text:
How to copy the coordinate (latitude/longitude) in Google Maps?
In Google Maps on my Android, I know when I click on a place on the map, it shows lat/long in the search bar.  But how do I COPY the lat/long?
All the forums I have read seem to have old info.  They say to click on the lat/long values to copy.  But when I click on the lat/long (that is now in the search bar), it changes to the address.  Some of the old info also says to swipe up to see more data but again, that area now shows the address, not the lat/long.

As a workaround you could copy the "Plus Code" (aka "Open Location") location which contains the geo location data just like lat/lon, but in a different format. There are apps and web sites which can convert this code back to lat/lon.

Thanks for the suggestion, but ...  I'm gathering this info to be used by a group of people that are involved in emergency preparedness.  We want to be able to send lat/long info via radio to emergency responders when the internet is down.  So we won't be able to use a website to convert.  An app would not work since not everyone would have the app installed.  Plus, I looked into converting & found code you can use in your own program, but not a website.  Plus, it says it's hard to convert when you don't have the full 8+2 but sometimes I get 4+2.

The 4+2 has to have a city or locality after it to identify which part of the world that code represents, https://github.com/google/open-location-code. If you are online you can use reverse geocoding or offline depend upon a pre-cached list of locations assuming you are just supporting one state/province/country.

Yes, the 4+2 has a city with it.  It's just too complicated to tell a group of people how to convert it to lat/long.  I have not found a website that converts it to lat/long.

If I long press a location, maps places a pin and shows information about that point including a coordinate. Clicking on the coordinate copies it to the clipboard. Does that not work for you? I also just noticed the coordinate will appear in the search box after a long press

I tried long press on a location.  The lat/long shows in the search bar & the street address shows below the map.  If I click on the lat/long, it changes to the street address so I can't copy the lat/long.  The above is when I have internet.  If I do NOT have internet, when I tap the lat/long, then I can copy.  This is a work around but I wanted to get instructions for a group of people & I'm sure someone will forget this detail.  Note that long press & tap do the same thing.

You need to long press the search bar to get into text selection mode. For some reason, that doesn't always work, zooming in first seems to help

Once the lat/long appears in the search bar, if I either tap or long press, the search bar changes to the street address. So at that point I cannot select the lat/long. You say to try to zoom in, but on what? I can zoom in on the map, but cannot zoom in on the search bar.


text:
Code aware / exact entry version of keyboard for Android?
I hate it when I am writing code* and all the English rules get applied. When I type i++, it shows I++. I have to actually like press the lowercase i accept option before I type the ++
or not respecting my camel case (splitting words automatically).
Let variable = ...
I don't want the let being capitalised as its not the first word in a sentence. It's code, not English.
*Note: I'm not saying I write code on my phone ,lol, this is like notes for Evernote, or in a reddit response, not real code that is actually going to run somewhere

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Please note that questions directly asking for app recommendations are off-topic. Instead, we prefer the asker to just state the underlying problem that they want to solve and not put any restriction for apps-only, so we'd appreciate it if you could [edit] the question, add some details, and/or remove the restriction. Otherwise, you might be interested in our sister site, Software Recommendations Stack Exchange instead.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Why can't Google Maps find better location? (without Location Services)
Google maps just shows a big circle (maybe 2 miles / 5 km) around my approximate location.  Because of this, I cannot use it for navigation.
If I use OsmAnd~ (an alternative maps program), it can find my approximate location (< 100 m / 100 yards) instantly and my precise location within about 5 seconds.  So at least other apps are able to find my location.
My goal is to limit talking to Google servers as much as practical.  Unfortunately, the setting names themselves are not obvious regarding how much information it will cause to be shared with Google, so I am hesitant to experiment and turn them on.
Here are things that may affect Google Maps:
Settings -> Location: This is turned on.  Maps and OsmAnd~ both are allowed the location.
Settings -> Location -> Location Services:
On: Earthquake alerts
On: Emergency Location Service
Off: Google Location Accuracy
Off: Google Location History
Off: Google Location Sharing
Off: Wi-Fi scanning
Off: Bluetooth scanning
Off: Carrier Location Access
Within Google Maps, if I go to its settings, there is a "Location accuracy tips" item, which when selected brings up a dialog that says "To continue, turn on device location, which uses Google's location service".  I am hesitant to say OK, since it should not need to use Location Services which talk to Google servers.
The phone is a Moto G Stylus 5G (2022), running Android 12.

Using a Google app and not wanting to use Google Services feels like you want to de-Google your device in which case go the custom ROM route. For Google Maps to get a fast fix on your possibly indoor location, Google needs to know what WiFi SSIDs are in your area to improve triangulation. You may want to read: How Google uses location information

Using a custom ROM would be worth considering if it were easier and I was sure my phone was supported. I admire the technical solutions from Google, but almost everything they do is in service of aggregating personal info to sell ads. From what I can tell, the built-in GPS should be accurate enough for my purposes without having to talk to Google servers.

After an update from Android 12 to 13 was offered, I find I am able to go to Settings -> Apps, select the Maps app, click on Permissions, then Location, and finally here there is a slider for "Use precise location".  Enabling this setting allows the app to get a near-precise location using only the GPS.
I am not sure whether this setting was there under Android 12 or not.

It was... but I am pretty sure "Precise Location" uses more than the GPS, it also includes WiFi scanning, cellular triangulation, and in some cases Bluetooth beacon scanning... The difference is Android 13 doesn't require the permissions to do it with Google services as it is part of base system now. I might be wrong, but pretty sure I am not.

My current mental model (which may be wrong) and subsequent theory is that the settings under "Settings -> Location -> Location Services" determine what Location Services will collect and pass along to Google.  Then "Use precise location" only indicates what the OS will pass along to the application.  (If the application is made by Google, it may then pass info along to Google, but that's a separate matter.)  The "precise location" is calculated using GPS and possibly any other Location Services you have enabled.  Again, that is all my present theory.

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


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Can Android device send emergency message to 911 without SIM card?
I already know that Android devices can call 911 without a SIM card (ref: Can an Android phone with no SIM card make an emergency call?), but can they can send a message to 911 without a SIM card?

You can call 911 on any cellphone with or without a SIM card. You may not be able to send 911 a text, a feature my county has available. To be honest, whenever I have texted 911 they text back with "Are you in a safe enough place to call 911?"....Without a SIM card I don't see that even being a possibility unfortunately. I know you can make a 911 phone call sans SIM card though.
Verified with FCC - you cannot text 911 without a working SIM card in the cellphone you are calling from.

Thanks very much for help , it is rellay useful, thanks again!

Oh no problem at all. I'm relatively new to this community so I'm still learning the ins and outs and how to be a good steward of the information contained within!


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Google's Web & App Activity suddenly not working
Up until yesterday, all my activity carried out on my Samsung Galaxy S20 showed up in my Web & App Activity in my Google account. However today, it stopped. Only showed when I used one app in particular and nothing else. I didn’t change any of my device or Google settings.
Anyone know why this would have happened and how to fix this?


text:
Rooting "Redmi Pad SE" with Magisk (MIUI 14, Android 13)
How to root Redmi Pad SE with Magisk (MIUI 14, Android 13)?
There are many guides out there, but doing it with boot.img doesn't work.
Some of the guides are specific to Redmi Pad SE, but they are really copies where the device name has changed but the instructions are the same for all devices.

I wrote this guide for anyone with "Redmi Pad SE" (a tablet) which comes with "MIUI 14" and "Android 13".
In Settings > About Tablet you have the MIUI and Android versions.

Take note of them.

In my case:
MIUI 1.0.3 TMUEUXM
Android 13 tkq1.221114.001

Note: The device came with MIUI 1.0.1 but the ROM versions available online where for 1.0.2 and 1.0.3, so I upgraded it from within MIUI/Android. As you will see later, you will need to download the ROM/Firmware.

Requirement
First, you need to request the bootloader to be unlocked as soon as possible, because you will have to wait 7 days until it can be done.
https://www.miui.com/unlock/index_en.html
https://en.miui.com/unlock/download_en.html
The program provided by Xiaomi is for Windows and it says it will wipe out any data you had inside the Android device.
If you see that something is failing in the connection with the device, click on options. There is a section to Install drivers into Windows.
After the 7 days, unlock the device and continue.

The official instructions to install Magisk are here
https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html
However, as described here
https://aiomobilestuff.com/root-android-13-via-magisk-patched-init_boot-boot/#comment-149823
for devices that come originally with "Android 13", the process is slightly different. In particular, you will work with init_boot.img and NOT with boot.img

1: Install Android SDK (Windows)
or
1: Install adb and fastboot (Linux)
# sudo apt install adb fastboot

2: Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking
Clicking on MIUI version several times you will enable 'Developer mode' (see the image above).
Then under Settings > Additional Settings you will find 'Developer options'

There are many places describing how to Enable USB Debugging. I won't go into that.

3: Extract Stock init_boot.img
This is very unclear on the official instructions. It just says "If your device has boot ramdisk, get a copy of the boot.img (or init_boot.img if exists)."
Well, google for your MIUI version ("MIUI 1.0.3 TMUEUXM" in this case) and you will find repositories for the firmware that you have installed.
In my case I got it from 2 different sources and compared that the results were identical.
(You may find something different)
They were called
miui_XUNEEAGlobal_V14.0.3.0.TMUEUXM_f8cfc20eb5_13
miui-blockota-xun_eea_global-V14.0.2.0.TMUEUXM-V14.0.3.0.TMUEUXM-ecc1df367d-13.0

You can just unzip it, but then you need to extract the payload.
For that I used payload-dumper-go from https://github.com/ssut/payload-dumper-go
Find inside the decompressed payload the init_boot.img
Optional: I compared that file from both firmwares to verify they are identical. For that you can use md5sum or similar.

4: Install Magisk App on Android
Get the latest APK from its official web ( https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases ), NOT from Play Store.

5: Patch the init_boot.img with Magisk and flash it
All the adb / fastboot commands below are to be run from a PC. There are ways to root Android without PC but I haven't tested it.
# With the Tablet in normal mode and powered on (well charged).
# Copy the init_boot to Android
$ adb push init_boot.img  /sdcard/Download/

Proceed to patch that file within Magisk. This is explained in many places.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FUTURE UPDATES OF MIUI:
[updated 2024-02] If you accept any of the MIUI OS updates, your rooted init_boot will be replaced by the update, your tablet will stop being rooted (the apps that need a rooted device will stop working properly) and you will have to repeat the steps from here.  Although one could argue that it should be from point 3 to be fully correct. I just did it from here (I didn't care about the changes made by the update) and it went well (may not be always like that, be warned).
END OF IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FUTURE UPDATES OF MIUI
# Get the patched file from Android to PC
$ adb pull /sdcard/Download/magisk_patched-<something_here>.img

# Reboot Android into fastboot
$ adb reboot bootloader

# Flash the patched img from PC into Android
# This is the part that is different for devices that came with Android 13.
$ fastboot flash init_boot magisk_patched-<something_here>.img

# Reboot Android
$ fastboot reboot

Done.
Now Magisk should say that it is installed.


text:
Hiding display of primary user in Android multi-user
In Android, when I set up secondary user and switch to it, is there a possibility to hide primary user so it does not show in options for switching users? I have root.


text:
Cannot verify Google account after factory resetting Huawei tablet
There is a tablet Huawei AGS-W09, which I have not used for a while.
I have restored it to factory default. When it starts, it asks for the Google credentials that were used in it; this is probably an anti-theft mechanism.
I provide the Google username and password, but then it requires phone verification. I know the phone number, but it does not exist anymore, since I did not add credit to it for years.
Even with a PC, the same thing, I cannot log in to this Google account, because it asks for phone verification.
If I ask Google to recover my account, it just asks for "the last password I remember", I enter the current password, and then says they cannot help.
Is there any way to recover the Google account and/or the tablet?

Unless you can recover that account then there's nothing you can do.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. We have a "canonical" Q&A for bypassing the FRP: How to bypass Factory Reset Protection (FRP) or "Verify your account" screen?. As for the Google account itself, I'm afraid it's out of scope for this site, you might need to per use their help support.


text:
Where did the Google calendar widget go?
Until recently, I had the combined date / weather widget from Google on my home screen. Clicking on it opened either the calendar, or the weather frog app.
A few days ago, I noticed it was replaced with the Google assistant 'quick overview' widget, and I can't find the original one in the list of widgets.
Did Google remove that widget altogether, or is there a way to get it back?
I did get an update to Android 13 recently, but I'm not sure if that's related.

Yes, Google removed the combined date and weather widget from Android 13. The widget was replaced with the Google Assistant Quick Overview widget.
There are a few ways to get the combined date and weather widget back:

Use a third-party launcher such as Nova Launcher or Lawnchair
Launcher. These launchers allow you to add widgets that are not
included in the stock Android launcher.
Use a third-party weather app such as Pixel Weather Widget & Themes.
These apps typically have their own widgets that you can add to your
home screen.
Use a custom widget pack. There are many custom widget packs
available on the Google Play Store. Some of these widget packs
include a combined date and weather widget.

To add a widget using a third-party launcher, long-press on an empty space on your home screen and select "Widgets". Then, select the widget from the list of widgets.
To add a widget using a third-party weather app, open the app and go to the settings menu. Then, look for a section labeled "Widgets" or "Home screen widgets". Select the widget that you want to add to your home screen.
To add a widget using a custom widget pack, open the app and select the widget that you want to add to your home screen. Then, follow the instructions that are provided by the app.
I hope this helps!


text:
adb fails with exit code 15
I run a console app (built with NDK) on an Android phone with the following command from my Windows machine:
adb push MyApp /data/local/tmp
adb shell "cd /data/local/tmp && chmod a+x MyApp"
adb shell "cd /data/local/tmp && ./MyApp"

basically it works on most the phones, but on a specific phone the first two commands succeed, but the third command fails with exit code 15 (adb exits with code 15).
What does code 15 mean? (The app itself does not have exit code 15).
I do not have an access to that specific phone, and need an idea on what can cause this.
Where are the docs on adb exit codes?
For example, if the app simply fails to start adb exits with code 1.

apps are executed with am start

@alecxs app are installed with adb install, but not adb push

I wonder if it's an output by ADB or by the Android shell. Can you try again by entering the Android shell first (adb shell) and then executing the rest of the commands, or alternatively using an on-device terminal app?

By "console app" do you mean a simple command line program, as you might write on any UNIX-like system, or something different? Is it in C, C++, or what? What version of Android were you compiling for? What version of Android does the phone in question have?

@JohnDallman Yes it is a console program in C++  like int main() { return 0;}. Android NDK r20b, Android 10.


text:
App's notification options no longer enabling
The app in question is "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius". I've checked with their subreddit, and only one person noted they have a similar issue.
Using Samsung S20 FE and this was not a problem from near its release date, until about a month ago.
I noticed that the app is no longer giving notifications.
If I go into the app itself, it's missing the notification option all together.
If I go into the general notification settings, the app only appears when toggling on 'System Apps', and when I attempt to toggle it on there, it toggles itself right back off.
A reinstall of the app did not change this behavior.


text:
Android app sound unknown
From which App is this notification sound in Android, after playing an audio message?
Sound unknown app

It looks to be from your or someone's mail service as a notification. I'm not positive as I can't hear the audio very clearly but it's listed as Mail.com notification in the properties afte:r
#1downloading and playing the audio
#2 reading file propties
Hope your that helps.


text:
How to bring up an alarm on top of television
I was wondering whether it is possible to install an app that brings an alarm into the foreground while the television is playing on Android TVs.
I ask, because, this morning, the television, and other media, were on, and I got distracted.
If an alarm had been brought into the foreground to remind me of what I had to do I would have been able to complete my task, and complete it on time.
Can you please answer me, and tell me if there is a way to install such an app, and make it work (including, installing an auxiliary alarm device (as can be done with Chromecast), to work, as an alarm, on top of the television.
By including the alarm in the television (hopefully, I can just install an app), I am ensuring the alarm goes off, and it cannot be moved away, from, the television screen (which is where is is needed).
Also, important, that a separate volume be present, to be set and override, the current settings.
But it is important that the alarm is displayed and stays there, because, in this way, you are also, reminded, visually.
Thank you for your answers.
Thank you for letting me know how to accomplish the task at hand.
Thank you.


text:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S on LineageOS 20 auto-restarting
My Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S is running on LineageOS 20, but it keeps restarting itself before it can boot.
Also, sometimes if it boots to LineageOS, touching the power button (not even pressing it), wakes it up, and opens the camera and other apps like it has an extra sensitive fingerprint sensor.

Could be a hardware or software problem. Try if the boot behavior changes while the phone is connected to a charger. If it changes it could be a bad battery. If not check logcat and try to get last_kmsg to see kernel messages.

Hi could you explain how to take these logs and where specifically should i see the kernel messages. I tried  "adb logcat  -d > logcat.txt"  without quotes but it made about a 4Mb text file. So how to execute command having  last_kmsg  in it to see the kernel logs

Please search this site for last_kmsg and you will get a lot of answers. Note that to my knowledge not all devices have alast_kmsg, so your device my or my not have it..


text:
Is there any way to change hosts file without root?
Is there a method to modify the hosts file on an Android device running version 13 without root access?
I'm interested in altering hosts file to manage network configurations and block certain websites, but I'd prefer not to root my device due to potential security and warranty concerns.
Are there any legitimate and safe procedures, ADB commands, or tools available for achieving this on Android 13?
I couldn't find any way to do that.

The answer is no, but you could create a vpn interface and filter on the list of unwanted routers.

What do you want to do? Black sites like ad sites? Or redirect traffic to a different server for app testing?

Does this answer your question? How to edit 'etc/hosts' file in non-rooted phone?

@Robert for ad blocking. now I'm using vpn based blocker, but it's not good like old host based one.

Not sure what you mean by "it's not good like old host based one". I use VPN based blockers like Blokada 5 for years, they work like a charm.

@IrfanLatif , Yes, this is what I was looking for. However, since the discussion in the link is 6 years old, I was hoping if there was any new way to do it. But anyway, thanks.

@Robert Actually, in this case, another app keeps running in the background, so it is a bit uncomfortable. It also drains the battery. However, the new Android private DNS system is definitely better in this regard.

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Regarding Irfan Latif's linked Q&A, have you tried any of the answers? Note that while the question was asked in 2017, there was an answer posted in 2022.

@AndrewT. Yes, I have tried all of the answers that are applicable to a usual non-rooted phones. The only thing left to do is to unlock the bootloader and change/replace the hosts file from recovery. This may void the warranty, so I'm thinking of waiting a few more days. Thank you for your help.


text:
Cannot connect Samsung device in fastboot
I am attempting to use fastboot on an old Samsung Galaxy A01. It is a learning exercise for unlocking. Based on this, the device should support using fastboot. I got it off a Samsung forum. I am running on a Windows 11 machine.
I can run
$ .\adb.exe -d devices
List of devices attached
R9HN*******     device

Which allows me to run .\adb.exe reboot bootloader which reboots the device into fastboot. The issue I cannot seem to solve is getting the drivers to work at this point.
I run .\fastboot.exe devices and nothing shows up. I checked my device management and I can see it under Ports (COM & LPT) > USB Serial Device (COM9) I have added the Samsung drivers from here and it will change to those. Each time though, I get a warning triangle on the device and it says.

This device cannot start. (Code 10)
{Operation Failed}
The requested operation was unsuccessful.

I have also manually attempted to use the Android drivers here but it says they are not the correct arch?
Any suggestion on how to get fastboot drivers for this device to work?

Note that there are a lot of generated pages out there that are just "click traps" without actually containing valid information about Android rooting. The Samsung devices I had contact did not had to be unlocked via fastboot, usually Samsung devices don't have  a real fastboot mode at all. You enable OEM unlock and then flash what you want to flash using Odin/Heimdall. On next reboot the phone then asks if it should be unlocked. The COM9 you get is a good indicator as Windows never detects a fastboot device as a COM device. So you are most likely in DFU mode because there is no fastboot.

@Robert just to confirm I can do .\adb.exe reboot bootloader which reboots the device to a screen that says fastboot. Does that not matter and I should look into Odin/Heimdall? I saw those before as well but those looked more like that "click traps".

I would recommend to search xda-dev forum for your device and root. You will get some topics and the few I have checked they always use Odin/Heimdall.

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. As mentioned by Robert, Samsung devices don't have Fastboot mode (it's a stub/not working). Instead, they have Download mode, which can only be operated with Odin/Heimdall.


text:
How to play YouTube videos in mpv?
I sometime do that on the Linux desktop - but on the phone I cannot do it. What I see is exactly what is presented in this video on reddit. Adding the video url to mpv does nothing. The answer seems to be that yt-dlp has to be installed.
To do that I have followed these instructions, installed Termux and then did:
pkg up
pkg install python
pkg install ffmpeg
python3 -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp

Then, in order to make mpv work with yt-dlp, I followed the instruction here: entered mpv advanced settings, selected the option to edit mpv.conf, and pasted script-opts=ytdl_hook-ytdl_path=/usr/bin/yt-dlp.
But those are settings for Linux. Should they work for Android? Why don't they? I see the same as before, mpv does nothing after adding the url.

Not the first time once I post a question I find the answer :)
This mpv-android issue complains exactly about that, linking to this about integration with youtube-dl. There, a link to a mpv-android apk file which has that integration is available. Uninstalling default release of mpv and installing that version of mpv-android, we can see that its advanced settings include a new entry to install youtub-dl or yt-dlp.

There is a limited amount of GUI options in mpv, but playback in background is one of them:


text:
Syncing Kiwi using 'hard links' into Chrome's data folder
Kiwi Browser has no syncing option, while other Chromium browsers do
have.
A workaround
The idea/hack is to:

install another browser (like Chrome Beta),

not use it,

and hard-wired Kiwi's data into the former's data folder.

(existing Kiwi will trigger the other browser syncing activity)

The following experimental script,
is trying to hard-link Chrome's data to a different folder.
Note that Kiwi Browser isn't involved yet at all.
This is just a POC, to see how well a Chromium browser works with "hard links".
Is it working? - No.
Chrome is able to open correctly.
But it saves nothing as expected.
Not Preferences, not History, not nothing.
# Source (Chrome's data),
# Target (the folder outside of Chrome):

S="./app_chrome/Default"

T="/data/data/shared/app_chrome/Default"

# Creation of hard links:

cd /data/data/com.android.chrome

ln -f $T/History $S

ln -f $T/Bookmarks $S

ln -f $T/Preferences $S

P.S.: with 'soft' (symbolic) link (instead of the above 'hard-links'), Chrome will not even be able to launch.

Presumably you are rooted, to be able to create hardlinks? What directories actually exist once you've done all this?

@John Dallman   True, on rooted phone. How much folders are involved ? - Two: 1.
/data/com.chrome/ app_chrome/default  - contains chrome original files.   2. ...com.kiwi/... - contains hard-links (instead of its original files), pointing to the former (chrome).


text:
Colordict dictionary use
I have Colordict 4.4.6 installed on an Android 8, so far everything seems fine, I've also installed 3 dictionaries, but Colordict seems to work only with 1 dictionary at time, I can use the up button to position the dictionary that I want to use, but the apps seems not be able to check meanings in multiple dictionaries (I was used to Goldendict, which can work/show multiple dictionaries). Am I missing something here?


text:
How to "shift-click" select many files at once in android (range select)
How can I select a range of files in Android?
I'm trying to use Amaze File Manager to create a compressed archive of ~200 files in a directory of ~2,000 files. All the files I want to select are in one continuous sequence.
In my linux file manager (eg thunar or nautilus) I would simple select the first file, hold the shift key, and select the last file. That's two clicks and one key press.
In my android file manager (Amaze), I have to tap 200 times.
Is there any open-source file manager in android that will let me select N continuous files with less than 5 taps?

See also https://github.com/TeamAmaze/AmazeFileManager/issues/2070

You can do this with MiXplorer Silver File Manager. Select the first file, then the last. Everything in between will be selected.


text:
Android Wi-Fi connection DNS failures
My relative's tablet has started having problems on our Wi-Fi network. It will downright refuse to do DNS resolution (not just locally).
Some information about our network:

Wi-Fi is delivered through a bunch of Netgear Orbi APs that are connected to an Edge-X router, which is connected to the ISP's modem/router.
We are not running anything exotic like PiHole or local DNS servers.
I've used Fing on Android to perform tests, mostly ping. Ping works when using IPs but fails when using hostnames.

Some things I've noticed:

Traffic to IPs still works.
Pinging the DNS servers works.
This happens regardless of the DNS server that has been set up on the router (usually 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8).
Sometimes it is solved by switching from DHCP to Static and specifying a fixed IP + DNS server IP. It might work for a couple of hours, until it starts failing again. Switching back to DHCP sometimes helps, but not always.
Playing with the Private DNS feature might also help, but not always and never indefinitely.
The problem only happens on our own Wi-Fi network.
Her relative's tablet (exactly the same model and generation) never has this problem. In fact, none of our other devices do.
The problem happens regardless of which Orbi AP the device is connected to.

I haven't tried the following things:

Factory reset the tablet (I'd like to postpone this step as long as possible)
Changing the SSID on our Wi-Fi (would also prefer to postpone since it would mean reconfiguring a lot of our devices).

Any input would be greatly appreciated.


text:
How do I delete texts from the OS itself?
I use Textra for texting. I recently went through and deleted all my texts from Textra to try and clean up my phone. But if I look at contacts, I can still see some recent texts listed.
I know Textra and other third party text apps don't store the texts, the OS does. How do I clean up old texts from the OS itself?

The OS only stores what the apps instruct the OS to store. BTW. From your question it is not clear how a contact can contain recent texts. Does "Textra" store texts in contacts?

When I migrated away from whatever the default android texting app is over to Textra, I could see messages in both apps. And I would imagine if I downloaded another 3rd party texting app, that would be able to read texts from the OS also. There is no standard procedure for cleaning old texts from a phone?

Something to clarify: did you set Textra as the default messaging app when deleting the texts? Note that only the default messaging app has write access to delete the messages on the OS level (SMS content provider). Also, from where/which app did you see the contacts that have recent texts listed? Otherwise, have you checked with other messaging apps that the texts are still there? Perhaps the app that shows the contacts stores a copy of recent texts instead.


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How to prevent battery saving when power cord is plugged out (TC52)
Trying to run a CPU intensive application on TC52 without power cord connected has this unwanted behavior of turning down the frequency of the CPU(s) after just a few seconds of activity. With charging cable connected, the CPU stays in the fast operation mode.
Is there any mechanism to try to convince the OS (Android 11) that no battery optimisation should happen in this case? (One would assume, that on low battery charging level, like < 20% one would like to enable this feature, but no on fully charged device). The Battery Management settings seem to have no effect.


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Windows Explorer does not show files in Android filesystem
I am using a tablet with Android version 8.1.0
I save files into internal memory using my app which get saved at /storage/emulated/0/FOLDER/filename.txt
Doing adb shell ls -la sdcard/FOLDER in windows cmd shows correct contents of this folder as well
However, when opening this location in Windows Explorer (shows up as This PC\DTABC2\Internal shared storage\FOLDER on windows 10), the files I created are not there. It shows some files and directories that actually exist (also shown in adb shell), but it also shows previous files I had created and deleted (using adb shell rn) few days ago (double clicking these files show an error, other files that also show up on adb shell open normally). It's not showing any of the other new files created today
Normally when this happens with my other devices I pull out the USB connector and reconnect the device to PC, and windows explorer starts showing the correct content. However with this tablet windows explorer is not showing updated content for reason, and shows the same files every time I reconnect. I have used windows explorer to copy files on and off this tablet, so it wasn't always like this before, but I have been saving files from my app and pulling and deleting using adb more recently
Why is it behaving this way, and ho do I force windows to show the latest contents in the tablet's memory?

Possible duplicate of Why my DCIM folder is empty seen in the computer but not empty in the phone. On Old Android versions (AFAIR Android 9 and older) Android expects that the app informs the OS/MediaService about newly created or modified files. Newer Android versions automatically detect those changes. To force re-detection you can reboot the phone as simple workaround.


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How to specify the default network interface on an Android virtual machine?
I get this error when trying to ping any device in my network: network is unreachable.
But it works normally when I specify the interface: ping -I eth0 google.com
How to make eth0 my default interface on the Android 13 virtual machine on a laptop?

I think this question is related to network topic, rather than android. You should read about ICMP when using ping(sometimes administrator can turn off icmp response), routing tables (route -n).

Is your phone rooted?

I'm using running android platform as virtual machine on my laptop


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How do I setup TWRP on my SM-T295?
I've tried almost every twrp.img I can find on the internet that supports my device (SM-T295, Android 11) yet I can't seem to get it to work. Every twrp recovery.img I try still results in the "Security check failed: RECOVERY.IMG" error. I do have an unlocked bootloader though.
I've tried:

Flashing an empty vbmeta
-probably disabled AVB.
Downgrading to a less secure Android 9 bootloader.
-Almost every .img was a success except the ABOOT.img which, after being succesfully flashed, displays the error: "SW REV CHECK FAILED" and two numbers I can't quite remember

Software Details:
SM-T295
T295XXS6WG2
Android 11
(I use heimdall-frontend for flashing btw)


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Android messages app not adding the correct number to group chat
I am running Android version 10 with the latest Messages app. At some point a group chat was created with me and 2 other people, one of whom's phone number is not correct (the incorrect number is the same as the correct number, except the incorrect number does not have an area code attached to it, and as I am in a different area code, it will default to adding the wrong area code). The correct number is stored in my Contacts app, but when I delete the incorrect group chat and try to create a new group chat with those numbers, it adds the incorrect number to the group chat (the one without an area code, even though the Contacts app does have the area code). How do I fix this?

The only thing I can think of is that, is that it looks like it is using the phone number format from your friend's phone.  Get them to make their format more universal. The only phone number you can change is in the Google account in use.


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google account..How to bypass the former google account.?
bought this samsung s10+ but when i reboot and set to factory setting it wont let me activate the phone without signing in to the previous google account..How to bypass the former google account.?


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Android and Unicode
How do I enter a Unicode character in Gboard by entering, say, the Unicode number for that character? Is there a special Unicode keyboard that works in this way?
Today, I wanted to enter a Unicode character found in ncurses, the one for a UL corner (this selection was wrong. But I still wanted to attempt entering the character). Or, perhaps, the lower left. Or the combination of UL and LL characters from ncurses.
In these cases, I need to either draw a character, insert it and have it occupy a cursor place. Or, enter it using the Unicode number for that character.
But there is no way to do these two things.

The other two ncurses characters, should probably be called BW (best winner), and SW (selfish winner). The UL is the upper loser, and the LL is the lower loser. (? But, actually, the other two characters, I have trouble typing.

Another possibility, is, BB best block, LB lower block, BS best sky, ... what would lower sky be.

Sorry, if I have diverged on nomenclature, but, this is relevant. If, we do not, have, the right nomenclature, we cannot program. Someone, will, come up, with something good (a good, framework, for writing certain image characters, in web interfaces, that look like they are a bit PacMan, character, based.

There are four corner characters in ncurses, a C toolkit for writing text based interfaces, but Android uses Java.

What, else (is there)?

Unclear if you searched with "[gboard] unicode" which brings up: https://android.stackexchange.com/search?q=%5Bgboard%5D+unicode Some of the answers there provide options. Your comments for me lead to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box-drawing_character as possible nomenclature.


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Recover data from pixel 4a with black screen
I have a Pixel 4a with completely damaged screen (it's 99% black) after falling. I can see it's on and ready to use as I recognize the background color and glimpses of things moving through the spots that still show color.
All the options I found online require using the screen of the phone to project the screen on to PC, which is completely useless in this situation.
Is there a way to get access to the OS or data? Can I remove the screen and magically plug it in a monitor with some convertor? What are my options?

What means 99% black, are some pixels still working? Has the device enabled developer options and adb? What lock screen is set?

The screen was damaged when falling. A purple / black splotch grew slowly over a period of a month. Some pixels on the top edge of the screen are still working. While the splotch was growing I had time to enable developer options (and I think ADB) and removed the screen lock.

I added a picture for reference.

If you have working adb you can copy all files from shared storage to yozr PC. For app exports use scrcpy o control the phone from PC. You may want to enable Google cloud backup and may be you can try to establish an adb wireless connection. That would allow you to connect the phone to your new phone and use direct Android device migration while at the same time look at the screen via scrcpy via adb over Wifi.

My phone doesn't show up on my PC when plugged in. I tried scrcpy but not working. It's not detecting the phone.

On a Windows PC you need to manually install the adb drivers. Without adb does not work and thus scrcpy can not work.


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Unenabling a repeating alarm, after alarm time, just for the current day
I am running Android on a Realme 8 5G phone. I am using the standard clock app that came with my phone. Suppose I have an alarm that goes off on my Android system. But, when it rings, and the alarm screen comes up, I click on the postpone button to dismiss it, and dismiss the alarm. Later, I decide that I do not want the alarm to ring again.
Can I go into the settings and turn it off and then back on (for example, because it is a repeating alarm and I want it to ring the day after, but I do not want it to ring again, for the current day. Would this work, or is there no way to do this? Can this be done silently (without firing the alarm up again (which I think is not possible anyway))?
Thank you for your answers.


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Why does eUICC Manager get NO_SUCH_ELEMENT aka errcode 3?
I was trying to port eUICC into my phone (I used Google LPA called SIM Manager and other stuff from the same system but other model). I am using Motorola Edge 30 Ultra and used that kit from Moto X40 which natively supports eSIM. I also tried porting the eUICC function from OnePlus 11 to OnePlus 8 and the same error occurred.
It seems status 3 was an error NO_SUCH_ELEMENT, which means no AID was found on the eUICC. But my card had successfully downloaded the profile on Truphone LPA for desktop, and my phone detected the profile and works.
But why does this error occur? Any idea? Permission granted, hardware I think it must be there for AID to be shown. And I don't know if HAL or else could be an error or not. Should I define if I am using an eUICC chip in the SIM (UICC) style and in the SIM slot?
Logs below：
2023-10-14 13:22:14.534  3860-3860  EuiccCardController     com.android.phone                    E
getEuiccChallenge callback onException:
com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccCardException: Cannot send APDU.
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort.lambda$sendApdu$50(EuiccPort.java:1159)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort.$r8$lambda$8x9Mw_LfktrBXDaDFYF0Xl8vpps(Unknown Source:0)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort$$ExternalSyntheticLambda52.handleException(Unknown Source:2)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort$1.onException(EuiccPort.java:1224)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:138)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:127)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.async.AsyncMessageInvocation.handleMessage(AsyncMessageInvocation.java:57)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:107)
    at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:238)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:357)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8088)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:548)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:957)
Caused by: com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduException: Failed to open logical channel opened for AID: A0000005591010FFFFFFFF8900000100, with status: 3 (apduStatus=0)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:138)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:127)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.async.AsyncMessageInvocation.handleMessage(AsyncMessageInvocation.java:57)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:107)
    at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:238)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:357)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8088)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:548)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:957)

2023-10-14 13:22:18.904  3860-3860  EuiccCardController     com.android.phone                    E
getEuiccChallenge callback onException:
    com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccCardException: Cannot send APDU.
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort.lambda$sendApdu$50(EuiccPort.java:1159)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort.$r8$lambda$8x9Mw_LfktrBXDaDFYF0Xl8vpps(Unknown Source:0)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort$$ExternalSyntheticLambda52.handleException(Unknown Source:2)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.EuiccPort$1.onException(EuiccPort.java:1224)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:138)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:127)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.async.AsyncMessageInvocation.handleMessage(AsyncMessageInvocation.java:57)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:107)
    at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:238)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:357)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8088)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:548)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:957)
Caused by: com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduException: Failed to open logical channel opened for AID: A0000005591010FFFFFFFF8900000100, with status: 3 (apduStatus=0)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:138)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.apdu.ApduSender$1.onResult(ApduSender.java:127)
    at com.android.internal.telephony.uicc.euicc.async.AsyncMessageInvocation.handleMessage(AsyncMessageInvocation.java:57)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:107)
    at android.os.Looper.loopOnce(Looper.java:238)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:357)
    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:8088)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
    at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:548)
    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:957)

Tried:

An eSIM chip sorted on UICC base.
com.google.android.euicc package installed and granted permission.
Also ported an eUICC partner for slot mapping.

Expected eUICC management to work and could download or delete a profile, but now the download is stuck there and cannot send APDU to the log again and again.


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Use fingerprint in apps but not device unlock
On my Samsung Galaxy A14, I could configure my fingerprint for use within apps (such as banking and qualified electronic signature apps) but not for unlocking my phone. This is my preferred setup as I do not want to be able to unlock my phone solely with a fingerprint.
However, on my new Fairphone 4, which runs a closer-to-stock version of Android 13, I can't seem to locate an option for this. Surely, there must be a way to achieve this, somehow?

As a permanent workaround, 3rd-party apps can "disable" fingerprint unlock by force-locking the system and requiring strong authentication (PIN, pattern, or password) to unlock the device. Note that this requires the app to be registered as a device administrator to leverage the feature.

Tasker

Profile: Event - Display - Display Off
Task: Display - System Lock

Automate

Add new block: Interface - Display on?
Connect Flow beginning (GO) to When display on (IN)
Connect When display on (YES) to When display on (IN)
Add new block: Interface - Device lock
Connect When display on (NO) to Lock device (IN)
Connect Lock device (OK) to When display on (IN)

Thanks! Works like charm. Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember having a similar setup on one of my even older phones.

There's an old Android Device Admin API for disabling fingerprints on the lockscreen, which, while deprecated, continues working even on Android 14 as long as the app accessing that API targets at most API28.
Somebody wrote an app for toggling that API and it's available on F-Droid.

On stock Android (AOSP), it doesn't seem to be possible to customize how fingerprints should be used, other than the default for unlocking the device and additionally for biometric authentication.
A YouTube video by the official Fairphone channel shows that the interface is the same as AOSP, where there is no customization other than adding, removing, or renaming the fingerprints. (Cross-checked with Google Pixel 3a on stock Android 12; additional reference).
For these devices, the standard way to disable fingerprint unlock is to delete all the fingerprints. For temporary workaround, activate Lockdown mode if available, but this always needs to be re-activate on each unlock.

As for Samsung devices, they actually made customization to the Android OS to add the "Fingerprint unlock" toggle and other settings. (Confirmed on Galaxy M12, Android 13).

Fingerprint unlock: Unlocks your device when your fingerprint is recognized.


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Disable 2.4GHz WiFi on Android
I've seen this question. It's not very useful to me, because I don't have control over my router.
Notably, 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz have the same name on my network. If I had control over the router, I would create a 5GHz network, and a 2.4 GHz network, and tell my phone to only connect to the 5GHz one. I don't have this luxury, so I want to disable 2.4GHz at the device level.
I find that my phone will connect to 2.4GHz WiFi despite it being substantially slower. This is not just theoretically, but in practice: where I am in the house, 2.4GHz has been consistently slower, 3-5 times slower. On my Windows PC, I can change my network adapter settings so it only connects to the 5GHz network, so I know this should be possible. Is there a way on Android 14 to disable 2.4GHz WiFi?


text:
Mobile Wifi Hotspot auto disables if there is too bandwidth used
I have a Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G and mobile wifi hotspot auto disables if there is too bandwidth used. Maybe it's done to avoid overheating. How to avoid this? Is there a workaround? I really need to have a stable connection I can't have an hotspot that auto-disables.
Happens usually when it's very used in terms of bandwidth and people connected.


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I Can't List Zipped Images in TWRP
I'm new to the Android world when it comes to these matters, so I ask for your patience if I say something wrong.
I have a Motorola Moto E5 Plus cell phone and I used my Linux Ubuntu to help with the commands. With all the tutorials I've seen, basically what I did was:

I downloaded the TWRPAPP APK, transferred it to my cell phone and installed it;
I ran the application and downloaded the latest version of TWRP (3.7.0_9-0-hannah):

NOTE: After downloading the image, I also transferred it to my computer.

I activated USB debugging and OEM unlocked;
I restarted the phone into the bootloader with: adb reboot bootloader
I unlocked the bootloader:

I got information from the OEM: fastboot oem get_unlock_data
I registered on the Motorola website and got the unlock key and executed: fastboot oem unlock <key>
Everything went well and the bootloader was unlocked...

Back at the bootloader screen, I started TWRP with the command fastboot boot twrp.img (as it was the only way I could get it to start);
And now the problem begins...
When TWRP finishes loading, the first screen asks for a password to decrypt:

I didn't really know what that password was. When I researched, I understood that this password was the same password to unlock the cell phone when it is on, however, the cell phone did not have a password.
So I clicked "Cancel" on the start screen and it continues to enter TWRP but on the logs screen it shows mounting errors and that was bad because I couldn't see anything inside the phone's folders and consequently I couldn't see the zipped image to flash.
From the tutorials I verified that I needed to: Wipe > Advanced Wipe > Check "Data" > Swipe to Wipe
Then return to the main menu: Wipe > Format Data > Type "yes" > Press Enter Button in Keyboard

After that I restart in TWRP and in fact I no longer have any password to enter and it even goes directly to the main menu, however, I also no longer have the GSI image that I downloaded.
PS: After all these things I tried to use OTG but I also couldn't get it to be recognized in TWRP.

Unlocking the bootloader by design erases all data. And in addition you wiped your data partition so everything you had downloaded is long gone.

So, I didn't mention it, but after unlocking the bootloader I moved the zipped image to the Download folder. Regarding wiping the participation, this was the only solution I found to be able to decrypt it, but as you mentioned, the data is lost, however, if I turn the device on again to place the zipped image in the Download folder (now with the partition already decrypted), Android itself will start at factory defaults (after all, it was wiped) and I see that during the boot process, Android encrypts the partition again :/

You can try to directly flash the image from the PC using adb sideload when TWRP is in sideload mode.

Well, in the end the sideloading process didn't load but I solved the main problem by moving the image to MicroSD and I was able to flash the image. Unfortunately, after that (and for other reasons) now no system starts... I even wanted to continue the subject here but as I thought this was another problem not related to this topic, I created this other question.

In the end, the sideloading process didn't load, but I solved the main problem by moving the image to MicroSD and I was able to flash the image.
Unfortunately, after that (and for other reasons), no system starts.
Follow-up: No Operacional System Android is Installed


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Persisting "Unfortunately, Keyguard has stopped." error pops on HP Slate 8 Plus
HP Slate 8 Plus displays

Unfortunately, Keyguard has stopped.

The tablet is somewhat active: it displays in the background the visible WLANs. When I hit OK in the message, it returns immediately.
What can I do to use this tablet again?
(Factory reset is an option)


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Unbrick "hardbricked" Moto G8 Power
I tried to install LineageOS on my Moto G8 Power. After a reboot to recovery mode (done because the installer said it was needed for the a something) it didn't boot.
All I get is that

a QUSB(...) device is available...

I have tried all button combo's.
Is it possible to unbrick it?
ADB and Fastboot wont see the device.

Your device is in QDL mode and moto devices use a blankflash method.
Try this if not already done: https://xdaforums.com/t/request-blankflash-for-g8-power.4172795/

Well okay, but how can I blankflash it? Because whilst I have been searching through the internet, I have not been able to find a way that works, qboot won't see the phone and I have not been able to find an other solution.


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Where are text messages stored on Android 13 (Pixel 6)?
All the research I've done told me it's located at Internal Memory > data > user_de > 0 > com.android > providers.telephony > databases > mmssms.db
Best I could find was Internal Storage > Android > data > com.android.providers.telephony > Files
Which is empty. But my Textra app has to be restoring these files from somewhere because when I got this phone the messaged were successfully restored from my old phone.
I ask because on convo was deleted, also when I switched to the default messaging app I could briefly see the old messages in that convo, then they disappeared, why?
Thank you in advance

If you have Google Cloud backup activated this could be the source where the SMS were stored. The file mmssms.db is only accessible on rooted devices as users can not access app private internal storage.

@Robert Okay thank you, are you saying that the Messenger app doesn't access mmssms.db because it can't? And therefore looks in Google Cloud backup? Or are you saying that mmssms.db is only restricted to users?

Perhaps related: How do I delete texts from the OS itself? (Using Textra). I'm not sure how the Textra app works, but mmssms.db is part of the SMS content provider that can be manipulated using content provider API, but the file cannot be accessed directly either by the apps or the user. "because when I got this phone the messaged were successfully restored from my old phone" this looks like the case of Google Cloud backup and restore.

Possible canonical duplicate: Where on the file system are SMS messages stored?

@AndrewT. Hey sorry I know this is a late reply, does this mean I can use the API to access the texts?


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Create an exact image of the internal storage
My relative lost all her photos by clicking on "format data" on her Realme 7 recovery menu (the one popping up at startup when holding together the volume down and power button - found out after that the volume down button was broken and like kept hold down by itself).
I'd like to create an exact image of the internal storage to try to recover the possible because the phone is not rooted and I need to root it to enable the USB mass storage mode.
Is there any way to do this? Is the Realme 7 encrypted like other phones, so it's completely useless?

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. There's a canonical FAQ about How to recover a deleted file from /data partition? to help check if the data can be recovered or not; and if it is, how to recover them. Good luck.

Yes, userdata partition is encrypted and dump completely useless. Anyway, exact image can be created with MTKClient.


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No Operacional System Android is Installed
I was trying to install the ROM system-squeak-arm64-ab-gogapps from the project treble_experimentations and I reported some of this in this question, however, It may not be so now.
In short, in my whole process of trying to install the new ROM, I happen to think that at some point things were "wiped" more than I expected, now TWRP says that I don't have any system installed and when I start the Moto E5 Plus it just always drops to the bootloader screen and that's it. Even after I flashed the image on the MicroSD inserted into the device and the process says everything was ok, the bootloader screen doesn't advance, it's as if nothing had happened.

I think I expressed myself wrong, sorry. I did not install the operating system on MicroSD, but the image for installing the operating system was to be installed on my device was on MicroSD.


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Accessing learned words Samsung Galaxy A12 keyboard
I share a phone with someone who's being shifty and I just need some help.
I was typing an email address into the search bar on the Samsung Galaxy A12 that we share and as I was doing so, a whole bunch of suggestions showed up on the keyboard- they were all usernames with an @ in front of them.
( @username )
I was going to write them down but the problem is that after I clicked on 2 or 3 suggestions, they stopped popping back up in the suggestion part of the keyboard.
It seems like it may have accidentally glitched or something and they weren't meant to pop up at all, but the fact that they DID means they're saved somewhere on the phone, right? The phone only has the Samsung keyboard on it- not GBoard board and the phone is not rooted.
Is there any way at all that I can access that again? Anything I can try?
Can I root the phone myself to access that data?
Thank you.

I don't know the answer to this question, but this is significant problem with many of these keyboards nowadays, especially those that also connect to the internet.  Despite privacy "promises", it's often hard to know if private data is truly staying private.


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Is there a way to diagnose this camera issue? Like some kind of crash dump or log? [unrooted Galaxy Note 9]
After water damage, my phone camera had to be replaced.
The camera worked after replacement, for a day or so. Then it came up with a black screen (menus are there, just no image). A reboot fixed that for a day, but now it's back and rebooting (even to safe mode) doesn't help. It's been long enough that it's dry but I know there could be residual damage.
I'd just like confirm whether it's hardware or software. Is there a log that might provide a clue? And can I view it without root?

I would start using different camera apps. Of course they all use the camera interface provided by Android but at the Samsung camera app may use direct Samsung specific API or even directly access camera so other camera apps would be a first test.

@robert good thought. Looks like it's a hardware thing, two other apps get the same result. Disappointing because it doesn't seem like there's anything left to replace unless it's the entire board.

Welcome to Android Enthusiasts. Sorry to hear about the situation, but perhaps How can I view and examine the Android log? may at least help in checking what happens when the camera apps run; do they return an exception (possibly software or OS issue) or nothing wrong (possibly hardware)?


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Is Android becoming a 64-bit only operating system?
The newest ARM processors only support 64-bit code. The Play Store has stopped showing 32-bit only apps to 64-bit capable devices. 32-bit support has not been a requirement for devices since Android 9.
Will Android become a 64-bit only operating system as time passes?

Yes, although this matters less than on other operating systems
On Android, most apps are written in Kotlin or Java, and are not specifically 32-bit or 64-bit. Developers build them from Kotlin or Java code, which are compiled into Dalvik bytecode for the Android Runtime. They upload their apps to app stores in that form, and devices download them in the same form.
Once downloaded, apps are compiled again, into machine code for the device. This machine code is either 32-bit or 64-bit, as suits the individual device. See "Glossary" below for the technical terms I've used.
This is quite different from Apple's iOS, iPadOS, and related operating systems. Apps for those devices are compiled into machine code by the developer, who uploads them in that form. This meant that Apple's transition from 32-bit to 64-bit was done earlier than Android's, and had less flexibility.
Native code in apps
Some Android apps, for various reasons, include machine code built by the developer, called "native code," rather like iOS apps. This gets uploaded to the app stores, downloaded again to devices, and run directly, without any compilation or translation steps along the way. An app that uses native code must provide separate versions for 32-bit and 64-bit devices if it is to be usable on both 32-bit and 64-bit devices. The APK app file format caters for providing multiple versions of machine code files; this isn't necessary for Dalvik bytecode files.
Changes in Play Store rules
Since August 2019, apps that include native code have been required to provide 64-bit native code when they are released or updated. Since August 2021 any remaining apps that use native code, but only have a 32-bit version of that code, have not been offered to 64-bit capable devices. This is presumably intended to push app developers who use native code to either (a) provide 64-bit native code or (b) stop using native code at all.
Those rules don't apply to apps that are for Wear OS or Android TV, which didn't support 64-bit as of 2019. It appears Wear OS is now preparing for 64-bit, but Android TV isn't yet.
Changes in ARM processors
When 64-bit capable ARM processors first appeared, they could also run 32-bit code. However, that part is optional, and is gradually being dropped. Since 32-bit and 64-bit ARM native code are fairly different from each other (much more so than 32-bit and 64-bit x86), leaving out 32-bit makes processors simpler and thus cheaper to manufacture.
In the early days of 64-bit, there were some odd devices. There were ones that had 64-bit capable processors, but a 32-bit Android OS, and ones that had 64-bit processors and operating systems, but a 32-bit Android Runtime. However, those are now all in the past.
Nowadays, many of the newer ARM processors can't run 32-bit code. This is easiest to explain in terms of ARM Holdings' core designs, since those form the basis of many manufacturers' SoCs.
The early 64-bit cores could run 32-bit code happily, although the ability to run a 32-bit operating system was dropped at Cortex-A76. The ARMv9 cores that were introduced in starting in 2021 mostly can't run 32-bit code at all; the only exceptions are the Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510.
That means, for example, that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can only run 32-bit code on five of its eight cores, not including the fastest ones, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and later won't run 32-bit code at all. In the same way, the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 can only run 32-bit code on its slowest cores, and the Dimensity 9300 can't run 32-bit code at all. The Samsung Exynos 2200 won't run 32-bit code on its fastest core, but will on all of the others, while the Exynos 2400 can't run 32-bit code at all.
The first cores in each series from ARM that don't run 32-bit code are:

Cortex-X2.
Cortex-A715
Cortex-A520.

Changes in installed Android
It is possible to build Android as:

A 32-bit-only operating system, appropriate for devices with 32-bit processors.
A 64-bit-only operating system, appropriate for devices with processors that can't run 32-bit code, and usable on devices with processors that can run 32-bit code if the manufacturer doesn't want to support that.
A 64-bit operating system that can also run 32-bit native code. This is only appropriate for devices with 64-bit processors that can also run 32-bit code. It is larger than a 64-bit-only operating system, so some manufacturers may prefer the 64-bit-only option.

Recent Pixel devices from at least the 7a onwards, have 64-bit-only Android. 64-bit-only Android 13 and 14 images for Pixel 4a to Pixel 6 Pro are available for testing.
Glossary
Machine code
Computer programs consist of instructions telling the computer to do specific, simple things. The complicated and flexible behaviour of programs (which includes apps) is built out of many individual instructions. The instructions are encoded as numbers - because, to computers, everything is expressed as numbers - and the set of instructions that a computer can execute is its "machine code." The part of the computer which reads the machine code instructions and acts on them is the "processor" or "Central Processor Unit", abbreviated "CPU".
Different kinds of computer use different machine codes. Some manufacturers produce several different kinds of computers, with different machine codes. People have been designing machine codes for about 80 years (as of 2023) and new ideas are still being invented and put into use.

Most desktop computers use the "x86" or "x86-64" machine codes, developed by Intel Corporation and its competitor, Advanced Micro Devices, since the 1970s. Both those companies manufacture and sell CPUs. That's fine for desktop and laptop computers, which have space for lots of separate components.

Almost all mobile devices use the ARM family of machine codes, developed since the 1980s by ARM Holdings. ARM do not manufacture CPUs. Instead they license their designs to other companies, who manufacture "Systems-on-Chip" or "SoC"s that include the CPU and all the other electronics needed in a mobile device. Mobiles don't have space for lots of separate components: most of their small volume is taken up by the screen and the battery.

"Dalvik bytecode"?
"Bytecode" is a way of storing computer programs that isn't specific to a particular kind of computer. Many bytecodes exist, using different ways of representing programs. Dalvik bytecode was used in the Dalvik system for running Android apps that was used in Android versions before 5.0 "Lollipop". That runtime used just-in-time compiling.
Nowadays, Dalvik bytecode is used as a distribution format. When it is downloaded to a device, it is compiled by the Android Runtime ("ART") to the appropriate native code to be called by ART: 32-bit on a device with 32-bit ART, 64-bit on a device with 64-bit ART.


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Touch Doesn't Work When I Unlock the Screen
In the process of installing a new ROM on my Moto E5 Plus (not after it has been installed, even before, on the main TWRP screen for example) and after the new ROM has already been installed, the following happens: If my cell phone locks the screen, When I click on the power button and the screen turns on, the touch does not work, however, if I connect the USB cable that is connected to my Linux computer to the cell phone, the touch works again. After doing this, when I lock the cell phone again, if the cable is still connected the effect is reversed and the touch does not work until I unplug the cable, however, if I remove the cable before blocking, when I unlock the effect It will be the same as the first time, the touch will only work if you plug the cable in again.
Does anyone have any idea what it could be? Hardware problem perhaps?
EDIT 1: I noticed that this actually doesn't happen exclusively when the cable is connected to my computer, but the behavior also happens if I connect the cell phone to the charger, that is, this happens when the cell phone is receiving power or not.

As this happens directly after installing a new ROM, a likely reason is a wrong or bugged touch driver.

How can I fix it? Can you give a tip?

Try a different ROM?

It could be ghost touch, can you turn on the Developer options and Show touches, then see if there are stuck touches even if you don't touch it?

I checked here and in fact there is no touch.

Could this be caused when I unlocked the bootloader?


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Forgot lock screen PIN on child phone with Family Link, can't figure out how to get into it or reset PIN
My child forgot her lock screen PIN and I use Family Link, but I can't figure out how to get into it or reset the PIN through the app.
What are my options?

https://support.google.com/families/answer/7307262

If she does not have anything important on it, you can try factory resetting it.
WARNING: This will erase everything on the phone except Android.
First you need to get to the system recovery screen, here's how:
According to the LG User Manual/System recovery page

Turn the phone off. Press and hold the following keys at the same time: Volume Down Key + Power/Lock Key for approximately 10 seconds. Release both of the keys when the System recovery screen is displayed.

In order to navigate here, since touchscreen does not work here:
Use the volume up key to go up, the volume down key to go down and power button to click.
1 - Select "Factory reset" (may be written differently depending on your device model).
2 - Click it.
3 - Wait for it to erase everything on the phone.
After that, it will ask you to do the first use setup again.

Theres no way to recover it. If there is stuff on it that she doesnt want to lose then just try some numbers.

She can start with usual pins she would use, with a digit either side of each number. Then birthday related days.
Or just try all numbers in sequence. If she is dedicated, she could try 500 pins an hour. Thats 20 hours for all combinations. An hour a day is 20 days.

question is about family link. are you sure there is no way to recover?


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Is it possible to install an app through normal Samsung recovery?
I was trying to install an app through recovery by flashing apk in flashable zip but it is not working.
It is showing an error.
What should I do?

Usually ZIP files only contain system updates and/or system apps. How do you make an APK file to an "flashable zip"?


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Can I use an external hard drive on my tablet?
I'm wondering if I can use a hyper 5-in-1 USB-C hub with my x8max tablet so I can connect an external hard drive.it would make my life easier to just plug the drive into the tablet instead of copying files to an SD card or some other way to transfer large files. It would also make the tablet a lot more usable for other projects that I am thinking of. Any input on this would be very helpful.

can you clarify if it is "Honor X8 Max"

Android does support connecting USB Storage device. The speed of reading/writing would however, depend on the USB port (if it is a 2.0 port, it will be comparatively slower than a 3.0 port), but it should just work.

Have you actually tried an external hard drive ?  Should work is not good enough!

@RohitGupta the tablet is OTG enabled. I have already tested it by connecting a USB hub with a mouse, keyboard, and external SSD to my tablet's OTG port. Will this information persuade you?


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What data can I delete to clear up space?
I am confused as to what data I can delete without losing valuable files or screwing up my system processes.

Related: Are these files safe to delete on Android?

Android by default won't let you delete system files. So do not worry.
IMHO, the first step to free up storage, would be to uninstall your unnecessary apps, followed by deleting old/not required media files like images or videos. These are the main storage consuming parts as such.


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How to detect if an outgoing call is answered in Android 13?
On Motorola Edge 30, the system setting for this is not working. Interestingly, I found a GitHub issue that suggests this might be a bug in Android 13.
Is there a workaround or a reliable way to detect specifically when an outgoing call is answered in Android 13?

@Andrew, why the rollback?

After investigation, the editor was found to be abusing an unacceptable tool.

Using UI Automator
pip install uiautomator2

ip = 'ZD22276G7K'
# ip = '192.168.1.247'
import uiautomator2 as u2
from pymsgbox import alert
from time import sleep
d= u2.connect(ip)
ele = d(resourceId="com.google.android.dialer:id/contactgrid_status_text")
try:
    while True:
        et = ele.get_text()
        if et != 'Calling…':
            alert('Calling')
            break
        print(et)
        sleep(2)
except Exception as e:
    print(e)
    alert('Error')


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How to remove ads from all apps via a single payment
I've heard it is possible to pay a subscription service to remove all ads from all apps on your Android phone.
Can someone please tell me how to do this?
Thanks.

Related: How to block ads in Android applications?

Hi Joselin. Could you ask the person (from whom you heard about this service) for more information regarding the said service? Ideally, a web link to the service would be best. For all we know, a person can post an on-topic looking spam post to this question and can easily justify the spam post as a genuine answer. // Also, could you also tell us why the existing solutions on the duplicate post linked in your question are not working out for you? Thanks. :)

Not necessarily all apps, but Google Play Pass is a monthly subscription service that promises to remove ads on participating apps and games.

Your pass to hundreds of awesome games and apps, completely free of ads and in-app purchases. All for one low monthly price.

More information on Google Play Help - Subscribe to Google Play Pass.

When you subscribe to Google Play Pass, you’ll get over 1,000 games and apps, without ads or in-app purchases. [...]. Play Pass won’t give you access to all of Google Play, just a selection of apps and games. Availability of games, apps, and offers on Play may vary by country.

Main requirements:

To buy a subscription to Google Play Pass, you’ll need to:

Use a device with Android version 4.4 and above.
Have Google Play Store app version 16.6.25 and above.
Be located in a country where Play Pass is available.
Have a valid payment method.
Have the same billing country and Google Play country.
Use a Google account. You can't subscribe to Play Pass with an account set up through your work or school.
[...]


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How can I save a Google Pixel 4a stuck during boot?
I got a Google Pixel 4a that is stuck during boot without obvious reason (maybe it did an automatic update and restart during the night). Whenever I start the phone, it only shows the "Google lettering" but won't continue to boot.
I can access fastboot (vol- + power button). That way, I have also access to the phone via cmd console on my computer. Still, when I try to access recovery mode, it will also get stuck when it shows the Google lettering. Also, a wipe or factory reset is not possible via power button + vol+ as I cannot access recovery mode. Resetting the phone via https://flash.android.com is also not possible with the error message:

Device Unlock Disabled
For security reasons, you need to enable "OEM unlocking" in order to flash your device. See the device preparation instructions for more information.

So what other options do I have to get the phone back running?

Pixel4a does no longer receive updates. Last update was released 2023-08-05.

If fastboot mode is accessible, please use the command fastboot -w to trigger a factory reset on the device.

Already tried. Only gave me an error. Maybe because it is locked?


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How to navigate and interact with a HUAWEI P30 Lite with a broken screen using an external keyboard
I have a HUAWEI P30 Lite with a broken screen, and I'm attempting to save my data. I've connected an external USB keyboard and mouse, as well as inserted an SD card for backup. However, I'm encountering issues when trying to interact with the device.
I can navigate the menu but face problems when I try to select options, such as initiating a backup or toggling settings like Bluetooth. When I encounter a Toggle-Button or a Link-Button (the ones with an arrow on the right), pressing "Enter" on the keyboard or clicking with the mouse doesn't produce any response.
Is there a special shortcut or workaround to effectively interact with these kinds of buttons and do my data backup?

Is USB Debugging or ADB enabled on the phone by any chance?

@RajatGupta yes, usb debugging is enabled

In the case of USB Debugging enabled, best way is to install scrcpy on your computer and connect the phone and launch scrcpy. It will mirror the phone to your PC.

Thanks for your answer, but won't I have to confirm the pc's access to the phone for this to work? I am afraid since the screen is broken this will not be possible.

Yes you are right, if you're doing it for the first time it will require authentication :)


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When will RISC-V Android devices be available?
Google announced in December 2022 that Android would support RISC-V devices. More recently, Qualcomm have announced that they're working on a RISC-V chipset for Wear OS with Google.
When will we be able to buy RISC-V Android devices?

What is RISC-V?
It's a new species of CPU, which is meant to compete with ARM and x86 for general-purpose computing, including smartphones and tablets. The design work started at the University of California at Berkley, and is their fifth RISC design family, hence the name. The design seems reasonably sound, although it hasn't been built in forms that compete with the fastest ARM cores yet.
The unusual thing about it is that the essence of the design is open source, and can be used  by anyone without license fees or royalties. Many people and organisations have contributed to the design, just as happens with open source software. However, the design doesn't include a realization as electronic circuits. Organisations that want to build RISC-V processors have to design that part themselves, or license a realization from someone else.
What are the advantages?
The simplest advantage over ARM is cost. There are no architecture license fees, although most organisations will have to pay royalties on the electronics design(s) they use.
The other advantage is that it is open source, and nobody can forbid you from using it. A few years ago, when it looked as if ARM Holdings were going to be bought by Nvidia, and thus become an American-controlled company, this was important. Huawei is one of China's largest smartphone manufacturers and a major target of US trade restrictions. They started work on porting Android to RISC-V,  so as to have a fallback if their ARM license was lost. At present, ARM Holdings has had an IPO as an independent company, and there's no immediate prospect of the US government requiring ARM to cut off Huawei, but that could change in the future.
Even if you're a US or European company with no fear of loosing your ARM license, having a competitor to ARM ready to go is a useful bargaining chip.
Google's work on Android
Since RISC-V is a very modular architecture with many optional parts and extensions, Google needed to define a minimum standard so that software could be portable between devices. The first pass of that has been done and was presented at the June 2023 RISC-V summit in Europe.
However, the Android kernel team feel that RISC-V needs better "atomic" instructions, which will require a new extension to the RISC-V instruction set.
Google's Android team need to complete the port of AOSP to reference RISC-V hardware and get it working properly, at the same level of quality as ARM Android. That is underway, and as of October 2023, ASOP can be built for RISC-V and run on Cuttlefish virtual devices.
The was an announcement about the above in October 2023. As of then, ART was not generating fully-optimised RISC-V code for the full Android standard, the compilers likewise weren't generating fully optimised code, and the NDK ABI wasn't released.
You can track their progress on Github here.
Here's a talk from SiFive, a RISC-V core vendor about their work with Android on RISC-V.
Device builders' work
SoC designers who compete with Qualcomm, like Huawei and other Chinese companies, will be designing and prototyping their SoCs and getting them ready to offer to device manufacturers. With that, Android devices can be built and sold. Google expects wearables to be the first Android devices available, presumably because they don't need as much compute power as high-end smartphones or tablets.
App suppliers' work
RISC-V Android should run pure Kotlin or Java apps just fine, once ART is complete, but it won't run NDK libraries built for ARM or x86. Rebuilding NDK libraries needs an NDK that can compile for RISC-V, plus upgrades to the Android SDK so that it knows of RISC-V and can manage the builds, and those aren't available yet. A way to tell if they are forthcoming is to check the web page that lists Android NDK ABIs. The RISC-V ABI was expected by the end of 2023, but is delayed. It is going to be based on the RVA22 profile family, which tells us that there will be no 32-bit RISC-V Android.
Device availability?
This can't be predicted at present, because of the need for better atomic instructions. Those need to be added to the standards, and new cores designed that have them, before Android can be released.


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Installing Android 12 (or 13, 14) on a Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus (2nd Gen, TB-X606X)
Is there a way to install Android 12 / 13 / 14 on a Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus (2nd Gen, TB-X606X)? That is all I want to know if it is possible to do it, and how to do it then (currently running Android 9).
And whats the newest version of Android that can be installed there thats stable and not too slow?
Would my device get bricked when something untill i reflash it or would it be in that state forever?

The answer is still more or less the same as here: How to upgrade my Android device to latest Android version If there is no custom ROM the only alternative would be a Android GSI image (assuming your tablet is Treble compatible), however I am not sure how usable a device with GSI image installed is.

This device is still being sold today with the same Android version so the short answer is no.


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How to keep OnePlus Pad screen bright while charging?
I am using OnePlus Pad as a permanent screen for monitoring/controlling smart home stuff. The power cable is constantly plugged in, and I need the screen to stay still bright.
I have the following settings:

Developer settings:

Keep screen on while charging: ON
Do not use Lock screen: ON

Display & brightness

Auto screen off: 30 minutes (the maximum available)
Auto brightness: OFF
Adaptive Sleep: OFF

The problem is that the screen gets dimmed after the time in the "Auto screen off" setting.
How do I make it constantly bright?


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ADB not responding
Multiple times per day, ADB suddenly stops responding. After this occurs, every adb shell command fails to finish or produce any output. IntelliJ and Android Studio no longer recognize my phone(s).
The solution is straightforward: run the command
killall adb

However, I find myself needing to do this repeatedly, approximately every 15-30 minutes, which significantly hampers my development workflow. Each time I perform this action, I have to restart my Flutter application. Do you have any suggestions for resolving this issue?
I am using a New M2 MacBook Pro with Ventura 13.6, and ADB was installed via the Jetbrains SDK Manager (SDK Platform-Tools):

Also posted on Apple.SE: https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/465177/95704

I do have the same problem. Last weeks it just helped to run adb kill-server. But since days even this call times out and nothing happens until i kill all adb services. Do you use any "bad" security tools such as Zscaler, Cyberark, ...?

@TimoBähr It is a company PC so some security tools are installed, for example SentinelOne and Netskope.

Do you have any other Android devices connected, or Android emulators running?

I have never used adb on macOS, but I had similar problems with it on Linux, and cured them by starting adb manually with sudo.
Kill any existing server demon with:
sudo adb kill-server

Then start it with
sudo adb start-server

Then see how things go from there.

I can not execute this command because it will never finish, just like all other adb commands.
If I use killall adb to terminate adb. Then I am able to execute those commands, but it does not prevent adb from getting stuck sometime later.


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How to view/delete read-only contacts with Google contact
I have 550 contacts. 450 have Google account, and 100 are read-only contacts.
I want to clean up my phonebook. So I want to do one of these:

Delete all 100 read-only accounts with no Google account in bulk.

See a list of 100 read-only contacts that don't have any Google account.

I have 2 apps installed, both of them will do this job.

Contacts Optimizer. This runs on the phone and will allow you to see these contacts and edit, delete, merge them.

My Phone Explorer. The client runs on the phone and a companion app runs on Windows. The data is dynamically pulled into Windows, where you can individually alter the contacts.

Please note, I am not associated with either.


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How can I see which system update Android wants to install?
I use a Samsung Galaxy S23 ultra with Android 13 and One 5.1. I see:

How can I see which system update Android wants to install?

The update information on Samsung One UI can only be seen from the "Download and install" menu.


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TWRP mkfs.ntfs Missing
I have a device with MSM8909 (SD 212).  I found a ready-made TWRP image on the internet and I am using it, but it is not in the mkfs.ntfs /sbin folder required for NTFS formatting.  How can I add it to the TWRP I use and where can I find the required file? I need this because I will be using Windows RT 8/8.1 and Windows 10 ARMv7 via EDK2 UEFI.


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How can I configure the One UI Home app so that I can scroll down and up all the installed apps and have the first letter of the app on the right side
I use a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra with Android 13 and One UI 5.1. On my iPhone 12 mini with iOS 15, I can scroll up and down through all the installed apps and have the first letter of each app displayed on the right side. This is convenient for quickly accessing the desired app:

How can I achieve the same functionality with the One UI Home app?

I don't think the One UI Home app provides that option, so the only answer is to use a 3rd-party launcher app...


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Can I USB tether from my Android phone to an Android TV streaming device?
Is there any way to USB tether to/from my phone to my Android-TV box/stick/dongle without relying on WiFi?

It should work if your other device has support for "USB Ethernet", most Android devices have it. It's easy to test, why haven't you yet?

@ChanganAuto Because I haven't bought a device yet until I can confirm this works. Maybe you could test it and report back to me.


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A contact not showing in my phone but in WhatsApp
I wanted to delete a contact from my phone, but to my surprise, when I searched for their name in my phone's contacts, nothing showed up. No one with that name or number was in my contact list. Their name, profile picture, status, etc. are all showing normally on WhatsApp and Telegram though. I tried to clear the cache for WhatsApp and also refreshed the contact list. Nothing changed.
I was curious and checked a few other contacts that I saved through WhatsApp. They don't show up in my phone's contacts either. So I have their number but somehow cannot delete them.
Does anyone know what to do here?

Whatsapp makes a copy of your contacts, so they are separate.  Depending on your Phone and Android, you may or may not be able to see these.
But you can use My Phone Explorer app.  It has a Windows companion App, where you can see all the contacts and their details and you can delete them from there.  I am not associated with this app in any way.
However, you don't need to delete the contact.  If you dont want to interact with them, just block them in WhatsApp.

Thanks for your answer. Is there an alternative for mac users? I don't have access to a Windows computer.


text:
Ability to unlock phone in read only mode (and multiple phone users)
Wouldn't it be nice if Android and Android apps catered towards the ability to unlock your phone on read only mode.
In this way, you can give your phone to someone (for instance, a family member), and they can read all of your stuff, but, through app support, via app APIs (with designation), the user cannot delete your stuff when the phone is unlocked in this way.
If the user is given permission, they may also send email or WhatsApp messages (and, this, also supported in the system and app API, is done on a per app basis).
This can be done by the main user, who controls auxiliary users and sets permissions for them.
This is also important for users that need their personal space on their phone but have a caregiver that manages some of the stuff on their phone for them.
Such users may also easily unlock the phone though an onscreen fingerprint control, for much ease, in the case of assisted users, making breaking into their phone impossible (without gaining access to their hand), and this level of control, in this manner, would not only be possible, but also practical.
Thank you for your support.

So Android Enthusiasts can't help with feature requests, see a similar meta SO post answer on what questions go where. Do realize that Android does allow for multiple user accounts like 'Guest' account but realize that if the primary user has a plain text password file and hands over the device to a child/aide/friend that person can still read the file. Perhaps before the OS was released you could have added in such APIs but I would think about what an evil person could do to exploit them.


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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (Snapdragon) - is it possible to manually flash Android 13?
Is there any way at all to upgrade my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) to Android 13? It's stuck on Android 11, and I've been with Google Fi, and now US Mobile, with still no OTA updates ever available. It's:

Model: SM-G988U (SM-G988UZKEXAA)
CSC Country: USA/US
Active CSC Code: XAA
Bootloader/PDA/Baseband Version: G988USQS2DUE2
CSC Version: G988UOYN2DUE2

It was sold to me brand new 2 years ago as "Unlocked," but Samsung checked the IMEI for me and told me it's "Originally Carrier Locked to Sprint but now T-Mobile."
A custom ROM would be awesome, but I'm totally happy just to finally get to upgrade to Android 12 or 13. I've read all over XDA, Reddit, etc, that an unrooted phone can be flashed with a non-custom ROM, but I can't find any definitive answer regarding this thing's unlockable bootloader getting in the way of that.
Do I have any hope here, without paying to unlock the bootloader? If so, can someone tell me exactly which firmware I should download and flash?

When your carries says it's "unlocked", usually it is just that you can use SIM card from other providers, the bootloader is a totally different topic. Not sure if this possible at all (officially) with your branded phone. The problem of branded Android devices is that the carrier is responsible for releasing updates - and usually they do release way less updates that the non-branded devices get. For me it is the reason to never ever buy a branded phone.

Yah--it's been super annoying. I gave up ages ago on unlocking the bootloader, rooting, etc...all I want now are the Android updates that were promised for this phone.

First, you might check to see if updates have been disabled through ADB first.
From a prompt with ADB installed on your PC:

adb shell pm enable-user --user 0 com.sec.android.soagent
adb shell pm enable-user --user 0 com.wssyncmldm
adb shell pm enable-user--user 0 com.samsung.sdm
adb shell pm enable-user --user 0 com.samsung.sdm.sdmviewer
adb shell pm enable-user --user 0 com.ws.dm

Some of these commands may not take, but may solve your issue.
Second, in the recovery partition there is an option to manually update via ADB or SD card.  You should be able to download an official build (Sammobile or some other site) and sideload this in.  You can search for the latest builds based your device model and current carrier.
Both of these options work without the need to root the device.  I am not sure if the BL lock gets in the way of the sideload, but then why does the option exist in recovery otherwise.  Provided the update is official, there should not be an issue with the BL lock.

Thanks a ton! I was really excited to try these. But, none of them are recognized by my phone via ADB--they all return "Unknown command: enable-user." Any chance there's an alternate command to try for each of those? Also, Recovery Mode does show both the ADB and SD Card flash options, so that's exciting too! I admit that I'm cautious to try, but would SD Card flash be pretty foolproof/fixable if it doesn't work out? Any advice as to exactly which firmware to download and flash? Thanks!

Hello I've found the problem you have the CSC code set to *** which stopped receiving updates in 2021 you can change it to (TMB) which is T-Mobile or (USC) US Cellular if you don't use mobile data it's highly recommended to change CSC to receive the latest security updates, You can lookup online for Samsung secret dail codes which should bring up a factory menu and an option to change CSC codes and yes you'll start receiving OTA updates that will take you to Android 13 plus these steps don't require a computer.

Thank you! I've seen many suggestions to try changing the CSC code. Sadly, no dialer codes work on my phone--no matter which ones I try, it just hits me with an error message. I've read in a few places now, that this is (of course!) an annoying Samsung thing.


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Why are files suddenly disappear after downloaded on Unihertz Jelly Star?
I tried to use Videoder to download some music, but they immediately disappeared as soon as the download was finished. I'm on a Unihertz Jelly Star, and I tried downloading the files to many different folders, but the files always disappear.
If I move the files to the safe folder (the folder where only I can delete something and my phone has no say) while the files are downloading, they stay, but only how much was downloaded at that point, and when I move them back out, they stay.

Please add more details about your phone (model and Android version) as well as the app you use for download and the one you use for seeing the files (for both apps please add link to store).


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App-wise setting of mobile data selection in dual SIM
In a dual-SIM smartphone, how to set the usage of mobile data to a specific SIM for defined apps?

Welcome to the Q&A site Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. The question was originally tagged with 'oneplus-one'. Did you mean to ask about that device specifically, or more generally?


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how to access the data cache of an application
worked for some company using their own application to deliver parcels. never got paid and they claim that "i never worked" their application was used to track every single delivery I did.. i see it has about 35MB of userdata and cache storage that I cant access. How would I go about to accessing it? phone is not rooted and I have no experience with rooting but am willing to learn if it can help me find those files


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Is the Accessibility permission of Maxlock safe?
Is it safe to use the Maxlock app if it asks for accessibility permission to work properly? I need it to lock the Settings app. I am aware that this kind of permission could be dangerous, but Maxlock is an open-source app. I don't know...

Please edit your post and add the link to the app in PlayStore you are talking about.

It's not on PlayStore,i've found it on github.Here's the link https://github.com/Maxr1998/MaxLock

As an Xposed module the code will be executed in every app process on the phone, so I am not sure why the author requests accessibility services permission.

@Robert I guess it's a fallback mechanism for unrooted devices. The relevant code is on AppLockService.kt.

@Robert So,it could be dangerous to use the app with accessibility?

In general I would not recommend to use a security app which is unmaintained for more than 3 years and that had been removed from Google Play Store (unknown if Google or the author removed it).

Ok. I understand