricks article.


text:
Can't download due to no storage. I have enough storage
I keep getting a error saying cannot download not enough space. But according to my phone I have 429MB and the file I want downloaded is only 40.08MB. I don't want to use my SD card because the file will be deleted later but, it's needed now. What should I do?

How much storage does your phone have?

Android considers a phone lacking storage if less than 10% of its total storage is free. Bring the value of stored materials off the trigger value of 10%. Plenty of questions here with answers about that to find.

That 429 mb is not all for the tangible storage of the phone. Some of those are for cache, system storage etc

Do you have your permissions set for the app in which you are downloading from?! Sometimes you can't even save your settings if they can not write to the drive/device.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
SD card write permission issues after restoring from backup to an identical phone model
I've been using LineageOS 14.1 on a rooted unlocked Samsung S7 (G930F) for a long time. My phone started dying, so I rebooted to TWRP and managed to take a full backup to the SD card before it died. Because TWRP doesn't have an option to include internal user storage files, I lost that partition but it didn't have much I missed - the backup contains my chats, contacts, and apps+data, and DCIM (pics) was being saved on the SD card anyway.
I bought a replacement phone of the identical model, wiped it, unlocked it, transferred over the SD card and SIM cards, installed TWRP, then used that to wipe system+data+cache, and restore all my saved partitions (except boot+baseband+EFS) to the new phone.
It worked fine, but I've found that programs such Titanium and FX file manager can't write to the sdcard. I suspect some files can't be read either, as am attempt to copy a 10GB backup folder to internal storage (18G free) failed for unknown reasons after about 6GB in FX.
So there is clearly some kind of permissions issue going on. But what?
I know the rough scenario of sd card permission changes that came in at the time of KitKat, but that knowledge hasn't helped me resolve it either.
Unlike most scenarios, I've still got the identical combination of system partition + sd card, so unless the file permissions are also locked to say, IMEI or something else equally unlikely, I'm confused why it's having such a problem, and how to resolve it.

Does Titanium see the external storage. They're are options from within app to make sure it does

See this https://android.stackexchange.com/q/172136/131553

@beeshyams - yes Titanium does see it. It can restore backups but not create them on the SD card. FX explorer has a similar issue, can read but not create files on the card, apparently. The linked question doesn't help, it's mainly about compatibility of restored data on a different model, not issues with writing new (additional) backups to the same card after a successful restore of the original system to an identical model.

Did you check the permissions of those apps from settings? This is a guess but toggling access permissions and reboot may help

I'm starting to be unclear if it's write perms or card defect. Will say more once I've tested card - when I know how

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


text:
PC no longer recognizing Android Device
While I never had problems before with my Android phone, suddenly one day when I was connecting my phone to the PC via USB it stopped working. Both my PC and my phone didn't detect each other. Strangely enough, it can still charge with the USB cable connected.
I tried the following with no results:

I supposed the cable was wrong so I bought a brand new one, but still both the PC and the Android phone refused to detect each other.
Checked in every port of my PC (I tested the functionality of the ports with a normal USB stick, and they work perfectly).
Enabled USB debugging option in the phone.
Tried to update USB drivers through Device Manager. The problem here is that it doesn't even show any Android device or at least an unknown device connected to the USB port, so I can't even force the search for new drivers.

I also tested both cables with two other Android phones I have (suspecting it was the fault of the phone), but still no results.

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit, and my phone has Android 5.0. I tested with a Samsung, and LG, and a Huawei but neither worked.
Do you have any idea or advice on how to solve this?

What device are you using?

LGK200MT (X Style)

This link may help you. Download driver mentioned in @HEWhoDoesn'tKnow's answer, and follow the steps in this link  https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/93168/android-5-0-lollipop-device-not-detected-via-usb?rq=1

Does the Android phone recognize the USB connection? Have you checked the phone USB port for dust?

The Android phone doesn't recognize it's been connected to the PC, but it does begin to charge normally (that's why I initially thought it was an issue with the cable). But I checked with a brand new USB cable, and even tried other two phones I found but neither of them worked. I also checked for dust in all the USB ports of my computer, and they work just fine when I insert a memory USB stick.

Thanks @RahulGopi, I'm going to try that solution this afternoon to see if I can get it to run with the Google drivers.

@Charlie If you succeeded, you may like to self answer- that would help others in future

@besshyams To be honest, the problem just randomly dissapeared before I even tried one of the previous methods, so I'm not really sure what happened. At least this discards a problem with the drivers, the USB cable, or the phone itself, and the solution was likely to a hidden update of my PC I'm unaware off.

At the end, the problem suddenly faded away before even trying one of the previous solutions. This discards a problem with the USB connection, the phone, or the USB drivers from the PC.
My best guess is that a hidden update or a background program (of which I'm unaware of) was causing the problem, so if anyone has a similar issue, by best advice is to follow the advices of updating the drivers, restoring to a previous state, or just switch ports until finding one that works.

That must be a USB Driver problem. Download the files in here and follow the instructions.

Thanks. I downloaded the files, installed them, restarted the computer, and tried again to connect the Android to the PC via USB. However, it still fails to detect the device on both sides. I even checked with the other phones by downloading their drivers and neither of them are recognized even with the brand new USB cable. I'll try later on another computer later to see if the problem is indeed my PC.


text:
Is it possible to successfully adjust predictive text for offensive words?
I am using a oneplus 5t, and Gboard. I use signal to text.
I have cleared the personal dictionary within gboard, and I have also enabled "do not make offensive suggestions" in the keyboard options. I don't believe signal has an associated settings option.
Still.. for some reason when I type 'sucking', I get 2/3 followup suggestions that are predictably offensive.
I would just rather not see words like this, and I can guarantee I've never used this particular combination of words before, so I don't understand why this is happening.
Either the "offensive predictive text" function is broken, or these words are not considered to be part of that dictionary (I find this hard to believe). Or something else entirely...

Are the suggested words offensive words (you wouldn't mind never seeing those words again in any context) or are they only offensive in this context?

@Lazer you are correct and I hadn't considered that part - I am referring here to Richard (Dick) Tracy and a Rooster (cock).

It seems that you can dis-associate the word from the phrase by deleting it as a suggestion. As per Get word suggestions & fix mistakes:

Get word suggestions & fix mistakes

On your Android phone or tablet, install Gboard.
Open any app that you can type with, like Gmail or Keep.
Tap where you can enter text.
Type a word. At the top of the keyboard, you’ll see suggestions:

If you see the word you want, tap it.
If you don’t like a suggested word, touch and hold it, and then drag the word to Trash.

I tried it out and I don't get the test word I moved to trash as a suggestion for the one that I dis-associated it from, but I still get it as a suggestion after other words.

This is the correct answer and was much simpler than I had imagined - and for some reason did not turn up in my own searching. Works perfectly.


text:
S7 Edge stuck on loading screen with Samsung logo
I have used my S7 since 2017. Then I got another phone. After three months of being in a box, I tried to power up the S7 Edge. I got surprised as it now is stuck on Samsung logo screen.
Phone was charged and was working before I put it in a box. When I took it out, it would not respond at all, battery was dried totally. Even being charged 100% does not fix the issue.
These are the steps I tried:
1. Wipe cache partition
2. Master reset
3. Safe mode
4. Reboot to bootloader
All of them do not work, phone is always stuck with Samsung splash screen. When I enter the Volume DOWN, Home and Power key menu, I see the message:
Installing System Update (stays for several seconds), then it shows error. After that I enter Android recovery.
Phone responds to charging normally. It has that animation showing power percentage when its turned off.
Any advice as what program and what I need to do to restore the phone so it can boot is more then welcome :).

It's been a while since I last owned a Samsung, but my best guess would be to try and flash a new ROM using Odin. Here's a link that explains how to do this.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/ambassador-guides-tips-how-tos/499009-guide-samsung-how-flash-stock-rom-via-odin-new-interface.html
on Sammobile, you'll find the original Samsung ROMs, which are normally safe to flash as long as you pick the correct one for your device.


text:
How to emulate swipe actions with keyboard for Android-x86?
I want to play some RPG games on Android, but I own a mediocre phone which does not run them well. Running them inside Android-x86 on my PC sure runs them better, but there's just one problem: these apps don't support keyboard/mouse control. They have virtual navigation buttons on screen, which need be both tapped and swiped. I can do that with the mouse, but that's not useful. I need to bind specific tap and swipe actions with keyboard buttons, so that whenever I press that key, the corresponding tap/swipe actions will be emulated on corresponding part of the screen. Is there a solution for this? Or is it a far cry?

I was looking for the same thing. Managed to do this with this specific emulator.
Check it out. https://www.bignox.com/blog/how-to-use-keyboard-mapping-to-play-android-games-on-pc/

I'm looking for the same thing, but nòt with any emulator, with Lineage, directly as an OS on the PC.


text:
How to make adb shell commands wrap single line to multiple lines by default?
Let's say I have this long one-liner command:
am force-stop com.example.foo; am force-stop com.example.bar; am force-stop com.example.foo2 am force-stop com.example.bar2; am force-stop com.example.foo; am force-stop com.example.bar; ps|grep example

When I copy-paste into terminal, it doesn't wrap as multiple lines like ordinary terminal do, instead it keep single line:

As you can see, I can't view whole commands in single screen when the cursor move to the end by copy-paste OR press End. It only shows partial commands and not able to re-copy part of command easily.
Desired behavior:

Is it possible ? I learned that COLUMNS=150 can increase the adb command width from 80 to 150, but still I can't found a way to achieve this.
Note that I don't want to add \ manually which also not working when reuse the command:

My workaround is use busybox sh, but still I welcome any answer to achieve this in native way without busybox.


text:
Moto G5 Plus Wi-Fi disconnects every now and then
Moto G5 Plus (XT1686 - Boot-loader locked) running on Stock Android 8.1.0 with latest security patch(August 2018) disconnects from Wi-Fi network for no apparent reason. My device is right next to the Wi-Fi Router (Other devices have no issue with connection at the same location) , the Network strength is high. 10 seconds after getting disconnected from the network, it tries to connect back to the network and it works for another 2 minutes before getting disconnected from the network.
This issue occurs randomly (Could not blame/pinpoint certain installed Apps). I booted into Safe mode to check if it happens because of a particular App on my phone. But the issue occurred on Safe mode.Also, I don't think the problem is my Wi-Fi Router(D-Link DIR-600M) because the issue occurs with WiFi Routers at my workplace, Friend's home as well.
I tried every workaround mentioned in the forum here.

I have turned OFF Turn off WiFi Scanning
Forget Network, Add it back manually
Tunnel the network through VPN
I have factory reset several times hoping to fix the issue but to vain.
I have reset the Wi-Fi network, changed Router configuration from Auto Channel to a fixed Channel
I have changed the Router configuration - Security encryption method to WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK

I have no clue as to what is the issue here, I'll be grateful for any Fix / workarounds / Creative solutions. Let me know if you need any more information.

Actually, the issue here seems fairly clear in looking at your troubleshooting... discounting the fact that your router is 9 years old and likely not up to current standards, you did state:

I don't think the problem is my Wi-Fi Router(D-Link DIR-600M) because
  the issue occurs with WiFi Routers at my workplace, Friend's home as
  well.

Considering you have tried this on multiple networks and connections, and you have factory reset and performed a network reset multiple times, the conclusion can only be that your phone is defective. You should contact Moto for a warranty replacement, or just consider replacing it if it is no longer under warranty.
In looking at all the troubleshooting you have done, and given the above quoted statement you made there doesn't seem to be any other possible cause.
There is no known issue with WiFi on the Moto G5+ in any Android version or release, and since this is not related to a single router or connection, the issue seems quite clear, your Moto is defective.

The problem is, Even the replacement will have the same issue (Lots of users on the forum have gotten it replaced to find that the WiFi issue prevailed on the replaced phone as well ). I wanted to find a workaround to the issue, hence posted the issue. Thanks, anyway.

@Manubhargav If the issue is the device, then there probably isn't much you can do. Even unlocking and using a custom ROM likely won't help, they all use the same radios.


text:
Hide the PIN entry on stock lock screen
Is it possible to hide the visual feedback on the PIN entry on the Android stock lock screen?
The feedback makes it pretty easy for anybody standing near to watch the PIN:

I know that it is possible to disable the feedback when using a pattern, and I read tips that the pattern setting would also apply to the PIN entry, but I tried that and it didn't work.
I usually use the finger print sensor to unlock the phone, but on the rare occasions when it asks for the PIN ("for security") I always wonder why anyone would design a PIN entry screen like this.
I don't know if it matters, I'm using a bq Aquaris X. The Aquaris X5 I used before that had the same behavior (with Android 7), the HTC One before that did not (IIRC .. it's been a while).

I think it depends on the manufacturer of the phone. For instance, my Nexus 5 and 6 show the pin key press, but my samsung s9 does not. I have not found a way to enable/disable it. The closest I find is hiding password last character and keyboard popups.


text:
TWRP accepting `adb` connections but no `fastboot` connections
I can connect to TWRP (3.2.3-0) with adb but fastboot devices does not list any and fastboot continue (while my phone is booted into TWRP) only prints:
$ fastboot continue
< waiting for any device >

I can rule out a driver problem since I have used fastboot successfully with the same combination of phone, cable and PC.

ADB and fastboot are two different protocols. Android Debugging Bridge works in ROM or in Recovery mode, when adbd (adb daemon) is running on phone.
Fastboot is one of the most commonly used Firmware Update Protocols. It works in bootloader mode which is also called download mode or emergency download mode (EDL) by some vendors. Some devices have both modes where EDL provides more primary access as compared to fastboot. Some OEM's use different tools for firmware flashing such as ODIN, nvFlash, QPST/QFIL etc.
Bootloader mode is usually accessible by rebooting in bootloader mode from recovery or ROM, or by pressing Vol+ key when device is booting. Similarly EDL is accessible using different combinations of Vol+, Vol- and Power key.
Bootloader is one of the very first pieces of software that is loaded in booting process. GRUB is the most common one used on Linux PCs. On Android embedded devices, the most commonly used bootloader by SOC vendors is ABOOT. To know further about bootloaders, boot process and what we can do in adb/fastboot mode, have a look at given links:

Boot Process: Android vs. Linux
ADB & Fastboot

You are confused about fastboot. It is not another adb. There is no fastboot server (in TWRP) which accepts connections. Rather it is a step/mode in the boot process of Android. Think of it as GRUB. You need to reboot your phone while the fastboot command is waiting for your device.


text:
LinageOS update reboots into TWRP
I downloaded the LinageOS update (linage-14.1-20181107-nightly-*-signed.zip) and rebooted to complete the install. It booted into TWRP (3.2.3-0). What do I need to do?

You have to manually install the update by

Click Install.
Select the file /data/linageos_updates/linage-*.zip.

Nice work. ....


text:
What permissions does root give to an app?
All of the normal permissions are listed here, but it does not say anything about root permissions. I can't find the names of individual permissions anywhere else either so I am asking here.

Are you talking about root permissions via a rooted phone?

Yes, that is what I am looking for.

First of, it gives you the app permission to the 'root' or the system files. Modify them, delete them, or even push an app inside the system. Know more of it here : https://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone-1079161983

From my understanding and past experience programming Android apps in rooted phones, getting root permissions in an app is to have access to everything.
Once a phone is rooted, you, the user, have access to the entire file system1, which allows anything to happen with it, including apps modifying their own permissions2.
Android is built on Linux, which means that su, or the root user, is the master user. Root user has the ability to do anything they want3. Apps granted root permission can add, modify, or delete things as they please throughout the file system. Along with that, they have access to the APIs that control the hardware of the phone, which means that they are capable of doing anything without your knowing, among other things (reason 3).
TL;DR Root has access to everything and can do anything.

I'm asking about permission names. For example, "CHANGE_WIFI_STATE". One permission I am particularly interested in is the ability to stop a phone from receiving power from USB or wirelessly.

@Deoxal there are none. Getting su root user will allow you to exploit that option.

su is the only permission you would need to access any permissions or change anything within the OS and file system.

OK thanks, I was just thinking that since normally a rooted app has full control over the phone that there would be a way to give a subset of root permissions to an app. A custom ROM would have to be running on the phone to do that though.

I am not saying this will work, but you might try looking at creating a user that root controls and limit the permissions on the Linux side of things. Then use that user in the apps. I have not tried that before, but it should be possible since it is an operating system with users.

Root (superuser) is not an app, it is a user that runs various processes in the Linux kernel (upon which Android framework runs). The permissions you listed are applicable only for system apps and third-party apps. When an app is granted superuser access, it does its things as the root user (UID 0). Barring some SELinux policies, there is no restriction for the most powerful user in the device.
Do note that app permission model of Android is controlled by system user (user 1000), and system user is not at par with superuser, so latter can override anything which other users are capable of doing.

I never said superuser/root was an app. I was thinking that by having root that you could give apps access to some but not all of the phone's features. This probably wouldn't work that well, since if an app expects to have root access, denying it would result in an exception.


text:
Android users cannot access Windows SMB file shares
Android users on domain cannot access the SMB file server (Windows Server 2012r2). Windows desktop users connect, and iOS users connect if they use a file browsing app that supports SMBv3.
Android devices properly convert the hostname from the DNS, and SMB shares the same server. But the error is simply "could not connect".
Modifying server registry parameter HKLM/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/LanmanServer/Parameters/IRPStackSize
 did not fix. I tried setting to 20, 32 & 40.
I'm not trying to migrate to Samba currently, so please don't suggest that.
What else might I look at to fix this problem?

You need a smb client that supports smbv2


text:
Is possible to invoke an Android API without declaring the related permissions but with root access?
While reversing some malware, I have realized that despite they use an exploit that gives them root access, such malware declares a lot of permissions in the manifest.
Because (AFAIK) "normal" apps that require the su executable they still need to declare the permissions in the manifest, because the su command just launches a child process with elevated (root, in this case) access.
Android malware reversing isn't my full-time job, but in my little experience this is the most common pattern among malicious apps:

exploit -> root access
change permission or remount partition
steal data from other apps

Thus, my question is:
is possible to invoke an Android API (more precisely, the Java API framework) without declaring the related permissions but with root access?
I guess the answer is yes, but I think it's a twisted process, so it's easier to declare a lot of permissions (but it sticks out like a sore thumb).

Interesting question. Related: How to grant an app a permission that isn't in its manifest for audio recording?

The framework APIs do check for required permissions, so if you want to use those APIs, you do need the required permissions in the manifest. But of course, the root user can do any action regardless of permissions: it's just extra programming work to do the same low-level actions that the Android framework would do.


text:
Wifi password connection problem
When I enter my password on my phone (Motorola) to connect to wifi it says it is incorrect but it's not. How can I fix this?

Which device and Android version is it?

in the list of wifi networks, try the following:

long press on the network that has this issue
choose 'forget' to let Android forget the stored password
tap on the network again (it will now only show when it's in range) to try and

connect and Android will ask you for the password.


text:
Getting "App not installed" when trying to install apps from APK files
I can install apps from Google Play Store, just not from APK files. Every time I press Install, it keeps saying "app not installed".
I tried rebooting, restarting, but still can't install.
How to fix this?

please mention about device name, android version, apk details and from where.

Have you allowed the installation of apps from unknown sources in the security settings?

Use [tag:logcat] to troubleshoot.

Navigate to "System & Device" -> "Additional Settings" ->  "Privacy" -> "Unknown Sources" (Enable this "Unknown Sources" option to allow installation of apps from unknown sources)

Adding more information as on date 11/14/2018 based on the comments: Apk related issue can occur due to the following. Please give it a try and let me know your observations.
Hoping that the APk file is not corrupted/infected and you are facing this issue with every APK file
1) Storage Location - Try checking if the apk is trying to install on Android device’s internal memory/storage or else where. By this we can ensure apk is getting installed in the correct path where you have access.
2) Check if SD Card is mounted or not in the Device
Try by going to Settings -> Storage -> Mount SD Card -> Restart device and try installing
3) Application Permissions - Software operations running in the background are set not to allow the installation of third-party software, it is also one reason why app not installed error on Android happens.
Go to Settings > Apps > Reset App Preferences/ Reset Application Permissions. After this, third-party software can be installed on your device.

This might not be sufficient, as the app not installed message might also mean that the .apk be incompatible.

@DeathMaskSalesman Please check the updated/edited answer. Thanks.


text:
How to find out what is causing vibration when sending and receiving texts?
After updating my LG V20 phone to 8.0, everytime I get a text message my phone vibrates twice. My phone has also started vibrating when I send a text.
I am using the message app that came with the phone.
How do I fix this?

Have you checked in the settings of your messaging app that there is no vibration related setting in it? Does the vibrations occur regardless of that setting?

Did you find a solution to this? My LG G5 is doing the same thing- vibrating after I send a text or after I hang up a call. It's really annoying because it seems like it's vibrating for a new notification. If I could even just change the pattern of the post-text vibration that would be better.


text:
How to unlock an LG mp260?
How do I unlock and root an LG MP260? My LG v30 was stolen and I am trying to use an older phone from Metro PCS on my T-Mobile account until I can replace it.

When I moved my phone from MetroPCS to T-Mobile, I did not need to unlock it. Since MetroPCS is now a T-Mobile brand, it should be easy.


text:
How to test SD card for suspected fault, or validate correct performance, within Android?
I have a Samsung S7 running LineageOS 14.1 (=Nougat 7.1). Since purchase I've used it with a 60GB Samsung SD card. I know that fake SD cards are out there, so on this one I bought direct from Amazon as vendor, rather than as middleman, to be more sure it was indeed a Samsung card. The card has always been formatted within the phone itself, and as portable storage.
Recently, a number of errors make me suspect the card could have a fault. An ADB push that failed halfway... a TWRP restore that couldn't read the source file... both with IO error of some kind,  etc. The card is probably under warranty, but that's useless unless I can confirm a fault.
The trouble is, I'm not sure how to test whether or not that's so. Most questions about card testing seem to relate to data recovery, and use fsck which tests the file system rather than sector-by-sector testing the card itself as a storage device (the approach wouldn't quite be the same for these). They don't provide an automated way to test the full card itself. I don't want to plug it into Windows for testing, since that doesn't actually test if it's good in my phone- I'd like to test it in the phone itself. The one test app I've found, "SD Card Test Pro", limits testing to a 4GB file on FAT32, but there isn't an option in Lineage to format a portable SD card with anything else.
What is my best way to test it?
Ideally I'd like a good quality test, a bit like memtest or other memory testers - a way to try and fill the card, and report any "difficult" sectors that didn't write first time, or any that don't read/verify correctly - and then repeat this 2 or 3 times with different/random bit patterns to catch "hard to get" issues which depend on previous RW data.
I'm happy to run in terminal/adb rather than an app, if it's easy to do.
But I'll settle for anything that's generally seen as a good test to catch and identify faulty cards.
What should I do?

According to this answer https://android.stackexchange.com/a/53639/247431 , the app mentioned can check bad sectors


text:
How to take screenshots without using buttons?
My android phone has weak buttons, so I don't use them frequently. I even change my volume from the settings!
But to take a screenshot, I need to press the volume down button and the power button. I have a Motorola Moto E4 Plus running Android 7.1.1.
Is there any other way to take screenshots? I don't want to root my phone.
NOTE: This question is not a duplicate as this is asking specifically without buttons and so helps those who can not use their physical buttons.

Have you enabled three finger shortcut for screenshot which is an option in Moto Actions which is inside Moto application.

Are you willing to download an app to do it? If so, there are a number of screenshot apps in the Play Store.

One of the answers shows how to use Google to take a screenshot. If none of the solutions there help you, please comment to reopen the question. Also mention the Android version by [edit]

Done. Edited for the Android 7.1.1.

Tasker app can do this without root.
Install Tasker. Setup a Task named Capture Screenshot and add the following actions:

Display → Status bar → Set: Collapsed.
Task → Wait → MS: 500
Display → Take Screenshot → File:%DATE-%TIMES → tick Insert in Gallery.
Optional: since Tasker doesn't visibly show whether it took a screenshot or not, you can configure your task to show a toast or a notification that screenshot has been taken. Both toast and notification can be added from Alert section.
Set an icon for the task.

For the ease of use  I suggest you attach this task to a quick setting tile. Tasker offers three tiles. You can access them and add them into your enabled tiles through the quick settings editor (the pencil icon in your quick settings) and drag the 'unset' named tile to visible tiles.
After that, go into Tasker, click three dots lines, select Action and under Quick Settings Tasks replace the entry named unset with the name of the task you just created. Make sure you change it only for the entry you dragged into visible tiles.
From now on, whenever you would tap that quick setting tile, it would collapse the notification bar, wait for 500ms, than capture a screenshot.
In practice, Tasker responsded with an automatic delay of at least 3 seconds when tapping the tile. I have no solution for this delay though.

Another way to take screenshot without hardware inputs (physical buttons) would be to do so with software inputs (on-screen buttons).  I remember using a software to capture images and videos of my phone a few years ago.
Samsung Galaxy comes with gesture software that is embedded to the OS that a user can slide edge of one's hand across the screen to take screenshots; but I am not sure if it is available to Motorola phones as it seemed like an extention that Samsung added to the Android.
You should be able to find a number of screen capture applications if you search for "screen capture" in Play Store.  They usually display a floating icon or a notification bar icon that you can touch to capture screenshots.


text:
How to get the IMEI number of a lost phone?
I lost my Android phone Vivo 1713 (v5s) recently. I don't know its IMEI number. How do I get it?

I believe IMEI is a unique number given. No one can tell yours unless you modify it for other purposes

Login to the "Find my Device" page with your Google Account that was used on your phone. Your phone should be listed. Click the "!" button to see the IMEI number of the phone. You should see something like this:


text:
How to build a DiY Google Home from an old Android Phone?
When the phone is locked & screen off, it will never hear my voice. How do I get OK google to work when the phone is off? The option seems removed for non Google Pixel/Nexus phones.
I want to convert my old android phone into a Google Home (so I can say "Ok Google, turn off the lights" in my bedroom).
I have an old Samsung Note 2. I used Odin to put TWRP on it so I can run LineageOS w/ Gapps, and now I have Google Assistant running on it.
However, when the phone is off, it will never hear my voice.
I can turn on and off the smart lightbulb in my room with my voice now. But there is no "always listening" "wake word" for "Ok Google Everywhere" anymore. Pretty sure Google removed this feature so you have to buy a Google Home device. I want to be able to use Ok Google anywhere, even when charging my phone.

Have you looked at this? https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-force-ok-google-hotword-detection-to-work/


text:
Adding Internet Icalendar
Is there some way to subscribe to an internet calendar on Android without logging into Google calendar and adding it there?

What is icl in title? Please clarify in body. If you want Google free calendar, I believe it is possible, though I never tried it. You can start by going through Izzy's list. Izzy is one of our moderators

Sorry, autocorrect on my phone. should be ICalendar.

This is not possible in normal way, but can be done with a bit tricky.
You can visits https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r/settings -> Left panel -> "Add calendar" -> "Browse calendars of interest" -> "Regional holiday" -> Select and Tick "Holidays in specific country" -> It will add to left panel under section "Settings for other calendars" -> Click it -> "Integrate calendar":

There are two methods:

The "Public URL" can be direct open in Android web browser and use its "Add to Home screen" option to make a shortcut on screen. The advantage is you can always get the latest date, but you can't get event notification.
The "Public address in iCal format" can be open in Android web browser and download as .ics file. Before open .ics file, ensure delete the cache/data storage of system app called "Calendar Storage"  in app settings first (Need to choose "shows system app/processes" to see that app). And you may also need to navigate in "Accounts" -> "Google" -> All Gmail -> turn off Calendar sync. After open the file with "Google Calendar" app, it by default will reside "Phone" OR "Holidays" category. Choose "ADD ALL" to add all events to calendar. Finally relaunch the calendar app, you should able to see the latest events added by .ics file up to next one year. If it doesn't showing, swipe the left panel and tick "Phone"(Huawei P9 Lite) OR "Holidays"(LG Nexus 5X) to shows. Note that upper right "refresh" option can toggle back Gmail events, it's up to you. The disavantage of this method is its event is fixed on .ics file and will not up to date without re-download and re-add. And I noticed I must clear "Calendar Storage" data cache (Gmail events) first or else it will popup a toast about incomplete to add all events. One thing you should know is the events timeline in Google Calendar app actually saved inside "Calendar Storage" system app data cache which can share to other app, not its data cache.

Tank you, i know og about this way, thats why i asked if there is some other way.

@MrZach There probably other way if someone develop new app to let you subscribe in that app without Gmail, but I can't found any app has this functionality.


text:
Can I really edit my Telegram messages only with the desktop client?
I use Telegram both on my desktop and my mobile phone. On the desktop, I can edit messages I've sent, but on the mobile Telegram client I can't find this option anywhere. Does it really not exist or am I missing something. Or - should I look for an unofficial client for this feature?
Note:

If I tap a message in a Telegram conversation view, the 'Message' context menu only has "Reply|Copy|Forward|Delete" - and no "Edit".
My client version is 4.9.1 (1361) arm-v7a

this feature is universal to all latest official versions of telegram. make sure that you are using the latest version.

@tashakori: Well, I think I am. Would you mind adding an answer with a screenshot of where in the UI I can access the edit functionality?

A simple tap on a message you sent recently will bring up the action menu containing "Edit".

My 'Message' menu doesn't have Edit! - it has: Reply, Copy, Forward, Delete - and that's it.

Maybe emphasis on "sent recently"? Clicking one of the older messages will not show Edit here either. My TG client is not the latest but I believe TG didn't make any feature regression.

Please add this comment to your answer (or just replace your answer with the comment.


text:
Tethering won't work claiming data connection is unavailable
When I try to turn on tethering/mobile hot spot it gives me the system message "Unable to connect, data connection not available." However it worked in the past with this carrier/phone and the internet still works. I can browse the web on my phone fine.
Things I tried so far:

restarting my phone
Taking it in and out of airplane mode
turning wifi off and on
turning on and off power saving
turning sync on and off
turning off high performance mode.
resetting all network settings

Is your data connection turned on when you're trying to tether? If no, keep it turned on...

Yes. I have my data connection turned on. I tried turning it off and then on again also.

I never did figure out what was causing this issue. I finally was able to fix the issue, though, by completely resetting the phone to factory settings and setting it up again.


text:
Backup not listed to restore from on new Android device
I have 3 android devices synced to the same Google account:

OnePlus One running Lineage OS 15.1 (up to date, not currently rooted)
NVidia SHIELD Tablet K1
OnePlus 3T - new, in factory reset state

I am trying to move all of my apps and data from the One to the 3T. Google Drive on the One shows under "Backups" (text translated from Spanish w/best guesses from context, etc):

Backup from A0001 - today at 21:49
Backup from NVidia SHIELD Tablet K1 - today at 10:57

However, booting the 3T, setting up the SIM, Wifi, and copying Google account information over using "Set up my device", entering account password, skipping "share my data" questions gets me eventually to the restore screen, which shows only the K1 backup to restore from.
How can I fully restore from my One to the 3T? I estimate reinstalling all of my apps (from 3 sources - Play store, F-Droid, and Humble Bundle) and getting data syncing working and synced for my personal data to take at least 5 hours, and would not include call data, chrome tabs, game saves, etc - so anything faster than that is fair game. I have set up ADB for my One and used it for file transfers a number of times, and can probably set it up for the 3T, so ADB is fair game.
Edit: currently open tabs on this issue (might save some time):

How to manually restore Call Log from adb backup on OnePlus One? (SMS already restored)
Why is my Android not restoring the app data from its Google Drive backup?
Restore apps from backup on Google Drive
https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/get-all-your-data-onto-your-new-android-phone-0183525/ (most useful from google search results page 1 for various searches

See adb tag You will find a question by Izzy on how do it on an unrooted device

My One is pretty rootable - I just have to boot into TWRP and load the root package. I can also root the 3T - just worried about passing SafetyNet afterwards - one Reddit thread commented that the 3T and other modern devices specially fail if the bootloader is even unlocked...

I wish it weren't - I play Pokemon Go with my wife, who cares less about privacy loss than I, and I care less about privacy loss than fun walks with her. I'll look into adb backup and restore - thank you.

Thanks. Posted as requested. You may please delete your comments as they have been incorporated

Summarizing from comments ;

OP has been unsuccessful in restoring from Google Drive trying the solutions linked in the question
Using  titanium-backup is not an option  as bootloader is unlocked on the old device but on the new device Safety Net would be tripped if unlocked and rooted, apart from wiping data
Only option left is to take a back up as explained here (using adb} How to fully backup non-rooted devices?. It has limitations so it's recommended to understand and test it out

Re your second bullet, I stated above that bootloader is not locked on my old device, that I can root very easily on my old device, and there is no data on the new device. My only concern there is Safety Net on the new device, should restoration require root, as to restore Safety Net on the new device would presumably wipe the device again.


text:
How to regain access to phone when unable to use password and fingerprint?
I use a  Samsung S5 (Globe LTE) which has a fingerprint security system, but I forgot the password, and I can't use the fingerprint anymore. What should I use? Should I do factory reset or hard reset? Also, my phone is lagging.

"Factory reset" and "hard reset" are just different names for the same thing. Just make sure you know the password for your Google account, as you'll need it after you factory reset.

You may try PUK code ( located on SIM card ) to unlock if tried too many attempt of pin. But I'm not sure it works or not in your phone model.


text:
Why my apps are getting auto-updated despite "Don't auto-update apps" checked?
In Google Play Store, I have set "Auto-update apps" to "Don't auto-update apps". Still, I have apps automatically updated.
Why?

Still, I get notifications.

I don't use those apps but wondering if they have a setting that permits them to override Google Play selection?

I remember that Samsung devices also have an "Samsung App Store" that can automatically update apps. Therefore updated apps don't necessarily mean that Google Play Store has installed the update.

I found "Galaxy Apps" in the Samsung folder. There I could also disable autoupdate. Lets see if that will do any good!

Experienced this myself today. A new setting seems to have been added in Playstore or maybe it was there earlier but updates are affected by this, apparently.
Set App download preference to ask me everytime that seems to prevent it, though that wasn't the case earlier

Ok, it seems my phone ignores both settings in google play and in "Galaxy Apps". Facebook and Instagram are still automatically updated.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/841216-facebook-instagram-app-automatically-update.html

How does those apps manage to update behind the back of the system?

Now apps have separate auto-update option in Play store. So disable it, uncheck it.

disable Facebook services.
Instagram and Facebook are both auto updated by Facebook_services.
welcome to no longer having control over your own personal data collecting devices.


text:
Working with Security Metadata in APK file
According to this Blog post, Google has added a Security Metadata on top of an APK to verify that it was originally distributed by Google Play. More specifically it adds APK Signing Block to the APK file.
I have some questions regarding this:
(1) How did Google insert this the metadata into APK signing block of the APK and how it verifies that metadata on the phone (technically)?
I guess it is possible to create custom content in this signing block? Let's say I want to distribute some APK privately in my company, when the user installs that APK then I can figure out if the APK belongs to our company or not, just like Google did with their apps in Play Store.
(2) If all developers use App Signing by Google Play, then does the mentioned security metadata above become unnecessary? Because Google can just simply verify the certificate inside each APK instead.
My apologies for the shallow understanding. Any comments are highly appreciated!

The signature is most likely an RSA or EX(DSA) signature. For verifying you only need the corresponding public key on the device. For info on the APK signature block see https://source.android.com/security/apksigning/v2#integrity-protected-contents

Thank you but I need more technical details of how it works. In terms of source code if necessary

The Google signature (aka "Frosting") is not documented anywhere. The only information I have is more or less summarized here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48090841 Especially the linked avast/apkverifier project contains some details.

How did Google insert this the metadata into APK signing block of the APK and how it verifies that metadata on the phone (technically)?

Technically the Google "Frosting" signature is inserted the same way as described in the APK Signature Scheme v2. Note that it is just added to the same section inside the ZIP file - it does not replace any existing signatures in this section.

I guess it is possible to create custom content in this signing block? Let's say I want to distribute some APK privately in my company, when the user installs that APK then I can figure out if the APK belongs to our company or not, just like Google did with their apps in Play Store.

As far as I know the only "meta data" is the signature itself. If it is present it is an APK from Play Store.

If all developers use App Signing by Google Play, then does the mentioned security metadata above become unnecessary? Because Google can just simply verify the certificate inside each APK instead.

No. The Google Frosting signature is just an additionally signature. The Android permission model still relies on the common APK signature by the developer. Only the Google Play Store app is able to verify the Google frosting signature. The other parts of the Android system (those from AOSP) don't even recognize this signature.
For more technical details see this question + answers on Stackoverflow: Security Metadata in Android APK


text:
How to prevent Android from creating "Android" and "Lost.dir" folders on external OTG storage?
If I either connect my camera using a USB cable via OTG or insert the SD card in an OTG reader connected to the phone, Android creates automatically two folders: an Android folder and a Lost.Dir folder.
The problems are -

That as long as these two folders are on the camera (a Pentax K50), this latter thinks that the SD is not properly formatted and asks me if I want to format it or otherwise I cannot use it again. And indeed if I delete the two folders using my PC, I can then start using the card again. Obviously, I cannot format it.

That I cannot delete these folders on the phone without reliably preventing Android from recreating them. Also, the two folders remain on the SD even if I properly eject the OTG storage.

That I am going on a trip and I won't be having a PC with me to use to remove the folders.

Given all of the above, how can I then transfer the photos from my camera to the smartphone?

Can't you use something like Google Files or ES File Explorer to delete the two folders on the sd card before disconnecting it?

My camera, although a different kind, does not have a problem with the LOST.DIR being created on my SD but it does if the SD has been removed from my phone without being ejected. Maybe you are not ejecting the SD or the camera? I find it an inconvenience: 1) that Android writes to inserted USB drives creating a LOST.DIR even if I'm only viewing files, requiring the eject step (PCs don't do that) and 2) that 'Google Files' does not have an eject function and I need to go to 'Settings' to eject drives.

Related: How to stop apps writing to “Android” folder on the SD card?

Create two 0-byte files on the SD Card with these names (case-sensitive):
LOST.DIR
Android

Optionally, you can make them both read-only and hidden (even though Linux won't follow these rules) so that when you browse the card within Windows, you won't see them. When connecting to an Android device, instead, it will fail to create the folders because of the empty files with the same name (you'll see the 0-byte files, though).

Powershell one-liner to create the necessary files (simply change the drive letter H: in $drive = "H:" with yours):
PS C:\> $drive = "H:"; ("$drive\LOST.DIR", "$drive\Android.") | % { if (Test-Path $_) { Remove-Item -Path $_ -Force }; (New-Item -Path $_ -ItemType File -Force).Attributes = "Hidden", "ReadOnly" }; if (Test-Path "$drive\System Volume Information") { Remove-Item -Path "$drive\System Volume Information" -Recurse -Force }

The Android folder is used to keep data about your apps. Deleting it from the internal storage or external storage (when used as adoptable storage) will cause the loss of your apps' data.
LOST.DIR is a folder used to place recovered files during boot. It is usually empty. Deleting this folder is safe.
In your case, you can delete both folders without creating any issues. Delete the folders, then disconnect the SD card as mentioned by @Chrisii. It is a process that you will have to accomplish every time because the folders will be re-created by the Android OS when the SD card is connected.

References:

All you need to know about LOST.DIR folder on Android devices
What is the use of an Android folder? What happens if I delete this folder?

Some Android phones remove the folders if you unmount the SD card before removal. The unmount setting is usually found in storage settings or in the file explorer. The folders will only be removed if they are empty and not in use. (e.g. there are no orphaned, lost, or corrupted files that lost dir is holding on to.)
If this does not work, then your version of Android probably doesn't provide a way to not create them and you are stuck with manually deleting the folders and nothing short of modding your device will change that behavior.


text:
How to disable hidden trackers, in google play store applications
So most applications, on google play have hidden trackers, analytics they don't tell you about. This site lets you search any app shows trackers. The article explains what i'm talking about.
Example: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/reports/37324/
Article : https://theintercept.com/2017/11/24/...-android-apps/
Article : https://www.wired.com/story/android-users-to-avoid-malware-ditch-googles-app-store/
The second article explains Fdroid is partly a solution as those apps there don't have these trackers. One other not a full solution is uninstalling the app removes the tracker.
Certain apps on google play store either open source or proprietary don't include trackers as far as exodus-privacy.eu.org analysis is aware of, it's possible there's some there unaware of as they state.
Applications without trackers could later receive trackers through application updates. The other option is researching the extent of the specific trackers used in certain applications and what there been used for.
I want to know how it's possible to disable these trackers, analytics so there not active in the background "while" using these apps.
I saw XPrivacyLua xposed module can disable certain analytics.
Appreciate all advice.

See https://android.stackexchange.com/q/202282/131553

Yeah i've seen that, you can be tracked regardless of a app displays ads, that's why there hidden trackers. Read this: https://theintercept.com/2017/11/24/staggering-variety-of-clandestine-trackers-found-in-popular-android-apps/

XprivacyLua is the best I know of 2. Izzy's repo warns you of the anti features to make an informed decision.

I was wrong about F Droid and deleted those comments

XPrivacyLua is not based on the hosts file. It disables the corresponding activities in the apps having them. But to do so, it must know them; I'm not sure of the coverage, though it certainly covers the major candidates.

Yeah it's apps on google play with trackers hidden in them, the permission system of android and XprivacyLua won't do anything to stop them. Not to mention there kept secret from anyone installing apps, simply having an app installed means it's happening, i just no from reading XprivacyLua forum, it can block some Analytics but not through app permission allow, deny camera access example i'm sure it doesn't cover everything either. So it's either avoid all google play store apps or use fdroid only not entirely feasible, install the extention Exodify exodify.org browse google play website will

show you all the trackers in apps using a web browser you would use Ublock Origin or Disconnect extentions ect pretty hard when there embedded inside the apps themself.

Root access needed
Both of these apps are likely using built in pm disable command in Android, which lets you to disable app's services, activities, receivers and providers (all of these can be done from command line too). Significant part of ads and tracking stuff can be disabled this way. Of course developer can hide whatever they want, so it won't be accessible through pm disable. Afaik it can disable only things mentioned in app's manifest. Also apps can reenable all of these back (I think I noticed such behavior only in system apps)
1) MyAndroidTools Pro  (which I use)
It has free and paid versions. Author was banned in Play Store, but you can still buy outdated version (1.5.1 instead of 1.6.0) on Amazon or find apk somewhere else..
App has convenient option to display component info after new app is installed/updated.
Developer made Xposed module to prevent apps reenabling components, but it was abandoned long time ago, so you'll have to check if it works for you.
(Click on image to enlarge it)

2) Lucky Patcher
Free app, also not in Play Store. Downside: developer started embedding ads (removed in current version) and analytics recently, which require excessive permissions.
To disable components:
Long tap on app in the list -> Change The App's Components -> Disable components 'pm disable' method (may be enabled by the application) -> Select components -> Apply

That module hasn't been updated in last two years and developer is inactive on XDA thread

@beeshyams yep, I don't even know if it works. Just added for completeness.

@janot bro, if you haven't used it, know it hasnt been updated, and don't even know if it works, why bother plugging it?  And put those disclaimers in the answer.


text:
bind mount / symlink - keep destination "tree" on removal of source?
I'm trying to accomplish something fairly odd, so bear with me.
I've added an external SD card to my old Droid Mini (basically just for an experiment to see whether or not I could expand the storage capability). It's currently running Lineage OS 13.
The issue is that the external SD adapter is very power hungry, and the kernel on this version (3.4.42) doesn't properly support autosuspend.
I can force the device into low power mode by unbinding the SCSI device from the USB device, but obviously it disappears if I do that.
I read that bind mounts can preserve the directory structure of the source folder even if it is removed, but I can't seem to get that to work (see here - "It is possible to unmount /some/where, in which case /else/where remains mounted.")
The idea is to wait until the USB device goes idle, then manually suspend it by unbinding it until it is needed again. However, if I unbind the device, the "stat" file I'm using to monitor idleness ALSO disappears, do I can't use that to check if activity is requested.
So my (maybe silly) idea was to make bind mount of the external card to a "virtual" USB device which doesn't disappear when the source is removed, and re-attaches it when it's needed.
Baby steps though, any ideas how I might go about preserving a "fake" drive for the system to operate through? Bind-mounts don't seem to do quite the right thing here.
Thanks,
R

that sounds really crazy...

Yup, but the silly part is that my friend's phone with a just SLIGHTLY newer kernel autosuspends just fine, I guess that function was back ported to his kernel.

wait for me to compose an answer, a few minutes

That sounds really crazy...
At first glance, I have a guess that while you can unmount the source directory of a bind mount, you must keep the underlying device attached for a bind mount to work.
I confirmed my guess in experiments on my OnePlus 6 (Android Linux 4.9.65) and my Ubuntu 18.04 (real Linux 4.15.0) and the result is same.
On Ubuntu, I inserted a USB flash drive (ext4 filesystem) and mounted it to /mnt/usb, and I bind mounted /mnt/usb/data to /mnt/bind

I unmounted /mnt/usb while keeping the flash drive attached, and I can access /mnt/bind with no error. All changes to /mnt/bind reflected to <drive root>/data (verified later).
Then I detached the flash drive and attempted to access /mnt/bind, and got this message:
ls: reading directory '/mnt/bind': Input/output error

On my OnePlus 6, I inserted a USB flash drive via OTG (exFAT filesystem). I mounted the device /dev/block/vold/public:8:97 to /data/dev, and bind-mounted /data/dev/Android to /data/bind.

I unmounted /data/dev while keeping the OTG attached, and all the data remains in /data/bind and is accessible without errors.
Then I turned off "OTG function" in the Settings app, the Android mount point /mnt/media_rw/xxxx-xxxx disappeared, but I can still access my bind mount.
Next I detached the OTG drive and attempted to access /data/bind and got this:
ls: reading directory `/data/bind`: I/O error

A side note is, unlike Ubuntu, access to /data/bind remained available for around half a minute, but directories that I didn't previously visited weren't accessible anymore, only the directories that I visited before detaching the drive was still accessible.

That's it. The conclusion is in the top paragraph.

That makes sense. This thought actually also occurred to me, but then I realized that I'm not actually physically disconnecting the device. I'm unbinding it from /sys/bus/USB/....something by writing the device ID to the bind/unbind files, so I was hoping this would work out. I'll have to do some more experiments.

@flyingfishfinger If my answer makes sense, would you mind marking it as accepted? :P

Let me try some permutations of this tomorrow and I'll get back to you :)

@flyingfishfinger Good. Actions speak louder than words.

What's the difference between ejecting, unbinding and unmounting?
Roughly following your steps, I can still access both /bind and /dev after I eject the drive through Settings (the /mnt/media_rw/ entry disappeared, like yours).
This does not seem to be equivalent to unbinding the usb-storage driver though, since when I do that both /bind and /data turn up empty.

@flyingfishfinger Then I don't know. I just know that the device must remain physically connected


text:
How do I turn off the "suggested news" stories on Chrome's homepage in v70?
Chrome 70 - homepage now showing "suggested news" stories and is sucking up data and is slow. The flags solution is now gone in Chrome 70. How do I get rid of this stupid news feed?

Flags solution works but with a different flag

Chrome://flags
Disable enable-ntp-remote-suggestions

(Click to enlarge)


text:
synch the contacts on my Android with the current contacts on Google Contacts
I have recently changed number, but kept the same device (Sony Xperia XA1). With the previous number, I saved my contacts in Google Contacts.
Before I changed the sim on my device, I erased some contacts from Google Contacts. I formatted the phone and reinstalled applications, logged in with the same google account.
Those "unwanted" contacts are still there. Even though I erased them from Google Contacts website (and I checked the website, they are no longer there).
I tried to log off that google account and in again, because I thought it was a matter of synch. But nothing changed.
So my question is, how to synch the contacts on my Android with just the current contacts on Google Contacts?

Log out from your google account.
Delete all contacts - make sure all contacts are deleted from all sources.
Log in to your google account

There is a auto - backup and restore option (Find more here). There is possibility that your device may restore the contacts that were deleted just before the formatting.


text:
How can I conveniently save the urls of the opened webpages in https://www.google.com/bookmarks/?
I have opened a number of web pages in  Google Chrome browser in  my android phone. Is it possible to conveniently save the urls of the opened webpages in https://www.google.com/bookmarks/?
This is especially helpful on android phone, since google chrome browser there doesn't provide bookmarking all open webpages into the browser at once.
Thanks.

That is meant for bookmarks (link) and you want to save open url pages there?

I want to save it into the browser, and access it from my laptop by synchronization between browsers on my android and my laptop. But I don't find a way to bookmark all open pages in chrome browser on android. So  I am looking for a workaround, and wondering whether it is possible to bookmark all open pages into https://www.google.com/bookmarks/

It looks like you missed existing question on that :) If solutions doesn't work edit your question to mention that to retract close flag

Thanks. I found https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/112448/is-there-a-way-to-bookmark-all-tabs-in-chrome, so concluded it was not possible to bookmark all open webpages in chrome. Can any reply in the link you gave solve the problem which no reply in the link I gave can?

IDK didn't try either not having the need


text:
Add APN (+ Button) Option Missing
So my gf and I both have the Xiaomi Mi A2, her works perfectly, but when I tried to setup mine, I realized I had no data connection.
In order to make it work with my provider, I must configure a new custom APN but for some reason, the button to add a new one is missing. I´ve checked, however, my gf's mobile, despite being apparently the same in every aspect, she has such button.
Then I thought there must be some differences between both devices operating system's version, so I wonder if is there a way to compare both to check what I'm missing in order to have the option that I need?
If not, any way to fix this would be really appreciated.
Thank you in advance

What provider? In some cases the carrier locks APN changes with the SIM card, but you can't remove the SIM and set them up either as the SIM over rides any manual change. What I am saying is that this is likely not a device issues, but a carrier/SIM issue.

@acejavelin thanks for the reply. As I mentioned, I've 2 identical phones, and in one of them I can configure the apn, whilst in the other (the one I have to use), I can't. It´s clearly a device issue.

Dial *#*#4636#*#* from your phone app, you will get a menu where first item is phone info. Tap the 3 dots menu on top right which has "enable data". Try that or by toggling carrier info in the menu and see if it helps. Factory reset is always an option but ideally if nothing else works

Dane, is there a reason why you reverted the changes I earlier introduced in your question? I definitely improved it, except the beginning where I erred on replacing the word GF. Your title does not tell us what you want with the question. I ensured that a person understands what the asker wants just by reading the title alone.

For some reason, without the SIM card or other cards the plus button to add APN appears, which doesnt when having my own card.
Finally I found an app called MyApp, that after installing, it allowed me to edit the APNs, so now everything works as it should, despite it's a workaround.


text:
Is there a way (not date) to number photos sequentially.
My regular digital camera assigns numbers sequentially.  My Android 8.0 Galaxy S8+, after the date, assigns random numbers to each picture. If copied to a computer the pics all become "created" at the same time. I'd like them numbered in the sequence taken. Samsung says it's a logarithm naming matter and what I want "can't be done". I don't believe that. It's a computer. Why wouldn't it be able to do it?

Is it a random number or the time? Ex: 20181102_154430 Being Nov 2, 2018 @ 3:44:30 PM

"If copied to a computer the pics all become "created" at the same time." That means you use MTP to copy them, right? It's MTP that causes the date being set to "now". To correcting that, and naming them sequentially, there is e.g. exiftool you could use on the PC. The correct date is still held in Exif data inside the image files, which is what exiftool uses to fix the issue.

To my knowledge, all digital cameras follow the Design rule for Camera File system (DCF), a Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association JEITA standard (CP-3461B) for digital cameras. This is why your digital camera sequences the photos.
Phones do not necessarily have to follow this standard, since they are not just digital cameras. Phone storage still used the DCIM folder to give a standardized placement for photos, but this does not mean that they photo file names will follow the standard.
As far as phones storing photo with sequential numbers, yes, it is possible that they could do that. It would mean changing how the file names are generated to use a sequencing number instead of the randomly generated number or, in my case with the S9, the use of the time in military format for the second half.


text:
Huawei backup not offering location "Internal storage"
I want do backup a Huawei P20 lite using its own "Backup" app. But it does not offer "Internal storage" as a backup location, even if it supports that, according to documentation here: PHONE BACKUP AND RESTORE GUIDE (see second screenshot there)
There is 44 GB of internal storage free (of 64GB total).
What is wrong?
I want to do a backup in the most hassle free way possible. There is no SD card at hand and have the slot used for the second SIM anyway.

Apparently this feature was removed in a recent version. Can anyone confirm? It is still listed in the settings part of the app.

I can confirm that the option to backup to internal storage is not available on the recent Huawei Backup application version 8.02.xxx.
You can still install the older versions of the application available on APKmirror  (versions 7.0.xxx) if you want  to back up on internal storage:

 online image

Actually, the April 8.0.3xx version also still has it. I'll gather some more details and maybe add it to your answer.

ok thanks, on my device I keep using version 7.0xxx , yesterday thats when I tested with the new version and found out indeed the option has been removed, so I downgraded to my usual old version


text:
Forward WhatsApp messages to e-mail or SMS
Some friends of mine want to use WhatsApp to send me messages from time to time. But, I don't want to install the app (or I don't want to have it running all the time). Can I configure something within WhatsApp or another service to forward the messages from WhatsApp to an e-mail address via SMS?
Even a solution that requires me to configure a program on my own server would suffice.

Whatsapp uses encryption plus proprietary methods which do not allow apps / services to interact with its internals. They're is no such configuration in app - guess that's s dead end

i personally would ignore people who are such ignorant that they won't respect your decision not to use whatsapp and/or too stupid for sending you email instead ;)

You can bridge WhatsApp to Matrix using mautrix which can be bridged to other serives like email. It is unfortunatley quite the hacky setup:

Have a Synapse or another Matrix server
Run an Android VM to run WhatsApp
Run the mautrix bridge
Run another bridge, e.g. this one, to bridge to email or wherever desired.

There is no such solution available. But you can install whatsapp and turn off notification - from app settings.
If you want to use whatsapp like email on pc. Try using whatsapp web.
https://web.whatsapp.com

Please let me know if it helps

I guess you don't want disturbance due to whatsapp messages coming evey now and then or may be you prefer working from your pc


text:
Are all Magisk Modules Open Source?
I noticed the main place to download modules is here
https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo
some in the links section link the source which just loops back to the same page. So are all the modules hosted on github itself open source? as i see what looks like the contents of each module there.
I suppose some modules might be posted on XDA that aren't on github and i know not all Xposed modules on Xda or repo.xposed.info aren't open source.
Appreciate all help.

So everything hosted on https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo are open source definitely? i'm surprised since i'm used to having to hunt for open source root apps or xposed modules. It's up to the dev to decide to open source apps. Tho there's a lot of potential threats xposed modules or root apps can pose without been open source. I thought it was going to be the same game with Magisk modules as i'm sure these to would be able to pose same threats a malicious xposed module or root app can.

None specifically i'm no dev i don't no what source code looks like, https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/MIUI-10-Camera so all files abouve "README.md" are the open source code? or are all projects on github open source?

All projects in general on Github are open code but they can have a closed component that is a pro feature. I am yet to see that with Magisk

Upvoted for asking an interesting question

Github does not equal open source. Because a Magisk module is on Github it does not mean it is open source
You can have both open and closed projects hosted on Github and Magisk is no exception as you can see from this XDA post by Magisk developer (though instructions pertaining to Magisk are outdated)
There are projects hosted on Github with a portion of the code which is closed source and is offered as paid or pro version, for example code of
FairEmail is available on Github but the pro version features are not open source. Though I am not aware of any such Magisk module with pro component
Though this SO question is old, it gives pointers to better understand

Thanks. I used to equate Github with open source, at least the publically accessible repositories.

@Firelord : welcome. Me too, till I did some reading after seeing this question

@Firelord : Added a [SO] source and here is a Quora discussion.

I asked somewhere else. The response was.
If the Module has a LICENCE file listed in the github listing it's open source.
Magisk modules generally have their code publicly available (if it's not on GitHub you can just open the zip and read the code). There might be included binaries and apps that don't have the code available, of course.
Don't mistake publicly available code for open source. It's not the same thing... A Magisk module doesn't have to be open source for you to be able to see what it does.


text:
Android device ID while unrooting phone
If I perform below steps,

I root Android phone,
From third party apps available on Play Store, I change 16 digit Android device id(Let say from aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa to bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb)
And then again unroot the phonne.

Will unrooting the phone also change Android device id again or it will remain bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb only?
Thanks in advance.

Unrooting your phone doesn't reverse the changes you made to /system. These changes are reversed only when you flash a stock / custom ROM. Of course, apps that you had installed earlier which had root privileges will not work
To sum up, your changed ID will remain till the next factory reset

First of all, tweaking that 16 digit Android ID doesn't require root access. You can change that ID using ADB alone. Since Android 5.0, this should work just fine.

adb shell settings get secure android_id                   # returns the current Android ID
adb shell settings put secure android_id YOUR-16-DIGIT-ID  # to change the ID with your new 16 digit ID

The Android ID is stored inside data partition. It is set on first boot after factory reset and remains until you factory reset again. It has got nothing to do with rooting and unrooting your device. So, if you changed that ID using some app and unrooted your phone later, that ID would persist until factory reset.
Note: since Android 8.0 each app sees android_id which is unique to that app. It is not the same android_id that you would see from settings command. See relevant documentation for more info on this.


text:
How to prevent systemless Xposed Framework from crashing Play Store?
I'm using systemless Xposed Framework module (v90.2 beta 3) of Magisk Framework (v17.1) on a rooted OnePlus 6 running OxygenOS v5.1.8 (Android 8.1.0).
I'm having an issue with Xposed Framework and Play Store. Play Store crashes whenever I try to browse for an app, or install, or update an app. This problem has affected others users as well with no solution from rovo89 or topjohnwu as of yet.
I tried to identify the issue in logcat, just like the user here but miserably failed to understand what caused the crash.
The issue goes away so long as I keep disabled Xposed Framework from Xposed installer or from Magisk Manager.
How do I fix this problem?

The developer of GravityBox Xposed modules, C3C0, suggested to use official and original Xposed Framework (flashes system partition and breaks  Safety Net). They confirmed it working alongside Play Store, but on Android 8.0 though.
Alternatively, one can try Aurora  Store from F-Droid, as an alternative to Play Store and as an interim solution. It fetches apps' updates and new apps directly from Play Store. It also provides sufficient information regarding the app to be installed, such as What's new, permissions, and so on.

As long as you either have no apps using Play License Check or original Playstore does at least that without crashing, Yalp (or its fork Aurora) are fully sufficient (even better: cleaner, more straight-forward, no ads). Logged in with your G-account it can even update paid apps. I use it myself (as on my only device with GApps, Playstore refuses to update my apps saying "no network", but manages to update itself and PlayServices fine ¯_(ツ)_/¯).

@Izzy remember I was complaining about Aurora crashing occasionally, I updated and ever since then, I never encountered that problem again   ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). BTW I love Aurora UI and theming, besides no annoying stuff to self update unlike GPlay.

I couldn't get Yalp to install despite multiple attempts /different mail IDs/no response from developer on bug report despite waiting for months. Finally, Aurora store, that can be downloaded from [Telegram link] (https://t.me/Aurora Support) worked


text:
How can I mute the YouTube app while playing music on another player?
I do love to listen to music while watching text YouTube videos, but I can't because YouTube can't be muted.
I use the respect audio focus in Musicolet Music Player.
I have tried App Volume Control but it did nothing!

Can you please add which is your device brand ?

it's huawei....

You can play video in browser instead of youtube app. In browser you can mute the audio.
If your browser launched youtube app when clicked on video link, you need to copy the url and paste it inside the search box - youtube video will load in browser.

i already know this trick .. but chrome youtube is so poor compared to youtube app...... what browser do you recommend me that feels similar to youtube app

Try Firefox lite

ok thanks ..... but i will wait a little bit to see if i can get any better answer if i didn't ..i will accept the answer

You can try a couple alternative apps. They have some advanced features that the official youtube app lacks.
NewPipe: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/
Skytube: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/free.rm.skytube.oss/


text:
This account already exists on your device - Huawei Nova 2S
I bought a Huawei Nova 2S while in China.  Installed Google Play Services 14.3.66 (com.google.android.gms_14.3.66_(090408-213742215)-14366030_minAPI26(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(480dpi)_apkmirror.com).
I then downloaded many google apps (Google, Drive, Music, Gmail, Sheets, Keep, Maps, Hangouts, Youtube) but not all of them.
** Problem **: After downloading Google Contacts I cannot use the app.  It asks me to sign in and when I attempt to do that I get "This account already exists on your device"
I have now upgraded to (com.google.android.gms_14.5.73_(040408-219655168)-14573021_minAPI23(arm64-v8a,armeabi-v7a)(480dpi)_apkmirror.com) but still no luck.  I am going to post this on Google's contacts support website so will update this if a solution is found.
-I also checked the permissions for Gmail, Play services and Contacts.  I selected "Trust this app" for all three to avoid any possible permission problems.
-Cleared app cache & data for Contacts. Re-started the phone but still no luck.
Some of the resources I've visited:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/GO4l2n3k-1o;context-place=topicsearchin/gmail/This$20account$20already$20exists$20on$20your$20device$20contact - same issue but never solved.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/USU0RXKwNds - again, unsolved
Next update:
Removed google account, was able to sign in to contacts, but once in it didn't sync any data and acted like I never signed in at all with the sign-in button appearing at the top of the menu again.

I FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!
I needed to download Google Contacts Sync, which I got from apkmirror.com.  It asked to manage my google account and access and modify contacts, which is exactly what I wanted.
I really hope this helps those other frustrated people who are experiencing the same problem (perhaps who bought a phone in China :-))


text:
Android JuiceSSH endless prompt to enter Interactive Aunthentication password
I am new to network stuff. Normally I connect to the internet provided by the student dormitory using the login client that they provide.
But it is inconvenient as I always have to switch on my laptop to connect it and when my laptop goes to sleep mode, the connection is broken. So, I tried something called SSH (in particular JuiceSSH), and tried to connect using my android smartphone. I followed all the steps written on this website , when I tried to connect, it asked me for the password, after I typed in the password, it still keeps asking me for the password, but not saying that the password is wrong.
Can anyone tells me what's going on and how to solve it? Thanks.

Where do you try to connect? From what network?

Who provided you login client and what that client is? Are you sure they are providing connectivity through a SSH server?


text:
Offline safe sync directory on sd card on non-rooted Android with Ubuntu PC
Is there a way how to offline safely synchronize directories between sd card on Android which is not rooted and PC with Ubuntu?
Safely = using secured connection between the devices (for example using ssh).
Offline = without Internet access, but the PC and smartphone are connected through LAN.
Synchronize directories = a process which transfers data between smartphone and PC in a way that at the end of the process, both devices contain exactly same data in selected directories (preferably, but not necessarily, excluding filtered files). The process is able to detect deleted data so it doesn't copy file which was originally on both devices and later deleted on one of them.
My systems

Android 6.0.1 (not rooted)
Xubuntu 18.04 64 bit PC

What I already tried/checked (without success)
Unison

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.danielroggen.unison
Problem: requires rooted device.

Unison for Android

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nerdysoftware.unison
Not secure - from application description: "No SSH access is necessary - clients connect directly via socket. Because Unison clients connect to your device over a direct socket connection instead of over SSH, the server should only be run when your Android device is connected to a trusted network, like a home WiFi. Running the server on other networks could expose files on your device to untrusted parties."
Also seems to use older version of Unison (this application requires exactly same versions on server and client to allow data transfer).

Rsync

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.letscorp.rsyncwrapper
Not quite designated for two-way syncing.

SSHDroid

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=berserker.android.apps.sshdroid
For using SSH with another software (see bellow)
Cannot write/modify SD card using the ssh connection. I went to settings -> Applications -> SSHDroid -> Permissions: storage is enabled. There I opened context menu -> all permissions: reading SD card available. Modification/deleting data on SD card available. In other words, I checked the application has permission to modify the SD card: it has.

SSHFS with SSHHelper

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.sshelper
Same problem as SSHDroid. I checked permissions.

SSHFS with SimpleSSHD

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.galexander.sshd
Same problem as SSHDroid. I checked permissions.

What I already tried (with mixed/partial success)
Combination: Unison (on PC) + some SSH server (Android) + SSHFS (on PC)

In case I could find working SSH server; use SSHFS to mount remote Android device locally and then use Unison for synchronization.
Results:

When the SSH is actually rw, then it works, but it's so slow that it's impractical - it must ask for every single file and directory over the network. Of course, other apps (like Unison) must do that too, but they don't ask for every single file sequentially (not: client send request for single file - latency - server checks and sends response - client receive response and go to next file).
Unison requires permission to rename files; it always creates temporary files and directories and when everything is downloaded and double-checked, then old files (if any) are deleted and new files renamed. So if renaming is not allowed, it doesn't work.

SSH/SFTP Server - Terminal

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.xnano.android.sshserver
This actually works but has two problems;

It requires entering password several (>10) times when mounted as sshfs (I tried trivial one and and made sure it's not typo) and doesn't support ssh keys. I was able to solve this problem with a hack: zenity --password | sshfs user@host:/ "$PWD/data" -o reconnect,password_stdin, but I'm not sure how secure it is.
This ssh is unbelievably slow. Much slower when compared with SSHDroid and SSHHelper (not only with sshfs, but also when I simply connect using ssh and terminal; typing and responses are really, really slow). Maximum speed is 2 MB/s, but most of the time it's ~500kB/s.
Cannot rename files (permission error) so it makes it unusable with Unison (on PC).

Syncthing

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nutomic.syncthingandroid
Problem: cannot modify SD card (on non-rooted systems) and devs are not going to fix this anytime soon.
The only solution is to use obscure, hard-to-reach deep directory structure: /storage/XXXX-XXXX/Android/data/com.nutomic.syncthingandroid/files.
But for this particular directory, it works. It's speed is about 5 - 10 MB/s and I suspect that it's being throttled down by SD card itself (or Android). For now, I'm using this solution, but the directory is really inconvenient.
Smaller problems:

It doesn't support following symlinks and until someone (other than current devs) implement it, it's not going to be supported.

What problem I'm trying to solve
I "just" want to synchronize data on file level (some pdfs, images, etc.) between my PC and Android smartphone. I use multiple devices (desktop, laptop, etc.) and use Unison (note: I do not insist on this app) to synchronize data between them. Because I switch environment quite offten, I need it to work on one button press and to be fast as possible (which, for example, Unison does greatly). Because I work on different environments, I need to cover my cases: sometimes I'm without Internet access. Other times I'm connected to untrusted network.
This is also reason why I cannot use cloud (like Dropbox): it's slower than two devices communicating directly and sometimes I'm without Internet connection so I cannot synchronize even when the devices are connected on same network.
The reason why I want to sync with SD card is simply because it has bigger capacity so my files fits.

Upvoted for thorough spade work :) Welcome to our site

@beeshyams Thanks :). (I thought this is so basic thing, that I kept searching for solution believing it's matter of course...)

Not tried, but maybe installing Nextcloud on your Linux machine and the Nextcloud app on your Android device? Nextcloud comes with a sync client AFAIK. Alternatively, if Playstore is acceptable, FolderSync works via SFTP (ie. SSH) and wouldn't require additional software on your Linux machine.

@Izzy Thank you for you suggestions. NextCloud seems very nice, it also (at least from what I see in documentation) solves lots of different problems I have, but regrettably installation process seems to be little bit involved process and I currently don't have that time.

@Izzy As for FolderSync with SFTP - I spent my today's free time playing with it and it seems to work. It's not fastest (just like my idea with sshfs - it must check content of all directories over the network) and doesn't handle conflicts well (options are to always prefer files from one device, other device, newer version or ignore, but there is no option to let me choose per case) (also if timestamp of both files changes but content does not, or if content changes in same way, it wont check the data and just marks it as conflicted).

@Izzy So it's not optimal (I anticipate huge slowdown when a big file's timestamp changes - it will have to download it over the network just to find out it's same as local version), but makes the work done. So again, thanks for the suggestion.

No, it's not the fastest – but that never bothered me. It syncs in bg at 3am while I sleep, and is done when I get up. Conflicts are the real bad thing here indeed – which I usually notice when having copied an entire folder to a new device (FS seems unable to detect their state and doesn't even seem to bother trying CRC or something else to find out). But unfortunately, no better ideas here. Be welcome to check my corresponding app listing, there are many candidates I didn't try myself ;)

@Izzy I guess it depends on our workflows - I usually do some work to the last minute, then sync, take my things and run to catch a train.
(About FS - yeah, it seems to me exactly as you wrote.)
Your list of apps is really interesting, thanks for sharing. I'll try to find some time to check out some apps from it :).

Just remembered: SyncThing I often hear praised, could be an option for you. Should be in the linked list ;)

@Izzy Well, it seems good, except it doesn't work on SD card; see links in my question (I mention the app there).

The biggest constraint is your requirement to write directly to SD card. Apps don't have filesystem level write access to external SD card since KK. They need to use SAF APIs to be able to write files to public directories on SD card. CLI solutions aren't able to use SAF and GUI apps aren't very feature rich from syncing aspect. rclone is a great utility but it'd be able to write only to private directory of the terminal app it's run from. Also it doesn't copy symlinks (b/c cloud storage don't support) but can follow (copy actual files). With root access, though, there are many possibilities

Btw, Android 10 restricts filesystem access even to primary external storage (/sdcard), so the developers trying to avoid using SAF won't be able to go too far.

At the end, I settled with Syncthing. So, how does it fulfil my requirements:
Safely
It uses encryption. I didn't analyse how secure it is, so this is more matter of trust, but at least it shouldn't send data unencrypted.
Offline
Works exceptionally well. Local LAN detection seems reliable and is able to connect clients directly. I use it also at work (Windows-to-Windows and Windows-to-Linux) to share data with co-workers without exposing them to 3rd-party companies, it's fast and reliable. (Tens of gigabytes are transferred pretty quickly, so it seems the only bottleneck is the local network.)
Synchronize directories
Works well, but at the end, I decided to synchronize two-ways only one subdirectory instead of all data. It seems like Android likes to modify my files without my consent (especially media files), so except certain working directory, I block any changes done by the Android. It's inconvenient, but it's not issue with Syncthing.
Another problem is when synchronizing big files (thousands of megabytes and more), but again, it seems like issue with my device, but after a few system crashes, Syncthing eventually manages to transfer the data. (Later edit: it seems this issue really happens only on my Android device. Syncing single ~25GB file with a co-worked, Windows-to-Windows was without any problems.)
Pros

Reliable across platforms.
You just configure it and it works in background. If you're used, for example, to Dropbox, it's similar, except you don't share your data with 3rd party company. And it's actually faster (ymmv), because it synchronizes data between clients directly, not with server.
The application can be configured through browser. You can enable access from outer device (I recommend to enable password in this case!!!) which allows you to configure Android Syncthing through your desktop browser (you just need to find out IP address of your phone), which is really convenient.

Cons

As already mentioned in question, only directory on SD card, which can be synced, is /storage/XXXX-XXXX/Android/data/com.nutomic.syncthingandroid/files. It's really inconvenient, but I got used to it, somehow.
Linux desktop version doesn't handle symlinks. I solved it by using mount bindfs --resolve-symlinks --no-allow-other "srcDir" "shareDir".

Notes
I miss option to review data changes before they're synchronized, but this is matter of preference and application design, not an issue. And as stated in question, I couldn't find reliable Unison implementation on Android.

I also chose Syncthing so far, have you experienced sometimes files getting replaced by 0 byte ones as well? I'm trying to figure out if Syncthing is to blame or whether something else is wrong with my phone...

@TobiasKienzler I use Syncthing since the day I wrote the answer. On one side, no, I didn't experience files being replaced by zero bytes. However, on the other side, I sometimes experience that old files are damaged (i.e. just some bytes are changed, I didn't check which ones exactly.) Personally, I suspect the problem is old memory card, but I never inspected it to more depth (I only created a git repository to track what's happening - the repo itself got damaged after more than a year.) I just sync important data one way PC -> phone and move working data (e.g. photos) to the safe directory.

@TobiasKienzler Also, I sometimes use Syncthing for sharing big data (tens of gigabytes) with a colleague. That's PC -> PC connection (no phone involved) and I never experienced any such issue, so I'm convinced the problem lies in the phone (although we use it much, much less frequently than how I synchronize my phone, so it's not exactly same case.) (And btw. sorry for late answer.)

Glad to hear, thanks for the feedback! I'm also starting to suspect the memory card, even though this sometimes also seems to occur on the internal storage...

@TobiasKienzler Well if it also happens on the internal storage, it's quite suspicious. In that case, I would recommend to split the data into two parts - one synced through Syncthing, the other manually (e.g. through ssh) and watch them thoroughly and see what happens.

Indeed, I guess I'll have to check it in more detail... Thanks for your feedback!

I used to plug in the mobile and mount the directories using simple-mtpfs
  mkdir /mnt/phone
  simple-mtpfs -o enable-move /mnt/phone

I could then use unison directly between appropriate directories
It worked great for many years over 3 different phones.
Additional I was hoping to use unison for android, but it cant create a lock file on the sdcard which it wants to use for its one phone files. (Mistakenly thinks there is one, and asks to delete it)
Only problem is the plug on my current phone is so loose I can't get a file transfer connection, only power charging.  Which is why I am here looking for a network solution.


text:
Is possible to open and display both front and back cameras simultaneously?
Does anyone know if it is possible to open and display both front and back cameras simultaneously?
Any suggestions or references will be appreciated

Please refer to these two answers https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30377081/access-both-back-and-front-cameras-simultaneously and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51227768/how-to-save-front-and-back-camera-footage-in-the-same-file-after-being-recorded
According to the first answer, most often the android phone do not have enough hardware resources to have both camera working at the same time.
However, this is quite old answer and these days phones come with much better hardware support. You can try opening front camera while the rear camera is in action.
Hope this helps.


text:
Is it possible to use the Android Hardware without using android APIs?
I've always liked cheap smartphones ($ 50) because with little money I can have a powerful system with lots of sensors and things like that. So I wondered if it was possible to use the hardware without using the very limited android APIs, programming it at a low level then, of course with the root. In particular I wanted to see how the LTE module worked and experiment with this having full control, the Android API does not allow it to do much.

You can try using NDK. It gives more access to android hardware.
Please refer
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53134098/hardware-access

Can you add a description of the answer you linked to?

Thanks. Also, asking for votes is a very bad idea (it usually causes downvotes).


text:
ADB shell input keypress play/pause doesn't work in Netflix/Hulu Android apps?
I'm trying to control my Android Box (running Android 6.0, my guess is a modified version of a phone's os, definitely not the official android tv os) via adb for a home automation project & I'm having a bit of trouble with some apps not responding to emulated keypress events. So far I've experienced the following results:
Apps used for testing
Xfinity Stream - Pause & Play both work (using adb shell input 85, MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE keycode)
Hulu - Pause works & Play doesn't (again using adb shell input 85)
Netflix - Both Pause & Play don't work (tried both adb shell input 85 & adb shell input 127/126, PAUSE & PLAY keycodes)
Has anyone else experienced this issue of inconsistency with apps responding to keypresses? Is there any way I can reliably simulate the Play/Pause for all apps?
System-wide the Power & Mute/Unmute work, so I'm curious why the Play/Pause doesn't.


text:
How to uninstall an app when "Uninstall" dialog is not shown?
How to uninstall this app where after clicking uninstall, only the picture of the app shows up and there's no "OK, cancel" prompt?
My device is Asus Zenfone 2 Laser 5.5 (ZE550KL).

Find the app from settings > apps /app information (varies as per Android version) and uninstall from there

That's the problem. After clicking uninstall it should show the prompt "Do you want to uninstall this app" with Ok or Cancel, but in my case just the picture above only being shown

See this answer by Firelord https://android.stackexchange.com/a/176249/131553

And avoid installing apps from "the wild wild web". You never know what you get (as seen). Use safe sources, such as F-Droid.

@Izzy ... or submit the .apk to VirusTotal before installing.

@DeathMaskSalesman that's one possible measure. But is it enough? Even for my repo I use multiple scanner (including VT) to see what's inside. And at F-Droid we only use that as indicator and do not trust the compiled APKs from "3rd parties" – not even libraries, all must be source for us to check and compile. You should only install from 3rd parties if you know what you're doing – and if you can help yourself in case you caught something.

@Izzy It's not enough, but it's better that nothing for the Android layman who can't/doesn't want to run a scanner on an .apk.

@DeathMaskSalesman it's better to wrap an axe in thick paper if you don't know how to handle it – but then, you shoiuldn't use it in the first place :) // 'nough said, we ain't no forum :)

Boot into safe-mode, go into Settings → Applications/Apps → find your app and uninstall it. This would work unless your device is a system app.
If it is a system app, disable it from Settings app. If you don't get the option to disable it, and you're certain that disabling it would not affect the stability of your Android (think of boot loops and crashes), then enable usb-debugging, setup adb, and issue either of these commands:

adb shell pm disable-user PACKAGE_NAME         # disables the app
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PACKAGE_NAME   # uninstalls the app for primary user account

Replace PACKAGE_NAME with the package name of the troublesome app. To  get help in finding it, see my answer here.